Tag: vault

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.

Teen accused of planning an attack on his high school ordered to stand trial:

No news of any great significance except that Andrew Osantowski has been ordered to stand trial for the charges against him and will be arraigned on February 7th.

I guess it’s a procedural thing because I thought it was pretty much a given that he was going to be tried. What struck me as odd in this article was the following…

Dozens of Chippewa Valley students attended Wednesday’s hearing as part of a government class at the high school.

One of them, student government president Tom Novik, said he and his fellow students could have sat in on another case. But the 17-year-old said it was important to come to Osantowski’s hearing.

“I took it personally when it happened,” Novik said. “I was worried for everyone. … As of now, I think it’s behind us.”

Now, I’m no supporter of Andrew Osantowski, but I don’t see the point of allowing students from the school that he intended to show up to attend the proceedings. Could the defense make an issue of this, or have I been watching too much Law and Order?

Idaho teen honored for helping avert Detroit-area school attack:

Celia McGinty is the Idaho teen who tipped off authorities to Andrew Osantowski’s school shooting plot after online chats that they had.

The school and community where the shooting was to take place are now honoring her. She should be honored. A lot of kids don’t have the courage that she did, or would just dismiss it as idle talk.

However, one person is not too happy about the celebration. Andrew Osantowski’s lawyer, Brian Legghio. He had this to say…

“I’m absolutely appalled at the rashness of the Macomb County law enforcement community,” Brian Legghio told The Detroit News. “Their conduct taints the judicial process.”

“By glamorizing this young lady and claiming that she prevented some tragedy is to convict my client in the press and to deny him a fair trial by impartial jurors,” Legghio said.

Translation: There’s no way in hell I can win this case, so I wish people would stop talking about it.

Mr. Legghio, I think, would best serve his client by doing his talking in court and not in the media. Then again, I didn’t go to no fancy lawyerin’ school.

It will be interesting, to say the least, to see what Mr. Legghio’s defense strategy is going to be.

Case delayed for teen accused of making threats against Detroit-area school:

Judge Linda Davis denied a motion by defense lawyer Brian Legghio to remove herself from the Andrew Osantowski case, following a claim by Legghio that Judge Davis is being swayed by a community outcry. Legghio is going to appeal the decision, which could take 6 to 10 weeks.

Assistant prosecutor Steven Kaplan claims…

“It’s a desperate ploy by a guilty defendant to seek to delay the proceedings in an attempt to motivate the witnesses not to return,”

Legghio defends his decision to appeal…

“The motion was filed to ensure fairness and judicial integrity,” Legghio said. “It was not a stalling tactic.”

This has got all the earmarks of a long-drawn-out court case.

Teenager accused in Columbine-like plan faces other charges:

Andrew Osantowski has a new charge against him yet again. This time for spitting on another inmate, which is considered assault. When you’re 17 and in jail, your best bet is to keep a low profile. Spitting on an inmate is not a low profile. I’d be curious to know what the ethnicity of the other inmate is.

As was reported previously, Osantowski was arraigned on two additional charges of two counts of breaking and entering, two felony counts of larceny in a building, and two misdemeanor counts of malicious destruction of property. The B & E charges can carry a 10-year sentence. The charges stem from an online journal attributed to Osantowski.

Center Line Police Detective Robert Wroblewski said he had no suspects in the break-ins until he read a Sept. 22 news article about an online journal attributed to Osantowski. The postings describe break-ins almost identical to the March 27 and April 8 incidents.

It’s unknown whether if I had anything to do with Center Line police finding Osantowski’s website, as I never heard back from any law enforcement agencies.

The article also states…

In a note dated April 9, the writer wishes a happy birthday to Columbine killer Eric Harris.

That’s half-true. The exact quote is…

April 9, 2004-Happy B-day to Eric Harris, NJ teen sentenced to 10 years in jail for Columbine Like Plot.

Eric Harris’ birthday is April 9th but the teen from New Jersey he’s referring to is Matthew Lovett who was sentenced the day before Osantowski’s journal entry to 10 years for his own school shooting plot.

I’m not surprised that the Detroit Free Press didn’t check that fact. Their motto should be… “Print First. Ask questions later.”