Thank You, NH, for SB 500!

I wrote about Gregory Floyd back when I first started this blog.  He was found not guilty in the death of a man named Liko Kenney and was declared a hero because Kenney had shot and killed a state trooper.  In the years after that incident he has had some anger management issues, shall we say, that resulted in him being arrested on charges of threatening his neighbor on a road when she was trying to pass. (Here's a link to all the posts that I did on this)

Well, Floyd is about to be let free 9 months early.  Because of a law that was passed recently called SB500.

What is SB500? Well, in an effort to curb overcrowding in prisons and hopefully make a better transition into the "real world," the law states that any criminal, regardless of the crime they were convicted for, will be released 9 months early into a halfway house before being released into society.  If they violate their probation, the maximum sentence they could serve back in prison is 90 days.

The promise is that it would only release nonviolent offenders.  Problem is that it only takes into account the more recent charge and doesn't consider the entire criminal record when determining this.  If a violent offender in the past is now in jail because he stole candy from a baby, for an absurd example, then he can be let out.

Which is why I'm now puzzled by why Floyd was allowed to be released.  He threatened people, including a state trooper in the courtroom when he was on trial.  He might not have done anything, but doesn't that preclude the idea that he's a violent offender?  Or does he actually have to hurt someone in order to be considered violent?

The neighbor in question has a restraining order against him, but is still afraid he'll do something to her because of this.  I really hope that nothing does, because I would want him serving more than 90 days if it were to happen.

I've Been Holding Back These Past 10 Days

Since the shooting in Tucson of Gabrielle Giffords and 14 other people, I've wanted to make some kind of comment on it.  But something's been stopping me.

I don't mean the usual "I'm too busy with school to comment" thing that I've been going through the past few months. Which I have -- I'm scheduled to turn in my portfolio and have my teaching certification follow soon after that.  I mean, as much as I send my sympathy out to the victims of the shooting and their families, I've been having a hard time putting into words what I've been feeling about what's been going on in the past week-plus that we've been experiencing. Not about the event itself, but the aftermath.

How would you feel if your values were attacked on a regular basis by a bunch of people who call themselves "journalists?"

Since the shooting, we've experienced a wave of hate from the leftist media that, right from the gate, decided to use this tragedy as a way to attack those on the right, reflecting their own hate onto those of us who don't think the way they do.  There's been times during this whole thing that I've wanted to pull my hair out over this because of how these people want to characterize the right, but I was afraid that I would end up bald before I could teach in a classroom.

Through numerous tragedies, there's often a call to not rush to judgements.  For some reason, before the dust could even settle the liberals watching the news assumed that the gunman had to be a Tea Party member or at least someone in the right wing because Giffords was a Democrat.  And despite the details coming out that the shooter, 22 year old Jared Lee Loughner, was just a kid with a possible undiagnosed mental illness, the liberals would not let go of their idea that this kid had to be a conservative.

They tried to blame a "crosshairs" map that SarahPAC (Sarah Palin's Political Action Committee) had released last year prior to the November election which had Giffords district targeted. It failed because the Democrats had their own "target" map, and liberal gadflys Daily KOS had their own "target" list which also featured Giffords.  They tried to blame political rhetoric from talk radio hosts such as Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh, despite the revelation that Loughner didn't listen to talk radio or watch the news according to a friend.  And despite all the finger pointing in the direction of the right, it's becoming more and more clear that the shooter had no real political agenda but was a sick person that needed help.

I'm at the point where I can't stand listening to liberals anymore.  Because it depresses me.

There are times where I take politics personally.  This is one of those times, because I feel like that my views are being attacked because of something a lone idiot did.

I know that I'm not planning on sitting down and taking it.  I plan to fight.  I will not let the liberal elites knock me down.  I will stand and defend myself and my views.  I refuse to believe that anything I say can cause someone to be violent.  Words may have meaning, but they don't have magic powers.  Those who act on those words in a violent way are deranged, and would be set off if someone said the word "pancake" to them.  Would we have to ban pancakes in fear that someone would act violently?

I needed to get this all off my chest.  It's been weighing heavy on my heart this entire time.  I don't like the idea of being accused of something that is wrong based on my ideology.  And it's been tough going online and reading the stories from those who hate what I stand for.  Well, guess what? I'm not backing down.  And you shouldn't, either.

Meth Lab Blows Up, And I Was Almost There

Well, since I live in Franklin, I kind of have to write about this.

I'm including the map so you can see the proximity of all of this from where I am as I'm telling this story. Click on the locations.


View Meth Lab Location in a larger map

Before the papers reported it, I was downtown with my son getting him a haircut. The barber got a call on her cell phone -- it was apparently from a friend of hers to tell her about DEA agents at a house downtown. By the time Christopher's haircut was done, she got another call saying the place was on fire.

I almost went to go see, but decided that since my son wasn't too happy that I would bring him home. Just as I passed the post office, I could smell the smoke coming from the fire. By the time I got in front of my house, I could see one of my neighbors just at the top of the hill trying to check out what was going on (you couldn't see anything from there -- too many trees). Of course, the first thing I did when I got home was called my former bosses at The Citizen to see if they knew about this development.

So I kept my eye out online as to what was going on. This is one of the write-ups. Then another concern hit me -- Doug was going to have to take an alternate route home if they were still cleaning up by the time he got out of work, and I had class last night.

So this was an interesting e-mail I had to write to my professor: "I might be late for class because my husband may be delayed due to the fact that a meth lab blew up not too far from my house."

Luckily, the mess was cleaned up by the time Doug left for home. As soon as he arrived, he asked me about the fire. As soon as I told him what happened, he couldn't hold back his laughter.

Later that night, they released pictures of the suspects. Turned out we were familiar with one of them -- he worked at the Cumberland Farms down the street from us.

So basically, my day yesterday dealt with me being in my own personal lock down and wondering if I was going to make it to class last night or not because some dumbass decided to set his apartment on fire with a meth lab.

Lovely.

Scam Alert: The Grandma Call

I saw this at the Concord Monitor and thought I would pass it along.

Someone is calling elderly people, telling them that they are one of the grandchildren in trouble, and asking for money to help them out. A woman in Northfield almost became a victim, but realized that the person on the other end couldn't be her grandson because none of her grandchildren called her "Grandma."

Be wary of any call you get from a stranger, really. It could all be a scam.

Shooting in Washington State

You can read more about this here, although I'm sure every news station has talked about it by now.

What's becoming more interesting in this, however, is that the suspect in the case has a long, LONG rap sheet in Washington State and Arkansas. His record stands out for the number of red flags that his behavior would be a danger to the public, including the fact that one of those times he managed to avoid jail time, it was because then Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee gave him clemency with no explanation.

I got to meet Huckabee in 2007 during my reporting days at a house party when he was running for president (Only politician that I ever met that was not only on time for his own event, but a couple of minutes early). I had thought about voting for him, too, until I dug deeper into his immigration record. Now? No chance. This is his "Willie Horton" moment.

Here's a Fun Story

It was reported yesterday that a business in Danbury, NH was visited by the Liquor Commission because of complaints of illegal spirit sales -- they were licensed to sell beer and wine, but not hard liquor.

Well, the inspectors came. And found that they were, indeed, selling hard liquor without the proper license. But they also found something else -- marijuana, cocaine and hallucinogenic mushrooms.

The owner was arrested, and is currently out on personal recognizance. He's slated to go to Franklin District Court on November 16 to be arraigned.

I covered that area for awhile as a reporter -- I never would have suspected. But apparently it's well known in the area among the natives that the store was the place to go if you wanted drugs. In fact, the hill next to the store was known as "Hippie Hill" because people would go there to smoke pot. I was talking about this with hubby's ex-wife and her parents today when I went to pick up Christopher. They weren't surprised -- ex-wife even told me that as far back as when she was in high school everyone knew that you didn't go to this store unless you wanted drugs.

Gregory Floyd Assaulted In Prison

If you don't remember the case, here's a reminder.

Police won't go into more details on what happened, but he was treated and released from a Manchester hospital after allegedly being attacked while in prison, where he is serving a 1 to 3 year sentence for threatening his neighbor with a gun.

From what I said in the past, he was considered a hero after shooting Liko Kenney, who was accussed of killing officer Bruce McKay during a traffic stop. Now, not so much.

More News Over RapeLay

Gamepolitics is reporting that the developers of the controversial game RapeLay are "bewildered" by the protest from New York based women's group Equality Now, and reiterated that there is nothing they could do about it here because it's not sold in the United States.

I thought I had written a post on the controversy before, but I guess I didn't. If you aren't aware of what the controversy is, the game (of which a NSFW review can be found here) is basically a hentai game that acts as a rape simulator. Earlier this year, Amazon pulled the game (and the person distributing the game) from their listings once they found out it was there and someone complained.

Well, this new development plays into a problem with the idea of banning the game here in the United States. Mainly, that it's not available here in the United State legally, only in Japan. So they are complying with Japanese laws, and was only meant to be sold there. The copies of the game that are here in the U.S. were either obtained through illegal sales or by downloads.

The group is trying to ban something that isn't even sold here. All they're doing is getting more people curious about the game. After Amazon pulled it, they should have just left it alone.

LaBarre Property To Be Sold In Auction

I honestly don't know who's going to buy it.

MANCHESTER – The Epping property of suspected serial killer Sheila K. LaBarre is scheduled to be sold at a foreclosure auction later this month.

The auction for the circa-1777, Cape-style farmhouse and 119.2 acres of land is scheduled for 11 a.m. May 28 at the property on 70 Oak Hill Lane in Epping.

LaBarre was convicted last year for the first-degree murder of Kenneth Countie, 24, a special-needs adult who lived at her Epping farm, and Michael Deloge, 38, who disappeared in the fall of 2005. She is currently in a Massachusetts prison serving two life sentences without parole.

The two victims were believed to have been killed on the property LaBarre inherited from Wilfred J. LaBarre, who she claimed was her common-law husband.

Someone in the comments made it a point to point out that she was convicted of her crimes, but the story calls her a "suspected" serial killer. The editor explained the distinction, stating that a federal law states that three murders qualifies someone to be a serial killer. They still don't know if she killed anyone else on that property. I guess the first thing someone is going to do when they buy the property is dig the place up and see if anyone else is buried there that the cops might have missed.

For some background on the case, check out my blog entries here and here and here and here and here when the trial was going on.

Another Proud Moment In My Family

This is my brother Shawn. He is currently training in New Mexico to be a border patrol agent.

Shawn has always wanted to be involved in law enforcement in some way or another. He started out wanting to train dogs for police officers, but ended up going into the Navy. Towards the end of his time in the service he did security at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard.

This is a first time picture of him in his border patrol uniform. He will be training for 15 months, then he will be stationed in Vermont at the Northern border keeping the terrorists out of the country.

We are all very, very proud of him.

One of the Teens In The NY Crime Spree Case: GTA IV Made Me Do It!

GamePolitics has tracked down where the accusation that the game "Grand Theft Auto IV" inspired six teenagers to go on a crime spree -- it looks like it came form one of the suspects.

While the Nassau County P.D. said early on in their investigation that they had made a connection between the six defendants and Grand Theft Auto IV, the specifics of that linkage was never made clear.

GamePolitics has learned today that the information came from statements made to investigators by one of the suspects who told police that the group had been drinking beer and decided to act out as if they were playing GTA IV.

(Ed. Note: Let that be a lesson to you kids -- drinking and video gaming don't mix!)

Although he would not name the particular defendant who made the statement, Detective Lieutenant Raymond Cote told GamePolitics:

It was rather shocking that these kids would mimic what they see in a fictional video game.

However, there are some other factors in this case, which is making the prosecution drop the idea of a "video game defense." For one, several of the teens already had criminal records before the crime spree.

We inquired as to whether the GTA IV allegations would appear in any publicly-accessible court documents. Lt. Cote, however, said they would not. The Lieutenant did reveal that two of the defendants had prior arrests. One had been busted for a drug offense while another had a record for burglary and grand larceny (a crime known in some states, ironically enough, as... grand theft).

I don't think Jack Thompson is going to be too happy when the New York AG tells him to "Get lost."

Supreme Court Shoot Down Execution For Child Rape

Their reasoning is that it is cruel and unusual punishment because the punishment is not proportionate to the crime.

A number of blogs have posted how I feel about this decision, but I think the closest to how I think the Supreme Court should have decided in this case should go to Michelle Malkin, who goes into detail on the case that brought this before the Supreme Court in the first place.

In other news, Jessica's Law is being debated right now in Massachusetts. And this liberal defense lawyer has some harsh words against the implementation of the law, including some not so kind words against the victims of child rape.

BREAKING: Labarre Guilty, Not Insane

The jury took two days to deliberate.

BRENTWOOD – A woman who claimed she was an angel sent from God to punish pedophiles was sane when she killed two boyfriends whose remains were found scattered around her farm, a Rockingham County Superior Court jury found this afternoon.

Because Sheila Labarre already had admitted that the state could prove her guilty of two counts of first-degree murder, the jury's only task during the five-week trial was determining whether she was insane when she killed Michael Deloge in 2005 and Kenneth Countie and 2006. She was sentenced immediately to life in prison without parole.

As the jury filed out after the verdict, family members of the victims burst into applause.

"This is for my son," said Countie's mother, Carolynn Lodge. "(For) two years, my son could not rest. Now he can rest."

The defense is still planning to appeal the case. But I don't think they will win it.

Sheila LaBarre: Animal Rights Activist

I should be posting more on this case, but I haven't recently only because some of it seemed somewhat redundant to what happened before.

After weeks of smirking at the jury, the press, witnesses on the stand, and anyone else who would get creeped out by her behavior. She finally managed to show some emotion at yesterday's hearing when a psychiatrist hired by the state to look into her mental facilities suggested that she may have harmed some animals that were on her farm.

"I didn't harm my animals, I didn't kill any animals," she yelled at a psychiatrist hired by the state, who was testifying that he believed it was possible LaBarre had harmed a number of pets on her remote Epping farm.

...As she exited, LaBarre continued yelling, protesting an accusation made earlier in the trial that she had once shot a dog in Hampton. She also accused (Dr. Albert) Drukteinis of lying.

"I didn't shoot a dog; you're being paid to say all this about me," she yelled.

LaBarre returned to the courtroom 10 minutes later and Drukteinis' testimony continued.

It's amazing how, witness after witness, talking about the two victims in this case, she showed no emotion and in fact seemed less than remorseful at her table and was actually laughing and smirking at these people, when you bring up the idea that she may have hurt some pets that she suddenly shows emotion.

Sounds like a typical PETA supporter.

Dr. Drukteinis is expected to be the most damaging witness against LaBarre, saying that his examination of her didn't yield the idea that she was insane, but that she was mentally ill but mean and vindictive. Both sides are expected to make their cases tomorrow.

Easton Man Free On Bail

I did a few posts on Gregory Floyd back in April (you can find them here, here and here). He's being released on personal recognizance bail, but still has hearings coming up on the three misdemeanor charges.

HAVERHILL – Held at the county jail since his outburst in Littleton District Court two months ago, Gregory Floyd was released yesterday afternoon on personal recognizance bail.

Floyd, of Easton, was in court yesterday for a bail reduction hearing on three misdemeanor charges stemming from his tirade on April 15, moments after he was convicted on a charge of criminal threatening against his neighbor, Alma Jean Boisvert.

...His public defender, attorney Simon Mayo, argued for reduced bail yesterday, saying that Floyd is not a flight risk. Referring to Floyd's stopping when he saw Kenney shoot McKay in May 2007, he said, "Mr. Floyd is not someone who runs away."

Mayo showed Judge Timothy McKenna a medal and commendation Floyd was given by the National Association of Chiefs of Police for his actions last year. Mayo also said Floyd is in poor health.

Gregory Floyd grins at the start of his criminal threatening trial April 15.

"He intends fully to stay and fight the charges," Mayo said.

Floyd was released yesterday on $80,000 personal recognizance and McKenna issued an order that Floyd's Easton home could be subjected to a lien if conditions of bail are violated.

...

Arguing that Floyd does pose a danger to the community, Assistant County Attorney James Vara cited Floyd's May 28, 1998, conviction of attempted simple assault against a police officer. Vara has filed a motion asking that the one- to three-year sentence from that case be imposed. A condition of Floyd's release in 1998 was that he go 10 years without getting into trouble.

McKenna spent several hours deciding whether to reduce Floyd's bail. He was being held in lieu of $20,000 cash bail, but was not able to raise the money. The judge asked several questions about Floyd's financial situation and did not decide on the motion until after 3 p.m. yesterday, more than four hours after the hearing.

Alma Jean Boisvert, the neighbor who obtained a permanent restraining order against Floyd last December, attended the bail hearing yesterday. In the interval before the judge announced his decision on Floyd's release, Boisvert collapsed in the lobby of the courthouse and was taken by ambulance to Cottage Hospital in Woodsville.

There is still some dispute on whether Floyd was an actual hero or not in the McKay/Kenny shooting. Christopher King of Chris King's 1st Amendment Page is naturally outraged that Floyd was released.

The Floyds are indeed the Teflon Dons of North Country, and we have to ask why. Many of us will be asking that of the U.S. House later this summer and I probably won't be riding home from past 116/112/Hummingbird Lane anymore.

Unfortunately, Alma Jean Boisvert still has to live there, right next to Floyd, a man who was recently declared a threat to society by Judge McKenna, who just released him yesterday because now I guess he's not. Truly a Renaissance Man, that Floyd.

I'm kind of shocked, too, considering his history with threatening police officers in the past. He still seems like a bully to me.

Sheila LaBarre Update

It looks like the case of Sheila LaBarre, accused of killing two boyfriends on her Epping horse farm and burning their bodies, is going to continue for at least another couple of weeks as the prosecution wraps up its case.

Police officers who had contact with LaBarre testified most of the past week, describing how LaBarre's actions didn't seem insane as much as manipulative to them. They had been at the farm a few times on complaints about abuse of the victims, but both times they were told by the victims that they were fine and all right.

Yesterday, men she had manipulated in the past but managed to escape testified against her. One of them, James Brackett, has a vanity license plate on his car that reads "I'm Alive" after his encounters with LaBarre.

BRENTWOOD – James Brackett still has the scars to prove he once thought he was in love with admitted killer Sheila LaBarre.

For 6 1/2 years, Brackett had an on-again, off-again relationship with LaBarre, who has admitted to killing two men -- Kenneth Countie and Michael Deloge -- on her Epping farm and is now pleading insanity.

Yesterday, Brackett testified about their relationship, showing the jury scars on his face, and broken teeth, describing how LaBarre chased him with axes, knives and guns, tried to run him down in her truck, clawed his face and told him she might one day kill him and dump his body in a swamp on her property.

But perhaps more pivotally for the insanity case at hand, Brackett testified that LaBarre told him that, during a 1998 arraignment hearing, she threw a bizarre tantrum -- which resulted in her having a state-ordered psychiatric exam -- in an effort to "play the system."

Brackett and LaBarre were both arrested in 1998 on domestic violence charges stemming from a physical fight the two had at her Hampton apartment.

At the time, while Brackett was being arraigned, LaBarre began shouting that she was "bleeding from her vagina and (a police officer) won't help." LaBarre was eventually taken from that courtroom, but she refused medical treatment.

She was then given a court-ordered psychiatric evaluation that found she did not suffer from any psychotic disorder.

Yesterday, Brackett testified that LaBarre told him then that she was trying to play the system in an effort to keep him from going to jail.

The other more interesting testimony was that of Stephen Martello, the man who picked her up when she was hitchhiking on I-293.

LaBarre almost completely ignored Stephen Martello, a man who picked her up while she was hitchhiking on Interstate 293 in Manchester and gave her a ride to Boston. At the time, investigators had already begun searching LaBarre's farm for Countie's remains, and LaBarre told Martello she needed to get to Boston to hire a lawyer.

After the two had sex in a Dorchester, Mass., hotel room, Martello testified that LaBarre began telling him that all pedophiles needed to die, she was an avenging angel, and if he told anyone about having sex with her, a pedophile would harm his 9-year-old son.

The AP went into more details.

Stephen Martello of Manchester testified he picked up LaBarre alongside Interstate 293 in Manchester early on March 28, 2006. LaBarre told him her car had broken down after getting into a fight with her boyfriend and she needed to get to Dorchester, Mass., to meet with an attorney, Martello said.

Martello said the way LaBarre was clutching her purse and her overall strange behavior prompted him to call the Manchester police to ask whether they were looking for a robbery suspect or a woman who had escape from prison or a mental hospital.

Hearing from police they weren't looking for anyone, Martello took LaBarre to a hotel, where they had sex. Martello said that after having intercourse, LaBarre told him he had just had sex with an angel. She also began talking about discovering child pornography that belonged to her boyfriend. LaBarre claimed her boyfriend and all police officers were pedophiles and that "sex offenders must all die," said Martello.

"She said that vengeance is mine said the Lord and that she was sent back to earth as an angel," said Martello. She also told him, he said, that she could speak to God and the apostles in Hebrew.

When defense attorney Brad Bailey asked what he did when he heard this, Martello said, "I was basically trying to get my pants and shoes on so I could leave."

Martello said when he got home to Manchester that night, he turned on the television and saw LaBarre was wanted in connection with the death of Countie. He said he then went to a police station and told authorities, "I think I just met Sheila LaBarre."

I kind of like the headline that was submitted to Fark on this story:

I know crazy sex is the best sex, but if you pick up a hitchhiker on the side of the road who claims to talk to the devil - DO NOT HAVE SEX WITH HER

More Jack Thompson News

Note: You can find the stories at GamePolitics.com. Right now it's acting a little "buggy" for me, so when the page is working again I will link the individual stories.

Update: GamePolitics experienced an overload on the server with the news resulting from the interest in the second story, but is now working again. The stories are linked to the accompanying articles now.

Why do I keep writing about this guy? Because he brings out the worst in me, I think, considering that I play video games in my rare spare time.

Anyway, I was doing my usual quick scan before class, and knew I had to post it once I saw it. First of all, The New Mexico Appeals Court tossed out his lawsuit against Sony and Take-Two Interactive.

A wrongful death suit which sought $600 million from PS2 manufacturer Sony and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City publisher Take-Two Interactive has been thrown out by a New Mexico appeals court.

The 2006 suit, announced with some fanfare by Jack Thompson during a televised news conference, sought to blame a grisly 2004 triple murder on 14-year-old Cody Posey's play of GTA Vice City.

In December, however, a judge ruled that the New Mexico courts had no jurisdiction in the case, since neither Sony nor Take-Two had offices there. The ruling also held that New Mexico law did not support the wrongful death claim.

Following the initial dismissal of the case, the plaintiffs had 30 days to appeal - a deadline which was apparently missed. Today's Las Cruces News-Sun reports that:

A state district court judge... had dismissed the wrongful death lawsuit for failure to provide a valid legal basis for the damage claim. The Appeals Court tossed out an appeal of that decision, saying the notice of appeal in the case had not been filed on time.

Furthermore, the suit didn't take into account the fact that Posey's lawyer didn't rely on the "video games" defense but instead on his past.

While the appeal was dismissed on what amounts to a technicality, the entire premise of the lawsuit was a disgrace. As I outlined in a column for Joystiq, the killer, Cody Posey, was the victim of severe physical, sexual and emotional abuse at the hands of two of the victims, his father and stepmother.

In fact, the mitigating evidence was so compelling that the New Mexico juvenile court ordered him held only until he turns 21. Moreover, Posey's own attorney, Gary Mitchell, didn't want anything to do with the "video games made me do it" defense, saying:

I didn't see as it as a meritorious defense. I was far more concerned about the abuse Cody suffered over the years than any connection to playing a game on the computer.

On the heels of this, the Florida Court has recommended that Thompson be found guilty of 27 of the 31 professional misconduct charges against him.

In a report issued last week, Judge Dava Tunis writes:

After considering the arguments presented by the Florida Bar and the Respondent (Thompson), observing the Respondent's demeanor during the nine-day trial proceedings, and carefully reviewing the record consisting of four volumes of exhibits totaling 1700 pages and approximately 2400 pages of transcribed testimony, the Court finds that the facts, circumstances and evidence presented regarding the Respondent's conduct, supports a finding of guilt as to certain Florida Bar rules...

Tunis made 21 recommendations of guilt in relation to Thompson's participation in Strickland vs. Sony, an Alabama case in which the anti-game attorney represented the families of two police officers and a police dispatcher slain by 18-year-old Grand Theft Auto player Devin Moore.

Tunis also recommended that Thompson be found guilty on four out of five counts relating to his 2006 attempt to have Rockstar's Bully declared a public nuisance in a case before Miami Judge Ronald Friedman. An additional two guilty counts stemmed from a non-video game matter.

Some of those charges included:

• Knowingly making a false statement of material fact or law to a tribunal
• Knowingly disobeying an obligation under the rules of a tribunal
• Communicating the merits of the case with a judge before whom the proceeding is pending
• Using means that have no purpose other than to embarrass, delay or burden a third person
• Engaging in conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit or misrepresentation
• Engaging in conduct in connection with the practice of law that is prejudicial to the administration of justice, including to knowingly or through callous indifference disparage or humiliate litigants or other lawyers
• Making statements that the lawyer knows to be false or with reckless disregard as to the truth or falsity concerning the qualifications or integrity of a judge

Thompson has his own case going against the judge, but I don't think the bar is going to work in his favor on this. But it looks like for now our PS3s and XBox360s are safe.

North Carolina Man Convicted Of Killing His Roommates

What made this one interesting is that at some point he claimed that he had played "Grand Theft Auto" before killing his two roommates.

Famous anti-video game lawyer Jack Thompson is claiming "victory." The defense is saying "not so fast..."

The attorney for a 22-year-old man convicted this week of a vicious double murder says that anti-game activist Jack Thompson is off base in his claim that a "video game defense" spared James Stitt from the death penalty.

As GamePolitics reported on Wednesday, Dr. Moira Artigues, a defense psychiatrist, told the jury that Stitt claimed to have played Grand Theft Auto from midnight to 4 a.m. before killing two housemates in their bed. However, Artigues did not suggest a connection between the game and the killings. She also indicated she was not sure that Stitt was even being truthful, since his GTA claim conflicted with earlier statements.

I don't think it really matters what the defense is going to say about this. Thompson is going to claim "victory" regardless. Because he's just an idiot like that.

Updates on the Sheila LaBarre Case

I'm not a crime blog, so I don't feel the need to keep up with this every day like some of the blogs. I wrote an entry last week about the Sheila LaBarre case, the murderess of Epping who killed at least two men on her former lover's horse farm. But it is an interesting case for New Hampshire. Here are some recent events that happened this week in the murder trial.

The jury has been selected. When they announced that they were going to have the jury go to the farm house where she had allegedly killed her two (possibly more) victims, they had announced that LaBarre would be wearing a stun belt. Instead, she was taken there in light shackles. The jury had to be questioned afterwards because someone had put a noose on the property in retaliation for LaBarre's acts.

The tapes that were played in the courtroom detailed the interrogation that she made her victims go through. LaBarre allegedly collapsed as the tapes were being played on Wednesday. The resumed the recordings on Thursday, which featured her telling her victims that they were "dangerous and insane," but that they deserved to go to prison, not a mental institution. The jury might come to the same conclusion after this trial.

Stay tuned...

The LaBarre Trial: The New Hampshire Trial Of The Century

The Sheila LaBarre case has been getting a lot of attention in the press in recent days here in New Hampshire. For more concrete details, you can go to CSB: Crime Scene Blog. But the short story is this: LaBarre stands accused of killing two men on her Epping horse farm and burning their bodies. LaBarre is going for the insanity defense in her upcoming trial. As of yesterday, six jurors were chosen for the trial out of a total of 18 needed.

Right now, the LaBarre case rivals that of Pam Smart, who only killed her husband because he stood in her way. LaBarre's motives seem a little more sinister -- the Epping horse farm that she owned was left to her by her common-law husband, whose name she took on. In the early days of the case, his children claimed that the only reason she was left that farm was because she intimidated him. One ex-boyfriend/ex-husband, Wayne Ennis, wrote a letter to the New Hampshire State Police describing how he was intimidated by her and how she had tried to get him to kill her common-law husband.

The LaBarre case has some parallels with another case that happened right before it - that of the murder trial of Kenneth Carpenter. In 2005, he was accused in the murder of Edith "Pen" Meyer because he felt that she was "interfering" with his affair with another member of their support group (Meyer had advised the friend that she should stay away from Carpenter). The similarity of the cases was that both LaBarre and Carpenter were accused of burning the bodies of their victims in order to get rid of the evidence.

I was surprised that Carpenter's trial didn't get bigger headlines at the time it happened -- you had a spurned man who was mad at a woman who he felt was interfering in his relationship, and he decides to kill her and try to hide his crime. But I think that LaBarre's case is getting bigger headlines because the details are more salacious. Finding anything in relation to the Carpenter case was tough, especially since I was trying to follow the case because my sister-in-law knew all three of the main players through the support group she was in, and the whole case came to light around the time of my brother-in-law's death.

But, we will see what happens with the LaBarre case. This is going to be the media circus to rival all other media circuses.