Mountain Mail Country Online - Socorro, Lincoln & Otero Counties New Mexico

USA v Hicks - Prosecutors Tell the Truth. Persecutors Don't.

Tue, 2 Nov 2010 05:30:00 MDT

Michael Morris In Focus

That title came to me from the lips of my 9 year old son who attended the last 2 days of the latest trial. Even he gets it. Oh yeah, so did the jury. I want to apologize to my readers for an error. In the last installment of this drama I surmised the reason for the split verdict. As it turns out it seems the jury did not buy the stein attack at all and was actually confused by the testimony of two German military personnel who witnessed another event 5 hours earlier. Assistant US Attorneys Jack Burkhead and Jennifer Rozzoni used this testimony in an attempt to make their case seem more plausible to the jury. The problem is Burkhead and US Air Force Detective Richard Schnell both knew they were offering fraud to the court. As jury deliberations ran for more than 12 hours notes from the jury to the judge show just what the jury was thinking.

USA v Hicks Justice on Life Support

Sun, 24 Oct 2010 15:20:00 MDT

Michael Morris In Focus

In the aftermath of the retrial of Jade Hicks on Assault w/ Deadly Weapon/Serious Bodily Injury in US District Court (CR 09-1976 JH US District NM) it is clear that the Office of the US Attorney under Kenneth J. Gonzales has become the epitome of a sleazeball operation so hell bent on obtaining convictions it will resort to any tactics from subornation of perjury to witness intimidation to jury tampering and more. Is this the Hope & Change you promised us Mr. Obama? Prosecutors who time and time again get caught manufacturing testimony? Prosecutors who dress their interns as street thugs to sit on the defense side to make the defendant look like a gang banger? Prosecutors who sent deputy Marshalls threatening to arrest ME after the not guilty verdict was returned? I want to hear it from the boss. Any of you who think you have a right to defend yourself might want to read what Assistant US Attorneys Jack Burkhead, Jennifer Rozzoni and Shana Pennington did in order to make an attacking gang the victim of the person the gang attacked.

Mescalero Apache Seat New Government

Mon, 11 Jan 2010 06:00:00 MST

Michael Morris
Photos by Racquel Morris Click any image to enlarge in new window

Friday I had the honor of attending the Inauguration of the new Tribal President, Vice President and Council of the Mescalero Apache Tribe. I left a little stunned. Not because of anything unusual, but rather by my awakening to the universality of my concept of usual. President Mark Chino spent a significant part of his address discussing the destructive effect of faceless rumor on both the morale of citizens and the dousing of the desire of the young to aspire to service. How is that any different than the dramas playing out in the newspapers and their forums concerning Capitan and the Alamogordo School Board? I walked in expecting some typically typical political this and that and left thinking that if Mark Chino put his entire life force into achieving the goals he set he could take his people beyond far. Good fortune be with you sir.

Mike Harris Part 3 Investigatio

Sat, 28 Nov 2009 14:50:00 MST

Michael Morris In Focus

This is where I usually do my version of a sarcasm monolog. I dont have one today aside from the title that is not misspelled. Youll get it later. Alamogordo Times contacted PED after reports surfaced that persons were having difficulty obtaining public records. In response we were treated to an angry and defensive man. I suppose I would be defensive as well if I conducted investigations in the way Paul Calderon, Program Director, Educator Ethics Bureau, NM PED does. In fact they would throw you out of the Don Adams fan club for doing investigations the way he does, but I digress.

USA v Hicks - Five Attorney Pile-up Leaves 6th Amendment in ICU

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 09:40:00 MDT

Michael Morris In the Courts

I recently attended the trial of Jade Hicks (CR 09-1976 JH US District NM) for 2 felony assault counts, one of which alleges with a deadly weapon, to wit: beer stein, held in the US District Court in Albuquerque. This case gained some publicity as the beer stein incident during Oktoberfest 2007 at Holloman AFB. This case caught my attention when a relative of the Defendant informed me that the trial had been moved to Albuquerque from Las Cruces and not at the request of the Defendant. Thinking this odd I decided to attend the trial at the last minute. What jumped out at me during the trial and my initial review of other case documents was that the Government was lying to the judge about the words in its own evidentiary proffers brought by Assistant US Attorneys Shana Pennington and Jennifer Rozzoni in front of US District Judge Judith Herrera. The effect of these misrepresentations, when coupled with defense attorneys who appeared to merely to be in attendance at the trial, was a redefining of No into Yes trampling most existing law in most areas the tribunal trod. This is by no means my last word on this case duh. What I urge the reader to focus on is not the guilt or innocence of the Defendant, but rather the means by which the prosecution secured the conviction in this case. If these tactics are ratified those of you concerned with your rights have one less concern in your lives.

Morris Endorses OCEDC Tax

Sat, 5 Sep 2009 10:10:00 MDT

Michael Morris In Focus

No, you did not read that wrong. After years of opposition to the Alamogordo Gross Receipts Tax for Economic Development in its present form I have realized the error of my ways and now urge you to vote YES to make the tax permanent next spring. It turns out that the tax may, in fact, be one of the greatest values going out there when compared to other alternatives.

Mike Harris - The Truth Behind the Legend - Part 2

Thu, 27 Aug 2009 16:30:00 MDT

Michael Morris In Focus

Just a good ole boys. Never meanin no harm Seems Roscoe (Royse City Police Chief Tom Shelton) and Cletus (Royse City Police Sgt. Jim Baker) have cooked themselves a plan to get that low down rotten Mike Harris. Seems some of their associates arent quite willing to accept that raise and contract extension the Board of Trustees down at the schools done gave the varmint. In fact they got em some pictures cousin Clem says proves the Superintendent stole gas. Lets see how them fellas did.

Mike Harris: The Truth behind the Legend - Part 1

Sat, 22 Aug 2009 17:00:00 MDT

Michael Morris In Focus

Throughout the last year there has been considerable speculation regarding the administrative hearings and charges currently pending before the NM Public Education Department (PED) against Alamogordo Public Schools (APS) Superintendent Mike Harris. The problem is that most of the information circulating is the result of a rather prolonged campaign to hype this into something it is not. In several parts I will endeavor to place a little reality into the mix.

Corrupt Justice - A Wilson Doughty production

Fri, 31 Oct 2008 05:50:00 MDT

Michael Morris In Focus

For years now I have explained over and over again why I see Judge Frank Wilson and local attorney Robert Doughty are cancers on the community. Today I think I can make this so entirely clear that anyone with a pulse will understand what sort of enemies of the people these two are. Recently I became aware of a case traversing the courts that is being run so far from the law that it needs to take precedence over even my actual business. For the moment I will not name the victim of this conspiracy to subvert justice as it would serve no purpose. The issues here, while tangentially related to this attempt to deny any semblance of due process, are not the matters that actually make this case farce and kangaroo.

12th District Judicial Nominating Commission takes the easy route

Sat, 4 Oct 2008 08:50:00 MDT

Michael Morris In Focus

I have to tell you that I was so entirely underwhelmed by the list of applicants for the job of placeholder District Judge to fill the remaining term of the retiring Frank Wilson that the prospect of tying a tie and walking up a flight of stairs to watch an uninspiring local commission component do exactly as I expected, the easy thing, proved too great. The news of the predictable came in a text message from a friend. In sending Bill Brogan, Mario Torrez and our perennial favorite Sandra Grisham to our even better friend Bill Richardson the commission gave the Governor a wide range of options ranging from the right thing to something hopeful of the use of petroleum products first. Lets have a look, shall we?