The author tries to make a case that Pat Dunn was wrongfully convicted of killing his wife Sandy via a "mean justice" that includes lying witnesses, runaway prosecutors and a right-wing public with little patience to get at the truth.
Only there's gaping holes in the author's arguments and I take them on in this book review.
=============
Bachelorette Jillian keeps looking for a "connection" in The Bachelorette series now with 7 contenders left vying for her heart.
The Wise I tells Jillian what she really needs to look for in these contenders and first she needs to find out what the hell a "pizza entrepreneur" is.
With pics and video you'll find nowhere else on the Internet.
===========
Two would-be Food Network Stars have been sent packing and in this update based on the episode aired 6/14/09-we review the remaining contenders, who looks promising, who desperately needs to go and the foods they serve get a close eyeball.
Brussels Sprouts Hash?
All with pics and video you'll find nowhere else on the Internet.
============
Two fine, fine liberal ladies show us their stuff to the innocent who mistakenly call them…LIZ or MA'AM.
Nasty names them.
In this THOUGHTS post we have the whole story of Elizabeth who shall destroy those who call her Liz and Barbara Boxer must NOT be called Ma'am.
Plus a letter that sums up the tea parties and the feelings of us peons across the fruited plains.
Good Guys of the Week, Bad Buys of the Week, Quips of the Week and it all Ends With a Smile.
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The gardens of 2009 grow well here in Serendipity Shore.
A native plant helps to create a living fence and a flower that had always refused to grow adds stunning vertical interest to the gardens.
With pics, of course.
==========
Pic of the Day
Republican in House Challenges Pelosi
We tend to give the pubbies a hard time on this Blog. This is mostly because the pubs have somehow found a haven in the tanning booths of Washington D.C. and have an ingrained desire to be liked by their friends across the aisle. Which leaves America, you understand, without an opposition party.
EVEN PAKISTAN HAS AN OPPOSITION PARTY!
John McCain, the beloved Republican candidate, is nowhere to be seen except to be out and about calling waterboarding torture and lately, to his credit, he’s been pounding Obama about handling that Korean nutcase and his meekness over the Iranian election.
So let’s give Utah representative Rob Bishop a Good Guy of the Week award for introducing a bill that would require an investigation into that lying botaxed sack of zero Nancy Pelosi. Pelosi accused the CIA of lying to congress and hey, these are pretty damn serious charges. As a taxpayer, I get concerned that the Speaker of America’s House of Representative just, boom, willy-nilly announces to the world that this country’s espionage agency takes our taxpayer dollars, spends it doing God knows what, and then LIES TO CONGRESS ABOUT THE RESULTS?
Of course the Democrats defeated Bishop’s proposal :
UPDATE: The House voted on the Bishop resolution, defeating it on a party-line vote. A motion to shelve Bishop’s resolution was passed by a 247-171 vote. Two Republicans sided with the Democrats: Rep. Ron Paul (Texas) and Walter B. Jones (N.C.).
because, well I guess the Democrats think it’s okay for the CIA to lie to congress.
If the Tea Parties Had One Writing…
Her name is Janet Contreras. She wrote a letter to the Glen Beck program and he featured it on his show this past week.
She is a self-professed Democrat. She’s angry at the Democrat party but she doesn’t especially like the Republicans.
This Beck segment’s gotten a lot of play. I read, and heard-video below- her letter and all I could think is that if this year’s infamous tea parties had just one scribbling which pretty much summed it up, this is it.
The letter:
I'm a home grown American citizen, 53, registered Democrat all my life. Before the last presidential election I registered as a Republican because I no longer felt the Democratic Party represents my views or works to pursue issues important to me. Now I no longer feel the Republican Party represents my views or works to pursue issues important to me. The fact is I no longer feel any political party or representative in Washington represents my views or works to pursue the issues important to me. There must be someone. Please tell me who you are. Please stand up and tell me that you are there and that you're willing to fight for our Constitution as it was written. Please stand up now. You might ask yourself what my views and issues are that I would horribly feel so disenfranchised by both major political parties. What kind of nut job am I? Will you please tell me?
Well, these are briefly my views and issues for which I seek representation:
One, illegal immigration. I want you to stop coddling illegal immigrants and secure our borders. Close the underground tunnels. Stop the violence and the trafficking in drugs and people. No amnesty, not again. Been there, done that, no resolution. P.S., I'm not a racist. This isn't to be confused with legal immigration.
Two, the TARP bill, I want it repealed and I want no further funding supplied to it. We told you no, but you did it anyway. I want the remaining unfunded 95% repealed. Freeze, repeal.
Three: Czars, I want the circumvention of our checks and balances stopped immediately. Fire the czars. No more czars. Government officials answer to the process, not to the president. Stop trampling on our Constitution and honor it.
Four, cap and trade. The debate on global warming is not over. There is more to say.
Five, universal healthcare. I will not be rushed into another expensive decision. Don't you dare try to pass this in the middle of the night and then go on break. Slow down!
Six, growing government control. I want states rights and sovereignty fully restored. I want less government in my life, not more. Shrink it down. Mind your own business. You have enough to take care of with your real obligations. Why don't you start there.
Seven, ACORN. I do not want ACORN and its affiliates in charge of our 2010 census. I want them investigated. I also do not want mandatory escrow fees contributed to them every time on every real estate deal that closes. Stop the funding to ACORN and its affiliates pending impartial audits and investigations. I do not trust them with taking the census over with our taxpayer money. I don't trust them with our taxpayer money. Face up to the allegations against them and get it resolved before taxpayers get any more involved with them. If it walks like a duck and talks like a duck, hello. Stop protecting your political buddies. You work for us, the people. Investigate.
Eight, redistribution of wealth. No, no, no. I work for my money. It is mine. I have always worked for people with more money than I have because they gave me jobs. That is the only redistribution of wealth that I will support. I never got a job from a poor person. Why do you want me to hate my employers? Why ‑‑ what do you have against shareholders making a profit?
Nine, charitable contributions. Although I never got a job from a poor person, I have helped many in need. Charity belongs in our local communities, where we know our needs best and can use our local talent and our local resources. Butt out, please. We want to do it ourselves.
Ten, corporate bailouts. Knock it off. Sink or swim like the rest of us. If there are hard times ahead, we'll be better off just getting into it and letting the strong survive. Quick and painful. Have you ever ripped off a Band‑Aid? We will pull together. Great things happen in America under great hardship. Give us the chance to innovate. We cannot disappoint you more than you have disappointed us.
Eleven, transparency and accountability. How about it? No, really, how about it? Let's have it. Let's say we give the buzzwords a rest and have some straight honest talk. Please try ‑‑ please stop manipulating and trying to appease me with clever wording. I am not the idiot you obviously take me for. Stop sneaking around and meeting in back rooms making deals with your friends. It will only be a prelude to your criminal investigation. Stop hiding things from me.
Twelve, unprecedented quick spending. Stop it now.
Take a breath. Listen to the people. Let's just slow down and get some input from some nonpoliticians on the subject. Stop making everything an emergency. Stop speed reading our bills into law. I am not an activist. I am not a community organizer. Nor am I a terrorist, a militant or a violent person. I am a parent and a grandparent. I work. I'm busy. I'm busy. I am busy, and I am tired. I thought we elected competent people to take care of the business of government so that we could work, raise our families, pay our bills, have a little recreation, complain about taxes, endure our hardships, pursue our personal goals, cut our lawn, wash our cars on the weekends and be responsible contributing members of society and teach our children to be the same all while living in the home of the free and land of the brave.
I entrusted you with upholding the Constitution. I believed in the checks and balances to keep from getting far off course. What happened? You are very far off course. Do you really think I find humor in the hiring of a speed reader to unintelligently ramble all through a bill that you signed into law without knowing what it contained? I do not. It is a mockery of the responsibility I have entrusted to you. It is a slap in the face. I am not laughing at your arrogance. Why is it that I feel as if you would not trust me to make a single decision about my own life and how I would live it but you should expect that I should trust you with the debt that you have laid on all of us and our children. We did not want the TARP bill. We said no. We would repeal it if we could. I am sure that we still cannot. There is such urgency and recklessness in all of the recent spending.
From my perspective, it seems that all of you have gone insane. I also know that I am far from alone in these feelings. Do you honestly feel that your current pursuits have merit to patriotic Americans? We want it to stop. We want to put the brakes on everything that is being rushed by us and forced upon us. We want our voice back. You have forced us to put our lives on hold to straighten out the mess that you are making. We will have to give up our vacations, our time spent with our children, any relaxation time we may have had and money we cannot afford to spend on you to bring our concerns to Washington. Our president often knows all the right buzzword is unsustainable. Well, no kidding. How many tens of thousands of dollars did the focus group cost to come up with that word? We don't want your overpriced words. Stop treating us like we're morons.
We want all of you to stop focusing on your reelection and do the job we want done, not the job you want done or the job your party wants done. You work for us and at this rate I guarantee you not for long because we are coming. We will be heard and we will be represented. You think we're so busy with our lives that we will never come for you? We are the formerly silent majority, all of us who quietly work , pay taxes, obey the law, vote, save money, keep our noses to the grindstone and we are now looking up at you. You have awakened us, the patriotic spirit so strong and so powerful that it had been sleeping too long. You have pushed us too far. Our numbers are great. They may surprise you. For every one of us who will be there, there will be hundreds more that could not come. Unlike you, we have their trust. We will represent them honestly, rest assured. They will be at the polls on voting day to usher you out of office. We have cancelled vacations. We will use our last few dollars saved. We will find the representation among us and a grassroots campaign will flourish. We didn't ask for this fight. But the gloves are coming off. We do not come in violence, but we are angry. You will represent us or you will be replaced with someone who will. There are candidates among us when hewill rise like a Phoenix from the ashes that you have made of our constitution.
Democrat, Republican, independent, libertarian. Understand this. We don't care. Political parties are meaningless to us. Patriotic Americans are willing to do right by us and our Constitution and that is all that matters to us now. We are going to fire all of you who abuse power and seek more. It is not your power. It is ours and we want it back. We entrusted you with it and you abused it. You are dishonorable. You are dishonest. As Americans we are ashamed of you. You have brought shame to us. If you are not representing the wants and needs of your constituency loudly and consistently, in spite of the objections of your party, you will be fired. Did you hear? We no longer care about your political parties. You need to be loyal to us, not to them. Because we will get you fired and they will not save you. If you do or can represent me, my issues, my views, please stand up. Make your identity known. You need to make some noise about it. Speak up. I need to know who you are. If you do not speak up, you will be herded out with the rest of the sheep and we will replace the whole damn congress if need be one by one. We are coming. Are we coming for you? Who do you represent? What do you represent? Listen. Because we are coming. We the people are coming.
SIGN THE PETITION TO SEND JANET’S LETTER TO OUR CONGRESS HERE
Bad Guy of the Week Is a Gal
Actually there are TWO gals, both liberals of course, who could win the Bad Guy of the Week award. One is this Elizabeth woman, an assistant of Washington state’s Senator Jim McDermott. McDermott…heh, a liberal Communist who hob-nobbed with Saddam Hussein, fine, fine fellow. Figures his assistant would be a mean, unhappy, angry witch.
Dear Lord may this woman be shamed forever and a day for the nastiness she lives with inside of day by day. In fact I think we should all bow our head in prayer for this human being so troubled that she would send NINETEEN EMAILS to a constituent excoriating the poor man for calling her LIZ! Her name, ahem, is Elizabeth. She doesn’t like to be called Lis.
The man kept responding with sincere, pleading apologies but hey, Liz is one mean one, yes she is.
What’s really cool is how this…scuse but BITCH comes to mind, got her nasty assed self exposed for all the world to see her shame.
From: XXX
Sent: Friday, May 22, 2009 11:38 AM
To: Becton, Elizabeth
Subject: JPMC Meeting Request
Elizabeth,
Attached is a meeting request for JP Morgan Chase who will be in DC June 3rd-4th and would like to request a brief meeting with the Congressman.
Let me know if you need any additional information.
Thank you!
Best,
XXX
________________________________
From: XXX
Sent: Wednesday, May 27, 2009 5:05 PM
To: Becton, Elizabeth
Subject: RE: JPMC Meeting Request
Hi Liz,
just checking in on whether the Congressman is available next week. [REDACTED] can confirm a meeting time for you - she is available at [REDACTED].
Thank you!
Best,
XXX
________________________________
From: Becton, Elizabeth
Sent: Wednesday, May 27, 2009 5:07 PM
To: XXX
Subject: RE: JPMC Meeting Request
Importance: High
Who is Liz?
Elizabeth Becton
Executive Assistant/Office Manager
Office of Congressman Jim McDermott
XXXX Longworth House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
XXX phone
XXX fax
________________________________
From: XXX
Sent: Wednesday, May 27, 2009 5:07 PM
To: Becton, Elizabeth
Subject: RE: JPMC Meeting Request
Hi Elizabeth, I thought you went by Liz - apologies if that is incorrect. Best, XXX
________________________________
From: Becton, Elizabeth
Sent: Wednesday, May 27, 2009 5:08 PM
To: XXX
Subject: RE: JPMC Meeting Request
I do not go by Liz. Where did you get your information?
________________________________
Sent: Wednesday, May 27, 2009 5:10 PM
To: Becton, Elizabeth
Subject: RE: JPMC Meeting Request
Hi Elizabeth, I'm so sorry if I offended you! I thought you had gone by Liz at Potlatch, this was my mistake. Best, XXX
________________________________
From: Becton, Elizabeth
Sent: Wednesday, May 27, 2009 5:11 PM
To: XXX
Subject: RE: JPMC Meeting Request
NEVER. I hate that name.
________________________________
From: XXX
Sent: Wednesday, May 27, 2009 5:13 PM
To: Becton, Elizabeth
Subject: RE: JPMC Meeting Request
Hi Elizabeth, I'm so sorry if I offended you! I must have mis-heard. My mistake! Best, XX
________________________________
From: Becton, Elizabeth
Sent: Wednesday, May 27, 2009 5:20 PM
To: XXX
Subject: RE: JPMC Meeting Request
Importance: High
XXX:
If I wanted you to call me by any other name, I would have offered that to you. I think it's rude when people don't even ask permission and take all sorts of liberties with your name. This is a real sore spot with me. My name has a lot of "nicknames" which I don't use. I use either my first name or my last name because I row with a lot of other women who share the same first name. Now, please do not ever call me by a nickname again.
As for your meeting request, who is the point of contact for this meeting? If it's not you, then I need to know who because it's very time-consuming to deal with a lot of people for one meeting.
Thanks,
________________________________
From: XXX
Sent: Wednesday, May 27, 2009 5:23 PM
To: Becton, Elizabeth
Subject: RE: JPMC Meeting Request
Hi Elizabeth, I'm so sorry I offended you! My mistake!
XXX can confirm a meeting time for you - she is available at XXX XXXX.
Thank you!
Best, XXX
________________________________
[UNRELATED EMAILS REDACTED]
From: XXX
Sent: Wednesday, May 27, 2009 5:33 PM
To: Becton, Elizabeth
Subject: RE: JPMC Meeting Request
Of course! Again, I am sincerely sorry for offending you. I must have mis-heard and it was in no way my intention to make you upset. I always enjoy working with you and seeing you at the WSS events J
Best,
XXX
________________________________
From: Becton, Elizabeth
Sent: Wednesday, May 27, 2009 5:37 PM
To: XXX
Subject: RE: JPMC Meeting Request
Sounds like you got played by someone who KNOWS I hate that name and that it's a fast way to TICK me off. Who told you that I go by that name? They are not your friend...
________________________________
From: XXX
Sent: Wednesday, May 27, 2009 5:38 PM
To: Becton, Elizabeth
Subject: RE: JPMC Meeting Request
Hi Elizabeth,
Again, I am sincerely sorry for offending you. I don't want to cause trouble as I clearly must have mis-heard the person at Potlatch. It was in no way my intention to make you upset.
Best,
XXX
________________________________
From: Becton, Elizabeth
Sent: Wednesday, May 27, 2009 5:41 PM
To: XXX
Subject: RE: JPMC Meeting Request
Importance: High
I REALLY want to know who told you to call me that.
________________________________
From:XXX
Sent: Wednesday, May 27, 2009 5:44 PM
To: Becton, Elizabeth
Subject: RE: JPMC Meeting Request
Hi Elizabeth,
Again, I am sincerely sorry for offending you. I don't recall who I overheard. It was in no way my intention to make you upset.
Best,
XXX
________________________________
From: Becton, Elizabeth
Sent: Wednesday, May 27, 2009 6:04 PM
To: XXX
Subject: RE: JPMC Meeting Request
Let me put it this way, they don't know me and perhaps they were PRETENDING to know me better than they do and pretended that I go by Liz. They did YOU a disservice.
In the future, you should be VERY careful about such things. People like to brag about their connections in DC. It's a past time for some. It's also dangerous to eaves drop, as you have just found out.
Quit apologizing and never call me anything but Elizabeth again. Also, make sure you correct anyone who attempts to call me by any other name but Elizabeth. Are we clear on this? Like I said, it's a hot button for me.
And please don't call the office and not leave a message. My colleague told me you called while I was away at the Ladies' room. I do sometimes leave my desk.
AND IT GETS WORSE! Below, Bloggers, not the Lamestream Media never, never…found more nastiness eminating from this poor soul’s every pore.
MORE MEANNESS FROM LIZ
I say the whole world should call her Liz for the rest of her pathetic damn life.
Quip of the Week
Another BITCH but we decided to award the very nice, kind, kind Barbara Boxer of California, with this week’s Quip of the Week.
For it was poor, poor General Walsh, a military man with a long record of working his way through the ranks, having served in Iraq to his current command of a division of the Army Corps of Engineers, who called Barbara Boxer…hold your breath…
MA’AM!
The man must be crucified immediately.
The fine, fine Ms. Boxer, now too exposed for all the world to see what a nasty witch she is, snippily ordered General Walsh to call her SENATOR.
It’s military protocol to refer to all males as “sir” and concurrently, females as “ma’am”. The man was being very polite, testifying before the bitchy witch Boxer.
Watch for yourself:
Hey Barbara Babe, we got your number out here in la-la land. That widely played clip makes you look like the sack of shit that you are.
We got eyeballs and we got ears. Your true self came shining through.
Proving that liberals are the meanest most unhappy people on this whole damn planet.
For Those of You Who Think That the UN Might Help With the North Korea Problem…
Heh.
=====================
Gardens Bloom Fine Despite Neglect
I didn’t expect much from my gardens this year in that 2008 was a horrific year here in Serendipity Shore. Husband came down with a terrifying brain infection and I had a quadruple coronary bypass. It wasn’t that working the gardens was forbidden to me as it was, indeed, encouraged for the exercise.
But husband needed intravenous IV’s some six times a day and was so sick that I had to carry the full domestic load. It was enough that I was able to get Fall’s leafage gathered to the compost pile in early spring 2009.
I had transplanted some bushes that were growing lackluster in various places on the lot. A native plant, a Swamp Rose, was moved from the center lawn garden to a spot alongside the driveway where I am creating my “living fence”. I have mixed emotions about this plant. First, it was sold at a plant sale featuring plants indigenous to Delaware and these plants always do better as one might expect. Problem is, the things grow a bit too well. In the first year of its planting the thing was sprouting everywhere as it turns out that it throws out underground tendrils and takes over the world. This would not do in a contained garden environment. So I spiked out all the annoying tendrils and put it in a spot where it can grow bejeesus to create a living, green wall alongside my driveway. Way I figure, it can give the huge hedge rose some competition.
My container garden looks great at street’s edge. The clemantis have grown better than I dared to hope. I’ve tried for years to grow these things and never could do it. I understand that they like their roots shaded and my logic was that the handsome obelisk lawn decoration I have would help to shade the roots of the vine.
In fact it is the leaves and blooms of the clemantis itself that provides shade for its own roots. The obelisk gives it a place to grow vertical and from now on this gardener will tout a vertical gardening feature as a must-have in all happening gardens of our era.
”Mean Justice” by Edward Humes-an A+ True Crime Read
Amazon URL for this book.
Before writing a word re my opinions, thoughts and fine analysis on this book, let me say that Humes, a Pulitzer Prize winner according to the book jacket, is an excellent writer and that this book kept me involved and intrigued from page to page-turning page.
Humes managed to coordinate all the parts and pieces of this somewhat complicated story of a man, Pat Dunn, who was charged and convicted of killing his wife, Sandy Dunn.
But did Humes convince this reader of Pat Dunn’s guilt?
Not really.
In the interest of fair and balanced, I consider myself a True Crime buff but hardly any expert. I have, however, read many true crime books, watched every Dateline and 48 Hours crime documentary and monitor ongoing crimes and investigations as they occur. I even have a Blog devoted to True Crime.
None of this, of course, makes me an expert. I have no law enforcement experience whatsoever. Still I’d argue that one with such a strong interest in a subject tends to get knowledgeable over time.
I also have a tendency to disbelieve assertions of prosecutor misconduct although I have as open a mind as anybody. But common sense creeps into my attitude as I can’t help but think that a prosecutor would just as soon prosecute the REAL criminal as the wrong one. Sure I understand that some suspects are easier than to convict than others but, silly me, I still harbor the notion that prosecutors generally want to see that justice is done and locking up the right guy isn’t much harder than locking up the wrong guy.
In fact, refer to my book review on another book that was based on
a story of runaway prosecution which, interestingly, is also covered in this book. I didn’t believe a word of this Hollingsworth book and Humes presents a similar public hysteria as part of the prosecutorial background which caused Pat Dunn to be wrongfully convicted.
Finally, hey, Pat Dunn was convicted by a jury of his peers. 12 people believed that Pat Dunn killed his wife and, in fact, the author’s main source of data for the book, Laura Lawhon, the defense team’s private investigator, spoke to some of the jurors to gain insight to what she considered their faulty logic. The jury system did its job in this case and if they got the verdict wrong, well it’s how the jury system works. Which is not to suggest that putting a fellow away for the remainder of his life is a thing of fluff but for all the arguments presented by Humes in this book re Pat Dunn’s innocence and prosecutorial misconduct, be reminded that 12 other people bought the argument of the prosecutor and Pat Dunn DID have a defense.
In fact, if the reader is to believe the facts as so artfully organized and presented by Humes, the truth of the matter is that Pat Dunn had a lousy defense team. Or else, I whisper softly, author Humes leaves out major gaps in the story.
It was a penciled in comment by another reader who’d evidently checked out the library book before me that made the lightbulb go on over my head. Until then I’d been reading along, enjoying the fine, no-nonsense writing, almost believing the narrative when I chanced upon a courtroom scene that was supposed to rouse my ire at the unfairness of it all.
Montes was Sandy Dunn’s housekeeper. I quote the text from the book exactly regarding Montes’ testimony: "Montes made this point from the witness stand in a very low voice, so low that the defense team didn't catch what she said"
Montes had been testifying that Sandy went on her early morning walks always wearing her expensive jewelry. Handwritten by a former reader was a note “It is defense job to get this! Ask clerk to repeat the witness statement.”
I was stopped cold in my tracks. The author almost convinced me that the poor hapless defense team, AND the jury, were cheated from the truth yet again; that Sandy Dunn NEVER wore her jewelry on her early morning walks but Montes gave her testimony so low that no one heard what she said. It was important whether or not Sandy Dunn wore her jewelry on her pre-dawn walks as Sandy Dunn’s jewelry was found at home AFTER her murder. But if she always wore her prized jewelry on her morning walk, why was it left at home on the morning she was murdered? Did Pat Dunn remove the valuable trinkets before he put her body in that shallow grave rather than lose the value?
In fact Sandy Dunn did NOT wear her valuable jewelry on her pre-dawn walks, at least as the author’s narrative convinced me. Still, if the housekeeper’s testimony was too low, like the scribbler noted, why the hell didn’t the defense have her repeat her answer? Am I to believe that Pat Dunn’s erroneous conviction was arrived at because witnesses were allowed to testify too low without the defense able to hear the words?
The author spent an inordinate, almost mind-numbing, amount of time on the testimony of one Jerry Coble. Jerry Coble testified that he saw Pat Dunn loading up his wife’s body in the back of his pickup truck on the night she was allegedly murdered.
Jerry Coble was a small time hood in Kern county California. He was looking to help out a prosecutor with damning testimony to avoid another trip back to the slammer where obtaining his cherished heroin fix would be very difficult. The author convinced me almost from the start that Coble was a lying conniver and yes, how prosecutor Jagels believed this guy surely cast aspersions as to where his head was leaning.
In fact, the author lays out a time and era during prosecutor Jagels’ time in power and he is painted as a man proud of his conviction record and who might do anything to keep it. Which is, of course, often the case when criminals and their champions argue as to their innocence. The prosecutor wanted his record to remain stellar, the criminals argue, so he took the easy course, which was to lock up poor innocent me.
Goodness Jerry Coble’s own brother testified that he was lying about what he saw that night, that he’d even told him that he was going to arrange a lie with a prosecutor that would keep him out of jail. AND Coble was caught casing Pat Dunn’s house by a friend of Pat, with Pat’s friend even getting the license plate number of Coble’s mother’s Mustang. Coble was probably trying to get the details on Pat Dunn’s truck for the false testimony he was preparing to give to prosecutor Jagels.
The big problem here is that several members of the jury said they didn’t believe a word of Coble’s testimony. So the author convinced this reader that Jerry Coble was a liar but so what? That jury found Pat Dunn guilty of murdering his wife and would have done so without the testimony of Jerry Coble. Still and so, I accept the argument that prosecutor Jagel’s quickness to believe this lying con man indicates something shady about the prosecutor if nothing else.
The author tells the story of the hysterical witch hunts on child abusers going on across the country at that time, and pointed out that Kern county California was one major suburban area consumed with day care child abuse. The author makes good arguments that the many indictments of innocent people might have created an atmosphere of over-confidence for prosecutors, perhaps a notion that investigations need not be bulky when a quick indictment of the mostly likely perp will do. As I linked earlier, I too thought that the day care child abuse hysteria of that era was bogus and, indeed, has been found so in the rearview mirror of future calm.
There were, however, some very questionable things about the death of Sandy Dunn that I would think worth another look. However, all requests for another trial, and there were many, were turned down.
There was NO physical evidence in the Dunn house that anybody had been brutally murdered. There was a very unusual, almost ceremonial, wound to the anus of Sandy Dunn, a wound not likely to be inflicted by a husband who killed her in an anger flash. Sandy Dunn had signed her will indicating her wish to leave all her worldly goods to her husband, thereby removing any obvious motive.
In summary, I admire Humes for such an organized, well-written book. I think he made a damn good argument for the innocence of Pat Dunn in the murder of his wife. I suspect this author might have, as authors do, tried to hoodwink me or gloss over things a bit too quick.
For now, I think prosecutor Jagel is an asshole, I’m pretty sure that Jerry Koble is a lying con artist, and I do believe that Pat Dunn had one lousy defense team.
None of these things make Pat Dunn an innocently jailed man.
=============
The Next Food Network Star-Lobster, Shells, Brussel Sprouts Hash
Food Network Star Web Site HERE
The Next Food Network Star, which aired on 6/14/09, had nine remaining contenders beginning with a mini-challenge that consisted of coming up with a recipe within a 45 minute time span. The foods for the recipe were provided and they were all rather odd combinations. Some exmples include lamb chops and cereal, ground beef with pickles, cherries and chicken. The mini-challenge was sponsored by Esquire magazine and the winner would have their impromptu creative recipe printed in that famous monthly magazine for urbane gentlemen.
Contender Eddie came up with a concotion that included “Brussels sprouts hash” and myself, as well as the Food Network Judges, were intrigued. Eddie won this mini-challenge.
There were some strange, very odd presentations as well. Melissa, this year’s home cook with little restaurant experience, made a chicken dish and improbably just placed her cherry on the top of the dish. I’ve seen sweet and sour chicken dishes that had a sauce including cherries and green peppers, that kind of thing. Melissa’s lack of worldly culinary experience was demonstrated amply with this mini-challenge.
Each contender was given one minute to present their concoction. The contenders were also judged closely on their presentations for the elimination challenge. It’s obvious that there’s now an emphasis on the camera presence of these contenders as this skill is as important to a Food Network Star as is their cooking skills.
The guest chef this week was Giada DiLaurentis and please, folks, is this woman beautiful or what? And you ever notice how she always cooks in low cut tops? I would never cook in a low cut top as a)I don’t have an especially pretty bosom to display, b)even if I did I wouldn’t display it in my small, dark kitchen and c)hot liquid might splash on the most awkward of spots.
The elimination challenge involved having Eddie pull holiday names from a paper bag. Eddie was allowed to assign the holidays to his fellow contenders. Southern/Korean cook Debbie Lee got Mardi Gras, Brett got April Fools Day, Jamika-New Year’s Day. Each contender was to prepare a meal based on their assigned holiday as well as decorate the table appropriately and present their offerings to the assembled judges.
Jamika won the challenge handily. She prepared a plate of collard greens which she declared brings good luck when eaten on New Year’s Day. Alongside, some fine cornbread. Jamika was also comfortable, likable and believable with her presentation.
Brett offered lobster tails which Bobby Flay declared full of shell. Bad, bad. A cook should never be offering food filled with shells or other items that should be removed before presentation to the diner.
At the judging there was a bit of a dustup involving contender Melissa and a couple of the guys. While Melissa, the home cook with little restaurant experience, was finishing up her meal, a couple of the guys, including the eliminated Brett, offered to help her finish up. They did NOT make any of her meal and their hints that they cooked some of her meal were unfair. I wonder if Brett’s deceiving participation in this ruse didn’t help him get the boot.
Katie is a contender who’s due to go home soon. First, seriously folks, few people watch a cooking show to see the preparation of “healthy” meals. Oh there’s a few but do a perusal of cooking shows, either on Food Network or public tv. You’ll see few shows focusing solely on “healthy” meals. Plus Katie is almost a Gestapo agent about her demand that we all consume healthy meals.
Every year Food Network offers a contender with a concentration on healthy food. And every year that contender is sent home soon. Perhaps someday a contender will appear on the scene with a new idea, a neat and offbeat personality, something that might be able to carry an entire show based on healthy meals.
Believe me, Katie the health food contender, is not this person.
Below, a video remix of a few of the winners from the Next Food Network Star aired on 6/14/09/
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