ET Williams

The Doctor of Common Sense

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Parrot Snitches on Wife Who Murdered Husband: ‘Don’t Fucking Shoot’

Hands up. Don’t shoot.

Parrot witness case: Michigan woman guilty of husband’s murder

A woman has been found guilty of shooting her husband five times in a Michigan murder case apparently witnessed by a parrot.

Glenna Duram shot her husband, Martin, in front of the couple’s pet in 2015, before turning the gun on herself in a failed suicide attempt.

The parrot later repeated the words “Don’t shoot!” in the victim’s voice, according to Mr Duram’s ex-wife.

The parrot, an African Grey named Bud, was not used in the court proceedings.

The jury found Mrs Duram, 49, guilty of first-degree murder following a day of deliberations. She will be sentenced next month.

She suffered a head wound in the incident in the couple’s Sand Lake home in May 2015, but survived.

Mr Duram’s mother Lillian said it “hurt” to witness Mrs Duram “emotionless” in court as evidence was presented in the case of her son’s death, local media report.

“It just isn’t good; just isn’t good. Two years is a long time to wait for justice,” she said.

Mr Duram’s ex-wife Christina Keller, who now owns Bud, earlier said she believed the parrot was repeating a conversation from the night of the murder, which she said ended with the phrase “don’t shoot!”, with an expletive added.

Mr Duram’s parents agreed it was possible that the foul-mouthed bird had overheard the couple arguing and was repeating their final words.

“I personally think he was there, and he remembers it and he was saying it”, Mr Duram’s father told local media at the time.

His mother, Lillian Duram, added: “That bird picks up everything and anything, and it’s got the filthiest mouth around.”

A prosecutor in Michigan initially considered using the parrot’s squawkings as evidence in the murder trial, but this was later dismissed. The prosecutor added that it was unlikely that the bird would be called to the stand to testify as a witness during the trial.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-40665520

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Get a Vasectomy or Have Your Tubes Tied to Get Parole in Tennessee

Some people don’t need to be having babies.

White County Inmates Given Reduced Jail Time If They Get A Vasectomy

SPARTA, Tenn. –

Inmates in White County, Tennessee have been given credit for their jail time if they voluntarily agree to have a vasectomy or birth control implant, a popular new program that is being called “unconstitutional” by the ACLU.

On May 15, 2017 General Sessions Judge Sam Benningfield signed a standing order that allows inmates to receive 30 days credit toward jail time if they undergo a birth control procedure.

Women who volunteer to participate in the program are given a free Nexplanon implant in their arm, the implant helps prevent pregnancies for up to four years. Men who volunteer to participate are given a vasectomy, free of charge, by the Tennessee Department of Health.

County officials said that since the program began a few months ago 32 women have gotten the Nexplananon implant and 38 men were waiting to have the vasectomy procedure performed.

Judge Benningfield told NewsChannel 5 that he was trying to break a vicious cycle of repeat offenders who constantly come into his courtroom on drug related charges, subsequently can’t afford child support and have trouble finding jobs.

“I hope to encourage them to take personal responsibility and give them a chance, when they do get out, to not to be burdened with children. This gives them a chance to get on their feet and make something of themselves,” Judge Benningfield said in an interview.

First elected in 1998, Judge Benningfield decided to implement the program after speaking with officials at the Tennessee Department of Health.

“I understand it won’t be entirely successful but if you reach two or three people, maybe that’s two or three kids not being born under the influence of drugs. I see it as a win, win,” he added.

Inmates in the White County jail were also given two days credit toward their jail sentence if they complete a State of Tennessee, Department of Health Neonatal Syndrome Education Program. The class aimed to educate those who are incarcerated about the dangers of having children while under the influence of drugs.

“Hopefully while they’re staying here we rehabilitate them so they never come back,” the judge said.

District Attorney Bryant Dunaway, who oversees prosecution of cases in White County is worried the program may be unethical and possibly illegal.

“It’s concerning to me, my office doesn’t support this order,” Dunaway said.

“It’s comprehensible that an 18-year-old gets this done, it can’t get reversed and then that impacts the rest of their life,” he added.

On Wednesday, the ACLU released this statement on the program:

“Offering a so-called ‘choice’ between jail time and coerced contraception or sterilization is unconstitutional. Such a choice violates the fundamental constitutional right to reproductive autonomy and bodily integrity by interfering with the intimate decision of whether and when to have a child, imposing an intrusive medical procedure on individuals who are not in a position to reject it. Judges play an important role in our community – overseeing individuals’ childbearing capacity should not be part of that role.”

http://www.newschannel5.com/news/inmates-given-reduced-jail-time-if-they-get-a-vasectomy?page=2

 

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First Female Navy SEAL Was Once a Man

Kill the enemy and cut your dick off on your own dime

Navy Has First Female Applicants for SEAL Officer, Special Boat Units

More than a year after a mandate for the Pentagon opened previously closed ground combat and special operations jobs to women, officials say the Navy has its first female candidates for its most elite special warfare roles.

Two women were in boot camp as candidates for the Navy’s all-enlisted Special Warfare Combatant-Craft Crewman program, Naval Special Warfare Center Deputy Commander Capt. Christian Dunbar told members of the Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Service in June.

Another woman, who sources say is a junior in an ROTC program at an unnamed college, has applied for a spot in the SEAL officer selection process for fiscal 2018, which begins Oct. 1, and is set to complete an early step in the pipeline, special operations assessment and selection, later this summer, he said.

“That’s a three-week block of instruction,” Dunbar said. “Then the [prospective SEAL officer] will compete like everyone else, 160 [applicants] for only 100 spots.”

A spokesman for Naval Special Warfare Command, Capt. Jason Salata, confirmed to Military.com this week that a single female enlisted candidate remained in the training pipeline for Special Warfare Combatant Crewman, or SWCC. The accession pipeline for the job, he added, included several screening evaluations and then recruit training at the Navy’s Great Lakes, Illinois boot camp before Basic Underwater Demolition School training.

Salata also confirmed that a female midshipman is set to train with other future Naval officers in the SEAL Officer Assessment and Selection, or SOAS, course this summer.

“[SOAS] is part of the accession pipeline to become a SEAL and the performance of attendees this summer will be a factor for evaluation at the September SEAL Officer Selection Panel,” he said.

Because of operational security concerns, Salata said the Navy would not identify the candidates or provide updates on their progress in the selection pipeline. In special operations, where troops often guard their identities closely to keep a low profile on missions, public attention in the training pipeline could affect a candidate’s career.

It’s possible, however, that the first female member of these elite communities will come not from the outside, but from within. In October, a SWCC petty officer notified their chain-of-command that they identified as being transgender, Salata confirmed to Military.com.

According to Navy policy guidance released last fall, a sailor must receive a doctor’s diagnosis of medical necessity and command approval to begin the gender transition process, which can take a variety of different forms, from counseling and hormone therapy to surgery. Sailors must also prove they can pass the physical standards and requirements of the gender to which they are transitioning.

These first female candidates represent a major milestone for the Navy, which has previously allowed women into every career field except the SEALs and SWCC community. A successful candidate would also break ground for military special operations.

Army officials said in January that a woman had graduated Ranger school and was on her way to joining the elite 75th Ranger Regiment, but no female soldier has made it through the selection process to any other Army special operations element. The Air Force and Marine Corps have also seen multiple female candidates for special operations, but have yet to announce a successful accession.

The two women now preparing to enter the Navy’s special operations training pipeline will have to overcome some of the most daunting attrition rates in any military training process

Dunbar said the SEALs, which graduate six Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL classes per year, have an average attrition rate of 73 to 75 percent, while the special boat operator community has an average attrition rate of 63 percent. The attrition rate for SEAL officers is significantly lower, though; according to the Navy’s 2015 implementation plan for women in special warfare, up to 65 percent of SEAL officer candidates successfully enter the community.

But by the time they make it to that final phase of training, candidates have already been weeded down ruthlessly. Navy officials assess prospective special warfare operators and special boat operators, ranking them by their scores on the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery, or ASVAB, physical readiness test, special operations resiliency test, and a mental toughness exam. The highest-ranking candidates are then assessed into training, based on how many spots the Navy has available at that point.

“We assess right now that, with the small cohorts of females, we don’t really know what’s going to happen as far as expected attrition,” Dunbar, the Naval Special Warfare Center deputy commander, told DACOWITS in June.

Dunbar did say, however, that Naval Special Warfare Command was considered fully ready for its first female SEALs and SWCC operators, whenever they ultimately arrived. A cadre of female staff members was in place in the training pipeline, and the command regularly held all-hands calls to discuss inclusivity and integration.

“All the barriers have been removed,” he said. “Our planning has been completed and is on track.”

Salata said the Navy had also completed a thorough review of its curriculum and policies and had evaluated facilities and support capabilities to determine any changes that might need to be made to accommodate women. As a result, he said, minor changes were made to lodging facilities and approved uniform items.

Nonetheless, Salata said, “It would be premature to speculate as to when we will see the first woman SEAL or SWCC graduate. Managing expectations is an important part of the deliberate assessment and selection process; it may take months and potentially years.”

http://www.military.com/daily-news/2017/07/19/navy-first-female-applicants-seal-officer-special-boat-units.html

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Rats Fall From Dallas Chipotle Ceiling

WTF? Worse than a Chinese Buffet, rats everywhere, damit!

Some diners at a Dallas Chipotle Mexican Grill restaurant said their lunch was ruined by rodents falling from the ceiling on Tuesday.

Patrons captured cellphone video inside the Chipotle restaurant on North Market Street in the West End area, showing rodents crawling around the floor and one climbing up the wall. Customers claimed the rodents fell from the ceiling.

“If we would have been sitting at the table next to that it definitely would have fell on top of our food because it was literally right there,” Daniela Ornelas, of Dallas, told NBC DFW, adding that she and her boyfriend were eating during the lunch rush at the restaurant.

“I just kept wondering what it was, and I kept looking around until I looked at the floor, and I saw three rats, and I ran,” Ornelas said.

A Chipotle spokesperson issued a statement to NBC DFW Wednesday to help explain how the incident occurred.

“We learned yesterday that mice got into a restaurant,” the statement read, “and we immediately contacted professionals who identified a small structural gap in the building as the likely access point. We’re having it repaired. Additionally, we reached out to the customer to make things right. This is an extremely isolated and rare incident and certainly not anything we’d ever want our customers to encounter.”

Ornelas said she was happy with how the employees handled the situation, but would likely not return to Chipotle’s West End location.

 

http://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/Rodents-Fall-From-Ceiling-of-Dallas-Chipotle-Customers-435476763.html

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The Juice Is Loose After 9 Years Served for Vegas Robbery

Smug bastard.

O.J. Simpson is granted parole after serving 9 years for Vegas robbery

O.J. Simpson was granted parole Thursday for convictions connected to a robbery in a Las Vegas about a decade ago. He could be out of jail as early as October.

The ruling came after a hearing in which Simpson testified that he longed to be reunited with his family and children and that he has no interest in returning to the media spotlight.

During the hearing, Simpson was assured by one of his victims that the former football star and actor already has a ride waiting for him when he gets out.

“I feel that it’s time to give him a second chance; it’s time for him to go home to his family, his friends,” Bruce Frumong, a sports memorabilia dealer and a friend of Simpson’s, told the Nevada Board of Parole.

Frumong was threatened and robbed by Simpson and some of his associates in a Las Vegas hotel in 2007, and his testimony in that case led to Simpson’s imprisonment. But, Frumong told the board, “if he called me tomorrow and said, ‘Bruce I’m getting out, would you pick me up?….’” At that point, Frumong paused, turned to Simpson and addressed the former USC gridiron star by his nickname: “Juice, I’d be here tomorrow. I mean that, buddy.”

The board went into recess late Thursday morning after hearing more than an hour of testimony from Simpson; his oldest daughter, Arnelle Simpson; and Frumong, who each asked for Simpson’s release. The panel returned about a half hour later and unanimously voted to grant parole.

Arnelle Simpson became emotional shortly after beginning her testimony, sometimes stopping to shake her head.

“No one really knows how much we have been through, this ordeal the last nine years,” she said. She stopped and exhaled deeply, excusing herself before putting her fist up to her mouth to steady herself. “My experience with him — is that he’s like my best friend, my rock.”

She added: “As a family, we recognize he is not a perfect man. … But he has done his best.”

Simpson looked upbeat during his first public appearance in years, smiling and nodding to parole commissioners through a video link.

But while the parole hearing was specific to the 2008 robbery conviction, many of his answers to the four commissioners brought back memories of his acquittal in the 1995 double-murder of Ron Goldman and Simpson’s ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson.

“I’m in no danger to pull a gun on anybody. I’ve never been accused of it,” he said. “Nobody has ever accused me of pulling any weapon on them.”

Goldman and Brown were killed with a knife.

Simpson, who turned 70 this month, only barely resembles the athletic younger man who was tried and acquitted of the murder of his ex-wife and her friend in 1994.

Simpson, wearing standard-issue blue jeans, blue button-down shirt and a white T-shirt, now has close-cropped gray hair, and he looked slightly stiff as he sat down at a plain wooden table inside a prison five miles outside the town of Lovelock, Nev., where he has served nine years in prison for a robbery and kidnapping conviction in 2008.

Through a slight delay, Simpson blinked rapidly and blew out a deep breath at one point as he listened to state parole chairwoman Connie Bisbee read off the list of charges that landed him a sentence of nine to 33 years in prison.

“Mr. Simpson, you are getting the same hearing everyone else gets,” Bisbee said, then acknowledging the media firestorm that Simpson’s hearing has generated — one of the few news events to edge President Trump off the national news broadcasts. “Thank you, ma’am,” Simpson replied, laughing.

This was Simpson’s second parole hearing. His last one in 2013 resulted in parole on one of the charges stemming from the robbery and kidnapping conviction in 2008.

The commissioners asked Simpson a series of questions about how he had conducted himself in prison, what he thought his life would be like outside of prison and whether he felt humbled by his convictions.

Simpson said on several occasions he was “a good guy” and indicated that he mostly wanted to spend time with his family — bemoaning missed graduations and birthdays — and that the state of Nevada might be glad to be rid of him.

“No comment,” one of the commissioners said to some laughter.

He expressed regret at being involved with the crime, but drew some pushback from commissioners who took issue with his version of events, in which he said he didn’t know a gun had been brandished in the hotel room during the robbery.

But Simpson held to his version, repeatedly apologizing and expressing regret that he had left a wedding in Las Vegas to go recover memorabilia he said was his.

“I am sorry things turned out the way they did,” Simpson said. “I had no intent to commit a crime.”

Because it’s Simpson, there was high interest. On Wednesday night, media satellite trucks were already camped in the dusty parking lot facing the fences and guard towers of the prison, about five miles from the tiny town of Lovelock. In Carson City, where the parole board is meeting 100 miles southwest, trucks were lined up in a business park.

There are expected to be about 15 people in the parole hearing room where Simpson is expected to address the commissioners by video at the Lovelock site.

Along with his attorney, Malcolm LaVergne of Las Vegas, Simpson’s daughter, Arnelle Simpson, 48, and his sister, Shirley Baker, are the Lovelock site with Simpson. A friend of his, Tom Scotto, 55, will also be present, according to a pool report from Lovelock.

His parole caseworker, Marc La Fleur, may speak during the hearing.

One of the victims of the robbery, Alfred Beardsley, died in November.

In his testimony, Simpson referred to the effect of the incident on Fromong. “Bruce was traumatized by it,” Simpson said, adding, “He accepted my apology.”

Simpson has tangled with the legal system over the last three decades — most famously in 1995 when he was acquitted of charges that he murdered Ron Goldman and Nicole Brown Simpson. His robbery conviction in 2008 was for his attempt at the Palace Station Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas to steal Simpson memorabilia that he said belonged to him in the first place.

The same four board members who granted Simpson parole four years ago were at Thursday’s hearing: Bisbee, Tony Corda, Adam Endel and Susan Jackson.

 

http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-oj-simpson-parole-board-20170720-story.html

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Baby Dies in Hot Car While Mom Gets Hair Done; Calls Roadside Assistance To Get Battery Jumped

DiJanelle. That’s all you need to know

Mother charged in baby’s hot car death was getting hair done: police

(Reuters) – A 25-year-old South Carolina woman was in jail on Tuesday on a murder charge for the death of her 13-month-old daughter, who police said she left in a car last month while she went to a hair salon in suburban Atlanta.

The mother, DiJanelle Fowler, kept the car running with the air conditioning on, but the car’s battery died while she was inside the beauty shop in Tucker, Georgia, on June 15, said DeKalb County Police spokeswoman Shiera Campbell.

Police believe Skylar Fowler was dead by the time her mother returned to the car a few hours later, Campbell said.

“Instead of calling 911, she called roadside assistance to get her battery jumped,” Campbell said in a phone interview.

Fowler concealed the baby from the person who helped restart her car, then went to a hospital and called 911, Campbell said.

The mother told police she herself had passed out from some sort of medical condition, Campbell said. But the child’s condition indicated she had died sooner than the time Fowler suggested, the police spokeswoman said.

The high temperature in DeKalb County that day was 92 degrees Fahrenheit at 5 p.m., according to the National Weather Service.

Fowler left the area after her daughter’s death. She was arrested late on Monday after turning herself in to DeKalb County Police, who had been searching for her, Campbell said.

In addition to the second-degree murder charge, she also is charged with second-degree cruelty to children and concealing a death, jail records show. Court records did not show whether Fowler had hired a lawyer.

https://www.aol.com/article/news/2017/07/18/mother-charged-in-babys-hot-car-death-was-getting-hair-done-po/23036446/