RIP Levi King Flores

Levi King Flores was only 17 years old. He had not yet graduated from High School. He could not yet vote. He couldn't buy beer. He couldn't even buy a pack cigarettes....and he will never be able to do any of those things because he was stabbed to death on the streets of Newburgh, NY on Jan. 13, 2010. He leaves behind loving parents, siblings, a girlfriend, a daughter and many friends. Levi was a victim of gang violence.

A 13-year-old boy, who goes by the street name of "Pinky", was charged with second-degree murder in the death of Levi Flores. He was arraigned in Newburgh City Court before Judge Harold Ramsey and was placed into the custody of the Orange County Sheriff's Office. Police did not release real name.

View Larger Map

According to reports, a fight broke out at the corner of First St. and Carpenter Ave. in which Levi was stabbed along with a 12-year-old boy. They were both taken to St. Luke's Cornwall Hospital Newburgh Campus. While there, two other teens showed up, also with stabbed wounds - a 14-year-old boy and a 15-year-old girl. All of them were interviewed by the police. During the course of their investigation, the police learned the identity of the accused 13-year-old.

Levi and two of the other stabbing victims were taken by helicopter to Westchester Medical Center. While en route Levi died. The others are expected to survive.

"It's unbelievable, it's unbelievable that the violence has resulted in this kind of action. What used to be a personal insult or an assault in the school yard that might have resulted in a fist fight is now culminating outside on the city streets...its unbelievable," said Eric Paolilli the chief of police.

The next day at NFA, the high school, there was a lot of tension. A number of fights broke out. The police were called in. By noon they had arrested 4 students. Many parents showed up at the school to get their kids early. Some of the students were angry but many were grieving. The disturbance prompted school officials to cancel all after school activities and close the school system for the following day, Friday. On Monday the schools will remain closed in observance of Martin Luther King's birthday.

Follow me on Twitter

Torture Prince Acquitted

Sheikh Issa bin Zayed al Nahyan, 40, is a member of the royal family in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). He is the brother of Abu Dhabi's Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed. He was caught on tape torturing a man, an Afghan grain trader named Mohammed Shapoor, in 2004, in the most inhumane fashion. The graphic video below, broadcast by ABC News in April 2009, shows him:

• Stuffing the man's face with sand
• Firing a machine gun close to his body
• Hitting him with a whip and an electric cattle prod
• Cutting his bare buttocks by striking him with a nail embedded in a stick
• Pouring salt into the man's wounds and
• Driving over him again and again with his vehicle.

Not only was Sheikh Issa aware of being videotaped, he was the one that ordered the tape be made so that he could view it later at his leisure. At times he actually directs the cameraman to focus in on some of his particularly sadistic acts. The tape was sneaked out of the country by an ex-business partner, Bassam Nabulsi, who was also jailed and tortured in prison before being released. It was Bassam's brother, Ghassan Nabulsi, who was the cameraman.

Please note this video is explicitly brutal

After the tape was widely shown by the media Sheikh Issa was arrested and ordered to stand trial. He was charged at an opening hearing last October (2009) with endangering life, causing bodily harm and  rape.

In his defense the sheikh claimed that he "was under the influence of drugs [medicine] that left him unaware of his actions."

On Jan. 10 2010 Judge Mubarak al-Awad cleared the UAE President’s brother of all charges in a UAE court despite video footage of the incident, saying he was not responsible for his actions.

Sheikh Issa, who had been in custody for eight months, attended the hearing. He wore a traditional white robe and head scarf and was not handcuffed or restrained. On hearing the verdict, he hugged his defense lawyer, Habib al-Mullah, and left the courtroom without speaking to reporters.

However five co-defendants, the two Nabulsi brothers and three farm workers were all found guilty. Ghassan and Bassam Nabulsi, were sentenced to five years in jail each, in absentia, for administering drugs to Sheikh Issa, endangering the life of Mohammed Shapoor and filming without his permission. The farm workers were sentenced to between one and three years in jail, also in absentia, for drugging the sheikh.

Habib al-Mullah, Sheikh Issa's lawyer, told the court, in the oasis city of Al Ain, that one of the sheikh’s co-defendants was responsible for Sheikh Issa’s medications and had drugged him, then videotaped the incident and tried to blackmail him.  He also told the court that the sheikh had been drugged against his will during the incident and had no recollection of what had happened.

“We submitted medical reports showing that the drugs that the two co-defendants administered to him left him unaware of his actions,” the lawyer said.

The defense did not just center on the medication, he said, but claimed that the videotape and other incidents from that night were all part of a conspiracy aimed at blackmailing the sheikh.

"No one can prove that this videotape has not been tampered with," al-Mullah said. The only person who can confirm the incidents happened as seen on the tape is the victim, and he has not confirmed that, he added. "We deny the incident as it was shown on that videotape."

Habib al-Mullah was taken to task in the following CNN interview.

Judge Mubarak al-Awad, presiding over a three-judge panel, further ordered the two brothers to pay an interim compensation of about $2,500 to the victim, who can file a new lawsuit to claim full compensation.

The verdict, however, is not final as it will have to be reviewed by a higher court if the public prosecution decides to challenge the ruling.

 

Follow me on Twitter

Sheriff Charged in Murder-For-Hire Scheme

Sheriff Raymond Monroe Martin was the top police officer in Gallatin County, Illinois for 20 years, having been elected 4 times to that post. However it's a safe bet that there will be no 5th term in that office. On 5/17/09 an arrest warrant was signed, charging Raymond Martin with 5 counts related to the sale and distribution of marijuana. See the criminal complaint here

Sheriff Martin had an accomplice who would sell the marijuana that he provided. He would provide him with as much as 20 pounds of pot every two weeks. They would then split the profits from the sale. When the accomplice told Martin that he wanted out of the business, Martin threatened the man, telling him that he could set him up on any charge he liked. The accomplice got scared and went to the authorities.

Over a period of several weeks the accomplice allowed the feds to record his conversations and activities with Sheriff Martin, eventually leading to Martin's arrest. At the time of his arrest the authorities found $100,000 in cash in a safe in his $300,000 home that he shared with his wife and five children. The house was mortgage-free even though the reported family income was less than $80,000.

But the story doesn't end there.

When Martin's 36-year-old wife Kristina Renee Martin and 20-year-old son Cody Ray Martin came to visit him at the jail on Saturday, 1/02/10, they were both promptly arrested. All three were charged on state murder-for-hire charges. Authorities claim that, while in jail, Sheriff Martin plotted with his wife and son to have witnesses against him in his upcoming trial killed. See the criminal complaint here. All three are in jail on $1 million bail.

 Although in jail Sheriff Martin is still collecting his $40,400 a year salary and is still technically sheriff of Gallatin County. One of his deputies has been named interim sheriff and his seat is up for election this year. Gallatin County's governing board sent the jailed sheriff a letter, urging him to resign.

"Personally, I think he is just an absolute embarrassment to the county," County Board Chairman Randy Drone said.

"Is it greed? Ignorance? I don't know," Drone said Tuesday before Sheriff Raymond Martin's first court appearance with his wife and 20-year-old son, who also are charged in the murder-for-hire scheme. "Arrogance — maybe that's it. Thinking he's so above the law he could actually get away with this.

"But getting re-arrested while still in jail? That's something."

Follow me on Twitter

Man Bargains with Police for Pot

Steven Alan Locasio, 48, of Coco Plum Rd, Marathon, Fl. was in the marijuana growing business. He had six plants growing in a wooded lot in Marathon. As luck would have it, the plants were discovered by Monroe County detectives who decided to see if they could catch the owner.

The detectives uprooted the plants but left a note behind with a phone number and the following message: “Thanks for the grow! You want them back? Call for the price.”

Steven Locasio took the bait. Within 10 minutes of leaving the note the detectives received a call. Steven offered them $200 for the plants and agreed to meet up with them to make the exchange.

View Larger Map

After meeting with the detectives things went from bad to worse for Steven. He was arrested and when the detectives searched his apartment, they really hit the jackpot. They found 20 more pot plants, four pounds of harvested weed, Oxycontin and $1,380 in cash.

Steven Locasio was charged with 4 felonies and a misdemeanor.

1 Felony Count(s) of 893.13.1a2, MARIJUANA-PRODUCING – SCHEDULE I,
1 Felony Count(s) of 893.13.2a2, MARIJUANA – PURCHASE SCHEDULE I,
1 Felony Count(s) of 893.13.6a, MARIJUANA-POSSESS – POSSESS MARIJUANA OVER 20 GRAMS,
1 Felony Count(s) of 893.13.6a, DRUGS-POSSESS – CNTRL SUB WO PRESCRIPTION,
1 Misdemeanor Count(s) of 893.147.1, DRUG EQUIP-POSSESS – AND OR USE

 

Follow me on Twitter

Burj Khalifa - The Tallest Building in the World

It's official, Dubai is now home to the tallest building in the world. On January 4, 2010, with much pomp and ceremony Burj Khalifa (formerly Burj Dubai) was opened with an extravagant multimedia and fireworks display.

According to Wikipedia, the structure - which was started on Sept. 21,  2004 and completed Jan. 4, 2010 and stands more than a 1/2 mile high - holds a total of 15 world records including:

• Tallest structure ever built: 828 m (2,717 ft)
• Building with most floors: 160
• World's fastest elevators at speed of 64 km/h (40 mph)
• World's highest mosque (located on the 158th floor)
• First world's tallest structure in history to include residential space

Burj Khalifa, the centerpiece of the $20 billion Downtown Dubai project includes 37 office floors, 1,044 apartments and 160 hotel rooms designed by Giorgio Armani. Emaar, the developer, said it expects 12,000 people to live or work in the tower and connected office buildings. 90% of the building space had already been sold before completion.

View Larger Map

The Burj Khalifa opens in the midst of a severe financial crisis in the city-state of Dubai — one of seven small sheikdoms that make up the United Arab Emirates. It was renamed - from Burj Dubai - in honor of the ruler of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who has provided $25 billion in bailout funds for the financially troubled, state-run Dubai World in the past year.

"Crises come and go. And cities move on," Mohammed Alabbar, chairman of the tower's developer Emaar Properties, told reporters before the inauguration. "You have to move on. Because if you stop taking decisions, you stop growing."

Burj Khalifa developer Emaar is itself partly owned by the Dubai government, but is not part of struggling Dubai World. For more on Burj Khalifa: See the website here.

Follow me on Twitter