Persuasive Appellant Now Triple-Homicide Suspect: The Seattle Times has this story about John Allen Booth Jr., currently on the loose and wanted for three murders committed last weekend in Washington state. Booth's life of crime began at age 13, and his record ranges from thefts and trespassing to witness intimidation and serious assault charges. The article details Booth's successful journeys through the criminal appeals process, which almost always ended in an early release and an additional crime. After his last stint in prison for two counts of first-degree assault for bludgeoning a man in the head with a crowbar, Booth was again released early and is now wanted for three point-blank gun murders.
Feds Dismissing Deportation Cases: The Houston Chronicle reports that the Department of Homeland Security has begun reviewing thousands of pending deportation cases and moving to dismiss those against illegal immigrants with no serious criminal record. A memo from an ICE official explains that the agency has the capacity to remove about 4% of the illegal immigrant population in the country annually, and the deportation of those with serious criminal records is the top priority. Still, critics claim that dismissal of these other cases amounts to backdoor "amnesty" by the Obama administration and will leave local agencies with no choice but to pick up the slack.
Federal Murder Convict Spared the Death Penalty: A federal jury was unable to reach a unanimous decision on the death penalty for Timothy O'Reilly reports the AP. See prior post on this case here. Both the story and the defense lawyer quoted in the story erroneously say the jury decided against the death penalty. No, they did not. The jury could not decide, and the badly written federal death penalty law requires a life sentence as the result of nondecision. In 2001, while robbing a federal credit union, O'Reilly murdered 30-year-old guard Norman Stephens.
Feds Dismissing Deportation Cases: The Houston Chronicle reports that the Department of Homeland Security has begun reviewing thousands of pending deportation cases and moving to dismiss those against illegal immigrants with no serious criminal record. A memo from an ICE official explains that the agency has the capacity to remove about 4% of the illegal immigrant population in the country annually, and the deportation of those with serious criminal records is the top priority. Still, critics claim that dismissal of these other cases amounts to backdoor "amnesty" by the Obama administration and will leave local agencies with no choice but to pick up the slack.
Federal Murder Convict Spared the Death Penalty: A federal jury was unable to reach a unanimous decision on the death penalty for Timothy O'Reilly reports the AP. See prior post on this case here. Both the story and the defense lawyer quoted in the story erroneously say the jury decided against the death penalty. No, they did not. The jury could not decide, and the badly written federal death penalty law requires a life sentence as the result of nondecision. In 2001, while robbing a federal credit union, O'Reilly murdered 30-year-old guard Norman Stephens.
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