Rep. Giffords was shot in the head during Loughner’s rampage, but luckily was attended to by intern Daniel Hernandez (who had prior nursing training) until emergency workers were able to arrive on the scene. Giffords and two others who were wounded in the shooting are in good condition at the University Medical Center in Tucson, while the nine others suffering injuries have been released. The health of the congresswoman appears to be continually improving as she has opened her eyes, is breathing on her own through assistance from a tracheotomy tube in her windpipe, and can respond to basic commands like squeezing a hand, which indicates to neurosurgeons that she is capable of brain function.

While people across the nation have been shaken by the shooting on January 7^th, members of Congress have been especially hard hit by events. This marks the most recent attempt on the life of a sitting member of Congress since 1978 when Rep. Leo Ryan of California was killed while in Jonestown, Guyana. Tentative legislative business, including a reexamination of the current health-care law, has been postponed. Instead, talk has turned to issues of safety, such as a possible bill to enclose the House of Representatives’ public galleries in a material similar to Plexiglas and the installation of “panic buttons” within offices. While many citizens are calling for stricter gun control, legislators will not go as far, but instead talk of a bill banning high-capacity gun magazines.

The state of Arizona and Gov. Jan Brewer has passed their own legislation in the meantime, banning protests within 300 feet of a funeral site. This law comes as a response to the Westboro Baptist Church announcing plans to picket the funeral of U.S. District Judge John Roll. While funerals and vigils are being held for those he killed and injured, Jared Loughner was taken into custody after being tackled by onlookers while reloading at the “Congress on Your Corner” event. He is currently being held in Phoenix without bail, facing federal charges for two counts of murder and three counts of attempted murder.

San Diego based lawyer Judy Clarke has been appointed to defend Loughner and has gained recognition in her career by previously defending Theodore Kaczynski, a.k.a. the Unabomber, and Susan Smith. Because of John Roll’s position as federal judge in Tucson, the remaining federal judges in his district have decided to not preside over the case in order to avoid a conflict of interest; a federal judge from outside the state may have to be brought in. More likely, Clarke will seek a change of venue in hopes of ensuring Loughner a fair trial. Though changes in venue are not typically granted, pretrial publicity can necessitate the move due to an impartial jury being unlikely within the community where the crime took place, as was the situation during the 1996 Oklahoma City bombing case.

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For those of you scratching your heads wondering who Billy the Kid is; he is the western outlaw also known as William Bonney.  He died by the gun of Sheriff Pat Garrett at age 21. Despite his young age, Kid was said to have killed anywhere between 9 and 21 men. Richardson’s deputy chief of staff Eric Witt wants to clarify that they are not offering a general pardon for all of Kid’s crimes, but rather a pardon for the individual case of killing a sheriff.

Richardson is a known Billy the Kid aficionado, and is considering the pardon because of an alleged promise by Governor Lew Wallace.  He states, “Just think of all the good publicity New Mexico is receiving around the world on this…It’s fun”.  The defining issue revolves around the belief that Wallace promised this pardon in exchange for Kid’s knowledge in a murder case involving three men.  Those who oppose the pardon argue that there is no proof that Governor Wallace ever offered one; he may have simply tricked Kid in to offering up information.  Ancestor William Wallace argues that pardoning Billy the Kid would, “declare Lew Wallace to have been a dishonorable liar”.

Some of those in favor of Kid’s pardon have filed a petition, including defense attorney Randi McGinn who has offered to handle the case for free.  She writes, “A promise is a promise and should be enforced”.  McGinn also says that Wallace assured Kid that he had the authority to exempt him from prosecution should he cooperate and share his knowledge, but that Wallace never held up his end of the deal.

Sheriff Pat Garrett’s grandson, J.P. Garrett, argues that Richardson should have assigned an impartial historian to aid in the case, and believes that McGinn’s involvement may be a conflict of interest.  Richardson appointed Charles Daniels to the state Supreme Court, whom McGinn is married to. William Wallace agrees, also citing that McGinn has, “meager qualifications”.  Despite these accusations, McGinn claims that her only link to the administration is that she offered to handle the case for free because of Richardson’s lifelong interest in Billy the Kid.

Richardson told the Associated Press on Wednesday, “I don’t know where I’ll end up. I might not pardon him. But then I might”.  I guess we’ll just all have to anxiously await the outcome of this deceased outlaw’s judicial fate.

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Just days after Hurricane Katrina in August 2005, two men were found dead on the Danziger Bridge in New Orleans, and another four were found wounded.  According to recent statements from responding officers at the scene, the civilians were found wounded and bloody.  There were no weapons present.  However, at the time of the shootings, it is said that the involved officers fabricated witness statements, falsified reports, and event planted a gun at the scene.

In December 2006, seven NOPD officers were charged with either murder or attempted murder for the Danziger Bridge crimes.  However, these charges were thrown out in August 2008 by a state judge.  A month later, a new mayor stepped in and invited the Justice Department to conduct a top-to-bottom review of the police department.  When asked about the investigation, Attorney General Eric Holder stated, “Put simply, we will not tolerate wrongdoing by those who are sworn to protect the public.”

Since the onset of the Justice Department investigation, five former NOPD officers have pled guilty to helping cover up the shootings on the bridge.  They are currently awaiting sentencing.  However, their statements have the potential to lay grounds for more serious charges against those actually accused of the shootings and engineering the cover-up.  If those charged for the shootings are convicted, they could face the death penalty.

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“You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to speak to an attorney, and to have an attorney present during any questioning. If you cannot afford a lawyer, one will be provided for you at government expense.”  Regardless of whether you’ve heard them on TV or have been read them directly, most everyone knows what the Miranda warnings are.  These warnings are designed to protect a person’s right against self-incrimination and their right to have a lawyer. You must speak up in order to stay silent.

On June 1, 2010, in a 5-4 decision during the Berghuis v. Thompkins case, the Supreme Court ruled that in order to invoke one’s right to silence, one must first explicitly say that they want to invoke that right.  For instance, Thompkins, the accused in this case, decided to remain silent during his interrogation.  At some point, one of the investigators asked a question to which Thompkins simply responded “yes,” thereby implicating himself in the crime.  Because Thompkins did not tell the investigators that he was invoking his right to stay silent, his affirmative response to the questions could legally be used against him in court.  The statement was used, and a jury came back with a guilty verdict for Thompkins.  So, the lesson to be learned here is that if or when you are ever interrogated by the police, it is now legally assumed that you have waived your Miranda rights unless you speak up and say otherwise.

To read more about the Berghuis v. Thompkins case, click here or here.

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Read about another crime involving Marijuana

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Sherlock Holmes worked as a consulting detective in London with his partner Dr. John H. Watson, who moved in with Holmes to help pay the rent.  Holmes was a freelance detective as well as a forensic scientist, the first of his time.  Holmes is unlike anybody we would find working in forensics today because of his disciplinary crossing reach.

Holmes worked as a detective and as such used his sharp mind to “reason backwards” or to see the conclusion of a criminal act and be able to reason backwards to find the motive and the culprit.  But Holmes was much more than just a detective.

Sherlock Holmes also worked in the chemistry lab of a hospital, making him a forensic chemist.  Holmes “discovered” a test to detect hemoglobin, and hence blood, he did this in Doyle’s mind 13 years before it happened in the real world.  Holmes commented on the uniqueness of typewriters three years before any real life document examiners did the same. He is considered a pioneer in the use of forensic science.

Today forensic chemists do not do detective work in the field and detectives do not spend time in the laboratory examining evidence, these are two separate arms of law enforcement.  Sherlock Holmes was a genius at both as best described by Doyle’s quote from Holmes’ mouth expressing both processes in one eloquent statement:

“The process… starts upon the supposition that when you have eliminated all which is impossible, then whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth. It may be that several explanations remain, in which case one tries test after test until one or other of them has a convincing amount of support”

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Multiple personality disorder, more accurately known as dissociative identity disorder (DID),  is a completely different disorder that is much more rare than schizophrenia, in fact many mental health professionals doubts its validity.  DID, considered an “identity disorder,” is a mental illness where in one person has two or more distinct personalities.  One of the main symptoms of DID is a loss of time or memory where in the person with DID cannot remember significant chunks of time in their lives, this is due to the dominance of a different personality during the missing time.  One of the Hillside Strangler serial killers, Kenneth Bianchi, faked having DID in order to use the insanity plea during his trial, he was discovered to be a fake and he plead guilty to 5 charges of murder.

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Read about another senseless crime here

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