Confused Time Magazine STILL getting the facts wrong.

Yesterday, John T. Floyd did a swing through the history of the YFZ case that was a primer for the novice, and one that drew believable conclusions.

Today, Time staggers drunkenly through the same facts, or stumbles blindly around them.

"Defense attorneys are trying to keep this evidence from being used in the trials because of the bizarre back story now surrounding the search warrant. The warrant was based on tips from a Colorado woman who was posing as a former member of the compound and who is now facing criminal charges for filing a false report.

But Charles Bubany, a professor who teaches criminal procedure at Texas Tech University School of Law, says the admissibility of the evidence likely will boil down to whether the judge had a reasonable belief that there was criminal activity taking place at the ranch regardless of the after-the-fact discovery of the false report. The same judge who signed the search warrant and greenlighted the raid, Texas District Judge Barbara Walther, is presiding over the criminal cases."

I would invite you to compare the two articles, John T. Floyd's is referred to below, and make your own judgment.

The writer, Hillary Hylton makes fundamental errors. One of which is to imply that Rozita Swinton is under criminal charges for filing a false report. Exactly where? Last time I checked it was only in Colorado, where they await the outcome of the Texas cases to see if they have to bust her down for a violation of the terms of her previous plea bargain, in Colorado, for additional crimes in Colorado

Also, the writer makes no examination of the facts surrounding the attempt to suppress the evidence, and claims Walther is deciding on whether or not she, Judge Walther, had reason to suspect criminal activity was occurring at YFZ. The problem is that up until Rozita's bogus "Cry for Help," the FLDS had given no indication they were involved in criminal activity. Something Sheriff Doran pointed out in testimony in May.

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John T. Floyd weighs in on the Motion to Suppress, and just about the whole case.

I really don't know where to begin. The article does not deserve comment, it deserves to be read. Here's just a tiny taste:

"Factual misrepresentations and misinformation are the thread that now bounds the FLDS case."

John ranges through the whole case in summary form and touches on the entire injustice of it, in all areas including the appearance of the FLDS before the Texas legislature. He hits on the cost, the comparative statistical frequency of child abuse and the duplicity of Ranger Brooks Long. Just go read it.

By the way, now that the arguments are in, and a Criminal Attorney has weighed in on the topic, I call all the "ANTI FLDS" bloggers who imply or claim they are legal eagles and lawyers and experts to be refuted. Simply put, until they tell us who they are, they're just loud cowards.

I no longer recognize "TxBluesMan" or "FLDSTexas" or "Ron in Houston" as having any standing or any valid opinion. John T. Floyd is a criminal law attorney, he's made this judgment armed with all the facts available on the record. He's qualified. I'll listen to qualified opinions thank you.

Own up, or go home, trolls.

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And this says I'm completely wrong.

Barbara Walther sets the trial dates for the FLDS defendants.

Which probably makes all my guessing wishful thinking. They cut Merrianne Jessop loose because they don't need her anymore.

The San Angelo Standard-Times - "During the conference, (Judge Barbara) Walther said the pretrials would be held at 10 a.m. in San Angelo. Between now and the first trial, attorneys are looking at ways to get a jury pool from Schleicher County while having the trials in San Angelo.

Walther has yet to rule on the defendants’ motions filed in May to suppress evidence taken from the Yearning For Zion Ranch near Eldorado. An April 3, 2008, raid on the ranch led to the removal of more than 400 children from the ranch and the seizure of documents and other material."

Walther is going to the mat on this one. It would seem. I can't see how she would set trials for men against whom there is no evidence.

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Last FLDS Child Custody Case officially ENDS

Merrianne Jessop is no longer under court supervision, though officially she has not been "returned" to her mother.

KSL - "The battle for children from the Utah-based Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints' ranch in Eldorado, Texas, was over Thursday when a judge signed an order effectively ended court oversight of a 15-year-old girl. She was the last of the 439 children taken into state protective custody when Texas child welfare authorities raided the ranch last year.

'The court has stated that they will no longer continue to review the placement, progress and welfare of the child,' said Valerie Malara, a lawyer representing the girl's mother, Barbara Jessop. 'The attorney ad litem is dismissed out of the case, CASA's dismissed out of the case, and the state is out of the case as well.'

The order, signed (today) by 51st District Judge Barbara Walther, places the girl in the custody of her aunt. Her parents, YFZ Ranch leader Merril Jessop and Barbara Jessop, will have visitation. The aunt, Naomi Carlisle, can determine how much that will be."

This really means she is back with her family. Is this another tremor before the quake? The last shaky appearance of there being any danger to children, and thus any cause is being swept away, the day before it is rumored that Barbara Walther will rule on the "Motion to Suppress."

Since it is clear now that NO CHILD was in danger on the Ranch, ever, and there was no "cry for help" and "no danger" at the time of the raid, how can it be that anyone supposes the evidence seized under that pretense could stay in the possession of Texas?

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He's BAAAAAAAAACK

Coram is back. Now, Blues, put up your forecast and why before the ruling comes down from Walther.

Of course this colors all my speculations on the business.

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And now down goes "Rozita's" blog. (And up it goes again)

UPDATED (Back up, you can never figure an attention whore) You never try to expose your more paranoid musings. This time I'm going to have to.

"What Princess Says Goes" is also down, a day after "Coram Non Judice" when down.

The writer(s) and/or owners of http://estraletta.blogspot.com/ gave plenty of reason to any reader that the owner of the blog and it's author was the Rozita Estraletta Swinton of YFZ infamy. Not the least of which was the sharing of a photo of Rozita's right eye which appeared last fall/winter in cache's of a MySpace page that had a 99% plus certainty of being Rozita's "My Space" page.

Essentially it takes plotting of a paranoid's wildest imaginations to produce a MySpace account well in advance of the YFZ raids, place pictures on that page, do a little dabbling around the internet and then in March of 2008 launch an attack on the FLDS in Texas and then spend the next year leading pro FLDS bloggers down a garden path populated by dated evidence that makes them think they're talking to people who are fictitious.

To put it simply, "Rozita" uses a picture in her profile on MySpace, a profile that only the best internet sleuths might have found, and then in her blogger profile, and not be the same person. Since that MySpace profile predates the FLDS raid by a year or more, the notion that it's really Rozita's picture is a pretty safe one and it's pretty safe to assume it's on "blogger" and "myspace" because Rozita put both of them there. There's also the matter of the linkage to another MySpace album of pictures by an obscure older White Guy in Burley Idaho, pictures of Rozita again. Really and Truly.

So the evidence points to "What Princess Says Goes" as being "really and truly" the blog of Rozita Estraletta Swinton. Now the real paranoia.

If it's not her, I personally have been fed a line of very carefully crafted and sophisticated bull. Gee fellas (gals), I'm flattered. 'Lil ole me? Only two scenarios fit Myspace: The grooming of a human missile in the person of Rozita years before her attack on YFZ. A group of "psy ops" FBI/Texas Ranger/Flora Jessop types that have been feeding misinformation, researching Ms. Swinton, hacking MySpace (or cooperating with them) all to discredit and mislead and distract a small contingent of pro FLDS unpaid "pajamas media" types. Think of it this way. The ownership of the MySpace page tagged "rozitas" had to be co-opted from it's original owner, or found and pilaged and an elaborate hoax created, or MySpace had to let Law Enforcement create a fake ID complete with fake dates dating two to three years into the past. If you look at it today the ages don't match, if you looked at it a few weeks ago, they did. BTW, this MySpace Page is apparently the same person.

Top that off with almost all hits I have been able to trace to the Estraletta blogger and her support group coming from the Chicago area and suddenly, emails associated with them ALSO coming from the Chicago area (won't say which one of them) and Coram and Princess going down in successive days, and it gets a paranoid to wondering. It would get a normal mind to wondering. The hair stands up on the back of your neck and you wonder just how badly you might have been "had."

Except I'm OK with it. I'd love to prove a connection between the blogger of "Coram" and the blogger of "Princess" even if it's just two simpatico souls spreading misinformation. It would be even more embarassing to the Salt Lake Tribune who still banners the defuct blog of "Texas Blues Man" to this day on the "Plural Life." A hoaxer? Linked to by a "Major News Source" as credible? If the connection got any deeper, or more widespread, that would work for me too. If it spread to people working for Texas or the FBI, I'd be ecstatic. I'd have been wrong, and paranoid, and my worst paranoid fears would have come true, but it would work, really, it would.

Of course, it could be nothing at all. Rozita closed her blog once before, to modify it's template and it was back up in a hurry. It's THURSAY! What do you people want from me?

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More Phun

Discovered at "Are We Lumberjacks?"

Probably inspired by the movie "Monster in Law."

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Hybrid Cars Destroy the Environment. What are we to do?

The Pharisee discovered Mitchieville a while back and often goes there to make sense of the world.

"Another reason why hybrid owners get into more accidents is because of people like me who purposely drive them off the road and into telephone poles, ditches, and into other cars. In Mitchieville, it’s not even against the law to do that to hybrid owners, it’s actually encouraged. I figure for every hybrid I take off the road, means one less commie professor who won’t make it to school that day. That’s good for the cheeeeeldren."

There are of course fundamental underlying reasons (real reasons, trust me) that insurance costs and costs in general for Hybrids are higher. Read the Mayor's analysis.

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Calling the Motion to Suppress

Recuse is out. So what will Walther do?

Rumor has it she will rule this Friday. I'm going to call it ruling for the motion to suppress, just based on some intangibles leading up to the ruling. I could very easily be wrong, but I've been at the track so long on this one, it would be dishonest for me not to say what I'm thinking.

It may be the ultimate in foolishness to read anything into blogger TxBluesMan suddenly quitting, but I admit that influences me. To think he wouldn't hang around to crow victory with it so close strikes me as odd. He has also been privy to a few tips, either because he is a great internet researcher, or because he has connections and he just up and quit.

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Blues for Texas

"Opposition Leader," the anonymous "Texas Blues Man" is blogging no more, at least for now, perhaps longer.

I have no reason to believe that his departure from the blogging scene is for any reason other than he hasn't got the time for it.

There will no doubt be speculation that TBM is under some sort of situational pressure relating to his chosen profession and his opinions, but we'd have to know what his chosen profession WAS, to know the answer to that one. For now I'll take him at his word that he simply doesn't have the time.

If other "Anti-FLDS" blogs start going down like flies I'll begin to wonder. The following is found at the blog "FLDS Texas" and I received an email also from "Blues."

"I am taking Coram Non Judice down for an indefinite period of time. I have to take care of some real life issues that preclude me from paying enough attention to the blog. Although the blog states 'invited' members only, that is the generic Blogger page, and no one has access to it. If circumstances change, I’ll bring it back up later."

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Ezra Levant: Guantanamo Prisoners Treated better than FLDS?

Reflections on the raid, stuff you already know, with a little bit different spin to it.

"Canadian Lawyer - Imagine the apoplexy if a judge decided to try 'all those Muslims' in Guantanamo in a two-day circus. There are 437 kids in Walther’s holding pen, but only 280 prisoners in Guantanamo Bay. And how are the prisoners’ respective religions treated? In Guantanamo, Muslims are served halal meals, meet with imams, and can pray five times a day. Walther permits her prisoners to pray only under the supervision of CPS monitors, who make sure prisoners don’t discusses their custody cases. Mothers are allowed 60 minutes a day with lawyers, and children are allowed just 30 minutes."

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Russ Carnahan gets an earful on healthcare.

Just watch.

It's getting ugly out there. I don't blame the heckler one whit. Please note that when a politician states that "it's important that we all listen to each other" it means "shut up and listen TO ME."

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No Plea Deal for Allen Steed, is Utah pleading "Nolo?"

Utah has been grasping for some kind of deal with Allen Steed. Steed's attorneys politely listen it would seem, and say "no deal."

"Steed was due in court on Tuesday for what was calendared as a 'special setting resolution' hearing, but his attorney, Jim Bradshaw, told KSL NewsRadio that no plea deal had been reached.

'We tried to, but didn't quite get there,' he said. 'We've had some discussions but we haven't finalized everything yet.'

Instead, 5th District Court records show that lawyers discussed the statute of limitations on rape and the defense indicated it planned to file a motion seeking to dismiss the criminal charge. An evidence hearing will be scheduled in the case, court minutes said."

Initially, the article makes it sound as if Jim Bradshaw was trying to plead Allen out, but we don't know to what charge. There is no indication that it would have been a crime of a sexual nature.

More significant is the discussion of the statute of limitations and the impending plan by the defense to make a motion to dismiss. Is it Utah's plan to let the statute of limitations angle work for Allen and then try to gain the traction in Warren's case that the only reason the principle figure in Elissa's "rape" wasn't convicted, was that the statute ran out? A sort of "nolo" plea for the prosecution?

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Allen Steed still on for tomorrow....

This is one of those canary in the mineshaft events.

Just to refresh your memory, the Judge is going to look at both sides "Best offers" for a negotiated settlement of the charges against Allen, and see if there is any room for a plea deal.

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The Moving Finger, having writ....Oldest Man Dies.

More significant to me than the passing of Walter Cronkite would be the passing of Henry Allingham (1896-2009), veteran of the "Great War."

The Mail - "Mr. Allingham once attributed his grand age to 'cigarettes, whisky and wild, wild women'.

He became the UK's oldest man on January 19, 2007, aged 110 years 227 days.

The oldest surviving member of the Armed Forces held a clutch of honours, including the British War Medal, Victory Medal and the Legion d'Honneur - the highest military accolade awarded by France.

His grandson, Tim Gray, described him in recent years as 'unbelievable'.

He said: 'He is a really incredible man with a great sense of humour.'

Born in London on June 6, 1896, Mr Allingham's father died when he was a baby.

He once said he thought joining the war effort would be an adventure, not realising what it meant.

He was initially persuaded to remain at home by his mother.

'War's stupid,' he told the BBC. 'Nobody wins. You might as well talk first, you have to talk last anyway.'

In September 1915, following his mother's death, he joined the Royal Navy Air Service (RNAS) and was sent to France, maintaining seaplanes.

Enthusiastic to play his part, pilots would take him flying and he would take the role of a spotter or a bomber.

In late 1917, Mr Allingham was posted to an aircraft depot in Dunkirk and became a member of the Royal Air Force following the merger of the RNAS and the Royal Flying Corps.

The great-grandfather was the last founder member of the RAF and the only remaining survivor of the infamous Battle of Jutland off the Danish coast in 1916.

He had a miraculous escape from his ship, the Kingfisher, when a German shell heading directly for it bounced over the top.

He described to the Daily Mail how he remained haunted by scenes from the third battle of Ypres.

'They would just stand there in two feet of water in mud-filled trenches, waiting to go forward,' he said.

'They knew what was coming. It was pathetic to see those men like that.

'In many ways I don't think they have ever got the admiration and respect they deserved.'

He was also shot in the arm, telling the newspaper: 'The bullet passed through my arm and out the other side.

'They just bandaged me up and sent me out again. It's so long ago that the scar has gone.'

In 1919 he left the air force after service at Cologne as part of the Army of Occupation.

He was married to his late wife Dorothy for more than half a century.

During the Second World War, Mr Allingham's engineering skills were vital to designing counter measures to the Germans' magnetic mines.

In 1941, he helped defuse the mines that had been used to blockade Harwich harbour.

Mr Allingham told the BBC: 'Like so many, I have tried to forget my time in the war.

'In the last few years I have met other veterans, and we never spoke one word of the war, not one.' "

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That's one Great Cake! Ghost Writers in Walther's Court?

I speculated a while ago that Judge Walther would recuse herself in the Motion to Suppress. I wasn't real confident of that but it was at the time the top "Best Guess" I could come up with based on the facts at that time.

It would now be at the bottom of the list instead of the top. I suppose it could still happen but every day that goes by where Judge Walther does not bow out, that begins to look less like an intelligent guess and more like wishful thinking. If Babs ever writes a memoir, maybe she'll mention considering it.

At this point I'm going to have to say that Judge Walther will rule against the motion to suppress. I base this on evidence that Barbara is a skillful small town political operator, not a great jurist. This is not a slap by the way, it's just an observation. While I still believe she will not win in the end, she has been skillful, powerful, unflinching and brutal when necessary, almost without hesitation.

So what does a politician do when they don't have a legal mind and they wish to write an opinion on inclusion as opposed to suppression of evidence when there is so clearly a good case to suppress the evidence? Mind you I did not say "overwhelming" or "winning" case, I said "good."

Texas has not supplied Judge Walther in their filing with boilerplate to sign. They've supplied her with a list of case law and a set of facts and said "Here Babs, cook up a ruling!" It's as if you walked into a kitchen with a picture of a pie and the ingredients all set out on the counter and you've never baked a cake before. You whip up mean omelets but baking is not your calling. You've got a picture of a pie, and they're asking for cake.

Texas has to be seen as wanting the evidence to stand, and not be overturned on appeal. They seem to have confidence that Walther will rule in her favor but I can't believe what they think Walther can bake a cake. In the movie "Calender Girls," Chris Harper's (Helen Mirren) problem is solved by going out and buying the item in question, and passing it off as hers. She wins the blue ribbon by the way.

I'm of the opinion that Walther is down to two choices which may seem obvious to you but since the third choice, "recuse" (punt) seems off the table, she can only rule against, or rule for the motion to suppress. In the second case she need only agree adding a few embellishments with the Gerry Goldstein/FLDS motion. It's well written. Case closed.

Ruling against the motion means she has to bake that cake into a winner, and she can't. To me, that means Texas has delivered the ingredients to her kitchen, but someone else is going to cook up the winner. Either that, or we're on a fast track to a reversal. Judge Walther has a worse record with the FLDS and higher courts than Judge Sotomayor has with the Supreme Court of the United States, and that's no small accomplishment.

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Iranians continue to fight the despots that stole their election

Islam is a troubling faith. Any nation ruled or dominated by that religion is worrisome. One cannot help but support Iran's brave souls though.

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - "(P)olice and pro-government Basiji militiamen fired tear gas and charges thousands of protesters who chanted 'death to the dictator' and called on President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to resign. Dozens were arrested, piled in trucks and taken away, witnesses said.

Plainclothes Basijis stood in front of a line of riot police and pumped canisters of tear gas, which young protesters with green bandanas over their faces kicked away across the pavement, away from the crowds. Some set a bonfire in the street and waved their hands in the air in victory signs.

The opposition aimed to turn the Friday prayers at Tehran University into a show of their continued strength despite heavy government suppression since the disputed June 12 presidential election.

Opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi, who claims to have won the election, sat in the front row of worshippers, attending for the first time since the turmoil began. Many of the tens of thousands at the prayers wore headbands or wristbands in his campaign color green, or had green prayer rugs.

In his sermon broadcast live on radio nationwide, Rafsanjani reprimanded the clerical leadership for not listening to people's complaints over the election, which was declared a victory for Ahmadinejad despite opposition claims of fraud.

'Doubt has been created (about the election results),' Rafsanjani said. 'There is a large portion of the wise people who say they have doubts. We need to take action to remove this doubt.' "

Iran's rightful ruler is sitting in the audience. The government conducted these elections and have a contract with their people to abide by it's outcome. There was a coup in Iran on election day, and the losers now run the country. Those in the street are demanding only what is theirs.

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It's not the Trillions, it's the size of the Pie.

I am decidedly not a fan of Pat Buchanan. He is in my view a highly right colored demagogue and more importantly, populist. Because he is a populist, like Bill O'Rielly he sometimes hits the nail squarely on the head.

"Taxes drove the American Revolution, for we were a taxaphobic, liberty-loving people. That government is best that governs least is an Americanism. When 'Silent Cal' Coolidge went home in 1929, the U.S. government was spending 3 percent of gross domestic product.

And today? Obama's first budget will consume 28 percent of the entire GDP; state and local governments another 15 percent. While there is some overlap, in 2009, government will consume 40 percent of GDP, approaching the peak of World War II."

The reason we haven't sunk yet is that it is arguable that productivity has expanded at a far greater rate. The cancer that is government is now growing so fast that it will soon overpower it's host. Journalist Garet Garrett died the year I was born, and penned a piece of brilliance referring to Esau's waste of his birthright called "The People's Pottage" which is in Mr. Buchanan's column.

"There are those who still think they are holding the pass against a revolution that may be coming up the road. But they are gazing in the wrong direction. The revolution is behind them. It went by in the Night of Depression, singing songs to freedom."

Pat's column is well worth reading.

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A Presumptive Crap Sandwich - The State in the Motion to Suppress

I've read most of both motions/filings now in the FLDS motion to dismiss.

The State most makes a list of "Findings of Fact," 54 of them each about a short paragraph long. There are then 15 more "Conclusions of Law" most of which are equally brief and look as if they were assembled by a law clerk.

Whereas the defense makes great effort to cite examples and testimony and links all to law cases that are carefully explained, Texas does not. Either the fix is in and the State knows it and expects Walther to just sign the order, or they've lost, and they know it. From my vague understanding of law they cannot carry forward new arguments to the next appeal so they either expect to win it here, get to trial and dare anyone to overturn a child molesters conviction, no matter now unjust, or they just plain know they've got no case.

The State's filing is a sandwich of bad, brief explanations that look like a half hearted paper worked on the night before it was due, barely better than an outline. It is book ended by Orders, ready made for Walther to sign, denying the motion.

Here ya go judge. You know what you're SUPPOSED to do. They've even got Judge Walther's name already typed below the signature spot. They expect her to sign it, they don't care what anyone thinks and they're assuming she will not recuse herself.

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Two important observations on the FLDS Motion to Suppress

One, it was established by testimony in the hearing before Judge Walther in May that Dale Evans Barlow was not at the Ranch, and that Ranger Long knew this, and still swore out an affidavit that Dale was at YFZ.

It was also established that the "Caller" also recanted on March 31st, her last communication with the New Bridge shelter that she was not to be believed. Both fact sets were NOT communicated to Judge Walther even though they were known to Brooks Long when he swore his affidavit. Doran testified that this sort of information should have been communicated to Walther.

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