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Frustrated Owner Bulldozes Home Ahead Of Foreclosure WTWL.com Hoskins said he's been in a struggle with RiverHills Bank over his Clermont County home for nearly a decade, a struggle that was coming to an end as the bank began foreclosure proceedings on his $350,000 home. "When I see I owe $160,000 on a home valued at $350,000, and someone decides they want to take it – no, I wasn't going to stand for that, so I took it down," Hoskins said. Hoskins said the Internal Revenue Service placed liens on his carpet store and commercial property on state Route 125 after his brother, a one-time business partner, sued him. The bank claimed his home as collateral, Hoskins said, and went after both his residential and commercial properties. "The average homeowner that can't afford an attorney or can fight as long as we have, they don't stand a chance," he said. Hoskins said he'd gotten a $170,000 offer from someone to pay off the house, but the bank refused, saying they could get more from selling it in foreclosure. Hoskins told News 5's Courtis Fuller that he issued the bank an ultimatum. "I'll tear it down before I let you take it," Hoskins told them. And that's exactly what Hoskins did. /video/22605945/index.htmlMan Says Actions Intended To Send Message To Banks The Moscow man used a bulldozer two weeks ago to level the home he'd built, and the sprawling country home is now rubble, buried under a coating of snow. "As far as what the bank is going to get, I plan on giving them back what was on this hill exactly (as) it was," Hoskins said. "I brought it out of the ground and I plan on putting it back in the ground." Hoskins' business in Amelia is scheduled to go up for auction on March 2, and he told Fuller he's considering leveling that building, too. RiverHills Bank declined to comment on the situation, but Hoskins said his actions were intended to send a message. "Well, to probably make banks think twice before they try to take someone's home, and if they are going to take it wrongly, the end result will be them tearing their house down like I did mine," Hoskins said. /video/22616004/index.htmlMan Has No Regrets Over Bulldozing House Hoskins said he's heard from people all over the country since his story first aired Thursday, and he said most have been supportive. He said he sought legal counsel before tearing down his home and understands the possible consequences, but he has never doubted his decision once he made it. "When I knew I was going to lose it, I decided to take it down," Hoskins said. Lawyer
Murdered in Front of Wife and Child, By Meg Kinnard A South Carolina man was distraught over drawn-out divorce proceedings and a recent order to sell a home he co-owned with his ex-wife when he killed the woman's attorney and then himself, authorities said Thursday. Jerry Dean Crenshaw shot 61-year-old J. Redmond Coyle several times Wednesday afternoon in a parking lot behind Coyle's downtown Pickens, S.C., office, Police Chief Tommy Ellenburg said. Crenshaw's wife had hired Coyle after the pair filed for divorce in 2007, according to court filings. That divorce became final in May 2009, but the couple had been haggling over splitting up property they had owned together, said Harold Welborn, Pickens County clerk of court. The most recent dustup came Jan. 27, when Crenshaw was served with a court order requiring him to sell a house and parcel of land he and his wife had owned and split the proceeds with her, Welborn said. Property records show the couple had lived in a Pickens home valued at more than $120,000. Authorities said Crenshaw, 61, drove to Coyle's office and waited in the parking lot behind it, hoping to catch Coyle on his way out of the building. Crenshaw shot the attorney as Coyle was leaving, then turned the 9 mm handgun on himself, Ellenburg said. An off-duty police officer waiting on his wife nearby witnessed the shootings, and Coyle's wife and daughter were there when he was shot, according to a police report. "The daughter stated that the man appeared out of nowhere and shot her daddy," the report says. Both men were rushed to area hospitals. Coyle was pronounced dead almost immediately, and Crenshaw died later that evening from a single shot to the head, authorities said. Police say they have found evidence that Crenshaw planned out the attack, leaving a note in his car saying he planned to kill Coyle. They also found evidence at Crenshaw's home that shows the man intended to kill himself, but Ellenburg wouldn't say Thursday what that evidence was. The deaths have come as a shock to this town of 3,000 about 120 miles northwest of Columbia. Coyle's offices are across the street from the county courthouse. Connie Finley, a real estate agent who can see Coyle's office from her window a block away, says the attorney's death has her rattled. "It's just so scary," said Finley, whose father-in-law was an attorney who did business with Coyle. "All he was doing is his job."
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Taken Hostage By Ex-Husband Released, By Everton Bailey Jr. SOUTH WINDSOR, Connecticut - An advertising executive who snatched his ex-wife from a parking lot, held her hostage for hours during a standoff with police and then refused to leave their burning home finally surrendered when flames made their way to the basement where he was hiding, authorities said. Richard Shenkman was taken by ambulance away from the gutted remains of the South Windsor home early Wednesday, police Cmdr. Matthew Reed said. Shenkman's ex-wife, attorney Nancy Tyler, had escaped or was released earlier. A Hartford Hospital spokesman said later that Shenkman was in stable condition. Police said it appeared he suffered smoke inhalation. Police said Shenkman will be charged with kidnapping, arson and other crimes. The dramatic ending came more than 12 hours after police said Shenkman missed a Tuesday morning court hearing in his contentious divorce and abducted Tyler from a lot in downtown Hartford. Shenkman kept police at bay for hours by saying he had booby-trapped the house with explosives. Tyler escaped Tuesday night, and police cut power to the suburban Hartford neighborhood of well-maintained homes amid several dozen gunshots and explosions. A fire ignited and quickly engulfed the house as police urged Shenkman to come out. The fire likely began inside the house, Reed said. Tear gas canisters and flash grenades fired by police into the house were not flammable, he said. A bomb squad was on the scene after the standoff began Tuesday morning. Police blocked off streets near the home Shenkman and Tyler used to share, and negotiators talked to them. Tyler is a medical malpractice lawyer who had worked for Shenkman's advertising firm in Bloomfield, according to divorce records. The firm produced "The Gayle King Show," hosted by TV talk show host Oprah Winfrey's best friend and a longtime Hartford TV anchor, and did commercials for state government, the records say. During the standoff, a local newspaper reported that Shenkman had given it a list of demands, including that a priest be brought to the house to give Tyler her last rites. Reed said there was no confirmation of explosives in the house even though there were indications, such as "some wires and some other odd items." Shenkman made several demands, said Reed, who would not elaborate. The Day newspaper, of New London, reported they included summoning the priest and asking that Judge Jorge Simon, who presided over the couple's divorce case, remarry them. It reported he also asked that police "back off the property," which he said they did. Shenkman, 60, and Tyler, 57, have shared three years of contentious divorce proceedings, Shenkman's attorney Hugh Keefe said. They married in 1993; a judge granted the divorce last year, but Shenkman has been appealing. The state appellate court, in a decision released Tuesday, rejected Shenkman's appeal. Shenkman had sought to delay the divorce proceedings until an arson case against him was resolved. He is accused of burning the couple's beach home in East Lyme in 2007 hours before he was to hand it over to Tyler. The case is pending in New London Superior Court. Shenkman also has other pending criminal charges, including threatening, violating a protective order and forgery, according to the state Judicial Branch. Tyler's lawyer, Norm Pattis, said Shenkman's behavior during the divorce trial was "menacing, threatening, nothing short of bizarre." "The reports that he abducted Ms. Tyler...is consistent with the level of irrationality that he displayed throughout the proceedings," Pattis said. The couple's Appellate Court file includes a cassette tape of more than a dozen voice mail messages from Shenkman to Tyler, which contain numerous threats. "We are not getting divorced," he said in one message. "It is not going to happen. Listen to my words. We're not divorced. We're not getting divorced. We were married 'til death do us part. We made vows in front of God. He was our witness, and you can only get your divorce one way, and that's death. You can only be unmarried by death." Shortly before the trial, the records show, Shenkman was hospitalized because his lawyer thought he might be a danger to himself. Associated Press writers Dave Collins and Katie Nelson in Hartford and John Christoffersen in New Haven contributed to this report.
Man in a Santa Suit Kills at Least 8 at a Party By Solomon Moore and Anahad
O’Connor COVINA, Calif. — A man in a Santa Claus outfit opened fire on a Christmas Eve gathering of his in-laws in this Los Angeles suburb and then methodically set their house ablaze, killing at least eight people and injuring several others, the authorities said Thursday. Shortly after the attack, the gunman, identified as Bruce Jeffrey Pardo, 45, killed himself with a single shot to the head at the home of his brother in the Sylmar section of Los Angeles, the police said. In addition to the eight people whose bodies were found in the ashes of the house here, none of whom were identified, at least one other person was thought to be missing, and perhaps as many as three. Among the total of dead or missing were the couple who owned the home and their daughter, the estranged wife of the gunman, the police said. Investigators continued to search the charred structure Thursday, and coroners said dental records would be needed to identify some of the remains. The frenzied shooting occurred just before midnight Wednesday at the two-story house, set on a cul-de-sac in this middle-class town about 22 miles east of Los Angeles. Lt. Pat Buchanan of the Covina Police Department said Mr. Pardo, armed with one or two handguns and fire accelerant, had gone to the house looking for his former wife, Sylvia, with whom he was finalizing a contentious divorce after only a year of marriage. People who escaped the house got out by smashing through glass and jumping. One woman broke an ankle when she leapt from a second-floor window. The house was owned by James and Alicia Ortega, an elderly couple who were retired from their spray-painting business and who often invited their large extended family over for parties, particularly around Christmas. Relatives said about 25 people, among them many children, were inside the home celebrating when Mr. Pardo knocked on the door around 11:30 p.m. He had apparently disguised himself as a hired entertainer for the children in order to gain access. When a guest opened the door, Lieutenant Buchanan said, Mr. Pardo stepped inside the house, drew a semiautomatic handgun and immediately started shooting, beginning with an 8-year-old girl who was hit in the face but who survived, as did an older girl who was shot in the back. As Mr. Pardo unleashed a barrage of gunfire in the living room, relatives smashed through windows, hid behind furniture or bounded upstairs. Then he sprayed the room with accelerant, using a device made of two pressurized tanks, one of which held pressurized gas. Within seconds, the house was ablaze. Joshua Chavez of Seattle was visiting his mother’s house, which sits behind the Ortegas’, when he heard a loud explosion. "Then I saw black smoke and this large flame," he said. Mr. Chavez ran out to the backyard and heard three girls, including the one who had been shot in the back, trying to climb over his mother’s wall. "There’s some guy shooting in there," he said one of the girls told him. "About 20 seconds after that," he continued, "the house was totally on fire. One girl said that a guy dressed as Santa started shooting." Another neighbor, Jeannie Goltz, 51, saw three more partygoers fleeing the burning home. One of them, a young woman, had escaped upstairs from the living room but broke her ankle when she jumped out a second-story window. SWAT teams arrived shortly after Ms. Goltz had shepherded these three survivors into another neighbor’s house, but by that time Mr. Pardo was on his way back to Los Angeles. Police officers said they could not recall so horrific a crime in Covina, and neighbors said they would never have imagined anything so grisly on their quiet block. The Ortegas had lived in the house for more than two decades and were known for their family spirit, their generosity and their dog, which frequently escaped their yard. "I would generally play Santa for the family every year," said Pat Bower, a neighbor of the Ortegas for 25 years. "The family was always together. Brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles were always in the house. They were a gigantic family. We all envied them, actually." Robert and Gloria Magcalas lived next door to the Ortegas for 11 years but were celebrating Christmas Eve with relatives in Los Angeles. Their own home was barely spared the flames. "They were a big, loving family," Mrs. Magcalas said. "We usually exchanged gifts with them today. They gave us tamales and cookies every Christmas." The police said they had found two handguns in the ruins, and an additional two pistols at the scene of Mr. Pardo’s apparent suicide. Officials said they would continue to search the crime scene Friday, seeking information about the identities of the dead. Solomon Moore reported from Covina, and Anahad O’Connor from New York. Police: 'Santa' Shooting Kills at Least 6 in LA By Christina Hoag
A 16-year-old girl was shot in the back, and a 20-year-old woman broke her ankle when she escaped by jumping from a second-story window. Those two, and the 8-year-old, remained hospitalized Christmas Bruce Jeffrey Pardo Day.
When the fire was extinguished early Thursday, officers found three charred bodies in the living room area. "They were met with a scene that was just This image from video shows firefighters indescribable," police Chief Kim Raney outside a blazing house in Covina, Calif., said. Investigators found three more late Wednesday bodies amid the ashes later in the day. None of the dead or missing have been identified. Following the shootings, Pardo quickly got out of the Santa suit and drove off, witnesses told police. He went to his brother's home about 25 miles away in the Sylmar area of Los Angeles. No one was home, so Pardo let himself in, police said. Police were called to the home early Thursday, and officers found Pardo dead of a single bullet to the head. Atlanta Courthouse Shooter Gets Life By Greg Bluestein, ATLANTA - (Dec. 13) A judge on Saturday sentenced the man who killed four people in a brazen courthouse escape to multiple life sentences with no chance of parole and hundreds more years on more than fifty charges. Brian Nichols, 37, was found guilty last month of murder and dozens of other counts for the March 2005 rampage that led from a downtown courthouse to an Atlanta neighborhood and ended with his capture the next day in a suburban county He will likely die in prison after Superior Court Judge James Bodiford handed down the maximum sentence on each charge, to run consecutively. "If there was any more I could give you, I would," the judge said.Nichols was spared multiple death sentences when his jury failed to reach a unanimous decision recommending the punishment, as required by Georgia law. Nichols, who did not take the stand in his own defense, spoke in court for the first time on Saturday. "I just wanted to say that I know that the things I've done caused a lot of pain and I'm sorry," he said. "And I just wanted to say that I will not bring dishonor to the decision to spare my life. That's it." The sentence caps more than three years of efforts to bring Nichols to justice since his arrest that were repeatedly bogged down by legal complications, frustrating victims' relatives and angering state legislators over the costs. Some critics asked why prosecutors pursued the death penalty so aggressively even after Nichols had offered to plead guilty in exchange for a life sentence. In closing arguments Monday, prosecutor Clint Rucker called Nichols an "extremely dangerous" killer who would try to escape again if sent to prison for life. Defense attorneys urged jurors to avoid vengeance. Nichols was being escorted to his trial for rape when he beat a deputy guarding him and stole her gun. He burst into the courtroom and shot and killed Superior Court Judge Rowland Barnes, court reporter Julie Ann Brandau and Deputy Hoyt Teasley. He fled downtown Atlanta and managed to evade hundreds of police officers searching for him overnight. In Atlanta's posh Buckhead neighborhood, he shot and killed federal agent David Wilhelm at a house the agent was renovating. Nichols was captured the next day in suburban Gwinnett County after a woman he took hostage, Ashley Smith Robinson, alerted police to his whereabouts. Smith Robinson was credited with bringing a peaceful ending to the rampage by appealing to Nichols' religious beliefs and giving him illegal drugs. Nichols, who was raised in Baltimore, confessed to the killings but claimed he was legally insane and that he believed he was a slave rebelling against his masters. Prosecutors argued that he concocted the delusions to avoid the death penalty. The rampage prompted attorneys and judges to question their safety and law enforcement around the state to re-examine courthouse security measures.
Law Firm Bombed, Four Injured New York Lawyer Witnesses said the blast around 10 a.m. blew out the windows at McCamy, Phillips, Tuggle & Fordham in Dalton, 26 miles southeast of Chattanooga, Tenn. Police Lt. Bruce Frazier said the blast was caused by some type of explosive device. Investigators were looking into a person of interest in the case, but no one had been arrested, he said. He declined to provide more details. Four people hurt in the explosion were in stable condition at Hamilton Medical Center, spokeswoman Emily Michael said. Police cordoned off the block and shut down a post office next door to the law firm, which personal injury and wrongful death, according to its Web site. An elementary school across the street was locked down, though it wasn't damaged. A police bomb squad was at the law office, and state and federal investigators were assisting local authorities.
New York Lawyer LOS ANGELES (AP) - The wife of a convicted murderer attempted to free her husband from prison by counterfeiting legal documents and forging two federal judges' signatures authorizing the man's release, the FBI said Thursday. Danielle Jones, 27, of Los Angeles was arrested after one of the judge's noticed the forgeries and alerted authorities."It was pretty obvious when officials ... saw them that they were not real," FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller said. Jones, a baggage screener with the Transportation Security Administration at Los Angeles International Airport, faces up to five years in federal prison if convicted. Her husband, Jason Earl Jones, is serving two life sentences after being convicted of murder, attempted murder and shooting at a home. Danielle Jones allegedly sent forged documents to the California Department of Corrections seeking the immediate release of Jason Jones. In February, U.S. District Court Judge Gary Feess reviewed the documents and became suspicious. On the documents were the faked signatures of Feess and U.S. Magistrate Judge Marc Goldman, according to the criminal complaint. The paperwork contained a court stamp and had been made on a computer. A second set of documents was sent to officials at Kern Valley State Prison on April 8. Eimiller said none of the documents were particularly convincing. Eimiller did not know if Danielle Jones had an attorney. Attempts to reach her at two local listings were not successful Thursday night. Danielle Jones was released on a $50,000 bond after an initial court appearance Thursday. Angry
Ex-Husband Allegedly By Martha Neil A 90-day contempt term for failing to pay child support has now been transformed into an indefinite prison stay for a New York man accused of plotting to get a gun to kill the judge in his divorce case. Angry at the Suffolk County judge who "gave the house away" to his ex-wife, Brian Orkiszewski, 49, allegedly spent his time while he was incarcerated for contempt shopping, via letters to third parties, for a gun for "unlawful use" against Supreme Court Justice William Kent III, reports the New York Law Journal. His contempt sentence ended last week, but Orkiszewski is now being held, in lieu of $250,000 bail, on charges of conspiracy and criminal solicitation in the fourth degree, according to the legal publication and Newsday. If he is convicted of these felonies, he could be sentenced to a maximum prison term of four years. State Supreme Court Justice Robert Doyle also issued a temporary order of protection for the judge allegedly targeted by Orkiszewski. Although officials didn't reveal his identity, he was identified by sources as Kent, according to the law journal. Attorney Anthony Grandinette, who represents Orkiszewski, says his client was blowing off steam after a run of bad luck and didn't intend to harm the judge. The bitter divorce and a work injury that held him back from making child-support payments left him angry and depressed, the lawyer tells the Long Island newspaper. "We believe the allegations are completely blown out of proportion."
Controversial Judge Bows Out of Courthouse By Greg Land On Wednesday afternoon, Fuller stepped aside, expressing his view that the costly, complex case would only suffer if he remained after a New Yorker article quoted him as saying that "everyone in the world knows he did it." "Judicial impartiality, real and perceived, is a critical element of the trial process," wrote Fuller in a letter to Fulton County Superior Court Chief Judge Doris L. Downs. "In light of recent media reports, I am no longer hopeful that I can provide a trial perceived to be fair for both the state and the accused." Fuller expressed frustration at leaving the case, but said that to do otherwise would have inevitably led to a renewed recusal call from Fulton District Attorney Paul L. Howard Jr., and provided a basis for Nichols' lawyers to argue on appeal that he had prejudged their client. "Personally," he said, "I accepted this case for all the right reasons, and it bothers me to leave the job unfinished. "However," he continued after a pause, "it's the right thing to do for this case and for the state's justice system at this time." As he spoke, Fuller's clerk, Mary McCall Cash, brought him the letter to Downs, placed it in an envelope and handed it to the judge. "You lick it," said a misty-eyed Cash. "I won't do it." Howard, who has battled to have Fuller disqualified, issued a terse statement in response to the judge's recusal. "Our purpose," it read, "remains the same, to dispose of this case in a manner characterized by justice and fairness. Accordingly, we wish Judge Fuller well as he moves on to other assignments." Because the case remains open, Howard said in his statement, he would make no further comment. Although Fuller had been blamed by politicians and pundits for allowing the case to be delayed and overrun by spiraling costs, he has been defended by others in the legal profession. Informed of Fuller's decision, University of Georgia Law professor Ron Carlson praised the judge's fortitude, even as he applauded his decision to step down. "Judge Fuller has taken a lot of flak and a lot of grief for this case, and that's to his credit," said Carlson. "Having said that, I think he made the right call. While I don't personally think Nichols' case was hurt by his comments, the Judicial Canons require that judges 'act in a manner that promotes public confidence in the integrity and impartiality of the judiciary.'" And although Nichols' announced intention to seek a mental-health defense effectively amounted to an admission that he had committed the courthouse killings, said Carlson, Fuller's comments "would be an issue on appeal as surely as the sun's coming up tomorrow." Fuller said that he only consented to The New Yorker interview to help the writer, lawyer-journalist Jeffrey Toobin, understand the complex case, "because there's been so much misinformation." "I had a specific agreement with Toobin," said Fuller on Tuesday, before announcing his recusal. "Our conversation was to be on background only, and there would be no direct quotations or attributions, unless they were floated by me first." Not so, said Toobin, reached in New York. "I don't know what to say," he said. "I mean, it was clearly for attribution; we even had a New Yorker fact-checker call and confirm it. ... I have great respect for Judge Fuller, but that was not at all my understanding." But Fuller said the only fact-checking he was aware of were inquiries concerning the layout of the courthouse and the timeline of events on March 11, 2005. On Wednesday, after Fuller's announcement, Toobin declined to comment further. "I think, under the circumstances, I'll just allow the story to speak for itself," he said. The New Yorker story was only the last, jagged piece of a much larger story that began the day of Nichols' arrest, when a team of lawyers from the brand-new Georgia Public Defender Standards Council first sought admission to Atlanta Police headquarters, demanding to see the man accused of killing Superior Court Judge Rowland W. Barnes, court reporter Julie Ann Brandau, Fulton County Sheriff's Deputy Sgt. Hoyt Teasley and off-duty U.S. Customs Agent David Wilhelm. In the intervening 34 months, Nichols' defense team has been replaced and now comprises four private attorneys who have continually struggled for their own fees and funding for experts, investigators and transcripts. After the defense team ran up expenses of more than $1.2 million, the state agency responsible for funding their efforts pulled the plug, and Fuller stopped jury selection in October, saying Nichols could not be provided an adequate defense unless more money was forthcoming. Although the expenses were all approved by the Public Defender Standards Council, Fuller has been accused of allowing the case to get out of control, and has been pilloried by members of the General Assembly, where a House committee was appointed to investigate his handling of the case. In October, shortly after Fuller halted the trial, Fulton Superior Court Judge Craig L. Schwall circulated an e-mail to other Fulton judges calling Fuller a "fool," and pondering what action the Fulton bench could take to have the judge removed. Then, Georgia Supreme Court Chief Justice Leah Ward Sears and Justice George H. Carley chided the trial court, defense lawyers and prosecutors for "the degree of contentiousness and delay that has plagued" the Nichols trial. The high court's chastising remarks came in an opinion that rebuffed DA Howard's attempt to have Fuller removed from the case. Downs was on the bench and unavailable for comment but, with Fuller's recusal, is likely to call upon Coweta Circuit Superior Court Judge A. Quillian Baldwin Jr. to appoint a replacement judge. Because of the Fulton bench's recusal, Downs has passed on any such assignments to Baldwin, the administrative judge of the 6th Judicial District, as provided by law. Now it will be up to Baldwin to find a judge willing to pick up this complex case.
Prosecutor Aims to Boot Judge By Alyson M. Palmer ATLANTA -- The district attorney prosecuting accused courthouse shooter Brian G. Nichols has asked the Georgia Supreme Court to order Judge Hilton M. Fuller Jr. off the case. In an action styled as an "emergency petition for writ of prohibition," Fulton County District Attorney Paul L. Howard Jr. said that Fuller exceeded his authority in several respects, in particular with regard to funding issues in the case. He said that Fuller's recusal from one funding motion should act as a recusal from the entire case. Howard also said the Supreme Court should order the trial judge to make the state's Public Defender Standards Council provide staff attorneys to represent Nichols -- "there being no evidence that the Standards Council is unable to represent the defendant." The prosecution said in its petition that the trial is "languishing" and that prosecutors are being prevented from preparing for trials of other serious felonies. "The time to act is now," Howard said. Howard's filing came at the end of a week where Fuller came under increasing fire. Fuller is a DeKalb, Ga., senior judge who was appointed to preside over the Nichols case after all members of the Fulton judiciary recused. Nichols could face the death penalty if convicted of murdering Fulton Judge Rowland K. Barnes, court reporter Julie Brandau, sheriff's deputy Sgt. Hoyt Teasley and federal agent David Wilhelm on March 11, 2005. Howard's request of the state high court, filed Nov. 1, inadvertently answered a question posed last month by Fulton Superior Court Judge Craig L. Schwall, who told his colleagues in an e-mail that Fuller was a "fool" and an "embarrassment" and should be replaced. (NYLawyer.com, Nov. 1) Howard said the state Supreme Court should make permanent Fuller's recusal from hearing Nichols' motion for an order to show cause as to why the Standards Council should not be held in contempt because it had not fully funded their efforts. Defense counsel withdrew that motion earlier last week. But Howard said, "The action of the trial court conclusively shows that the trial court has expressed an opinion so strong that it feels that it cannot be fair and impartial in deciding whether one of its own orders has been willfully violated so that contempt is required." Howard also asked for a change of personnel on the defense side of the case. He said the Standards Council staff should represent Nichols, not the private attorneys who've complained about the council's failure to pay them. Howard's petition said Fuller never made a proper finding that the Capital Defender Office couldn't represent Nichols. Howard notes that in May 2005, the state alleged that there was a conflict with Capital Defender Office lawyer Christian G. Lamar's representation of Nichols because his membership in the State Bar of Georgia was suspended for nonpayment of dues. But Howard said that doesn't mean one of the "properly barred" lawyers in the Capital Defender's Office couldn't represent Nichols. The petition also said that when Fuller allowed Gary Parker, who was an employee of the Standards Council but has since left the agency, to bow out of the case for health reasons in March 2007, it should have required him to assign another attorney from the Standards Council to continue the council's duty of representing Nichols. Allowing North Carolina attorney Henderson Hill to step in for Parker as lead counsel violated Georgia's statutory indigent defense scheme, argues Howard. Criminal defense attorney Jack Martin, who is not involved in this case, said the prosecutors "are asking to start the whole trial over. "You would think that the Georgia Supreme Court would be very reluctant to try to micro-manage this case and start second-guessing the trial judge in the middle of trial," said Martin. "This may give the Supreme Court an opportunity to look at all of Judge Fuller's decisions and declare that everything he's done is reasonable and lawful. It may be a blessing in disguise." Judge Blasts
Colleague in Courthouse Murder Case By Greg Land In an Oct. 11 e-mail sent to all Fulton Superior Court judges, Schwall doesn't mince words, calling Fuller a "fool" and "embarrassment," adding "Surely he can be replaced." The full text of the e-mail reads (with original punctuation and capitalization): "From: Schwall, Craig, To: All Superior Court Judges." "Is there any way to replace the debacle and embarrassment Judge Fuller is. He is a disgrace and pulling all of us down .He is single handedly destroying the bench and indigent defense and eroding the public trust in the judiciary. See his latest order. He can not tell the legislature what to do. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. .Surely he can be replaced. He is a Fool .How is it done. Seek mandamus for a trial? We should investigate if it can be done." The e-mail is signed: "From not shy in 5C." Schwall uses courtroom 5C. The Daily Report obtained the e-mail from a source who is not involved in the case. Two Fulton Superior Court judges, who asked not to be identified, verified the authenticity of the e-mail. Speaking as a group, the judges acknowledged the e-mail and dissatisfaction with Fuller. Asked to comment on Schwall's e-mail, the Fulton bench issued the following statement through its public information officer: "One judge does not speak for the entire court, however Judge Schwall's frustrations are shared by a great many, including some members of the Fulton judiciary." Attacking Judicial Independence Georgia State University Law professor Roy M. Sobelson said Schwall's comments, made in a private communication to colleagues, don't violate any judicial canons. But he said he is unaware of any way the Fulton judges could remove Fuller from the case absent any evidence of wrongdoing or bias. Sobelson added he is disturbed by the "continuing ad hominem attacks" on Fuller. "This whole issue of complaining about judges' decisions while we claim to uphold the idea of judicial independence is troubling to me," said Sobelson. "You can't go around attacking judges willy-nilly for their rulings you don't like. Illegality or incompetence is one thing, but I'm very troubled by all this talk of impeaching Judge Fuller or removing him." Schwall's criticism comes amidst growing pressure on Fuller, a DeKalb judge who was appointed to preside over the case of accused courthouse shooter Nichols after all members of the Fulton judiciary recused themselves. Nichols is accused of murdering Judge Rowland K. Barnes, court reporter Julie Brandau, sheriff's deputy Sgt. Hoyt Teasley and federal agent David Wilhelm on March 11, 2005. Nichols was on trial for rape when he overpowered a deputy and then allegedly sought out Barnes, who was presiding over his rape trial. Last month, state House Speaker Glenn Richardson announced the creation of a committee to investigate Fuller's "poor handling of public funds." Richardson later suggested the House consider impeachment of Fuller. Some lawmakers say Fuller is pursuing his own agenda; Rep. Tom Knox, R-Cumming, a member of a legislative indigent defense committee, has accused Fuller of attempting a "de facto repeal" of the state's death penalty by bankrupting the indigent defense system. Nichols' defense team says it has rung up fees of $1.2 million so far, although the Georgia Public Defender Standards Council, the state agency charged with funding his defense, places the cost at $1.8 million. The council has told Fuller it can't afford to pay the defense any more money, prompting Fuller to threaten to hold the council in contempt. Fuller then recused himself from the contempt hearing he scheduled. Schwall apparently refers to Fuller's recusal from the contempt hearing in his e-mail. Rockdale Superior Court Chief Judge Sidney L. Nation Sr. will preside over the contempt hearing Monday. Fuller halted voire dire two days after it started last month because of concerns that without additional funding the defense could not hire expert witnesses for Nichols' mental health defense and otherwise get the case ready for trial. That move was the latest delay in the trial That Originally Was Set for Jan. 11. Facing Funding Woes Schwall's Oct. 11 e-mail was sent the day after Fuller ordered the council to continue funding Nichols' four-lawyer defense according to an order he issued in July 2005, when he mandated -- with the council's approval -- that three private attorneys would join with a state-funded lawyer to defend Nichols. That lawyer has since resigned and been replaced by another attorney who is working at no charge. In his Oct. 10 order, Fuller noted that attorney fees and expenses had not been paid for several months, and that the lawyers were owed more than $32,000 in fees and expenses for experts and other trial-preparation costs. Fuller also called on the state, which has not allocated all the statutory funding allowed to the council, to live up to its responsibilities, and said Fulton County should shoulder more of the case's cost. The county has since agreed to pick up the tab for Nichols' lead attorney, North Carolina lawyer Henderson Hill, who earns -- per Fuller's order -- $175 an hour. Schwall, a former Fulton State Court judge, was appointed to the bench by Gov. Sonny Perdue in June 2005 to fill the seat of the slain judge. He did not respond to e-mail or telephone requests for comment. Through a spokesman, Fuller said it would be inappropriate for him to respond. A Constant Distraction One member of the Fulton bench, speaking not for attribution, said the ongoing trial has been a constant distraction at the courthouse. There is sympathy for Fuller, said this judge, and an understanding that Fuller must be cautious in his handling of the case in order to ensure an error-free trial that will survive any appellate challenge. Other jurists have expressed the view that Fuller is being scapegoated for political gain by some members of the Legislature. Even so, the judge said there is concern that Fuller hasn't moved the case along more quickly. The judge said the Nichols' case has hampered the prosecution of other death penalty cases because of the difficulty of providing security for more than one such trial. The county has 10 other pending capital cases. There also is resentment at the fees paid Fuller, who as a senior judge makes about $500 a day, and concern that, should the trial drag on, a new slate of jurors will have to be selected, the judge said. Jury selection began in January with the creation of an initial pool of 1,100 jurors. As the delays continue, however, it's possible that the pool could become stale, raising the possibility that the county might have to begin the process again. The judge said the shadow of the case hangs over the entire courthouse, where friends and family members of the March 11 victims -- including Barnes' widow, Claudia Barnes, who clerks for State Court Judge John R. Mather -- still work. And because the courthouse -- considered a crime scene by the defense -- will be seen by jurors, said a judge, no memorials to the dead can be displayed until the trial is over. "We can't even hang portraits," said the judge. Fulton County Courthouse Shootings Shock AtlantaBy Joan Johnston Despite bjections from the defense, it has been decided by the judge in the case that Brian Nichols will stand trial in the very courthouse where he is accused of engaging in a bloody rampage that left a judge, a court reporter, and a deputy dead. The defense has indicated that they would be willing to discuss a plea agreement to spare their client's life, but District Attorney Paul Howard is determined to seek the death penalty. The trial was to begin in early 2007 but lack of funds to pay the defense team lawyers has set that date back. In the meantime, attorney and the media have obtained phone records indicating that Brian Nichols had an acquaintance scout the jail where he is being held and relate the details of the outside layout to him via cell phone. In November 2005, local news station FOX 5 Atlanta uncovered a suspected second escape plan being engineered by Brian Nichols, this time involving other inmates at the facility he's being held at while awaiting trial for the courthouse shootings. In addition, there are accusations that Fulton County Deputies assigned to guard Nichols were actually supplying him with the bodybuilding supplement Creatine. Update 5/25/05: Brian Nichols has opted to let go of his current lawyers and instead have the attorney that represented him in his rape trial, Gary Parker, represent him in the courthouse shootings trial. Update 5.17.05: Brian Nichols pleaded not guilty to the 54-count indictment he faces, stemming from the courthouse shooting rampage on March 11. The state will seek the death penalty in this case that had the entire city of Atlanta on edge until Nichols surrendered. Update 3.12.05: Courtroom shooting suspect Brian Nichols was captured at the Bridgewater apartment complex in Duluth on Saturday morning by FBI officials. Nichols held a hostage briefly before surrendering to authorities. He will remain in FBI custody after a body was discovered in the Lenox area this morning, that of a customs agent who was shot to death. The agent's blue pickup truck and gun were stolen. That pickup truck was spotted in the parking lot of the apartment complex, which led to his capture. What began as routine proceedings in the courtroom of Superior Court Judge Rowland Barnes ended in a horrible tragedy, as four people in the courtroom area were allegedly shot by suspect Brian Nichols, who was on trial for the rape of his fiancee. Judge Barnes and two other courtroom staff members have been pronounced dead; one sheriff's deputy is in critical condition at Grady Memorial Hospital. It is assumed at this time that the suspect managed to overpower the sheriff's deputy, take her gun, and then begin his shooting spree. Unfortunately, the violence spilled out into the downtown Atlanta streets surrounding the Fulton County Courthouse. Nichols allegedly committed numerous car jackings, including one in which he pistol whipped an AJC reporter after the reporter gave up his car, but refused to get into the trunk. Nichols took the reporter's car, a green Honda Accord, which was later found abandoned in the same parking garage. Suspect Nichols, age 33, was being re-tried for the rape charge, along with numerous other serious criminal charges. His first trial ended in a hung jury, perhaps influenced by Nichols himself, as jurors on the current trial claimed they were intimidated by Nichols, who tried to stare them down as the trial proceeded. There have been some reports that Nichols had some type of criminal justice background, whether it was education or job experience, but that has not been confirmed. The criminal justice community is mourning the loss of Judge Rowland Barnes, who was well-respected by both prosecutors and criminal defenders. Cited as being a fair and compassionate judge, Barnes presided over two recent high profile cases. The first was the Dany Heatley case, in which the judge expressed his respect for the Snyder family, who urged for charges to be dropped against the Atlanta Thrashers player, in a speeding incident that killed the Snyders' son, also a Thrashers player. The other recent case that Judge Rowland was involved in that brought media attention involved a young mother of seven children, allegedly suffering from post-partum depression, whose baby died in her care. Instead of sending her to prison, the judge negotiated with the woman, who agreed to have her tubes tied and not have any more children. While the decision was controversial to some, it was also innovative. In the coming weeks, security at the Fulton County Courthouse will no doubt be a hot-button issue. Police Kill Man Who Shot 5 at Law Firm By Doug Simpson Anger over a divorce settlement may have driven a 63-year-old Baptist deacon to shoot five people in a law office, killing two, then exchange gunfire with police during a standoff, authorities said Friday. A special tactical unit used explosives to enter the building shortly after midnight and shot John Ashley to death after he opened fire, police spokesman Sgt. Clifford Gatlin said. Police said Ashley repeatedly shot at them during the 10-hour standoff Thursday, and even shot at a remote-controlled police robot they sent inside. No officers were hurt. "This is, it's a shock," Gatlin said. "It's big for us, because we know everybody." Ashley, a retired city maintenance worker, was found in the back of the office, which was converted from a single-story house. The two people police say he killed were found in the front of the building, where police rescued one of the three surviving victims Thursday afternoon. The other survivors escaped on their own. Gatlin said investigators have learned the shooting was "a possible dispute over a divorce settlement," but that he had no further details. He said investigators will need to speak with the three survivors to determine a motive, and at least two of them were seriously injured. The shooting rampage near the Rapides Parish Courthouse astounded people who knew Ashley in Alexandria, a central Louisiana town of about 46,000. Ashley was a deacon and sang in the choir at Mt. Calvary Missionary Baptist Church, said Freddie Lawson, a fellow congregant. Ashley attended Bible study every Wednesday night this year, except the night before the shootings, Lawson said. "I've never heard him raise his voice," said Charlie Gilmore, Ashley's neighbor and a local pastor. "I never heard of him being violent." Police Chief Daren Coutee said officers called Ashley repeatedly on his cell phone and the office phone throughout the day but he refused to talk. "We did all we could do as far as negotiations were concerned," Coutee said. Authorities identified the dead as Camille "Joey" Giordano II, a 32-year-old assistant district attorney. The other person killed was Marty Thiels, 50, a postal worker delivering mail to the law firm. Giordano's father, attorney Camille Giordano, also was shot. He underwent surgery and was in critical condition Friday, a spokeswoman for Christus St. Frances Cabrini Hospital said. Also wounded, police say, were attorney Sam Charles Giordano, 49, and Andrea Fletcher Price, 27, the law firm's secretary. A hospital spokeswoman said Friday that the families asked that details about their conditions not be disclosed. "The loss of our loved one and friend and serious injuries suffered by Camille, Sam and Andrea have devastated us all," the Giordano family said in a statement. They thanked the community for their concern and sympathy and asked that their privacy be respected. Several neighbors said Ashley did not socialize, though he smiled and waved to them on his way in and out of his home. Lawson, a friend for 20 years, described Ashley as jovial at church, cracking jokes and socializing. "He'd just go around shaking hands and hugging people," Lawson said. "He was very friendly, and I'd never known him to be emotional." "He was such a good person, a church going man. I practically grew up with him," Ashley's cousin, Lee Hall, told The (Alexandria) Town Talk. "When I heard his name, I just couldn't believe it. I fell apart." Police
Kill Man Who Shot 5 at La. Law Office Associated Press ALEXANDRIA, La. - Police shot and killed a man who shot five people in a downtown law office, killing two of them, the mayor said early Friday. John Ashley, a 63-year-old former city worker, opened fire Thursday afternoon. Two of the wounded managed to escape, and police rescued a third. Ashley remained in the building with the two remaining victims, who police found dead after using explosives to enter the building early Friday. They killed Ashley in an exchange of gunfire, mayor Jacques Roy said. No officers were injured. Man
Shoots 5 at Louisiana Law Firm Associated Press AlEXANDRIA, La. - A man shot five people in a downtown law office Thursday afternoon and holed up in the building, shooting repeatedly at police with two victims still inside, authorities said. Two of the victims escaped on their own and police rescued a third, but the gunman repeatedly fought off attempts to reach the others and shot at a remote-controlled police robot sent into the building, police said. Police attempted to enter early Friday by setting off two explosions in the rear of the building. The shooter was identified by a neighbor and The (Alexandria) Town Talk newspaper as John Ashley, a 63-year-old former city worker. Gatlin said police were unsure if the two gunshot victims inside the building were alive."We won’t know their condition until after we get in there," he said. Alexandria’s mayor Jacques Roy said at a news conference late Thursday that the city’s downtown was blocked off and inaccessible, cautioning resident not to try to enter. He said the suspect had a single handgun and that there was "no way for us to know how much ammunition." "We are hopeful there are not worse things to come," Roy said. Police fired tear gas into the building and tried unsuccessfully to reach the shooter on his cellular telephone and the office phone, Gatlin said. A SWAT team had positioned itself behind an armored car in front of the law firm. Gatlin would not identify the shooter. The (Alexandria) Town Talk newspaper reported that one man, bloodied and in boxer shorts, emerged from the building after police arrived. The paper identified him as attorney Camille Giordano and said he was taken to a hospital. A call to a hospital spokeswoman was not immediately returned. The Rapides Regional Medical Center identified the other victims as Sam Giordano, an attorney, and Andrea Fletcher Price, the law firm’s secretary. Giordano, 49, was in serious condition, and Price, 27, was in fair condition, said Courtney Michiels, a hospital spokeswoman. The law office, converted from a one-story family home, is located near the Rapides Parish Courthouse. Police cut electricity to the building and closed off much of the downtown area of this central Louisiana city. Officers from a number of agencies, including state and local law enforcement offices and a SWAT team, were at the scene, along with ambulances. The shooting rampage astounded people who know Ashley. "I’ve never heard him raise his voice. I never heard of him being violent," said Charlie Gilmore, Ashley’s neighbor and a local pastor.
Wheelchair-Bound Lawyer's Office Torched By The Associated Press COLUMBIA, S.C. -- Police have charged a Columbia man with arson after investigators say he set fire to the office of his ex-wife's divorce lawyer. Ronald Lynn Jenkins, 40, turned himself in Sunday afternoon, said Columbia police spokeswoman Sgt. Florence McCants. He is charged with second-degree arson, second-degree burglary and stalking, she said. Jenkins made no statement and is not cooperating with police, McCants said. He asked for an attorney, but McCants said Sunday she didn't know who that was. Attorney Robert Masella said he has been representing Jenkins' ex-wife for more than three years. Last week, Jenkins lost an appeal in his divorce case, Masella said. "I think the reason he's so mad is that I wouldn't quit," Masella said. Masella, 46, who uses a wheelchair, said Jenkins confronted him outside downtown Columbia office Friday morning and threatened to kill him. Masella called police but Jenkins left before officers arrived. Jenkins is accused of breaking into the office later Friday night and setting a fire in the library. A fire report estimated total damage at $60,000. If convicted of the three charges, Jenkins faces a maximum of 45 years in prison.
Disgruntled Client Launches Toll Free By the Staff of Legal Times Don’t like your legal representation? Here’s a different approach: Legal Times readers in New York may have recently heard radio spots encouraging listeners to call a toll-free number if they’ve been wronged by D.C.-based Hogan & Hartson. Legal Times Legal Times called the number and got an answering machine, which mentions the firm and suggests leaving a short message if the caller has a grievance. No one called back. Legal Times But Hogan’s chairman, J. Warren Gorrell Jr., was a little more responsive: "This is a fee dispute with a former client. They’re causing an unusual level of harassment to make their case. But if there were much of a case, I think they would have gone a different route." Gorrell declined to name the client. Guess we’ll have to keep dialing. Bagel
Hubby: I Killed My Wife By James Fanelli and
Patrick Gallahue Robert Anderson, 66, ambled into his arraignment yesterday dazed and unshaven, never speaking a word as the family of his murdered wife, Ann, watched from the gallery. "He should be put in jail for the rest of his life," said the victim's sister-in-law, Kathleen Perry, outside Suffolk County District Court in Central Islip. "She didn't deserve this," added Perry, who is married to Ann's brother. "She was a good person." Anderson, dressed in a white jailhouse jumpsuit, let his attorney plead not guilty on his behalf before he was remanded to a Suffolk County lockup. But according to prosecutors, he already told police everything there was to know about Friday's brutal and callous killing. Anderson allegedly admitted he hid in an alley by the shop and followed Ann inside after she opened Super Bagel on an upscale Huntington shopping strip at 5 a.m. He intended to confront the 39-year-old businesswoman, the doting mom of four children, ages 10 to 15, over the division of their assets in their bitter divorce. "He expressed to police that he was very unhappy with the proceedings of the divorce," said Suffolk County Assistant DA Denise Merrifield. But when the conversation heated up, he blew a fuse and pulled his .22-caliber pistol, police said. Then, he allegedly shot his wife of 20 years once in the side and then several times in the head. It was also revealed in court yesterday that one of Ann's co-workers reported hearing the shots and seeing Anderson holding the gun. Anderson disassembled his weapon and dumped the pieces in two different storm drains, prosecutors said. Police recovered the gun later Friday night. Robert's gun was illegal, because Ann had taken an order of protection against him. He had been forced to turn two other firearms over to police as part of the order. "She was a wonderful person and a great mother," said the victim's niece, Renee Regan, 29. "Nobody deserves this. She certainly didn't." 'Train to Arraign' in Wife Slay By Jamie Schram Retired NYPD cop John Galtieri - facing charges of murdering his wife in a Staten Island parking lot - is taking the overnight train from South Carolina and is expected to arrive in New York this afternoon for his arraignment, say law-enforcement sources. He's riding the rails - B la the 1988 bail-bondsman comedy "Midnight Run," with Robert De Niro and Charles Grodin - because he gets panic attacks on planes, according to his lawyer. Galtieri, 61, who left the force in 1980, is accused of gunning down ex-wife Jeanne Kane, 58, on Jan. 30 after leaving a Staten Island divorce-court hearing. He will be in a private train car with two NYPD detectives for the 15-hour trip, the sources said. The ex-cop is expected to arrive at Penn Station this afternoon, and then be arraigned in Staten Island Supreme Court later.
Judges in Fear After E-Mails "My fear is that he will
carry out what he's threatening to do," Circuit Judge Jack Schemer
told jurors hearing the trial of Patrick D. Cahill, charged with
Patrick D. Cahill reacts as Circuit Judge Brad
Stetson
two counts of sending written
threats to But Cahill's lawyers argued that the e-mails weren't threats at all, just rude expressions of frustration and despair at not being able to visit his young son. Both e-mails were sprinkled with expletives. "Calling a judge a fat, lazy pig is offensive, but it's not illegal," said Assistant Public Defender Ann Finnell. More crime and public safety coverage Homicide 360: A Times-Union special report Finnell was quoting from an e-mail sent to Circuit Judge Jean Johnson's office in July 2003. In the same e-mail, Cahill, now 45, wrote: "You're on my list for personal visits the day you get off the bench. You will explain to my son why you couldn't do your job." Johnson testified she perceived the entire e-mail as a threat but particularly the line about explaining herself to Cahill's son. She said she knew that Cahill, a U.S. Naval Academy graduate, had mental issues and her first thought was that he was lurking somewhere in the courthouse, ready to accost her. Fueling her fear, she said, was that she hadn't handled Cahill's case in four years when the e-mail arrived. "People who attend military academies are taught how to commit violence in many different ways," Johnson said. "They know how to kill people." She said she warned bailiffs, had Cahill's photograph posted at courthouse entrances and told her children not to open any mail. The same morning, Cahill sent an e-mail to Schemer, blaming him and Circuit Judge Brad Stetson for not having seen his son for 15 months. He listed both their home addresses. "You have already ruined my son's life. You will suffer as much as he has," Cahill wrote. "This is not a threat. You can only be held accountable for your own illegal actions." The e-mail continues: "I welcome the opportunity to go to a criminal court. ... It will expose your activities to the public." Schemer and Stetson testified they interpreted the e-mail as a serious threat, particularly in light of previous statements Cahill had made. Both said they warned their families about him. Schemer recalled a message Cahill had left on his ex-wife's answering machine, saying he had received the judge's order and "people have to die." Cahill later attributed that statement to a lapse in judgment and said in court he merely meant he hoped Schemer and others would be struck by lightning, Schemer testified. Stetson told jurors about previous statements Cahill had made in court documents and phone messages that Stetson would pay for his actions and suffer severe personal consequences. A month before the e-mail, Cahill wrote the U.S. Justice Department demanding criminal charges against Florida appellate judges after they upheld one of Stetson's rulings. "If the federal government position is that state court judges can violate my constitutional rights and hurt my son, then I am prepared to respond in kind," Cahill wrote. Cahill also had asked all three Jacksonville judges to disqualify themselves numerous times from the case, which began in 1997. He filed seven lawsuits in his home state of Alabama against nearly everyone involved, including the three Jacksonville judges, prosecutor Steve Siegel and the police officer who arrested him. The courts have dismissed those lawsuits. Cahill's lawyers will finish presenting their case this morning. They wanted to present evidence about the child custody battle to put his e-mails in context, but Senior Circuit Judge Richard Watson refused. "It makes no difference what his reason is," Watson said. "It's whether he did it or not." This story can be found on Jacksonville.com at http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/021407/met_7979928.shtml
Couple Guilty in Law Office Standoff, Held Attorney Hostage STATESBORO, Ga. -- A husband and wife who held an attorney hostage for more than 24 hours in a standoff that shut down the city's downtown have been sentenced to decades in prison. A jury found Robbie Eugene Brower and Connie Czako Brower guilty Friday of four counts of kidnapping, two counts of possession of a hoax device, two counts of terrorist threats and possession of a firearm. Judge F. Gates Peed sentenced Robbie Brower, of Rincon, Ga., to 85 years in prison, and Connie Brower to 65 years. The couple went into Michael Hostilo's law office in this southeast Georgia college town and took him hostage Jan. 26, 2006. Robbie Brower told the court that Hostilo had misrepresented him and had given him poor advice that resulted in his pleading guilty in a criminal case in 1995. Hostilo was bound with duct tape and held in the office until the next day, when the couple surrendered. Three female employees were released shortly after the couple took over the office. "He held the city hostage," prosecutor Richard Mallard said of Robbie Brower. "You can't overlook people doing that." Robbie Brower asked the court for lenience for his wife. Connie Brower said she had never done anything like that before, but "I always stuck by my husband no matter what." Gunman Felt Cheated over His Invention By Tonya Maxwell, Charles
Sheehan and Matthew Walberg Gunman Angry Over Patent, Police Say By Carlak Johnson
Lawyer Murdered, Disgruntled Client in Custody By Julie O'Shea SAN JOSE -- A stunned Santa Cruz legal community is trying to come to terms with the death of workers' compensation attorney Jay BloomBecker, who authorities say was gunned down in his Live Oak office by a disgruntled client last week. The Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office announced Friday that Angus Macintyre turned himself in after reportedly confessing to a friend that he'd murdered BloomBecker, 61. Macintyre, 46, has been booked in the county jail. Bail is set at $1 million. Deputies said the lawyer died from gunshot wound to the head. BloomBecker's girlfriend, Lisa Gonzales, found him Wednesday night. "It's really hard to deal with," Gonzales said. "We had just moved into a new [house] that day and spent the whole day moving." The couple has a 9-month-old son, Joshua. The suspect, Macintyre -- who also goes by the name Jeffrey Murphy — had been upset with the settlement he'd received from his workers' comp claim a year ago, according to Gonzales. Macintyre was a heavy equipment operator and had filed a claim for a back injury, she said. Man Gets
Life for Shooting Lawyer By The Associated Press A man who opened fire on a lawyer who dodged and ducked behind a tree in a videotaped attack outside the Van Nuys courthouse was sentenced Friday to life in prison plus 25 years. William Strier, 66, shot attorney Gerald Curry five times in the neck, arms and shoulder outside the courthouse on Oct. 31, 2003. A television cameraman covering the murder trial of actor Robert Blake videotaped Strier emptying two handguns while Curry bobbed, weaved and crouched behind the slender tree. Strier, who attended the hearing on a gurney because of back problems, was removed from the courtroom before the sentence was announced because he was disruptive. After the sentencing, Curry, 55, said he was satisfied Strier will never leave prison. "I think he's a dangerous man," he said. In January, a Superior Court jury convicted Strier of premeditated attempted murder with special circumstances that he discharged a firearm and caused great bodily injury. The judge gave Strier the maximum sentence, citing a probation report that noted Strier shot a neighbor for no apparent reason in 1969. The victim was shot four times but survived. Strier was initially convicted of assault, but it was later dismissed. In that case, Strier "did exactly what he did in this case -- zoned out" when he was arrested, Superior Court Judge Rand S. Rubin said. "It worked for him the last time. It didn't work this time," Rubin said. Strier testified at trial that he couldn't remember shooting Curry, that he had taken pain medication, a diet pill and two shots of whiskey earlier that day. His attorney, Arna Zlotnick, said Strier will be eligible for parole in about 30 years. She also said her client was remorseful about the attack on Curry. Strier was taken from the courtroom after he started to read a prepared statement condemning the jury for his conviction. The judge warned Strier he could not blame attorneys or others in his remarks. "I would hope at this time you would have something to say to Mr. Curry," the judge said. Strier ignored the judge's warning and Rubin ordered him removed. "I have a right to make these statements," Strier said. He could be heard yelling from a holding area and complaining that the earphones he was wearing were not working. "I'm not hearing one word," he said. Curry said the outburst was expected. "He simply doesn't want to accept the inevitable," he said. After the shooting, Strier calmly pocketed his guns and walked away, saying "That's what you get for taking my money." He was then tackled by a traffic court judge who also was a reserve sheriff's deputy. Prosecutors said he was upset with the outcome of a hearing that day in which Curry and another person received fees for their work on a $98,000 trust fund that Strier received after he was struck by a car. Zlotnick argued at trial that Strier believed his trust had been mismanaged and said he simply "lost his mind" during the attack. Bitter
Divorce Behind Courthouse Shooting He carried a living will and a cutting board in a yellow backpack, which he wore across his chest, apparently for protection.
Manley, 52, also carried a grudge against the government over a bitter divorce and the custody of his children. He also carried a grenade. It turned out to be inert, but looked all too real to the security personnel and Seattle police officers, who spent close to a half-hour trying to get him to put down his weapon. In the end, Manley made "a furtive movement" with the grenade, and police officers opened up with a shotgun and rifle, killing him. "He flat-out refused to respond to orders by officers," said Eric Robertson, chief U.S. marshal in Seattle. Seattle police confirmed last night that the dead man was Manley, who seemed obsessed with what he saw as the injustice of his divorce and child-support payments. He made those views clear in protests and Internet blogs. He had "a history with people," said Seattle police Chief Gil Kerlikowske. Among them are the people who work at the 23-story courthouse at Seventh Avenue and Stewart Street, where Manley had shown up before yesterday to air his grievances and to pursue a lawsuit that judges kept throwing out. There he was known as a man "who has had a disdain for the federal government in general and some of its policies," Robertson said. A month ago, Manley tried to burn an American flag on the courthouse steps in protest. The shooting at the federal courthouse came 10 months after the $160 million building opened to promises of better security for the public and the people who worked there. Yesterday, those promises got their first test as the standoff forced an evacuation. "We were just told to get out of here now," said Doug Cleven of Lynnwood, who was serving his first day of jury duty at the courthouse.
Shortly before noon, Manley, dressed in camouflage clothing, walked into an unsecured part of the courthouse's lobby. It is separated from the rest of the lobby by metal detectors and a reflecting pool. He pulled the grenade from his backpack, which he put on his chest. "He was holding what appeared to be a World War II-type of grenade," Kerlikowske said. That prompted several people, including a building security officer, to call 911. Manley walked across a ledge by the reflecting pool and tried to get into the courthouse. But security officers cordoned him off from the rest of the building. Court officers talked to Manley and tried to get him to put down the grenade. After 10 minutes of trying and failing to get him to cooperate, they called Seattle police. Two officers, given permission to shoot, took aim at Manley with a .223-caliber rifle and a shotgun. After officers had talked to Manley for about 25 minutes -- which included conversation about paperwork that he wanted to present -- he made what Robertson called "a furtive movement with the grenade." The officers opened fire, each shooting him once. Manley collapsed, still clutching his grenade. Because the incident happened so close to the lunch hour, some were already leaving the building when Seattle police officers and federal agents swarmed to it. At first, Cleven said, no one felt any alarm at all. Rather, he said, most supposed the officers were simply arriving to escort some particularly dangerous criminal to a court proceeding. "Somebody said, 'He's got a bomb.' Then we knew it was serious," Cleven said. Another witness, Chay Adams, was delivering a pound cake she made for her dad, who works in courthouse security, when the building went into lockdown because of the intruder. As she was being evacuated, with jurors and courthouse employees, someone diverted her group to an office with a view of the man with the grenade as he fidgeted on a bench between the reflecting pool and the elevators, she said. He was waving his arms back and forth and appeared agitated. Adams saw part of the violent end. "He must have made a move they didn't like," she said. "He got shot once, slumped over, and then got shot again." But even though the man was down, police were not convinced that the danger had passed. They sent in the department's bomb squad, whose officers X-rayed the backpack but didn't find any explosives. They found the grenade to be inert. A hole had been drilled in it, Kerlikowske said. Because of the methodical work involved in making sure the courthouse was free of explosives, it was about an hour before Seattle fire medics were able to enter the building and examine the man. They found him dead. The area surrounding the gleaming courthouse was closed to traffic during the standoff and subsequent investigation. Many of those in the building were still being evacuated more than an hour after the shooting. About 2 p.m. police removed the tape strung across the streets surrounding the courthouse and allowed pedestrian and road traffic to pass. Some say the incident reinforced their confidence in the security of the new courthouse. Court officers stopped the man from making it very far inside the building, and everyone evacuated in an orderly way, said Mike Reilly, a deputy court clerk. "The operation went smoothly. Unfortunately, the man had to die, but I was very impressed with our security," Reilly said. "If a suspect wants to go in, he's going to get in, but our guys did great." Reilly, who has worked for the court for about a decade but didn't recognize Manley, said he is not worried at all about showing up for work today. "It could have been so much worse." Robertson said he considers Seattle's federal courthouse the finest in the nation in terms of safety. Officers were able to use lobby security cameras to identify what was in Manley's hand without getting too close, and an emergency evacuation plan went well, he said. It was too early to tell whether any extra security measures are needed, but the incident revealed "nothing glaring" that cries for immediate change, Robertson said. PREVIOUS INCIDENTSCourthouse shootings around the nation in the past 10 years: March 2, 1995, King County Courthouse in Seattle. Timothy Blackwell, 47, shot and killed his estranged wife, Susana, 25; the 8-month-old fetus she was carrying; and her friends, Phoebe Dizon, 46, of Shoreline, and Veronica Laureta Johnson, 42, of Mountlake Terrace. Susana Blackwell was a "mail-order bride" from the Philippines. Blackwell was convicted of aggravated first-degree murder and manslaughter. He is serving life in prison. The incident prompted the use of metal detectors in state courtrooms.
Man Kills
Ex-Wife, Then Shoots Self at Courthouse By Cara Rubinsky Donna Bochicchio, 43, was pronounced dead on the top deck of a parking garage behind Middletown Superior Court. Retired trooper Michael Bochicchio Jr., 47, died at Hartford Hospital on Wednesday night, a hospital spokeswoman said. Attorney Julie Porzio, 42, who represented Donna Bochicchio, was listed in serious but stable condition after suffering wounds to her face and arm. According to court records, Michael Bochicchio filed for divorce in 2003; the couple had been married since 1988. They had been fighting over money and the custody of their two children. A court order dated Wednesday grants custody of the 12-year-old girl and 14-year-old boy to Donna Bochicchio's family. "He was a wonderful person, a state cop for all those years. I don't know what went through his mind," said his uncle, Anthony Bochicchio Sr. "He was going through a bad divorce. He just snapped." Bochicchio also served as a contract federal court security officer, U.S. Marshal John Bardelli said. The court resumed normal operations by afternoon, court spokeswoman Rhonda Stearley-Hebert said. Middletown is about 20 miles south of Hartford. Deadly
Encounter Steve Mraz and Sean Smith
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The
gift-wrapped box Pardo was carrying actually contained a pressurized
homemade device he used to spray a liquid that quickly sent the
house up in flames, police said. 
CHICAGO
-- The gunman who fatally shot three people in a law firm's
high-rise office before he was killed by police felt cheated over an
invention, authorities said Saturday.
Joe Jackson forced a
security guard at gunpoint to take him up to the 38th floor offices
of Wood, Phillips, Katz, Clark & Mortimer, which specialized
in intellectual 
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A Feast
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