Arias Case: New Juror's twitter accounts will be monitered!

Yet another bizarre effect that the tech- age is having on the criminal judicial system.
Chasing Justice will give you updates on the upcoming second sentencing trial of Jodi Arias, convicted murderess of Travis Alexander.

As most of you know Arias was convicted of the brutal murder of her ex boyfriend last year , but the Jury became hung" during the sentencing phase, the portion of the trial where the sentence is decided amongst the jurors. The case was clearly pre-meditated, in fact some of I was caught on camera as Arias accidently took some photos whilst holding Travis's camera with one hand and dragging his bloodied body into the shower.

Police later retrieved the camera and the memory card with a plethora of photos intact after arias  tried to put the camera through her victims washing Machine.

According to Arizona law when a Jury becomes deadlocked on a convicted persons sentence, a mini mistrial of sorts is declared on the Sentencing portion only, thankfully sparing everyone involved the pain and expense of an entire new trial which is the case in many other States.

Arias's trial was lengthy and her defense carried on quite a show trying to depict her as a battered woman who " snapped" .

This theory was largely debunked by Arias's own words in Television interviews as well as mountains of evidence supporting pre meditated murder provoked by jealous rage. She and Travis Alexander had dated a short time, but the relationship was extremely volatile and several incidents of Arias stalking Travis after he had begun dating another woman were related to the Police and the Jury during thetrial.

The stalking evolved into destructive law breaking such as slashing her ex beau's tires on two spearte occasions. Despite the obvious instability of Ms. Arias Travis Alexander made the same mistake many women who are involved with predators do; he continued and on again off again sexual relationship which ultimately was his undoing.
After an afternoon of sexual romping Jodi Arias began snapping photos of Travis taking a shower, the photos were retrieved from the washer days later when Alexanders friends found his body stuffed nto his shower stall.
He had been stabbed almost 20 times was shot in the face and his throat was cut from ear to ear from behind.

Arias originally denied being anywhere near Travs's home on the day of the murder eventually admitting she was there once confronted with the photographic and DNA evidence.

Naturally she now claimed it was self defense although could not explain the furious overkill of 20 stab wounds a gunshot to the head and the horrific throat slashing.

The nation has its eyes trained upon The Jodi Arias Trial it was one of the most highly covered cases in the past 15 years. Arias was and is clearly a sociopath as well as a borderline Personality disorder.

While society is used to seeing these disorders in male murderers, unfortunately especially for Travis alexander, it is not largely understood that these oft times violent personality disorders also affect woman, who can be as dangerous or perhaps more so especially when they are attractive and or have a demure affectation. And the word affectation is key here; Sociopaths and other serious Personality disordered persons are expert manipulators; they can be charming persuasive and more often than not articulate and intelligent. This is what makes them so dangerous; people do not want to believe that they are capable of acts of brutal violence and the consequential cover-up of such acts.

Twitter Accounts of New Jurors in Arias Case will be monitored

FBI Sex Trafficking Raid Saves over 100 Children 150 Arrests Made

                                     Story at HuffPost regarding Operation " Cross Country "



This FBI  operation is an excellent  start and while I am very happy for these rescued victims, much more needs to be done across the Country.

From what I have read, this sting was one of a Government operation called "Innocence Lost"  focused on putting a crimp in the sex trafficking business, with the emphasis on saving children, teens and young adults who are tragically the bread and butter of these particular sex crimes.

Many of these victims are thrust into the nightmare of forced prostitution via coercion from pimps who might  first play the concerned adult friend to a  naive runaway.

These "pimps" are often white, as you can see in the arrest photos attached to the link. The pimps may work alone, but many are part of larger criminal organizations that ultimately make millions from the exploitation, pain and misery of runaways and kidnapped children and teenagers.


Let's hope that this project is only the beginning of a long overdue Government assault on the atrocity of "sex trafficking."

As is often the case, the term "sex trafficking" itself is far too benign for what these crimes truly are, and what they involve on a day to day basis. This is organized purposeful rape often of  our nations most vulnerable youth -  huge sums of money being made from  brainwashing beating torture and
The Government the media and even society has a way of  using words that cleanse and make more palatable certain violent crimes,  dehumanizing them in the process which serves to invalidate the pain and suffering that the victims of these crimes endure often for years.

In some cases, this niceified nomenclature is done unwittingly ( ie without malicious purpose) but nonetheless, it contributes to an overall perception that ultimately robs these crimes of their actual grotesque nature. Secondarily, this whitewashed terminology plays down the evil and callousness committed by the perpetrators.


In the meantime, as individuals and communities,  we would do well to understand that raids such as "Operation Cross Country"  need to be organized and executed as steadfastly as the sex trafficking industry grows.

As individuals and communities we must aggressively support ongoing projects such as " Operation Cross Country." This was a herculean effort by the FBI and participating law enforcement agencies:

The Operation saved one hundred  lives -almost all of them very young lives - Lives, otherwise doomed to a hellish existence.

In order to gain some insight click on the Huff Post Link above and watch the posted videos included in their piece. This should help the average person comprehend the common question "why didn't the teenagers/ children simply run away" ie from their pimps, the forced prostitution etc

The article also helps opens eyes to the emotional and physical scars that these crimes leave upon their victims. No matter how much time passes there is a shame that accompanies being victimized by crimes like these.

Just like any other victim of violent crime, these victims are going to need a great deal of therapeutic assistance and support from their families and their communities in order to heal and re-integrate into society. This is where Social services is usually not enough and the Private Sector needs to stand up and step in.

These are our children. they are being victimized by the hundreds of thousands and they will need a lot of help to recover from the crimes besot upon them.

This is made more complicated by the fact that many of these victims were children or teens originally running away from physical and/or sexual abuse at home. This is not to say that every runaway was abused; certainly a smaller portion ran away over more standard adolescent/parental discord. However social service agencies and other peripheral agencies need to be extremely cautious in not sending a at risk teenage or the now young adult victim of sex crimes back into an abusive environment - or even under the influence of a familial would be predator/abuser.

The terrible  reality is that forced prostitution and sex trafficking is a booming illegal business in this Country and many others.. Sickeningly, the sexual demand for children and young teens never abates - it is a constant. We have actresses actors and other such stars walking carpets for breast cancer Aids and a myriad of other worthy causes, lets give equal time to this rapidly growing horror show.

Branford Mant Recieves only Ten Years for Crippling Baseball Bat Assault

When  read this Article in The New Haven Register I was angry, but sadly not surprised.

This sad outcome is the result of simply another  inappropriate" Plea deal" where the perpetrator winds up with far less prison time than the law allows and indeed dictates, for the violent crime (s) he committed.

In this case, a terribly brutal assault  has rendered a man handicapped for life.  The victim is and/was at the time of the assault, an former New Haven Police officer.

The man responsible has served two years since the crime occurred and thus this leaves him with 8 more years to serve in theory;

 However, being more than somewhat familiar with this States " Early release programs" and   time off for ' good behavior" the norm often winds up with an inmates released into halfway houses at about the halfway mark of their actual sentences. This time in the halfway house is technically considered part of their prison sentence despite the fact that the inmate is typically free to come and go to work etc while living in these state paid halfway houses..

When one read about the savagery of the attack and the injuries that this assailant inflicted upon this victim, it is a miracle that this victim survived. In fact this easily could have warranted an attempted murder charge considering half of this poor man's skull was missing as a result of this baseball bat beating.

This makes the fact that the assault one charge was ultimately dropped to a lower charge with a lower corresponding sentence - even more infuriating and unacceptable.  The physical emotional and financial cost to the victim and his family have been  monumental.

Adding insult to injury to the victim and his family is the inordinate amount of time that it has taken to adjudicate this case.

The assault occurred over two years ago in 2011.

Its not as if the case went to trial thus necessitating the infamously time consuming States Individual  Voire dire Jury selection process-  -  This case was "Plea Dealed" which means it's simply been dragging on in the court with continuances i.e. requests for more time by the lawyer and/ or prosecutor which occur at so called " hearings" that typically are rescheduled  4 - 8 weeks apart.

Plea deals for those not familiar are where the charges are dropped to less serious charges in exchange for the defendant's guilty plea albeit to charges crimes that are watered down versions of what they actually committed. Ie This assault one which carried a 20 year possible sentence wound up and assault 2 more than likely.  This is standard operating procedure for Connecticut courts with approximately 97 percent of all crimes thus adjudicated.

The original concept of the plea bargain was that the defendant pleads guilty to what he or she has done and only by doing so takes accountability and is rewarded with a somewhat more lenient sentence.

It has been used and abused by lawyers and even prosecutors as an easy way to insure some kind of conviction ( for the prosecutors record) However the cost of this conviction" is the automatic dropping of charges down in severity, such as this case, which is standard protocol in Connecticut courts with some courts much worse than others.

An assault one becomes and assault two as a result of todays plea deals and if there are other charges against the defendant some of them will simply disappear not because the defendant didn't commit the crime but simply for no other reason than its part of " the deal"

The State of Connecticut winds up with a violent criminal that has a record that doesn't reflect the crimes that he has actually committed, thus the danger he poses to the public at large, is watered down. This is essential when police look at his criminal record if and when he re-offends .

This is a cycle that often leads to more victims in the future,  and the whole plea process begins again. Generally speaking a criminal has to commit a felony at least a gaggle of times before he might actually wind up with a felony conviction. And for each of those freebies, there is a victim.  

Such is the Criminal Justice System in the State of Connecticut; A revolving door of administrative deal making.

Connecticut Crime Victim Privacy Panel Taking Shape

The task force charged with making recommendations to the General Assembly to balance victim privacy under Connecticut's Freedom of Information Act with the public's right to know is taking shape.

Gov. Daniel P. Malloy named two appointees on Friday. They include New Haven police officer Jillian Knox, who is assigned to her department's Victim Services Unit, and Andrew Woods, executive director of Hartford Communities that Care. His organization is a nonprofit group that promotes a nonviolent, drug-free environment.

House Speaker Brendan Sharkey, meanwhile, has appointed Hartford Rep. Angel Arce to the panel. Arce's father, Angel Arce Torres, was struck by a hit-and-run driver in 2008. The 78-year-old was paralyzed and later died.

The 17-member crime victim privacy task force was created in legislation that blocked release of crime scene photos and video evidence from the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, which took the lives of 20 first graders and six educators. The new law, which applies to other cases as well, prevents the release of photographs, film, video and other images depicting a homicide victim if those records "could reasonably be expected to constitute an unwarranted invasion of the personal privacy of the victim or the victim's surviving family members."

The legislation marked an eleventh-hour compromise during the final hours of this year's session. Malloy's office originally worked privately with legislative leaders and the state's top prosecutor to draft a bill that would address the concerns of families who lost relatives at Sandy Hook.

The new law also creates a one-year moratorium on the release of certain portions of audiotape or other recordings in which the condition of a homicide victim is described. The exemption did not include 911 emergency calls, however.

Other members of the task force are expected to include law enforcement personnel, victim advocates, representatives of the Connecticut Society of Professional Journalists, academics, Freedom of Information advocates and others. The group must submit its recommendations to the legislature by Jan. 1.

The Litchfield County Times

Fifth Annual GE /Petit Family Foundation Road Race Draws Thousands

NBC Connecticut is " Partners in a Caring Community" with the Petit Family Foundation and they held the event in Plainville Connecticut for the fifth year in a row.

The Petit Family Foundation started back in 2008, and the participation and enthusiasm for the event just continues to grow.

"I think most people are inherently good, and I think most people want to help others. And this gives people a chance to help," said Dr. William Petit.

After the 2007 murder of his wife, Jennifer, and their two daughters, Hayley and Michaela, Dr. Petit created the Petit Family Foundation to help others in their memory.

"Amazing. Amazing that he's found love and life and has been able to move on. And he's shown us all that we can do something," said runner Amy Brini.

But Dr. Petit says helping others helps him heal.

"He's gone through this, and he has a great attitude about it. And he's also our strength in getting through this also," said Co-director of the GE 5K Road Race Bob Heslin.

Heslin and his brother, both high school friends of Dr. Petit, started the GE 5K Road Race six years ago. So far the even has raised nearly one million dollars.

"We're just very thankful for the support from the local community, from the people of the state of Connecticut, from the region, in fact, from the entire country. In fact, we still get contributions and emails and phone calls throughout the United States, and we're thankful to all the folks who do what because without you, we wouldn't be able to do the good work that we're doing," said Dr. Petit.

And the support continues to grow every year because every year at the finish line runners and spectators know they're helping to make the world a better place.

The Petit Family Foundation helps with the education of young people, particularly women in the sciences, as well as supporting those with chronic illness and protecting those affected by violence.


C/O NBC News Blog
 

James Gandolfini, More than an Actor

I  lost a Twitter follower yesterday after tweeting a link to this article:

Still Remembering James Gandolfini

Actually I made two tweets; a quick follow up tweet elaborating a bit (a "tiny bit" to be exact) regarding my personal feelings of loss over actor,/producer, humanitarian James Gandolfini who died last month at age 51.

The trouble with tweeting is that it is very difficult to convey anything of substance using 140 characters or less.

In this case, an article that I'd found about someone else's lingering sense of sadness and loss over Gandolfini's death, was at the core of my message sent out to the world in a bottle/tweet. Once I tweeted the link to the article, naturally I'd used up all of my characters and thus,necessitating the second tweet.

It seems that a great many people are still grieving the loss of James Gandolfini in the way that we typically grieve over someone that we knew,  not simply a great actor, even one that played a so called iconic role.

This particular writer captured so well that her mourning period was far exceeding what our society deems appropriate or necessary, and she dove into those feelings, exploring them; who the man behind the actor was, and what her and so many other people's attraction and affection for the man was all about.

Before reading the article I'd already noted a prolonged and profound en masse sense of loss over Mr Gandolfini, this man that was far more than an actor. For all kinds of reasons, he resonated with a lot of people - mostly"'everyday" people' like me.

If losing this twitter follower wasn't merely a strangely timed coincidence, my best guess is that the follower didn't like the sometimes misogynistic and/ or violent characters that James Gandolfini inhabited so well (such as Tony Soprano and Virgil in True Romance), and thus my pronounced admiration for him, turned them off.

Perhaps, this person like so many other people, were confusing the real man with his work particularly his best known character, Tony Soprano,( albeit reflexively)

Maybe they didn't like that he inhabited the role so well, or at all for that matter. I'll never know and it doesn't really matter.

Unfortunately, Tony Soprano was the larger than life quintessential  role that most people identify and even confuse James Gandolfini with. But there was so much more to this man's body of work as far as an actor, and producer.

The last three are inexorably linked, as Gandolfini produced several projects that were apparently very close to his heart, and  each one was unbelievably well done, eye opening and heart wrenching.


In the years following the Sopranos he seemed to relax and become more of who he really was or wanted to be, He churned out two documentaries about United States War Veterans One centered on Vets from Iraq and Afghanistan,telling their poignant very real stories  life and death experiences
that ended with more struggle upon their return home acclimating to civilian life after living through hellish ordeals that left many of them with severe life changing injuries, such as lost limbs,  Traumatic Brain Injury and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, to nam a few.

Your second documentary focused upon PTSD and veterans of war all the way from WW2 through Korean War Vietnam Desert storm and present day Iraq and Afghanistan.

PTSD  is a  condition that many victims of crime experience and it was much less understood until the IRAQ war, although the military and our government have a long way to go.

It is a serious physical and psychological disorder that is still not given the attention and investment that is necessary by the Government or our Military.

It is  a veritable epidemic with American Vets returning frm Iraq and Afghanistan.

PTSD causes emotional and physical pain and suffering that can lead to addictions, homelessness and suicide if it is not treated vigorously and with compassion and care. The Vietnam war produced the largest amount of veterans suffering from PTSD.

Sadly at that time so much less was understood about what was formerly called "soldiers disease" this resulted in most Vietnam Vets receiving little to no treatment for some of the most severe Post Trauma experienced in any American war. The nature of the jungle warfare, Vietcong tactics of booby traps

Gandofini's other documentary centered around interviews with veterans from world war two to Vietnam and Korea through present day Iraq and Afghanistan. He was merely an observer or interviewer at times in the docu-dramas seemingly taking care to keep the attention on the soldiers not himself.

I read that Gandolfini's father, an Italian immigrant served in world war two and won a purple heart while in action. Perhaps this was part of his motivation for these projects, however it was his compassion, admiration and respect for these young soldiers and their experiences that seemed to propel him..

Jim Gandolfini played a succession of flawed characters, and clearly brought his own flaws into the fray. And despite his increasing fame largely brought about by the iconic Soprano role, this man retained a genuine humility about himself that was yet another thing that made you want to know him, or somebody just like him.

Its clear that this was a very special man; He was kind, compassionate, intelligent and inquisitive  about people,  everyday people. oo many people are quick to talk about his "demons" and/ or excesses; translated, he was human. He had his own inner broken-ness and we sensed it, it fact it was that quality that infused many of his characters and  was evident in almost every role he chose, and even his choice of  good works.

In conclusion I would like to say thank you James Gandolfini;

Thank you for making me care about a mobster who was elated by a family of ducks that came to live and breed near his swimming pool in New Jersey. .Thank you for reminding me the inherent dangers of  caring about such a man.

Thank you for breaking out of the tough guy roles you were seemingly made for and typecast as on the first leg of your acting career.

Thank you especially for undertaking such difficult but important work sharing our American Veterans experiences with the masses, Thank you for bringing attention to PTSD, Wounded warriors and doing so with such reverence and respect for these heroes; Like all survivor's their struggle, pain and resilience is a lesson to all of us.

Thank you for your humility your intelligence your humor and even your sadness that was ever present in your doleful eyes; It made us feel that we are not alone with our own.

Below is a copy of David Chase's Eulogy to James Gandolfini which he read at his service at St Johns Cathedral in  Manhatten NYC. It is beautiful and it is perfect and it made me realize that my instinctual feelings about this man were spot on.



Dear Jimmy,
Your family asked me to speak at your service, and I am so honored and touched. I'm also really scared, and I say that because you of all people will understand this. I'd like to run away and call in four days from now from the beauty parlor. I want to do a good job, because I love you, and because you always did a good job.

I think the deal is I'm supposed to speak about the actor/artist's work part of your life. Others will have spoken beautifully and magnificently about the other beautiful and magnificent parts of you: father, brother, friend. I guess what I was told is I'm also supposed to speak for your castmates whom you loved, for your crew that you loved so much, for the people at HBO, and Journey. I hope I can speak for all of them today and for you.

I asked around, and experts told me to start with a joke and a funny anecdote. "Ha ha ha." But as you yourself so often said, I'm not feelin' it. I'm too sad and full of despair. I'm writing to you partly because I would like to have had your advice. Because I remember how you did speeches. I saw you do a lot of them at awards shows and stuff, and invariably you would scratch two or three thoughts on a sheet of paper and put it in your pocket, and then not really refer to it. And consequently, a lot of your speeches didn't make sense. I think that could happen in here, except in your case, it didn't matter that it didn't make sense, because the feeling was real. The feeling was real. The feeling was real. I can't say that enough.

I tried to write a traditional eulogy, but it came out like bad TV. So I'm writing you this letter, and now I'm reading that letter in front of you. But it is being done to and for an audience, so I'll give the funny opening a try. I hope that it's funny; it is to me and it is to you.

And that is, one day toward the end of the show — maybe season 4 or season 5 — we were on the set shooting a scene with Stevie Van Zandt, and I think the set-up was that Tony had received news of the death of someone, and it was inconvenient for him. And it said, "Tony opens the refrigerator door, closes it and he starts to speak." And the cameras rolled, and you opened the refrigerator door, and you slammed it really hard — you slammed it hard enough that it came open again. And so then you slammed it again, then it came open again. You kept slamming it and slamming it and slamming it and slamming it and went apeshit on that refrigerator.

And the funny part for me is I remember Steven Van Zandt — because the cameras are going, we have to play this whole scene with a refrigerator door opening — I remember Steven Van Zandt standing there with his lip out, trying to figure out, "Well, what should I do? First, as Silvio, because he just ruined my refrigerator. And also as Steven the actor, because we're now going to play a scene with the refrigerator door open; people don't do that." And I remember him going over there and trying to tinker with the door and fix it, and it didn't work. And so we finally had to call cut, and we had to fix the refrigerator door, and it never really worked, because the gaffer tape showed on the refrigerator, and it was a problem all day long. And I remember you saying, "Ah, this role, this role, the places it takes me to, the things I have to do, it's so dark." And I remember telling you, "Did I tell you to destroy the refrigerator? Did it say anywhere in the script, 'Tony destroys a refrigerator'? It says 'Tony angrily shuts the refrigerator door.' That's what it says. You destroyed the fridge."

Another memory of you that comes to mind is from very early on — might have been the pilot, I don't know. We were shooting in that really hot and humid summer New Jersey heat. And I looked over, and you were sitting in an aluminum beach chair, with your slacks rolled up to your knees, in black socks and black shoes, and a wet handkerchief on your head. And I remember looking over there and going, "Well, that's really not a cool look." But I was filled with love, and I knew then that I was in the right place. I said, "Wow, I haven't seen that done since my father used to do it, and my Italian uncles use to do it, and my Italian grandfather used to do it." And they were laborers in the same hot sun in New Jersey. They were stone masons, and your father worked with concrete. I don't know what it is with Italians and cement. And I was so proud of our heritage — it made me so proud of our heritage to see you do that.

When I said before that you were my brother, this has a lot to do with that: Italian-American, Italian worker, builder, that Jersey thing — whatever that means — the same social class. I really feel that, though I'm older than you, and always felt, that we are brothers. And it was really based on that day. I was filled with so much love for everything we were doing and about to embark on.

I also feel you're my brother in that we have different tastes, but there are things we both love, which was family, work, people in all their imperfection, food, alcohol, talking, rage, and a desire to bring the whole structure crashing down. We amused each other.

The image of my uncles and father reminded me of something that happened between us one time. Because these guys were such men — your father and these men from Italy. And you were going through a crisis of faith about yourself and acting, a lot of things, were very upset. I went to meet you on the banks of the Hudson River, and you told me, you said, "You know what I want to be? I want to be a man. That's all. I want to be a man." Now, this is so odd, because you are such a man. You're a man in many ways many males, including myself, wish they could be a man.

The paradox about you as a man is that I always felt personally, that with you, I was seeing a young boy. A boy about Michael's age right now. 'Cause you were very boyish. And about the age when humankind, and life on the planet are really opening up and putting on a show, really revealing themselves in all their beautiful and horrible glory. And I saw you as a boy — as a sad boy, amazed and confused and loving and amazed by all that. And that was all in your eyes. And that was why, I think, you were a great actor: because of that boy who was inside. He was a child reacting. Of course you were intelligent, but it was a child reacting, and your reactions were often childish. And by that, I mean they were pre-school, they were pre-manners, they were pre-intellect. They were just simple emotions, straight and pure. And I think your talent is that you can take in the immensity of humankind and the universe, and shine it out to the rest of us like a huge bright light. And I believe that only a pure soul, like a child, can do that really well. And that was you.

Now to talk about a third guy between us, there was you and me and this third guy. People always say, "Tony Soprano. Why did we love him so much when he was such a prick?" And my theory was, they saw the little boy. They felt and they loved the little boy, and they sensed his love and hurt. And you brought all of that to it. You were a good boy. Your work with the Wounded Warriors was just one example of this. And I'm going to say something because I know that you'd want me to say it in public: that no one should forget Tony Sirico's efforts with you in this. He was there with you all the way, and in fact you said to me just recently, "It's more Tony than me." And I know you, and I know you would want me to turn the spotlight on him, or you wouldn't be satisfied. So I've done that.

So Tony Soprano never changed, people say. He got darker. I don't know how they can misunderstand that. He tried and he tried and he tried. And you tried and you tried, more than most of us, and harder than most of us, and sometimes you tried too hard. That refrigerator is one example. Sometimes, your efforts were at cost to you and others, but you tried. And I'm thinking about the fact of how nice you were to strangers on the street, fans, photographers. You would be patient, loving and personal, and then finally you would just do too much, and then you would snap. And that's of course what everybody read about, was the snapping.

I was asked to talk about the work part, and so I'll talk about the show we used to do and how we used to do it. You know, everybody knows that we always ended an episode with a song. That was kind of like me and the writers letting the real geniuses do the heavy lifting: Bruce, and Mick and Keith, and Howling Wolf and a bunch of them. So if this was an episode, it would end with a song. And the song, as far as I'm concerned, would be Joan Osborne's "(What If God Was) One Of Us?" And the set-up for this — we never did this, and you never even heard this — is that Tony was somehow lost in the Meadowlands. He didn't have his car, and his wallet, and his car keys. I forget how he got there — there was some kind of a scrape — but he had nothing in his pocket but some change. He didn't have his guys with him, he didn't have his gun. And so mob boss Tony Soprano had to be one of the working stiffs, getting in line for the bus. And the way we were going to film it, he was going to get on the bus, and the lyric that would've one over that would've been — and we don't have Joan Osborne to sing it:

    If God had a face
    what would it look like?
    And would you want to see
    if seeing meant you had to believe?
    And yeah, yeah, God is great.
    Yeah, yeah, God is good.
    Yeah, yeah, yeah.

So Tony would get on the bus, and he would sit there, and the bus would pull out in this big billow of diesel smoke. And then the key lyric would come on, and it was

    What if God was one of us?
    Just a slob like one of us?
    Just a stranger on the bus
    trying to make his way home.

And that would've been playing over your face, Jimmy. But then — and this is where it gets kind of strange — now I would have to update, because of the events of the last week. And I would let the song play further, and the lyrics would be

    Just trying to make his way home
    Like a holy rollin' stone
    Back up to Heaven all alone
    Nobody callin' on the phone
    'Cept for the Pope, maybe, in Rome.

Love,
David

Read more at http://www.hitfix.com/whats-alan-watching/james-gandolfini-eulogized-by-sopranos-creator-david-chase-and-friends-and-family#tQDkxVyXpIeXze1d.99


Gandolfini's Eulogy
 

Remains of missing Boy found: Half brother arrested as suspect

This is extremely sad news. After days and days of extensive searching Terry Dwayne Smith's remains have been found on his own property in a shallow grave.

When I first read about the circumstances surrounding this little boys disappearance I immediately feared and suspected foul play by a family member.

When I viewed a clip of the boys mother blithely saying to television cameras that he was" probably wandering around somewhere" in the area right at that moment, this within the first days following his initial disappearance, my inner antenna flew right up.

My suspicions were already alighted by the simple fact that the elder half brother claimed the boy had watched video games and then went to sleep, only to "disappear" sometime thereafter.

After hearing and watching the mother of this beautiful boy who at best scenario could be dead from heat exposure and dehydration, her reaction was not proportionate to the circumstances and indeed I seriously considered her as a suspect due to that media snap.


While her elder son has been arrested for  murder caused by blunt force trauma to the head, I have a gut feeling that perhaps the boys mother suspected that this 16 year old half brother, the last person to see the boy alive, might have hurt the boy and perhaps killed him.

Now we are being told from the boys father that he was not Autistic, this begs a few new questions such as did mom claim the autism to lend credence to the notion that her missing son was more likely to have wandered off than a child who did not have a brain disorder.  O the other hand the natural father could be like many fathers - and less often mothers= in denial that there was something " wrong" with his son.

 I have personally borne witness to this sad type of denial  by parents over the years, even with children who have something as simple as epilepsy, whereupon the( often male) parent refuses to accept their childs condition, sometimes refusing to speak the condition aloud even becoming angry at other family members who have accepted that either a newborn or an older child has what they deem an abnormality.

This is not exclusive to uneducated or working class parents either, I have seen fathers from middle class to highly educated upper middle class backgrounds react in this denial -based angry fashion regarding what they perceive as either a possible  "weakness" in their genes which is ridiculous and/ or anything "different" or "wrong" with their child.


As of this moment al of this is speculative, I would like to think that police did not merely accept the mothers word that this then missing child was autistic and would have confirmed this somehow by speaking to his mental health professionals and teachers etc., but at this point we don't have that information.

The father's claim that sometimes the boy could push your buttons" after he left here - but he was just being a kid" leads me to wonder if the child might have suffered from attention deficit  or any number of other conditions that are much more commonplace than most people are aware of. In addition the " after he left here" also leads me to wonder if the half brother was abusing him and this child began acting out as a direct result of that.

The father who had past involvement with the teenage suspect his ex step son, had lived with terry alone for a tine after the parents separated.

The statement regarding pushing buttons was a loaded one in more than one way, as it lends a possible motive/scenario regarding the half brother - not to lend any excuse to the 16 year old suspect, especially when considering the boy was found buried in a shallow grave on the property ie, meaning that if a simple accidental manslaughter one doesn't see a normal sixteen year old then have the wherewithal to dispose of his half brothers body and lie to police and perhaps, perhaps his mother.


  I have a suspicion that that this mother knew and might have been involved somehow in a cover up, albeit it simply a guess not to be mistaken for fact.  Either way a young boy was murdered by his brother stuck in a hole and covered with dirt. The authorities were lied to convincingly enough to iniate a huge search for this murdered child. This indicates a great deal of successful lying under what should have been extremely emotionally daunting circumstances.

It can be safely assumed that this 16 year old brother whose name is protected due to his underage status,  has a burgeoning personality disorder; At age 16 he is technically not allowed to be deemed a sociopath by simple fact that he isn't old enough by DSM dictates.... but as stated, his cover up behavior says it all; a normal teen/ would be horrified if they accidentally killed their brother or in a fit of rage hit him in the head and he died as a result.

They would tell a parent or call police if the parent wasn't home which purportedly she was not - but again we don't know yet if this boy did tell mom and/or mom questioned him and then proceeded to cover up for her surviving son.  Even in the best scenario I fee strongly that this mother had at the very least a base awareness of her elder sons guilt and she covered up perhaps misleading police about an likely alternate scenario of Terry wandering off"

This makes her a criminal as well.

Either way there is personality disorder galore in this tragedy built of violence deception and manipulation, qualities that are all hallmarks of Anti- social Personality disorder, Oppositional defiant disorder (the teenage version of the former) Narcissistic PD and Borderline PD.


These disorders have red flags and I have said it thousands of times our society our schools our family's all need to be taught in depth about the signs and symptoms of such persons thereby preventing many of these crimes before they happen.

Lets honor this endless succession of victims by becoming proactive about instilling awareness in every single child of a proper age teenagers and adults regarding the mental illnesses and character disorders that often are tied to chaos crime and violence.

 

Great Piece On James Gandolfin, Tony Soprano and Criminality

          

          

"He is one of the greatest actors of this or any time. A great deal of that genius resided in those sad eyes. I remember telling him many times, 'You don't get it. You're like Mozart.'"

 David Chase


We describe films as philosophical if they hit a few discordant notes, provoking the audience to ask itself a question or two. In contrast, the writers and actors of HBO series The Sopranos managed to argue a complex, controversial, challengeable thesis on corrupt human nature. (David Chase is silent on the degree to which we all have traits like the criminals on his show. The therapist’s character was consistently unlike the other’s.) Due to its scope and serialization, the didacticism of The Sopranos is unprecedented. And the candidates for precedent ought to include Seneca and Plato, since they also tried to convince their audience that vicious behavior destroys character and that when power is given to such a character, tragedy ensues.

 Stated outright, the point seems obvious. Who says crime pays? But, as Seneca and Plato also knew, we weaken our position on the matter when ill-gotten gain is available for display. We often see with our own eyes that short cuts get people someplace quicker. To become convinced otherwise, we have to become convinced of the nature of internal, psychological rewards. But this is not easy to get us to do, as Seneca and Plato also know. We’d have to get inside the head of a bad guy to prove what is needed.

He paces, he grimaces, his eyes dart, he cries, he can’t think back, he has to edit everything he says, he lies to everyone including himself, he trusts no one, he is never satisfied. And in the final season, he has nightmares where he tells his therapist the truth; he has to grab and hide a bloody tooth from the cuff of his suit pants while at a meeting with his son’s therapist. He also buys a watch engraved with “you are my life” for his wife, after leaving town to have yet another affair. But you can go on and on: Chase’s examples are nearly endless, and they are unforgettable. They drive an ancient thesis home. And so effectively.


Plato also warned what would happen to a person who attempts to pursue, at once, the typical goals of a life (family, say) as well as others (say, the gains of crime). This person would be fractured by these incompatible aims, and Plato writes that they would be in a sort of internal “civil war.” He has us imagine that parts of this person “bite each other, fight and try to eat each other.” (Plato, Republic, 589a) Plato explains that, if this person gains power, it exacerbates the already disorganized condition of the person. Despite the public appearance of “having it all,” the potential is for such a person to be less happy than any of us. They have, in addition to more common tensions, worries about enemies and usurpers. Plato writes that such a person is like “an exhausted body” which “is compelled to compete and fight with other bodies all its life.” The situation renders one friendless and terrified. (Plato, Republic, 579c-d)


It is easy enough to read Plato, nod and agree, but, again, we put up all sorts of resistance to this claim. We don’t really want to believe bad behavior has these consequences. We hope for exceptions, case by case and in general. And it is Chase who really puts our hankerings to the test. Because Tony is shown to suffer so vividly, we want to exonerate him. Because he is so charming, we want to believe him — to take Tony at his word. He voices things for the gullible, like “I don’t know about morality, but I do got rules.” “I do everything for my family.” “I’m a good guy, for the most part.” He likens himself to “a soldier” (just one in a different sort of war). And how we wish that the bad guys might be on our side: T-shirts were printed up after 9-11 depicting a menacing Sopranos cast ready to take on the terrorists for us.


It is because The Sopranos has had so much time with viewers, so many characters, so many plots, that he has been able to school us as he has. Forget about merely being “provoked” to think — this series required that we theorize about ethics, happiness, rage, parenting, therapy, materialism, and ego. Chase set us up to like Tony, and he set us up to believe that his therapy would get to the bottom of things. And Chase, never revealing his hand more than in this final season, is showing that no proposal other than his own (the classic one) can explain the behavior the characters display. Tony’s a good guy at heart?

 The murders of the final season (in particular, the unprovoked one of his nephew) put that to rest even if other decisions he rendered cold have not. Even the most thoughtful viewers, like philosophers Ron Green and Scott Wilson, are likely to want to revise the views they stated in Philosophy and The Sopranos (Open Court Press) where they opined that “in this world of criminality, Tony reveals a degree of moral integrity that makes his character appealing” and that Tony “cares about the principles of family, loyalty to Italians, loyalty to his crew.” Chase allowed us to think as much, for a time.

But viewers have learned the lesson in the only way lessons are learned — through getting emotionally and intellectually involved, and then corrected.


The success of The Sopranos will have put an end to the easy use of the expression “thick as thieves,” any fawning over any “omerta/code of silence,” and the notion that thieves have any honor and that scammers are glamorous. In philosophical ethics, among even those who have read Plato’s description, a common counter-example to normative claims about character has been the “principled Mafioso” — the guy who rejects society’s code, but lives by his own internally consistent code of family protection. Contemporary philosophers have taken this possibility so seriously as to use it to reject classic accounts of character.


We can’t really claim that integrity is conventionally ethical, since even a Mafioso can have integrity. How to argue against this fantasy of the goodish-bad guy, which was being treated as a kind of trump against ethical accounts of character?
The Sopranos has ended that fantasy. No philosopher will have the gumption to posit some “principled Mafioso” now that we have Tony. He is our era’s contribution to the characters that have shaped philosophical thought. They focus our attention like no dry description. They show us the content and limits of our humanity. Achilles, Medea, Tony Soprano.

Connecticut's Secretive,Dysfunctional Court "Practices" Rarely Exposed......

Taken from The Register Citizen, written by Andy Thibault; writer, columnist, whistle - blower extraordinaire.

The first thing I thought of when the title of this article immediately caught my attention was a little  addendum I personally would have added to the characteristically unflinching honesty of Mr.Andy Thibault,

I would have tagged on....." and long- immune to Media or legislative microscope 
(We could start with some genuine oversight.)  

 It’s got to be rough diving in to the intricacies of a politically-driven, self-serving and unjustifiable murder prosecution.

Suppose you are diligent and discover the case was used primarily as a career enhancer, a stepping stone – and a human being was stepped on for no other plausible reason.

The easy thing is to look away – or not to look at all. Far too many of those who swear to uphold justice in Connecticut are practiced and extremely talented in this regard. If you actually do your job, you might offend colleagues. If you do your job, you might even read the trial transcript and learn something about a case in which, like Caesar in the Coliseum, you alone decide whether a person is free or given the ultimate thumbs down.

Couldn’t the judge, Hadley W. Austin, have at least read the trial transcript?
Here is an exchange between Austin and Dr. Evan Stark, a professor at Rutgers and an expert on domestic violence, on April 9, 1996:

Austin: “How about the – Did you ever have an opportunity, or were you exposed to, or did you have occasion to look at or review the transcript?”

Stark: “Yes, I did.”

Austin: “Of the trial?”

Stark: “Yes, I did, your honor, quite carefully.”

Austin: “All right. No small task I observe.”  

Stark: “That’s correct, your honor.”

Austin: “ … Dr. Stark, you understand of course as counsel do that I have not had any opportunity to read the transcript.”

Stark: “Then you have a formidable task as well.”

Austin goes on to say that at least Stark read it and then the judge stumbles through a series of questions that a diligent person would have researched beforehand.

The scene was New London Superior Court, April 9, 1996, Bonnie Jean Foreshaw versus Commissioner of Correction, CV94-0530489. Judge Austin, who died 10 years later, had just admitted he didn’t do his job. Austin would go on to rule that Foreshaw actually had a fair trial, despite compelling evidence and arguments by attorneys John Williams and Diane Polan.

For mysterious and perhaps diabolical reasons, the notorious 5-page “Blue Note” – delineating “disturbing” and “shocking” malpractice by Foreshaw’s trial lawyer – had not surfaced.

Was the Blue Note http://tinyurl.com/k7wmd2w hidden in a file? Was it removed for a time? How many state employees – robed and unrobed – dropped the ball on the Blue Note while Bonnie Foreshaw rotted in jail?

Anyone and everyone who knew of the Blue Note had an affirmative duty to produce it. Otherwise, let’s not pretend that we’re practicing any level of justice here in Connecticut.

Just last week, the state Board of Pardons and Paroles cited the Blue Note as the reason to reverse a decision http://tinyurl.com/mntf87o and grant Foreshaw a clemency hearing in October. Board Chair Erika Tindill told the Associated Press: “Had it not been for the surfacing of that memo, which we had no idea about, we would not have reconsidered her case.”

The memo was written by then-public defender Jon Blue at the request of the agency’s chief appellate lawyer at the time, Joette Katz. I reached out last week to Katz, who went on to become a state Supreme Court justice and is now commissioner of the state Department of Children and Families. Now off the bench, Katz is free to do some explaining. Continued...

Foreshaw, 65, has served more than 27 years for what many legal experts – including Blue and perhaps Katz – believe should have been a manslaughter charge. Had she faced a manslaughter prosecution, Foreshaw would have been free years ago. Instead, Foreshaw faced a charge of first degree murder for shooting at a man she had just encountered and who was harassing her and threatening to [f---] her up on March 27, 1986. At the last moment, the man admitted he pulled a pregnant woman in front of him as a human shield. A fatal shot entered the upper left chest and traveled toward the lung of Joyce Amos, who had been trying to restrain Hector Freeman.

Foreshaw wrote of her remorse in a volume of redemptive memoirs, “Couldn’t Keep It To Myself,” edited by the novelist Wally Lamb http://tinyurl.com/l3nkvxu and featured http://tinyurl.com/jvmtuef on 60 Minutes: “I never lost sight of the fact that I still had my life and Joyce Amos, the lady who tried to help me that night, had lost hers. She had been someone’s mother and someone’s daughter, same as me. A powerful sadness was closing in. I began to ask myself how I could survive – or if I even wanted to … .”

Foreshaw, a battered and abused woman, gave birth to her first child after being raped at age 12. The abuse has continued throughout her life.

“A great deal of [this] relevant material was never produced [at trial] at all,” Blue wrote. “ … A former husband had beaten Foreshaw on the head with a baseball bat … and she had spent two weeks in the hospital. No hospital records were produced ... She did not have an effective defense.”

Katz and others must explain how and why the Blue Note was buried. Why did Katz request this memo? What did she do with it upon receipt? Who dropped the ball? Why?

The commissioner’s spokesman said she was out of state Friday and was expected to return Tuesday. He sent her an email about the case.

Andy Thibault is a contributing editor for Journal Register Co.’s Connecticut publications and the author of Law & Justice In Everyday Life. He formerly served as a commissioner for Connecticut’s Freedom of Information Commission. Reach Thibault by email at tntcomm82@cs.com. Follow him on Twitter @cooljustice. 

  

Dad Inadvertantly Beats His Daughters Rapist to Death.

This Article about child rapist has been given a straw poll and everyone thus far feels that the father should receive no charges as he was simply defending his 7 year old daughter in the middle of a child rapists attack.


Nancy Grace did her usual indignant, overly emphatic disgusted spiel with the message being loud and clear; finally some justice in the world"  This I was treated to via a video clip of her new HLN/ Crime and Trial Network/Program which she shares with "Dr. Drew"( former addiction specialist to the rich and or once famous, As he weighs on on these very traumatic and terror filled crimes which have victims at their very embodiment, behaves as if he is speaking as a pundit on a gossip TVshow, his entire carriage utterly inappropriate for the subjects at hand!

That said, I have to admit that  I felt a surge of thank god, a despicable child rapist got his, when watching the video and attached post.

However there is still a damaged little girl out these who was  abducted and sexually assaulted in the middle of what traditionally was considered a safe a neighborhood barbeque!

I keep getting flashbacks to the book/movie 'Bastard out of Carolina"  which had a scene whereupon the family of the little girl being beaten and unbeknownst to them at that point raped by her sadistic stepfather,  beat the living daylights out of the stepfather at a family barbeque when an aunt inadvertently saw signs of severe beatings on  her nieces thighs back etc.

As satisfying as that familial group beating of the child abuser was, he actually pressed on to yet again beat and rape that same little girl for getting him " in trouble" and tossed from the wife/child's
home.

That movie haunts to this day as it never had a resolution and being simple river people the advice given to the little girl who was understandably angry at the world in the months following was quasi chastised by one of her favorite aunts for " holding on to anger"

While it was supposed to be an accurate depiction of that part of the country ie  The River People in Backwoods Carolina, and their mores values and atypical temporal reaction to such things as child abuse ...this particular scene stood out among many disturbing scenes such as a hospital visit whereupon the ER doctor tells the mother of this abused little girl your daughters ass is broken lady!!! Now who did it ?"

 They'd given the Dr. the usual she fell out of a tree story.

And after taking the girl aside and questioning her softly as to who was hurting her she looks at her mother who is giving her a please keep quiet honey look' the girl deflated whispers I just want to leave"

Fathers Day and Men's Role Preventing and Combating Domestic & Intimate Violence

Fathers Day Brings Focus to Father's Role Preventing/Combating Domestic Violence


Because fathers have a special role in their children's lives, they also have a remarkable opportunity to share lessons that can influence and impact their sons and daughters in significant and enduring ways. But how many of us have actually taken time to sit with our sons and daughters to discuss a subject of tremendous consequence -- how to have healthy relationships?


Proudly, I join fathers around the country today in urging dads to have serious and substantive conversations with their sons and daughters, not only about the perils of drugs and alcohol or the importance of education, but about what it means to have healthy relationships.


Too often, we see the horrific results of the mistreatment of women and children on the evening news and in crime statistics. Every 15 seconds, a woman is abused by her partner. Nearly three out of every four Americans knows someone personally who is or has been a victim of domestic violence. Sex trafficking -- especially of young children -- is increasing at alarming rates across our country.

And while we stand tall and proud with those men and women who have served and continue to serve in our military, we have seen even those institutions shaken by the scourge of sexual assault -- 26,000 members of the Armed Forces were sexually assaulted in just one year.

For two decades, The Michael Bolton Charities has been dedicated to responding to the needs of children and women at risk. It has been encouraging and inspiring to be joined in this effort by people who believe, as I do, that we must end the cycle of domestic violence and the lasting damage it inflicts on our families and our communities. Providing effective responses that offer real, life-changing opportunities is at the heart of our work, and our commitment has not wavered.


It has been estimated that as many as 10 million children witness assaults by one parent against another each year. We recognize that domestic violence places children, as well as women, in harm's way. Our determined efforts continue across the country, most notably in Connecticut and Nevada, where visionary leaders and everyday citizens are coming together to advance effective strategies, legislation and solutions that work, and that matter.

For all of these reasons, I support a new initiative called NO MORE. It aims to get men talking about these serious issues. New data from a NO MORE survey, sponsored by the Avon Foundation for Women, shows that on this subject, fathers have been virtually silent.

Three out of four men nationwide say they have not talked about domestic violence or sexual assault with their children. And so, as fathers, we can wait no more. We must all begin the conversation, close to home, with each of our children. As fathers, we must continue the conversation with leaders in business and our government. And, as fathers, we must fully engage with our educational system so boys can be taught in the developmental stages that you can never be a real man and be violent with a woman.

As fathers, we must fight to keep VAWA (Violence Against Women Act) fully funded and declare war on human trafficking in our country and everywhere it exists. We need to evolve in our perception and treatment of young women everywhere. It is important to say, free of ambiguity or hesitation, that violence and abuse, power and control, are never acceptable. That's precisely where dads come in. I am firmly convinced that we can cause a chain reaction of hope if our children hear directly from us precisely why healthy relationships must be a priority. Every day. Every night. In every way.

Such a conversation may be difficult to start. here are resources to help, and they are included at www.michaelboltoncharities.com and www.nomore.org. Your involvement has never been more meaningful, or more necessary.

As the son of marvelous parents, the father of three daughters and the grandfather to two magnificent granddaughters, I am very fortunate. Yet, the magnitude of this issue surrounds me every day.
This Father's Day can be remembered as the day when we fathers turned a collective corner, reducing domestic violence and sexual abuse to an aberration, not an everyday occurrence. Together, we can articulate NO MORE through conversations started, voices raised and actions taken. By doing so, this will truly be a Father's Day worthy of every father and every child because the greatest gift we can offer our children on their fathers' day is the ability to have and sustain healthy, mature relationships, built on respect and trust.


Multiple Grammy Award winning songwriter and recording artist Michael Bolton is Chairman of The Michael Bolton Charities, Inc., which recently marked two decades of providing support to children and women at risk.

Facebook/ Social Media Sites Playgrounds for Predators - Young Girl In Maine lured and Murdered via Facebook "friend"

Article regarding tween Nicole Cable of Orono Maine who was just abducted and murdered by a a male acquaintance by the name of Kyle Dube  who used Facebook to lure her to a platonic meet up:


According to Dube he only wanted to create a false kidnapping scenario where he would then be a hero when he found" Nicole alive.

Dube claims he wore a disguise to the meeting overpowered the young girl and proceeded to tie and duct tape his victim. He also cites that he came back later and Nicole had died "accidentally" from being smothered by the duct tape.

Mr Dube's  story has yet to be corroborated by the medical examiner who will determine the cause of death as well as whether the young girl was sexually assaulted.

There is a good chance that Kyle Dube abducted this young girl in order to sexually molest her and either planned upon killing her, did in fact smother her on purpose or within the restraining process either choked smothered or cut off Nicole's oxygen through any number of ways.

At this time the autopsy on Nicole has not yet determined whether this young girl in fact died of asphyxia or not -  and considering Kyle Dube's bizarre version of events, my guess is that there will be more truths forthcoming from Police Forensic investigations as well as the full medical examiners report.

Tragically, Nicole Cable is but one of hundreds of murders, sexual assaults, and or kidnappings that have resulted from social media predation.

Included in the "playground for predators" as I have dubbed is Craigslist which is a catch all advertisement network which has already rendered four serial Craiglist killers since it's inception.

People can advertise the sale of everything from furniture to electronics to house rentals and sales, and there is no oversight regarding the legitimacy of the sellers actual identity and validity of their business.


Adult dating services such as Match.com and Yahoo personals pose threats in that there is no way to determine if the person whose profile you have matched with is actually real and whether they are even the gender that they claim to be.

We have all seen the dateline's to catch a predator" expose series where time and again upper middle class men were caught trolling internet chat rooms and social sites pretending to be much younger in most instances and slowly reeling in vulnerable young boys and or girls ranging from ages 10 to 15 with most of the "predators" white employed upper middle class married men many of whom were driving to what they believed were the suburban homes of 12 and 13 year old boys and less often girls, in what they were duped into believing were first time rendezvous.

Many brought alcohol, some actually began to disrobe while the would be child" called out to them to come on into the kitchen I'm just getting dressed "

Of course in those instances, society lucked out ;  These were not actual children but they could have been. They were in fact undercover female police officers who were chosen for their young child like appearance and voices most of whom pretended to be young boys online and during the" luring process" which sometimes involved a phone call or two in addition to several online chatting sessions..

Many, many other times there were no phone calls between the predator and his bait, just an evolutionary " lets meet in person already" suggestion by the would be child molester abductor or killer, each of whom were completely hooked into believing that the person they were about to have a "date" with was a child! 

Many of these men had children themselves and all of course were horrified once they realized they'd walked into a police online underage solicitation sting, and then the added shame that it was being aired on network television!

One man a married Rabbi of 30 plus years  committed suicide after he was arraigned and released on bail. In several other instances more than one man actually fell for the dateline show set up more than once!   These men when queried would admit that they even suspected that it might be another set up but they couldn't resist the chance that it was the " real deal" ie an underage child whom they'd been chatting up often sexually online and were about to meet for whatever lurid dangerous purposes.

The lesson here is parents must become involved to the maximum and do not assume your child is telling you everything they are doing on line. The most vulnerable children had parents that both worked or single parent homes where they either were alone a lot or children and teens who had volatile home situations or emotional abuse or neglect. In the latter instances we must all adapt the it takes a village mentality and mentor and watch over our neighbors children our students our nephews nieces and get involved!

Judge declares a Mistrial in Jodi Arias Sentencing Phase

As unbelievable as this whole thing is, this is actually the lesser of two evils that could have resulted from Jodi Arias's Hung Jury.

The Jury was officially pronounced as hopelessly deadlocked on Friday, the twelve jurors claiming that no matter how much time they are given they could not reach a unanimous decision on what Arias's sentence should be for the pre - meditated murder of Travis Alexander.

Arias, who once declared to a television interviewer that there was" no way any jury would convict her" ie on the pending capital murder charges at that time for which she was indeed found guilty, now faces a second penalty phase with an entirely new Jury, who will ultimately decide whether she receives the death penalty which the state of Arizona is pursuing against her, or life in prison without the chance of parole.

The Judge actually had several options at his disposal  as the jury became officially hopelessly deadlocked over Arias's sentence; He could have opted to prescribe several legal remedies to this situation most of which would have left Jodi Arias in the catbird seat comparatively.

For example the Judge could have decided to simply give Arias Life in prison, putting an end to the state's costly (but necessary) re - assembling of a new jury, as well the entire re production of this part of the trial ie The sentencing phase, which has taken weeks for both sides to present and has involved months of preparation for both sides Moreover the voire - dire jury selection process is extremely time - consuming and arduous, n any capital murder case, but much more so for a high profile case such as this one. Now that the entire trial has been live streaming on Tvs and computers across the globe, it will be that much more difficult to choose an "impartial Jury of Jodi Arias's peers, which is the ideal that our justice system earnestly seeks to provide the defendant.

Choosing an impartial jury will obviously take a good chunk of time considering it took months upon months the first time around before the case garnered this inordinate amount of publicity and media scrutiny.


Considering the other possibilities that this judge could have put into action, a new sentencing phase with a new Jury as tedious and frustrating as it seems, is better than some of the choices that this judge had at his disposal. This still leaves the door open for Jodi Arias to receive the death penalty which she so clearly deserves.

The Jurors who have spoken with the media have expressed that they felt over burdened by the enormity of a decision that decided whether to take Jodi Arias's life - or not.  There were comments to the effect that we are mere mortals and not lawyers , we look at both families suffering, we see the Alexander's immense pain but....that is not the law, that cannot be part of our decision.

However, within those very words, that particular juror was betraying his or her own hypocrisy: By taking into account Jodi Arias's family and their feelings for their daughter ie what they would feel if she is given the death penalty, then this juror and more than likely others did allow emotion into their decision - or rather their refusal to make a decision as per The State of Arizona's Capital murder sentencing law.

When the death penalty is in fact being pursued by the State this is a rarity in and of itself. The murder must fit a certain criteria for the district attorneys office to even consider it. This case was without a doubt a death penalty case. (If the murderer had been a man we wouldn't be having this vacillation ) 

 Hence, if the defendant in this case Jodi Arias  is convicted of the capital murder, that Jury must put aside their own feelings regarding the death penalty, including their own prejudices and personal feelings about the death penalty religious or conscience borne, all of which these jurors were asked if they could do within the lengthy and rigorous voice dire process. 

 This is why the decision is so clearly narrowed down by law to aggravating factors " within the murder itself, which the prosecutor Juan Martinez certainly showed a veritable plethora of, fulfilling that requirement for the Jury to sentence Death.

The opposing considerations for the Jury to look at and weigh into their decision in this type of murder case are mitigating factors; Mitigating factors are special circumstances which if proven must show that the Convicted Murderer was under either some immediate threat or some other contributory factor ought be looked at such as a history of severe mental illness (this one is very tough as its been so abused in the past by defense attorneys it does not include personality disorders as sociopaths and borderline PD are not Mental Illness per se they are disorders of character that share the common trait of a lack of conscience and a narcissistic outlook on life.

The mental illness that might qualify might is something akin to schizophrenia, wherein the patient has auditory hallucinations,  hearing voices other worldly beings directing them to harm etc. None of this was the case with Arias, nor was she acting in self defense as the Jury already decided when they convicted her of capital murder. 
 
Other mitigating factors could be  an abusive relationship that over time resulted in the convicted murderer sudden unexpected and unplanned snapping" and taking her abuser/tormentors life.

Again not the case with Arias. Whether or not the jury or the public are looking at Travis's sexual involvement with Jodi Arias as morally questionable, his obviously poor decision to continue to be sexually involved with a woman he knew had committed vandalism and stalking against him in the past. 

Nor does the fact that Travis might have had a short temper was a bit of a sexist and swaggered too much at times - these things are not supposed to be entered into the Jury's decision. These are not mitigating factors. There is zero proof that Travis abused Arias, her feeling abused is subjective not a fact. The question boiled down to whether the aggravating factors exist within this murder - And they clearly do : overkill and particularly cruel painful  and depraved  killing of Travis Alexander, practically beheading him after stabbing him 30 times all over his back and the back of his skull!


 She brought a Gun to the scene. She basically laid in wait for Travis Alexander, much as any predator first luring him with sex, and then as he showered, an act that she perceived as showering her and all evidence of her off of him, she chose this vulnerable position to  begin her enraged attack upon him. My guess is she brandished the gun at him while he was in the shower. Some of the photos taken from the camera she tried to destroy show a sudden stark difference in Travis's posture facial expressions and in the end he was sitting in a very unusual position, a position that I believe Arias ordered him to make him less of a threat sitting down .

I noticed two other photos where the water was off and Travis was still in the shower looking rigid one picture he had his arms across his chest protectively.  Im certain that Arias like a cat with a mouse now realizing Travis had no plans to reconcile with her indeed he seemed anxious to get away from her, probably feeling the bad energy which he once described in a text as "evil"

This murder was steeped in aggravating factors not to mention  drenched in Jodi Arias's lies and bold faced deceit and manipulation; Of the Police she was questioned immediately as Travis's friends pointed to her in Unanimous agreement as the likely culprit.

As for Arias she played the actress well each time she met with Arizona detectives; giving three very different  stories regarding what happened to Travis Alexander?

The first began with her not knowing anything and not even being there but rather spending the night with an ex boyfriend miles away- this was true but a planned alibi that ultimately backfired by showing how cold and disaffected she was after slashing her ex boyfriend to death and dragging his corpse to his shower.

Arias's defense team did not present nor substantiate any mitigating factors that the Jury who obviously didn't want the burden of giving a death sentence - to anyone according to post trial interviews, yet by law they were required to sentence Jodi Arias to the death penalty in light of the absence of those necessary and provable mitigating factors. That is the only legal right they had to give Arias the consideration of leniency.

In my opinion a serious dis-service was committed by this Jury.

They convicted the defendant Jodi Arias as well they should with the abundance of evidence and a confession(albeit after two denials of involvement to Police) yet they refused to follow this trial to a fair and impartial conclusion in the most crucial portion - the sentencing of Ms Arias.

This Jury was not thrown together in some disheveled fashion. No indeed the State of Arizona like every other state takes the voire dire Jury selection process very seriously and as such it is done with the utmost of thoroughness and this includes asking each potential juror if he or she can or will sentence this defendant to the death penalty despite their own views regarding this sentence if it is thus dictated by the careful application of  State Law.

Each and every Juror were questioned tirelessly and many potential jurors were turned away because they were honest and said that they could not sentence someone to death, particularly a woman which this convicted murderer happens to be.

The jurors during Voire Dire assured both prosecutors and the judge that they could render such a sentence if the laws of aggravating factors vs mitigating factors deemed it the proper sentence.   They each took an oath and within that oath they made this very serious promise.

In a capital murder involving such terror cruelty and unbelievable callousness, this Jury in effect simply flung up their collective hands and waived the capital murder law sentencing dictum, betraying the people of the state and all of us who weep for Travis Alexander and his family

Despite our collective disgust at this colossal act or rather inaction of members of this Jury, I will opt to look at this Jury's  as hopeful there is hope for justice and  a positive outcome within the second penalty trial, Thankfully the presiding Judge is a man of jurisprudence  conscience and common sense.

He weighed the options and there were several; many of which could have made Jodi Arias convicted murderess lucky winner by default thanks to a number of jurors obvious issues with the death penalty itself - and quite likely sentencing a relatively young woman to death was also part and parcel of their reluctance to follow through on their sacred oath.

Within one possible choice The Judge had at his discretion he could have agreed to pare the charges down with a motion from the defense) to simplify the process and he easily could have ordered the jury to go back to deliberations and choose between life in prison or life with the chance of  Parole  for Jodi Arias.

Although Justice has not yet been served for Travis Alexander and his family, we do have a convicted murderer sitting in a prison cell awaiting her fate. Lets hope that the next Jury puts her misleading appearance and thoughts of her family aside.


Lets hope that when questioned can you impose a death sentence if Arizona Law demands it?" they answer truthfully.


This sad situation reminds me of an expression by Voltaire


"Evil exists when Good men do nothing"


Lets hope the next Jury does the right thing, below is a comment from a reader of The Daily Mail " a UK online Magazine. This rather adamant remark was in response to the abject failure of this Juror and others to keep their oath to  render a verdict no matter their personal views  re the death penalty or in this case  its even worse this juror actually mentioned Arias's age as a reason she shouldn't be given the death sentence as well he innapropraite++reader who was appalled at the Jury Foremens interview where he gave his reasons for refusing to give Jodi Arias the death penalty- I feel it sums things up very well;



"No, No, No No! No excuses! When these people were selected for jury duty they filled out a questionnaire regarding the "death penalty". They, each and ENERY one of them, indicated that, should the ultimate punishment be the appropriate one, that they would not shirk their duty as jurors. I have no sympathy for a wuss who sits through this farce and then cannot do what was promised in the first place; the correct sentencing . My personal feelings are that they got caught-up in this killer's net of manipulation"

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2331644/Jodi-Arias-trial-Jury-foreman-getting-death-threats-explained-group-torn-Jodi-Arias-life-prison-execute-her.html




http://news.msn.com/crime-justice/jodi-arias-jury-sentence?ocid=ansnews11
 

Hung Jury On Arias Death Penalty - Are You Kidding Me?

This is beyond frustrating -  it is now officially infuriating;

The  fact that this Jury cannot seem to properly weigh the inordinate amount of aggravating factors clearly involved in the murder of Travis Alexander against a veritable non existence of mitigating factors, equating to a death sentence  for Arias as per dictated by Arizona Law!

This Jury must must give Jodi Arias the death penalty for the pre meditated murder of Travis Alexander- Period, No emotions are allowed into this decision nor ones personal feelings about the death penalty his/herself.

I  worried that her lawyer's game plan of putting soft spoken demurely dressed and girlishly soft spoken Arias in front of the jury for weeks on end might have the desired affect on even one juror -which is all that is needed for a hung jury.

Of course the repetitive recounting of sexually intimate escapades with Mr. Alexander was also no accident ort done with simply a lascivious intention ; no Arias was leading that jury straight into exactly where she wanted them; viewing her debasement at the hands of the vilified victim, now dead who cannot speak for himself.

Its interesting to note that Jodi described her sexual life with Travis as largely debasing and yet in her own tapes she claimed that she prefers to be ravaged and used even once during a phone taped sex talk Alexander spells it out that he wants arias to take the lead and just jump on him " etc. etc.

Yet immediately Arias pulls him back into her fantasy saying oh I prefer you ravaging me-- that is so hot"

A second or two passes and Travis switches gears, obviously trying to play whatever part Arias desires of him;  eager to please, he comes up with a verbal fantasy whereby he ties Arias to a tree and she suggests he should give her a good ass blanking and a hard spanking! "
While she Arias literally coos with delight, egging Travis on with girlish squeals, says;" oh my gosh that is sooooooo hot!"

Mind you Arias  knew she was taping the phone sex with Travis and she certainly didn't sound anything akin to a a sexually battered woman, which makes me angry as this very real syndrome is  thus being lied about  which will ultimately hurt the real victims of this syndrome which  of it.
As well Arias' theme of  her debasement at Travis's hand's over and again, which she now implies drove her to the edge" to such an edge that between this and his eagerness to maintain a friends with benefits relationship with her, one that did not involve him falling back in love with her, as she so wanted. 

Instead  Travis was intent on staying very secretive about their on and off again sexual  involvement, because a) Travis he was ashamed after all that had happened tires slashed stalking etc, and b he gave  another woman that she had earlier been invited to - this was undoubtedly the straw that broke the camels back in this sociopaths mind.


Jodi Arias has Borderline Personality Disorder and Anti-social Personality Disorder. She is a Sociopath also referred to as a Psychopath   It is not uncommon for someone with one personality disorder to have concurrent Personality disorders;

There are approximately ten personality disorders in the Diagnostic Statistical Manual which is equivalent to the bible to the American Psychiatric community, but many are much more innocuous than Sociopaths and even BPD.

 However, just having one of the more serious personality disorders means that the person diagnosed operates on a very superficial level, donning persona's then mercurially changing in either a chameleon-like fashion -in order to please (this is more Borderline PD than Sociopath's M.O) or .....in an effort to get something or someone he or she wants - or believes she needs.

What this means to this jury, and Travis Alexander tragically- is that no one can take any personality traits of the a borderline PD or Sociopath at face value. They are experts at deception, they can read a person's needs and wants and literally shape change in front of them in order to "win them over"

Beneath the" oh gosh"s and the perfected  suburbanite giggly affectations, its safe to assume Arias used this particular sweet girl next door personality to win over Travis. When sex entered the relationship however and it enetered very quickly according to her testimony , things began to change -her vulnerability quotient skyrocketed and at that moment Travis Alexander was no longer safe- then it appears her neediness and narcicism kicked in big time serving to push Travis away.

Between her jeolousy and her complete absorption with just him, to the exclusion of anyone else in his life in the room etc Travis began to waver and Arias got angry.

She thought by giving Travis what he wanted a highly sexually charged woman who would alow him to do anything to her despite his being a ong time Mormon and her conversion into the mormon church ironicaslly baptized by GTravis himself... Arias likely believed for a few good months that she had " bagged" Travis Alexander.

When the officiality of their union ended and Travis begab to date other woman openly Jodi Arias anger went into high gear rage. Although she still harbored a slight hope that she could use sex yto lure him back, Arias was already on the edge having stolen her grandmothers gun and making a loose plan in her head in case Travis rejected her completely, which the cancun plane ticket change served as the final watershed event.

Arias knew for weeks that Travis had asked another woman to go to mexico on a group trip in her place, even changing the ticket that once had Jodi Arias's name on it.

While she tried to behave cavalierly to friends and even Travis himself she was seething inside.
With this rage at the boiling point Arias decided to use a now regular booty call from Travis as her perfect opportunity to" make sure that if she couldn't have him no one would"

Even Arias's own friends and family never knew the true Jodi; the woman beneath the ever changing religious pursuits and streams of self - help philosophies such as "THE SECRET" A book and philosophy that Travis Alexander based much of his motivational speaking engagements upon.

I did notice that Arias was very malleable with Travis as she was with all of the men she had relationships with. This is akin to borderline personality disordered women and dependent personality disordered women;

 Her journal entries were filled with the ups and downs of being infatuated with a man who was emotionally unavailable. She would describe her sadness and frustration then chastise herself for being responsible for her own feelings

  " because Travis cannot make me feel anything my feelings are my own - there is something within me that is causing these sad and fearful feelings"

Here Arias was describing the anxiousness she felt over she and Travis's union and its seeming unsteadiness and lack of direction. This is not the Sociopath writing, if it is even a genuine journal entry, because Sociopaths can be verrrrry cunning and Arias might have easily used mock journals as she did phone sex taping  handy  " evidence" that she might need to paint herself as the used or jilted

Or...she might have been simply trying to fulfill a kinky whim of Travis's or herself. We will never know the exact reason we casn only speculate.

And that's the trouble with Jodi Arias and anyone with a Personality disorder.

We cannot and should not ever trust them.

In this instance with the amount of lies that Arias has told and her clearly seamless ability to play the victim or the martyr-we have to assume that although there might be a little morsel of truth strewn here and there insofar as her depictions of the relationship between she and Travis, we and more importantly the JURY must defer to the evidence that Jodi Arias is a pathological liar and therefore we cant give credibility to her claims regarding these so called mitigating factors"

Even look at the way she has manipulated the jury and the media regarding her sentence; first she said she preferred death to life in prison- (something I personally believed was a lame attempt at using reverse psychology) ie She wants THE DEATH PENALTY so lets give her life in prison and make her suffer kind of thing.

But now that Arias got over her initial shock at being found guilty of pre meditated Murder, she's had time to roll it over in her mind and she is announcing that she would like to be given Life in Prison instead as she hadn't thought about how much her death would hurt HER FAMILY.

But what of her victim - Travis Alexander's family?   Shouldn't she be putting his family's wishes first? What of Travis's family and what they need for closure and some small modicum of Justice? Arizona has A Death Penalty for Capital Murder.  Jodi Arias murdered Travis Alexander in one of the most cold hearted and vicious manner possible.

Jodi Arias stabbed Travis 29 times including stab wounds to his skull!

Jodi Alexander shot Travis Alexander in his head at close range with the bullet being lodged in Travis's Jaw!

And as the final act of violence and hate Jodi Arias literally ripped Travis's throat from one ear to the other from behind - nearly decapitating him.

Travis fought for his life. He didn't die easily, so said prosecutor Juan Martinez and the medical examiner, who meticulously pointed out the defensive wounds all over Travis's body, and blood splatter all over the bathroom and hallway; a huge pool of Travis's blood lay where Jodi Arias slit Travis's throat as she grasped his head from behind crouching on the floor where he lay on his back naked, bleeding profusely lungs filled and his heart barely beating from a stab wound Ms. Arias made to his hearts main artery.


Jodi Arias stated that "DEATH was the ULTIMATE FREEDOM" when she was convicted last week in what was to be her second to last speech in Court on the penalty phase.

 I suggest the Jury presiding over this important trial pays heed to Ms Arias's first request But much more importantly apply the state of Arizona's law regarding the death penalty!