Let's start with Jonathan Turley:
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An arrest in the death of NYPD officer Anastasio Tsakos could raise some
challenging evidentiary questions in the trial of Jessica Beauvais, 32.
Before Beauvais ran over Tsakos, she posted a podcast that not only
showed her drinking but signing off with “F**K Police.” The
admissibility of that podcast evidence is likely to be the subject of a
motion by the defense before any trial.
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Tsakos was directing traffic away from a fatal accident on a freeway in
Queens around 2 a.m. when he was hit by a 2013 Volkswagen. The driver
fled the scene and Tsakos later died. When she was arrested, Beauvais’
blood alcohol level was 0.159%, way above the legal limit of 0.08%.
There are also reports that she fought with police when being put into
custody.
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According to media reports, she jumped a curb and then put her car in
reverse and rammed a police car twice. After they had her in custody,
she is captured on body-worn camera saying “What did I do?” Court
documents also quote her as saying
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“I smoke weed regularly. I drank two glasses of wine earlier today and
then dropped my son off in Hempstead. I smoked a joint last night before
my podcast that I did in Brooklyn; the podcast was from 6:30 to 8:30
p.m. I brought the bottle of wine I had with me to the podcast. I had
two shots of 1800 patron tequila. When I left, I didn’t know where I was
going so I used my GPS. I made a left turn and a right turn and ended
up at a gas station where the cops stopped me. I don’t know why they
stopped me, speeding I guess. I did hear a thump, so I knew I hit
something but I didn’t see what it was.”
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Beauvais appeared to confess to running over Tsakos as she was led away
in handcuffs. She told reporters “I am sorry that I hit him and that
he’s dead. I didn’t mean to. I’m sorry!” When asked about what she
would say to his family, including his 6-year-old daughter and a
3-year-old son, Tsakos said “I didn’t mean to, I’m sorry. I was coming
from the studio. I do a podcast.”
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That podcast — and that statement — are likely to feature greatly in any
trial. The admission may avoid an evidentiary fight by prompting a
plea agreement. However, if she goes to a trial, the defense is likely
to argue that the podcast’s evidentiary value is outweighed by its
prejudicial impact.
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Unlike Professor Turley, I'm not a legal expert so I will take his word
for it. But what confuses me is that this podcast is not hidden, it's
part of the public record. The content the woman created was meant to
be heard. That's why she created it and shared it publicly. I don't
see how a defense attorney would be on strong ground making that
argument. Again, I'll take Turley's word on it.
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"TV: Types" (Ava and C.I., THE THIRD ESTATE SUNDAY REVIEW):
But what got us thinking about typing to begin with was HBO's MADE FOR LOVE series. The series revolves around Hazel Green-Gogol, played by Cristin Milioti, who is married to a tech wizard and escaping the confined experience he has put her in, especially after he's had a chip implanted in her that will meld her mind to his. Cristin is wonderful in the role. But we do wonder how she got cast in it. We wonder that especially because she was a guest star on one of the best episodes of 30 ROCK, "TGS Hates Women." In that episode, she plays Abby Flynn, a popular comedian that Liz wants to hire for TGS. Jack says no until he sees a photo of her. Her act is that she's a "sexy baby." Liz is offended and finds her to be a throwback and an insult to women while Jenna is jealous and wants Abby destroyed. Liz finds out that Abby Flynn is really Abby Grossman and outs her online and in a meeting. Now Abby can be true herself. Problem, she created Abby Flynn to escape an abusive ex-boyfriend who is a stalker and threatens her.
Again, Cristen is a great in MADE FOR LOVE and was great in that episode
of 30 ROCK but, we wonder, what is it that casting reads in her as
"woman abused"?
The eight episode season moves quickly. And it establishes quickly that
Hazel is not an innocent. She stole a dress from her best friend that
resulted in the friend failing her design class. She ran scams on
college campuses. When she married a billionaire, she did not bother
with her father (played by Ray Romano). And the cruelty isn't in the
past.
She's cruel to her husband Byron (Billy Magnussen). Now he's abusive in
that he's locked her away and prevented her from having any freedom of
movement -- she's locked in one of his cubes where people do visit but
she's not able to leave. He doesn't like to leave himself and is scared
of the outside world. His fears do not excuse his abuse. And we're not
bothered by any of her efforts to tell him off or gross him out (due to
the chip he implanted, he can see through Hazel's eyes). But there was a
moment that was true cruelty.
In episode eight, he's in the real world solely to try to convince her to return to him and the cube.
They meet up in a diner. Hazel gets him to talk about how he needs her.
In talking about this, he gets worked up, as she can tell. And he
orgasms as the table. At first, her reaction appears to be ihappy but
that switches to cruelty. Throughout their ten year marriage, she has
never seen that. While he's sexually satisfied her, he's never satisfied
himself in her presence. This was a very vulnerable moment for him and
she is gleefully mocking him.
After all he's done, she may have every right to be gleeful. But we were
shocked. She will return to the cube with him -- because her father is
sick and only Byron's technology can save him.
She's a complex character and we applaud that. We'd also enjoy seeing a
second season (no determination has been made on that yet).
This is a pretty complex column. I pulled the easiest part. They start
off talking about type and how actors and actresses were cast according
to type. and then they move into the above and then they move into how
the media uses "types" when it determines who it will cover and how.
"Iraq snapshot" (THE COMMON ILLS):
Wednesday, April 28, 2021. The failure of the Iraqi government continues to garner attention following Saturday's hospital fire in Baghdad, an Australian man is being held in a prison with no reasons for his arrest being provided, and much more.
In a desperate attempt to stop protests following the fire at Ibn al-Khatib Hospital in Baghdad on Saturday, Iraq's Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi had declared three days of official mourning. It may have caused some to cease protesting but protests have taken place this week and they continue to take place such as in Basra today. ANADOLU AGENCY reports:
Hundreds of Iraqi workers shut the main headquarters of the Electric Power Production and Transmission Company in the southern city of Basra on Wednesday in protest of delaying their salaries.
Protesters say the company has refused to pay employees with temporary contracts for the past six months.
Demonstrators prevented employees from entering the building and threatened to stage an open-ended sit-in in front of the company if they were not paid, according to eyewitnesses.
The hospital fire has yet again exposed the corruption in Iraq. At least 82 people died with 110 more left injured is the official count from the Iraqi government. The official count. The actual number may be much higher. Sura Ali (RUDAW) reported earlier this week:
The death toll of a massive fire that ripped through Baghdad’s Ibn
al-Khatib Hospital Saturday night has risen to around 130, according to
Iraq’s human rights commission.
A report released
following a fact-finding mission by the government-funded Iraqi High
Commission for Human Rights reports a higher number of casualties than
the government’s previous toll, on Sunday, of 82 deaths. It notes that many of the bodies have yet to be identified due to being burned beyond recognition.
Regardless of the number, this is on the government of Iraq which is supposed to protect the people. It hasn't protected them. It hasn't protected protester, it hasn't protected widows, it hasn't protected anyone. This is part of the corruption -- a direct result of the corruption in Iraq.
This wasn't ''Oh, how sad a fire resulted in all of these deaths." This is not just a tragedy, it is an injustice because it could have been easily prevented had the government followed written safety measures. This is a governmental failure and the Iraqi people are expressing outrage. Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi came to power in May of last year. Like all of the post-2003-invasion prime ministers, he pledged to end corruption. He did not. And now the same interests involved in the corruption that led to the loss of so many lives in Saturday's fire? Mustafa needs their support if he's to remain prime minister after this year's election. Julia Marnen (NEWSWEEK) notes:
A deadly fire raged Saturday at the Ibn al-Khatib hospital's coronavirus ward in Baghdad, Iraq, where medical officials said the building was a firetrap with safety shortcomings such as blocked emergency exits and broken fire extinguishers, the Associated Press reported.
[. . .]
Doctors have warned of widespread mismanagement in Iraq's hospitals, citing concerns over safety rules, particularly regarding oxygen cylinders, and a lack of smoke detectors, according to AP.
Samer said if a fire safety system was in place, lives would have been saved.
The Iraqi people have every right to be outraged, the government is not representing the Iraqi people and it is ot protecting their interests. One of Iraq's militias, The Hezbollah Brigade, is demanding the government resign. To try to protect his own position, Mustafa has publicly insisted that the blame falls on health officials. He forgets to note that the blame falls on him. He's been in office for 11 months (May 7th, 2020 he became prime minister). He is the head of the government, the buck stops with him. He can try to push it off on underlings but why were the issues not addressed by the government once Mustafa became prime minister? He was informed of this problem on two occasions -- one by health administrator in June of last year and again by two doctors in November of last year. Real concerns were expressed directly to him. Why didn't he act?
The deaths are an injustice and the blame goes to the government -- the one that Mustafa is the head of. Shame on him for trying to push the blame off on others.
Staying on the subject of government's not serving their own citizens, Robert Pether. We noted him in yesterday's snapshot.. Steve Jackson (THE AUSTRALIAN) explained, "An Australian father of three has been able to speak to his family for the first since he was seized by Iraqi police and thrown in prison three weeks ago after being tricked into attending a fake business meeting with one of the country’s leading institutions." Today, Christopher Knaus (GUARDIAN) reports:
Mechanical engineer Robert Pether, 46, was arrested in Baghdad roughly three weeks ago, after travelling to Iraq from Dubai to attempt to restart work on the construction of a new headquarters for the Central Bank of Iraq.
After roughly four years of work, the project became mired in a contractual dispute between Pether’s employer and the bank.
Pether, originally from Sydney, was invited to Iraq for a “meeting” by the bank, which indicated the dispute was over and the work could be resumed.
His wife Desree Pether, speaking from Ireland, said the bank was, in fact, laying a trap.
“He and his colleague had their suits on and got arrested immediately,” she told the Guardian. “There never was any resolution and there was never any meeting scheduled. It was trap.”
Her husband has been thrown into an Iraqi prison. They have limited any contact she can have wth her husband. She reaches out to the Australian government -- which hasn't even issued a statement publicly. Brittany Chain (DAILY MAIL) reports:
Ms Pether has sought answers from the Australian embassy, but claims she has been told she is not authorised to liaise on his behalf.
'They have no idea how to help him,' she said.
'They just keep repeating that they can't discuss the case with me without consent from my husband. There is no support for me at all.'
Daily Mail Australia understands consular staff are not able to communicate with family and friends unless they are a nominated contact. But Ms Pether claims given she is the one who reported his arrest, and that her husband has been so hard to contact, she should be informed of any updates.
She is his spouse, that alone makes her the nominated contact. This is beyond ridiculous, it is beyond a bad policy or practice. This is an example of a government failing the people it is supposed to represent.
Public pleading is what Robert's family and friends have to resort to because the Australian government is not doing anything. Desree and Robert live in Ireland. The Irish government has done much more for Robert than his own country has. THE JOE FINNEGAN SHOW Tweets:
New content at THIRD:
- Truest statement of the week
- A note to our readers
- Editorial: It was an injustice
- TV: Types
- KINDLE UNLIMITED (Kat, Ava and C.I.)
- Tweet of the week
- Why'd you do it, John, why?
- Oh, Liz, you thought the country gave a damn what ...
- Books
- This edition's playlist
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