Show Trials in the US

I recall a particular court hearing in my own case that triggered the understanding that there are show trials in the US too. The thought that I was in a kangaroo court permeated my mind as I listened to John Craft, the prosecutor, state that I had foreign bank accounts and trash bags full of cash buried in my backyard. It would have been laughable if I wasn't the victim du jour. I made several attempts to respond to the allegations, but was cut-off by the kangaroo court judge, Anthony Johnson. I did manage to blurt out my response before Johnson was able to move on to a new topic; I had to as Orange County, Florida records all Circuit Court hearings, and if the allegation was going to be recorded, I knew that my response needed to be as well. Can't let such wild lies go without response and I was stuck representing myself at that point.


If you've read Memoirs of an Accused Madam, then you know it only worsened from that point forward. The trial was totally bizarre, with clerks from the prosecutor's office dressed like street hookers for effect and state witnesses gabbing with each other all over the halls. My friend Dusty kept me updated on the hallway circus at the conclusion of each day. The jurors could hardly walk through it all as they entered and exited the courtroom throughout each day. I can only imagine what they thought, but then it was clear to me that the verdicts reflected their thoughts well.

I will venture to say that there aren't many trials as bizarre as that one; I know there aren't as I've sat in many courtrooms watching other trials.

There are other variations of the show trial that take place in courtrooms across the US every day of the week. If you're ever bored and want to find out what's really going on with our criminal justice system, go watch a felony trial. For good measure make it an interesting one, perhaps a racketeering trial if at all possible.

I have almost finished reading J. Patrick O'Connor's The Framing of Mumia Abu Jamal. I figured that I would mention the book, since I'm on the topic of show trials. What a book. I am floored at what McGill (the prosecutor) was allowed to get away with during Mumia's trial; absolutely shocking! O'Connor lays out the scene of the shooting of Officer Faulkner and the evidence piece by piece, word by word, and witness by witness. He includes transcripts of court testimony that was important, and tells the reader why it is so important. This was a show trial to rival any in the former Soviet Union.

The main issue that tugs at me as I read this book is that I do not understand why the murdered officer's wife Maureen would find this acceptable. It really bothers me or I wouldn't state it here. Doesn't she want justice served in her husband's murder? Doesn't she care that it is CLEAR that Mumia Abu Jamal is not guilty? I won't say anymore here as I do intend to review the book in the next few days. It is a troubling case, and one that should bother anyone interested in justice.

There is a man in Montgomery County, Mississippi that is now starting his sixth capital murder trial for a 1996 shooting that left four people dead. Yes, you read that correctly – the sixth trial. His name is Curtis Flowers and his most recent two trials ended in hung juries. The first three trials resulted in convictions; however, the racial issues in ole Mississippi, the fabricated witness testimony, and prosecutorial misconduct during each trial resulted in the state Supreme Court overturning the verdict and ordering a new trial.

Curtis Flowers new show trial begins this week according to CNN. He has a team of attorneys and many supporters watching. Montgomery County, Mississippi prosecutors should be put on notice that the world is watching and they're not going to get away with the criminal acts committed in the preceding five trials. Mr. Flowers is entitled to a real and fair trial – he has already been incarcerated since January of 1997 waiting for it. If they can't convict him this time they had better set him free.

Drug War is a Total Failure

The War on Drugs takes in unimaginable sums of money and at the same time it costs taxpayers in the range of $50 billion annually when state and federal agencies are taken into account. Does that make sense? Perhaps it does, if we consider the independent variables. The Drug War money goes into the system in the form of forfeitures of property and cash, fines, and court costs charged to defendants. Money from forfeitures is then split among participating agencies and funds the pursuit of more Drug War prosecutions and the salaries and expenses of agency workers. This sounds like a never-ending vicious circle.


Drug War arrests and prosecutions also fund the prison system. The US incarcerates more of its population than any country in the world. We like to lock people up here, and often for any reason that we can find or create. We also hand out the lengthiest sentences in the world, and the longest tend to be for drug prosecutions; not violent crime. According to studies conducted by the International Center for Prison Studies at King's College London, in 2007 there were 2.3 million people incarcerated in the US, and I have little doubt that the figure has since increased. China came in second with 1.6 million imprisoned.

I'm not going to fill your mind with a lot of statistics here, but will include links to websites at the end of this post if additional information is desired. I sometimes read through press releases on US Attorney's Office websites for various districts just to look at prosecution and sentencing trends, and what I've read lately is scary. It's hard for me to imagine anyone with a marijuana offense doing 20+ years in prison, but it is happening. Texas is a place that I'll never enter again. How can there be so much pot available at such great prices and so many prosecutions resulting in decades in a prison in the same place? This makes little sense to me.

South Texas has always had plenty of smuggling operations due to its geographical proximity to Mexico. If you read through press releases in the past year and half you will see sentences so long that it's mind-boggling – many are life in prison. They also work hard for as long as it takes to extradite the indicted from Mexico when necessary. In one recent case they worked on the extradition for eight years! Try to imagine the costs involved in that.

When forfeitures and prison costs are taken into account, the taxpayers are still spending close to $50 billion a year to prosecute and incarcerate drug users, drug dealers, and drug traffickers. What this is saying is that beyond building prisons, jails, and new courthouses, and paying millions of workers, they are still in the hole by $50 billion a year on the average. If this were a business it would have been dissolved long ago. We have a large percentage of our population that is so poor they have no health care and only eat because they receive food stamps. I believe the most recent figure is 31.5 million Americans receiving food stamps.

It is far past time to end the failed US War on Drugs. I get it and much of the population gets it, including many in law enforcement, so why don't our politicians get it?

Links to check out the statistics:

LEAP – Law Enforcement Against Prohibition
Drug War Clock
Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP)
Bureau of Justice Statistics
November Coalition – Working to End Drug War Injustice
Families Against Mandatory Minimums (FAMM)

Stop voting for politicians that don't get it!

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.