Author: Timothy Watson

I’m guessing the phrase “equal protection” doesn’t mean anything to you… Part 13, I’m getting sick of writing about this…

From the Richmond Times-Dispatch: ‘Rational basis’ for driver law at issue:

Was the General Assembly rational when it exempted residents of other states from Virginia’s new and controversial driver-fees statute?

Obvious jokes aside, both the lawyers and the judge homed in on that issue yesterday in the Richmond Circuit Court appeal case that challenges the constitutionality of the driver law.

Judge Walter Stout heard brief arguments from Commonwealth’s Attorney Michael N. Herring, who defended the law, and from lawyer N. Barton Chucker, who is representing a traffic-court defendant.

(Anyone know if Walter Stout is related to a Neil Stout of Stout, Billy, & Seli?)

The “civil remedial fees” statute is meant to generate revenue from dangerous drivers — people convicted in court of certain traffic violations ranging from drunken driving to manslaughter.

At least they’re honest, I wonder what the average speed of the legislators is on I-95. I sure hope it isn’t about 80 MPH…

Chucker argued that the law is unconstitutional on due-process grounds because it applies only to Virginia residents and exempts others who drive in the state.

But the law could pass constitutional muster if the assembly had a “rational basis” for deciding the fees would be imposed only on Virginia residents. Proponents of the law as written say the fees would be too difficult and costly to collect from people in other states.

Yesterday, Stout wondered: “Isn’t the cost of collecting from out-of-state drivers a rational basis for making the distinction [between Virginia residents and others]?”

If you’re an out-of-state driver and you fail to pay your fine (not fee) when found guilty, your license will be suspended by your state; how much does that cost?

He decided he will make his ruling later.

Herring said he shares some of Chucker’s concerns about the law. “As an officer of the court and commonwealth’s attorney, I think the statute as it stands is constitutional,” Herring said. “It could be improved.”

[…]

Chucker represents Joseph C. Fields, on whom the law would impose a $1,050 driver fee for his reckless-driving conviction in Richmond General District Court.

Judge Thomas O. Jones of Richmond General District Court convicted Fields on July 7 and fined him $100 plus court costs. Chucker appealed the automatic driver fee, which was to be paid in three equal annual installments.

At a hearing Aug. 3, Jones sided with Chucker when he ruled that the law is unconstitutional.

“For me, it’s an absolute no-brainer,” Jones said from the bench.

Apparently, not for everyone else.

Herring, noting that every commonwealth’s attorney is obligated to defend state laws in court, appealed the case.

It’s pretty ironic that he had to note that.

Bowling Green murder trial begins

From the Richmond Times-Dispatch: Bowling Green murder trial begins:

Jury selection continues this afternoon in the murder trial of a Caroline County man charged in the fatal workplace shooting of his boss.

Thomas E. Monroe, 67, is charged with first-degree murder in the Nov. 17 slaying of David Ganoe, a well-known county school-system maintenance supervisor. Ganoe, 51, also coached youth sports.

Attorneys in the case are expected to make opening statements later this afternoon.

Monroe is accused of shooting Ganoe in Ganoe’s office adjacent to Bowling Green Elementary School. Monroe had lost his job with the school system a day earlier, though school officials and investigators so far have declined to disclose the circumstances.

Monroe also is charged with assaulting Ganoe’s secretary, who witnessed the altercation.

He turned himself in to authorities shortly after the shooting.

Monroe faces a maximum penalty of life in prison if convicted of the murder charge. The trial is expected to continue through the week.

This is rich… Part 2

Part 1

Apparently Damon Gray was told to take a hike by the Caroline County Democratic Committee:

From The Caroline Progress (print edition, September 5, 2007, p. 6): To Whom It May Concern [emphasis mine]:

To Whom It May Concern

Be it known that any Board of Supervisors Candidate wanting to obtain the Caroline County Democratic Party Nomination for the November 6th 2007 Election must have filed the following documents on or before April 13th 2007 at 5:00 p.m.

Candidates to be determined by a Primary Election/Mass Meeting must have filed:

  1. Petition of Qualified Voters (125 signatures of registered voters in the district) (signatures not required for Mass Meeting)
  2. Statement of Organization
  3. Certificate of Candidate Qualification
  4. Declaration of Candidacy
  5. Receipt for payment of Primary Filing fee
  6. Statement of Economic Interests

The documents must be filed with the chair of the political party, the General County Registrar and the Electoral Board. The Primary filing fee must be filed with the County Treasurer.

No candidate filed for the Democratic Party Nomination in the Bowling Green or Madison Magisterial Districts.

And further proof that Damon Gray is an idiot, from the The Free Lance-Star (June 30, 2001): Base builder now facing drug charges [emphasis mine]:

A Caroline County business owner was charged this week with heading to work at Fort A.P. Hill with drugs in his possession, police said.

Damon Lee Gray, 49, is charged with possessing a controlled substance and possession of marijuana, Caroline Sheriff Homer Johnson said.

Gray owns and operates the Sparta General Store, a popular store in the community south of Bowling Green.

He also has a construction business and is one of the contractors working at A.P. Hill in preparation for the upcoming Boy Scout Jamboree. Johnson said Gray has done excellent work on several county churches.

Johnson said a regional drug task force and others began investigating Gray and others after receiving complaints that Gray and his crew were smoking marijuana at the Army base work sites.

The task force, which includes officers from Caroline, Fluvanna and Louisa counties, had Gray and others under surveillance for a few weeks. The Provost Marshal’s Office at A.P. Hill assisted the task force.

On Tuesday morning, Johnson said, Gray was stopped by military authorities on the Army base. Individuals on federal bases are subject to search without a warrant, Johnson said.

Johnson said police found marijuana and Percocet in Gray’s possession. He did not have a prescription for the painkiller, the sheriff said.

Johnson said an investigation into alleged drug activities involving others is ongoing.

Johnson said it is his understanding that Gray won’t be allowed to work at A.P. Hill pending the outcome of his case. But he said it shouldn’t affect the Jamboree.

“The Scouts are coming as scheduled,” Johnson said. “It will take more than this to slow them down.”

Update: Teenager Kills Sister, Attacks Toddler in Spotsylvania County

From the Richmond Times-Dispatch: Boy’s state of mind is at issue:

A teen charged with raping and killing his sister may have been under the influence of marijuana during or after the crime, his defense attorney suggested in court yesterday.

Also in court, the boy’s mother suggested her son is insane and needs help.

A judge granted a request by Walter L. Smith Jr.’s defense lawyer to take a blood sample from Smith, 16, charged in the Labor Day slaying of his sister Betsy Mary Smith, 22, to determine whether the boy had drugs in his system.

The teen’s lawyer, Kristie Kane, said the blood analysis could provide evidence that might help Smith’s case, though she would not say how. Spotsylvania County Commonwealth’s Attorney William F. Neely said the results, which also would show any medications the teen had taken, could affect how Smith’s statements to police are weighed in court.

Smith made an initial appearance yesterday in Spotsylvania Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court. Judge Joseph J. Ellis set a Nov. 27 hearing to determine whether the case would be transferred to Spotsylvania Circuit Court, where Smith would be tried as an adult.

[…]

Walter L. Smith Jr. is charged with first-degree murder and rape in the death of his sister. Prosecutors yesterday also upgraded to aggravated malicious wounding a charge involving Smith’s alleged beating of his 2-year-old niece, who remains hospitalized.

He faces a maximum sentence of life in prison if convicted.

Prosecutors gave this account of what happened:

Smith attacked his sister with a sledgehammer and raped her Monday morning, in addition to hitting the toddler with the sledgehammer. The teen then locked the two victims and a 1-year-old relative in his sister’s bedroom in the dilapidated home along Brock Road in central Spotsylvania. The sister kept a padlock on the outside of her door.

At some point, relatives in the home asked about the two young children, and Smith let them out of the room and then locked it again. A relative took the girl to Mary Washington Hospital in Fredericksburg, where it was determined the child had a fractured skull.

A detective went to the home about 8 p.m. Smith’s father gained access to the bedroom and they found the sister dead inside. Neely said she is believed to have been dead about 20 hours by then.

Smith then tried to commit suicide by jumping off a roof, authorities said. He initially told investigators that he killed his sister because she injured the toddler, Neely said, but then he changed his account.

In court yesterday, the judge cited the “heinous” nature of the allegations in deciding that Smith should remain in juvenile detention.

Neely said he believes county social services officials had opened an investigation involving some household members before the slaying. The parents apparently were sleeping at the time and later thought the older sister was away, Neely said, adding he does not expect to bring charges against the parents.

What a freakin’ joke…

From the AP via NBC 4 in Washington, D.C.: Former Va. ACLU President Gets 7 Years For Downloading Child Porn [emphasis mine]:

A former president of the Virginia chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union has been sentenced to seven years in prison for downloading child pornography.

The prison term imposed on Charles Rust-Tierney, 52, of Arlington, is one year less than the minimum sentence suggested under federal sentencing guidelines. But it’s more than the five-year term requested by defense attorneys. Rust-Tierney also received 10 years of supervised release following his prison term.

U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III gave Rust-Tierney credit for what he said was “an otherwise exemplary life” that included decades of service as a public defender in the District of Columbia representing the mentally ill. Several dozen people wrote letters to Ellis on Rust-Tierney’s behalf, and more than 20 people attended Friday’s hearing in support of him.

[…]

According to court documents, Rust-Tierney started accessing child pornography online as early as June 2004. He used his home computer to access child pornography Web sites at least five times between March 2005 and October 2006. In a two-week period in January 2006, he accessed more than 850 digital images and videos of child pornography from one Web site. About 560 images and 137 videos of child pornography were found on computers and digital media taken from Rust-Tierney’s home.

Ellis said Friday that the pornography downloaded by Rust-Tierney “was of the most abhorrent kind,” including torture and sexual assaults on children as young as 6.

[…]

Prosecutor Edward McAndrew urged Ellis to impose an eight-year sentence, in line with federal sentencing guidelines. He suggested in court papers that many of Rust-Tierney’s supporters would be less likely to stand with him had they actually seen the type of pornography that Rust-Tierney was receiving.

“The children of this country are at maximum peril when their guardians exploit them,” McAndrew said.

More details from The Washington Post: Va.’s Ex-ACLU Chief Gets 7 Years for Child Porn [again, emphasis mine]:

A former Arlington County youth sports coach and civil rights lawyer who once headed Virginia’s American Civil Liberties Union chapter was sentenced today to seven years in federal prison for buying child pornography that prosecutors labeled sadistic and masochistic.

Charles Rust-Tierney, 51, pleaded guilty in June to downloading hundreds of pornographic images of children as young as 4. Authorities said Rust-Tierney used a computer in his 11-year-old son’s bedroom to view the files, which included a six-minute video that depicted sexual torture of children, set to a song by the rock band Nine Inch Nails.

[…]

Authorities said Rust-Tierney used his home computer to purchase Internet access to commercial child pornography Web sites at least five times between March 2005 and October 2006, spending about $420. During one two-week span, he accessed more than 850 digital image and video files of child pornography on one site. Many of these files showed children under the age of 12 being forced to engage in sexual acts with adult males, authorities said.

Rust-Tierney has been in jail since his arrest.

A federal magistrate who declined to release him in March described the images she viewed as “the most perverted and nauseating and sickening type of child pornography” she had seen in 10 years on the bench.

Ellis also refused to release Rust-Tierney, saying he posed “a serious risk of harm to the community.” The judge added that “the term ‘child pornography’ does not convey the depravity” of the images that were downloaded.

Yet, more details, from WUSA 9 in Washington, D.C.: Youth Coach In Court On Child Porn Charges [again, emphasis mine]:

They say Rust-Tierney had video showing, among other things, the sexual torture of infants and toddlers. The judge said she’d never heard of child pornography that vile and said because of that, Rust-Tierney would stay behind bars until his trial.

And finally, from Bill O’Reilly (whom I can’t stand to watch or listen to): A Journalistic Cover-up [again, emphasis mine]:

Tierney apparently told the feds that he paid for the child porn using a Paypal account and then downloaded images of prepubescent girls being violently raped onto CD-Rom disks, which the authorities seized in his home.

One of the images Tierney was in possession of showed a little girl tied up and screaming while being violently raped.

Nothing illegal here. Move along, move along… Part 4

From the AP via WUSA 9 in Washington, D.C.: Priest Pleads Not Guilty To 13 Fraud, Money Laundering Counts:

A Roman Catholic priest accused of stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from two Louisa County churches pleaded not guilty to federal fraud and money laundering charges Thursday.

The Rev. Rodney L. Rodis waived his right to a jury trial. U.S. District Judge Richard Williams will hear the case beginning Oct. 25. The trial is expected to last three days.

Rodis, 51, faces eight counts of mail fraud, two counts of wire fraud and three counts of money laundering. Twelve of the counts are punishable by up to 20 years in prison, one by up to 10 years.

According to federal prosecutors, Rodis embezzled money from Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Bumpass and St. Jude Church in Mineral from 2002 until last year. He allegedly wired at least $515,231 of the money to his native Philippines.

[…]

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Richmond has said Rodis embezzled more than $600,000 from the churches, where he was pastor from 1993 until he retired in May 2006 because of health problems.

[…]

Rodis originally was charged in state court with 13 embezzlement counts. The Louisa County prosecutor dropped those charges after Rodis was indicted last month by a federal grand jury.

After being charged in state court, Rodis was released on $25,000 bond. That bond was revoked in May after Rodis violated his conditions of release by flying to Detroit to visit a sick child. He remains in custody in the Northern Neck Regional Jail in Warsaw.

Teenager Kills Sister, Attacks Toddler in Spotsylvania County

From WUSA 9 in Washington, D.C.: Teenager Kills Sister, Attacks Toddler:

A Spotsylvania County teenager is charged with raping and killing his older sister and attacking his two-year-old cousin.

Sheriff Howard Smith says the 16-year-old boy told deputies that he went to his sister’s bedroom early Monday and hit her with a sledgehammer.

Smith says the victim — 22-year-old Betsy Mary Smith — was baby-sitting her two cousins — a two-year-old girl and a one-year-old boy.

Smith says the teenager — whose name has not been released — told deputies that the little girl began crying and he hit her with the sledgehammer, then raped his older sister and locked the two children in the bedroom with her.

She was found dead there last night. Police say she’d been stabbed and beaten with a sledgehammer. The little girl suffered a
fractured skull and a broken nose. The one-year-old was not injured.

The sheriff says investigators have not determined a motive.

The boy is charged with first degree murder, rape and malicious wounding. He’s being held in the Rappahannock Juvenile Detention Center.

From NBC 4 in Washington, D.C.: Woman Dead, Child Injured In Sledgehammer Attack:

Police have charged a teen boy in a sledgehammer attack that left his sister dead and a child injured.

Deputies on Monday were investigating a possible child abuse case at a home in the 8200 block of Brock Road. They were trying to figure out how a 2-year-old girl suffered a fractured nose and skull. The girl’s mother took her to a hospital after discovering she was bleeding, News4‘s Pat Collins reported.

A detective was searching the home when he found a padlock on a bedroom door. A hammer was used to break the lock. Upon entering, the detective found 22-year-old Betsy Mary Smith dead on the floor.

Smith, who lived at the home, had been stabbed and beaten with a sledgehammer.

Police said Smith’s 16-year-old brother told a detective that he went into the bedroom to kill his sister and beat her with a sledgehammer. Police said the teen then hit the 2-year-old with the sledgehammer because she was crying. He then killed his sister, police said.

Police said the teen then raped his sister, left her on the bedroom floor and locked the door with the 2-year-old girl and a 1-year-old boy inside. Sheriff Howard Smith said the victim was baby-sitting the children, who were her cousins.

Collins reported that the suspect let the children out of the locked room about 12 hours later after they started crying again, which is when her mother noticed she was bleeding. The 1-year-old was not injured.

The teen was charged with first-degree murder, rape and malicious wounding. He’s being held in the Rappahannock Juvenile Detention Center.

Officials at Spotsylvania High School said the suspect was a freshman there. Crisis counselors will be at the school on Wednesday.

The suspect’s parents said he has had problems with depression in the past but isn’t currently on any medication.

The sheriff said investigators have not determined a motive.

UPDATE: From the Richmond Times-Dispatch: Teen charged in sister’s death:

A 16-year-old Spotsylvania County boy who is accused of raping and killing his older sister on Labor Day likely will be tried as an adult, a prosecutor said yesterday.

Walter Smith Jr. is charged with murder and rape in the death of his sister, and malicious wounding in the assault of a 2-year-old relative, Spotsylvania Commonwealth’s Attorney William F. Neely said.

Authorities found the body of Betsy Mary Smith, 22, in a locked bedroom Monday night. “It had a padlock on it,” Neely said.

The teen’s father either unlocked the padlock or somehow broke down the door for a detective, Neely said.

The detective had gone to the house because relatives of the brother and sister had brought a 2-year-old girl to a local hospital with a fractured skull, Neely said.

Smith initially told authorities that he killed his sister because she had hurt the little girl, Neely said, but the teen then gave a statement implicating himself.

Neely said Smith’s sister was attacked with a sledgehammer and then raped before she died.

“She was stabbed, she was smashed in the head with a hammer and she was sexually assaulted,” he said.

Neely said the woman’s body had been in the bedroom of the house in the 8200 block of Brock Road for about 20 hours when authorities responded around 8 p.m. Monday.

Smith had locked the little girl and a small boy in the same room with his sister, Neely said, but had let the two young children out after relatives asked about them.

Neely said Smith tried to commit suicide afterward and is being held without bond in the Rappahannock Juvenile Detention Center.

The teen is scheduled to appear this morning in Spotsylvania Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court. He would be tried as an adult if a judge later finds probable cause to certify one or more charges to a grand jury.

What an idiot…

From Percy Ashcraft’s Message from the County Administrator September, 2007:

[…]

All county residents are encouraged to register for the new Caroline Alert System. The system will notify residents of emergencies and other government news through their cell phones and desktop computers. This is a free service offered by the Board of Supervisors. Click on https://www.CarolineAlert.com to register.

“[O]ffered by the Board of Supervisors”? Are they paying for it out of their own pockets? No! The service is being offered (via tax payers) by Caroline County (specifically Director Ed Fuzy and the Caroline County Department of Fire, Rescue, and Emergency Management).

[…]

Here is a capsule glance of other activities that will be happening in County government during the month of September:

[…]

  • Renovations to the Animal Shelter will be completed this month and the improvements will bring the facility into compliance with state regulations.

We’re still waiting on that new animal shelter we been promised for years. Maybe if you laid off the trips to Hawaii, the $1,100,000 visitor’s center [see below], and the $17,460.20 salaries for supervisors we might be able to afford one.

  • Construction of the new Visitor’s Center along Route 207 will continue this month. The developer of Belmont contributed $1.1 million to help construct the facility, with the remainder of the funds coming from TEA 21 appropriations.

Nice use of proffer money that should be going to roads, schools, and public safety (maybe even an animal shelter).

[…]

  • County staff and consultants continue to work on a proposal that will allow the County to withdraw water from the Rappahannock River in the future. The Department of Environmental Quality must grant its approval before water can be withdrawn.

Because it’s a brilliant idea to run water lines across a county from Port Royal to Ladysmith for salt water that will need to go through desalination and be repressurized repeatedly.

[…]

  • Construction is underway on the new Ladysmith Elementary School.

What about the repairs/upgrades for Bowling Green Primary School, Bowling Green Elementary School, and Ladysmith Primary School?

  • Construction is underway of a new skateboard park to be located at the County Park across from Caroline Middle School.

Skateboard park? $45,000 for a skateboard park? Good use of tax payers’ money there.

[…]

  • Officials of the Rappahannock Community Services Board are building a new facility in Caroline County across from Caroline High School. The property was donated by the Board of Supervisors.

Did the Board of Supervisors own the damn property? No! The property belonged to Caroline County!

[…]

  • A cost analysis and design of the new Sparta Fire Station will continue this month.

That was requested and approved last year and you haven’t even finished the cost analysis and design?

  • The Board of Supervisors approved the purchase of the Union Bankshares building in Bowling Green at its June 26 meeting. Moseley Architects will begin final design of the floor plan for the offices which will include housing the Commissioner of the Revenue, Treasurer, County Administration and possibly the Registrar.

First, it’s Commissioner of Revenue, not Commissioner of the Revenue. Second, I don’t see the seventy-five (75) personnel there that you talked about previously. In fact, I only see twenty (20) to twenty-one (21) full time positions period. Meanwhile, the Sheriff’s Office and Emergency Services have eighty-eight (88) full time positions that could have used a public safety building.

  • A Tea 21 grant to fund landscaping improvements in and around the courthouse complex was announced in May by the Commonwealth Transportation Board. The improvements will improve safety for pedestrians walking between buildings and should provide additional parking.

Closing Ennis Street is going to increase safety for pedestrians? How are the prison transport vans supposed to get into the Circuit Court building? Now you’re going to have people that are being held on felonies out in the open where God only knows what could happen.

“[S]hould provide additional parking”? It either is or isn’t; you already paid for it and you don’t know?

August 30, 2007 Roundup

Blog stuff:

  1. The new 2007 General Election section has links for candidates running for election this year. If I missed one contact me.
  2. The new Alert Systems section to the right which contains links to alert systems that have been set up by local jurisdictions, including Caroline, King George, and Stafford counties, University of Mary Washington, and Germanna Community College. I also threw in some of the farther away counties and colleges for those that commute or have family that are attending them. If you have links to any more contact me.
  3. Internet Haganah has been added to the National links section. Check it out.