TheTrenchcoat Chronicles

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  • Thomas White’s attorney seeks house arrest

    House arrest sought for teen accused in school-gun incident:

    The public defender for Thomas White is seeking to have his client put under house arrest while he awaits trial. White is the 14-year-old gunman who fired a round from an assault rifle into the ceiling of Memorial Middle School in Joplin, Missouri and allegedly tried to shoot his principal but the gun jammed. Let’s hear from White’s attorney, James Egan…

    “Under our system, the purpose of bail is to ensure the defendant show up for trial,” Egan wrote in his motion. “Here, (defendant) is a 14-year-old boy with no means of transportation. Further, any inappropriate actions of (defendant) during the period he is on house arrest will certainly be used against him if this court grants the requested relief and there is another certification hearing. Moreover, (defendant) risks having the preliminary writ quashed if he flees the jurisdiction.”

    The motion also says the boy is entitled under state law to educational services that “cannot be adequately provided” while he is in jail.

    A 14-year-old may not have any means of transportation but I’m sure his parents do. And as we’ve seen at least one of his parents isn’t above breaking the law. If you remember White’s father Gregory White was an ex-felon who was in possession of a firearm. Not only that but we’ve already seen what Thomas White thinks of educational services. He fires bullets into them.

    It’s his attorney’s fault that he hasn’t gone to trial yet anyway. His attorneys filed an appeal with the state Supreme Court back in September trying to get the case sent back to juvenile court. The state Supreme Court won’t even hear the appeal until February 28, 2008.

    Besides, it’s not like he’s been charged with jaywalking. He’s being charged with first-degree assault among other charges. House arrest would be a joke.

  • Fry Cook Sentenced

    Teen in Connetquot bombing plot sentenced:

    The 15-year-old Long Island McDonald’s fry cook who pleaded guilty to charges of plotting an attack against Connetquot High School was sentenced yesterday. The unnamed teen was given 1 year in the nut hut…I mean an ‘undisclosed therapeutic facility’. He was also given credit for the time he’s already served.

    I haven’t heard anything yet about his cohort being sentenced. That would be 17-year-old Michael McDonough. I’d be surprised if he gets more than probation.

  • Dillon Cossey sentenced

    Pa. Boy Sentenced for Stockpiling Guns:

    Dillon Cossey is the 14-year-old homeschooled boy from Pennsylvania who pleaded guilty to plotting an attack against Plymouth-Whitemarsh High School. Today he was sentenced to 7 years in a juvenile facility. The case has been noteworthy because of Cossey’s mom, Michele Cossey, buying guns for her precious little snowflake. She’s facing charges as well however the judge let her have it in court today…

    In court, the judge said Dillon’s mother, Michele Cossey, had created a “me and mom against the world” attitude in her son.

    “This kid has been so totally desocialized, he has no friends,” Tressler said.

    “You want this kid dependent on you? Go buy a dog, go buy a pet,” he told Michele Cossey.

    And you don’t let him sit on the computer all day unsupervised.

    I’m guessing mom won’t receive nearly as much time as her mutant brood but she should.

  • Cleveland cop suspended over death picture

    Officer who took Coon photo suspended:

    The Cleveland police officer who took the cellphone picture of Asa Coon after he committed suicide has been suspended for 8 days as of Monday.

    Patrolman Walter Emerick, a 12-year veteran, admitted shooting the photo of Asa Coon, 14, in a hearing with Police Chief Michael McGrath, said Safety Director Martin Flask. Coon committed suicide after shooting four others in SuccessTech Academy Oct. 10.

    No word if that was without pay or not.

  • No justice for Megan Kanka

    ‘Megan’s Law’ killer escapes death under N.J. execution ban:

    The man who raped and killed 7-year-old Megan Kanka — the 1994 crime that inspired “Megan’s Law” — is one of eight men whose sentences were commuted to life in prison this week as part of New Jersey’s new ban on execution.

    The Garden State on Monday became the first state in more than three decades to abolish the death penalty after a commission ruled the punishment is “inconsistent with evolving standards of decency.”

    Gov. Jon Corzine the day before commuted the sentences of eight men sitting on the state’s death row. They will now serve life in prison without parole, according to the governor’s office.

    Among the eight is Jesse Timmendequas, 46, who was sentenced to death in June 1997 for Megan’s murder.

    Prosecutors said Timmendequas lured Megan to his home by saying he wanted to show her a puppy. He then raped her, beat her and strangled her with a belt. A day later, he led police to her body.

    I would have been content if New Jersey executed this scumbag then abolished the death penalty. Thanks a lot Gov. Corzine for pissing on the grave of Megan Kanka.

  • Murdered by Mumia

    Michael Smerconish | THE NAME IN THE TITLE

    Ever since I’ve discovered Tony Allen’s Anti-MOVE/Mumia blog I’ve been kind of laying off of convicted cop killing scumbag Mumia Abu Jamal. Tony is more close to the case and more eloquent and passionate about it than I am plus I’ve been extremely busy and have had to let some subject matter fall by the wayside.

    However I just read this column by Michael Smerconish about how the name came up for the book he co-wrote with Maureen Faulkner, the widow of slain police Officer Danny Faulkner, and I thought that this quote was worth noting.

    “I still have grave concerns about having to constantly refer to Jamal first, then talk about my struggle and Danny’s murder. Having his name in the title opens the door for Jamal’s supporters to tell everyone that we, in particular me, couldn’t make it without exploiting Jamal and using ‘his’ fame to sell our book.”

    I responded that everyone would know that, in fact, she was not accepting a dime for this project, nor am I, despite our three years of labor. All proceeds benefit a not-for-profit she established for the education of Philadelphia children who’ve lost a parent to murder.

    If you’re interested in knowing the true story behind the murder of Daniel Faulkner and why I think Mumia Abu Jamal should be executed please pick up Murdered by Mumia: A Life Sentence of Loss, Pain, and Injustice. (That’s a non-paying link by the way)

  • Metal Molester barred from the stage

    Judge in Sex Case Bans Rocker From Stage:

    One of the more heated discussions that have been ongoing on this site is that of one Randall Shesto II. He’s the 21-year-old lead singer of the metal ‘band’ Nailwounds. He was caught not once but twice with underage girls earning him the nickname on this site of The Metal Molester.

    Well, it seems that the Molester is Metal no more as a judge has barred him from appearing on stage for 5 years.

    “You love your music,” the judge told the defendant. “Your music has been the tool by which you have ingratiated your way into the lives of these girls. You may not play in a band in any public appearances during the term of your probationary period. I’m taking away from you the tools by which you worked your misdeeds, sir.”

    I can just see the judge saying to him “Now I bid you good day sir.” before slamming down his gavel.

    Shesto was also sentenced to a month behind bars, 11 months of work release, and 5 years probation. He also can’t use the internet or a cell phone without permission from his probation officer.

    Rock on justice system. m/

  • McCombs says Brown not part of murder

    Fort Bend girl’s killer tells court he acted alone:

    The convicted killer of 16-year-old Ashton Glover testified in court that his cohort had nothing to do with her murder. You should remember Matt McCombs. He’s the teen that confessed to shooting Ashton in the head because of ‘morbid curiosity. Now he’s saying that his partner, Sean Huston Brown, had no part in the actual murder.

    He testified that codefendant Sean Brown had no idea he was going to kill anyone.

    Prosecutor Sherry Robinson asked McCombs if he and Brown had ever talked about killing anyone.

    McCombs, 19, answered,”No, ma’am.” This was the first time he had publicly commented about the night he fatally shot Glover, a classmate at Clements High School.

    “(Brown) was about 150 to 200 feet in front of me. I pulled the pistol from my waistband and fired at Ashton Glover, who was about 25 feet from me,” McCombs said.

    “It had nothing to do with Ashton. In fact, Ashton has always been nice to me and I do not have anything against her. It just happened to be her that was there when I decided to see what it would be like to kill someone,” McCombs said in his statement.

    That still doesn’t change the fact that Brown allegedly helped McCombs hide her body after McCombs and Brown went out to eat after McCombs killed Ashton. It also doesn’t change the fact that he fled from police trying to escape to Canada along with McCombs.

    He may not have had a hand in her murder but it sounds like Brown is guilty of being an accessory after the fact. At any time he could have gone to the police to turn McCombs in. Instead, he acted like a coward and helped try to cover up his friend’s act of murder.

  • Registered sex offender found drunk with kids in car

    “Police: Sex Offender Befriended Teens On MySpace”:

    It’s always disheartening when any kind of news article starts out like this…

    Late Friday night, Michael Ingram, a 39-year-old registered sex offender, was found riding around drunk, with five 12 and 13-year-old boys in his car.

    He was busted when one of his victims text messaged his brother to get help. It’s alleged that Ingram of the Nashville, Tenn. area, used MySpace to befriend one of the boys then through that one boy met the others.

    Ingram was previously convicted in the 1990 rape of a boy.

  • Another MySpace Lawsuit

    Victim’s parents sue MySpace after suicide, assault by Celina man:

    The family of a 14-year-old California girl known only as Julie Doe are suing MySpace after the girl committed suicide. Doe was sexually assaulted by 30-year-old Kiley Ryan Bowers of Celina, Texas after the two met on MySpace in 2005.

    Their online conversations led to a face-to-face meeting and the sexual assault near her home in Southern California.

    Mr. Bowers broke off the relationship several months later, and the girl fell into “a deep depression as a result of the failed, despicable relationship fostered over MySpace,” the lawsuit states. She killed herself in July 2006.

    Mr. Bowers, 30, pleaded guilty to traveling across state lines to have sex with a minor and was sentenced this summer to nine years in federal prison.

    Now let’s hear from the attorney…

    “MySpace knows that it is a haven for sexual predators, yet doesn’t put in any security measures to protect young girls,” said the family’s attorney, Jason Itkin. “We think that with MySpace’s right to make a profit comes a responsibility to protect its customers.”

    “The main goal of these lawsuits is to get MySpace to stand up and put in meaningful protections that will make it more difficult to search out and find young girls,” said Mr. Itkin, whose firm is representing six other families who have sued MySpace on similar allegations.

    I really hate to kick a family when they’re down but this lawsuit was once tried already and failed. Mr. Itkin was involved in that lawsuit as well. Mr. Itkin says these lawsuits are to protect the children but we all know it’s really about getting a huge payday.

    The sexual assault took place in the girl’s home. Where were the parents when this assault took place? Why weren’t the parents checking up on her MySpace activities? Families are supposed to come with built-in meaningful protection. They’re called parents.

    U.S. district judge Sam Sparks said it best when he dismissed the original lawsuit. “If anyone had a duty to protect Julie Doe, it was her parents, not MySpace,”