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dkp

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Everything posted by dkp

  1. There is no such thing as a magic bullet.
  2. I carry a Glock 23 in an IWB and most often find that I can carry with shorts and a t-shirt, no problem. The barrel on the Glock 27 is a tad shorter but even more important, the grip is shorter as well and will be less likely to print (if that is an issue in your state; it is not in MI). I was initially concerned about the lack of manual safety on the Glock but realized that the gun will simply not fire if the trigger is not pulled. I don't know that I would want my wife to carry one in her purse but I feel very safe with one in a holster. My advice would be for you to go to the range and fire the two or three final choices on your list. A good gun belt is important as well.
  3. That accident was an absolute tragedy. I, too, often think of what may-have-been if we had another perennial Norris candidate back their with Lidstrom & co., especially one who strikes fear in the hearts of his opponents. Konstantinov is one of my all-time Wings favorites. The Wings didn't seem to be playing their A-game last night. To me, they looked a bit tired and uninterested. Additionally, they seem to really thrive when they are driving the net and last night they seemed to be doing much more shooting from the top of the circle. I have to give credit to the Pens for playing a great game but the Wings just didn't seem to be up to the task last night. Go Wings!!
  4. in English please LOL Dump and switch: dump the puck deep into the opponents' zone (behind their goalie) while your team conducts a line change.
  5. FOTR is, IMHO, one of the best movies for both cinematography and sound ever. Simply spectacular. The ear-piercing squeal is a very good description and not something limited to your speakers or your room as I vividly recall this in the theater. In fact, I very clearly wondering how many dBs the squeal was hitting at the peak.
  6. It's a sign, Neil. Someone is trying to tell you something. []
  7. Good game, way to go Wings! Helm, Kronwall and Ericson are going to be studs for the Wings in the very near future. These guys have a HUGE upside! Helm reminds me of Datsuk when he first came into the league.
  8. Good game, great ending. Kane's goal was a thing to behold though, wow what a goal! Next up: Rematch of last year's Finals. Predictions, anyone?
  9. Series done tonight? What say you? I'm thinking it's over, although Detroit does like to close out on the road.
  10. Lost my entire post....GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR
  11. Joe-I renewed my contract a couple of weeks ago and purchased the Dare (for around $70 w/rebates). I do a small amount of texting but really like the phone. My previous phone was a first generation razr (silver, if that matters) and it was the best phone I have owned to date...until recently. As you know, I generally wear a suit and wanted a phone that was slim enough to fit into my shirt pocket like my razr did. The Dare has been a good choice thus far with MUCH improved battery life over my Razr. Let me know if you have any ?'s.
  12. Dee-I think you nailed it on the eye for eye, etc reply, thanks. In regards to capital punishment, I have been intrigued for some time now that God provided the role of the "Avenger" in the OT along with cities of refuge. I studied this briefly some time ago and always intended on getting into it further. As I understand it, the "Avenger" was most often the closest relative to the victim, although please do feel free to correct me if I am wrong. I would be interested to hear what you have to say on this.
  13. They were REALLY lucky today, eh? [] Go WINGS!!!
  14. Jury convicts man in housemate's beating death by Bryn Mickle | The Flint Journal Friday May 22, 2009, 7:48 PM FLINT, Michigan -- A jury didn't buy a man's claims that the son of a former Flint police chief killed his housemate two years ago. Dana M. Sebastian, 46, was found guilty Friday of first-degree murder for the Feb. 26, 2007 slaying of Kaneco A. Parson. Parson was found beaten to death with a sledgehammer in the garage of Sebastian's Grand Blanc Township home. Sebastian's attorney had claimed that Sebastian witnessed the killing but said the deed was carried out by two of Parson's friends, one of whom was JaQuan Dudley, the son of former Flint Police Chief David Dicks. Dudley was shot to death in an unrelated incident last year. Parson, 21, had been renting a room from Sebastian at the time of his beating death. Prosecutors portrayed Sebastian as a drug addict who killed Parson so he could rob him of crack cocaine. But Sebastian's attorney, Dennis Snyder, told jurors that Sebastian and his son were threatened with death if Sebastian told anyone about the slaying. After his arrest, however, the former Chrysler accountant allegedly told an inmate at the Genesee County Jail that he had done the killing, according to testimony in an earlier hearing. Jurors deliberated for about two hours Friday afternoon before reaching the verdict. Genesee County Prosecutor Davd S. Leyton said Sebastian had a dark side that turned him into a cold-blooded killer. "This was a brutal murder and the jury saw through (Sebastian's) fabricated story and his feigned attempts at appearing meek and harmless when he testified on the stand," said Leyton in a written statement. Snyder could not be reached for comment. Sebastian will be sentenced to mandatory life in prison at 1:30 p.m. June 30.
  15. That is surprising. Our jury originally consisted of 14 members. Trial, day one before we even get rolling one of the jurors informs the judge that he feels he cannot be unbiased about the case. He didn't state which side he would be biased for/against, but the judge excused him after taking him to task for not taking the several opportunities offered him beforehand. We lost another juror to an illness leaving us with 12. If 14 went through the entire trial, two would have been excused at the end. What a bummer that would be...
  16. I assume you are referring to Zetterberg? []
  17. Murder is a crime, whether committed by a felon or by the State. No-one has the right to take a life. Killing killers to show that killing is wrong doesn't make a lot of sense, does it? It appears that Michigan, at least, realizes this. Murder is the taking of an innocent life. State-sanctioned capital punishment is quite different. The goal is not to show that killing is wrong, it is to punish someone for an action they took. We obviously disagree on this.
  18. I just re-read my last post and was not as clear as I could have been. He was charged with BOTH first degree murder and felony murder. We were unanimous very quickly regarding the murder-one charge. Our debate was centered around the felony murder charge and eventually wound up reducing it to second degree murder. Therefore the defendant was found guilty of BOTH first and second degree murder. I have absolutely no doubt that he is guilty of first degree murder. He very clearly and deliberately thought this out beforehand. The law does not specify a length of time between thinking of murdering someone and actually committing the act. He went into the garage to retrieve the hammer and came back into the house to murder the victim. I would be interested in an expansion of your comment on the Biblical prescription for capital punishment and your thoughts on why this case does not qualify.
  19. The jury was excused before everyone else (for our safety, perhaps?) so I didn't bump into any of them. I do, however, plan on writing them a short letter indicating my willingness to answer any questions they may have. I hope they take me up on it as it would be interesting to hear their perspective on things as well. We all got to know the Court Clerk fairly well as she took us to lunch everyday and escorted us through the building to the jury breakroom, outside for smoke breaks, etc and I spoke with her a bit afterwards. I asked her if she agreed with our verdict and she did but I also wanted to know something about the law that didn't get answered in a question that I directed our foreman to ask the judge. The defendant was charged with first degree murder and also felony murder. The statute essentially states that murder occurs in the course of a robbery. While all of us believed that he murdered the victim in order to take his cocaine and money, we also felt that the prosecution did not prove this beyond a reasonable doubt. However, the statute also states that a larceny occurs when a person's personal property or money is removed from them permanently. In this case the defendant at least took the victim's coat from his body (with intent to destroy the evidence) and most likely his pants and wallet too. Therefore, the defendant's actions did qualify for this portion of the statute. We got hung up on the wording of the law as it appeared that, in order to be guilty of this statute, the defendant's motivation must have been robbery with murder occuring in the process. Since we knew that he did not murder him for the coat, we could not come to a guilty verdict on this count. So I asked the judge whether or not a larceny occurring in the course of a murder falls under the same umbrella as a murder in the course of a larceny. I was arguing this point on behalf of three other jurors and wanted us to get it right. The judge came back with an answer that essentially instructed us to read the statute. We therefore convicted him not on felony murder, but the lesser charge of murder, second degree. I learned from the Court Clerk, an attorney herself, that murder in the course of a larceny and larceny in the course of a murder would result in the same charge. I was a bit disappointed that I didn't stick to my guns and force the judge to give us a better answer, but at that point he was going away for life anyway and considered it to be a bit more of a moot point.
  20. Serving as a juror was definitely not something that I was excited about beforehand. However, after going through the process, I am left with a sense of pride for serving my own community in this way.
  21. Just tied Chicago 3-3 in game three. C'mon boys, let's get this done!! Anyone see the hit Kronwall laid on the Chicago player? I thought it was a clean hit although the refs gave him a game misconduct and a 5 minute penalty. I sure didn't see it that way...
  22. I have been performing my civic duty for the past couple of weeks on jury duty in a murder trial. No one, or at least not many, really desire to serve as jurors so I suppose getting picked on an interesting case is a consolation prize. The price was the amount of time involved at a very low compensation rate ($40/day plus 10c/mile). I must say that I have learned a lot and really appreciate being able to contribute to the community in this fashion. While we were unable to consider the penalty during our deliberations, I truly wish that Michigan had the death penalty and that we would have been allowed to submit this as our recommendation to the judge. The defendant in our case was a well educated man in his mid-40s (bachelor's and master's degrees) who has a life that sounds as if it went downhill very quickly. Short version: He killed a man at his home who was most likely his drug dealer with a 10lb sledge and tried to blame the crime on the victim's cousin and friend. Prosecutor's version was believable; defense side not at all, especially when the defendant (against his counselors' wishes) actually took the stand. This guy went through all of the motions including fake crying (minus tears, of course) and the whole bit. Not one of us believe him in the least and we were all very open minded throughout. Count one; murder one, guilty Count two; felony murder, we changed to murder in the second degree. This guy is going to jail for life and deserves every second of it. Links for those interested in reading further: http://blog.mlive.com/flintjournal/2008/01/former_inmate_implicates_man_i.html http://www.mlive.com/news/flint/index.ssf/2009/05/trial_gets_under_way_in_2007_d.html If anyone is interested in further details of the trial, I would be happy to discuss the case.
  23. Joe-sending you a PM.
  24. Mikey, I think I still have a present for you...gotta check. (forgot all about it!) Congrats!
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