Read the article after you watch the video for the full scoop.
Why do I post this stuff? It highlights that these cases have recently been getting attention and frankly the good cops are brought into relief when juxtaposed with the reality that there are some bad ones.
This may cross the line for a professional website, but maybe not ... As someone who came of age in the Miami Vice 80s, I love stories of smugglers of yore. Particularly 80s yore.
And so here comes the story of one Real Housewife of New Jersey. The Smoking Gun summarizes thusly,
Archived federal court records provide a detailed account of the criminal, drug, prostitution, and informant history of Danielle Staub, the 46-year-old lightning rod from the reality TV program. Staub, once known as Beverly Ann Merrill, was arrested by FBI agents in June 1986 for her role in a kidnapping plot that grew out of a cocaine deal gone bad. According to documents filed in U.S. District Court in Miami, Merrill and Daniel Aguilar, who distributed narcotics for a Colombian drug family, sought to extort a $25,000 ransom from a man whose son they were holding. The captive, Carmen Centolella, was blamed by Merrill and Aguilar for the botched drug deal, which cost them a kilo of cocaine worth about $24,000, according to the below criminal complaint. ...
Follow the link to read the sordid rest.
The bill says users caught with small amounts -- 5 grams of marijuana, 500 milligrams of cocaine -- clearly intended for "personal and immediate use" will not be criminally prosecuted. They will be told of available clinics, and encouraged to enter a rehabilitation program.
Up to 40 milligrams of methamphetamine, a synthetic and especially harmful drug, is permitted under the legislation, as is up to 50 milligrams of heroin.
Good for Mexico! This is a very positive first step towards moving drugs from the justice system to the health care system. The progress made to decriminalize marijuana in the US should get a boost from this.
Link: Mexico moves quietly to decriminalize minor drug use - Los Angeles Times.
I'm no fan of Judicial Watch, a conservative think tank headquartered in Washington, DC. However, you got to hand it to them on this one. They obtained this fascinating startling bit of video from the Border Patrol through a FOIA request. It shows an incursion by some official authority (police? army?) in Juarez, Mexico, onto US territory within the city limits of El Paso, Texas, to apprehend a man running away from them (suspect? drug runner? political prisoner?). Outmanned, the Border Patrol looks on while awaiting reinforecments that arrive too late.
First, there was the LAPD detective arrested and charged with first degree murder after 23 successful years of evading detection by hiding in plain sight. Then came the Chicago cop who got 40 months in Federal court for beating a man handcuffed to a wheel chair. And now this story about cops either with their hands in the drug war cookie jar or falsifying evidence to prosecute said war.
David Wilton practices criminal defense and related areas of law throughout the State of California. He is licensed in California and Texas (inactive); a member of the Bar Association of San Francisco (BASF), the El Paso Bar Association (Texas), and the California Public Defenders Association. He serves on BASF's Misdemeanor Criminal Appointments Panel, Regular Felony Criminal Appointments Panel, Misdemeanor Appellate Program
He also receives appointments from First District Appellate Program.
He's admitted to US District Courts in the Western District of Texas, Southern District of Texas, and the Northern District of California.
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