Twins are Half Brothers

In order to understand the title, here's a new term for you....heteropaternal superfecundation. What it means is that, Mia Washington, the mother of 11-month-old twin boys, was having an affair. The twins have different fathers.

After noticing physical facial differences between the two boys, Justin and Jordan; Mia Washington and her boyfriend, James Harrison, decided to take a paternity test. They went to Dallas DNA Lab Clear Diagnostics.

According to the paternity test, there’s a 99.999 percent chance Justin and Jordan do not have the same father, and zero percent chance they do. The lab has never seen this type of result, nor do they expect to see it again.

“It is very crazy. Most people don’t believe it can happen, but it can,” said Clear Diagnostics President Genny Thibodeaux.

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When twins have two fathers, doctors call it heteropaternal superfecundation. It’s so rare; there are only a handful of documented cases in the world. Washington admits she had an affair that resulted in two babies, born at the same time, fathered by two different men.

“Out of all people in America and of all people in the world, it had to happen to me. I’m very shocked,” Washington said.

The medical marvel can happen when a woman releases multiple eggs during ovulation. If she has more than one sexual partner within the same time period, sperm cells can fertilize two separate eggs.

"Sperm can survive up to five days inside a woman's body, so a woman could sleep with different men several days apart, and get pregnant not once, but twice."

In the case of the Texas twins, there was never any health threat to the babies during the pregnancy because they were fathered by different men.

“It’s not a baby issue since they had different placentas,” Dr. Finkelstein, a Manhattan obstetrician, explains. “The two babies are totally separate entities. Babies can have different blood types even if they have the same father.”

Washington wants people to know she takes full responsibility for her actions.

“I’m trying to let everybody else know: Don’t put yourself in my shoes, because it can hurt and it does hurt, but you still have to go on with life,” she said.

James Harrison said he’s forgiven his fiancé's infidelity and has vowed to stay with her and raise both boys as his own. However for the record Jordan is James' son. Justin's father is someone else.

“It’s a day by day thing. It’s going to take time to build that trust like we had,” James Harrison said.

Washington and Harrison also have more news:

“Five months ago we found out that I was pregnant again and our new baby is due to arrive in the autumn,” she told the Daily Mail. “Right now I’m fully committed to taking care of my family and making sure their needs are met. I can guarantee there’ll be no questions raised this time around.”

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Officer Wayne Simoes on Trial

It was on March 3, 2007 that Yonkers police officer Wayne Simoes,39, picked up a drunk, unarmed Irma Marquez, 44, and body-slammed her head-first into a ceramic tile floor so hard that she had to be hospitalized, receiving:

A head injury with related loss of consciousness, memory loss, a fractured jaw, two black eyes, facial contusions, severe swelling and bruising, hemorrhaging in both eyes, laceration to the nose, chin and mouth, neck and back pain, bruising and/or lacerations about the back, arms, hands, right knee, right leg, right hip, right breast and various other harms.

After the body-slam, officer Wayne Simoes then handcuffed and charged the unconscious and seriously injured woman with Obstruction of Governmental Administration and Disorderly Conduct. On May 9, 2008 a jury acquitted Ms. Marquez of all charges. Irma Marquez has filed an $11.3 million lawsuit.

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In addition to the lawsuit, Wayne Simoes was arrested and indicted on federal civil rights charges that allege he assaulted Irma Marquez and violated her right against unreasonable force from a police officer. If convicted he faces up to 10 years in jail. That trial has just started (5/18/09).

In the White Plains courtroom on the first day of Wayne Simoes' trial were his wife and parents. Also in attendance were several off-duty Yonkers police officers.

The first witness to testify was fellow police officer, John Liberatore, who was on the scene at the time of the incident. Irma Marquez' niece was being attended to by medics. He (John Liberatore) testified that Marquez was drunk and concerned for her niece's safety but had not threatened anyone and had not been warned she would be arrested.

He said he saw Simoes reach around Marquez's waist from behind, lift her off the floor and throw her down, without losing his balance, slipping or falling. Liberatore said he turned to his partner and, using an expletive, asked "What the ... just happened here?"

His partner "just shrugged," Liberatore testified.

Prosecutor Benjamin Torrance told jurors that Simoes "deliberately, intentionally and powerfully threw Ms. Marquez into that floor." He said that Marquez had done nothing to incur such force and that none of the other officers at the scene considered her a threat, allowing her to walk around freely as they investigated the brawl.

When she hit the floor, "the sound resounded throughout the room" and a pool of blood formed around her head, the prosecutor said.

Defense attorney Andrew Quinn offered the jury a different version of what happened. He told jurors that the video did not tell the whole story. He said the recording was a time-lapse video, with moments missing, and is not meant to be used to judge speed or force. He said it would show a different story when viewed frame by frame.  "We're going to break this down for you," Quinn said.

Quinn did, however, acknowledge that Marquez had been injured, but said she was "stumbling drunk" and getting in the way of officers trying to aid her niece. He said Simoes approached her and tried to handcuff her, but she pulled away. After she bumped into another officer, he said, she and Simoes went to the floor, with Simoes holding her and trying to avoid both a pool table and the injured niece on the floor.

"His intent was to control the situation," Quinn said.

In a surprise move before the start of the trial, Assistant U.S. Attorney Anna Skotko said the prosecution won't call Irma Marquez. She did not say why federal prosecutors would not be calling Marquez to testify. Simoes' defense team expressed surprise at the decision:

"I'm at a loss to understand it," lawyer John Patten said during a break. "It's obviously a tactic by the government. My guess is they don't want her to be questioned about her belligerence and lack of sobriety that night."

The trial continues........

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Man Hires Prostitute for His Son

A 42-year-old man, a native of Poland, living in Britain, decided it was time for his 14-year-old virgin son to have sex. So he took him out to look for a prostitute. He was arrested during an undercover operation by the city's vice squad. His case was heard before Nottingham Crown Court Judge Jonathan Teare.

In court the man admitted trying to solicit a woman to have sex with a child.

According to Prosecutor Adrian Harris, the man drove his son around the red light district of Nottingham looking for a suitable candidate. They eventually found someone:

"The boy said that they had driven past the girl and his dad pointed to her and said 'will she do?"' Harris said. "He said 'yes' and they had turned round.

Little did they know at the time that they had picked out an undercover police officer named "Sarah". The man pulled up to "Sarah" and asked her how much it would cost for her to have sex with his son. They settled on a price of $30. That was when plainclothes police officers moved in and arrested him.

In court Judge Jonathan Teare was told the unidentified man who lives in Bulwell, Nottingham, had come to Britain 8 years ago with his son after his wife had died. He re-married but his second wife suffers from schizophrenia. The son told the court that his Dad was trying to "take care of  him" because he was still a virgin.

Judge Jonathan Teare said he would spare the father jail because of his excellent character and that he believed he did not mean any harm to his son.

"What you were doing that night was to expose your 14-year-old son to a prostitute because you didn't know she was a police officer.

"You have a duty of care to your son and that is to look after his moral welfare not, as you might think, to break him into the ways of sex through a prostitute."

The man's lawyer, Matthew Smith, said:

"There is a thorough sense of shame the defendant feels. "It's completely at odds with every other part of his character."

The judge gave the man a 10-month prison sentence, suspended for a year and placed him on the  sex offenders register for five years.

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The Tornado Run

Ever wonder what it feels like to be in the center of a tornado? The amateur video below gives you a front row seat.This was taken in Novinger Missouri around 5:50pm 13 MAY 2009. Frankly, I can't swear for the sanity of this guy but he got some great footage.

PS: DO NOT TRY THIS......EVER!!

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No Criminal Charges in Brett Elder Death

Bay County Prosecutor Kurt C. Asbury declined to charge any of the three police officers involved in the TASER-related death of 15-year-old Brett Elder on March 22, 2009.

It was Cpl. James Lyman who fired the Taser that struck Brett Elder, contributing to what the Oakland County Assistant Medical Examiner, Kanu Virani, called the accidental death of the teenager. The other contributing factor was alcohol-induced excited delirium syndrome. The teen had a blood alcohol level of .17.

Asbury, in a written statement said he won't file criminal charges against any officers "as the evidence does not prove that the officers committed any criminal act that caused or contributed to the death of Brett Elder."

Prosecutor Asbury said, "The unfortunate reality of the situation was that the underaged Brett Elder was very intoxicated drinkng the early morning hours of March 22, 2009, and wihtout any meaningful adult supervision or guidance, placed himself in a situation which resulted in his death.

He was highly agitated and combative, tried to start fights with numerous people, as well as the police officers called to the resience to deal with his 'uncontrollable behavior,' all which contributed to his untimely death."

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Several witnesses from inside the apartment said a police officer used a Taser on Brett Elder after police handcuffed him. Police deny that and Asbury's summary indicates that wasn't the case.

Asbury says police followed proper procedures and were justified in the Taser shooting of Elder.

A female had been attacked. "She reported that Mr. Elder put her in a head lock and started punching her in the face," Asbury said.

There were eight people in the home, and others tried to subdue Elder. "So there were multiple altercations with this young man inside the house," Asbury said. The three police officers arrived at the home about 3:45 am and for eight minutes they also tried to subdue Elder.

"They decided they needed to take him into custody," Asbury said. "He broke away from the officer's grasp and that's when he put up his fists and put up a fighting stance."

Brandon LaBerge, a friend of Elder's says he was "pretty angry" about the fact that no criminal charges would be filed. He says he was like a brother to Elder in what he calls a makeshift family of friends and relatives who are still demanding justice.

"Someone needs to pay for it," he said. "Our family is still sitting here scratching our heads, saying, 'What's going on?'"

In fact the Elder family had already hired a law firm which is expected to file a civil lawsuit in this case, now that the criminal aspect of the investigation is over. The team of attorneys - including Southfield lawyer Geoffrey Fieger and Flint attorney David Nickola - will be representing the estate of Brett Elder.

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