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Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Not a Good Day for Prosecutors

Everyone once in a while, even prosecutors have a tough day, and today (Monday, September 27) was one of them. I begin with the dismissal of felony "wiretapping" charges in Harford County, Maryland, in which one of the country's most abusive prosecutors, Joseph Casilly, took it on the chin. A circuit court judge dismissed charges against Anthony Graber, who had recorded a traffic stop with his helmet cam. (Graber was stopped for traffic violations, and recorded the whole proceedings, and then put it on the Internet.)

Casilly, who was responsible for the false prosecution of Valerie Carlton in a case that had a lot of similarities to that of Tonya Craft (except Carlton was jailed for 13 months before Casilly dropped the child molestation charges), had charged Graber under Maryland's vague "wiretapping" law. In my view, this "law" exists solely to protect corrupt government officials from citizens who might secretly record the officials while they are engaging in extortion or worse. After all, if it is illegal to secretly record a government official committing a crime, then that is one more privilege that they have over the "mundanes" who are not employed by the state. Judge Emory A. Pitt, Jr., actually demonstrated some understanding of the law, something that escapes most prosecutors.

On another happy note, Kenneth "The Prize" Kratz, the Wisconsin DA who apparently gets his jollies by "sexting" crime victims, is going to resign. After the Wisconsin state bar refused to discipline him, the state's governor, Jim Doyle, decided to find a way to remove this miscreant and now Kratz is leaving office and his "six-figure" salary.

Can Kratz make it as an attorney in the real world? We shall see. If there were justice, he would be disbarred.

My last note deals with the suicide of a federal prosecutor, someone who was part of the crooked prosecution last year of the late Ted Stevens, then a U.S. Senator from Alaska. Nick Marsh, a DOJ lawyer with the misnamed "Public Integrity" office, was one of the prosecutor under investigation for alleged criminal conduct in that case, and apparently he killed himself last weekend.

I hate to say it, but the "strain" of what surely will be a whitewashed "investigation" is NOTHING like the strain that prosecutors put on innocent people every day. Marsh was out to destroy Sen. Stevens, and did not care if he had to lie to do it, and I find it ironic that he was not able to withstand what many Americans have had to endure because of people like Marsh. As I noted on a post on the Lew Rockwell blog, had the guy showed integrity a year ago, he would not have been in this situation.

Yes, I guess I feel sorry for his family, although Marsh's suicide to me is like the suicide of Adolph Hitler or Joseph Goebbels. The world is better off without people like that. And, yes, I mean it when I include Marsh in that mix, for Marsh was part of a governmental regime that has declared war on decent, honest people. He believed he was immune to the law, and I guess he was wrong.

13 comments:

KC Sprayberry said...

Great commentary on the downfall of three rotten prosecutors. It's too bad their actions have already infected those who worked for them. Cleaning out the messes they caused will take years, if it ever happens. Hopefully, if the governor's race in GA goes well, we'll have a governor next year who sees the necessity of cleaning house in LMJC - to the point of getting rid of everyone and starting fresh, including reviewing all old case files where's there's even a scintilla of proof the defendant might have never committed the crime. That's why it's so imperative for all voters to hit the polls by election day to keep Nathan Deal from attaining that office. He's as much a part of this problem as the major players. And he has huge financial problems we don't need in a state still struggling with a sinking economy and double digit unemployment.

Keep doing this, Bill. You're putting some very hot heat to those people and I've noticed the arrest reports returning to the usual DUI's and burglaries with an arson or two thrown in for interest. That's the way it was 16 years ago. It's only in the last 10 years that we've seen all these child molestation/abuse and drug cases at the level they are. Maybe someone in Franklin's office read him the riot act and he's doing a turtle until the public stops noticing his actions.

Abraham said...

A GOOD Honest Judge could really make difference in these cases IF they are not so biased to either side. House is exactly the kind that needs to resign.
What is the latest with The Eric Echols trial?

Anonymous said...

Heard on WGOW this morning that the LMJC is up to it again.

This time to save the expense of a trial, a plea bargain was given to a man who committed a home invasion three days after his release from prison on a conviction for a different crime. The criminal has been arrested over 20 times and had been convicted of half of these crimes. This is the type of person who needs to be locked up for a long time.

Also, the victim was told not to go to the media because they twist things. The victim, of course, went straight to WGOW this morning and plans to be in front of the judge in Walker County protesting the plea deal.

KC Sprayberry said...

Anon, the only thing the media does is make this stuff known. Plea deals don't usually get any attention and you're right - that particular brand of criminal should be in prison for the rest of his or her life. But it's that kind of criminal who usually gets the best deal, only to get out and do the very same kinds of crimes again. It's pathetic these people get away with ignoring real crimes while they go after those without any kind of criminal record like Sherman marching on Atlanta. Thankfully, this victim will speak out. But I don't think the judge will listen, unless said judge feels the media might report on their lack of compassion. With the election so close, they might be trying to prove they can change.

Trish said...

Yep, they plea bargain with real criminals to save the state the cost of a trial, but will spend millions to try and convict innocent people!!! This person, should never see the light of day again. Apparently doesn't learn from his mistakes and will just commit more crimes when released again!! I hope this victim gets air time and will be very vocal about what happened!!

Doc Ellis 124 said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Doc Ellis 124 said...

shared. Thank you.

Bill, please see my comment here An Open Letter to Buzz Franklin

Anonymous said...

Way too go Mr Anderson. Maybe there
is hope after all,Get a few more honest Judges like that, and we might have it cleaned up sooner than you think. I sure hope so.
Keep it coming, Another great job.
Thank you for your time.

maria said...

Does anybody know how to find out about the cases that were tried this month in the lmjc?

Throckmorton P. Gildersleeve said...

Anonymous @7:30.
Channel 3 had a follow up story on the sorry state of affairs in the LMJC’s latest blunder.

It seems that “The Man,” Chris Ain’t, or one of his underlings, struck a deal w/a career criminal who was part of a home invasion duo. In exchange for a guilty plea, this oft-convicted felon (Andre Jenkins) would plead guilty, receive a 20 year sentence, and serve 5 of it. Based on sentencing guidelines, the defendant would serve about 20 months active time. Since 1998, Jenkins has caught over 20 charges in at least 2 different states but served only 43 months total for all of them.

This sort of turnstile justice enraged the victim. He was told not to go to the media about this deal but did any way. I am surprised that there was no after hours gag order issued but then Judge Outhouse may have been too busy signing death warrants for jaywalkers as that is what passes for justice in the LMJC. Arnt, refused to be interviewed-no surprise there-took the blame for the plea agreement (another “Crooked Deal” but not Tim this time?) and the presiding judge set trial for November or December. I figure “The Man” had an important elementary school soccer match to referee and agreed to the plea so that he could get out of the office as soon as quickly as possible. He said that the plea was handled by another assistant so there is more than enough blame to go around in that circle of corruption.

What’s the lesson in all of this? I find it ironic that the clowns in the LMJC Circus will blow off a sure fire case of guilt, supported by a plethora of physical evidence, and give a pass to a career criminal. Yet, they will fabricate evidence, condone perjury, and collude with a biased judge to bring trumped up charges against an innocent kindergarten teacher who pissed off the Chickamauga Coven. They won’t exert the effort needed to convict in a case where Ray Charles could see the evidence but will lie and cheat to make up lies and evidence to convict the innocent. Eric Echols cannot get his trumped up charges handled in a timely manner but this open and shut case is on greased rails for disposition. Why don’t they just hold an auction on the courthouse steps and sell justice to the highest bidder? That would be much more honest than the hypocrisy they practice now.

Here is Channel 3’s URL for the story.
http://www.wrcbtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=13233256

William L. Anderson said...

These guys are the Gift That Keeps On Giving!!!! I'll bet they NEVER thought they would come under this kind of scrutiny!

Hey, LMJC, welcome to the real world! The world in which we will hold you responsible for your criminal activities.

Dan said...

Great post Dr. Anderson. Every day I become a little more Libertarian.

It occurred to me while reading this post and the related material, besides holding prosecutors accountable, we should also change how we measure the results of their efforts. Reflecting justice served instead of a conviction rate.

Best (as always),
Dan

Trish said...

I heard the story on the radio this morning about your call to WGOW regarding the plea deal!! Way to go and way to go to the victim who refused to keep quiet!! It is time we all speak up. Keep the pressure on this jurisdiction!!