(10-13) 15:31 PDT EL CERRITO -- A man stabbed and bludgeoned his sister and her husband to death in El Cerrito in 2006 because he thought the couple were too liberal, were raising their children wrong and because they hadn't invited him over for Christmas, a prosecutor told jurors Tuesday.
Edward Wycoff, 40, of the Sacramento suburb of Citrus Heights coldly planned the slayings, including getting Lasik surgery and using night-vision goggles so he could find his way around the house where Julie Wycoff Rogers, 47, lived with her husband, Paul Rogers, 48, prosecutor Mark Peterson said.
He also purposefully picked the date for the killings - Jan. 31, 2006 - Peterson said in Contra Costa County Superior Court in Martinez. That was 20 years to the day after Wycoff's grandmother, whom he hated, left his home after breaking her hip, the prosecutor said.
Wycoff regarded his grandmother as "evil" and thought his life improved considerably after she left, Peterson said. Because he believed the couple had also been making his life miserable, he chose that date to break into their home on Rifle Range Road overlooking Wildcat Canyon Regional Park, stab them repeatedly with a knife and bludgeon them with a wheelbarrow handle, Peterson said in his opening statement in Wycoff's murder trial.
Although Wycoff was also armed with a gun, he didn't use it because he didn't want to boost the cause of gun-control supporters, the prosecutor said. Wycoff, who is serving as his own attorney, told jurors that he still hates the couple "a little." "They owe me a life," he said. "This has ruined my life, and Julie and Paul owe me for that."
Wycoff agreed with the prosecutor that he resented members of Paul Rogers' family for their liberal politics, and that he thought the couple were at times "too easy" when they disciplined their children. He also said that "it wasn't just Christmas" when he wasn't invited over. It was also Thanksgiving in 2005, the year his and Julie Rogers' father died. "When someone does that, they hate you - they're out to destroy you," Wycoff said.
Peterson said Wycoff had planned to adopt the couple's three children after he committed the killings. The prosecutor played for the jury the 911 call made by Eric Rogers, then 17, after the killer broke into the home about 4:30 a.m. The boy's sister, Laurel, then 12, could be heard screaming in the background. The children tried to help their father, who told them, "I love you all" before dying, the prosecutor said. Eric Rogers brushed his father's hair, telling him, "I love you, papa." Peterson said Julie Rogers' last words to police were, "Kids OK?" The children were not harmed. A third child, then 15, was not living at the home at the time.
In an interview from jail after the slayings, Wycoff, who is 6 foot 5 and weighs 300 pounds, said he had tried to disguise himself during the killings by wearing a motorcycle helmet and attaching a ponytail with his late mother's hair. In a poem, Wycoff wrote, "My sister, I gutted her like a fish," Peterson said. "And in fact, he did," the prosecutor added, "and he's proud of it."
Wycoff was arrested after he turned up at a hospital in Placer County, seeking treatment for a gash on his leg that he probably sustained while breaking into the home, Peterson said. Wycoff is charged with two counts of murder along with the special circumstance alleging that he committed more than one murder. Prosecutors said they will seek the death penalty if he is convicted.
Wycoff's opening statement indicated he would try to justify the killings to the jury, rather than deny he committed them. At the close of his remarks, Wycoff told the "few fans" in the gallery to contact his advisory attorney, David Briggs, if they wanted autographs.
You better brace yourselves, because if this is the truth - and I'm inclined to think so -, it is equally hilarious and agitating.
The Dutch anti-piracy outfit BREIN is pushing a more than questionable trial against TPB in Dutch courts and now appears to have forged evidence to link the blokes of TPB to the company officially owning TPB. Brokep aka Peter Sunde blogged about todays hearing at the Dutch court and presents rather convincing arguments that almost inescapably indicate forgery by BREIN.
Excerpt:
And the question is, why would Experian make a false credit report? A company that does one thing for a living, with hundred of employees all over the world, give out trustworthy credit reports. They would of course not risk it to help a small antipiracy agency out in their high profile political game! And as you all can clearly see from the overwhelming evidence, the credit report is fake. Backed up by evidence from the lawyers of Mossack Fonseca & Co. Backed up by the government of Seychelles, times two – First by their company registry. And I actually called and asked if Fredrik was a citizen of their country. The answer was, as expected, Neij. He’s not.
It’s also clear that the government does not keep the data of the CEO nor the directors of companies. It is clear that the previous inquiry is bullshit, at least on that date. It is clear that the date of registration is taken from the whois of thepiratebay.org It is clear that Fredriks name is taken from the same whois; … and it’s clear that Reservellas name is taken from there (or from the air, it doesn’t really matter).
It is very clear to me what has happened. My well educated, well established, well founded hunch is that BREIN realized that they were going to lose hard and in order to win, they themselves had to create false evidence and hand that over to the court!
"A federal district court says Veoh, a Web video site that has come under legal fire from entertainment companies the past several years, is not liable for the copyright violations committed by its users, a decision that could help YouTube defend itself against Viacom's $1 billion copyright suit. "
James Orr put an immediate halt to his criminal trial Wednesday when he squeezed the contents of his colostomy bag onto the table in front of him and ate it. "There was what appeared to be feces on the table and on the floor," assistant Hamilton County prosecutor David Prem said. Prem was prosecuting Orr, 66, for robbery and kidnapping. The trial, without a jury before Common Pleas Court Judge Ethna Cooper, began last week but continued today.
A witness had just taken the stand in the case Wednesday when Norm Aubin, Orr's attorney, said Orr leaned into him and asked if Aubin had anything to eat. A shocked Aubin said he didn't. Orr then said he was hungry and asked for food. Aubin ignored him. That's when Orr made a spectacle of taking his colostomy bag, worn on the outside of his body to collect his waste, and placing it on the table. He then squeezed it and looked to be eating it.
"It appeared he was eating his own (feces) at the table," Aubin said. The Sheriff's deputy in the room shouted "What are you doing?" and then cuffed Orr and rushed him out of the courtroom. The Sheriff's office later reported there was feces on Orr's lips, beard, hands and the defense table where he was sitting.
The judge suggested the courtroom had become a biohazard area and closed it for cleaning, continuing Orr's trial until next week. Prem admitted he almost vomited up while watching Orr's antics but suspects they were done with a purpose. "He's a con man. He has over 50 aliases and has convictions in Ohio and New York for thefts and robberies," Prem said. "He's done just about everything a person can do to avoid justice. He feigned (mental) incompetence" leading up to this trial, Prem said.
Orr was ordered to trial after court mental health workers deemed him mentally sound and a faker. I'm completely convinced his whole goal here is to cause as much mayhem as he can," Prem said of Orr. Aubin will have jail workers again check Orr's mental health before continuing the trial Wednesday. No additional charges were filed against Orr after Wednesday's courtroom activity.
Orr was being tried for robbery and kidnapping charges after officials said Orr and a partner tried to get money, in a ruse, from a woman buying food at a Silverton Chinese restaurant. When the woman wasn't fooled, Orr is accused of pulling a gun on her - with her three children in the car outside - and taking her to a bank where she was forced to withdraw $1,000 and give it to Orr. He faces more than 60 years in prison on those charges.
I know patents have been a running gag for quite a few years already, but this is just silly. How the hell can you grant a 20-year patent on a search box with two buttons and a few links? That's as basic as it bloody gets, ffs.
Text after the break.
After a five-and-a-half-year fight, Google and its attorneys have managed to convince federal bureaucrats to bestow a patent on the company's iconic home page. We always thought the page was brain-dead simple, but apparently it's an innovative "graphical user interface."
Google had more luck patenting the design of its search results, which were submitted along with the home page in early 2004 cleared the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office at the end of 2006. The home page, in contrast, was split off into a separate application, receiving its design patent for a "Graphical user interface for a display screen of a communications terminal" just yesterday. The document (see below) is as minimalist as the interface, containing a single illustration of Google.com, with the company logo depicted in dotted lines to indicate it is not an integral part of the patent.
In other words, subject to how the patent is enforced, Google owns the idea of having a giant search box in the middle of the page, with two big buttons underneath and several small links nearby. Since the time of the patent application in 2004, the company has moved some links, for searching News and Groups and other alternate databases, from directly above the search box to the top of the home page. But Google presumably believes its patent is broad enough to cover the variation.
It's not clear how the company, already under scrutiny from antitrust regulators, will wield the patent against competitors. The Yahoo Search page, depicted at left, bears a striking resemblance to Google.com, while Microsoft's Bing, which features a photo and several headlines, is more distinct. But there mere existence of the patent should create enough uncertainty to scare some worried startups away from Google's stripped down look. So while people may flock to Google for its clean, minimalist design, in so doing they are supporting a company that is poised to retard the spread of such an aesthetic online.
Google's shareholders will be more pleased, of course, as will staff. Google diva Marissa Mayer, the overachieving VP of search, added another patent to her trophy case with the decision. Powerful executive; athlete; fashionista; and genius inventor of this totally unprecedented rendering of HTML. Is there anything Mayer can't do?
posted by RhesusMonk3 months 1 week ago • 361 views
Apparently the wack-job hairstyle and inimitable nose are not enough to identify this mystery rock legend. Read the hilariously disappointing story below.
"It is pretty much exactly what law enforcement has been demanding and privacy groups have been fearing. It represents a reneging of a commitment from the previous Public Safety Minister on court oversight and will embed broad new surveillance capabilities in the Canadian Internet." Law Professor Michael Geist
posted by thepinky5 months 2 weeks ago • 961 views
I don't know how this thread will be received or whether or not it belongs here, but I don't want to get flamed again so if you tend to become upset easily, please disregard the following. Or just flame me. Whatever you want.
I've been thinking about Henry David Thoreau's famous essay, originally titled "Resistance to Civil Government", but now commonly known as "Civil Disobedience". The second time I read it, it reminded me of VideoSift. I started thinking about some of the outraged comments that I sometimes read here regarding the US government. I've heard Bush called a "filthy murderer" and worse, and I have occassionally wondered, "Well, why don't you do something about it?"
I am NOT criticizing you for failing to take direct action. Goodness knows that I don't do much but talk and vote. I'm just trying to raise a question.
Guys, as much as this all sound nice and happy, 'hugging' and 'persuading' just wouldn't work in certain areas. I'll come right out and say you guys are being delusional here.
That biker probably ignored the cop's orders to stop and attempts to weave through. So cop had to use necessary force to stop him.
You might say 'you can be nice while enforcing the rule'. Oh yeah? You think these guys would give their own time, purposely stop for you and wait for you to order you around? Not in NYC at least.
You think nice words would've made him stop instead? He would've past right through without a glance. If he had listened to the first warning and stopped, sure, give him a hug, a kiss, a reach-around and what have you. But when you fail to obey, you gotta crack the whips in order to make them listen.
Do I think all that force was necessary just to enforce someone to wear a helmet? No, I do think it was excessive. But that's not the issue here. The main point I'm discussing here is that 'nice words would NOT have stopped this man'.
If the biker had listened to the cop in the first place, this never would've happened. But he purposely ignored the cop giving orders to stop.
I currently work in a Gym in New York City, and I've got a bunch of meatheads from the city coming in to the gym and do whatever they wanna do. They're all pumped up from the energy drinks and dumbells. They're hyper, loud and full of testosterone.
I was nice to them back when I first started working here. But then they how far they can push the line, and they test you over and over and over. You have to put your foot down otherwise you're the only one getting hurt. They don't see you as a person, but merely as a 'worker they can take advantage of'
You give someone a break, and the next day they ask for the same thing, and then something else. And if you allow this to continue, they'll keep pushing until they get everything.
They don't limit themselves, and then the rules go haywire. They ask to get a break. But then what happens to other members who adhere to those rules? They ask for the same favor now, and the rules are no longer valid.
You wanna know how my day goes? Let's say someone is not wearing proper gym attire. Trying to work out while they're still in their Jeans. I call out their name to tell them it's not allowed in here. And guess what, they just walk right past you.
But they DID hear you, but they CHOOSE to ignore it. They know that once they're past the front desk and into the main floor, they think it's a done deal. Because nobody wants to chase after a person, either because they're lazy or because it's not worth it.
But I personally get out of my station and chase them down. They call me a hard-ass for doing that. But I only do it because ONLY THEN they listen to you. Otherwise all they do is get past the front gate as fast as possible, not make eye contact, pretending to listen to their IPOD. And then do whatever the hell they want once they're inside the gym. Ignoring all the guidelines and rules.
This one time the guy knew I was following him downstairs to give him a warning, so he decides to go into the spinning bike room and locks the door. You can see right through the plastic windows. I know he can see me, but he CHOOSES to ignore me, pretending to ride the bike with his head down.
I knock on the door, mouthing 'come out'. You know what he does? He pretends he can't hear me over the loud music playing on the overhead sound system... LOL Is he in middle school? you might ask. Nope, the guy was 32 years old.
Guess what, this happened perhaps at least 3 times a week when I first started working at the gym. Back when I was being the 'nice cop'. Nowdays I don't give a damn about their feelings or whatever lame excuse they gotta give. I don't do them favors nor do I care what they have to say. And guess what, only after I act like an asshole was when they started listening to me.
Even still, there's still one or two people (sometimes girls, especially the ones in their late 20s to mid 30s) trying the same shit on me per week. I admit I'm still not used to dealing with these types. I feel uneasy when I have to 'act' tough and be an asshole. But you gotta do what you gotta do in order to enforce rules, otherwise nobody will listen to it.
Nowadays they know I don't do them any favors and know I'll do something about it when they ignore me, either by talking real loud about their bad behaviors and embarrassing them in front of everyone or putting a hold on their membership.
It's like being in a iron cage with a bunch of wolves. If you appear too nice, these fuckers will perceive you as 'weak'. And they take advantage of you until you do something about it. They try to assert themselves whenever they see an opening, it's like a fucking prison cell. Of course, not all of them are like that, but it only takes a few of them to push the line, and rest would mimic the same behavior because they now know it's possible.
And once they know how far they can push it, even the nice ones who never behaved such ways would start to do it. They learn from what others have been doing, so they learn to mimic the techniques and tries to pull off the same shit on you.
Environment you live in, and the culture that dominates is a scary thing. It really is.
That is why niceness is such a dangerous tool to use. It's a double edged sword.
posted by RhesusMonk7 months 1 week ago • 499 views
The Pirate Bay founders have finally been nailed down by Swedish cops and Interpol. They were just sentenced to a year in prison plus fines for conspiring to violate copyrights. More here.
posted by kceaton17 months 2 weeks ago • 682 views
Slashdot has an article up that is fairly funny. Videosift by proxy maybe an accessory to terrorism.
This stuff comes from "intelligence" gathered. So, so, sad. I get the feeling that these guys still send chain emails and receive them. Unlike most people of that type, they only believe half of them rather then all.
posted by rottenseed7 months 3 weeks ago • 435 views
Presenting the long awaited *law channel. A place for videos and discussions regarding law and order, crime and punishment and anything else that'd fit under the Judicial Branch.
Also a great channel for those pesky Siftquisitions.
Sifted Law Videos
