How'd you like to be this guy's cellmate?
HOUSTON A Texas death row inmate with a history of mental problems pulled out his only good eye and told authorities he ate it. Andre Thomas, 25, was arrested for the fatal stabbings of his estranged wife, their young son and her 13-month-old daughter in March 2004. Their hearts also had been ripped out. He was convicted and condemned for the infant's death. Well at least he can't see anymore to rip anyone else's heart out.
While in the Grayson County Jail in Sherman, Thomas plucked out his right eye before his trial later in 2004. A judge subsequently ruled he was competent to stand trial. Geez, judge. Didya think he was just showing off?
A death-row officer at the Polunsky Unit of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice found Thomas in his cell with blood on his face and took him to the infirmary. "Thomas said he pulled out his eye and subsequently ingested it," agency spokesman Jason Clark said Friday. You did...what?
Thomas was treated at East Texas Medical Center in Tyler after the Dec. 9 incident. Then he was transferred and remains at the Jester Unit, a prison psychiatric facility near Richmond southwest of Houston. The "Jester Unit"? Yeah, he's a Barrel of Laughs...
"He will finally be able to receive the mental health care that we had wanted and begged for from day 1," Bobbie Peterson-Cate, Thomas' trial attorney, told the Sherman Herald Democrat. "He is insane and mentally ill. It is exactly the same reason he pulled out the last one." I dunno, honey. I don't think there's enough money or time on the planet to help this guy.
At his trial, defense lawyers also argued he suffered from alcohol and drug abuse. I think that's the least of his problems.
Thomas does not have an execution date. I think I might wanna set one. Preferably as soon as possible.
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals in October upheld his conviction and death sentence for the death of 13-month-old Leyha Marie Hughes. Also killed March 27, 2004, were his wife, Laura Christine Boren, 20, and their son, 4-year-old Andre Lee. Thomas, from Texoma, walked into the Sherman Police Department and told a dispatcher he had just murdered the three and had stabbed himself in the chest. He told police how he put his victims' hearts in his pocket and left their apartment, took them home, put them in a plastic bag and threw them in the trash. Court documents described the three victims as having "large, gaping wounds to their chests." People like this walk the planet. Isn't that comforting...
A federal judge ordered a north Alabama sheriff jailed this week, saying the lawman intentionally served jail inmates "woefully insufficient" meals in order to pocket more than $200,000.
Morgan County, Alabama, Sheriff Greg Bartlett was ordered to jail Wednesday by U.S. District Judge U.W. Clemon in Birmingham.
After a Wednesday hearing, Clemon found Bartlett in contempt of court, saying he had failed to comply with a consent decree in the 2001 lawsuit regarding conditions at the Morgan County Jail, according to documents filed in the case.
Clemon ordered Bartlett released from the federal Talladega Correctional Facility the following day after the sheriff's attorneys pledged to provide better and healthier meals to inmates.
At issue is an Alabama law that attorneys for the inmates claim provides sheriffs with an incentive to skimp on feeding inmates. Under the law, sheriffs are permitted to keep -- as personal income -- money left over after purchasing food for inmates.
The state provides sheriffs with $1.75 per day per inmate for food, according to the Alabama Attorney General's Office. However, in a March 2008 opinion, the office affirmed that sheriffs may legally keep what is left over.
"There is no minimum amount of money that the Sheriff must spend on food," said court documents filed by Melanie Velez, an attorney with the Southern Center for Human Rights, representing the inmates. "Statutory permission to pocket the state's food subsidy does not, however, make it acceptable for the Sheriff to provide less than an adequate amount of food to detainees at the jail."
But in a statement issued Friday, Bartlett called coverage of the case misleading.
"The Morgan County Jail served over 328,000 meals in 2008 and only received 15 complaints on the issue of food," he said. "I have never or would not ever have tolerated an inmate being fed inadequate portions or meals for any reason. That never happened, to my knowledge."
A consent decree filed in September 2001 with the court required Bartlett to serve "a nutritionally adequate diet" to inmates.
However, Clemon wrote in court documents that a typical breakfast for county inmates was a serving of grits or unsweetened oatmeal; half an egg or less, sometimes cold; a slice of white bread; and unsweetened tea or a beverage such as Kool-Aid.
Lunch was either two peanut butter or bologna sandwiches, "with a small amount of peanut butter or an exceedingly thin" slice of bologna between two slices of white bread; a small bag of corn chips; and flavored water or unsweetened tea.
A typical dinner was two hot dogs or meat patties; a slice of bread; and mixed vegetables or baked beans, the judge wrote.
At times, when chicken was served, it was undercooked and pink, Clemon said. Salt, pepper, sugar or other condiments were not provided; they must be purchased by inmates at the jail store.
Inmates never receive milk, Clemon said, and receive fruit only three or four times a year.
The portions, Clemon wrote, are "woefully insufficient to satisfy the normal appetites of adult males. After eating each meal served by the Jail staff, the inmates remain hungry. Some inmates complain of recurring hunger pains." Many inmates have lost weight, he said, some of them as much as 50 pounds.
Inmates complain that they get enough food only by buying more at the jail store, the judge said, noting that some have spent as much as $100 there.
In 2007, the judge said, Bartlett and the sheriff of a neighboring county both paid $500 for half a tractor-trailer full of hot dogs. "They were served to the inmates at each meal until they had been depleted," Clemon wrote. Other inmate food was donated in bulk by schools and other locations, and the sheriff did not pay for it, the judge said.
Meanwhile, since he took office in 2003, "Sheriff Bartlett has deposited in excess of $200,000 to his personal account from the funds allocated to him by the State of Alabama and the federal government for the feeding of inmates," Clemon wrote. Last year, Bartlett made $95,000, the judge said.
"Sheriff Bartlett admits that he could double the food portions served to inmates of the Morgan County jail without significantly increasing his food expenditures," Clemon wrote.
"The court finds by clear and convincing evidence that Sheriff Greg Bartlett has converted to his personal use and benefit state and federal funds allocated for the feeding" of prisoners.
In an order filed Friday, Clemon noted that the sheriff, through his attorney, has pledged to use all state and federal funds for feeding inmates in the future, and that "fresh fruit, fresh milk, vegetables and whole grains will be a regular part of the monthly menu."
Daily meals will follow the USDA's Food Guide Pyramid, Clemon said, and condiments will be provided.
In a similar case in south Alabama, Mobile County Sheriff Jack Tillman pleaded guilty to two misdemeanors, perjury and an ethics offense, and resigned in 2006, agreeing to repay some of the $13,000 he shifted from a jail "food fund" to his personal retirement account, according to the Mobile newspaper Lagniappe.
#4
there is alot of stuff that lke this shit that goes on in small counties especially. and how is he still sheriff since they released him from jail after he promised too feed better meals? He was commiting embezzlement, in any other palce anyway, and i wondr who came up with the idea of keeping themoney saved that they get to pocket legally?
#5
"What we have heah, is a failure...to masticate"
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/10/2009 14:22 Comments ||
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#6
However, Clemon wrote in court documents that a typical breakfast for county inmates was a serving of grits or unsweetened oatmeal; half an egg or less, sometimes cold; a slice of white bread; and unsweetened tea or a beverage such as Kool-Aid.
Lunch was either two peanut butter or bologna sandwiches, "with a small amount of peanut butter or an exceedingly thin" slice of bologna between two slices of white bread; a small bag of corn chips; and flavored water or unsweetened tea.
A typical dinner was two hot dogs or meat patties; a slice of bread; and mixed vegetables or baked beans*, the judge wrote.
The next Oprah Diet(tm)? People will pay $$ to get the book.
*Actually, it reminds me of some of the meals in the field at the DISCOM support site in Korea
#7
The state provides sheriffs with $1.75 per day per inmate for food
That's $0.58 per meal -- I'm amazed he can make any money at all. The state needs some reprimanding too.
#8
"According to the Connecticut-based Criminal Justice Institute, the national average daily cost to feed an inmate was $3.62 in 2000, the latest year for which numbers are available." Source
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/10/2009 16:20 Comments ||
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#10
This is one reason it's so hard to unseat an Alabama Sheriff. There's money in them thar criminals. This would be easy to fix, just change the law. That won't happen.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
01/10/2009 19:41 Comments ||
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The body of a freedom fighter was recovered from a latrine tank at Basho village in Mohammadpur upazila on Thursday afternoon.
We have no idea where that is ...
Family sources said freedom fighter Jafar Biswas, 60, was missing for last three days. Jafar had a long standing dispute with his rival in the village, said police adding that he might have been killed following the rivalry. A case was filled in this connection but, none was arrested.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/10/2009 00:05 ||
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Two groups of people one supporting the acting Khatib and the other favouring the newly appointed Khatib of Baitul Mukarram National Mosque involved in scuffles and shoe-throwing at each other before Jum'a prayers yesterday. The incident took place over who would lead the prayers. ...and they were winging shoes around, so you know this was serious.
Witnesses said when acting Khatib and senior Pesh Imam of the mosque Maulana Mufti Mohammad Nuruddin stood up to lead Jum'a prayers, some people shouted in protest. Siddown, ya bum!!
And another group of people tried to shout them down. This resulted in scuffles and hurling of shoes. I curse your mother's moustache!
Your goat has cooties!
Eat my shoe, ya bastid!
At this stage, Nuruddin began leading the prayers, and the situation calmed down.
But trouble resumed after the prayers, leaving several people injured witnesses said.
Police however said they have no report of injuries in the incident.
Nuruddin took over as acting Khatib following the death of Khatib Obaidul Haque about one and a half years ago. The caretaker government recently appointed Mufti Mohammad Salauddin as Khatib.
Meanwhile, two rival groups siding with the newly appointed khatib and opposing the acting Khatib had assembled in the area since morning yesterday. And this might have dissuaded the new Khatib from coming to the mosque to lead Jum'a prayers.
Nuruddin said he led the prayers as instructed by the mosque authorities.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/10/2009 00:00 ||
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Jean Claude? Pierre? Etienne? Jacques? Four teenagers from the Paris suburbs have been charged with beating a Jewish schoolgirl and taunting her over the Israeli offensive in Gaza, officials said Friday.
The 14-year-old victim told investigators she was called a "dirty Jew," kicked in the legs and forced to eat snow by a group of youths outside her high school in the rough suburb of Villiers le Bel.
One of her attackers allegedly told her: "We don't like what your brothers are doing in Gaza," lawyers said.
A special judge for minors charged the three youths late Thursday with acts of violence linked to a person's religion, and a fourth for failing to prevent a crime, the state prosecutor's office said.
According to defense lawyers, the judge suggested the youths, aged between 13 and 15, could be sent on a course on the subject of racism and anti-Semitism. Suggested? Yeah, that'll show 'em ya mean business, judgey. Hope they don't burn your Mercedes in the parking lot...
All four have been suspended from school and are set to face disciplinary action. Double secret probation, probably...
France, home to Europe's biggest Arab and Jewish populations, has been on alert for an increase in anti-Semitic violence as the conflict in Gaza stirred communal tensions.
On Monday, unidentified attackers rammed a burning car into a gate outside a synagogue in southern France, while French Jewish groups have recorded a spike in anti-Semitic taunts and attacks.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/10/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
It seems to me that they were not arrested for taunting her, but for kicking her - in other words, for assault.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
01/10/2009 0:17 Comments ||
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#2
Yes, but using the word assault would make it sound as bad as it actually was.
Posted by: Jumbo Angomock9536 DBA Mike N. ||
01/10/2009 0:34 Comments ||
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#3
Had to check to see if the original article omitted "beating" in the title. I think whoever made that decision should be taunted for it.
At some point, someone is going to have to make them afraid to do this type of thing or they will just get more bold and vicious.
Depressed, ya say? I suppose that would help if you're gonna do something like this...
A Pakistani businessman, depressed by the impact of economic crisis, killed himself with an electric saw by almost severing his head in his Sharjah home, Al-Ittihad newspaper said on Friday.
"Whattaya think, Muldoon?"
"Craftsman, Sarge, the 7 1/2 incher."
The man, aged 60, was the head of several construction firms affected by the international credit crunch.
His body was found in a pool of blood on Wednesday, with the electric saw still running, the newspaper said, quoting police in Sharjah, one of the seven emirates making up the United Arab Emirates. His wife said her husband had complained recently about the difficulties he faced because of the lack of finance needed for company projects and to honour promises to his clients.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/10/2009 00:00 ||
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#2
Getting that in China, too - not the suicides, but formerly prosperous businessmen unable to cope with a suddenly competitive environment. They were fine as long as the orders kept pouring in. I knew people who set up factories without an idea of who was going to buy their product, or even what exactly the product was going to be. Just hang out a shingle, post an ad on alibaba, and watch the money roll in.
Salman Sheikh was organizing a swim class for his two sons last summer when fellow Muslim parents approached him about starting a class for girls. Sheikh told them he would ask the Curran Aquatic Center in Cary, N.C., whether it could accommodate a group of Muslims who preferred a women-only pool.
Yes, of course, the leaders of the aquatic center said, and showed him a 15-yard pool that could be rented for $170 an hour. Problem was, the small pool overlooked a larger, Olympic-size pool, and Sheikh wondered whether the center could provide blinds to cover the windows and shield the women from onlookers. Sure, the centers leaders said, but it would cost $3,000 for custom-made blinds. Sheikh was ready to drop the idea. But the Muslim community in Raleigh, N.C., and Cary wouldnt let him.
Within a month, Sheikh, a native of Pakistan who works as a project manager for the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, raised the money and signed up 35 women for the first class. Last month, a group of women of all ages dipped their toes into the water for the first time.
This type of accommodation to the religious requirements of their faith is something Muslims are seeing more. All-Muslim Boy Scout and Girl Scout troops have cropped up across the country. Muslims are entering politics, studying Islam at major American universities, even finding halal, or ritually slaughtered foods, at local stores. I see this as a sign of Muslims learning to operate within American civic institutions, said Omid Safi, a professor of Islamic studies at UNC-Chapel Hill.
Many devout Muslim women adhere to their faiths requirements to guard their modesty, which for them means covering their hair and bodies in the presence of men who arent their relatives. By doing so, they believe they are deflecting the desires and gazes of the opposite sex and living the kind of life the Prophet Muhammad might have approved. In mostly Muslim countries, it is common to have separate pools for men and women. But in the United States thats virtually unheard of, and as a result many Muslim women grow up not knowing how to swim.
Saleha Bhatti of Raleigh, who accompanied her 16-year-old daughter, Sanaa, to the swim class, said that was the case in her family. Had she stayed in Pakistan, she might have taken lessons at a womens pool, but in the United States, it wasnt an option. We never had the chance to learn, Bhatti said.
Jenny Jaber, a convert to Islam who lives in Raleigh, said learning to swim should not be a luxury. Indeed, she said, learning to swim is encouraged in the oral sayings of the Prophet Muhammad, known as the hadith. Ive wanted to waterproof this community for a long time, said Jaber, who worked as a water safety instructor until she converted. Were around water all the time, and it unnerves me to see these women standing on piers.
Many of the women came dressed in full-length Burkinis, swimming costumes that looks much like a scuba-diving suit but are made of water-protected polyester rather than rubber.
#7
Hey, they want to pay for their own special requirements, go for it. I just don't want them imposing their BS on me and/or expecting me to pay for the privilege.
#8
If the Boy Scout troop was sponsored by a mosque, then most or all of the scouts would be Muslim. When I was a scout, my troop was sponsored by my Catholic parish; as far as I knew, all the scouts were Catholic.
It's not clear if they excluded infidel scouts from the troop.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
01/10/2009 20:22 Comments ||
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A waiter at a Jewish wedding who is considering converting to Islam interrupted the celebration's final prayers with recorded Arabic chants of "God is great," sparking fear among the 700 guests of a terrorist attack, Nassau police said Friday. Stephen Buttafuoco, who was fired from Morrell Caterers at Woodbury Jewish Center, had gone to a Manhattan rally opposing the Israeli campaign in Gaza a day earlier, recording protest chants on his cell phone.
Following an investigation, Buttafuoco, 23, of 27 Chelsea Ave., West Babylon, was arrested Friday and charged with felony aggravated harassment, police said. A grand jury will consider whether to also charge Buttafuoco with disruption of a religious service. Neither the caterer nor the synagogue could be reached for comment.
The guests couldn't at first decipher the angry-sounding chants blaring over the public address system shortly after 1 a.m. Jan. 4. "They just figured it was the children playing with the DJ's microphone," said Nassau Det. Sgt. Michael Marino. But when they heard "Allahu akbar," Arabic for "God is great," "followed by some kind of demonstration of anger," Marino said, the guests became frightened. "They thought that this could lead to some kind of terroristic act," Marino said.
Buttafuoco, who will be arraigned Saturday in Hempstead, told detectives that he was trying to privately disrespect Judaism and didn't realize the recording was being played throughout the building, just in the sanctuary, where he was. He couldn't be reached for comment. Police said he was not arrested until Friday because detectives wanted to rule out terrorist connections.
Police said Buttafuoco told detectives he is not related to Joey Buttafuoco, the man involved in a notorious 1990s love triangle with Amy Fisher.
#4
And now his head will be cut off.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru
No. But felony... that means a prison term, and with name like his, it is almost guaranteed that Tiny may consider him an object of his amorous advances.
#8
"Buttafuoco told detectives he is not related to Joey Buttafuoco, the man involved in a notorious 1990s love triangle with Amy Fisher."
"I wanted to dis' Judaism and scare the Jooooos as part of my preparation to convert to The Religion of Peace,™ but I ain't kin to that crazy guy! I got standards!"
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
01/10/2009 19:38 Comments ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
A federal judge ordered a north Alabama sheriff jailed this week, saying the lawman intentionally served jail inmates "woefully insufficient" meals in order to pocket more than $200,000.
The body of a freedom fighter was recovered from a latrine tank at Basho village in Mohammadpur upazila on Thursday afternoon.
Two groups of people one supporting the acting Khatib and the other favouring the newly appointed Khatib of Baitul Mukarram National Mosque involved in scuffles and shoe-throwing at each other before Jum'a prayers yesterday. The incident took place over who would lead the prayers.
Four teenagers from the Paris suburbs have been charged with beating a Jewish schoolgirl and taunting her over the Israeli offensive in Gaza, officials said Friday. 
