Mistrial Declared in Trial of Baltimore Police Officer William Porter in Death of Freddie Gray

Circuit Judge Barry Williams declared a mistrial yesterday in the case of Baltimore Police Officer William G. Porter after jurors failed to reach a unanimous decision on any charges in the death of Freddie Gray. The jury deliberated for 3 days before coming back to the judge and telling him that they hopelessly deadlocked. Officer William G. Porter the first of six police officers to be tried in Gray’s death, remains charged with involuntary manslaughter, second-degree assault, reckless endangerment and misconduct in office. However, this is quite a setback to the prosecution and activists. The usual rule of thought when prosecutors are trying multiple individuals, is that the first one out of the box is a slam dunk and your best case. So to set the tone and momentum going into the next trials. Officer Porter is not out of the woods yet, the prosecution will meet to reschedule this trial and will result in the other trials to be pushed back.

Probably one of the best things that was done in this case and may have quelled the violence of a mistrial was the gag order that was put in place and still remains. Thankfully, no one could rush to the media and incite turmoil  demagogging the case.

The six Baltimore police officer arrested, Officer William Porter, upper left

A judge declared a mistrial Wednesday in the case of Baltimore Police Officer William G. Porter after jurors said they had failed to reach an agreement on any of the charges against him in the death of Freddie Gray.

The decision, which came a day after jurors told Baltimore Circuit Judge Barry Williams they were deadlocked, frustrated activists who had watched the first trial in Gray’s death closely. Outside the downtown courtroom, city officials and community leaders pleaded for calm, and authorities reported two arrests, but no violence or serious disruptions.

Porter, 26, the first of six police officers to be tried in Gray’s death, remains charged with involuntary manslaughter, second-degree assault, reckless endangerment and misconduct in office. Gray, 25, died in April after suffering a severe spinal cord injury in the back of a police van.

Some thoughts from Powerline and I have to agree 100%; however, this just shows how divided individuals have become where even the obvious cannot be agreed upon.

I have a few thoughts about the case. First, it’s a sad commentary that the jury couldn’t find Porter not guilty of the most severe charges against him. Judge Williams instructed the jury that to find Porter guilty of involuntary manslaughter it would have to conclude, beyond a reasonable doubt, that Porter acted in a “grossly negligent manner” and that his conduct was a “gross departure” from what a “reasonable police officer” in a similar situation would do.

I don’t think the evidence remotely sustains a finding of gross departure. The testimony of the former Baltimore police chief and of current officers contradicted it.

To find Porter guilty of of misconduct in office required a finding that Porter “corruptly failed to do an act required by his duties” and that it was “not a mere error in judgment” but involved an “evil motive and bad faith.” This too seems far-fetched based on the evidence as reported by the press.

Sgt.Bowe Bergdahl to Face Court-Martial for Desertion … Faces Possible Life Sentence

THERE ARE CONSEQUENCES TO TRAITORS ACTIONS …

It would appear that the U.S. military is taking the Sgt.Bowe Bergdahl very seriously and has ordered Bergdahl face a court-martial .  Bergdahl is charged with desertion and endangering troops. Pretty amazing, seeing that the Obama administration hailed Bergdahl with praises of honor and distinction when he was freed. Of course what would you expect from this ‘Alice in Wonderland’ president. In May 2014 Barack Obama swapped Sergeant Bergdahl for five Taliban detainees who were being held at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. Brilliant.

A top Army commander on Monday ordered that Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl face a court-martial on charges of desertion and endangering troops stemming from his decision to leave his outpost in 2009, a move that prompted a huge manhunt in the wilds of eastern Afghanistan and landed him in nearly five years of harsh Taliban captivity.

The decision by Gen. Robert B. Abrams, head of Army Forces Command at Fort Bragg, N.C., means that Sergeant Bergdahl, 29, faces a possible life sentence. That is a far more serious penalty than had been recommended by the Army’s investigating officer, who testified at the sergeant’s preliminary hearing in September that prison would be “inappropriate.”

According to Sergeant Bergdahl’s defense lawyers, the Army lawyer who presided over the preliminary hearing also recommended that he face neither jail time nor a punitive discharge and that he go before an intermediate tribunal known as a “special court-martial,” where the most severe penalty possible would be a year of confinement.

Monday’s decision rejecting that recommendation means that Sergeant Bergdahl now faces a maximum five-year penalty if ultimately convicted by a military jury of desertion, as well as potential life imprisonment on the more serious charge of misbehavior before the enemy, which in this case means endangering the troops who were sent to search for him after he disappeared.

Prosecutor Juan Martinez Claims Juror in the Jodi Arias Trial fell in Love with Murderess and Held out Against the Death Penalty

LEAD PROSECUTOR CLAIMS HOLD OUT JUROR WAS SMITTEN WITH JODI ARIAS …

It was a crime that shocked our sense and a jury deliberation that even more shocked our sensibility. Now maybe we might find out the reason why Jodi Arias was not sentenced to death for her crimes as she should have been. In a book that is to come out next year, the Daily Mail Online is reporting that the lead prosecutor, Juan Martinez, is claiming that he believes one of the jurors was in love with Arias despite all of the evidence against her. However, the book will not name the juror that fell in love with Arias. However, many speculate it was  foreman Bill Zervakos, who is being referred to. There was one lone juror who made it happen that this “Black Widow” did not get the death penalty. The forthcoming book is entitled, ‘Conviction: The Untold Story of Putting Jodi Arias Behind Bars’.

Something seriously went wrong with the jury deliberation for Jodi Arias only to get life in prison. The crime scene was a blood bath and had the roles been reversed as to the victim and the perpetrator of the murder, the outcome would have been much different.  Arias’ ex-boyfriend Travis Alexander was shot dead, stabbed repeatedly and slit his throat at his home in suburban Mesa, Arizona. During the trial she acted like a stone cold, manipulative psychopath. Even with all that, she was not put to death.

One of the jurors in the Jodi Arias case fell in love with her during the trial, the prosecutor who oversaw her conviction has sensationally claimed.

Juan Martinez said that the unnamed juror became besotted with one of America’s most notorious criminals in spite of the gruesome evidence that convicted her.

Martinez did not specify which juror it was was but Tara Harris Kelley, one of the alternate jurors in the trial that convicted Arias, said she had ‘no doubt’ that he was referring to foreman Bill Zervakos.

Kelley told Daily Mail Online in an exclusive interview that Zervakos secretly wanted to acquit Arias, bragged about being a womanizer and made eye contact with her whenever the jury went into the judge’s chambers.

He also supposedly grumbled and complained whenever Kelley asked a question about Arias – and was one of the holdouts who refused to put her to death.

Zervakos has long been held with suspicion by Arias’ supporters because he was one of the holdouts in the death penalty phase of her trial.

But he denied being romantically interested in Arias and told Daily Mail Online that he viewed the case from a ‘non-emotional point of view’.

Arias, 35, was arrested in 2008 for the murder of her ex-boyfriend Travis Alexander, 30, who she shot dead, stabbed repeatedly and slit his throat at his home in suburban Mesa, Arizona.

Prosecutors described her as obsessive and killed him after he said he wanted to date somebody else.

The Dana Pretzer Show – Tuesday, November 24, 2015 – Join us Tonight for an Hour Long Discussion with Author David

LISTEN TO THE DANA PRETZER SHOW ON SCARED MONKEYS RADIO AT 9 PM ET

• With David Merkatz and a discussion of the criminal justice system and his book. Wrongly Charged

LISTEN TONIGHT LIVE AT 9 PM ET

The Dana Pretzer Show – Tuesday, November 24, 2015 Download Podcast

University of Virginia Phi Kappa Psi Fraternity Files $25 Million Lawsuit Against Rolling Stone for Faux “A Rape on Campus” Article

YOU KNEW IT WAS ONLY A MATTER OF TIME AND GOOD FOR THE UVA FRAT …

The Phi Kappa Psi fraternity at the University of Virginia has filed a $25 million lawsuit against Rolling Stone magazine for their false and libelous article they published in 2014 where they alleged that a female freshman was gang raped at the frat house during a party. It was later proved that the story was nothing but a bunch of bunk and poorly sourced and checked by Rolling Stone. The lawsuit stems from the 2014 article, “A Rape on Campus” that was supposed to depict a rape that took place upon a freshman named Jackie at the Phi Psi house on Sept. 28, 2012. The article went into great detail of how how Jackie was raped by seven men while two others watched in a second floor bedroom while a fraternity party raged downstairs. There was just one problem, it was all made up and false. Scared Monkeys had stated back in May 2015 after the UVA Dean had sued Rolling Stone, that it was only a matter of time before the fraternity did as well. Rolling Stone and the author of the article was forced to make a full apology back in April 2015. However, the wheels were already set in motion and we all knew this day was coming.

The Phi Kappa Psi fraternity chapter at the University of Virginia filed a $25 million lawsuit Monday against Rolling Stone magazine, which published an article in 2014 that alleged a freshman was gang raped at the house during a party.

The lawsuit focuses on a Rolling Stone article titled “A Rape on Campus,” which detailed a harrowing attack on a freshman named Jackie at the Phi Psi house on Sept. 28, 2012. The article, written by Sabrina Rubin Erdely, described how Jackie was raped by seven men while two others watched in a second floor bedroom while a fraternity party raged downstairs. The article alleged that the attack was part of a hazing ritual at the long-time U-Va. fraternity.

The Washington Post found significant discrepancies in the Rolling Stone account, including that the fraternity did not host a party that night in 2012 and that a student identified by Jackie as her main attacker was never a member of the fraternity and did not attend U-Va.

Two investigations — by the Columbia University journalism school and the Charlottesville Police Department — later confirmed that there was no gang rape at the fraternity.

Much more at Legal Insurrection and I second their motion that this lawsuit against Rolling Stone is going to be fun to watch.

More of Phi Psi’s statement from WaPo:

“The fraternity chapter and its student and alumni members suffered extreme damage to their reputations in the aftermath of the article’s publication and continue to suffer despite the ultimate unraveling of the story,” the Phi Psi chapter said in a statement Monday. “The article also subjected the student members and their families to danger and immense stress while jeopardizing the future existence of the chapter.”