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Friday, May 31, 2013

Man Who Secretly Taped Mitch McConnell's Re-Election Campaign Strategy Meeting Expected To Face Federal Grand Jury Indictment Soon.

Ky. man admits to secretly recording McConnell


A Kentucky man has admitted to secretly recording a private campaign meeting between Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell and his aides earlier this year.
Curtis Morrison of Louisville made the admission Friday in a first-person account posted on Salon.com, where he also said an assistant U.S. attorney has notified his attorney that a grand jury will consider bringing charges next Friday.


A spokeswoman said the U.S. attorney's office in Louisville would not comment. It was unclear who was representing Morrison. Morrison declined to comment via email Friday.
Morrison, a former volunteer for the political group Progress Kentucky, also acknowledged in the story that he provided the recording to Mother Jones magazine, which posted audio from the McConnell meeting and a transcript online in April.

Mother Jones had previously said the recording came from a confidential source.
On the recording, McConnell and his aides talked about opposition research into potential Democratic challengers, including actress Ashley Judd, a former Kentucky resident who later decided to skip the race. Aides discussed Judd's past bouts with depression, previous political statements and religious beliefs and how the campaign might use that against her.

McConnell's campaign had asked the FBI to investigate how the recording was made.
Under federal law, it is illegal to electronically record people without their knowledge if the person recording it is not part of the conversation. Kentucky has a similar state law.
Generally, well-known public figures have an expectation of privacy when they speak in their homes or other private retreats. The law prohibits bugging a room, secretly monitoring telephone conversations or intercepting computer communications. However, the publishers, in this case Mother Jones, may disseminate illegally taped conversations if they didn't break any law in getting the recording.

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Steve Nunn Gets Court Permitted Access To His Attorney Kept Fils, Sorta Apologizes To "everyone I Let Down" Even As He Smells Judicial And Prosecutorial Conspiracy And Bids His Prosecutor "Arrive derci".

Nunn apologizes to family of woman he killed

  A former Kentucky lawmaker serving life in prison apologized publicly for the first time Friday to the family of his former fiancée, whom he pleaded guilty to shooting and killing in Lexington four years ago.
 
During a hearing in Fayette Circuit Court, 60-year-old Stephen R. Nunn didn't directly say he shot 29-year-old Amanda Ross on Sept. 11, 2009, outside her townhouse. But Nunn, making his first public comments since pleading guilty in 2011, noted that Ross's mother, Diana Ross of Lexington, wasn't in the courtroom.
"I don't blame her for not being here," said Nunn, dressed in an orange prison outfit and shackled at the hands and feet. "My heart is broken for her."

Nunn was in court to settle a dispute over his access to files compiled by his former criminal defense attorney. Nunn has been trying to look at the six banker's boxes of material for months. He has been found liable in civil court for Amanda Ross' death. A damages trial is set for August.

Nunn, who spent about 15 years in the state legislature, is the son of former Kentucky Gov. Louie B. Nunn, who held the office from 1967 to 1971. Nunn is lodged in Green River Correctional Complex in Muhlenberg County and does not have an attorney.

"I am very sorry for everyone I let down," said Nunn, who at times grew testy in discussions with Fayette Circuit Judge Pamela Goodwine.
Commonwealth's Attorney Ray Larson, who prosecuted Nunn, sat silently through much of the hearing. At one point, the bespectacled Larson and the shackled Nunn stared at each other for a few seconds. Larson scratched his chin while Nunn cut loose a small grin.

After the hearing, Larson said Nunn is now seeking to blame "everybody else, including me," for his current problems and he expect to hear more from Nunn in prison.
"He's a guy who has access to a couple of law books and a pad," Larson said. "He ought to take a look in the mirror."
Carl Frazier, an attorney for the Ross family, declined to comment when reached by phone on Friday.

The hearing focused on Nunn's access to the files compiled by his one-time attorney, Warren Scoville of London, Ky. Goodwine on Friday ordered them turned over to the inmate with the stipulation that all items covered by an order keeping them from the public be honored.
Nunn at times grew agitated as he recounted attempts to get the files and delays in turning them over.
"In some ways I felt like I was back in the legislature, where the majority would suspend the rules when they were going to screw somebody," Nunn said. "I thought I missed that announcement that the rules were suspended."

Goodwine spelled out the history of the case, which motions and orders were filed and tried to assure Nunn that the court received the boxes from Scoville in February and they've remained sealed at the courthouse ever since. Goodwine repeatedly told Nunn that no one has looked inside the boxes as Nunn protested that prosecutors wanted access to the files.
"I understand your skepticism, if that's what you want to call it," Goodwine said. "You are entitled to your attorney-client files."

Nunn accused Goodwine and Larson of trying to violate Kentucky's rules of professional conduct in handling the files and hinted a conspiracy between the judge and prosecutor.
As corrections officers led Nunn from the courtroom, he had one last comment for Larson.
"I just wanted to say, arrivederci," Nunn said.
Larson didn't flinch, muttering about a popular foreign language learning program.
"Rosetta Stone is alive and well," Larson said.

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Happy Commencement To Many Graduates.


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Thursday, May 30, 2013

Military Chain Of Command For Rape Reporting. Sad.


Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Cal Thomas: We Need To Understand Radical Islam's Goal.

We need to understand radical Islam's goal

Following the hacking death of a British soldier by two alleged Islamic extremists, Prime Minister David Cameron said, “There is nothing in Islam that justifies this truly dreadful act.”
Winston Churchill thought otherwise, but he lived in a time before political correctness ran amok and drew on his personal experiences serving in the Sudan and in the Crimean War.


In his 1899 book “The River War,” Churchill described what he witnessed in countries where Islam ruled: “Individual Moslems may show splendid qualities, but the influence of the religion paralyzes the social development of those who follow it. No stronger retrograde force exists in the world. Far from being moribund, Mohammedanism is a militant and proselytizing faith.”
Churchill said only Christianity had sheltered Europe and were it not for that faith, “the civilization of modern Europe might fall, as fell the civilization of ancient Rome.”

Given the secular condition of modern Europe and the huge influx of radical Muslims, many of whom carry with them earthly agendas, which prime minister is more credible?
One of the men arrested in London spoke of his motivation: “The only reason we have killed this man today is because Muslims are dying daily by British soldiers.”
What Westerners struggle to figure out is how to distinguish Islamists from moderate Muslims and how to recognize the true Islamist when they are taught to deceive us about their radical beliefs.

A documentary released last fall, but largely ignored, might be a useful guide. It’s called “Jihad in America: The Grand Deception.” The film by the Investigative Project on Terrorism, exposes the tangled web of Islamic front groups in America that are backed by the radical Muslim Brotherhood.
The documentary reveals how these groups have penetrated the highest levels of American government and culture. Zuhdi Jasser, who heads the American Islamic Forum for Democracy, says, “Their dream is the creation of an Islamic state ... their strategy in America is to use America’s freedom and liberties in order to achieve that dream.” The same might be said of Britain.
Douglas Farah, former West Africa bureau chief for The Washington Post says, “It doesn’t matter what we say about them. It matters tremendously what they say about themselves and to each other.”

It was what they say about themselves and about their goals that is most revealing. In the film, the late Israr Ahmed of the Islamic Society of North America says: “I find there are only two things which are open to our movements: ballot or bullet, nothing in between.”
In “The Grand Deception,” Amir Abdel Malik Ali of the Islamic Circle of North America, speaking at a 2003 event in Philadelphia said, “Democracy does not equal freedom. No, we do not want to democratize Islam. We want (to) Islamize democracy.”
And Abdur-Rahman Muhammad, a former Muslim militant, offered, “Ultimately the Muslim Brotherhood wants to establish an Islamic state in America. They believe that Western civilization is corrupt, evil, is decadent and they want to dismantle it.”

Former FBI special agent Robert Stauffer headed an investigation in the 1980s of Muslim Brotherhood finances, according to the film’s narrator. Stauffer discovered that the Islamic Society of North America, another Muslim Brotherhood front located outside Plainfield, Ind., had received “Millions and millions of dollars” through its North American Islamic Trust, which, he says, “served as a financial holding company for Muslim Brotherhood-related groups.” The money, he says, was wired into the United States from Islamic countries, including Iran, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Afghanistan, Egypt, Malaysia and Libya.

Much of this was prior to Sept. 11, but given the existence and growth of Muslim student associations on American college campuses (the documentary says there are 40 such groups) and other Muslim organizations, the money must still be available.
The British and Americans can listen to politicians who aid and abet the advance of radical Islam, or they can heed the words of Sayyid Syeed, director of the Islamic Society of North America. Film footage shows Syeed speaking in Chicago in 2006. He said, “Our job is to change the Constitution of America.”

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When Preachers Murder: The Matt Baker Story.

Obama's New Drone Policy.


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Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Florida Judge Makes Important Evidentiary Rulings, Including Denying Defense Request For A Continuance Of The Trial Of George Zimmerman For The Killing Of Trayvon Martin. I Say: Let's Get It On!

George Zimmerman judge: No trial delay in Trayvon Martin shooting

Judge also denies state request for a gag order in the high-profile case.



SANFORD – The George Zimmerman second-degree murder case will proceed to trial June 10, after his judge today denied his defense team's latest request for a delay.
The ruling was among several important decisions by Circuit Judge Debra S. Nelson during a two-hour hearing this morning at the Seminole County Courthouse.

The judge ruled for the state on several key issues: The defense may not bring up Trayvon Martin's past marijuana use at trial, or his school suspensions or alleged participation in fights, without clearing several legal hurdles and another ruling granting permission.
Those rulings come days after Zimmerman's defense team posted online the photos and text messages gathered from Trayvon's phone, including texts about being a fighter, smoking marijuana and being ordered to move out of his home by his mother.
The phone also included photos of what appeared to be marijuana plants and a .40-caliber Smith & Wesson handgun, the defense says.

The attorneys also cannot mention during their opening arguments at trial that the active ingredient of marijuana was found in the teen's system, the judge ruled today. She also denied the state's motion for a gag order in the case.
Zimmerman is charged with second-degree murder in the 17-year-old's shooting Feb. 26, 2012, in Sanford. Zimmerman says he acted in self-defense. His trial is to begin June 10.

The first issue Nelson decided this morning was whether Zimmerman's wife, Shellie Zimmerman, could be forced to participate in a deposition in her husband's case. The judge ruled that she can be, but can also utilize her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination when applicable.
Shellie Zimmerman is charged with perjury, accused of lying about the couple's finances during a bond hearing for her husband.

Nelson also ruled that the jurors in the case will be referred to by number, not name, in order to protect their identities during trial, and the media is not allowed to photograph them.

The jury will not be allowed to visit the shooting scene, as the defense requested. That would be a "logistical nightmare," the judge said, and little would be gained by it.
There are still other issues yet to be decided before trial. Zimmerman was not in court for the hearing today.

One of the most compelling issues the judge must rule on is whether to allow the testimony of a state audio expert, Alan Reich, who says that in the background of a 911 call, he heard Trayvon in distress and in a trembling voice say "I'm begging you," just before the fatal shot.
The judge said today she will listen to argument about whether Reich's work, and the work of other audio experts, meets the necessary scientific standard for admissibility during a hearing June 6.

In a four-page report to prosecutors, Reich wrote that's what he heard after he cleaned up the now-famous 911 call by a neighbor that has screams in the background. He also wrote that Zimmerman was talking like an evangelist or carnival barker and said early in the recording, "These shall be."
Analysts at the FBI tried to identify the voice of the person screaming but gave up, saying the recording was too short and the quality too poor.
Zimmerman defense attorney Mark O'Mara has hired an expert, he said earlier, who will testify that the screams were from Zimmerman.
The attorneys will be in court again on Friday, the judge indicated, to argue about whether the jury should be kept anonymous.

The judge also still must address an allegation from Zimmerman's defense that the state improperly withheld data gathered from Trayvon's phone.
The defense briefly called a witness to testify on that topic today: Wesley White, a former assistant state attorney who worked for the special prosecutor in the case, Angela Corey, before resigning disgruntled last year, according to a Jacksonville.com report.
White said that he contacted O'Mara after finding out prosecutors hadn't turned over data from the phone.

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Obama Wants You.


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Monday, May 27, 2013

Today, On Memorial Day, We Honor Those Who Gave "The Last Measure Of Devotion To Thier Country" So The Country "Conceived In Liberty ... Shall Not Perish From The Earth".


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Just An Oversight!


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Sunday, May 26, 2013

BOB DOLE TELLS THE TRUTH, SO SOMEONE WILL SOON CALL HIM A RINO. WATCH VIDEO.

Saturday, May 25, 2013

JOE BIDEN LOVES BENGHAZI. LOL.


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Friday, May 24, 2013

Federal Judge Rules Maricopa County Sheriff, Joe Arpaio, Racially Profiled Latinos In Arizona Traffic Stops.


Judge finds Ariz. sheriff’s office racially profiles Latinos in immigration patrol

PHOENIX — A federal judge ruled Friday that the office of America’s self-proclaimed toughest sheriff systematically singled out Latinos in its trademark immigration patrols, marking the first finding by a court that the agency racially profiles people.

The 142-page decision by U.S. District Judge Murray Snow in Phoenix backs up allegations that Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s critics have made for years that his officers rely on race in their immigration enforcement.
Snow, whose ruling came more than eight months after a seven-day non-jury trial on the subject, also ruled Arpaio’s deputies unreasonably prolonged the detentions of people who were pulled over.
A small group of Latinos alleged in a lawsuit that Arpaio’s deputies pulled over some vehicles only to make immigration status checks. The group asked Snow to issue injunctions barring the sheriff’s office from discriminatory policing and the judge ruled that more remedies could be ordered in the future.
The sheriff won’t face jail time or fines as a result of the ruling.
The group also accused the sheriff of ordering some immigration patrols not based on reports of crime but rather on letters and emails from Arizonans who complained about people with dark skin congregating in an area or speaking Spanish. The group’s attorneys pointed out that Arpaio sent thank-you notes to some people who wrote the complaints.
The sheriff has repeatedly denied the allegations, saying his deputies only stop people when they think a crime has been committed and that he wasn’t the person who picked the location of the patrols. His lawyers also said there was nothing wrong with the thank-you notes.
The ruling represents a victory for those who pushed the lawsuit. They weren’t seeking money damages but rather a declaration that Arpaio’s office racially profiles and an order that requires it to make policy changes.
Stanley Young, the lead lawyer who argued the case against Arpaio, said he was still reading the decision Friday afternoon but was happy that the court ruled the sheriff violated the constitutional rights of Latinos.
He said the decision contained “very detailed findings of discriminatory intent and effect.”
Young said Snow set a hearing for June 14 where he will hear from the two sides on how to make sure the orders in the ruling are carried out.
“It’s a great day for all the people of Maricopa County,” said Cecillia D. Wang, director of the ACLU Immigrants’ Right Project. “For too long the sheriff has been victimizing the people he’s meant to serve with his discriminatory policy. Today we’re seeing justice for everyone in the county.”
Tim Casey, Arpaio’s lead attorney, declined comment until after reading Snow’s decision.
Arapio, who turns 81 next month, was elected in November to his sixth consecutive term as sheriff in Arizona’s most populous county.
Known for jailing inmates in tents and making prisoners wear pink underwear, Arpaio started doing immigration enforcement six years as Arizona voters grew frustrated with the state’s role as the nation’s busiest illegal entryway.
Snow wrote that “in the absence of further facts that would give rise to reasonable suspicion or probable cause that a violation of either federal criminal law or applicable state law is occurring,” Arpaio’s office now is enjoined from enforcing its policy “on checking the immigration status of people detained without state charges, using Hispanic ancestry or race as any factor in making law enforcement decisions pertaining to whether a person is authorized to be in the country, and unconstitutionally lengthening stops.”
Snow added that “the evidence introduced at trial establishes that, in the past, the MCSO has aggressively protected its right to engage in immigration and immigration-related enforcement operations even when it had no accurate legal basis for doing so.”
The trial that ended Aug. 2 focused on Latinos who were stopped during both routine traffic patrols and special immigration patrols known as “sweeps.”
During the sweeps, deputies flood an area of a city — in some cases, heavily Latino areas — over several days to seek out traffic violators and arrest other offenders. Illegal immigrants accounted for 57 percent of the 1,500 people arrested in the 20 sweeps conducted by his office since January 2008, according to figures provided by Arpaio’s office.
At trial, plaintiffs’ lawyers drew testimony from witnesses who broke down in tears as they described encounters with authorities, saying they were pulled over because they were Hispanic and officers wanted to check their immigration status, not because they had committed an infraction. The sheriff’s attorneys disputed such characterizations, typically working to show that officers had probable cause to stop the drivers based on a traffic violation.
Plaintiffs’ lawyers also presented statistics to show that Latinos are more likely to be stopped on days of immigration patrols and showed emails containing offensive jokes about people of Mexican heritage that were circulated among sheriff’s department employees, including a supervisor in Arpaio’s immigrant smuggling squad.
Defense lawyers disputed the statistical findings and said that officers who circulated offensive jokes were disciplined. They also denied that the complaint letters prompted patrols with a discriminatory motive.
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Jodi Arias' Jury Foreman: "She Was Not A Good Witness." Well ... Duh! She's A PSYCHO Pathological Unrepentant Liar.

Jodi Arias Jury Foreman: '18 Days of Testimony Hurt Her'



The man in charge of the jury that convicted Jodi Arias of murder but could not reach agreement on whether her life should be spared described the process as "gut-wrenching" and said he and his fellow jurors struggled to contain their emotions.
"We couldn't allow ourselves to be emotional on the stand," jury foreman William Zervakos said today on "Good Morning America." "We couldn't allow ourselves to show emotion [but] it was a different story when we got back into the jury room."
Some of the most emotional moments during the five-month trial came over the 18 days when Arias, 32, took the stand and described her relationship with Travis Alexander, the ex-boyfriend whom she was convicted last week of stabbing and shooting to death in 2008.

Arias pled for her life also during the sentencing phase of the trial, but Zervakos says her long stint on the stand didn't help her case, especially when she was cross-examined by the prosecutor.
"I think 18 days hurt her. I think she was not a good witness...I think the way the prosecutor was with her, he's known for an aggressive style. I think it'd be difficult for anybody," Zervakos said. "I don't think I want to sit on the stand for 18 days.
"We're charged with going in presuming innocence, right, but she was on the stand for so long. I don't think it did her any good," Zervakos added. "There were so many contradicting stories."

RELATED: Jodi Arias Could Join Husband Killer, Vigilante Murderer on Death Row

Arias had been branded a liar by the prosecution because she initially denied killing Alexander, then claimed two years later that she killed him in self-defense, citing Alexander's physical and emotional abuse.
 
READ MORE: 9 Most Shocking Moments of the Jodi Arias Trial

Zervakos, for one, believed Arias' story that she was abused in the relationship, but not that she killed Alexander in self-defense.
"I'm very sure in my own mind that she was mentally and verbally abused," he said. "Now is that an excuse? Of course not. Does it factor into the decisions that we make? It has to."
Arias' appearance - from her blonde bombshell look while she was dating Alexander, to the more subdued look she presented in the courtroom with glasses, bangs and dark hair - that captivated the media and the public throughout the trial, seemed to captivate the jurors inside the courtroom as well.

See ABC News' Full Coverage of the Jodi Arias Trial

"When I looked in the courtroom for the first time and looked who the defendant was, it's hard to put that in perspective when you look at a young woman and think of the crime and then think of the brutality of the crime," Zervakos said. "It just doesn't wash so it's very difficult to divest yourself from the personal, from the emotional part of it."

After the jury's hung verdict was read Thursday, leaving the case still open, one juror mouthed, "I'm so sorry," toward Alexander's family and prosecutors.
Zervakos says he and other jurors struggled greatly with seeing Alexander's family every day in the courtroom.
"Until you're face-to-face with people that have gone through something like that, it's something you really can't put into words," he said on "GMA." "I'm six feet away from somebody talking about a horrendous loss. If you can't feel that, then you have no emotion, no soul."

Arias' fate is now left up to the prosecutor, who will decide whether to retry the penalty phase. If he decides to try again for the death penalty, a new jury will be selected and both the prosecution and defense will present evidence and arguments over what sentence Arias should receive.
The retrial, in which Arias can either be sentenced to death or to life in prison, with or without the possibility of parole, would begin July 18.
The prosecutor's office has not yet decided what it plans to do.

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HANS POPPE, Kentucky Lawyer Who Fainted During Jury Trial, Sued For Costs Of Mistrial He Caused.



Read more here.

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How We ALL Should Now See The IRS.


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Thursday, May 23, 2013

Jodi Arias' Penalty Phase Jury Deadlocks Again, Judge Declars Mistrial With New Jury To Begin Anew In July! Watch Video. Incredible!!

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More Fallout From The Trial Of Barren County Sheriff: Glasgow Police Sargent Jessie Barton Placed On Administrative Leave Without Pay For Intentionally Lying To The Grand Jury.

Glasgow Police Sgt. Jessie Barton has been placed on Administrative Leave without pay pending the outcome of an investigation.
The Internal Affairs investigation deals with Sgt. Barton admitting to not telling the truth to investigators during the pre-trial investigation of a case against Barren County Sheriff Chris Eaton and several Deputies.

During the trial Barton took the stand and said he saw Sheriff Eaton punch Billy R. Stinnett in the groin while he was handcuffed.
However, he had previously testified to a grand jury he didn't see this happen. In fact, he said he intentionally lied to the grand jury about the incident.

Barton said law enforcement was like a brotherhood and he didn't want to get anyone in trouble.
The Glasgow Police Department says no other information will be available until this investigation is closed.

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Barren County Sheriff, Chris Eaton, Files Motion To Acquit Or Grant Him New Trial.

Eaton attorney files motion to acquit or grant new trial

The attorney for Barren County Sheriff Chris Eaton filed a motion today requesting that the federal judge who presided over the sheriff's trial for civil rights violations either overturn Eaton's convictions on two counts of witness tampering and grant an acquittal or vacate the convictions and hold a new trial.

A jury found Eaton guilty earlier this month on the witness tampering charges but acquitted him and two others of all other charges stemming from a federal investigation into the 2010 arrest of Billy Stinnett in Barren County.


Guthrie True, the attorney representing Eaton, argues in his motion that the guilty verdicts on witness tampering are not consistent with the jury's conclusion that no criminal conduct occurred to give rise to a suggestion of witness tampering and that Eaton did not prevent the FBI from receiving information in the course of its investigation into Stinnett's arrest.

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Kentucky Supreme Court Suspends Northern Kentucky Lawyer, Eric "Bulldog" Deters, For Misconduct.

Northern Ky attorney Deters suspended for 60 days



— The Kentucky Supreme Court has suspended northern Kentucky attorney Eric C. Deters for 60 days because of misconduct in two civil cases.

The suspension marks the second time the high court has suspended Deters. He was also sanctioned for 61 days in February 2012.
Deters' suspension stems from misstatements he made to a court during a civil case in Campbell County and other misstatements in a libel suit he filed against Kenton County Commonwealth's Attorney Rob Sanders.

Chief Justice John D. Minton wrote in Thursday's opinion that Deters' own conduct in the two cases warranted the suspension and he's not entitled to any credit for any prior suspension.
Minton also ordered Deters to pay $2,450 to cover the costs of the proceedings.

Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/2013/05/23/2650677/northern-ky-attorney-deters-suspended.html#storylink=cpy

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David Adams And TEA Party Win Legal Standing Challenge To His Suit Over Kentucky's Obamacare Health Benefit Insurance Exchange.

Tea party wins round in health care reform lawsuit

The tea party won the first round Thursday in a lawsuit that questions the legality of the Kentucky Health Benefit Exchange that Gov. Steve Beshear set up last year by executive order.
Franklin County Circuit Judge Phillip J. Shepherd refused to dismiss the lawsuit, as had been requested by attorneys for the state.


The state argued unsuccessfully that taxpayers don't have legal standing to challenge the legality of the Kentucky Health Benefits Exchange, which is intended to help uninsured people arrange insurance coverage under the federal health care overhaul.
Tea party activist David Adams said he felt certain that argument would be rejected.
"I found that to be offensive," he said Thursday after learning of Shepherd's decision. "This says the people have the right to question the acts of the governor when the governor is violating the Constitution. It's very simple."
Beshear spokeswoman Kerri Richardson said she'd issue a statement later Thursday.

Adams filed the lawsuit last month, claiming Beshear created the exchange without necessary legislative approval. Adams wants Shepherd to order work on the exchange to cease.
In court earlier this week, attorneys for Beshear and the tea party argued over whether taxpayers had legal standing to challenge the health benefit exchange, prompting a pointed question from Shepherd that may have foreshadowed his ruling.

"I'm just wondering here," Shepherd said, "if they don't have standing, who does?"
Tea party activists in Kentucky have been sharply critical of Beshear's decision to operate a state health insurance exchange, saying taxpayers are picking up the bill for an unnecessary government entity. Beshear administration attorney Patrick Hughes said the lawsuit is essentially an improper attempt to use the court system to address "a purely political question."

Kentucky is one of 17 states that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has approved to build their own exchanges to provide one-stop shopping for health insurance. Open enrollment begins Oct. 1, and the exchange starts operation next Jan. 1. Some 21 states have declined to set up exchanges, which means federal authorities will set up and operate the new insurance marketplaces for them.
Startup costs for the Kentucky exchange are being covered by federal grants, but the state will be responsible for all funding beginning in 2015. Kentucky has already received $252 million from the federal government to set up the exchange.

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Former Bath County Attorney, Donald "champ" Maze, Treated Like A "Chump" By Kentucky Supreme Court And Disbarred For Vote Buying.

Former county attorney disbarred over vote buying

A former county attorney from northeast Kentucky was disbarred Thursday for paying voters to cast ballots for him in a 2006 election and then lying about it to a grand jury.
The Kentucky Supreme Court found that one-time Bath County Attorney Donald A. "Champ" Maze's conduct proved so egregious, he should be permanently banned from practicing law, even though he had no prior disciplinary record.


Chief Justice John D. Minton, writing for the court's majority, said Maze abused a position of power and trust by using his office to corrupt both the voting process and the judicial system.
"Any layperson should know better, and so much more should a lawyer with over 20 years of experience, 12 of which included prosecuting criminals as the County Attorney," Minton wrote.
The punishment goes beyond the five-year suspension recommended by the Kentucky Bar Association's Board of Governors. Justice Will T. Scott, in a rare dissent in an attorney discipline case, said the five-year ban would have been a just punishment.
Scott noted that Maze hasn't practiced law in five years and another suspension of that length would keep him out of the legal business for a decade. That's more than enough time to protect the public should Maze fail to "adequately redeem his character" before applying for readmission to the bar, Scott wrote.
"I simply do not think that the only way to provide these safeguards, at this time, is to forever strip him of his law license," he wrote.

Maze served 21 months in federal prison. He pleaded guilty on the eve of trial in 2007 to paying five voters to cast ballots for him as he sought to return to the county attorney's job in 2006. Prior to that, Maze served three terms as Bath County Attorney before losing re-election in 2002.
Since being released from prison in January 2009, Maze has worked at a job selling cars and has not sought reinstatement to practice law.

Maze admitted to paying five voters during the election, but said he did so only after other candidates continued to pay voters after he complained about it to Kentucky State Police. He later denied paying voters in front of a federal grand jury.
After being indicted, Maze pulled together lists of prospective jurors in his case, then a list of the 14 people empaneled to hear his case. The Bar Association's Governors concluded that the list was compiled with the intent of intimidating jurors or tampering with the panel. Maze later denied knowing the lists would be put to use to intimidate jurors, even though one juror's employer received a call from a friend of Maze's. Minton found Maze's denial unconvincing.

"The court is also especially troubled by the fact that Maze never fully accepts sole responsibility for his actions and never expressed legitimate remorse for his conduct," Minton wrote.
Scott, joined by Justice Michelle Keller, said others in similar situations have rehabilitated themselves, including former U.S. Rep. Caroll Hubbard, who served two years in federal prison for campaign-finance violations, but was later readmitted to practice law.
"However, it is my contention that (Maze) deserves the same chance," Scott wrote. "Hope is an eternal beacon."

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Deceased Boston Marathon Bomber, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, Participated In 2011 Triple Homicide With Chechen, Ibragim Todashev(Who Was Just Shot Dead By An FBI Agent), Over A Drug Deal Gone Bad. Watch Video And Read More.

Watch news video below:



and read more here, and below:

Deceased Boston Marathon bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev participated in a 2011 gruesome triple homicide outside Boston along with a Chechen killed early Wednesday during a confrontation with the FBI and Massachusetts State Police in Orlando, Florida, a federal law enforcement official told CNN.

Ibragim Todashev, who died during the interview with authorities, not only confessed to his direct role in slashing the throats of three people in Waltham, Massachusetts, but also fingered Tsarnaev in the deaths, the official said Wednesday.
Todashev was being questioned about the slayings and his acquaintance with Tsarnaev.
Todashev attacked an FBI agent, who shot him dead, a federal law enforcement official with direct knowledge of the case told CNN.
Police: Man linked to Tsarnaev shot
"He used some kind of weapon," the official said, and that prompted the FBI agent to shoot the suspect.

A second law enforcement official confirmed Todashev made the confession.
The unsolved triple murder received renewed interest after it was learned that Tsarnaev had been a good friend of one of the Waltham victims.
Todashev told investigators the men were killed during a drug ripoff because he and Tsarnaev were afraid they would be able to identify them and tell police what happened, according to a law enforcement source.

So far, no link has been found between Todashev and the Boston Marathon bombings. However, the FBI is looking into the many connections between Todashev and Tsarnaev, whose radicalization allegedly led to the Boston bombings.
A federal law enforcement official has told CNN they were initially led to Todashev because they learned he knew Tsarnaev and his younger brother, Dzhokhar. They also said cell phone records connected Tamerlan and Todashev.
Todashev was being interviewed in the kitchen of his Florida home. He grabbed a knife, which is why fatal force was used, according to a source briefed on the ongoing investigation.
"Preliminary information indicates the agent took actions to defend himself," said a federal law enforcement official with direct knowledge of the case.
"The agent sustained non-life-threatening injuries," FBI spokesman Jason Pack said.

Investigators are awaiting test results to determine whether Todashev's DNA was found at the Massachusetts triple murder scene and whether the DNA of Tamerlan Tsarnaev also was found there.
Todashev and Tsarnaev were acquainted through a mixed martial arts center near Boston, said a source briefed on the bombing investigation.
In Orlando, an FBI team is reviewing the circumstances of the shooting, a procedure that follows any FBI shooting.

Todashev had an impending flight from Orlando, via New York and Moscow, to Chechnya, when investigators sought to interview him, according to a source briefed on the ongoing investigation. He was told not to take the flight, the source said.
Details emerged Wednesday about how Todashev had Tsarnaev's phone number in his cell phone, said the source.
Both men were members of the mixed martial arts forum Sherdog.com, along with Russian-Canadian boxer-turned-jihadist William Plotnikov, the source said.
Last month, CNN reported that Plotnikov and six others died in a July 2012 firefight with Russian forces in the southwestern republic of Dagestan, while Tsarnaev was visiting the region, according to a source briefed on the investigation.
Todashev, 27, knew Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, also a suspect in the April 15 bombings, the official said. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, injured and captured after a manhunt, is being held by authorities. His brother died in a shootout with police.

Todashev was from the Chechnya region, as were the Tsarnaev brothers, the source said.
Todashev was granted political asylum in 2008, but he came to the United States some time before that, a federal law enforcement official told CNN. Todashev had been living in the United States as a legal resident because of that asylum claim.

In the 2011 Massachusetts triple homicide, the Middlesex County district attorney's office said at the time that the victims and two unknown perpetrators appeared to know each other and that it was not a random crime. No suspects were named then.


A source said that the FBI had been investigating Todashev for about a month.
The FBI had followed Todashev for days, his friend told CNN affiliate Central Florida News 13.
Todashev "wasn't like real close friends (with Tsarnaev), but he just happened to know him," Khasuen Taramov told the TV station. "But he had no idea that they were up to something like that, like bombings and everything, you know what I mean?"
He told CNN affiliate WESH that Todashev and Tsarnaev had spoken by telephone about a month before the bombings.
"It was a complete shock to him," Taramov said.

The two met a couple years ago in Boston, where Todashev had lived and where there is a small, close-knit community of Chechens, said Taramov.
Their telephone conversation before the bombings contained nothing but routine pleasantries, he said. "It was 'How are you doing; how's your family?' That's all."
Taramov said he himself was questioned by the FBI for three hours Tuesday night. Asked what he was asked, Taramov said, "Different kind of questions like 'what do you think about bombings,' 'do you know these guys,' blah blah blah, what is my views on certain stuff."

He said Todashev was not a radical. "He was just a Muslim. That was his mistake, I guess."
Taramov said his friend had told him he had a bad feeling about the direction the investigation was heading.
"He felt like there's going to be a setup ... bad setup against him. Because he told me, 'They are making up such crazy stuff, I don't know ... why they doing it. OK, I'm answering the questions, but they are still making up some, like, connections, some crazy stuff. I don't know why they are doing it.' "

Before meeting with the FBI for a 7:30 p.m. interview Tuesday, Taramov said, his friend asked him to take his parents' telephone numbers. "He just told me, 'Take the numbers, in case something happens, if I get locked up, or whatever, call them.' You know what I mean?
"We were expecting to get him locked up, but not getting him killed. I can't believe it."
Todashev was unemployed and had been living on insurance money he received after surgery for an accident. "He used to be a fighter, MMA fighter," Taramov said, in a reference to mixed martial arts.
Todashev was arrested this month on a charge of aggravated battery after getting into a fight over a parking spot with a man and his son outside an Orlando mall. The son was taken to a hospital with head injuries, a split upper lip and several teeth knocked out of place, the Orange County Sheriff's Office said in a report.
"Todashev said he was only fighting to protect his knee because he had surgery in March," the report said. He told the police that he was a former mixed martial arts fighter, it said.
Todashev, described as 5-foot-9 and 160 pounds, was released on $3,500 bond.

Asked about the incident, Taramov downplayed it. "He had a fight in the parking lot, the two guys jumped on him ... pretty much he just defended himself against two," he told WESH. "The only mistake: he did kick their ass and left."
Todashev had recently gotten his green card and had been planning to visit his parents in Chechnya and then return to the United States, but canceled the plans, Taramov said.
Now, he added, he was planning to call his friend's parents.

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How Conservatives See The IRS.


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Wednesday, May 22, 2013

We Congratulate The Former Kelli Stice, Now Kelli Brooks, On Becoming Principal At W. R. Mcneill Elementary School. A Great Choice.

Brooks named principal at McNeill Elementary

Six years ago, Kelli Brooks, a first-grade teacher at McNeill Elementary School, set a goal to become principal someday.
"I had stellar examples of leadership all around me," she said. "In the classroom with students, sitting back watching them, I wanted to be able to reach out even more."

Brooks achieved her goal today when she was named principal of McNeill. She will begin her responsibilities July 1, replacing current principal Marsha Ingram, who is retiring.
"I appreciate the confidence you've put in me," Brooks told the school's principal selection committee. "For 16 years, I've worked in the best school. I truly believe that. We're a great school, but we're going to be amazing. But I need help from all of you."

She said she's thrilled to be named principal at McNeill, where she did her student teaching 18 years ago and has been a faculty member for 16 years. "I've never wanted to be anywhere else," she said.
Brooks said she loves the sense of school pride, community involvement and the commitment to excellence at McNeill.
"I just want us to build on that excellence and get parents more involved," she said.

She has a bachelor's degree in early childhood education, a master's degree and a Rank 1 in educational administration, all from Western Kentucky University. She was named the 2006 Kentucky elementary school teacher of the year.

Ingram said there's no doubt in her mind that Brooks will do an outstanding job as principal.
"I could not be any more happy than I am today," Ingram said. "She already knows the students. She's an outstanding teacher. She was elementary school teacher of the year. She gets along with everyone. I can retire happy now, knowing that my babies are in good hands."

Rebecca Simpson, a parent representative on the principal selection committee, said Brooks met or exceeded all of the criteria the committee had for the position. Simpson was excited to offer Brooks the opportunity because she has enthusiasm and achieves excellence in everything she does.
"She's been an exceptional teacher in this school," Simpson said. "She's demonstrated the ability to be a communicator."

Bowling Green Independent Schools Superintendent Joe Tinius said Brooks is a great fit as principal because she's visible in the school, has a strong knowledge of elementary curriculum, is a good communicator and has demonstrated a strong commitment to McNeill for 16 years.
"I think Mrs. Brooks has all the qualities of an outstanding principal. ... I believe she will look after the children of McNeill as she does her own child," Tinius said.
He introduced Brooks to the students during a morning assembly at the school.
"I know I've got very big shoes to fill because hasn't Miss Ingram been a wonderful principal?" Brooks told students. "I need your help to make McNeill the best school in the world."

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Richard Milhous Obama? You Don't Say!


He’s compared himself to Abraham Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt, evoked nostalgia for John F. Kennedy, sought to emulate Ronald Reagan, (belatedly) praised George W. Bush, and enlisted the assistance of Bill Clinton in his 2012 re-election effort, but as his second term stumbles along, the president with whom Barack Obama finds himself being compared is Richard M. Nixon.
My father, Lou Cannon, covered the White House with distinction for the Washington Post for many years, beginning in the Nixon administration. He employed an easy rule of thumb when fielding phone calls from anonymous tipsters:
If the caller said, “I have a story that will make Watergate look like a picnic,” Dad would hang up on him.

In the past week, Nixon’s name has been invoked often, and not in a way that pleases the current president or his loyalists. Unless it’s a reference to his dramatic 1972 visit to China, Nixon is not the president any of his successors enjoy being likened to -- especially when the suffix “gate” is attached to it.
Barack Obama was only 13 years old when Nixon resigned from office one step ahead of the posse. This is old enough to know that correlations between himself and the 37th president should be contested, which Obama has done.
“I’ll let you guys engage in those comparisons,” he replied when asked at a rainy Rose Garden appearance Thursday how he felt about the Nixon parallel. “You can go ahead and read the history, I think, and draw your own conclusions.”
This response echoed language employed earlier in the week by Obama’s spokesman, Jay Carney. “I can tell you,” the White House press secretary told reporters, “that the people who make those kinds of comparisons need to check their history.”

Fair enough. Carney was a colleague of mine in the White House press corps during the Bill Clinton and George W. Bush years, and he summoned a pretty good institutional memory about the beat. Nixon’s presidency unraveled on the shoals of widespread criminality with no precedent in American politics. So, yes -- by all means, let’s leave Watergate out of it.
Yet, I can’t help but think that Nixon and Obama have more in common than either man’s devotees might imagine.

Richard Milhous Nixon was thin-skinned, felt persecuted by the opposition party, had a penchant for classifying political adversaries -- and journalists -- as “enemies,” and tried to control his image so fiercely that, ultimately, zealous aides committed illegal acts to further his re-election.
But even before that had happened -- and before Nixon himself began directing a coverup -- truth had become a casualty of his administration. This is the parallel between Richard Nixon and Barack Obama.

No evidence has been unearthed connecting Obama, or anyone under his direction, to illicit activities. But the absence of criminality isn’t the only test here. Nixon’s “enemies,” at least in his mind, also included vast swaths of the Fourth Estate. That apparently is how the current president operates, too.

Barack Obama often displays contempt for the proper role of news-gatherers and, by extension, for the value of reporting that seeks to be unbiased. Often, officials in his White House or re-election campaign seem uncomprehending of the concept of straight reporting.
In their Manichean world, there are liberal news organizations (good) and conservative outlets (bad). Some of the news business does work this way -- more than when Nixon was president, for sure -- but what Obama and his political advisers and White House press handlers have done is graft their own hyper-partisanship onto the media.

In the Obama administration, it’s not uncommon for a White House press official to scream profanely over the phone at journalists whose stories they dislike, plant questions from friendly media outlets, and deny access to briefings to reporters who ask tough questions. This administration has aggressively used the Justice Department to ferret out news leaks, declared open season on a media organization out of sync with his philosophy (Fox News), and routinely questioned the professionalism of reporters and the patriotism of the opposition political party. That disquieting sound you hear is an echo from the Nixon years.

And though the current administration’s evasions about last September’s attacks in Benghazi, the partisan 2010-2012 activities by IRS, and the unprecedented scope of the Justice Department’s snooping into Associated Press phone records are all unrelated controversies, there is a common thread.
Those who work for this president have a fetish for stage managing the news. They never simply trust the facts; or maybe a better way of saying it is that they don’t trust the American people to be able to handle the facts. Washington has been consumed in recent weeks about who, exactly, massaged the administration’s “talking points” on Benghazi.

The underlying problem is that there were talking points at all. The phrase was popularized in the 1970s in the State Department. Originally the practice ensured that government officials were employing the precise, but opaque, language required in the field of international diplomacy. But the phrase soon migrated to politics, where it meant something quite different: Talking points were the lines of the day to be employed in interviews by partisan political operatives either to defend their position or attack the other side.

Benghazi represents the merging of two uses of the term. Four government officials were killed and a U.S. facility was attacked. Yes, some Republicans wanted to use that for partisan gain, but most Americans simply wanted to know what happened, and why. They still have not been told.
All politics is local, famed Democratic Speaker of the House Tip O’Neill is known for saying. Under Obama, all foreign affairs is domestic politics.

Concerning the IRS scandal, there is no evidence that Obama unleashed tax collectors on opponents, as Nixon did. But after years of comparing congressional Republicans to terrorists and hostage-takers, and characterizing the Tea Party as racists and extremists, what message did the president or the leaders of his party think they were sending IRS managers?

Obama is never content to simply say he thinks he can show how wrong-headed Republicans are about the federal budget. No, he says they should put “country ahead of party,” thereby suggesting they are deliberately hurting the economy to hurt him.

This, too, is Nixonland.
On June 29, 1972, Nixon was talking to Henry Kissinger in a taped conversation about the Democratic Party platform. “These people are so revolting that they have to be smashed,” Nixon tells his national security adviser.
“I don’t mean just beat them,” Nixon adds. “It’s good to beat them. But I mean smashed. They must be, they must be, disgraced, driven right out of public life.”

No tapes are available to know how Obama speaks about Republicans in private. But tonally, he’s not that much different from Nixon when speaking in public. Last week, even after the Benghazi, IRS, and AP controversies crested on the White House steps, Obama found time to blame Republicans at a New York fundraiser.
“What’s blocking us right now is a sort of hyper-partisanship in Washington that I was, frankly, hoping to overcome in 2008,” the president said. “My thinking was when we beat them in 2012, that might break the fever, and it’s not quite broken yet. But I am persistent. And I am staying at it. … If there are folks who are more interested in winning elections than they are thinking about the next generation, then I want to make sure there are consequences to that.”

Get all that? The Republicans don’t merely have a difference of opinion with the president. They are rabid, and craven, and willing to sacrifice their own children’s futures to win elections. This Nixon-esque attitude constitutes a toxic brew: whining, boasting, and name-calling all overlaid with persecution-complex and a profound contempt for his opponents -- along with a determination to make them pay.

Like Nixon, Obama also fancies himself a press critic. Although the man received press coverage in 2008 and 2012 that Nixon would have killed for, there are considerable irritants out there, including radioman Rush Limbaugh, but primarily Fox News, which Obama and his aides have attempted to delegitimize by name.

In so doing, Obama has actually gone places in public Nixon only dared go in private.
As I write this piece, I am looking at a memo written on July 30, 1972, by President Nixon to White House Chief of Staff Bob Haldeman. That morning, The Washington Post had published a story by Lou Cannon headlined “Nixon Running Scared.”
That article apparently got under Nixon’s skin. His memo to Haldeman runs for three pages. His premise is that the Washington Post “is totally against us.” Making no allowance for the possibility of objective reporting, Nixon starts by telling his top adviser that he understands campaign aides must deal with “media representatives that we know are antagonistic to us.”

Nixon’s second point is that they should not “waste time” with such outlets at the expense of “turning down interviews with media representatives who are our friends.” This seems to be to a false choice, but Nixon -- who would win re-election in 1972 in a landslide -- is just warming to his main point:
“Third, even when our most intelligent people are meeting with people like Cannon they must constantly keep in mind that they are confronting a political enemy and that everything they say will, therefore, be used against us.”

We don’t know if Obama or his minions also keep enemies lists, if only in their heads. But we do know that they view the media with the same with-us-or-against-us mentality that Nixon fostered. And though that attitude can help win elections, it surely impedes good governance.
Richard Nixon thought liberals were out to get him. Guess what? Many of them were. Likewise, Barack Obama thinks the Republicans want him to fail in office. Many of them do. But it’s a poor excuse for bad behavior. 

Read more here.

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Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Richie Farmer's Saga Continues, As His Sister Resigns Her Post At Kentucky Registry Of Election Finance.

Richie Farmer's sister resigns post at Kentucky Registry of Election Finance

FRANKFORT, KY. — Rhonda Monroe, the sister of former Agriculture Commissioner Richie Farmer, has resigned as assistant executive director of the Kentucky Registry of Election Finance.
Monroe was placed on paid leave by the registry on March 19 — a day after she and Farmer were charged by the Executive Branch Ethics Commission with filing false documents that allowed Farmer to claim excess expenses from his 2007 re-election campaign fund.

Records obtained by The Courier-Journal Tuesday in response to an Open Records Act request show that Monroe submitted her resignation May 15 and it was effective the following day.
In her letter to registry Executive Director Sarah Jackson and Chairman Craig Dilger, Monroe said, “To follow up on previous communications, I am writing to provide my formal resignation.”
Monroe, who had been at the Registry since January 2005, did not give a reason in the letter for her resigning the $77,931-per-year job. And she said in the letter, “While this break in service may be necessary at this time, I remain hopeful of future opportunities for similar personal and professional advancement.”
Jackson responded with a letter telling Monroe her resignation was “accepted ... due to a pending investigation into alleged misconduct.”
Monroe’s attorney, James Deckard, did not return phone messages Tuesday.

In March the ethics commission charged Monroe with three counts, and Farmer with a record 42 counts, of violating the state ethics code. If later found guilty by the commission, each count is punishable by a fine of up to $5,000.
Farmer’s charges allege a broad range of instances where the commission alleges he put his personal interests above the public interest during his 2004-11 tenure as state agriculture commissioner. Since his ethics charges, Farmer has been indicted by a federal grand jury on four counts of misappropriating funds and one count of soliciting a bribe. He has pleaded not guilty.

The three ethics counts against Monroe alleged she used her position as a high-ranking state campaign finance official to help her brother tap his 2007 re-election campaign fund with phony expense claims.
The charges allege Monroe provided her brother with receipts for her own personal expenses and then guided him on how to submit them to his campaign for reimbursement. The charges also allege she later helped him deceive auditors from the agency where she worked by drafting a misleading letter that her brother gave the auditors.

The ethics charges prompted the registry to place Monroe on leave while its attorney conducted its own investigation of the matter. Dilger said the investigative report was to be completed before the end of May. With Monroe’s continued employment at the registry no longer an issue, Dilger said the report’s focus will shift to whether policies and practices of the registry need to be strengthened.

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PSYCHO Jodi Arias Pleads For Her Life! I Thought The Psycho Wanted The Death Penalty. Well, Let's Make Sure She Gets It!!

 

Jodi Arias pleads for a life sentence

Arias awaits sentencing for first-degree murder in Phoenix.

Jodi Arias, who said after her murder conviction she would prefer the death penalty to life imprisonment, stood before the jury Tuesday and pleaded for her life, asking them not to punish her family for her actions.
She also referred to the family of her victim, onetime lover Travis Alexander, saying, "I never meant to cause them pain."

Arias, 32, was found guilty May 8 of first-degree murder for the 2008 slaying of Alexander, 30, who was found dead in his suburban Mesa, Ariz., home. He had been shot in the head and stabbed nearly 30 times, and his throat was slit.
Arias said she killed Alexander, her secret lover, in self-defense; the jury thought otherwise.
Last week, the jury determined that the murder was committed in an "especially cruel manner," making Arias eligible for the death penalty. They heard tearful comments from Alexander's brother and sister as they described how his killing has torn their lives apart.

Arias' plea for a life sentence Tuesday was a reversal from remarks she made to a TV reporters shortly after her conviction, when she said she preferred the death penalty over a life in prison.
"Each time I said that, I meant it, but I Iacked perspective," the former waitress said. "Until very recently, I could not imagine standing before you and asking you go give me life."
She changed her mind, she said, to avoid bringing more pain to her family, who were in the courtroom.
"I cannot in good conscience ask you to sentence me to death, because of them," Arias said, pointing to the family members, including her father. "I think death is tantamount to suicide. Either way, I will spend the rest of my life in prison. It will either be shortened, or not. If it is shortened, the people who will be hurt is my family. I am asking, please, please, don't do that to them."

The judge in Phoenix instructed jurors they can consider a handful of factors when deciding what sentence to recommend, including the fact that Arias has no previous criminal record.
Arias, wearing glasses, looked at the jury from time to time, but largely read from notes on a sheaf of papers she clutched in her hand. At other times, she referred to photos on a screen to her left, mainly of family members.

At one point, she held up a white T-shirt with the word "survivor" written across it, telling the jurors that she would sell the clothing and donate all proceeds to victims of domestic abuse.
At one point in her remarks, Arias said she regretted how her trial, which drew national attention, had become a spectacle. She said she especially regretted testifying to the "darker elements" of her relationship with Alexander.
"It has never been my intention to malign his name or character," she said. "In fact, it was a goal of mine to protect his reputation."
"To this day, I can hardly believe that I was capable of such violence, but I know that I was," Arias said. "And for that, I am going to be sorry for the rest of my life. Probably longer."

Editor's comment: Just in case you've forgotten how we got here, watch videos below:

What the PSYCHO claimed happened:




She begs for her life:


Other videos you might want to watch:





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How Liberals See IRS' Gestapo Like Tactics Against The TEA Party Conservatives.


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Monday, May 20, 2013

Three Of Richie Farmer's Former Employees Settle Kentucky Ethics Charges Against Them.

Three former agriculture employees settle ethics charges

FRANKFORT — Three former state agriculture employees agreed Monday to pay a total of $15,500 in fines to settle ethics charges that stemmed from their employment under former Agriculture Commissioner Richie Farmer.
In March, the Executive Branch Ethics Commission issued 42 ethics charges against Farmer, who was commissioner from 2004 to 2011. In addition, the commission charged six other former agriculture department employees and Farmer’s sister, Rhonda Monroe, an assistant director for the Kentucky Registry of Election Finance.
On Monday, the commission announced settlements with three of the former agriculture employees: Bruce Harper, George “Doug” Begley and Chris Parsons.

The ethics charges against Farmer, Monroe and former agriculture employees William E. Mobley, Steven Mobley and Stephanie L. Sandmann are still pending, said John Steffen, executive director of the Executive Branch Ethics Commission.
Farmer also faces federal criminal charges for allegedly misusing more than $450,000 in taxpayer funds during his tenure as the state’s top agriculture official. One of the charges against Farmer alleges that he gave plum gigs to friends who had to perform little or no work. William E. Mobley and Stephanie Sandmann, Farmer’s girlfriend, are mentioned in the federal indictment by their initials.

Bruce Harper, a deputy commissioner under Farmer, was accused by the ethics commission of soliciting funds for a 2008 agriculture convention from organizations that the Department of Agriculture regulated, and of interfering with state business by directing agriculture employees to probate a $250 fine for a farmer who had violated the state’s dead animal disposal laws. He also was accused of directing an employee to not deposit a $3,000 penalty check from a grain dealer, who was a political contributor.

In his settlement, Harper acknowledged that he violated state ethics rules and agreed to pay a $4,500 fine. Harper no longer works for the department.
George “Doug” Begley, who inspected amusement rides for the state, also acknowledged that he broke ethics rules and agreed to pay a $6,500 fine. According to the ethics panel, Begley falsely claimed time that he never worked, misused his state vehicle and performed work for his private logging business while on state time.
Chris Parsons, who was employed in the Office of State Veterinarian, agreed to pay a $5,000 fine and admitted that he lied about inspecting stockyards and grocery store scales, falsified time sheets and used his state-issued gas card to purchase gas for his personal use.
Harper has already paid his $4,500 fine. Begley and Parsons have until June 28 to pay their fines.

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