Preliminary Hearing In Thomas Killing Today

After being postponed twice the Preliminary Hearing in the case against Fullerton cops Manny Ramos and jay Cicinelli for the killing of homeless schizophrenic Kelly Thomas last July. Ten months have elapsed since that hot, fateful night.

Ramos is charged with second degree murder; Cicinelli with manslaughter.

The purpose of the hearing is for a judge to view evidence presented by the District Attorney and decide whether the charged should be bound over for trial.

All sorts of questions will be answered in the next day or two: will the DAs original charges fold as some have predicted? Will a cop-cozy judge say Ramos and Cicinelli were just doing their jobs? On the political side, how will more media exposure effect the Recall of the Three Bald Tires, occurring as it will with the delivery of absentee ballots?

For those who can make it, the hearing will take place this morning at 8:30 in Courtroom C1 in the Superior Court building, in downtown Santa Ana.

 

Mr. Dick Jones on Marijuana

The original and the best. Nothing quite like it.

Here is Doc Foghorn sharing his thoughts on medical marijuana. Notice that Jones is all about control. Mindlessly so. See, he knows what’s best and tarnation if’n he ain’t a gonna give it to you – whether you like it or not.

But really: heroin products and oxytoxin??!! This assclown’s gears was a slippin’ two years ago.

– Joe Sipowicz

Pat McKinley Says Pro-Life Protesters Have Superhuman Pain Tolerance

It was posted here six months ago, but I still can’t help but ponder the creepiness of this old film every time I think of Pat McKinley.

How could a human being justify such bone-breaking violence against passive citizens? I suppose it would require a complete emotional callousness towards the condition of anyone unlucky enough to live outside of his law-enforcement bubble. Indeed, the then-LAPD captain Pat McKinley told the judge that these folks had a “unique ability to withstand pain” that required his officers to use extreme force.

What sort of warped mind could spin out such psychobabble as an excuse for extreme violence visited upon the citizens of the United States of America? Well, the kind of mind that said this.

It just makes no sense to me at all. For decades this man has been trusted to wield the force of government in the pursuit of justice, and instead he has chosen to use it against those who stand in the way of his convenience.

It’s time to get this sociopath as far away from public office as possible. Forever.

 

Hey, I Remember That Name From Somewhere

Failing to the top...

Ever since the FPD announcement that the oleaginous Andrew Goodrich was being replaced as PIO with a guy named Jeff Stuart, I’d been wondering why I seemed to remember that name.

Then it hit me. Back in March FFFF ran a post about some dude named Ernest Benefiel who apparently tried to commit suicide with booze and pills, and whose reveries were disrupted by an all-out assault by the Fullerton SWAT team; an assault that ended with Benefiel going to jail for years and years – while his conviction was overturned not once, but twice.

Goodrich 2.0

And who is listed on page 5 of the civil law suit as one of Pat McKinley’s gun-happy SWAT team members who turned a paramedic call into a neighborhood shoot-out? Jeff Stuart.

Welcome to the club.

Gennaco Delivers Report Part Deux

 

According to The OC Register, here, the outside “independent” investigative company hired by the City to look into the actions of the cops that beat Kelly Thomas to death last July has delivered its report on the incident. Unfortunately, nobody gets to see the report authored by Mr. Michael Gennaco except Acting Chief Dan Hughes – because it relates to police personnel matters. And, as everybody knows, those matters are shrouded in a veil of impenetrable secrecy. Just the way the police unions like it.

So we are left to guess at the contents of the report and left to guess whether or not our elected officials will be able to see it. Speaking of guesses, my guess would be no, except for Pat McKinley, of course, who seems to get special privileges when it comes to sticking his nose into personnel matters regarding the dubious characters he hired as former Police Chief.

The issues here are particularly interesting given the fact of the impending trial of Mssrs. Cicinelli and Ramos for manslaughter and murder, respectively. Negative findings could have an impact on that case. If, as many anticipate,  Mr. Gennaco tends to whitewash the case we can expect a comparatively speedy release of the report with some exculpitory headlines by Lou Ponsi.  Gennaco’s undernourished first report was more interesting for what it left out than for what it said,

Also lurking in the back of the room is the potentially costly civil trial and possible Civil Rights charges by the Feds. So if the report indicates that the cops acted way outside policy and procedure look for a protracted release of minimal information, or no release at all.

Who Opposes The Recall and Supports Doug Chaffee?

This guy. That’s who.

That would be former Redevelopment Director and big Fullerton pension recipient Gary Chalupsky.

Some may remember Chalupsky for his long string of embarrassing boondoggles and Redevelopment expenditures of questionable legality – like building the Muckenthaler amphitheater which is not even in a Redevelopment project area.

Just type in “Redevelopment” in our search box and knock yourself out. From the Knowlwood fiasco and North Platform smash up to The City Lights debacle and the humiliating Poisoned Park disaster, Chalupsky was there every inept, unaccountable step of the way. For well over ten years. Plenty of time to get vested in CalPERS.

Gary Chalupsky was the guy who proved beyond all doubt that Fullerton was very much for sale. Ever wonder where the 100 East section of Whiting Avenue went? Ask Chalupsky.

Others may also remember this upstanding individual for his phony “retirement” and immediate double-dip that was countenanced by an incompetent council who seemed to think Chalupsky knew what he was doing.

Redevelopment is now thankfully dead. But it feathered a lot of nests along the way.

No More MIA “Leadership.” No Doug Chaffee.

A fence sitting, cardboard candidate? On June 5th you get to decide.

Perusing the latest yellowing Fullerton Observer I noticed how various candidates responded to the  question “How Would You have Handled The Kelly Thomas Situation?”

First the Three Bald Tires, poster boys for utter leadership failure, were given the chance to reflect on their actions, or lack of same. They offered up the same old “we were told by our lawyer not to say anything” tripe. On his way out the saloon doors Doc Hee Haw managed to serve up this beaut: “I regret that some have acted to circumvent the constitutional laws of justice,” as if to reassure himself that the whole gol’dern commotion was the fault of some “lynch-type mob” and had nothing to do with his own incompetence and fat mouth.

The candidates were all pretty uniform in their responses with the glaring exception of Doug Chaffee, who spooned out this idiotic pabulum:

“I am a strong advocate of community oriented policing. In a community oriented policing system, police officers partner with neighborhoods to build trust and positive community relationships. The system generates mutual respect between residents and police. Being pro-active, the focus is on preventing crime, as opposed to merely reacting to it, and results in a safer City.”

What?

Not a single word about Kelly Thomas or his family, the brutal way in which he was killed, the conspiracy of silence in the aftermath, the disinformation peddled by Goodrich, the cops who were returned to duty, the disappearing police chief, the sick police chief, the pensioned-off police chief, or the charges of murder and manslaughter brought against the two cops by the DA. No explanation from Doug that Kelly was not committing a crime, and that the only criminals on the scene were members of the Fullerton Police Department.

Some have asked where Chaffee has been for these past nine months. I know. He’s been hiding from his own pale shadow.

It is apparent to me that this man is an empty suit, a coward and a damned fool. On the council he would be hardly better than McKinley himself. The last thing Fullerton needs is another superannuated do-nothing, say-nothing, stand-for-nothing yellow observer in office.

The Daryl Gates Legacy

Daryl said it would be like this...

Did former Fullerton Police Chief Pat McKinley bring LAPD Chief Daryl Gates’ unique style of policing to Fullerton? This lady (Jean Thaxton), who worked for the LAPD under Gates and alongside his protege, Pat McKinley sure seems to think so. And we know that McKinley admires Gates as his friend and mentor.

Her son was shot in the back by a cop in Downey and she appeared at a Fullerton City Council meeting to support the family of Kelly Thomas – who was beaten to death by six cops of the FPD.

I liked the end bit where this woman admonishes the council to actually provide training for their cops rather than just turning lem loose with badges and guns. I’m sure they get some training; and I’m sure that some of them actually remember some of it. But police departments can’t teach ethics and humanity to a 20 year-old, even if they felt inclined to do so.

Ramos, Cicinelli, Wolfe, Hampton, Mejia, Major, Mater, Tong, Cross, Rincon, etc., etc., ad nauseam. McKinley: “I hired them all.”

Play It Again, Dick

One might ask the question, “How in the world did Fullerton get stuck with not one, but two Dick Jones”?

This spectacle of Doc HeeHaw sharing his consternated confusion over the illegal water tax boils down to this: his lawyer, Attorney Dick tells him it is illegal and should be got rid of (15 years too late, of course); and Doc Dick agrees. His solution? Change the name of the tax!

Can it be possible that he actually believes the idiocy that tumbles out of his yapper? When it comes to muddled, loud, Southern-fried buffoonery there’s just no beating F. Dick Jones.

We Get Mail: Fence Sitting Cardboard Candidate?

I found this communication in our in-box yesterday:

An Open Letter to Doug Chaffee

April 23, 2012

Dear Mr. Chaffee:

I support the recall effort and will vote in favor of removing all three councilmen on June 5th.  I support the statements made on the Notice of Intent to Recall, and I believe any candidate running to replace a recalled councilman should believe the same.

I saw this on Euclid today.  The homeowner seems to be on both sides of the fence.  It begs the question: Are you?

Um, anyone miss the irony?

The rumor mill is spinning around town.  It claims that you’re proud to receive Pat McKinley’s endorsement of your candidacy should the recall succeed; and worse publicly stated as much during a fundraising event at the Pint House several weeks ago.  If this is true, this is not compatible with the Notice of Intent to Recall.  You have to pick a side and you have to do so definitively.

In fact, I demand you take one of four positions immediately.

1) If you have stated that you’re proud to receive McKinley’s backing, you must withdraw your candidacy from the special election on June 5th.  This statement does not meet with the spirit of the recall and is insulting to the electorate.  Candidates not supporting the spirit of the recall should not be on the ballot.  Just because you had some extra campaign signs sitting around from 2010 doesn’t mean you’re entitled to run.

2) If you find it morally acceptable to be proud of McKinley’s endorsement of your candidacy, state so in bold letters on all your campaign literature, website, Facebook account, and during any public appearances you make.  Failure to be transparent on this issue is dishonest.

3) If you’re not proud of McKinley’s endorsement, state loudly and often that you’ve signed the recall petition and outline why Pat McKinley needs to go.  Demand that those posting propaganda against the recall remove your name from their lawns.  Take a stance and make it clear that no supporter of Pat McKinley is a supporter of yours.

4) Do nothing.  If you ignore this open letter and succeed in your candidacy, count on being recalled.

Sincerely,

Ryan Cantor

P.S. Dear Friends, just to show what a small world it is, after all, the property above is the residence of one Beatriz Gregg, mater familias of the Gregg clan that includes our old pal Aaron, whose 2010 campaign was, um, something of a personal embarrassment.