Daily Archives: December 3, 2015

Justice in America: Frank Carson et al part VIII addendum

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By Warren Yates

This will be a brief synopsis of some of the events of Wednesday, November 25 in the preliminary hearing in the Carson case. First I want to thank my writing partner, Tom Jensen. He is doing a fine job in relating the court events. He has a much better memory than I do and therefore our writings complement each other. Thanks again Tom.
People in Modesto have been asking why Modesto Bee has not been covering the progress of the preliminary hearing in the Frank Carson case. There is much speculation as to the reason why the reporter assigned to the case has vanished. Could aliens have swooped down and carried him away?
Could it be that the District Attorney’s Office is somewhat fearful that the Modesto Bee may print information regarding the quality of the civilian witnesses called so far and that are still testifying? Did the District Attorney’s Office ask the Bee to refrain from covering the criminality of those witnesses that have testified and are still to come?
Perhaps the District Attorney’s Office would rather wait until more law enforcement personnel testify to avoid further embarrassment.
Or possibly could it be because deputy Dist. Atty. Ferreira is alleging that commenter’s on the Bee’s newspaper articles are somehow in her words, influencing the public perception and may taint the jury pool if this goes to jury trial. At the last closing session, deputy Dist. Atty. Ferreira use my name in open court and held up something purported to be something I wrote and requested that Judge Zuniga issue a gag order to prevent anyone, particularly myself from giving our perceptions of the proceedings.
As I mentioned in a prior post, I am humbled by the thought that deputy Dist. Atty. Ferreira feels that something I write could possibly influence anyone and sway their opinion regarding this airtight, slam-dunk, gotcha,”it’s in the bag” and it’s all over but the shouting case of theirs.

With the tens of thousands of man-hours expended and the hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars if not millions of taxpayer dollars rung up on the coffers of Stanislaus County, I am sure that the taxpayers of Stanislaus County will say “well done, our good and faithful law enforcement servants”.
All of the subscribers to the Modesto Bee including myself, request that the Bee once again assign a reporter to be in the court daily to report the activities of each court day. The subscribers need to be informed of the court activities as part of our subscription fees.
In checking the Stanislaus County court index Mr. Cooper, and I use the term Mr. loosely, has 21 criminal entries on the index. On the index in case number 1487780, he was charged with inflicting traumatic injury upon a spouse or cohabitant, exhibiting deadly weapon other than firearm and possession of a controlled substance. All of these charges were dismissed on July 21, 2015. Now, here we are in November of 2015, we find Mr. Cooper testifying in the Carson case. Look at the calendar and go figure.
As Cooper began his testimony he was on and off the stand a couple of times while the attorneys conferred with Judge Zuniga on testimonial matters.

Defense counsel Robert Forkner asked Cooper what promises have been made to him for his testimony. Deputy district Atty. Ferreira stated that he had received no promises, only that he didn’t want to be sent to DVI prior to his return to his “home” prison, Pleasant Valley State Prison in Coalinga. Pleasant Valley sounds like a Boy Scout retreat so I am sure Cooper will keep his pledge to keep his hands behind his back while on the stand.
Ronald Cooper has reason to worry because he is wearing a snitch jacket. Mr. Forkner asked him if he had been snitching on people in prison and Cooper stated no. He was asked if he was put in a different cell in jail to get information from his cell mates. Cooper answered no. If that’s true why worry about going back through DVI? DUH?
Cooper’s video interview with Bunch was then shown.
Cooper said he and Cooley were at the house when the cops came but he fled out the back door because he had drugs. Cooper said that while he was in jail with Pravish there was a mention that Frank Carson needed some muscle. He heard about Frank Carson going through cars. And that Frank Carson visited him in jail.
When questioned about when Frank Carson visited him, Cooper stated he’s not sure because he tells the date by when he was busted. Frank Carson told him if he would tell him where his stuff is he would take care of him. Cooper said he never stole any property from Frank Carson’s property.
During the interview Bunch tells Cooper that if things work out, I’ll make sure you get consideration and you know I am a man of my word.

In regards to the stolen antique train sets, Cooper said that a woman named Amber who lived in the front house on Lander Avenue had one of the train sets. After this information from Cooper we still don’t hear about law enforcement working on a case against Amber for possession of stolen property.
Oh wait! My bad! There aren’t any criminal charges pending against Michael Cooley, Eula Keyes or Linda Burns for possession of stolen property either. Now whose fault do you suppose that is? And their free ride for possession of stolen property of course, has nothing to do with the testimony they are presenting in this case. DUH? Anything wrong with any of these pictures? Just saying…
Cooper stated that while he was around Michael Cooley that Cooley liked knives. Cooper stated that he saw Cooley threatening some of the thieves with a knife that were leaving Frank Carson’s property, and coming through Michael Cooley’s yard and telling them to give him his share of their booty. Cooper stated that Cooley was a small man with the big man’s complex and that’s why he liked knives.
Cooper stated that at one point, Cooley thought that he Cooper, was trying to do the “Nay Nay” dance with Cooley’s girlfriend Eula Keyes. Cooley pulled a knife and threatened Cooper who stated he had no interest in dear Eula. Cooper went on to state that Cooley was a violent person.
At this point Deputy district Atty. Ferreira interrupted the court proceedings and asked Judge Zuniga to make Mr. Garcia move. She stated that he is standing behind her to her right and as Mr. Forkner asked questions of the witness, Mr. Garcia is making comments. She stated she had asked Mr. Garcia to move but he refused.
The judge asked Mr. Garcia to move over by the podium which he did. Still not satisfied with his positioning as Deputy district Atty. Ferreira still looked concerned, Judge Zuniga asked Mr. Garcia to move to the other side of the podium. Mr. Garcia in doing so left him approximately 24 inches further away from Ms. Ferreira. That little bit seemed to take care of it. What a difference a foot or two makes.

Continuing his testimony, Cooper stated that he had seen Michael Cooley beating up people several times. He had also seen Cooley carrying knives and threatening people numerous times. It would appear that at times Michael Cooley and Ronald Cooper were trying to “out knife” each other if you will.
Testimony up to this point shows that Michael Cooley generally pulled his knives on men while Cooper preferred putting his knife to the throat of a female/s. I guess the old adage “anything you can do, I can do better “would apply in their competitive instances.
As a closing thought I might add, Deputy Dist. Atty. Ferreira earlier and proceedings became quite animated when the defense attorneys were referring to the investigation being done by a task force. Deputy Dist. Atty. Ferreira indicated that this was a multi-jurisdictional investigation team, NOT a task force. She didn’t want the word task force to be used again. But when I read DA Fladager’s answer to the motion to recuse the District Attorney’s Office from the Carson case, I noted that numerous times she freely uses the term task force when referring to her investigative team. It appears that Deputy Dist. Atty. Ferreira and Dist. Atty. Fladager have a disagreement with semantics. My bet is that the DA wins out. So task force it is Madam Deputy District Attorney.
Court is now recessed until December 14, 2015 at 9:30 AM.

Justice in America: Frank Carson et al part VIII

By Warren Yates

This is an addendum to the article above it. I had already finished the article above to submit, when lo and behold I awoke this morning to an article in the Modesto Bee regarding the Korey Kauffman case. So I will now expound on my opinions of the latest Bee article. There was no mention in the article about why there had been no coverage of the preliminary hearing for nearly 2 weeks. As that pillar of journalism the National Enquirer says “Inquiring minds want to know”. Will we ever?
I am bewildered about what source Mr. Ahumada received the information for this article from. Mr. Ahumada has been as scarce as hen’s teeth in the court proceedings for nearly 2 weeks. I saw him prior to court starting on Monday standing down near the rest rooms. He did not show up in court. Another observer said they saw him talking to “Mr. Microphone” Mark Davis. That may be where he received his information from. Just saying…
The Bee article states that Ronald Cooper has already testified he witnessed Frank Carson in heated arguments people about antiques stolen from his five-acre Turlock property. Now the Back Story : The Bee article FAILS to state the next question to Cooper which was “Did you ever see Frank Carson threaten to kill anyone?” Cooper’s answer was “NO!”. Just a small oversight I’m sure.
So it appears that the Bee only printed a half truth. The question is, is this the only half truth? Sarcasm noted. While next the Bee article states that attorneys are arguing over whether witnesses were promised leniency in exchange for their testimony. There’s the half truth. Now the Back Story: The rest of the truth is that investigator Bunch promised considerations to Cooper and public defender Rosenstein and the Dist. Atty. would figure out how much time Cooper would get (as a result of his testimony?) since no law enforcement official could find the victim that would have made Cooper a three striker. Golly gosh darn, couldn’t find her. How about that?
The article then states “Cooley is expected to testify at some point about confrontations with Carson”. Well there’s the half truth. Now for the Back Story: if the Bee reporter would’ve Been there for the testimony, he would’ve heard Ronald Cooper testify that Michael Cooley had what you would consider a tollgate leading from his property onto the Frank Carson property.
The toll charge to the thieves to enter Frank Carson’s property through the fence and come back through onto Michael Cooley’s property was to allow Michael Cooley to take whatever he wanted of the stolen property from the thieves for himself. And Ronald Cooper testified that if there was any argument between the thieves and Michael Cooley, Michael Cooley’s knife decided who would win, the thieves or Michael Cooley. But Cooper doesn’t want to be called a “snitch”. Imagine that.
Michael Cooley’s feigned anger at Frank Carson was to disguise the fact that Michael Cooley is a hypocritical thief that will stop at nothing including assault with a deadly weapon (Knife) to take whatever stolen property he wants for himself. The question arises, did Korey Kauffman unfortunately argue with “Alligator” Cooley regarding some of the stolen property Cooley wanted? Don’t know, just saying… 
The last two paragraphs of the Bee article are ancient history in this case. Everyone knows Robert Woody confessed to the murder of Korey with three different stories in an attempt to cut the best deal for himself by TRYING to implicate others to save his skin. And it doesn’t take a rocket surgeon or a brain scientist to figure out that Woody’s testimony and cross-examination are expected to Be lengthy. So much for the current news from the Bee.

White house invitations on the way……..

5 children detained in plot to “attack” N.J. school, police say


Five elementary school students were detained after allegedly plotting to “cause damage” or “detonate a device” at Clifton High School in New Jersey, authorities said, according to CBS New York.

According to authorities, teachers and administrators found suspicious letters from the students claiming they were going to “attack” the school. The school then notified the Clifton Police Department.

The students were all between the ages of 10 and 11 years old, police say. Authorities say they attend a kindergarten-through-5th grade school.

CBS New York reports that police say they found a “suspicious device” when investigating the threat, but the device was later proven to be non-explosive.

According to police, this does not appear to be a prank.

The five detained children have since been released to their families, according to police. Their names will not be released because of their ages.

According to police, this was an isolated incident and there are no current safety issues at the school.

CBS New York has reached out to the Clifton Public Schools Superintendent.

Clifton Police Department is working with the Passaic Prosecutor’s Office to determine if there will be any charges.

Entire Midlands Police Force Quits All at Once


For 14 years and through two different mayors, Mark Fallaw was the police chief for the town of North. That career came to an end on December 1 when he resigned, stating issues with the new mayor, Patty Carson.

“For her to be directing procedures that were contrary to national standards, that was going to cause a problem,” said Fallaw. “So I just said it was best for me probably to step down.”

Fallaw says Carson issued a gag order on the department saying they were not able to speak to media members and she would handle all requests. Fallaw says the new mayor also requested a two-week notice on any public appearances and also wanted to monitor incoming and outgoing department emails.

Fallaw detailed those concerns in his letter of resignation and when he left, his employees followed.

With no force to patrol the town, the county has had to take over. In a statement, the Orangeburg County Sheriff’s Office says “the agency is answering calls and responding to those calls until further notice.”

News 19 reached out to Mayor Carson on the phone and in person. Carson refused to comment, saying she will not discuss personnel issues in a public forum before hanging up the phone.

When we asked to meet with her at the town hall, Carson told us she couldn’t meet because she wasn’t available and had no comment.

Business owner Russell Jeffcoat says residents are also keeping quiet on the issue, but there is a concern in the town.

“Without a police presence or without the county being present more often, it gives us concerns for our safety and for the business’s safety as well,” said Jeffcoat.

Fallaw says the sheriff’s office does a great job, but there are reasons why those concerns are valid.

“We’ve given them a 60% reduction in violent crime and a 30% in property crimes and I’d love to continue that,” said Fallaw. “I just fear that because of the way this panned out, that they’re going to go in reverse now.”

He also believes Carson will have a tough time replenishing the department because of higher paying jobs in other towns and in the county.

Jeffcoat and others say they hope the transition will go smoothly, and for now the town is waiting to see what’s next for them.

Oscar Pistorius found guilty of murder


South Africa’s “Blade Runner” Oscar Pistorius was found guilty on Thursday of murdering his girlfriend, in an appeal court ruling that could see him sent back to prison for up to 15 years.

The Supreme Court upgraded the 29-year-old Paralympian’s sentence on appeal to murder from “culpable homicide”, for which he had received a five-year sentence.

Pistorius was released on parole on Oct. 19, having spent one day less than a year in prison for shooting dead model Reeva Steenkamp on Valentine’s Day 2013. He was meant to serve the rest of his sentence under house arrest.

The athlete, known for the carbon fibre prosthetic blades he uses when running, will be sentenced for the new murder conviction by a lower court at a date still to be determined.

It is likely his lawyers could argue that his physical disability and mental stress should be considered as mitigating circumstances.

Prosecutors appealed against the original ruling, saying Pistorius should be convicted of murder for firing four shots through a locked toilet door, in a case that attracted worldwide interest and continues to fascinate and divide South Africa.

“This case involves a human tragedy of Shakespearean proportions,” Judge Eric Leach said as he started reading the ruling.

“A young man overcomes huge physical disabilities to reach Olympian heights as an athlete. In doing so he becomes an international celebrity, he meets a young woman of great natural beauty and a successful model, romance blossoms, and then, ironically on Valentine’s Day, all is destroyed when he takes her life.”

Leach added that “as a matter of common sense, at the time the fatal shots were fired the possibility of the death of a person behind the door was clearly an obvious result.”

State prosecutors say Pistorius intended to kill Steenkamp and that she fled to the toilet during a row. Pistorius denies deliberately killing Steenkamp, saying he mistook her for an intruder at his home.

The case has prompted a fierce debate in a country beset by high levels of violent crime. Some rights groups say the white track star got preferential treatment.

At the original trial last year, Judge Thokozile Masipa ruled that the state had failed to prove intent or “dolus eventualis”, a legal concept that centres on a person being held responsible for the foreseeable consequences of their actions.

Dolus eventualis refers to whether a person foresees the possibility that his or her action will cause death but carries on regardless.

Some legal experts were worried that the verdict by Judge Masipa could have set a bad legal precedent in a country with one of the highest crime rates in the world.

“That was an error of judgement by the trial court … He had intention to kill regardless of who was behind the door. That should have been the conviction of the trial court,” Mahlatsi Malaka, a private advocate in Bloemfontein said.

Pistorius, whose lower legs were amputated when he was a baby but who went on to become a global sporting hero, was not at the court session in Bloemfontein, some 400 km (250 miles) southwest of Johannesburg.

Anneliese Burgess, the Pistorius family’s spokeswoman, said the family would wait for lawyers advice on what to do next.

The athlete has been living with his uncle in a wealthy suburb in the capital Pretoria since being freed on parole.

Steenkamp’s mother June, who has said she does not want retribution, attended the court session. She shed tears as she left the court after the new judgement was handed down.

Barry Steenkamp, Reeva’s father, welcomed the new verdict.

“It’s a big relief. I feel it’s a fair decision that the judge gave,” Steenkamp said in a brief interview on local television station ANN7, before breaking down in tears.

Members of the ruling African National Congress party’s Women’s League supported the verdict. They have attended the court sessions in solidarity with Steenkamp’s family and in support of women’s rights.