12-13-02

Merry Christmas

I want to wish all of you and your loved ones a very Merry Christmas. I know that we have chosen a profession that does not allow us to spend time with our families during the holidays, but you should take pride in the fact that we are doing our part so that others can enjoy their holidays.

Excellence is the result of:
Caring more than others think is wise.
Risking more than others think is safe.
Dreaming more than others think is practical.
Expecting more than others think is possible.

On Tuesday, federal agents said, a man walked into the same Kendall bank he held up Sept. 5 sporting the same sunglasses and sports jacket from the first heist. A teller recognized him in line and pressed the panic button.

Police dashed over to the Pan Am Horizon Federal Credit Union at 8228 Mills Drive.

Tucked inside the left pocket of the man's jacket, they found a note: “This is a robbery. I am armed. Give me the cash now.”

They also found a plastic toy revolver. John J. Papacosta, 45, of 9470 Dominican Dr. in Cutler Ridge, was arrested and charged in both cases.

A day earlier, another hapless bank robber got away -- barely.

While making his illegal withdrawal from a Wachovia Bank in North Miami Beach, he accidentally fired his gun when he put it in his pants pocket. As he ran out, he was hit by a van.

Bleeding, he staggered into a getaway car, leaving behind two bloody gold teeth. Authorities are trying to extract DNA so they can identify him.

''I guess bank robbers are getting more stupid,'' FBI spokeswoman Judy Orihuela said.

Madison County, Nebraska officials are looking for Curtis Boyd, would-be banker and millionaire.

Using a check-making program he bought at Office Max, Boyd attempted in early May to cash a check at a local bank that he had written to himself for $22 million.

Boyd, 23, was arrested May 9 by Norfolk police investigator Donnie Thorson.

According to a police report, Boyd drove through the Bank of Norfolk drive-up and gave teller Tammy Ferguson a check written to Curtis Boyd for $22 million.

Ferguson made a copy of the check and a copy of Boyd's driver's license and refused to deposit or cash the check. Boyd left the bank and returned a short time later with the name of the bank -- Reality Perspective Bank -- handwritten at the top of the check.

According to the arrest affidavit, Boyd told the investigator that after buying the check-making program he opened his own bank and used his apartment address for the bank address.

A shoplifter who stuffed a frozen chicken drumstick down his underpants was caught because he couldn't stop hopping around.

A cashier spotted the 25-year-old man moving around and repeatedly touching his groin as he waited in the checkout line at a supermarket in Saronno, Italy.

She called a security officer and the man immediately admitted he had stuffed some frozen food down the front of his pants, Il Nuovo website reports.

The man said he had been unable to keep still because the frozen drumstick was too cold and was hurting him. He was handed over to the police who charged him with theft.

Www.dumbcrooks.com Used with permission

Noah's Ark

Legal Issues

PASSENGER WHO HAD BEEN GIVEN CONTROL OF VEHICLE BY OWNER HAD AUTHORITY TO CONSENT TO SEARCH.

The defendant was stopped for speeding in the early hours of the morning. She was on her way to drop off her passenger at the passenger’s boyfriend’s house.

After learning that the defendant had an outstanding traffic warrant, and while waiting for confirmation of the warrant, the officer repeatedly asked for permission to search her truck. The defendant never expressly refused consent to search, but she did not agree, either.

The defendant told the officer that, if she was going to be arrested, she wanted her passenger to take control of the truck. She repeated this request after the warrant was confirmed, although the officer warned her that by giving the truck to the passenger, the other woman would “be responsible for everything in it.”

When the officer gave the passenger the keys to the truck and told her the driver was being arrested, he asked for consent to search. The passenger agreed, and the officer found burnt marijuana cigarettes in the truck’s cab, a vial of methamphetamine in the defendant’s purse, and a recipe and ingredients used to make methamphetamine in a bag in the bed of the truck.

The defendant moved to suppress the evidence found in the truck, and argued that because she had refused to give consent to a search of her truck, the passenger could not give a valid consent for the search. The trial court denied the motion; the defendant was convicted; and the court of appeal affirmed the conviction. The defendant appealed.

Holding: In order for a “third person” to consent to a search, “that person must have equal control and equal use of the property searched.” A legal property interest is not required for a person to have authority to consent; it is the “mutual use” of the property that determines whether the consent is valid.

Looking at the totality of circumstances in this case to determine whether such joint access and control of the truck existed, the situation changed as events unfolded. When the two women were riding in the truck, both had joint access to the vehicle but not joint control. The passenger may have had control over some parts of the truck, but it was not equal with the driver.

Things changed after the traffic stop. When the driver was arrested and her keys were given to the passenger, the passenger’s “access to the truck continued, but her control over it increased dramatically.”

At that point, the passenger gained joint access and control over the truck for most purposes. She could drive the truck, examine its contents, or allow someone else – like a police officer – to do so.

Further, the officer warned the defendant that if she relinquished the keys to her passenger, the passenger would become responsible for the contents of the truck.

It is irrelevant whether the defendant retained a privacy interest in the truck that was “superior” to that of the passenger. The important question is whether they shared access and control at the time the passenger consented, and whether the defendant had assumed the risk that consent would be given by the other woman.

A review of the videotape made of this encounter also did not support the defendant’s contention that she refused consent. Her comments to the officer in this regard were equivocal. “A reasonable interpretation is that she sought to avoid answering the question by giving the truck to [the passenger].”

Since the defendant gave joint access and control over the vehicle to the passenger, and did not expressly limit the passenger’s authority to consent to a search, the consent was valid and authorized the search. Welch v. State, No. 875-01 (Tex. Crim. App., 9-18-02).

What a sad commentary on what the birth of our Lord has come to mean in this all- too-true parody of the wonderful words of Luke.

“And there were in the same country children keeping watch over their stockings by the fireplace. And, Lo! Santa Claus came upon them; and they were sore afraid. And Santa said unto them: ‘Fear not, for behold, I bring you tidings of great joy which be to all people who can afford them. For unto you will be given great feasts of turkey dressing and cake; and many presents, and this shall be a sign unto you, ye shall find the presents, wrapped in bright paper, lying beneath a tree adorned with tinsel, colored balls and lights. And suddenly, there will be with you a multitude of relatives and friends, praising you and saying, ‘Thank you so much, it was just what I wanted.’

And it shall come to pass as the friends and relatives have gone away into their own homes, the parents shall say to one another, ‘Darn it! What a mess to clean up! I’m tired, let’s go to bed and pick up tomorrow. Thank goodness, Christmas only comes once a year!’

For All the Old Fogies

Just in case you weren't feeling old enough today, this will certainly change things. Each year the staff at Beloit College in Wisconsin puts together a list to try to give the faculty a sense of the mindset of this year's incoming freshman.
Here is this year's list:

The people who are starting college this fall across the nation were born in 1984.

They have no meaningful recollection of the Reagan Era and probably did not know he had ever been shot.

They were 10 when the Soviet Union broke apart and do not remember the Cold War.

They are too young to remember the space shuttle Challenger blowing up.

Bottle caps have always been screw off and plastic.

They have never owned a record player.

They have likely never played Pac-Man and have never heard of Pong.

They may have never heard of an 8-track. The Compact Disc was introduced the year of their birth.

They have always had an answering machine.

They have always had cable or satellite.

Most have never seen a TV set with only 13 channels, nor have they seen a black and white TV.

There have always been VCRs, but they have no idea what BETA was.

They cannot fathom not having a remote control.

They were born the year after the Walkman was introduced.

Jay Leno has always been on the Tonight Show.

Popcorn has always been cooked in the microwave.

They never took a swim and thought about “Jaws.”

The Vietnam War is as ancient history to them as WWI, WWII and the Civil War.

They have no idea that Americans were ever held hostage in Iran.

They can't imagine what hard contact lenses are.

They don't know who Mork was or where he was from.

They never heard: "Where's the beef?", "I'd walk a mile for a Camel," or "De plane, de plane!"

Kansas, Chicago, Boston, America, and Alabama are places, not bands.

There has always been MTV.

They don't have a clue how to use a typewriter.