Sum it Up #53 comes after a long break in this series. The last one was from March 2014… so maybe it is time for a new one.
In general news, I am swamped with book reviews but I cannot complain because I love reading. I just posted the one from Peter Moore and I am now reading a book with ties to the area where I live. This may not be a good move but I am too curious.
A DCC reader sent me the link to the clip below. It gives tips what to do in an active shooter situation. It shows your options and what not to do. I watched the clip and it did gave me goosebumps as we had our share of violence here.
Oscar Pistorius will not be released early. From Time: “South Africa’s Justice Minister has blocked the release on early parole of Paralympic athlete Oscar Pistorius in a move welcomed by his victim Reeva Steenkamp’s family but denounced by many legal experts as politically motivated.”
He could have been released under “correctional supervision.” This is a concession made to those guilty of serious crimes but who are deemed not a danger to society. The Business Insider from the AP mentions that he received more privileges than other prisoners do such as getting a custom-made bed and bath.
Everything happens on TV within the limited time frame of 45 minutes and it drives me nuts. Apparently, ABC from Australia agrees with me as they published this article right when I was fuming over another laboratory technician without a hair net, open lab coat, showing a dangling necklace. Please meet some real technicians: the crime scene examiner, blood stain pattern analyst, pathologist, entomologist, ballistics expert, physician, toxicologists, DNA expert, anthropologist and bio-recovery technicians.
“There will be no posthumous royal pardon after more than two centuries for a man hanged for abetting a murderer who was never arrested or charged, never mind convicted.” The Herald Scotland has a fascinating article about the Appin Murder Case.
The Appin Murder Case centers on the historical miscarriage of justice in the case of James Stewart. On May 14, 1752, Colin Campbell was murdered as he was about to evict the Stewart Clan from their property. Indicted were Ailean Breac Stewart for murder and James Stewart for abetting.
James Stewart was railroaded in court as eleven of the fifteen jurors were Campbells. To top that off, the Senior Judge was their Clan Chief.
Aside from this, the defense and later everyone involved contended that “our submission was that, quite irrespective of all other ‘evidence’ led at trial, as Allan Breck could not be identified as the assailant, nor inferred as such, the case against James Stewart fell completely as a matter of law.”
Even if Ailean hatched the plan to kill Campbell, we still need to prove that he was at the crime scene and had the means/motive/opportunity to kill the victim. Without this evidence, how do you prove James abetted him?
Now scroll down in the article: “A group of experts invited to re-examine the case by the Royal Society of Edinburgh two years ago, found the evidence pointed to two unknown gunmen; and concluded that James Stewart was not guilty, and the main suspect Ailean Breac was not responsible either.”
Highland historian Professor Jim Hunter wrote the book Culloden and the Last Clansman about this case. Guess what book will be added to my reading list?
Till the next Sum it Up!