Why Mike Ramos Should Not Only Not be the State AG, he should probably resign from the DA's Office

The latest recap: http://sbcsentinel.com/2015/09/5788/ -- its a good read and shows what an embarrassment he would be to the State of California as an appointed State Attorney General should the current Californis State Attorney General for the State of California be elected to replace Barbara Boxer. Since Jerry Brown and Kamala Harris backed Mike Ramos (a lifelong Republican) in his San Bernardino County District Attorney re-election run (where a Democrat had announced his intention to run after only missing a runoff with Ramos four years before by a mere 4% points), stranger things have happened.  I still want to know when anyone is going to ask and get an answer to what Ramos promised to deliver to Brown's & Harris' campaigns

Grits for Breakfast: A reluctant scoop: Changing intepretations of DNA ...

Grits for Breakfast: A reluctant scoop: Changing intepretations of DNA ...: DNA has often been referred to as the gold standard of forensic evidence. And when comparing a single sample to a suspect, that's true. ...

The Long Green Mile Revisited: Florida Police Concealed DNA Evidence That Could Exonerate Man Accused In Quadruple Homicide--Does Our Law Enforcement Team Do the Same Just Once in a While to "Win"?

Article reporting the withholding of exculpatory evidence is @ http://www.tallahassee.com/story/news/local/2015/06/12/attorney-fdle-concealed-dna-evidence-quadruple-homicide/71150044/
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Florida's Department of Law Enforcement sat on DNA evidence for 2 plus years on exculpatory DNA evidence. Motions have been filed to dismiss arguing FDLE’s “conscious, willful and deliberate attempt” to conceal the DNA information [the defendant faces the death penalty].
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Until the Supreme Court requires ALL evidence and reports as generated to be simultaneously available for viewing to criminal defendants, this will not stop.

If We Can't Completely Trust Your DA to Toss Meritless Cases, Maybe Some Balance Can be Found in Developing Arrest Integrity Units??

What about developing arrest integrity units in police departments to check, double check, triple check the evidence before forwarding the case to the prosecutors office? If the integrity unit determines there is not enough evidence to bring charges, then the suspect could be released without being indicted. That way the number of false arrests and convictions will drop. Any interest in this locally??
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In North Carolina , two innocent men were released on DNA evidence[ http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/03/us/2-convicted-in-1983-north-carolina-murder-freed-after-dna-tests.html?_r=0] considered by the court over 30 years later. Image a DA's office that would have embraced seeking that justice be done by testing decades sooner?

What Does $650,000 Police Violence Settlement Teach Us About the Local Culture of Official Violence?

Main article re settlement:  http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-settlement-san-bernardino-deputy-beating-20150421-story.html
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Moral of the story #1--if you are white and have video showing the San Bernardino Sheriffs nailing you, you get a settlement when sheriffs beat the crap out of you? This guy should thank the Channel 4 chopper pilot big time. 
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Moral of the story #2 -- A white guy needed to get beaten up to get the FBI's attention?
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Moral of the story #3 -- It is ok to ignore the underlying problem. San Bernardino County Sheriff John McMahon leads this crew and despite suspensions and disciplinary actions, it has happened over and over again (many other cases of excessive force out there)--while stepping down at this point is premature (like the last 3 appointed-then-elected San Bernardino County Sheriffs have done) maybe he should consider getting some real help for his crew which seems to suffer from some need to inflict needless bodily harm as this blogger suggested to him nearly a year ago in a face-to-face conversation and more recently to the County's outside lead defense lawyer. It is sad the underlying disturbance is not being addressed. Is it PTSD from seeing so much violence? Is it people carrying to work pent up frustrations and venting it? Is it inadequate screening for violent propensities (the bully that grew up and now has a badge)? Suspending or firing the few that get caught, does not solve the underlying problems--it simply teaches them to control themselves when the scene might be monitored. 
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Moral of the story #4-- The department has a tolerated policy of dropping the "protect and serve" when it comes to suspects. When a suspect comes under control, that is not the time to inflict a whooping or teach em.
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Thoughts to ponder:
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Let's see if any prosecutions follow, not just suspensions. My bet is San Bernardino County District Attorney Mike Ramos (who ran on a joint ticket with John McMahon for re-election) will find every way not to--Mike Ramos does not want the rep of prosecuting cops in his run (or pitch for appointment to the State Attorney General if Kamala Harris wins her bid for US Senate (and neither does current State AG Kamala Harris want to pick this up--who does not want that cop prosecutor handle on the eve of her election run for US Senate).....so don't ya think the Sheriff in this County has figured that out?
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The feds--well, let's see if they broaden the inquiry to include other senseless acts of violence and the policies that not just tolerate it, but deny its existence, then claim it's isolated and when confronted with the specifics, they then slant their investigation to criminalize the victim and finally, defend the senseless and unjustified violence as a warranted use of force.
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Something needs to be said about domestic peace being put at risk. If people know that they will be shot or beaten up when they surrender, and no one gets prosecuted, what incentive do they have to stop and submit to authority? 
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Another thought....don't you think the various people of color have note that it took a white man getting beaten up to spring a settlement for a civil rights violation. Is also the message that white guys need to get beaten up to get the FBI's attention?

Stingrays....What Law Enforcement Can Do!

Interesting use of surveillance technology--warrantless taps!! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gk_SJDAqGEE#t=675; here's some 'Stingray' detector apps:
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SnoopSnitch Stingray Detector App:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details…

Twitter Stingray Detector App:
https://twitter.com/aimsicd
Android IMSI-Catcher Detector :
https://secupwn.github.io/Android-IMSI-Catcher-Detector/
Spidey App Stingray Detector:
http://signup.spideyapp.com/
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Comment: With the hunger for information and avoiding due process, its little wonder the ease with which privacy veils are pierced. With the fewer number of people with landlines, the "close" of the home is being invaded with reckless disregard of our traditions. 

Susan Page: USA TODAY - How your cell phone spies on you.....with your consent!

A Prison Culture | School of Arts & Sciences

A Prison Culture | School of Arts & Sciences 

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A good read. "Civil death" concept. The numbers are staggering from more than a fiscal standpoint.

Postmus Still Politically Active & Arrogant -- Wasn't he Awaiting a Sentencing?? Colonies II Coming?

I was in restaurant today with my wife after church and happened to overhear a former San Bernardino County 1st District Supervisor and Assessor (Bill Postmus, Jr) plan fund raisers (one fund raiser was to retire someone's campaign debt)--some of the names heard-- "Josie" and "Robert" (the first names of two of our county supervisors--but neither as I recall had a campaign debt). I even heard about someone being moved into a house to be in an area to run (for what was not clear except that the "Gus" voice -- the person identified himself as "Gus" and spoke of Hesperia being a well run City) said that "he and his wife wanted to look at the house first" (does the Republican party pay for moves--wow, some perk--wonder if it shows up on the FPPC??). Postmus, "Gus" and "Jeremiah" obviously didn't see me sitting across a divider trying to enjoy a late breakfast lunch with my wife--with my visibility over the past 2 decades in political races, council meetings, etc, I am sure they would have been a little less loud. I also heard how supervisors were anxious to meet someone ["Gus"?]--could this have anything to do with the "Tapestry" Project coming up with the Hesperia City Council on Thursday? [which could lead to 10,000 to 20,000 homes being built onto top of an already over pumped aquifers]. What makes this crazy is that Postmus is awaiting sentencing on political corruption related charges of CONSPIRACY to COMMIT CRIME, LEGISLATOR RECEIVE, BRIBE PUBLIC OFFICIAL, CONFLICT OF INTEREST : CONTRACTS/SALES/PURCHASES & EMBEZZLE/FALSIFY BY PUBLIC OFFICER (by the way ALL felonies)--obviously the DA thinks in this County it's ok to let convicted felons continue to influence electeds and or the process. This is the same DA that wants to replace Kamala Harris as State AG. When Postmus sees me he says "you and your wife should retire from politics"--wow, a crook telling an honest man to quit.  Something to think about--if the Hesperia City Council and the County Board of Supervisors approve the "Tapestry" project (which will draw enormous amounts of water from the Mojave system before it drains into Victorville, Apple Valley and out to Barstow) and by that further overdraft, lead to violations of the Mojave Adjudication, won't that create Colonies II type litigation--where the City and County get sued for taking water resources from a thirsty High Desert? Is the County being set up for another piece of litigation?

Decent Piece on Prosecutorial Misconduct

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/01/prosecutorial-misconduct-new-orleans-louisiana_n_3529891.html

An excerpt from the article of local note:
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"A CULTURE OF CONVICTION

....In fact, there's a growing body of empirical data showing that the legal profession isn't really addressing prosecutorial misconduct at all.

• In 2003, the Center for Public Integrity looked at more than 11,000 cases involving misconduct since 1970. Among those, the center found a little over 2,012 instances in which an appeals court found the misconduct material to the conviction and overturned it. Less than 50 cases resulted in any professional sanction for the prosecutor.
• In 2010, USA Today published a six-month investigation of 201 cases involving misconduct by federal prosecutors. Of those, only one prosecutor "was barred even temporarily from practicing law for misconduct." The Justice Department wouldn't even tell the paper which case it was, citing concern for the prosecutor's privacy.
• A 2006 review in the Yale Law Journal concluded that "[a] prosecutor's violation of the obligation to disclose favorable evidence accounts for more miscarriages of justice than any other type of malpractice, but is rarely sanctioned by courts, and almost never by disciplinary bodies."
• An Innocence Project study of 75 DNA exonerations -- that is, cases where the defendant was later found to be unquestionably innocent -- found that prosecutorial misconduct factored into just under half of those wrongful convictions. According to a spokesman for the organization, none of the prosecutors in those cases faced any serious professional sanction.
• A 2009 study (PDF) by the Northern California Innocence Project found 707 cases in which appeals courts had found prosecutor misconduct in the state between 1997 and 2009. But of the 4,741 attorneys the state bar disciplined over that period, just 10 were prosecutors. The study also found 67 prosecutors whom appeals courts had cited for multiple infractions. Only six were ever disciplined.
• Most recently, in April, ProPublica published an investigation of 30 cases in New York City in which prosecutor misconduct had caused a conviction to be overturned. Only one prosecutor was significantly disciplined.

The 2011 Yale Law Journal survey of state disciplinary systems also found a host of problems with the way misconduct complaints against prosecutors are handled. In many states, for example, the entire disciplinary process occurs in secret, ostensibly to protect the reputation of the accused attorneys. (Nevermind that the people who were harmed by the misconduct weren't afforded the same courtesy.)
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In 2007, a California Court of Appeals found that a Tulare County deputy district attorney, Phil Cline, had improperly withheld an exculpatory audiotape of a witness interview in the murder trial of Mark Soderston. The tape was so damning to the prosecution's case, the court wrote, that "[t]his case raises the one issue that is the most feared aspect of our system -- that an innocent man might be convicted.” Unfortunately, Sodersten had had already died in prison. The court was so troubled by the case that it took the unusual step of evaluating his claim even though he was dead.
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Not only was Cline never disciplined by the state bar, he was elected district attorney in 1992 and continued to win reelection, even after the court opinion chastising him. The other prosecutor in the case, Ronald Couillard, went on to become a judge. ..."
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