My best NYE ever was last year in San Antonio. My step-dad died right before Thanksgiving, and neither my mom or I were up for a big party. We saw a brief mention of San Antonio NYE festivities, and found a great air/hotel package. Ended up in a room overlooking the Alamo, down the hall from the UCLA football team (in…

PG is definitely the first choice for the prosecution if the trial is moved, but I don’t see the judge agreeing to a change of venue just yet.

Not all white - I think it would be next to impossible to seat an all white jury in Baltimore. I don’t remember the exact count, but Black women were the largest group, followed by white women, and Black men. IIRC, there was one white man.

Yes, I know transcripts are never provided. That’s why I said I understood the refusal.

But it does mean that the prosecution can’t/won’t call Porter as a witness in the other trials.

Yeah, that’s one of the things that bothers me the most. I fully understand the issues with transcripts - there can be errors, and you don’t want to give jurors a transcript that wasn’t technically entered as evidence. I don’t understand why the judge couldn’t clarify evil intent - that isn’t exactly a standard legal…

Every officer involved in the arrest and transport was charged. This particular office was the one responsible for buckling the seat belt (or not buckling the seat belt, in this case). The prosecution’s case was basically that he should have buckled the seat belt, and should have called for an ambulance when Gray…

I think they will work towards a retrial for now, but whether or not that actually happens will depend on the outcome of the other trials. Honestly, this was one of the hardest case to prove, and I do think the SAO overcharged in the instance. I think there is less chance of a jury being deadlocked on all for other…

If you just look at the comments here, you can see how it would happen. So many people who haven’t even set foot in Baltimore at absolutely, 100% certain of Porter’s guilt or innocence. As a Baltimore resident who has followed the case pretty closely, I’m not at all surprised that they were deadlocked. I don’t think…

I really wish they hadn’t started with this trial. This is one of the weaker cases, and it sets the tone for the rest of the trials.

The state is so small, and with court districts that don’t completely follow media and regular commuter patterns, it’s hard to get away from the Baltimore influence. I’m not sure where they would move it. I don’t think the Eastern Shore or Western MD would be especially fair and unbiased. The best case scenario would…

They were deadlocked on all charges. If they had been able to decide on a single charge, then that decision would stand, and the mistrial would only be for the deadlocked charges.

Summer Camp is a great one, if only for the self-realization that I am a camp person.

I listen to TAL while walking/running around my neighborhood, downtown Baltimore. I literally stood at the top of Federal Hill crying while listening to the audio from the school board meeting in “The Problem.” If you ever see the crazy ginger-lady laughing and/or crying while climbing the stairs at Federal Hill, it’s…

I don’t think a transplanted penis would be more functional than a penis constructed from other tissue for someone going through reassignment surgery, at least not with the procedure being tested right now.

Is your friend from the South? I grew up in the 1980’s with boys named Bishop, and had a college classmate named King. All in North Carolina.

Dolly is absolutely wonderful. To paraphrase an old interview, she was once asked what was her favorite part of her body, and the reported was obviously expecting her to talk about her breasts. Nope. Dolly talked about her brain/mind, and how amazing it is both as a functional part of day-to-day life (reflexes and…

Yeah, canning makes sense as a money saver if you are saving what would otherwise go to waste. As a hobby, it can be expensive. I first started canning after bringing home 3 gallons of figs from my gradmother’s back yard. That was a good gateway because the fruit was free, and figs don’t require pectin and can be…

People should also know that Amtrak does have baggage limits (albeit very generous), and they recently started enforcing limits and charging for excessive baggage (and requiring passengers to re-pack bags that exceed 50 lbs). Based on my observation, they really only charge if you bring it to their attention, either…

I remember the story, and I think the bee owner said the honey tasted very bitter due to the heavy concentration of artificial coloring.