TheTrenchcoat Chronicles

Author: Trench Reynolds

  • Judge wants Columbine depositions to remain sealed

    Judge: Seal Columbine papers for 25 years:

    U.S. District Court Judge Lewis Babcock has suggested that the depositions given by the parents of Columbine killers Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold should be sent to the National Archives and be kept sealed for 25 years.

    In 2002, the parents of Columbine killer Eric Harris gave more than 16 hours of depositions in connection with a lawsuit by Columbine survivor Mark Taylor against Solvay Pharmaceuticals, maker of Luvox.

    Taylor claimed that Luvox, an anti-depressant, made Harris homicidal and suicidal. However, Taylor dropped the lawsuit in February 2003 after Solvay agreed to contribute $10,000 to the American Cancer Society.

    The other depositions of Harris’ parents and the parents of Dylan Klebold took place over a four-day period in August 2003 in connection with a lawsuit filed by the families of five slain Columbine students. But, like the Solvay lawsuit depositions, the depositions were sealed when those families reached a settlement with the Harris and Klebold families.

    The depositions have since been sitting in a highly secured evidence room at the federal courthouse awaiting a decision by Babcock about what should be done with them.

    After 25 years, the National Archives would decide if the depositions are of significant social value and could release them to the public. Otherwise, they’d be destroyed, according to evidence presented at today’s hearing.

    Babcock said he wouldn’t make a final decision until all sides had an opportunity to file written responses with him. He gave the parties a two-week deadline to file motions.

    I understand that depositions in privately settled lawsuits are supposed to remain sealed but this is a special case. I’ll be honest with you. I can think of no legal reason why the depositions should be made public. I only want to see the released for my own personal curiosity. In my opinion, it’s already been proven that the Harrises dropped the parenting ball. I just want to see how many opportunities they had to prevent the massacre but didn’t.

  • Danny Ledonne on AOTS II

    I finally got to see the video of Super Columbine Massacre RPG’s creator Danny Ledonne’s interview on AOTS. You can see it if you go to AOTS’s video page and go back to 1/22/07.

    I could tell it wasn’t going to be a heated debate when host Kevin Pereira basically stated that Slamdance’s decision to pull SCMRPG from its competition amounted to censorship. Why is it that people still don’t realize that censorship can only come from the government? A private organization like Slamdance has the right to let in or kick out any game they want.

    Then Captain Smug himself, Ledonne, came on and basically acted like he was the Messiah of all video games with Kotaku’s Brian Crecente acting like one of his disciples.

    I thought at one point we were actually going to get a decent debate when Pereira asked Ledonne if he thought SCMRPG glorified Columbine. Ledonne avoided the question and both Pereira and Crecente let it slide. This wasn’t as much of a debate as it was a bunch of ass kissing.

    What they should have done is have someone with an opinion that actually was opposed to the game. Like a Columbine victim’s family member or a Columbine survivor. I bet it would have been a lot different debated if they did.

    Granted AOTS isn’t exactly a bastion of journalism but they did a great disservice to their viewers by having such a one-sided conversation.

  • Jonesboro shooter due in court today

    Westside Shooter Due in Fayetteville Courtroom Today:

    Mitchell Johnson, one of the gunmen in the Jonesboro massacre, is due in court today on charges stemming from his arrest 2 weeks ago. To refresh your memory he was pulled over in a van that had marijuana and a loaded 9mm in it. And oh yeah, also a guy who killed his father at 15 with a crossbow. He faces misdemeanor charges of drug possession and carrying a weapon at his arraignment today. It didn’t take us long to hear about Johnson again after he was released. I doubt it will be long again.

  • Kerns’ fate hopefully to be decided soon

    Kern case continues:

    The last we heard on the fate of Tobin Kerns was back in October when a Massachusetts supreme court justice refused to rule on the interpretation of the law regarding communicating a threat. The matter now is expected to be argued before the full Supreme Judicial Court on February 8th. Let’s hope that Tobin will finally be exonerated come the 8th.

  • Police search Chanthabouly’s backpack

    Police search backpack for clues in shooting:

    A teacher at Foss High School, where Douglas Chanthabouly, shot Samnang Kok to death, found a backpack belonging to Chanthabouly two days after the shooting. In turn, the teacher turned the backpack over to police. Police are hoping to find documents related to motive in the bag.

    “The affiant recovered a notebook with “LOC” written inside along with two blue bandanas,” Krause said. “The affiant also observed that the clothes in the closet were mainly blue or black in color. The affiant is aware that the term LOC is commonly associated with a Cambodian gang known as the “Loced Out Crips. Their colors are blue.”

    Police are still saying the shooting wasn’t gang related but I still disagree. I’m still betting that Chanthabouly was trying to impress the gang and saw this as a way of getting in. But that remains to be seen.

  • Andrew Osantowski pleads guilty to more charges

    The original Michigan mutant, Andrew Osantowski, is back in the news again. This time he’s pleaded guilty to larceny charges for stealing tools from a cemetery. The sentence for this charge should be handed down at the end of February.

  • We get letters

    bert

    I received the following e-mail from someone only calling themselves Bert…

    RE: I think you should stop your site

    Really, in any community of 100 millioin people there will always be a spread of bad people. Your one of them. By focussing on bad stuff your feeding the appepite of wannabe bad people. We dont need you doing what you do. We already have the news. Do you think that tech-incompetent parents are going to read your site? No. The only people reading your site are the bad guys, and their jerking off to it. Your fascination with this material is clinically questionable. I wouldn’t be surprised if you were peaodo yourself.

    Methinks Bert doth protest too much.

    I’m not going to bother defending myself because my stance on pedophiles has been established. However, I will not have you sully the good name of my readers.

    Are you going to take that readers? He called you all the bad guys and that you’re jerking off to my site. Let Bert know what you think in the comments.

  • Another doctor’s opinion on Asperger’s

    I had asked another blogging doctor about Asperger’s as a murder defense in the case of John Odgren. I e-mailed Dr. Feste of Illyria and this is what he had to say. Again, nothing has been edited…

    One would think that a 16-year-old with such a diagnosis would not be allowed to have a knife collection; obviously parents have poor insight into the problem…. oftentimes the parents have just as many issues. If I were the supreme authority on truth, justice and all things imperial (I should be provided with such responsibilities), I would not incarcerate the individual, since the explosive outbursts are a consequence of his disease, but I would not let him roam free, especially with such parents….. it seems a good chunk of modern society is incapable of reasonable parenting, and thus the murderous 16-year-old should be under constant supervision and a controlled environment until there is proof that he will not repeat his offense. Parents need a good whack in the head, though.

  • Iowa sex offenders take girl to their home

    Sex Offenders Accused of Abusing Teen They Met on MySpace:

    Two Iowa sex offenders have been arrested for sexual abuse charges for having sex with a 14-year-old girl they met through MySpace. Scott Seehawer and Winston Ramsdale took the girl from her home to theirs. Both of them were already on Iowa’s sex offender registry.

    I wasn’t able to find a MySpace for Sreehawer but I did find one for Ramsdale. His profile says he wants children someday. Apparently, he couldn’t wait.

  • Boomalicious II: Electric Boogaloo

    Police: Suspect posed as teen:

    I originally posted about Joseph Polk aka “Boomalicious” here. He is the 36-year-old from Klamath Falls, Oregon who posed as 15-year-old on MySpace in order to have sex with a 14-year-old girl. In addition to his Boomalicious profile, he also had one under the username I-A-G. I was unable to find either. But to make matters worse Polk was a religion teacher at Sacred Heart Catholic Church. Like the Catholic Church doesn’t have enough problems with that. He was asked to resign that volunteer position by the church. The church has talked to the children under Polk’s tutelage and so far no abuse has been discovered.

    Thanks to Pilar for the link.