blogjam #20

We may have a theme here... I just can't put my finger on it!

1. MSgt B has concerns about the penis sizes of male polar bears.
2. JB Miller compares his son's farts to his suppressed 10/22 rifle.
3. Murphy's Law has concerns about fat chicks dancing on bars.

Gunbloggers Are The Best

I'm the last to get my blogshoot AAR up (as usual), but Saturday a bunch of us NoVA gunbloggers got down to The Range in Stafford. We met an hour before hand, gabbed a bit, did some shooting, and then went and got coffee to gab some more. We had a great time. Those in attendance were Nancy and Sweet Daughter, CTone, MSgt B (who put this together), and two bloggers I now get to move over to my "Bloggers I have met category", David from Musings Over A Pint and A Girl from A Girl and Her Gun.

I brought along my Mark III with red dot sight and my FN FiveseveN. In the parking lot I was joking about some ranges disallowing the 5.7 guns, and sure enough as soon as we got inside there was a big sign "NO FN 5.7!" Grrrr...

Of the guns going around, I pretty much shot everything though with the Sig fest going between MSgt B and David I was confused about what I was shooting and when. A Girl's M&P was interesting. I'd like to get more time on one of those. And CTone's HK always leaves me curious. Actually, I would like to do a side-by-side shoot between that and my PX4 some day.

CTone also gave me this parting gift:

It's a kydex mag holster he made, and a fairly ingenious design at that. My PX4 magazine went right into it and held firm enough that I could hold it upside down without the magazine falling out. Pretty cool. I've begun using it full time.

There's some talk of getting up to Proud Hillbilly / Murphy's Law territory and doing a blogshoot at 340 Defense sometime. Stay tuned for that.

Is the Falls Church PD In the Tank for the Gardners?

The trial of Michael Gardner should be coming to a conclusion either today or tomorrow, but perhaps the most stunning twist in the case came from testimony of the Falls Church Police Department. From WUSA9:

Greenspun is also trying to incriminate the Falls Church Police Department's investigation and evidence gathering in the case. He asked lead detective Sonya Richardson why they didn't get a search warrent for the Gardner's home until three weeks after the Friday night slumber party.

"Why didn't you get a search warrent on Sunday?" asked Greenspun.

Detective Sonya Richardson replied, "Because of the nature of the case."  She called it "high profile" and said she was told when she called the Arlington County prosecutor that there could possibly be a conflict of interest.

"I was asked to hold up," Richardson said.

Strong DNA evidence pointing to Gardner was found on one of the alleged victim's underpants and another's pajama pants. But an important item, the sleeping bag was not sent to be tested. "Why?" Greenspun asked.

Detective Richardson replied, "If I had my way I would have sent everything."   She said she only has a department of six people.

Compared to Arlington County and especially Fairfax County, Falls Church City does have a very small police department. But I read their crime blotter each and every week, and nothing much happens in Falls Church especially for the detectives. In any given week their biggest problem is underage drinking and public drunkenness. They have, maybe, one big case a year. And this would have been the big one -- the REALLY BIG ONE.

The delay in executing the search warrant means that the police never recovered Michael Gardner's laptop. Gardner was a local executive for a Seattle software company, and so he traveled a lot and would have had a laptop. One can only imagine what manner of evidence might have been on it.

Here's the timeline:

1. First girl assaulted night of June 16.
2. Second and third girl assaulted night of June 17.
3. Michael Gardner arrested June 23.
4. French Canadians of Quebec celebrate Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day on June 24.
5. Week one of the Smithsonian Folklife Festival starts on June 27.
6. Paris Cinema Film Festival opens July 1.
7. Nation celebrates Independence Day July 4.
8. Week two of the Smithsonian Folklife Festival starts on July 4, ends July 8.
9. Search warrant executed July 8.

So, as you can see a lot happened in that time. Unfortunately, none of it was related to this case. But maybe the Falls Church Police Department was preoccupied with the Folklife Festival... this is Falls Church after all.

No matter the outcome of this case, there needs to be an investigation of the Falls Church Police Department and the Arlington County prosecutors office. For them to say now that there was a conflict of interest is an understatement. For them to delay a search warrant for three weeks is, at best, a high-degree of incompetence. And to neglect to submit to DNA testing a key piece of evidence in the biggest case they've had for 20 years... well, you draw your own conclusions.

blogjam #19

1. W. Va. Woman Fights to Collect $10 Million from Debt Collectors. I love it when the tables are turned.
2. Britain a failing State?
3. Dr. Seuss quote too political for B.C. school.
4. VCDL prevails in lawsuit against Righthaven, but they'll never see a dime of the money since Righthaven has gone belly-up.

Blogshoot Tomorrow

MSgt B says I'm angry. We'll see about that!

Just kidding...

Looks like a small group, but that's just fine by me as the ones showing up are all on my favorite bloggers list.

Plinking

I'm on a plane today headed back to the Old Dominion, but I thought I'd post this. Last week I took our office's Afghan vet to the range and managed to snap this photo.

We were shooting my Mini-14 at IDPA targets 25 yards down trying to see how fast we could get head shots and center mass shots. We both did pretty well, but he's no fan of the Mini-14. I'll be taking him back with the new AR15 soon. And he gave me a pointer for shooting free-standing, which seemed to help.

George Zimmerman, John McNeil, Brandon Gotwalt, the NAACP, You and Me

Well, if there is one good thing to come of the George Zimmerman case it is that other bad prosecutions in self-defense shootings are coming to the surface, even if big media is only pointing them out to deface Stand Your Ground laws. Evil Blogger Lady pointed out to me that Salon and Radley Balko are now talking about the HUGE miscarriage of justice that is the John McNeil case.

In 2005, John McNeil rushed to the aid of his son who had been threatened in the family's backyard by Brian Epp with a knife. When McNeil arrived on the scene, Epp charged toward him. McNeil pulled his gun and fired a warning shot into the ground. But Epp kept coming until McNeil ended the situation with a single shot to the head. In 2006, McNeil was convicted of felony murder despite a police investigation that found the shooting to be self defense, eye witness testimony backing up that claim, and character witnesses testifying to the ill-temper of Epp.

As with Zimmerman, Stand Your Ground isn't actually relevant to McNeil's case, but my point in writing about Brandon Gotwalt last week was to show that the other aspect of Stand Your Ground laws, immunity from civil prosecution, is important. Gotwalt is an example of what happens when a political machine tries to make an example of you; they pursued civil prosecution where witness testimony was questionable and rules of evidence are less strict so that they could use that evidence to jump-start the criminal prosecution. Though Gotwalt never saw the inside of prison cell (thankfully), he was still bankrupted for coming to the aid of a woman crying out for help.

Unlike my position on these cases, the NAACP is anti-Zimmerman and pro-McNeil. I'll have to give credit to them for initially publicizing John McNeil's plight. But I have to say their attention span is short. I wrote to them early last year trying to get an update on McNeil's case, first to the guy that pestered Rev. Kenn Blanchard and then to some lady to whom I was referred. I've received nary a peep from the NAACP though they did put me on some broadcast activist email list. I'm guessing there isn't much media play in McNeil's name, or that they are more interested in seeing Zimmerman rot in prison than using Trayvon Martin's tragic death to help get a pardon for John McNeil.

As I'm writing this, I've discovered they did have a rally in Cobb County, GA, last year -- would have been nice if the NAACP had actually told me about it. Or told anyone about it. What I can tell you about the case is that it looks like McNeil has no money and is representing himself by filing hand-written papers from his prison cell (way to go NAACP legal department). And that's about all I can gather, as most of the court papers are behind Cobb County's heavily redacted website. For their part, members of his family have reached out to me via email over this past year but we never seemed to connect; I'm sure this is hard on them.

And now for the uncomfortable part for my core audience. From Balko:

The unfortunate framing aside, this is still a story that deserves more attention, and one that the gun rights crowd should be all over—and really should have been all over from the start.

Hey punk, some of us have been on it! But yeah, Radley Balko has a point. When I first stumbled upon this story last year I emailed links to a some big name gunbloggers but only Say Uncle put anything up. From the comments and other posts I saw at the time, I would say that is a fair observation that more pro-gun people were exercised about the NAACP calling them out than McNeil's incarceration. I know that isn't gonna make me popular, but at this rate nothing much is so I'm putting it as I see it.

The FCNP on Michael Gardner

Jury selection has finished, and now opening arguments have been given and the first witness has been called in the trial of Michael Gardner. You can read about that witness testimony at the Falls Church Patch: First Witness Takes Stand in Gardner Case.

As I noted in my previous post, The Falls Church News Press seems to be acting as an agent for Gardner, a former columnist of the paper and professed good friend of the publisher, as that paper worked to get information about Gardner's victims made public. Since that information was already available to the defense, making it public only served to publicly shame the victims and potential witnesses.

As the news of the trial was released today, you can also see the difference in treatment the Falls Church News-Press has for the case in stark contrast to other local media. Just take a look at the headline other media has given to the first witness testimony (as mentioned above). NBC 4 headlined "Child Takes Stand in Sex Case Against Michael Gardner". But the News-Press, "First Complainant Identifies Gardner as Attacker". Got that, "complainant" not "child". Softens the blow a bit.

One bigger contrast is how the Falls Church News-Press has treated the information regarding the second DNA sample. In their article "DNA Report in Gardner Case: Father 'Can't Be Eliminated' as Major Source", they clearly leave the reader with the impression that perhaps the father of one of the girls is at guilt for the crimes of Gardner. They selectively quote a forensics report.

By contrast look at how WUSA9 handled that information in "Michael Gardner Child Molestation Trial Begins With Jury Selection":

The DNA report also found sperm on one of the girl's pajama pants. The sperm is not Gardner's but the girl's father's.  No semen was found, and there is no allegation of abuse by the father.  A previous judge ruled the defense cannot allege any sexual abuse by that father.

But, how the sperm got there may be an important question during the trial.  The father of that girl says a DNA expert has and will explain for the jury that if clothes soiled with semen are washed with other clothes,  while the semen may wash away, dozens if not hundreds of microscopic sperm are distributed  in the wash and cling to all the clothes.  "It's in the wash, that's all it is," he said.     A Canadian study on the matter is referenced in the NCJRS.

Quite a bit more explanation of what is going on by WUSA 9 than by the much more local Falls Church News-Press.

Not Taking His Classes

Virginia Gun Safety Class Shooting Injures Couple

The incident occurred Saturday during a firearms safety class at a residence. The instructor, Thomas Starke, told police he'd left the room and then heard a shot.

In every firearms class I've ever taken, the first thing done was to remove all ammo from the room to prevent just such stupid things. Thomas Starke needs to review his course conduction procedures.

blogjam #18

1. Political Math Blog. Lot's of useful graphs to show that WE ARE SCREWED!
2. VIDEO: How the Titanic sank. Over at Evil Blog Lady's blog.
3. VIDEO: Neil DeGrasse Tyson on The Most Astounding Fact. Beautiful imagery, even though Dr. Neil is a jerk.
4. Headline of the Day: Saudi 4-yr-old kills father who 'refused to buy PlayStation'

Michael Gardner Goes To Trial

In my blog post "The Persecution of Brandon Gotwalt", I mentioned that the biggest proponent in the political machine trying to to make an example out of Brandon Gotwalt was Michael Gardner, a former local official in the Democrat Party and husband of the-then Mayor of Falls Church, and that Mr. Gardner now awaits his own criminal trial for child molestation. Well, supposedly today is the day that trial starts... it'll be interesting to see what comes of it.

Some developments have occurred in this case since last June when Gardner was arrested for having sexually molested three girls in his house during a sleepover for his daughter. In December, Gardner's lawyer filed a motion to dismiss the case which was denied, but that denial was sealed by the court. The Falls Church News-Press, the paper where Gardner had been a columnist and who's publisher, Nicholas Benton, Gardner often referred to as a close friend, sued to unseal the denial motion. What resulted was the release of the names of the victims and the fact that one had been seeing a psychologist prior to the crime in question.

As the motion to dismiss the case was denied, this information being in the wild only serves to intimidate the victim. And think about this: the victim was a childhood friend of Gardner's daughter. Take a moment to think about how slimy a move that was on Gardner's part and the complicit cooperation for which the Falls Church News-Press has engaged.

The results of the DNA tests are also now public, which have a puzzling twist. The tests confirm that the sperm found on the clothes of the girls did belong to Michael Gardner, but that there was also another donor of unknown identity.

While the Commonwealth wants to exclude the evidence of the second donor, it does add a puzzling twist. Did Gardner have an accomplice who has not been charged? Maybe that will come out at trial too. Maybe if Gardner will attempt to cut a deal and give up the accomplice since the evidence against him is very damning.

Do AK47s defy the laws of physics?

I was watching Ground War: Warrior Weapons, a PBS program, the other day when they started talking about AK47s. To show the reliability of an AK47, a guy throws one into a mud puddle then kicks mud all over it, picks it up and starts firing it. (you can see it here at about 43:00)

Would you do that with an AK47? Or any gun? I know their actions are suppose to take a lot crap in the works, but what about an AK47 makes it immune to barrel obstructions? If something, like a small pebble, had gone do the pipe wouldn't that be the setup for a KABOOM?

Once Upon A Time In Virginia

What a news day for the Commonwealth...

Toy guns prompt weapons questions

According to one parent, three local middle school children were recently faced with expulsion and felony charges after playing with airsoft guns on the Orange Elementary School playground.

Felony charges for playing with airsoft guns! Does anybody else think that's a bit too steep a penalty? I think they are reading the VA Code wrong, but if they are not then the Commonwealth's criminal code has a serious flaw.

Teacher Charged With Showing, Shooting Firearm

Washington County Virginia Sheriff Fred Newman said the 60-year-old teacher lined up a dozen students in a welding class and fired the blank gun in their direction. So far, investigators won't say why.

Well, it was wrong to do. But I think I understand the satisfaction he was going for in giving a good fright to those so-and-so's....

Police search for shooter in VSU homicide

Chesterfield Police are now looking for the gunman and three others in relation to the shooting. They're looking into the possibility of gang-involvement.

But I thought guns errr gangs umm guns uhhh gangs weren't allowed on the VSU campus?

Red Meat Read Of the Day

"As the Klan found out, it’s not so much fun when the rabbit’s got the gun."

I'm not usually one to read Ann Coulter, but after week upon week of the media going after gun owners over the Trayvon Martin shooting and the blatantly biased stories around the fifth anniversary of the Virginia Tech shootings, this was a welcomed article: The Democrats’ Racist Gun Control History.

I also did not know about the book Negroes with Guns. Just ordered it from Amazon.

BAG Day: I got a Pony!

Meet MSgt B's BAG (Buy a Gun) Day accomplishment. It just happens to be residing in my gun safe at the moment.

Colt AR-15 HBAR

As Murphy's Law pointed out, it has the Colt "wisdom" of a screw for the front swivel pin. Thanks Colt!

And a stupid piece of metal stamped "Colt" in the receiver that seems to serve no purpose other than to make doing trigger work on this shooter more difficult.

But it came with stuff...

The estimated 5 magazines turned into 9, and an estimated 500 rounds of ammo that I roughly calculate is off by half (the stuff in the plastic bin was 200 rounds all by itself). And there were 20 rounds of blanks. Will those even cycle the action? To bad we won't be able to find out on the 28th as the range for the blogshoot doesn't allow rifles. If anybody wants the blanks, raise your hand.

So head over to MSgt B's blog and congratulate him on his BAG Day winnings.

As for me, no gun this year. But I did get a very nice 350Z... just happens to be parked at MSgt B's place at the moment.

New Yorker Anti-Gun Article

I know. I know. Not quite a shocker. But what is shocking about this article is that it reads like an eighth grade book report. I don't read the New Yorker, but I assume they normally have higher standards for their articles. Not only are is the writing just about as bland and uninteresting as can be, but the raw anti-rights bias is so blatant that the content is obviously predictable.

Cleared To Land, Runway 1 Left

This was the view of the Shuttle Discovery as it passed over our office yesterday (taken by a co-worker, my video is very much the same).

We saw it twice. Very cool.

Here's what the news crews caught:

Everybody around me was cheering. Just keep this in mind the next time you hear somebody disparaging the concept of American exceptionalism. There's only one country in the world where this was ever seen, and it wasn't Luxembourg or France or whatever. The shuttle program is a clear example of American exceptionalism, and the final descent of Discovery in the 4th year of Obama is symbolic of what happens when you have an administration that does not share that vision.

Ted Nugent Under Investigation for Threatening the President

Ted Nugent’s Remarks Prompt Secret-Service Investigation

I guess that's one way for the Secret Service to distraction attention away from their prostitution problem. Or perhaps, being the government clueless corp that they are, they're unfamiliar with the Nug's reputation and thought, "Rock Star! He might know where to get that blow to go along with our hookers."

The Goddards do not speak for all Virginia Tech Parents

If you read the papers, you'd get the impression that the parents and survivors of the Virginia Tech massacre are all in unison with respect for asking for more gun laws. Unfortunately for people like the Goddards, who have turned their victim status into actual jobs at the Brady Campaign, this is not the case:

On April 16, 2007, my child, Leslie Sherman, was killed by Seung-Hui Cho during the Virginia Tech massacre.  Today is the fifth anniversary of her death.  Always in my memories, every day I wish that this tragedy was a nightmare and I could wake up to hold my daughter even if it is just one more time.  That opportunity might have been possible if someone been able to defend and protect my daughter in her classroom before Cho took 30 precious lives.

There is an unfortunate drive for more gun control and the continuation of preventing guns on campus by parents whose children lived or survived during that fatal day.  Several family members of those victims have actively voiced their support for increased gun control measures.  As result, it has been assumed that they speak for all families of the Virginia Tech victims.  I am writing this to make it clear that this isnot the case.  They do not represent me and my views.

Speaking for myself, I would give anything if someone on campus; a professor, one of the trained military or guardsman taking classes or another student could have saved my daughter by shooting Cho before he killed our loved ones.  Because professors, staff and students are precluded from protecting themselves on campus, Cho, a student at Virginia Tech himself, was able to simply walk on campus and go on a killing rampage with no worry that anyone would stop him.

I ask a simple question:  Would the other parents of victims be forever thankful if a professor or student was allowed to carry a firearm and could have stopped Seung-Hui Cho before their loved one was injured or killed?  I would be. I also suspect that the tragedy may not have occurred at all if Cho knew that either faculty members or students were permitted to carry their own weapons on campus.  Cho took his own life before campus police were able to reach him and put a stop to his killing spree.

A sad testament to this anniversary date is the number of similar killings in schools and public places that have taken place afterwards as if nothing has changed to help prevent such needless and heartbreaking events.  That is why I fully support the VCDL in their outstanding efforts to help prevent this type of tragedy and loss from occurring in the future.

Holly Adams

I can only imagine the heart ache Holly Adams has endured over the death of her daughter. It must be all that more frustrating to have the media make it appear others are speaking for her.

American Defensive LLC No More

That new shooting range in Sumerduck, VA that started up last year, American Defensive LLC, is now out of business. Actually, they've been out of business for a couple of months. They catered more to the high-speed, low-drag crowd as is you might guess from their Facebook page. Their website is now defunct with their domain being auctioned off by GoDaddy to the highest bidder.

I had to call to confirm this. The guy on the other end of the phone said "We got shutdown." I didn't care to try to get details, but that certainly leaves a lot to the imagination.

See the Shuttle Fly(over) One Last Time

If you are in the NoVA/DC area, you might be able to spy the Shuttle Discovery flying to its final destination at the Smithsonian's Udvar-Hazy Center: Discovery space shuttle: Where to watch the D.C. flyover.

That Invisible Force Field Around Schools Must Have Failed

Oh wait. It only detects real guns!

"[He] allegedly brandished a firearm, although it was a simulated weapon, like a blank semi-automatic pistol and the investigation is ongoing"

But we must continue to call this "simulated weapon" a firearm because how else are we gonna SCARE THE CRAP OUT OF YOU!

Neil DeGrasse Tyson is an Entertainer, Not a Scientist

In this video, Neil DeGrasse Tyson posits that for a period of 300 years (800 AD to 1100 AD) Islam was the focus of science in the world, and would have gone on to be a modern day powerhouse in science if it hadn't been for a couple of Islamic scholars saying math and science were the work of the devil. Interesting theory, but it ends it up with poking at modern, American Christians and flatly states that all scientists should not believe in God; the premise being that religion gets in the way of scientific advancement.

Just one problem that even an under-edumicated blogger such as myself can see. If religion is what stops scientific progression, how do you explain Soviet Russia? Or nearly the entire history of China? Those were certainly societies not racked by religion. And what about the societies where religion was very present? How do you explain the European renaissance? Or 20th century America?

For those of us attending the Borepatch College of Liberal Arts, we know that the largest contributing factor but not the only one for a society that advances is FREEDOM. Was America in the 20th century chalk full of Christians? Sure was, but it was also a free society. Did Renaissance Europe have a lot of Christians? Undoubtedly, but they emerged from their dark ages when they started to become a bit more free. Did Soviet Russia have a lot of Christians? None that would admit it, but they also weren't necessarily known for their scientific advances or social progress.

So is 21st century America collapsing into ruin because of religion? Because of Christians? Unlikely as there were far more self-identified Christians per capita in the US in 1950 than there are today. But we do have more progressivism than we did in 1950. After all, which party is it that is now suing Apple for selling books in digital form? Which ideology wants us to give up our cars and modern modes of transportation? Which one has banned that most modern invention of Thomas Edison? The one that is more closely aligned with the ideology of Soviet Russia than the others.

Now on to more important scientific inquisition: Will Aliens be Hostile?

blogjam #17

1. 23 Facts You Might Not Know about The Dukes of Hazzard.
2. Plus VIDEO: Every jump of the General Lee as seen on TV. Every jump was original!
3. Headline of the Day: Connecticut boy brings heroin to kindergarten show-and-tell; stepdad arrested.
4. What Happens When A 35-Year-Old Man Retakes The SAT? Money quote: "I hope the Princeton Review gets fucked by a cattle prod."

The Persecution of Brandon Gotwalt

With the media narrative of the Trayvon Martin shooting falling apart in what appears to be malfeasance by big-network news staff, some people are starting to wonder just how many times the public has been mislead like this. While I can’t answer that question, I can tell you that one such case did occur here in Northern Virginia just a few years ago. It may not have been as big a story, but it certainly had many of the same ingredients that we see in the current story recipe.

When Brandon Gotwalt was awakened at 4:30am to the screams of a woman crying for help, this Iraq-war veteran tried to do the right thing. What resulted was the death of another young man and Gotwalt enduring years of local media slandering his character, politicians promising to prosecute him in campaign speeches, witnesses fabricating testimony against him, and the loss of all his wealth to bankruptcy.

In the July 6, 2005 issue of the Falls Church News-Press, it was reported that local high-school graduate Steve Cornejo had been shot in the back while unarmed in the morning hours of June 25 in an apartment complex in the Fair Oaks area while attending a party. The news article quoted “unofficial reports” that said the assailant had left the party and come back with a gun when the shooting occurred.

For the next two months, the Falls Church News-Press would run news articles, editorials, and letters to the editor over the shooting. In each, a narrative was setup that Cornejo was a local high school graduate who had led his soccer team to the state championship his graduating year, and that he was unarmed when shot in the back. The News-Press attempted to whip up racial motivations for the shooting in a July 13 editorial, “Steve Cornejo’s family hails from El Salvador. The assailant is reportedly Caucasian. We would hate to think that any of this has anything to do with anything, but we’re not naïve”, and in an August 3 printing of a letter-to-the-editor, “Or are they assuming that because they are Latinos, no one will notice?”

And in a News-Press news article (not opinion piece) on August 17, there was speculation from “[k]nowledgeable observers [] that known facts about the case indicate the killer might have been an off-duty law enforcement officer, or a person in a related security profession.” And after pointing out that Cornejo had been accidentally shot in the back during a fight, the same news article speculated that the shooter intended to shoot because otherwise the guns safety would have prevented the discharge (it was later learned that the gun Gotwalt had was a .38 revolver).

Though the Falls Church News-Press continued to “report” on the case with somewhat laughable speculation, seasoned Commonwealth Attorney Robert F. Horan, Jr. sent the case to a 7 member Grand Jury in mid-July 2005 which found no basis to charge Brandon Gotwalt, whose name would remain undisclosed to the public.

So what really happened? That wouldn’t be fully reported until July 31, 2008, when the Washington Post reported that Falls Church City Mayor Robin Gardner had demanded a status report on the prosecution of Brandon Gotwalt and Commonwealth Attorney Morrogh responded with a detailed 3 page letter:

Morrogh's three-page letter delves into the episode in detail. He noted that Steve Cornejo and his ex-girlfriend had been drinking at a bar in Maryland, then drove to a party in Fair Oaks. Cornejo's blood-alcohol level was later measured at .20, more than twice the legal definition of intoxicated, Morrogh wrote. The ex-girlfriend told police she was so drunk she barely recalled the evening. 

About 4:30 a.m. June 25, Morrogh wrote, Cornejo attacked the ex-girlfriend in a breezeway outside the apartment party. Her screams awoke several people in other apartments, including Gotwalt. Gotwalt told his girlfriend to call 911, then went outside with a .38-caliber revolver loaded with small "snake shot" pellets designed for hunting small animals, Morrogh wrote. 

Gotwalt encountered the woman, Cornejo and another man and asked whether the woman was all right. The woman and the other man left without seeing Gotwalt show a weapon. Morrogh said that Cornejo then berated and pursued Gotwalt to the back of the building, then attacked Gotwalt. 

While the two men wrestled on the ground, witnesses said, the gun discharged at close range into Cornejo's back.

So while Cornejo had been unarmed, the truth was that he pursued Gotwalt attacking him from behind sending both men over a small hedge. As the two wrestled on the ground, Cornejo got the upper hand most likely due to Gotwalt’s smaller stature and got on top. Gotwalt then attempted to use the gun to beat Cornejo, but that’s when it went off killing Cornejo.

That wasn’t the only revelation. Cornejo’s reputation that had previously been painted as a local athletic hero and inspiration to future students was not how he was known to the police:

He said police found that Cornejo had a "propensity towards violence when intoxicated," including five or six prior incidents that would have been admissible in a criminal trial.

Cornejo had a record.

Despite all of this, Cornejo’s father won a successful civil lawsuit against Gotwalt in March 2007 for nearly $2 million.  Not only did the law suit cause Gotwalt’s bankruptcy, but it started anew public outcries for his arrest and prosecution.  This time it was not only the Falls Church News-Press, but the Washington City Paper, the progressive blog Raising Kaine, and most of all former local Democratic party operative and husband of the city’s mayor, Michael Gardner.

Michael Gardner’s agitation for a criminal trial was so intense it created divisions in the local Democrat party, causing the fervently liberal Falls Church News-Press to endorse a Republican for Commonwealth Attorney over the case. Gardner even withdrew support for Gerry Connolly, then the Chair of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors and running for his first term in Congress.

Prosecuting Gotwalt became a campaign debating point between Democrat Raymond F. Morrogh, a long time attorney in the office and right hand to outgoing CA Horan, and Republican Patrick McDade. McDade promised Michael Gardner he would pursue Gotwalt, and eventually Morrogh said he would do the same. For his part, Michael Gardner had his wife Robin Gardner, then Mayor of Falls Church, send repeated letters to officials in Fairfax County demanding a “status update” on the case.

Central to renewed interest in prosecuting Gotwalt was a witness at his civil trial, Giuseppe Amedeo, who testified that Brandon Gotwalt had bested Steve Cornejo in the struggle, brought Cornejo to his knees by repeated pistol whipping, and while standing over Cornejo who was pleading for his life shot Cornejo in the back.

Amedeo’s testimony wasn’t supported by the forensic evidence, as the autopsy showed that Cornejo had a contact wound, which is also probably the only reason the snake shot had such a lethal effect. Amedeo also gave police a different accounting of the event when questioned immediately after the incident, a story change he was unable to explain to police when they questioned him a second time after his civil trial testimony.

In the civil trial, Cornejo’s ex-girlfriend also testified that she was not present. But as was noted by the police, she was so drunk that night that by her own admission she barely recalled the events of the night.

Gotwalt eventually filed for bankruptcy, which was approved by the courts. And as of this writing, it would appear that the Commonwealth Attorney’s office considers the case closed. But as you can see, some of the elements of this event are the same as the Trayvon Martin case: the media did not report all the facts, the victim was not the choir boy his family would like the world to believe, charges of racism were leveled, and politicians preened about seeing justice.

Patrick McDade, who made going after Gotwalt a campaign issue, lost his election bid to Raymond Morrogh in 2007. And Gerry Connolly, who was pressured by Falls Church Mayor Robin Gardner and City Council Woman Lindy Hockenberry, did win his election bid to Congress and was re-elected again in 2010.

Though Michael Gardner kept the issue alive both as a blogger and eventual columnist for the Falls Church News-Press, as of this writing he is under indictment for molesting young girls at his daughter’s sleep overs on two separate occasions. While his wife is no longer Mayor of Falls Church, she remains on the city council for her last term ending in June of this year and is not seeking an additional term.

blogjam #16

1. Quiz: Who Said It: Samantha Brick Or Derek Zoolander?
2. Death By Regulation: the story of Andrew Wordes of Roswell, GA who blew himself up rather than let the city ruin his life.
3. VIDEO: ADmented Reality. What all this hyped sci-fi technology will be put to use doing.
4. Those Europeans are so sophisticated! A 1793 map of England firing a tsunami of poop at revolutionary France.

Murder on the Danziger Bridge

Borepatch reports that there is still accountability of authorities in this country: five of the police officers involved in the Danziger Bridge murders in the days following Katrina have been sentenced. Yes, it is almost 7 years later, but justice has been served. It may move slowly, but it has been served.

Of course, I haven't heard anything of the case of the guy NOPD officers shot in the back, dumped in a car, and set on fire. I'm sure that case is still under investigation.. right behind some guy who forgot to pin-on intend of thread-on his flash hider or something.

Just how much did police corruption play into the mayhem of Katrina? It was so bad, it was PBS Frontline Special Edition bad!

Corporations Killed Trayvon Martin

... since that whole racism killed the choir boy meme has collapsed into one of those infamous Florida sink-holes, the smarter-than-you progressives are now trying to pin this travesty on the Evil Corporations (tm).

This story hasn't just jumped the shark, it's gone full retard!

Colt HBAR

And so my AR15 saga continues. I was all set to start ordering parts when a friend told me he has a Colt Sporter Match HBAR up for sale because he has fallen on hard times and needs the money (a situation very much along the lines of how I came to have my Garand). Yeah, it isn't what I was going after but I do dig the retro look.

So I'm gonna help a brother out. I'll even give him right of first refusal if I need to sell it, and give him the option to repurchase it within the year no questions asked.

There's only one problem. Neither he nor I know the fair market value for a gently used, early 90's era, pre-ban Colt Sporter Match 20" Heavy Barrel AR15. Looking at GunBroker it would seem the prices are all over the map. So if any of you have an idea what this thing rightly goes for, I'd appreciate any help.

I Should Have Stayed In Paris

Things at work just got shittastic. I hope the rest of you are doing well. More later...