Image 01 Image 03
Sign In or RegisterLogout

Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion

/var/www/vhosts/legalinsurrection.com/httpdocs/wp-content/themes/bridge-child/readFeeds.incFALSE

Posted by Andrew Branca on November 18, 2015 78 Comments
I've previously written here about the Florida movie theater shooting, in which retired police officer Curtis Reeves shot and killed Chad Oulson in claimed self-defense after the two men argued about Oulson's use of his cell phone in a movie theater:

Florida Theater Shooting Induces Another Round of “Stand Your Ground” Mania (1/14/14)

“Popcorn” Shooting Trial Set For March (9/17/14)

Despite that second headline, the trial proper has not yet begun.  Last week, however, defense counsel for Reeves filed a motion seeking self-defense immunity under Florida statute §776.032, "Immunity from criminal prosecution and civil action for justifiable use of force."  That motion is embedded as a PDF at the bottom of this post. Naturally there remain factual disputes between the prosecution and the defense, and the resolution of those factual disputes will likely be dispositive on the self-defense immunity motion. Setting those factual disputes aside for the moment, however, the motion does a very nice job of laying out the relevant law of self-defense immunity.  It also provides a very clear and intuitive model for how such a motion should be structured and argued. (Nice work by defense counselors Escobar, Michaels, and Shah.)

LATEST NEWS

Posted by Leslie Eastman on November 18, 2015 7 Comments
We recently reported that San Francisco’s “sanctuary sheriff” lost his re-election bid, defeated in large part because of the release of an illegal immigrant accused of killing Kate Steinle while she walking on the city waterfront with her father. This defeat has helped fuel the launch of an initiative so that California voters can eliminate sanctuary cities in this state:
A California group has launched a ballot initiative to eliminate sanctuary cities, hoping to take power away from state and local lawmakers who have banned their police and sheriff’s deputies from cooperating with federal deportation authorities. “This should be a warning sign to elected officials in other sanctuary cities that the majority are opposed to their refusing to cooperate with federal authorities,” said Ted Hilton, the man behind the new ballot initiative. ...Mr. Hilton’s ballot initiative would effectively overturn the Trust Act, requiring police to notify federal authorities every time they encounter an illegal immigrant. Federal agents could still refuse to deport them, but the state would have done its part. State and local authorities would also be required to comply with federal agents’ requests to be notified when an immigrant wanted by ICE is to be released, and to honor “detainer” requests asking that immigrants be held for pickup.

Posted by Mike LaChance on November 18, 2015 15 Comments
Carly Fiorina appeared on the Kelly File last night and offered a harsh rebuke to President Obama's recent remarks regarding the terror attacks in Paris. Fiorina pointed out that Obama is more comfortable attacking Republicans than he is talking about America's enemies and laid blame at the feet of the president and Hillary Clinton who she charges with leaving a vacuum in the Middle East by prematurely pulling out American forces against military counsel. When Megyn Kelly asks Fiorina what can be done domestically to stop the rise of ISIS and other terrorists, she says one of the most logical first steps would be to stop the flow of Syrian refugees who can't possibly be vetted adequately.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on November 18, 2015 5 Comments
I am absolutely certain that generations from now, we will be able to look back and tell our children that this was the moment when the rise of political correctness began to slow and our planet began to heal. A.F. Branco has released Comically Incorrect, a collection of his best cartoons, some of which ran at Legal Insurrection, some elsewhere. The book is available for pre-order (shipping December 5) at a $5 discount off the $24.95 list price at Patriot Depot (where they throw in a calendar of Branco's cartoons as well), and at list price at Amazon. At Patriot Depot only you can purchase an autographed copy for $29.95. Here is the back cover, which gives a peek at some of the cartoons included:

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on November 17, 2015 18 Comments
Ah yes, Caitlyn Jenner. Hero of transdom or betrayer of feminism? Lately, consensus sides with the latter. Formerly Bruce, now Caitlyn Jenner has the self-professed feminist community up in arms. Named one of Glamour's Women of the Year, Jenner's remarks aren't quite the homer he (she?) may have hoped. According to Glamour's Los Angeles LGBT Editor, Jenner was awarded Woman of the Year because, "ehe made the decision to transition publicly—so that in the future kids don't have to wait until they're 65 years old to discover who they are." At the time awards were announced, Glamour wrote:
A year ago Caitlyn Jenner did not have a name. The Olympic hero turned reality-star patriarch was still living a phantom existence, her changing appearance igniting a tabloid frenzy around the rumor she'd run from for most of her 66 years: that she was transgender. She was confined to her house in Malibu, California, where she'd been forced to build a wall to shield herself from paparazzi cameras. "There I was, in this beautiful beach house, all by my little lonesome, right back where I started, dealing with the same issues I had when I was 10 years old," she remembers. Her breaking point came when photographers showed up outside her doctor's office, spying on what she'd hoped could be a private medical procedure to reduce the size of her Adam's apple. That night she couldn't stop thinking about a gun she kept in her home. "Go in there, no more pain," she recalls saying to herself. But in the light of morning, she had a revelation. "I thought, 'OK, you transition, big deal! You are still alive. You have to make your life interesting.' "

LEGAL INSURRECTION QUICK TAKES

TPUSA Members: UT Tyler Attack Reflects Growing Campus Hostility Toward Conservatives

UT Austin Funds Graduate Student Research on ‘Reproductive Justice’

Texas Tech Regents Eliminate Several Race, Gender Studies Courses

Ransomware Gang Claims Credit for Vanderbilt Cyberattack

Occidental College Hosts Transgender Event That Mocks Trump

Franklin & Marshall College Drops Plan to Adopt 'Gender Neutral' Mascot

SEE MORE

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on November 17, 2015 13 Comments
Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal announced Tuesday afternoon he was ending his presidential campaign. Jindal is the third Republican candidate to suspend his campaign, and also the third Governor. Governor Jindal made his announcement during Bret Baier's Special Report on Fox News.

Posted by Andrew Branca on November 17, 2015 17 Comments
A couple of months ago we posted here about the effort of Florida legislator Dennis Braxley to change Florida's self-defense immunity law: Major Change Proposed for Florida Self-defense Immunity Law.   Under the proposed change a person claiming self-defense immunity for their use of force against another could be denied that immunity only if the prosecution could disprove self-defense beyond a reasonable doubt. That effort has now failed, reports the Bradenton Herald. Current Florida law will remain in effect, requiring that a person claiming self-defense immunity bear the burden of proving self-defense by a preponderance of the evidence. That legal standard had been applied by the courts for several years, and then was explicitly affirmed by the Florida Supreme Court in a 5-2 decision this past July. That decision, Bretherick v. State, 170 So. 3d 766 (FL Supreme Court 2015), is embedded below.

Posted by Amy Miller on November 17, 2015 7 Comments
A soccer match between Germany and the Netherlands has been canceled over the "concrete threat" of a planned bomb attack. Hanover, Germany is the latest site of two separate terror scares in the wake of Friday's massacres in Paris, France. French intelligence officials gave the all clear just moments ago (as reported in a Fox News live broadcast) after a fresh tip prompted law enforcement to evacuate the area following a previous false alarm. Fox News explains what happened:
"We had concrete evidence that someone wanted to set off an explosive device in the stadium," Hannover police chief Volker Kluwe told German TV. Referring to another bomb threat about an hour beforehand that turned out to be a false alarm, Kluwe said, "After the first object turned out to be harmless, we got a tip that had to be taken seriously that an attack was being planned." Investigators found a suspicious suitcase inside or near the stadium and a second suspicious device at the city's central train station, German media and Sky News report. Police closed off part of the train station.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on November 17, 2015 24 Comments
Yesterday morning we posted about an incident at UT-Austin, in which protesters from the Palestine Solidarity Committee (PSC), led by law student Mohammed Nabulsi, disrupted an event hosted by Professor Ami Pedahzur of UT’s Institute for Israeli Studies.  The invited guest speaker was Dr. Gil-Li Vardi from Stanford University. For full details, see Anti-Israel students target UT-Austin Israeli Studies prof after disrupting his speech. Since then, the dispute has gone national with attempts by PSC and its supporters to get Prof. Pedahzur fired based on an edited video released by PSC. UT-Austin disruption speech Ami Pedhazur 2 The edited video, however, shows the protesters refusing to leave or to participate, and instead shouting down others and chanting "Long Live the Intifada." The Intifadas have been the bloody series of uprisings which included suicide bombings (the Second Intifada which led to construction of the security barrier) and the current Knife Intifada which is ongoing. They also chanted "We want '48, we don't want two states" (a reference to the desire to undo the creation of Israel in 1948). The edited PSC video does not show, contrary to PSC claims, an assault by Prof. Pedahzur; rather, it shows him trying to get the protesters to stop the disruption and to participate in the event. Legal Insurrection has obtained exclusive video of the end of the event from the hallway outside which backs up Prof. Pedahzur's account. The video starts with the chants (shown at the end of PSC's edited video). As the protesters move outside, they scream that pre-Independence Jews cooperated with the Nazis, and then they continue their chants. Prof. Pedahzur exits the room into the hallway and again asks the protesters to participate in the event, but they just scream at him some more.

Posted by Amy Miller on November 17, 2015 72 Comments
Way back in September, when we were still young and naive in our belief that conservatives would overcome the odds and rally around The One sooner rather than later, I attended an anti-Iran nuclear deal rally on Capitol Hill. The event was headlined by Donald Trump and Ted Cruz, and featured the kind of anti-establishment, anti-Obama, anti-ridiculously stupid foreign policy speeches that have bolstered the more non-traditional candidates on the current Republican slate. Walking around, I was amazed at how many people displayed swag from multiple campaigns---weren't we in the middle of a hotly-contested nomination cycle? Still, rally attendees seemed less worried about who was taking a stand than they were about the possibility that nobody would take a stand at all. Trump and Cruz worked well together in this regard; they connected with the crowd and produced a cohesive message that resonated both on the Hill, and outside Washington. Looks like the honeymoon is over, though. It was nice while it lasted, but let's face it---we all saw this one coming.

Posted by Amy Miller on November 17, 2015 11 Comments
Today the Russian Federal Security Service confirmed that a terrorist bomb was responsible for the crash and destruction of a Russian passenger jet in the Sinai last month. 2.2 pounds of TNT explosives were used to bring the plane down in what officials are saying was "definitely a terrorist act." Alexander V. Bortnikov, the head of the Federal Security Service, or F.S.B., told the media today that soon after takeoff an IED exploded, causing the plane to mostly disintegrate in midair. Reports show that "foreign made explosive" was found on what was left for investigators to examine.

Posted by Sarah Rumpf on November 17, 2015 39 Comments
A growing list of mostly Republican Governors sent open letters to the federal government on Monday, announcing that because of the terrorist attacks in Paris, France, their states would not accept refugees from Syria, and urging the federal government to cease any efforts to bring Syrian refugees to the United States unless better security procedures could be implemented. The most updated list, according to CNN, of Governors sending these letters include those representing Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Nebraska, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Wisconsin, and the lone Democrat on the list thus far, New Hampshire. The main cause for concern was the fact that at least one of the terrorists involved in the attack on Paris had entered the country by posing as a Syrian refugee, and that a terrorist could take similar advantage of the refugee crisis to enter America. As Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) noted in his letter, "American humanitarian compassion could be exploited to expose Americans to similar deadly danger."

FBI Director admits feds can't properly vet the Syrian refugees

Posted by William A. Jacobson on November 17, 2015 2 Comments
I was a guest last night on the Mark Levin Show, the 4th highest rated talk show in the country with over 7 million weekly listeners, regarding our post, ALERT: Faculty Association anti-Israel Boycott season has started. This is the second time I have discussed the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement on Mark's show. This time I discussed not just the problem, but a solution. First, the background:
WAJ: "A combination of left-wing and Islamist-type professors have done at the campus level something which really is unbelievable. They've singled out Israel in their faculty associations, and they are trying, slowly but surely, to get more and more faculty groups to endorse the boycott of Israel, the complete academic boycott of Israel.... This season they're really coming up to a big busy season. The National Women's Studies Association is voting, as we speak, for the next 10 days, the membership is voting on the full boycott of Israel. How insane is that, of all the problems with ISIS attacking in Paris, with all of the problems of women being abused in the Middle East, the Women's Studies Association is singling out Israel....

Posted by Mike LaChance on November 17, 2015 39 Comments
Dartmouth College students who are part of the Black Lives Matter movement recently staged a protest which invaded a school library. As we reported yesterday at College Insurrection, some students who were trying to study allege physical assault. Campus Reform has the details:
Dartmouth students lead profane Black Lives Matter protest Black-clad protesters gathered in front of Dartmouth Hall Thursday night, forming a crowd roughly one hundred fifty strong. Ostensibly there to denounce the removal of shirts from a display in Collis, Dartmouth's student center the Black Lives Matter collective began to sing songs and chant their eponymous catchphrase. The band then marched into Baker-Berry Library. “F*** you, you filthy white f***s!” “F*** you and your comfort!” “F*** you, you racist s***!”

Posted by Amy Miller on November 16, 2015 7 Comments
Over the weekend the U.S. military completed its second arms delivery to the Syrian Arab Coalition. The supplies were delivered to Erbil and then carried west. The Syrian Arab Coalition is an "umbrella group" consisting of 5000 Arab forces that have joined together with Kurdish fighters to take on the Islamic State, or ISIS. The first "drop" benefiting the Coalition signified the U.S. pivot away from a "train and equip" strategy and toward a strategy that relies heavily on using existing forces to cut away at ISIS strongholds. More via the Wall Street Journal:
The first delivery, consisting mostly of small arms ammunition, was conducted by air on Oct. 11. The arrival of the second batch of ammunition, this time by land, suggests the coalition is performing well enough against Islamic State that the U.S. is willing to continue the relationship. Although the coalition is comprised mostly of Arab groups, many work in conjunction with Kurdish forces, known to be some of the most effective fighters against Islamic State.

Posted by Amy Miller on November 16, 2015 12 Comments
President Obama's approval ratings may be circling the drain, but a new Gallup poll released today shows that they're slightly less terrible than usual. Small miracles? American approval of Obama's handling of health care and the economy just clocked in at 44%, which represents a three-year high in both categories. The last time Obama did this well in the polls, he had just been elected to his second term; back then, an anemic 44% still represented a significant boost over the President's first term numbers. Gallup explains the trend:
Americans have not been as approving of Obama's performance on the economy since November 2012, just after the president was re-elected to a second term. The 44% he received then was similar to the 45% right before Election Day. Both scores were major improvements from the sub-40% ratings he'd received during much of his first term -- including a record low of 26% in August 2011 after contentious negotiations with Congress to raise the debt limit. Obama's best marks on the economy -- between 55% and 59% -- came during his first few months in office. Over the past three years, Obama's economic approval rating has fluctuated, reaching a low of 33% in 2014.

Posted by Andrew Branca on November 16, 2015 32 Comments
A re-trial begins this week in Houston for retired firefighter Raul Rodriguez who was previously convicted of murder and sentenced to 40 years in jail, reports the Houston Chronicle.  Rodriquez had unsuccessfully argued self-defense at trial. The notable oddity of this case was the fact that Rodriguez had videotaped himself rather bizarrely confronting loudly partying neighbors. Rodriguez would ultimately shoot and kill one of those neighbors, Kelly Danaher. I first wrote about this case back in December of 2014, after the appellate court ruled that Rodriguez was entitled to a re-trial: "New Trial for Man Who Video Recorded Own 'Self-Defense' Shooting." The grounds for ordering a re-trial was an error in the trial judge's instructions to the jury on Texas self-defense law. As I wrote at the time:
The facts of the case are somewhat ambiguous on detail, but in general they consist of an amalgam of a loud, drunken party, long-simmering neighborhood disputes, and incredibly poor judgment on the part of a retired fire-fighter in electing to exercise his concealed carry license by bringing his pistol to a confrontation. A tragic outcome was entirely predictable.
MORE POSTS
Accessibility by WAH