SAN JOSE -- He's not even old enough for a learner's permit. But in the eyes of the law, his alleged crimes have made him a full-grown man with all of the consequences that bears.
Adonis Muldrow, just 15 years and five months old, will be tried as an adult on charges he was one of two people responsible for a Nov. 16 crime spree that killed a Campbell man and ambushed and wounded a San Jose police officer, the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office announced Tuesday.
Muldrow, a San Jose resident currently being held in Juvenile Hall, is scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday afternoon on charges of murder with special circumstances, attempted murder of a peace officer, four counts of second-degree robbery, assault with a firearm on an officer and receiving a stolen vehicle. His alleged partner, 26-year-old Jonathan Dawson Wilbanks of San Jose, was arraigned last week but did not enter a plea to the same litany of offenses.
Self-confessed teenage psycho-killer Austin Reed Sigg has another hearing today, as justice for Jessica Ridgeway begins to clumsily meander through the criminal court system like a drunk on a binge.
Gag orders issued by the judge, though standard practice of late, aren’t helping much, either. Because of that restriction, both the prosecution and defense remain mum on exactly what to expect from today's proceedings or where the case is ultimately headed, and when it might get there.
The matter, crystal clear when the youth was first apprehended, is becoming murky already, as measures are taken to push it off the public’s radar so the jury pool doesn’t get tainted.
Will Sigg cop a plea well before then and spare the county the expense of a dragged out trial, maybe cough up another victim or two in hopes of sweetening the deal? Or will the 17 criminal charges he faces be transferred to the juvenile court where he could expect to receive total privacy and far more lenient sentencing if convicted?
Ross McWhirter (right) with his twin brother Norris
On November 27, 1975, Ross McWhirter was assassinated by two IRA terrorists. He was shot outside of his home in north London. His killers Harry Duggan and Hugh Doherty, both of whom were members of what became known as the Balcombe Street Gang were captured and charged with his and nine other murders.
CULIACAN, Mexico (AP) — A 20-year-old state beauty queen died in a gun battle between soldiers and the alleged gang of drug traffickers she was traveling with in a scene befitting the hit movie "Miss Bala," or "Miss Bullet," about Mexico's not uncommon ties between narcos and beautiful pageant contestants.
The body of Maria Susana Flores Gamez was found Saturday lying near an assault rifle on a rural road in a mountainous area of the drug-plagued state of Sinaloa, the chief state prosecutor said Monday. It was unclear if she had used the weapon.
"She was with the gang of criminals, but we cannot say whether she participated in the shootout," state prosecutor Marco Antonio Higuera said. "That's what we're going to have to investigate."
The slender, 5-foot-7-inch brunette was voted the 2012 Woman of Sinaloa in a beauty pageant in February. In June, the model competed with other seven contestants for the more prestigious state beauty contest, Our Beauty Sinaloa, but didn't win. The Our Beauty state winners compete for the Miss Mexico title, whose holder represents the country in the international Miss Universe.
The International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women is a day to address violence by raising public awareness and holding governments accountable. We should remember the 400-plus murders and disappearances of women since 1993 in the town of Juárez, just across the border from El Paso, Texas.
Ciudad Juárez is representative of the kinds of settlements that grow out of globalizing political and economic interests. It is estimated that 42 million people a year traffic through Juárez and El Paso. This border city is subject to ecological damage, sexual exploitation, and terrorism by the Juárez Cartel. Mexican journalist, Sergio González Rodríguez notes in his new book The Femicide Machine (MIT Press 2012) that "systematic actions against women bear the signs of a campaign: They smack of turf war, of the land's rape and subjugation." Narco-trafficking and the growth of the Juárez Cartel have led to the creation of a second, illicit state that operates beyond the reach of the official government.
While the United States Federal Government has become involved in trying to curtail the drug wars in Mexico, it may come as no surprise that special attention has not been given to the women who are used as pawns in these turf wars. They perpetuate the silence we find in the United States around violence against women. The initial response to this growing violence by the Mexican authorities was denial. As the crimes escalated, the government could no longer deny that women were being tortured, murdered and disappearing systematically. The authorities resorted to an old strategy -- blame the victim. The women were tried and held accountable in the cartel-controlled media. They were accused of living unconventional lives, of being prostitutes and lesbians.
On the night of November 29, 1988, near the impoverished Marlborough neighborhood in south Kansas City, an explosion at a construction site killed six of the city’s firefighters. It was a clear case of arson, and five people from Marlborough were duly convicted of the crime. But for veteran crime writer and crusading editor J. Patrick O’Connor, the facts—or a lack of them—didn’t add up. Justice on Fire is OConnor’s detailed account of the terrible explosion that led to the firefighters’ deaths and the terrible injustice that followed. Also available from Amazon
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