Tacoma News Tribune staff writer Adam Lynn reported on Thursday July 14, 2011 about the accidental shooting death of Code Enforcement Officer Lisa Melancon. This is another one of those inexplicable freak occurrences where a firearm is discharged and the person who is killed was not the apparent target. What started out as an argument and the exchange of nasty text messages between two teenage females spiraled out of control and involved male acquaintances of both of them wherein a fight ensued between the guys [Jordan Kudla and Manny Castillo], which was next door to Melacon. Olujimi Blakeney, a friend of Castillo’s fired a round in the air to break up the fight, after previously pointing it at Kudla’s mother [who was hitting her son and Castillo with a baseball bat to get them to stop fighting] and allegedly threatened to kill her, fled from the scene of the altercation in Herman Jackson’s car and pointed his revolver outside the passenger-side window and fired blindly as he was making his getaway.
The bullet struck Melancon in the head, who had gone outside on the front porch of their house to call her husband back inside because he had gone out to see what was going on. City of Tacoma Deputy Prosecutor Jerry Costello wants to charge Olujimi Blakeney with First Degree Murder because he says the perpetrator [Blakeney] showed an extreme “indifference” to human life. In order to satisfy the legal requirement for “Murder in the First” the Prosecution must prove: (1) A person is guilty of murder in the first degree when: (a) With premeditated intent to cause the death of another person, he or she causes the death of such person or of a third person; or (b) Under circumstances manifesting an extreme “indifference” to human life, he or she engages in {conduct which creates a grave risk of death} to any person, and thereby causes the death of the person [RCW 9A.32.030]. Most likely, the Deputy PA will seek to prove part (b).
There is however, another provision in the Criminal Law Code of Washington State which could also meet the requirement for unlawful conduct, namely, Murder in the Second Degree: (1) A person is guilty of murder in the second degree when: (a) With intent to cause the death of another person but without premeditation, he or she causes the death of such person or of a third person; or (b) He or she commits or attempts to commit any felony, including assault, other than those enumerated in RCW 9A.32.030(1)(c), and, in furtherance of such crime or in immediate flight therefrom, he or she, or another participant, causes the death of a person “other than” one of the participants; except that in any prosecution under this subdivision (1)(b) in which the defendant was not the only participant in the underlying crime, if established by the defendant by a preponderance of the evidence, it is a defense that the defendant. . . [RCW 9A.32.050]
Mr. Costello may have his work cut out for him to prove the higher threshold of Murder in the First because he has to provide evidence which shows that Blakeney engaged in “conduct which creates a grave risk of death” and explain what the legal definition of that phrase means. On the other hand, it would seem that based upon the information that has come out so far and not having access to the Charging Documents, the crime of Second Degree Murder is a much stronger case because Blakeney was (1) involved in the commission of a felony [assault]; (2) he took immediate flight from the scene [extending or furthering the crime]; (3) and his discharge of a firearm caused the death [accidental] of someone [Lisa Melancon] who was not involved in the original assault [allegedly threatening Mrs. Kudla]. Even the possession of a revolver by Olujimi Blakeney is most likely a felony because he may have had a prior felony conviction on some other charge. Be that as it may, it is so sad and such a tragedy when something like this happens because it is sudden, unexpected and is forever; live for all the families involved in this tragic event will never be the same.
Robert Randle
776 Commerce St. #B-11
Tacoma, WA 98402
July 15, 2011
robertrandle51@yahoo.com
Saturday, July 16, 2011
Friday, July 15, 2011
America's economic trouble requires a "We the People" solution, not a political one
The one thing that is becoming increasingly clearer by now is that our elected officials don’t have the answers to solving our problems. They tell us what we want to hear and blame the other political party for being obstructionist and partisan, and yet, aren’t they equally as biased towards serving their own particular constituency and supporters? Politicians cannot fix what’s broken [I guess it’s above their pay grade] and when they show “Humpty Dumpty” to the public, he is a legislative patchwork of duct tape or held together with rubber bands and paper clips. It’s funny, but the Tea Party as a grassroots movement initially had the right idea, and that was to reform the way things were done in the Beltway by wanting to limit the power of Big Government [Federal] and the influence of corporate lobbyists [special interest groups], thereby preserving to the “People” the power to control their own lives and make decisions that serve their best interests and the public welfare. It is under the U.S. Constitution’s Declaration of Independence that a free people can amend or abolish any form of government that deprives them of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness [without ‘Due Process’]; and of which does not promote the general welfare and domestic tranquility of its citizens.
It is time to realize that although we are a nation of many individuals from diverse backgrounds yet we are “all” in this rut together and it is going to take our ‘collective’ intellectual, technical, scientific, spiritual and creative energies [imagination] to save all of us. We can no longer pay attention to the divisive labeling and characterizations of Americans who are just as patriotic, God-fearing and who love this country just as much as anybody else. It isn’t about popularity, celebrity, or even hypocrisy, but rather who can come up with solutions. Sometimes we forget that we breathe the same air and if a butterfly flaps its wings, the effect can be felt somewhere on the planet. None of us is an island unto himself so why not put aside all of the nonsense, bickering, finger-pointing and roll up our sleeves, get to work and try to figure out our way out of this fiscal nightmare and economic mess that even some of the experts haven’t been able to come up with the answers.
Perhaps the best way to go about this is to attack the problem from all sides, that is at the local level [community/town], city, county, state and then all the way up to the federal government. The first thing to acknowledge is that all problems cannot be solved at once and that each and every person is responsible to make sacrifices and contribute in some way, because there are no free lunches. For whatever reason, it seems people are so averse and adamant against being taxed, but yet they still want to benefit from the resources and services that those very unpopular taxes provide as revenue to these same agencies. Somehow, “taxation without representation” means, we pay too much in taxes already so we don’t want to pay more. This attitude forgets to take into account that more people than ever before are receiving payments from some government program today than at any other time in the nation’s history.
Of course, nobody wants to pay taxes, but more importantly than that, no one wants to pay more that their fair-share; there are a few, however, that don’t want to pay at all. Former hotel heiress Leona Helmsley was once quoted as saying, “only losers pay taxes.” The one thing that makes America one of the greatest countries on earth is the unrivaled spirit that people have when it comes to voluntary giving through philanthropy and private donations. Funding doesn’t always have to be the result of a bond, levy, bill, referendum or proposition. There are at least two avenues to pursue when it comes to solving the budget and financial crisis facing all business sectors [private, public, state, federal, etc.], namely, to promote and advertise through some non-for-profit organization or foundation the benefit of public support on a voluntary basis to keep certain programs viable and serving the community. The next idea, which is not new because some schools already use it to motivate academically poorer students to get better grades or higher SAT scores, and is performance-based. A similar approach could be used, which is an incentive program that rewards any great idea, whereby if it is used, the submitter will receive financial compensation or in this case a cash annuity like the lottery. If the person is a teenager, they can receive a full 4 year full-ride scholarship to any university in the country, along with the annuity if they qualify; which can be used to pay for living expenses if living off campus or for whatever.
This strategy means thinking out of the box and is a fundamental shift in the way that things are done but considering the dismal track record that exists now and how politicians seem more interested in Texting pictures of themselves wearing briefs or boxer underwear, this is a much better use of taxpayer money. This can be done at any government level and some age restrictions and other guidelines would apply but it shouldn’t be any different from entering a sweepstakes, game contest or even playing in the State Lottery. Perhaps something like this has been tried in the past and it was more trouble than it was worth to set everything up and administer it. Well, that may very well be but isn’t it worth a second look and remember that it was either Thomas Alva Edison or Alexander Graham Bell that failed in his experiments 99 times before he came upon the one that succeeded. Besides, the way things are going, what do we have to lose?
Robert Randle
776 Commerce St. #B-11
Tacoma, WA 98402
July 14, 2011
robertrandle51@yahoo.com
It is time to realize that although we are a nation of many individuals from diverse backgrounds yet we are “all” in this rut together and it is going to take our ‘collective’ intellectual, technical, scientific, spiritual and creative energies [imagination] to save all of us. We can no longer pay attention to the divisive labeling and characterizations of Americans who are just as patriotic, God-fearing and who love this country just as much as anybody else. It isn’t about popularity, celebrity, or even hypocrisy, but rather who can come up with solutions. Sometimes we forget that we breathe the same air and if a butterfly flaps its wings, the effect can be felt somewhere on the planet. None of us is an island unto himself so why not put aside all of the nonsense, bickering, finger-pointing and roll up our sleeves, get to work and try to figure out our way out of this fiscal nightmare and economic mess that even some of the experts haven’t been able to come up with the answers.
Perhaps the best way to go about this is to attack the problem from all sides, that is at the local level [community/town], city, county, state and then all the way up to the federal government. The first thing to acknowledge is that all problems cannot be solved at once and that each and every person is responsible to make sacrifices and contribute in some way, because there are no free lunches. For whatever reason, it seems people are so averse and adamant against being taxed, but yet they still want to benefit from the resources and services that those very unpopular taxes provide as revenue to these same agencies. Somehow, “taxation without representation” means, we pay too much in taxes already so we don’t want to pay more. This attitude forgets to take into account that more people than ever before are receiving payments from some government program today than at any other time in the nation’s history.
Of course, nobody wants to pay taxes, but more importantly than that, no one wants to pay more that their fair-share; there are a few, however, that don’t want to pay at all. Former hotel heiress Leona Helmsley was once quoted as saying, “only losers pay taxes.” The one thing that makes America one of the greatest countries on earth is the unrivaled spirit that people have when it comes to voluntary giving through philanthropy and private donations. Funding doesn’t always have to be the result of a bond, levy, bill, referendum or proposition. There are at least two avenues to pursue when it comes to solving the budget and financial crisis facing all business sectors [private, public, state, federal, etc.], namely, to promote and advertise through some non-for-profit organization or foundation the benefit of public support on a voluntary basis to keep certain programs viable and serving the community. The next idea, which is not new because some schools already use it to motivate academically poorer students to get better grades or higher SAT scores, and is performance-based. A similar approach could be used, which is an incentive program that rewards any great idea, whereby if it is used, the submitter will receive financial compensation or in this case a cash annuity like the lottery. If the person is a teenager, they can receive a full 4 year full-ride scholarship to any university in the country, along with the annuity if they qualify; which can be used to pay for living expenses if living off campus or for whatever.
This strategy means thinking out of the box and is a fundamental shift in the way that things are done but considering the dismal track record that exists now and how politicians seem more interested in Texting pictures of themselves wearing briefs or boxer underwear, this is a much better use of taxpayer money. This can be done at any government level and some age restrictions and other guidelines would apply but it shouldn’t be any different from entering a sweepstakes, game contest or even playing in the State Lottery. Perhaps something like this has been tried in the past and it was more trouble than it was worth to set everything up and administer it. Well, that may very well be but isn’t it worth a second look and remember that it was either Thomas Alva Edison or Alexander Graham Bell that failed in his experiments 99 times before he came upon the one that succeeded. Besides, the way things are going, what do we have to lose?
Robert Randle
776 Commerce St. #B-11
Tacoma, WA 98402
July 14, 2011
robertrandle51@yahoo.com
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