SAN DIEGO -- A mistrial was declared Monday when a home-invasion robbery suspect smeared human feces on his attorney's face then threw more at the jury.
Weusi McGowan, 37, was upset because San Diego Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Fraser refused to remove Deputy Alternate Public Defender Jeffrey Martin from the case, prosecutor Christopher Lawson said.
At the mid-morning break, McGowan produced a plastic baggie filled with fecal matter and spread it on Martin's hair and face, then flung the excrement toward the jury box, hitting the briefcase of juror No. 9 but missing the juror himself.
"That juror didn't even see it coming," Lawson said.
The prosecutor said the defendant was compliant after the outburst and was taken into custody without further incident.
After lunch, Fraser dismissed the jury, telling them McGowan would have to get a new lawyer and that his trial would be delayed.
The judge scheduled a status conference for Feb. 9 and raised the defendant's bail from $250,000 to $1 million, finding he is a danger to the community.
Lawson said McGowan originally became upset last week when he claimed one of the jurors saw him in shackles as he entered the courtroom. Fraser dismissed all jurors who saw the defendant in shackles, the prosecutor said.
"The judge had been very fair," Lawson said. "All jurors who saw it were dismissed."
Fraser had also denied McGowan's attempt to represent himself, saying the request was untimely, Lawson said.
The prosecutor said the defendant had previously wiped human feces on himself and was examined by doctors to ensure he was mentally competent to stand trial.
A 93-year-old man froze to death inside his home just days after the municipal power company restricted his use of electricity because of unpaid bills, officials said. I've got the utility companies right up there with the sleazy politicians they pay off on my poop list. They're rapacious unregulated monopolies with no more regard for their customers than we have for house flies.
Marvin E. Schur died "a slow, painful death," said Kanu Virani, Oakland County's deputy chief medical examiner, who performed the autopsy. They cut his electricity in the dead of winter in Saginaw.
Neighbors discovered Schur's body on Jan. 17. They said the indoor temperature was below 32 degrees at the time, The Bay City Times reported Monday. "Hypothermia shuts the whole system down, slowly," Virani said. "It's not easy to die from hypothermia without first realizing your fingers and toes feel like they're burning."
'Limiter' device installed
Schur owed Bay City Electric Light & Power more than $1,000 in unpaid electric bills, Bay City Manager Robert Belleman told The Associated Press on Monday. If the rates are anything like they are around here that could represent 2-3 months of unpaid bills. He probably pissed the money away on food or mortgage or something frivolous like that.
A city utility worker had installed a "limiter" device to restrict the use of electricity at Schur's home on Jan. 13, said Belleman. The device limits power reaching a home and blows out like a fuse if consumption rises past a set level. Power is not restored until the device is reset. Have to send a utility worker out to reset it, don't you? What was the temp in Saginaw yesterday? Don't tell me. Let me guess. No, even better, let me Google it: today the high was 18 degrees and the low was -4. Assuming Mr. Schur wasn't officially regarded as a housefly, he was murdered. You can't turn the electricity off in a 93-year-old man's house and not expect an untoward consequence that amounts to malice aforethought.
The limiter was tripped sometime between the time of installation and the discovery of Schur's body, Belleman said. No! Reeeeally?
He didn't know if anyone had made personal contact with Schur to explain how the device works.
He said Bay City Electric Light & Power's policies will be reviewed, but he didn't believe the city did anything wrong.
Gross negligence would make it Murder 2.
The body was discovered by neighbor George Pauwels Jr. "His furnace was not running, the insides of his windows were full of ice the morning we found him," Pauwels told the Bay City News. The body was probably frozen solid. Power shut off if bills unpaid
Belleman said city workers keep the limiter on houses for 10 days, then shut off power entirely if the homeowner hasn't paid utility bills or arranged to do so. He said Bay City Electric Light & Power's policies will be reviewed, but he didn't believe the city did anything wrong. "I've said this before and some of my colleagues have said this: Neighbors need to keep an eye on neighbors," Belleman said. "When they think there's something wrong, they should contact the appropriate agency or city department." The houseflies have to look out for each other. The city/power company isn't. Teddy Roosevelt had people like this in mind when he talked about malefactors of great wealth.
Schur had no children and his wife had died several years ago. Bay City is on Saginaw Bay, just north of the city of Saginaw in central Michigan. Bastards. The rotten complacent, unfeeling, bastards. I hope Belleman and each and every one of the senior management of Bay City Electric Light & Power plus the faceless minion who put the "limiter" on the poor man's meter freeze to death themselves. I hope that when they're frail old men and women they're callously ignored by the pols in power then and that their bodies aren't discovered until spring, after their wiener dogs and yorkies have eaten most of them.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/27/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Damn! It's been cold as frozen hell recently here in the People's Republic of Michigan - temps in the single digits for weeks at a time. Murder 2 works for me, ya bastiges.
#3
Most utilities around here have a fund for old people to see that they get power. The power company should have a program for the elderly with no living relatives living on a small stipend. The community should be able to donate a small sum into the pot for them. We don't need government programs, we just need a utility that is involved in the community.
#5
That should depend on the man and the community IMO, Bright Pebbles. My grandfather built most of his last house himself, at 87, and lived independently until his Parkinsons made that impossible - at age 92.
FWIW, I suppose, but it would have killed my grandfather's dignity and sense of independence to be forced into some group home.
#7
He said Bay City Electric Light & Power's policies will be reviewed, but he didn't believe the city did anything wrong.
Sounds like a graduate of the Ted Bundy school of management.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/27/2009 7:51 Comments ||
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#8
"Not my problem" seems to be a mantra in the media culture these days. Of course, all media memes carry over into the world of greedy, power-hungry menials like the decision-making losers at the power company.
I think the economy is about to tank, worse than in 1929-33. Millions will be out of work and there will be catastrophic trimming of dumbass place-holders. These dolts will be among the first to go, replaced by actual human beings who have lost much better jobs elsewhere.
When that day comes and you see one of these greedy power-freak "not my problem" idiots on the corner begging, go over and give him a swift kick in the arse.
#9
He said Bay City Electric Light & Power's policies will be reviewed, but he didn't believe the city did anything wrong.
Oh, just wait for Universal Health Care(tm) when that will be the standard reply from the government monopoly bureaucrat on why Uncle/Aunt/Granddad/Grandma didn't get that critical operation while waiting on the [long and growing] care list.
#12
Look for these controls to be a future part of the FED's plan on controling health costs after it consumes the whole medical care fiascio that they already made untenable.
#13
There is a Native American Reservation in my State where, for (at least) the last 20 years, its estimated that over 90% of ALL residential utilities are not paid during the winter month restrictions. Even though it has been proven that most can afford the bills they simply choose not to. The loss to the Utility Companies is rarely recovered because the cost to enforce back-payments outweighs the lost revenue. Therefore its spread amongst the population that pays their bills. Yes, this is indeed a tragic story but other then more attention paid to individual burdens what is the solution? I guess we just keep paying for others peoples bills because the Utility companies arent going to foot the bill.
#14
Oh, and BTW, there was a bill recently introduced to specifically address those that exploit the system and intentionally disregard their obligations. It would have unpaid utility bills go on their credit report if they didnt pay within a very generous time period. And surprise it was defeated with the Tribes being the most vocal opponents.
#15
We don't need government programs, we just need a utility that is involved in the community.
Politicians and utilities ARE involved in the community. It's just that their involvement is "One Way".
Hey DepotGuy, are the Reservations in your state considered "independent nations" (own separate government, license plates, etc.) like they are in Wisconsin? I don't believe the utilities want to get into the legal hassles envoked by this. Then again, I believe a tribal entity should be buying the electricity, gas, whatever for distribution on the reservation and doing their own 'billing and collections'.
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
01/27/2009 10:06 Comments ||
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#16
I'm shocked! Shocked, I tell you!! I can't get on the city's site. People must have overwhelmed the server in support of those civic masterminds.
{/sarcasm}
#17
Our private utility does not do shutoffs from 12/15 to 3/15 for exactly this reason. The negative publicity after an incident or two was overwhelming.Come spring, though, it's pay or pray.
P2Ks point about National Health Care is spot on, however. And sovereign immunity means there will be no recourse.
#18
I expect that over the next 10-20 years some power companies will shut down when a sufficient amount of their bills go unpaid by strapped/unemployed consumers. Ultimately we only get what we pay for. At least we'll be decreasing our Carbon Footprint.
Y'all have three months out of the year where everyone talks about how the power companies should be forgiving.
Y'all also have nine months out of the year where the general political consensus is that people building power plants that can actually put out on demand in the dead of winter should be bankrupted.
Think about the social effects... what sort of people stay in the business after the TV set is broadcasting shit about how moral people would never do such horrible things like building a power plant? Year after year?
The effects of the nine months out of the year of "Power Should Be Expensive," year after year, don't go away during the three months of winter.
Coal ash spill? They fly Erin Wosshername out to your community Right Away! I don't know if she actually stays for the cold snap the next week, though. Any bets? Or is she back in Los Angeles by then?
As a country we've decided we like expensive power.
We _voted_ that way.
Not once, but repeatedly, over decades.
The guys at the power company are just the poor schmucks stuck with the job of robbing Peter to pay Paul; we shouldn't act too suprised when the various Peters turn up dead every once in a while.
There's a 52% of the country that needs to take a long look in the mirror.
Thus I would love for all those doe-eyed environmentalist believers to go to a utility and volunteer THERE at the customer service window for a while and watch the poor decide whether to pay the power bill or buy medicine. They can watch people decide on back to school clothes and supplies or the gas bill. These are real choices, and they will become more and more evident should the economy go into a spiral.
There are no two ways about it - 17% of the income of the poor goes to energy bills which are VASTLY inflated by taxes and regulation, without which the cost of energy would probably be 50% lower (or more we are the Saudi Arabia of coal). Think of this next time they volunteer at a soup kitchen or go on a clothing drive couldnt they accomplish the same exact thing by working to lower the costs of energy for the poor so that theyd have more income in their pocket?
#22
Here in Maryland we've had Baltimore Gas and Electric consumed by Constellation Power, and we've seen the rates go up 75%. Our pols didn't even bother hiding their collusion with Constellation in the rate hike, though they did try to blame it all on Bob Ehrlich, or former (Republican) governor.
I live literally across the street from two coal-fired power plants, both of which are spotless, at least to the eye. I've done contracts with BG&E. But I regard the combination of Constellation and our Dem legislature as a stench and a pestilence.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/27/2009 16:51 Comments ||
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I've been inside the one here. It appears to vent steam on the outside. The inside, near the generator, you could eat off of the floor.
...The crew members were reclining in their horizontal couches, running through a checklist when a voltage transient was recorded at 6:30:54 (23:30:54 GMT). Ten seconds later (at 6:31:04) Chaffee said, "Hey..." Scuffling sounds followed for three seconds before Grissom shouted "Fire!" Chaffee then reported, "We've got a fire in the cockpit," and White said "Fire in the cockpit!"
After nearly ten seconds of frenetic movement noises Chaffee yelled, "We've got a bad fire! Let's get out! We're burning up! We're on fire! Get us out of here!"[5][6] Some witnesses said they saw Ed White on the television monitors, reaching for the hatch release handle as flames in the cabin spread from left to right and licked the window. Only 17 seconds after the first indication by crew of any fire, the transmission ended abruptly at 6:31:21...
Rest in peace.
Posted by: Mike ||
01/27/2009 10:17 ||
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Another reason, ground controllers and dirtside "scientists" should have to sit in their own creations (i.e., 100% Oxygen at 20 pounds pressure) and see if there are still "acceptible" risks. Freakin' bastards.
A woman in California delivered what may be the nation's second live-born set of octuplets on Monday morning, surprising doctors who expected seven babies. . . . The six boys and two girls -- ranging in weight from 1 pound 8 ounces to 3 pounds 4 ounces -- were generally doing well in incubators following their Caesarean-section delivery at Kaiser Permanente hospital in Bellflower, California, doctors said. . . . .
Doctors initially believed the mother -- whom they did not identify -- was pregnant with seven fetuses. . . . Over a seven-week period, a team of 46 physicians, nurses and other staff prepared for the births. When they started the delivery Monday -- more than nine weeks before the babies would be full term -- they were in for a surprise. "After we got to Baby G, we were surprised by the discovery of a Baby H." . . .
Preliminary research indicates this is the second set of live-born octuplets in the United States, according to the hospital. . . .
Posted by: Mike ||
01/27/2009 09:54 ||
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I am reminded of the joke headline by Rita Rudner.
A special court in Dhaka yesterday sentenced Shafiur Rahman Babu, absconding younger son of former finance minister M Saifur Rahman, to 13 years' rigorous imprisonment (RI) in a corruption case.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/27/2009 00:00 ||
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A fake training academy has been found running in the capital and providing certificates to the students of medical, nursing and pathological courses for a period of over a decade.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/27/2009 00:00 ||
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RAB-4 conducted the raid. Dam, those guys are good.
#2
Sensing presence of Rab, MA Malek managed to flee the scene.
LOL - the RAB must give off vibes as they approach. Either that or all the bad guys in Bangla are spiders...
A policeman attacked his wife and shoved her naked out of their front door after CCTV footage showed she was having an affair with his best friend, a court heard yesterday.
PC Andrew Liptrot, 47, seized camera footage from two pubs where he suspected the couple had met before confronting his wife Karen at home. He then grabbed the 38-year-old British Airways stewardess and ripped her dressing gown from her body, the court was told.
'I had nothing underneath,' Mrs Liptrot said. 'He was holding my wrists and I was nervous. I was scared. He grabbed my arm and called me a slag and a whore.' And on and on ...
AUSSIE singer Emma Cowan went to New York for creative inspiration and found it in the form of a plane wreck in the icy Hudson River. Plane ditch survivor Ms Cowan has composed a song for the hero pilot behind the miraculous water landing that saved her life - and 154 others.
Called Send Another Prayer, the tune is the Perth performer's own heartfelt expression of gratitude to veteran airman Chesley B Sullenberger, who safely downed the massive Airbus in the water after a flock of geese struck its engines 12 days ago.
"It's a thank you to the pilot and a thank you to God for my life," Ms Cowan told the Herald Sun. "It's such a amazing thing they've done."
Ms Cowan, who performs under the surname Sophina, is in New York recording with Grammy-winning producers Marc Swersky and Tony Black at their New Jersey studio.
She acknowledged that Mr Sullenberger not only saved her life, but worked miracles for her profile as a musician. "It's expanded my career which is realy cool," she said. "I went there to find some inspiration and the search ended that day," she said.
She was introduced to the production team through former boy band vocalist Gary Pinto, who is based in Melbourne.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
SAN DIEGO -- A mistrial was declared Monday when a home-invasion robbery suspect smeared human feces on his attorney's face then threw more at the jury.
