Jury weighs terror, firearm charges against teen:
I guess I watch too much Law & Order. I was expecting a longer trial. The trial for Andrew Osantowski on terror charges ended yesterday, and the jury will deliberate on his fate today. I guess that’s what they mean by your right to a speedy trial. However, the way juries have been acting lately, I’m not getting my hopes up on a conviction.
Teen accused of plotting massacre at high school said he was bullied:
According to this Associated Press article Andrew Osantowski claims he was bullied in his IM chat with Celia McGinty. In the partial chat transcript that’s been released the only thing he says about bullying is…
nazi_bot_sadistic:(expletive) bullied…made fun of….pushed….people can get away with murder
So I call bullshit on the Associated Press. Not to mention the fact that Andrew Osantowski attended Chippewa Valley High School for 10 days before he was arrested. How can you have so much hatred for a school in such a small amount of time? I doubt he got the idea to shoot up a school in just 10 days. This is more telling as why he wanted to shoot up a school…
“I’m going to bring nightmares back to everyone, roam the land as a ghost still killing people,” Osantowski wrote. “I’ll have followers. I’ll be famous too.”
Just another mutant.
Celia McGinty was supposed to have testified today against Osantowski but…
“She really doesn’t want to see (Osantowski) face-to-face,” assistant Macomb County prosecutor Steve Kaplan said.
Can you blame her?
Her father, Sgt. George McGinty, a Washington State University policeman, did testify saying that…
…his daughter left a printout of Osantowski’s messages with him while he was sleeping. He said he took it to work, read it and asked co-workers to follow-up with Michigan authorities.
Lawyer: No criminal act by teen accused of threatening terrorism:
The opening statements in Andrew Osantowski’s trial were today.
First up, defense attorney turned comedian Brian Legghio…
The lawyer for a 17-year-old accused of plotting a massacre at his suburban Detroit high school said Friday that the teenager is angry, hurt and foolish, but isn’t guilty of threatening an act of terrorism.
“He might belong in therapy. He might need psychotropic drugs. But what he did when he communicated with this girl was not a criminal act,” defense attorney Brian Legghio said during his opening statement at Andrew Osantowski’s trial.
That’s the best you’ve got? Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, my client is a psychotic nut job in possession of stolen firearms, but in no way did he threaten to blow up that school. Um..yeah…sure.
Next up, assistant county prosecutor Steve Kaplan…
But assistant county prosecutor Steve Kaplan told the 14 jurors that Internet messages sent by Osantowski violated state laws against threatening an act of terrorism and using a computer to make threats of terrorism.
“This is not a crime of terrorism. The crime is making a threat of terrorism, not committing terrorism,” Kaplan said. “The facts really are not in dispute.”
It’s hard to argue with that.
Celia McGinty, the Idaho girl who reported the threats made in a chat with Osantowski, is expected to testify on Monday.
Teen accused of planning an attack pleads guilty to firearms charges:
Andrew Osantowski pleaded guilty to three counts of receiving and concealing firearms. And again my favorite lawyer turned comedian, Brian Legghio had some funny things to say…
Legghio said Thursday’s guilty pleas do not prove Osantowski planned to use the guns, an AK-47 assault rifle and two pump shotguns stolen from a local firearms dealer. He also said the terrorism law under which his client is being prosecuted may violate free speech rights.
“Can you criminalize speech just because you don’t like what somebody says?” Legghio said.
No, but when someone says they’re going to kill their family, then shoot up the school, it’s no longer free speech. Especially since that person was found with an AK-47 assault rifle and two pump shotguns. And yeah, he didn’t plan to use the stolen guns. He was going to give them back your honor, honest. Whatever.
My favorite part is that Legghio motioned to get the chat transcripts amended to say “Andrew” instead of Osantowski’s username “nazi_bot_sadistic”. The judge rejected that motion. Go figure.
The prosecution doesn’t seem to be fazed by the guilty plea…
Kaplan said his case was helped by Osantowski’s admission that he knowingly possessed stolen firearms. “If he tries to commit an act of terrorism, he needs something more than a slingshot,” the prosecutor said during jury selection.
And as far as sentencing goes…
The felony firearm charge carries a 2-year mandatory sentence. Each firearm charge to which Osantowski pleaded guilty is a felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison, but Switalski said he would not set a sentencing date until after the remainder of the case was tried.
More on this as it develops.
Taped theft confession by teen is ruled inadmissible:
As I mentioned yesterday, the taped confession of Andrew Osantowski admitting he broke into a gun shop could possibly be thrown out. Macomb County Circuit Judge Matthew Switalski ruled that the tape was, in fact, inadmissible…
But Macomb County Circuit Judge Matthew Switalski ruled that Osantowski’s admission to stealing several weapons from a Clinton Township gun shop is inadmissible because he made the statements only after he was promised leniency if he cooperated with the investigation.
But all is not lost…
Prosecutors will still be able to use some of the Sept. 16 interview, in which 17-year-old Andrew Osantowski admitted to writing messages in online chat rooms that police believe were threats to kill a police officer, family members and his three cats.
And like I said yesterday, Andrew Osantowski documented a lot of his criminal activity online. I think there is more than enough evidence to convict. But that’s just my opinion.
Teen says cops threatened him:
One of Andrew Osantowski’s trials started today. This one for an alleged break-in at a gun store. Osantowski himself is claiming that the videotaped confession was coerced by police…
“He (the interrogating officer) was threatening me. First of all, he was sitting like an inch away from my face and pointing at me,” Osantowski testified in a pretrial hearing to determine whether his statements to police were voluntary and admissible. “Then he threatened that they would tear down my whole house, and said things like ‘No one would pay for it (the damage) either,’ or whatever.”
Osantowski, who was at times flippant or challenging to prosecutors during questioning Tuesday, indicated in court that Clinton Township police Lt. Bruce Wade of the detective bureau advised him in a hallway or another room, shortly before the videotaped interview began, that he would suffer severely in the court system if he didn’t cooperate.
I wouldn’t worry too much about it, though. On one of his websites that has since been removed. Osantowski brags about several break-ins he did at schools and private properties. I wouldn’t doubt it if he documented his break-in at the gun store.
Defense attorney/comedian Brian Legghio seems like he’s throwing everything against the wall in the hopes that something sticks. So far, the walls have been Teflon.
Terrorism charge sticks against Macomb teen:
Andrew Osantowski will stand trial for the charges against him, including making a threat of terrorism. For those of you who may not remember who Andrew Osantowski is…
Osantowski was arrested Sept. 16 after Idaho teen Celia McGinty became concerned upon reading his apparent plans in an Internet chat room for what he deemed a “rampage” at the Clinton Township public school. The girl told her father, a police officer, who in turn notified Clinton Township police. They then secured a search warrant that uncovered a cache of firearms at Osantowski’s home.
Macomb County Circuit Judge Matthew Switalski quashed the motion to have the terrorism charges dropped. Defense attorney/comedian Brian Legghio tried to get the charges dismissed, stating the threats were protected under the First Amendment. The comedian himself had this to say…
Defense attorney Brian Legghio called Switalski’s ruling Tuesday “a great disappointment” and said it runs contrary to the facts of the case and the way the judicial system interprets the First Amendment. He also said he is consulting with the boy’s family but wants to appeal the ruling prior to Osantowski’s trial date next week.
“We feel the judge is wrong in his interpretation of the facts of the case and is buying the police logic of stringing together two ideas by inference to fit this charge,” he said. “When you criminalize any speech normally protected by the First Amendment, it has to be a true and unequivocal threat. You can’t criminalize the speech by reading into it what you think it means.”
Isn’t the first thing they teach you in lawyerin’ school is about yelling “fire” in a crowded theater?
If convicted on all charges, Osantowski could be put away for 22 years. The trial is set to take place next week.
Bond lowered for teen accused of threatening massacre:
Andrew Osantowski’s bond has been lowered from $1.35 million to $530,000. If he were to make bond, he would be placed under house arrest and would have to wear some kind of tracking device. For those of you who may not know who Andrew Osantowski is…
Osantowski awaits trial, scheduled for June 7, on four charges, including one count of threatening terrorism stemming from chat room e-mails he allegedly wrote about killing students at Chippewa Valley High School in Clinton Township. The messages were sent to Celia McGinty, an Idaho girl he met in an Internet chat room last September.
My favorite defense attorney/comedian Brian Legghio could not be reached for comment by the Detroit Free Press.
Osantowski’s attorney wants charges dropped:
My favorite attorney turned unintentional comedian is in the news again. Andrew Osantowski’s lawyer, Brian Legghio, is now trying to say that the plot Andrew Osantowski spoke to Ceilia Ginty about is protected as free speech. I think the Founding Fathers just rolled in their collective graves when I typed that. Again. I say let’s go to the chat transcript…
on judgment day ill prolly kill him, my mom, my sistyer, my autisitc brother and my 3 cats
bring a gun to school, ur on the front of every newspaper
didnt choose this life, but i damn well chose to exit it
i cant imagine going through life without killing a few people
Now, of course, Mr. Osantowski is free to say those things. However, what he is not free from is the repercussions from his own actions.
I don’t know if Mr. Legghio is trying to be funny, but he sure gives me a chuckle. On the other hand, Assistant Macomb County Prosecutor Steven Kaplan lays out the facts…
“We don’t have to prove he would have done it or he had the ability,” Kaplan said. “The communication itself is the crime. We can prove he had the motive and the wherewithal to commit carnage at the high schools. He had hundreds of rounds of ammunition.”
So what Mr. Legghio is saying that the threats made by Andrew Osantowski were protected as free speech; therefore, authorities should not have acted on those threats, which may have culminated in the senseless bloodshed of students and staff at Osantowski’s school.
Makes perfect sense to me. Assclown.
Teen’s lawyer: Dismiss terror charges:
This is like watching a bad episode of Law & Order. Andrew Osantowski’s lawyer, Brian Legghio, is trying to get the internet messages he sent to Celia McGinty dismissed because they don’t prove the accusations of the terrorism charges. Oh, really? How about a little sample from the chat transcript?
on judgment day ill prolly kill him, my mom, my sistyer, my autisitc brother and my 3 cats
bring a gun to school, ur on the front of every newspaper
didnt choose this life, but i damn well chose to exit it
i cant imagine going through life without killing a few people
got that has to be so hard
nothing wrong with killion
all god’s creatures do it
in one form or another
yep
people can be kissing my shotgun straight out of doom
i tell it how it is
if u dont like it u die
if i dont like what u stand for, you die
if i dont like the way u look at me, u die
i choose who lives and who dies
Sounds like terroristic threats to me. Nothing is more pathetic than a desperate attorney in the media.