hello gabrielle rae

U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Finds Prop 8 “Unconstitutional”

Echoing the sentiments of former San Francisco Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker — who struck down Proposition 8 back in 2010 — the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that the proposition, which bans same-sex marriage, is unconstitutional.

Judge Stephen Reinhardt, writing for the majority alongside Judge Michael Daly Hawkins wrote:

“Proposition 8 serves no purpose, and has no effect, other than to lessen the status and human dignity of gays and lesbians in California, and to officially reclassify their relationships and families as inferior to those of opposite-sex couples.”

Judge Norman Randy Smith, writing for the dissent, disagreed, arguing that there are “legitimate governmental interests” that warrant restricting the legalities of marriage to a choice between a man and woman only.

The landmark decision, which was announced Tuesday in San Francisco, will give same-sex marriage supporters the opportunity to bring same-sex marriage legislation to the Ninth Circuit, or directly to the Supreme Court.

Proposition 8 supporters have indicated that they intend to bypass the Ninth Circuit and take their own appeal to the Supreme Court.

Judge May Reduce Assemblymember Mary Hayashi’s Shoplifting Charges

Assemblymember Mary Hayashi (and wife of Superior Court Judge Dennis Hayashi) may be given a break after her embarrassing shoplifting incident at the Neiman Marcus store on Union Square: San Francisco Chronicle columnists’ Andrew Ross and Phillip Matier noted that “sources” (unidentifiable, of course!) close to the Honorable Gerardo Sandoval reported that Superior Court Judge Sandoval has indicated he may be willing to commute Hayashi’s felony to a misdemeanor, if her defense attorney requests such a reduction.

Hayashi shamed fellow Dems in October after being apprehended for stealing $2,450 worth of merchandise from a Neiman Marcus store. Officials at Neiman Marcus claim that they began subjecting Hayashi to video surveillance after they received information that implicated the assembly-woman in a precursory shoplifting episode. The clothing items — which included a pair of designer leather pants, a white blouse, and a black skirt — were recovered after security detail approached Hayashi shortly after she left the store.

Douglas Rappaport, Hayashi’s attorney, said that his client mistakenly left without paying for the items when she received an onslaught of cellular communications while shopping. Rappaport contends that Hayashi is sincerely apologetic — but certainly not a shoplifter.

Hayashi and her attorney will face Judge Sandoval again on Friday, January 6. Rappaport stressed that he doesn’t imagine he’ll be ready to ask for a reduction on Friday, though he hastily added that “I never know what’s gong to happen in court.”

Prosecutors to Present Final Arguments in Mubarak Trial

Beginning Tuesday in Cairo, Egyptian prosecutors will begin presenting their final arguments in the trial of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, who is accused of crimes stemming from his involvement in heinous acts that occurred during the Arab Spring of 2011 — a revolutionary resistance that also led to Mubarak’s impeachment. 

Mubarak’s trial resumed on Monday after over three months of suspension while the court considered a proposition to have the presiding judges replaced. Mubarak, who faces charges ranging from the murder of hundred of anti-government activists to corruption, has plead not guilty on all counts.

Mubarak’s personal physicians reported that the 83-year-old has a severe heart condition, and the dictator arrived at the court on Monday morning via ambulance, before being wheeled in on a hospital bed. 

If convicted of the crimes of which he is accused, Mubarak will face the death penalty.

Clayton Middle School Teacher Arraigned on 20 Sex Crime Charges

Andrew Bruce Cottrell, 41, a teacher at Diablo View Middle School in Clayton was arrested on Friday, December 9, 2011 after prosecutors filed twenty sex crime charges against him for allegedly molesting a former student at Diablo View from February of 2010 until August of this year. Cottrell’s nineteen felony counts (and one misdemeanor) include statutory rape of a child under age 16, six counts of lewd acts on a child age 14 or 15, and oral copulation of a child under age 16.

Cottrell confessed to participating in sexual intercourse and other sexual crimes with the female victim on campus and in the city of Walnut Creek, where Cottrell is a resident. Prosecutor Nancy Georgiou, head of the District Attorney’s Office sex crime unit, said that police acted quickly after the atrocities were reported.

Cottrell did not enter a plea at his arraignment in Martinez today, telling Judge Nancy Davis Stark that he must first inspect his financial situation to determine whether he can afford a private attorney. Cottrell is expected to return to court for an entry of his plea on December 29.

Laurent Gbagbo in Custody at ICC

Wednesday, former Ivory Coast head of state Laurent Gbagbo was taken into custody and charged with rape, persecution, murder, and inhumane acts at the International Criminal Court. Court documents called Gbagbo an “indirect perpetrator” in a violent and deadly campaign to eliminate civilians perceived to be supporters of the democratically-elected current leader of the Ivory Coast, Alassane Ouattara. 

Although other leaders — Omar al-Bashir charged with genocide in Libya, the late Ghadafi charged with crimes against humanity — have been charged in the ICC, Gbagbo, 66, is the first former leader to be held in custody.

Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo said of Gbagbo: “Mr. Gbagbo is brought to account for his individual responsibility in the attacks against civilians committed by forces acting on his behalf. He is presumed innocent until proven guilty and will be given full rights and the opportunity to defend himself.”

Moreno-Ocampo also stressed that both sides of the political spectrum were responsible for the over 3,000 deaths that occurred during the election in the Ivory Coast, and that the investigation is still being conducted.

Egyptian Cabinet Offers to Resign

As mass protests at Tahrir Square in Egypt reach their fifth day, the Cabinet in Egypt has offered to resign amid violent clashes. The protests — held in the same famed square that witnessed the fall of Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak just nine months ago — are demanding an end to the military rule clutching the country.

While Culture Minister Emud Abu Ghazi has already quit his position, government spokesman Mohamed Hegazy told reporters that Ministers are offering their resignation “at the disposal” of the Military Council which currently reigns in Egypt.

Clashes began after the Military Council announced it may remain in effect until 2013, to help construct a new Constitution for the country and host a Presidential election — for which no date has been set. On Friday, November 18, 2011, Egyptian protesters demanded that the process be shortened, and that the democracy they worked inexhaustibly for be administered.

Morgan Hill Man Charged With Killing (And Eating) Bob Cat

Among Henry Arnibal’s charges are using methamphetamine, skinning and eating a bob cat, and possessing ankle spikes worn on chickens during cockfighting.

While it is not completely illegal to kill a bob cat, it is illegal to kill a bob cat without a proper permit — which Arnibal does not possess. Arnibal admitted in a statement to Santa Clara County Deputy District Attorney Steve Lowney that he shot and killed the bob cat with a .22 caliber rifle after (supposedly) discovering that the animal had eaten seven of his roosters. Arnibal then skinned the large cat and ate its carcass.

Santa Clara Sheriff Deputies made the gruesome discovery while searching for a marijuana farm in an unincorporated area of Morgan Hill. Instead, they found Arnibal living in a trailer, high on methamphetamine, surrounded by about 50 roosters, who officers speculate may be being used to cockfight, although DA Lowney added that there was not enough evidence to sustain that theory at this time.

Russian Grave-Robber Made Dolls of Female Corpses

Local historian, “necropolist”, author, and now grave-robber extraordinaire, Anatoly Moskvin, 45, was arrested last week after Russian officers found shoes matching footprints taken from cemeteries where female corpses has been stolen in the man’s home.

Among the other finds law enforcement officials seized in Moskvin’s flat? Life-size dolls made from said female corpses remains; nameplates and other mementos stolen from local grave sites; an instruction manual on how to construct the dolls; and maps of cemeteries in the area.

Police have been investigating the matter since last year, when frequent desecration, and exhumations began occurring at cemeteries in the Nizhny Novgorod region. Although it is unclear whether the arrest was made after police spoke with Moskvin in his capacity as cemetery expert and became suspicious or if authorities have been interested in him as a suspect for some time. 

Hells Angel Member Killed on Freeway in Oakland

If you were driving eastbound on Interstate 580 late Saturday afternoon, and happened to be in the area of San Leandro, you may be aware of the 10-hour shutdown the freeway experienced from approximately 5 p.m. to 2 a.m. The closure of all four lanes was the result of yet another grisly death that involved the notorious Hells Angels motorcycle gang.

On Saturday, motorcyclist George Lopez, 51, of Stockton, was killed when he was struck by an East Bay Paratransit van while riding with six or seven other members near the Grand Avenue exit in San Leandro, California. As law enforcement officials attempt to piece together an accurate depiction of his death, eyewitness accounts describe the event as far from accidental. 

East Bay Paratransit van driver Eddie Hall, 31, of Oakland, has been arrested on suspicion of homicide and  Lopez after witnesses told police that Hall changed lanes, struck Lopez, and dragged the Hells Angel member over a mile the motorcycle burst into flames. Hall then pulled over near the 150th Avenue exit, scaled a fence that led to a residential San Leandro neighborhood and fled. Hall was apprehended moments later by Alameda County Sheriff’s deputies at the intersection of Tanager Avenue and Liberty Street. 

A spokesperson for First Transit, which operates East Bay Paratransit, said that Hall passed all criminal and procedural background tests when hired in February of this year. The motives behind the alleged attack are still unknown to officers, who haven’t uncovered anything in Hall’s personal history (thus far) that indicates any relationship with —  or contempt — for the group. 

Brothers Plead No Contest to Beating House Guest for Molesting 8-Year-Old Girl

When Erik and Miguel Cerda learned that Avelino Rodriguez, a man living in their home, had molested an 8-year-old girl in their very living room, they were beyond disgusted. According to police reports, the brothers drove Rodriguez from their San Jose residence to a ranch in Gilroy, where they tortured and severely beat the man in what District Attorney Jeff Rosen and fellow prosecutors are calling a “vigilante attack”.

With charges ranging from mayhem to torture, the brothers were looking at sentences more severe than Rodriguez received for molesting the young girl just a few feet from where his own young daughter slept: Rodriguez received 22 years for the molestation charges he was convicted of. The Cerda brothers’ charges carried possible life terms, if convicted. In an effort to resolve the matter most amicably, both plead no contest to their charges on Wednesday morning, at the advisement of their attorneys.

The controversial case now rests on Judge Jacqueline M. Arroyo of Santa Clara Superior Court, who must determine the brothers’ sentences from a range of two to eight years.

Ruben T. Munoz, Miguel Cerda’s attorney, is determined to achieve the minimum sentence for his client: “We strongly believe they deserve two years.”

 Erik Cerda’s deputy public defender, Roderick O’Connor, called their actions “an impulsive and emotionally charged reaction to an 8-year-old being violated in their home.”

The impulsivity of the act has been protested by DA Rosen, who points out that the men didn’t make a split-second decision to beat and injure Rodriguez, but planned and drove to a desolate location so as to minimize their chances of getting caught. Earlier this week, prosecutors offered a four-year sentence for the crime.

Four Mentally Disabled Individuals Held Captive in Philadelphia Apartment Boiler Room

When building owner Turgut Gozlevli noticed bowls of water being placed near the boiler room of his seven-unit apartment complex in the Tacony neighborhood of Philadelphia, he assumed it was being left for a dog. But upon further investigation last Saturday morning, Mr. Gozlevli made a disturbing discovery: four mentally disabled individuals were being held prisoner in the small space. 

One of the victims, a male, was chained to a pipe on the boiler, and had to be freed by Gozlevli with a hacksaw. Several dogs were in the room with the group and there was trash and a mayonnaise jar filled with urine on the ground. The victims, Tamara Breeden, Herbert Knowles, Derwin McLemire and Edwin Sanabria — who have all been described by law enforcement officials as “mentally disabled” — were seriously malnourished and deprived. 

While authorities are unsure exactly how the group got there, they are sure of their suspects: Linda Weston, 51, Eddie Wright, 49, and Gregory Thomas, 47. Thomas, Weston and Wright appear to all have journeyed from Florida recently: Thomas and Wright have criminal charges in the West Palm Beach area and Weston told a neighbor (who asked not to be identified) that she had recently moved to Philadelphia from Florida.

Some of the victims have been sought by their families for over half a decade: Tamara Breeden, a PA native, was reported missing by her family in 2005. Herbert Knowles — who was from Norfolk, Virginia — was reported missing by a case worker in 2008. All of the victims received Social Security or Disability checks that were stolen by Weston, Wright and Thomas.

At one point, when a social worker noted that Knowles’ checks were being sent to a Philadelphia address, Weston took Knowles to a Philadelphia Social Security Office where she forced Knowles to present identification so that the checks would continue being sent. 

ACLU Sues to Prevent Florida Welfare Drug Tests

Florida Governor Rick Scott made many campaign promises — among them that if elected governor, he would enforce drug tests upon welfare recipients. Now that Scott has been elected, he’s determined to demonstrate that his promises were far from empty threats.

In May of this year, Scott signed his drug testing requirement into effect. According to the law, welfare recipients will be required to pay between $30 and $40 for their own drug tests, with the funds reimbursed when (or if) the test is returned negative.

But the American Civil Liberties Union has filed a lawsuit, alleging that Scott’s welfare drug testing requirement law violates the Constitutional rights of welfare recipients. The ACLU claims that the law will violate the portion of the Constitution which condemns unreasonable search and seizure.

The ACLU filed the suit on Tuesday on behalf of Luis Lebron, a 35-year-old Navy veteran, father, student at the University of Central Florida — and welfare recipient.

In a statement released by the ACLU, Lebron said:

“I served my country, I’m in school finishing my education and trying to take care of my son. It’s insulting and degrading that people think I’m using drugs just because I need a little help to take care of my family while I finish up my education.”

Gov. Scott has a history of mixing drug testing and public services: Scott previously made drug testing a requirement for all state employees, until sued by the ACLU under remarkably similar grounds and forced to stop.

If all this investment in the drug testing industry seems peculiar, it should offer valuable insight to learn that Scott is the co-founder of Solantic, an urgent medical chain that performs drug testing. A spokesperson for Gov. Scott hastily added that since Scott assumed governorship, all funds acquired from Scott’s investment into Solantic have been put in a trust in his wife’s name.

George Stinney: Youngest Prisoner to be Executed in 20th Century

At 14 years, 5’1”, and just barely 90 pounds, George Stinney was the youngest prisoner to be executed in the twentieth century. On the heels of the execution of Troy Davis last week, Stinney’s story is seeing an emotional revival and being used to analyze the system of capital punishment that we continue to enforce.

On March 23, 1944, Betty June Binnicker, age 11, and Mary Emma Thames, age 8, two white girls living in Alcolu, South Carolina,  disappeared after riding their bicycles together. Binnicker and Thames eventually passed the Stinney property, and asked George and his younger sister, Katherine, if the children knew where to find a certain type of flower. This exchange, however brief or even actual it may have been, is the reason that George Stinney was unjustly executed just eighty-one days later.

A search party was conducted to find the girls, whose bodies were discovered in a muddy ditch with severe head wounds. A nearby railroad spike was believed to be the murder weapon in the crime, and law enforcement authorities arrested 14-year-old George Stinney.

Taken into a police interrogation room with no witnesses besides the white police officers who were questioning him, Stinney was interrogated for less than an hour before a police officer emerged from the room and claimed that Stinney had confessed. The officer said that Stinney had explained the motive behind the brutal murders: he wanted to “have sex with” Betty June, but couldn’t do so without first killing Mary Emma.

The story, already relatively implausible, takes an even more improbable turn when one considers the state of Mary Emma and Betty June’s skulls when found: smashed into 4 and 5 pieces each, the skulls were incredibly battered.

It is incredibly hard to believe that a 90-pound boy — whose face and frame were so small that the mask worn during execution slipped off, revealing his horrible, pained expression — was able to viciously murder and then smash the skulls of two girls who were only a few pounds lighter than he. Even still, he was tried, and within eighty-one days, sentenced to death. Stinney’s gruesome end made him the youngest prisoner to be executed in the twentieth century, as well as the subject of national debate regarding the validity of his guilt, and any method there may be to prove or disprove his innocence.

SF Cops Open Fire on Suspect; 2 Bystanders Struck

The midnight hours that waned into the early dawn of Saturday morning proved to be a bloody night for the city of San Francisco. One man was fatally wounded, and others injured in several separate incidents that included the shooting of two innocent bystanders by San Francisco police officers.

Late Friday night, shortly before midnight, Edgar Yegiyan, 19, was stabbed in the torso, hip, and upper thighs on the 300 block of Jefferson Street near the Fisherman’s Wharf. Authorities say the victim was approached by three men and a woman before he was viciously stabbed by members of the trio.

Early Saturday morning, three men were standing near 35^th Avenue and Rivera Street, when one of the men began shooting another. Officer Albie Esparza, who responded to the call, said “We don’t know what their relationship is - if they were known or unknown.” The victim, a 22-year-old male, was pronounced dead at the scene. 

Around 2 a.m. on Saturday night, two police officers on foot noticed a drug transaction taking place on the 400 block of Broadway. The suspect selling the drugs noticed the officers and removed – but did not fire – a loaded, semiautomatic weapon. As the gun was drawn and the man began running, officers fired several shots in his direction. The shots completely missed the suspect, although one shot struck a woman in her right thigh, and another bullet struck a man in the lower left leg. Both passersby have since been released from San Francisco General Hospital.

The suspect, Jesus Paredes Rodriguez, 20, was eventually arrested after dropping his weapon. The names of the officers were not released.

Early Sunday morning, around 4 a.m., a San Francisco man gained entry into a woman’s Bayview home while she slept. As the man began trying to choke her, the woman stabbed the intruder to death.