Supreme Court upholds conviction of Chicago rapist

 

 

WASHINGTON—

The Supreme Court retreated today from its view that a criminal defendant's right to confront his accusers includes trial testimony from the crime lab analyst who identified him as the culprit.

By a 5-4 vote, the justices upheld the conviction of a Chicago rapist who was found guilty based on a DNA match done by a crime lab in Maryland.

The decision in Williams v. Illinois is a victory, albeit a tentative one, for prosecutors and state lawyers. They had worried the high court was on the verge of giving defendants a right to demand testimony from all crime lab technicians whose reports were used against them.

They said this would put a costly burden on local and state governments and take technicians and analysts away from their crime labs.

Sandy Williams, the Chicago man, was convicted after an Illinois crime lab analyst testified she had matched a sample of his blood with a DNA profile done on a semen sample taken from the victim. The DNA work was done at a Cellmark lab in Maryland, and the expert who did the profile did not testify.

The 6th Amendment gives defendants a right to be confronted with the witnesses against them, and in recent years, the high court has said that reports from crime labs serve as the crucial evidence for the prosecution. In these cases, the lab analysts must be ready to testify at trial, the court had said.

But in today's decision, the court backed away somewhat and said this rule does not extend to all the analysts whose work served the prosecution.

Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. said the testimony of the Illinois crime lab analyst was sufficient. The technician had explained how she matched the blood sample from Williams to the DNA profile done at the Cellmark lab in Maryland. There was no need for live testimony from a Cellmark technician, Alito said.

Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justices Anthony Kennedy and Stephen G. Breyer agreed with him, and Justice Clarence Thomas concurred separately.

The so-called "confrontation" right has divided the court in an unusual way. Justice Antonin Scalia, a conservative, has taken the strongest stand in favor of requiring live testimony, including from lab technicians. On Monday, he joined a dissent written by Justice Elena Kagan and two of her liberal colleagues, Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor.

Kagan said today's splintered majority opinion has "left significant confusion" over whether lab technicians will be required to testify in court for the prosecution

Infrastructure also languishing as funding ideas hit roadblocks Illinois state parks could close without new revenue

Blago was stupid for making Quinn his second in command and even dumber the way he did buisness in the State office. Now Quinn is a stupid fuck who can not get his head out of his ass.

One of Gov. Pat Quinn'sfirst acts after assuming office in 2009 was reopening seven state parks that predecessor Rod Blagojevich shuttered in a cost-saving move.

At the time, Quinn argued that closing the parks cost Illinois more in lost tourism dollars than the move saved.

But just three years later, ongoing money problems may lead to new state park closures just as the summer tourist season is heating up.

The problem centers on the budget for the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, which manages the state's more than 300 parks, forests and wildlife areas. As other priorities such as health care and pension costs took up more and more of the state budget, less money was left for other services, including conservation and recreation.

A large chunk of the department's budget comes from state general revenue. It totaled $106 million in 2002 but is now just $45.4 million in the spending plan that lawmakers sent Quinn last month. Agency officials are re-evaluating their business model with the idea of finding a dedicated funding stream to pay for parks, trails and other services.

Earlier this year, the agency backed a plan to charge park visitors $7 for a single-day pass or $25 for a yearly pass. But that idea was set aside when supporters realized it would be difficult to enforce in parks with multiple entrances and dwindling manpower.

A new proposal emerged that would raise license plate fees for all motorists by $2, with the money being used to keep parks open and repair those suffering from years of neglect. The proposal narrowly passed the House last month but failed to get enough support in the Senate during the waning hours of the spring session.

Sponsoring Rep. Frank Mautino, D-Spring Valley, had said the measure would raise $15 million in its first year and $32 million in later years for the DNR.

Without that money, agency director Marc Miller said he's now faced with the possibility of closing parks, cutting operating hours and laying off workers.

It's unclear what locations might have to close or when cutbacks will be put in place, but Miller said "everything is on the table."

"I know personally that Gov. Quinn is committed to do better for the environment and conservation, but it's been a very difficult time these last three years," Miller said. "We've had unprecedented budget issues ... and we have to live within these times."

But Miller said his agency is also at a crossroads and can no longer continue to limp along. Either fees must be raised so the agency can support itself, or there won't be much left for visitors to enjoy, Miller said.

In addition to budget cuts, the agency faces $750 million worth of deferred maintenance projects. Sewers, roads and other park infrastructure have been left to crumble because there's no money for upkeep.

Last year, the Adeline Jay Geo-Karis Illinois Beach State Park in Zion had to close after summer storms ripped through the area and knocked down or damaged hundreds of trees. The department couldn't afford to hire a contractor to quickly clean up the safety hazards, so workers slowly chipped away at the job and the park reopened about nine months later, having lost hundreds of thousands of dollars in camping revenue, Miller said.

The agency ran into other problems during southern Illinois floods last year. Conservation police were called in to help rescue those trapped by the rising water but had to borrow boats from other agencies because the ones they normally use were in such bad shape.

This year, Miller said, he is concerned that a wave of employee retirements may make it difficult to keep sites staffed and open. The agency has been under a hiring freeze for the last decade, and staff levels have dropped from 2,400 employees in 2002 to about 1,100 employees now. But that number may drop even lower, as 80 workers have already expressed interest in retiring this year amid ongoing talks about reforming the state's public employee pension system. More than 200 others are also eligible for retirement this year.

That means the agency may be forced to pay out anywhere from $3 million to $5 million in retirement benefits, an expense that wasn't factored into the latest spending plan, said Mautino, who has spent the last year working on the funding issues. As a result, even more cuts may have to be made, Mautino said.

"It's a cash flow issue," said Mautino, who warned the prospects are even worse in 2013 when the agency will likely be facing a $22 million shortfall if nothing is done.

While most of the focus has been on the damage to state parks, Mautino noted the agency is responsible for billions of dollars that flow to the state's economy through tourism and other industries that it oversees, including coal, gas and mining. Without the proper resources, Mautino said the state is losing out on jobs because there aren't enough people to process mining permits in a timely manner.

Mautino said raising fees would ease that pressure. On top of the increase in license plate fees, his proposal would also impose a new $15 annual fee for ATV users and raise other fees related to coal mining, oil and gas drilling, and commercial fishing. Out-of-state visitors would also be charged entrance fees to state parks, and new admission fees would be imposed for the Illinois State Museum in Springfield.

Quinn has vowed to sign the bill to raise license plate fees and the other agency fees if it makes it to his desk, and his budget director has promised Mautino that the funds would not be used to pay other expenses.

"We certainly support" the proposal, Quinn spokeswoman Brooke Anderson said. "Our state treasures are very important to Gov. Quinn and the people of Illinois, and he has a long history of standing up for our state parks and natural resources."

Sen. Toi Hutchinson, D-Olympia Fields, said she'd like to take another shot at passing the fee increase legislation over the summer.

But Hutchinson acknowledged it might be overshadowed by efforts to strike a deal with Quinn on how to reform the pension systems, which are underfunded by more than $80 billion. If there is no time to take up the funding issue over the summer, Hutchinson said she would revisit it during the fall veto session.

"I understand that some people don't think that we should raise fees on anything right now, but at some point we have to have a conversation about what it costs to invest in the infrastructure of this state," Hutchinson said. "Why would we not take every opportunity we can to give the department a way to be sustainable on its own?"

In the meantime, Miller is faced with some tough decisions.

"We are determined to do our best to keep everything open, but it's going to be quite challenging as we go through the summer without that funding."

Sarge's Thought

It amazes me that all 4 of these idiots have college degrees and yet 1 can not run the city the other can not carry a gun one is so far up dady's ass she does whatever he tells her to do and the other one can not find her back bone. 5 dead and 25 wounded in multiple shootings. What gets me is the American weed eaters that stand arcoss the street of  the 2100 block of E. 71st Street flining lead back and forth over the tracks at 8am today and they managed not to hit a single person. Really they did not even hit each other. the best was Tuesday when 5 shots rang out and there was no crime scene. Thank you and happy father's day

5 dead and 23 wounded by gun wheeling monkey

A 16-year-old girl and three other people were killed and at least 21 others wounded Saturday afternoon into Sunday morning across the city, from the Near North Side west to the Austin neighborhood and as far south as 107th Street.

That brought the weekend toll from shootings in the city so far to five people dead and at least 28 wounded. From Friday evening into Saturday morning, 10 people had been shot, one of them fatally.

The girl was shot three times in the West Englewood nighborhood Saturday evening. The other three who died in overnight violence included one of three people shot on the street in Cragin, a woman shot in a van in Chatham and a man shot while sitting in a car in North Austin.

The girl was identified as 16-year-old Shakaki Asphy, of the 4200 block of South Vincennes Avenue, by the Cook County medical examiner's office.

The girl had no gang affiliations and no arrest history, according to police. She and a 21-year-old man were shot about 7 p.m. Saturday in the 2000 block of West 70th Place in the West Englewood neighborhood on the South Side, police said.

The girl was shot in the abdomen and taken in serious-to-critical condition to Advocate Christ Medical Center, where she died at 3:47 a.m. Sunday morning.

The man, who police said was a gang member, was shot in the left leg and also taken to Christ, where his condition was stabilized, according to the Chicago Fire Department and police.

The other shootings across the city overnight included:

• Three people were shot about 12:35 a.m. Sunday in the 2400 block of North Laramie Avenue in the Cragin neighborhood on the Northwest Side, Chicago Police Department News Affairs Officer Amina Greer said.

Jaime Ocampo, 32, of the 3100 block of North Natchez Avenue, was pronounced dead at the scene. A woman, 43, was shot in the foot and a man, 46, in the leg, police said. The woman was taken to West Suburban Hospital and the man to Mount Sinai Hospital.

• Daniel Dilce, 35, died at Stroger Hospital after he was about 12:30 a.m. in the 1300 block of North Lorel Avenue in the North Austin neighborhood on the West Side, authorities said. Dilce was sitting in a car across from his home when someone walked up and started shooting, authorities said. He was pronounced dead at Stroger about 2:15 a.m.

• Tiffany Edwards, 25, died after being shot about 1:30 a.m. Sunday in the 7600 block of South State Street in the Chatham neighborhood on the South Side, authorities said.

Edwards was in a van when someone approached and started shooting, police said. The van's driver took her to St. Bernard Hospital and Health Care Center, where she was pronounced dead. Edwards had lived in the 8600 block of South Martin Luther King Drive.

• Two men were shot at about 10:39 a.m. Sunday in the 1400 block of South Kolin Avenue in the Lawndale neighborhood on the West Side. One of the men was shot in the hand and the other man was shot in the leg, police said. Both were taken to Mount Sinai Hospital in good condition.

• A man was shot in a possible robbery attempt about 6 a.m. Sunday in the 2000 block of East 93rd Street in the Pill Hill neighborhood on the Southeast Side. He was struck in the knee while standing on his porch, police said.

• About 4:30 a.m. Sunday, a man was shot in the leg in the 2100 block of West 18th Street in the Heart of Chicago neighborhood on the Near Southwest Side, police said. He was in good condition at Mount Sinai Hospital. Details about that shooting weren't immediately available.

• Three people were shot about 3 a.m. Sunday in the 1300 block of North Sedgwick Street in the Old Town neighborhood on the Near North Side, police said. A 26-year-old man was shot in the chest and taken by Chicago Fire Department paramedics to Northwestern Memorial Hospital.

Two other men, 27 and 29, walked up to the same hospital with gunshot wounds. The younger man was shot in the arm and the older shot in the ankle. Police said the two would not cooperate with police. All three told police they "heard shots and felt pain."

• A man in his 20s was found shot in the 6000 block of West Wabansia Avenue in the Galewood neighborhood on the Northwest Side about 11 p.m. Saturday, police said. He was shot near the intersection of Menard Avenue and North Avenue, and police believe he walked to the place where he was found.

• A man was shot in the back three times about 10:15 p.m. Saturday on the 2700 block of West Thomas Street in the Humboldt Park neighborhood on the West Side, police said. He was in serious condition at Stroger Hospital, Chicago Police News Affairs Sgt. Antoinette Ursitti said.
Angel Colon and his father Jesus were dozing off when the "pop, pop, pop, pop" of gunfire rang out just 50 feet from their front steps in the Belmont Cragin neighborhood early this morning.

The two went outside their home and watched as evidence technicians took photos and detectives checked neighboring homes for bullet holes in the 2300 block of North Laramie Avenue. Police had already found a target of those bullets: Jaime Ocampo, one of four people killed in separate shootings overnight.

Angel Colon said he heard 10 to 15 shots shortly after 12:30 a.m. Then police sirens minutes later.

Blue lights reflected off the windows of two- and three-flats as police cars parked at each end of the crime scene blocked off Laramie Avenue between Medill and Fullerton avenues. Unmarked cars sat nearby, next to a forensic evidence truck.

A green Toyota Corolla had its front driver side window shot out, and there was a bullet hole in its back window. Evidence markers were set next to eight bullet casings.

Ocampo, 32, was shot on the porch of a three-flat apartment building.

Ocampo's family gathered on the north end of the crime scene and stood watching police in the rain. They couldn't get close but feared the body slouched near the door was their relative. Then someone called Ocampo's mother from her son's phone to tell her that her son had been shot.

"We don't even know who called," said Ocampo's sister Faviola Ocampo, 26.

Police told the family that Ocampo, of the 3100 block of North Natchez Avenue, was shot after an argument with another man, Faviola Ocampo said. A 43-year-old woman and a 46-year-old man were also shot but their wounds were not serious, police said.

Ocampo lived with his mother and worked at a factory with his father.

Ocampo was in a gang when he was younger, his family said, and his mother warned him to stop hanging out with the same people. "We moved, and our mom told him, 'Don't hang around them, all you'll get is trouble,' " said a relative.

Faviola Ocampo consoled her sister Lorena, who was holding a small child in pink shirt while a detective talked to them around 4 a.m. Sunday. Police told them they'd have to go to the morgue later in the morning.

"Do you know how long that is for a mother?" asked a relative, who didn't want to be identified.

The family was preparing to leave a short time later to get some sleep before heading to the Cook County medical examiner's office, Faviola Ocampo said.

Ocampo had three children who are between 12 and 14 years old and who are from two relationships and live with their mothers.

"They don't even know,” Faviola Ocampo said. "It's going to be hard to tell them."

Ocampo was hoping to visit his oldest child, a daughter, in California. He communicated with her on Facebook and spoke with her on the phone, Faviola Ocampo said, and last saw the child when she was an infant.

"He was really hoping to see her," she said, holding back tears. "He'll never get to see her again."

Rodney King dead

The Rev. Jesse Jackson says Rodney King's life exposed the nation to racial profiling and police brutality.

King was the black motorist whose 1991 videotaped beating by police sparked race riots in Los Angeles. King was pronounced dead Sunday.

Boycott Bank of America I mean China

Proof of what Bank of America has done.  This was sent to me by a follower of the Sarge's Mind. This is a photograph of a USMC Staff Sargeant's Garage door who is currently over seas and has been making his payments on time. His girlfriend is a friend of the Sarge's follower, she went to pay this months mortgage and was served with forclosure papers as she walked out the door. This is not right. I have only give one order since this blog started and that was to boycott Metra but Metra complied. Now in support of our military I give another order Close your accounts with Bank of America and boycot them noone is to do buisness with this bank. They took our tax dollars and now they are treating our troops like this. If you served or current or have family and friends serving put their face in this SSGT. shoes cause when he comes home he wont have a home.



From the 2nd District Area Central police headquarters

A series of at least four recent robberies on the South Side has targeted tow truck drivers called to buy old vehicles, police said tonight.

A business alert said the robberies took place in May and June using a similar ruse: a person on a cell phone makes arrangements to sell a tow-away vehicle, and the driver is robbed at gunpoint when he shows up.

The similar robberies took place:
--May 17, about 9 p.m., on the 5900 block of South Wolcott Avenue.
--June 1, about 4:10 p.m., on the 5300 block of South Aberdeen Street.
--June 8, about 10 a.m., on the 5300 block of South Bishop Street.
--June 11, about 6:55 p.m., on the 1300 block of West 51st Street.

Police said victims have provided varying descriptions of the robbers, but generally it has been 1 to 4 men in their early 20s to mid 30s, 5-foot-7 to 5-foot-11, and 160-180 pounds.

Anyone with information is asked to call Area Central detectives at 312-747-8382.