Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Not Monday, but Friday for Jeffs

Next Friday, that is.
The State of Utah will a hearing Monday to appeal the unanimous ruling of the Utah Supreme Court, but there will be time to digest whatever ruling comes out of that hearing, file whatever motions must be filed and raise whatever objections there will be.
The Salt Lake Tribune - "Walter F. Bugden, one of Jeffs’ attorneys, said he will file a habeus corpus motion opposing the extradition until there is a resolution in the Utah case.

'It is not only a question of fairness but of constitutional proportion to shuttle him back and forth between states,' Bugden said. 'I think that the decision should be made and shouldn’t just be left pending until after he has a trial in Texas. I think it is fundamentally unfair to not finish what they started.' "
This gives Wally the maneuvering room to make whatever objections he will make is an indication his arguments have basic weight. This is provided of course, Utah's Supremes do not "reconsider" their decision. In addition, there is no "Constitutional Right" of Texas to dispose of "more serious charges" but there is a Constitutional right to a speedy trial. Offhand that would seem to trump any claim Texas has to Warren for the time being.

Of course Utah could always just drop the charges and clear the way for Texas to take Warren, and that is what I expect will happen if nothing changes Monday. The whole purpose of the hearing Monday is to re-instate Warren's conviction so that he has no right to a speedy trial, having already had a trial. Utah then hopes (as does Texas) to send Warren to Texas a Guilty man, not an innocent one. Once in Texas, Utah and Texas both don't care if the Utah Supremes reaffirm their decision because Warren will then be in Texas. They figure he can argue a speedy trial in Utah all he wants from Texas, while he is waiting for trial in Texas. Speed does not help Warren in Texas.

This is such a cynical move that even I was mildly surprised by it. Utah has no hope at all of retrying Warren and gaining a conviction, but the political pressure on the Utah Supreme Court is now immense. They've already whined how their clear, correct and unanimous decision forces hardship on the "victim" of a nonexistent crime. The pressure is now to "reconsider" their decision, even though everyone knows the only change in outcome would be whether the decision was unanimous or not. All the move on Utah's part does if successful, is to void Warren's request for a new trial.

Texas does not want an innocent Warren in their courts, which will raise the issue of whether he deserves bail or not. Texas wants the prejudicial effect of his conviction to still be in place when they do try Warren. Texas doesn't want to grant Warren bail. Texas is not in the slightest, interested in Justice.
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Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Utah Governor Signs Warren's Warrant for Extradition

And still nothing is exactly clear except that Utah's Attorney General want's to use what appears to be a technicality to send Warren Jeffs to Texas.
The Salt Lake Tribune - "Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff said state attorneys are preparing a petition for a rehearing before the Utah Supreme Court, which last month reversed Jeffs’ convictions on accomplice to rape charges and sent the case back for a new trial. The court said faulty jury instructions prevented Jeffs from getting a fair hearing.

Shurtleff said the request for a rehearing would focused on the discussions that surrounded instructions given to the jury that heard Jeffs’ case in 2007.

The high court has given an extended Aug. 23 deadline for the rehearing request to be filed. That is the same day a 5th District judge is supposed to hear Jeffs’ request for a 'speedy' new trial."
The key thing is to analyse this politically. The "Rehearing" request filing deadline is as noted, on the same day of Warren's request for an expedited trial. Some attempt is being made at least superficially to reverse the Supreme Court of Utah's decision to vacate Warren's accomplice to rape conviction. Honestly I don't see how that happens with the decision being unanimous, but if they can get the conviction at least technically reinstated by having it's reversal reconsidered, perhaps then Governor Gary Hebert can flick Warren off his blotter and ship him to Texas while he's still not "waiting for trial."

I can't see how this works exactly, but I suspect that's the mechanism. If my suspicions are correct, the Utah Supremes will act politically, under pressure, and "reconsider" their unanimous decision long enough to essentially block Warren's request for a new trial. Hence the date of the filing deadline, which would then possibly (simply by it being filed) void Warren's request for a quick trial.

Warren then becomes a prisoner in the Utah Prison system, wanted by another State and they'll try to whisk him out the back door to Texas, before any remedy can be undertaken by Warren's attorneys.

If that doesn't work, there may be an even longer delay before Texas gets Warren, or Utah will quickly drop charges against Warren, clearing at least partially the way for Texas to get him. I don't honestly know if that would require yet a third request for Warren by Texas. This smells strongly of cynical legal maneuvering. We'll see how it works out.

Fox 13 reports:
"The governor received the request and after careful review, he signed it," said governor's spokeswoman Angie Welling. "It's also accompanied by an executive agreement which allows the state to bring Mr. Jeffs back to Utah once the Texas case is concluded."
The idea that Utah intends to prosecute Warren again, is a fiction. This lends credence to the notion that the whole thing is a maneuver.
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Wednesday, August 04, 2010

Krakauer: "I'm Stupid."

Thanks there Krak, we knew that:
From Peg McEntee's column at the Salt Lake Tribune - "(Jon Krakauer) said he made a 'stupid comment' when he blamed the high court’s 'close ties to the LDS Church' and the 'political basis' of the judgment.

'I apologize to the justices,' he said. 'That was not fair.'

But he still believes the ruling, which means a new trial for Jeffs if prosecutors decide to go that way, was a 'terrible decision.' "
So he admits he gets worked up and shoots his mouth off in an emotional way and says things he later regrets.

So, Jon, about that tape. Did you HEAR the tape? Did you see the transcript of "the tape?" How can you assure us it was genuine or did you just hear or see something that you didn't verify, and then shot your mouth off?

Krak also says he's "emotionally invested in these victims," when referring to former FLDS members. He's simply telling us he has lost all objectivity, and is rationalizing his behavior.
"Krakauer (also) thinks the evidence in (the Texas) case (against Warren Jeffs) 'is bomb-proof, riveting and disgusting. I think things look really good there. Texas should and will prosecute.' "
And so Peg becomes the second "journalist" to not ask Jon how he knows that, or to question the objectivity of his assessment.  And to give him a clean shot and a platform to make his assertions.
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Sunday, August 01, 2010

Meet John Krackore

He can't get enough air, or air time.
Watch him spin over at Sore Toes. The funny send up names of Jon Krakauer continue to get more and more hilarious and they're so obvious.

I'm not not thinking of any of them first. I'd be furious, if I wasn't laughing so hard.
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