Consent to Search in Various Forms

There are a variety of forms of consent to search involved in the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Often it all has to do with the initial conversations with law enforcement at the point of arrest or giving consent to a search that is not in best interest simply to appear friendly and helpful. There is a reason that they must have your consent to search – trust me on that – and it is never in your best interest to help them convict you. This form of consent most often leads to a plea deal of some sort.


If you seek a plea deal you should know that attorneys make deals – cops cannot. All that a law enforcement officer can do is gather evidence and arrest. There is no reason on earth to help them convict you in such an arrest as all this does is to help the officer earn points by adding to any initial evidence, if there was any. Some people convict themselves in their quest to appear helpful.

My father always taught me that if approached by law enforcement in any matter that pertains to me I should shut the hell up and not speak one word, other than to invoke my right to counsel. I have taught my son the same. Dad was career USAF and later worked as a contractor for the Department of Defense securing building materials from eavesdropping devices, so he knew what he was talking about.

Let's say that you are pulled-over on a traffic stop and the officer inserts the statement "You don't mind if I search your vehicle, do you? You don't have anything to hide, right?" What would you say or do? Well, nine out of ten Americans will feel intimidated and pressured and will cave to that pressure, even if they have good reason not to allow a search of their person or vehicle. Many figure that giving consent will help them in the end, but the opposite is true. I have taught my son to respond by stating that he has nothing to hide, but does NOT consent to any search. He should then follow-up by asking if he is under arrest or free to leave. If the response is that he is under arrest, he shouldn't say another word except to request to speak to legal counsel. If the response is anything else, he should repeat the question until it is answered appropriately.

Make sense so far?

Every single day I read about some idiot making a plea deal for ten, fifteen, or twenty years on a charge that shouldn't be to begin with or perhaps should be, but the truth has been skewed to the point that it's unrecognizable. People really feed the prison frenzy that exists in this country. Why do Americans want to lock people away in cages forever? Granted, there are some that belong in cages, though most do not fit the bill.

I am at a loss in understanding the lock-em-up mentality that I encounter everywhere here. I also cannot help but to believe that at least half of the country is on drugs – prescription drugs – that alter the ability to think.

My reasoning in writing this is my disappointment in the people for not asserting the rights that the Founding Fathers of the United States fought so hard for. I do have a Bachelor of Arts degree as a history major and the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution has always held serious interest for me.


Posts for the next couple of weeks will relate to the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution.

Image © iStockphoto.com 2010

A Closer Look at Sex Trafficking Indictments

It is truly hard to believe that feds in the Southern District of New York cooked-up the entire scheme in the sex trafficking indictments of alleged Gambino Family members, but the yarn is beginning to unravel in this direction. One fallen informant with pending criminal charges in an unrelated case plus overzealous agents and prosecutors equals a show trial garnished with public support due to the involvement of a minor.

First I must apologize for ever thinking it could be anything except a scheme engineered by an informant, agents, and federal prosecutors. The feds were adamant that they "had the goods" in hundreds of hours of recorded conversations, but according to Jerry Capeci, it looks like the only one involved in the sex trafficking of a 15 year-old was the informant. The next question is, of course, did federal agents know that their disgusting rat was pimping a 15 year-old?

I would have believed that two or three of the fourteen defendants had to have knowledge for there to be indictments, but it doesn't look that way at all. This is the statement released by the FBI in relation to the sex trafficking charges:

OREFICE, DIFIORE, MANZELLA, SCOTTO, EISLER, MAIURRO, and PORCELLI are charged with sex trafficking and sex trafficking of a minor. From 2008 to 2009, the defendants operated a prostitution business where young women and girls—including an underage girl who was 15 years old at the time—were exploited and sold for sex. The defendants first recruited various young women and girls—ages 15 through 19—to work as prostitutes. The defendants then advertised the prostitution business on Craigslist and other websites. The defendants drove the women to appointments in Manhattan, Brooklyn, New Jersey, and Staten Island to have sex with clients. The defendants then took approximately 50 percent of the money paid to the young women. The defendants also made the women available for sex to gamblers at a weekly, high-stakes poker games that OREFICE and his crew ran.

Would you believe, from reading that statement, Porcelli refused to answer the informant's Craigslist line and returned his phone? Not only is she not a madam, as alleged, she didn't want anything to do with the informant or his operation. It was all the informant's operation! No telling what extent this dirtbag informant went to in his attempt to involve anyone and everyone in the mess.

Informants and Snakes are one and the same. I have had to learn the hard way that they are capable of absolutely anything. This should make anyone doubt the rest of the indictment as well. As usual it is create a case.

Injustice in Missouri

Help stop the racially motivated execution of Reggie Clemons in Missouri!

Reggie's case is unknown in comparison to Mumia Abu Jamal's case, and he really needs your help now. This is a 1991 case that was prosecuted without any physical evidence. Reggie Clemons was only 19 years old when charged with two co-defendants in the murders of two white women. The case involves serious police and prosecutorial misconduct, and Reggie's attorney was inadequate and later suspended from practicing law.

I know you've heard the story before, but with different names in other states. The defendants are black and the victims are white, and neither received justice. Prosecutors in the Reggie Clemons case managed to stack the jury, dismissing black jurors. What followed was the usual show trial run by the judge with prosecutors' assistance as the defense attorneys fell asleep at the wheel.

Reggie has been on death row in Missouri for 17 years now and still maintains his innocence in the murders. Please at least look at the information from the case – it will take you less than 30 minutes. Amnesty International USA has just released a report on this case May 11, 2010. After you read the report, please email this letter to the Governor of Missouri by clicking here.

Thank you for paying attention here. Look at the short fact sheet here.

The Markets and Gold

Most that read this blog know little about me other than my messy case and that I owned escort services for a decade in Orlando. I'd like you to know that I am more than that and have done other things in life. For a couple of years in that decade I sent the telephones to voicemail and didn't return calls unless I knew the caller – I was busy with my photography studio, which turned out to be a money pit. I think it was my artistic side that killed its financial viability. I also studied the equities, commodities, and futures markets extensively for several years and started trading online in late 1997.


By 1999, my tax returns were such an undertaking that my dear accountant made me do it myself, though he loaned me his office and computer (with necessary program) to complete the task and it took several long nights. When you day-trade you receive 1099s from the company that you make trades with and they list the sells, but not the buys, so someone must enter each and every transaction in the tax return program. If this wasn't done it would look like one had an ungodly amount of earnings from sales. I cannot recall with any accuracy how many pages my returns were in 1999 or 2000, but it was heavy stuff. The MBI would have liked all to believe that I was glued to the telephone booking calls; however, the truth is that I often didn't answer at all.

I spent much of 1999, 2000, and 2001 studying the gold and silver markets in all forms. At one point I could have told you the ratio of gold in any South African or Canadian mine and offered an evaluation of the stock prices. I held shares in most mining companies – gold and silver – and played the futures and options markets. I also bought silver and gold bullion coins and bars, and at the point of my arrest had over 500 ounces in 10 oz. silver bars, and plenty of 24 karat gold bullion coins.

Back then – prior to my arrest – I was able to purchase silver at $3.50 to $4.50 an ounce and gold for $250 to $280 an ounce, depending on the specific coins. I also managed to get into gold and silver equities when all these companies were on sale. I was set for life the day that I was arrested, November 20, 2001. I was waiting for the economy to fall through the floor and gold and silver to reach new and unheard of highs, but then the real estate market was propped-up and people used houses like ATMs, so it didn't happen. I also had to sell my house to pay my attorney and survive about half way through the case, so I missed the big real estate boom too. I had to sell my stocks at a lower price than I paid just to bond out of jail - $100K bond – and get through the first few months of hell and discovery/investigation.

It was so unfair to me as it was a subject that I studied in depth long before it became popular. I really was creating lifelong security for both myself and my son. Today gold is $1240 an ounce and silver is $19.50 an ounce. It wasn't just the bullion – the stocks have gone up 1000% plus!

So if you ever wondered why I despise the State of Florida and its unsightly, liar agents, perhaps this will deepen your understanding. They caused me to lose so much more than most imagine. I remember when I was selling my bullion ounce by ounce to a bullion trader in Orlando it was so depressing; like they ruined my life plans and any thought of leaving my son well-off. The owner of the business that I sold to told me to look at it differently: Be happy that you have it all to sell. Yes, I was happy they couldn't bury me in a state prison because I was unable to fund investigation, discovery, and the rest of the messy case, but on days like today, when gold reaches a new high, the anger returns.

It was many wasted years. Hell, they even tried involve the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in my criminal case, laying traps on stock message boards hoping I'd bite. I never did bite, and with the help of a few friends managed to expose them on the boards. As with the rest of the case, it didn't work out as they planned. Still, I have these days filled with anger at the bad agents and their backers at state level. I doubt that I'll ever move on from that.

War on Terror Tactics Insult to Intelligence

Since the day the War on Terror began I have felt that my own government has insulted my intelligence to an unforgivable extent. What won't they do in this created war? Is there any one of the creators or proliferators that isn't an absolute see-thru liar?

There is nothing that they aren't capable of and they're all liars and idiots if they think that everyone buys it hook, line, and sinker. I recently decided that I'm not voting in any election in the US ever again. They can take the so-called democracy and shove it where the sun don't shine, and may someone help those that we have imposed our strange excuse for democracy on.

You may be curious as to what brought this on, so I'll tell you. The short answer is everything. The lengthier response is that I was listening to a song my son had blasting. He replayed it for me a few times and demanded my attention. The clip consisted of a short excerpt from one of President Obama's pre-president speeches – the speech wherein he loudly promised, well you should listen to it: nuERA on MySpace and the song is entitled "Head of State" – just scroll down a little and click it on the jukebox.

I knew I recalled him saying this, but all has changed so much since then that I did consider it possible that I was wrong. As usual I am correct though. Geez I hate always being right… Obama told the American people that if the troops were not withdrawn by the time he entered office, it would be the first thing that he would do: put an END to this WAR and bring our troops home. He concluded by stating that we "could take that to the bank." Hey – I guess we did, huh?

Yes, it is his voice, and though it is a very short clip of a speech, it is what he stated. There is an additional short clip of a different speech at the end of the song concerning the Afghanistan invasion. As a former campaign worker that participated in dragging people from their cozy homes to vote for him, I am pissed off. Dragging is an exaggeration, but extensive talking and convincing is not. Granted he is still the better alternative, but what the hell does that mean? He was better than Palin, the tiny-town mayor and religious zealot that couldn't. If this is the best choice we have in this country we are in serious trouble when the next election campaigns begin.

I believed in this guy and I am ticked-off. He turned out to be a liar like all the rest. Sure, he's better than Bush, sort of, but he's still a war president hell-bent on bombing, murdering, maiming, torturing, and gutting the US Constitution. The worst part, at least to me, is that so many Americans agree with it all.

Just listen to that really short clip and you'll get my point.


Now to get down to the nitty gritty here – the topic of this post. I read this article tonight that really insulted me on the KTVU website: Boxer: Visas Granted to Detained Hikers' Families. The writer implies that the US treats its War on Terror prisoners better than Iran because the families of these three caught hiking in Iran, as we threaten to wipe the Iranians out because of their alleged nuclear activity, were denied visitation. A group of our insulting senators and congress members had the audacity to demand the release of these three.

Do we grant family visits to the hundreds of prisoners in Guantanamo camps that are still, five to eight years later, uncharged? No, we torture them into confession for acts never committed. How about the thousands of prisoners in US camps throughout the Middle East? Do you believe that they have visits with their family? The Iranians are not stupid.

Though I feel for the hikers' families, as someone with the MBI once stated to me:

All is fair in love and war.