Month: October 2011

Sounds like a party worthy of the old Tulane “Dekes”: Legal Foreclosure Mill Steven J Baum has a halloween party….

Well folks, what can I say except the jackassery at the New York law firm of Steven J. Baum rivals corporate stupidity that has appeared before on these pages, such as the Hungry Vulture Award.

Long story short is Baum is a foreclosure mill aka a law firm that specializes in the repossession of houses.  Last year they held a Halloween party where its employees dressed up as homeless people, which is often a direct result of their dark craft.

As a businessman I well understand the need for “cleaners” in the economy for as long as there are people making loans there will be a need for repo men.  Normally the cleaners understand the need to keep a low profile from a PR standpoint as it is the nature of the beast. In the case of Baum and last year’s party they showed about as much sense of the old Tulane Dekes, since long banished from campus for their outrageous costume parties that had bad racial overtones.  Dambala’s post on same from January 2010 is of the must read variety.

File this one under sign of the times.

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Drew Broach takes a nostalgic trip down wrinkled robe lane as the Times Picayune profiles recently released internal FBI records.

The Times Picayune went above and beyond in their FOIA based 4 year investigation into Team FBI and Operation Wrinkled Robe, a 9 year saga that concluded with the impeachment last year of Federal District Court Judge Tom pOrteous. We’ve written extensively on both the investigation and last year’s impeachment proceedings with my Bell Cow post on Wrinkled Robe itself found here with Nowdy’s combo Wrinkled Robe/Porteous/Shaved genitalia masterpiece here. Today T-P editor Drew Broach nicely adds to the extensive body of knowledge that is Operation Wrinkled Robe with his report on FBI investigation papers which includes some interactive graphics and the FOIA response itself. It is simply very well done.

Some of the names mentioned should be very familiar to Slabbed lifers in Kenner’s Skip Hand and Steve Mortillaro, later termed deadhead employees by Aaron Broussard’s replacement Steve Theriot. But we also learn that the investigation also went on location in Biloxi twice as the Marcotte’s bought the judges rooms at the Beau Rivage.

Most interesting is how the whole thing started with a tip from a disgruntled competitor of Louis Marcotte to the Metropolitan Crime Commission, the same folks that filed the ethics complaint against Aaron Broussard for making parish venders rent his vacation property at the Trout Point development in Nova Scotia.  Ol’ Aaron has since began selling his Canadian holdings including his beloved River Bend Lodge, which was sold earlier this year to Charles Leary and Vaughn Perret of Trout Point Lodge infamy.

I mention all this because all it takes is a tip to start something far larger. Continue reading “Drew Broach takes a nostalgic trip down wrinkled robe lane as the Times Picayune profiles recently released internal FBI records.”

Excellence in Public Service? : How About Jefferson’s Milt Dureau and Emily Maw of the Innocence Project. A Lockemuptight guest post.

Despite frequent reports about what is wrong in Jefferson Parish from indisputable political corruption to total absence of prosecution of same, there occasionally arises the isolated acts of a few which bring a glimmer of hope for the Parish. Hope that those in public service,both elected politicians and parish employees, will take note that just doing your job everyday professionally focused and unselfishly serving others can make a difference.

In the case of one erroneously incarcerated citizen named Henry James, the dedicated public service of Jefferson’s chief criminologist, Milton Dureau, made a big difference. How big a difference you ask, how about giving Henry back his life and freedom, that is what’s left of it.

Wrongly convicted of a rape he didn’t commit and sentenced to life in prison,Henry was destined after even serving 30 years to die at Angola. But fortunately to right that wrong along comes the nationally acclaimed Innocence Project whose staff has a sixth sense of identifying potential innocent convicts.Mention the O.J. Simpson trial and one conjurers up ugly memories of judicial misconduct and jury nullification.However, out of that evil darkness came the genesis of judicial light on truth and justice, namely the Innocence Project. A group of idealistic lawyers hell bent on using the same DNA science birthed and revealed during the O.J. trial to free the wrongly convicted. Continue reading “Excellence in Public Service? : How About Jefferson’s Milt Dureau and Emily Maw of the Innocence Project. A Lockemuptight guest post.”

Leon Cannizzaro: Yep I did it too but the rest of ’em need prosecution

All I can tell you folks is the backstabbing involved with NOLA DA Leon Cannizzaro and the NOLA Criminal District Court judges is stunning as John Simerman reports today for the T-P.  I’ve been hearing rumors about discord in both the NOLA civil and criminal district courts for well over a year and that does not count the expense funds both courts maintain that are alleged to be slush funds. Worth noting is DA Cannizzaro evidently admitted that he also partook of the forbidden fruit during his time as a criminal district court judge but that is also water long under the bridge.  Judge Frank Marullo is shit outta luck though.

This animal has lots of heads and there has been some high quality work done on various subtopics such as the computer crash at Mortgages and Conveyances by folks like Dambala at American Zombie via Humid Beings.  For my part I think Slabbed will be a net beneficiary of the strife and discord as Louisiana Attorney General Buddy ‘Tickle my ass with a feather” Caldwell enters the fray. Stay tuned folks.

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File this one under those that live in glass houses should not throw stones….

I had a chance to surf the blogs here in Mississippi I monitor and noticed this post about the upcoming election in Mississippi House District 122 on Cottonmouth, which is the Mississippi Democrat alternative to hard-line GOP asset Yall Politics. In the post the folks at Cottonmouth call GOP candidate Dorothy Wilcox “slime”, which I found to be a curious way to describe the lady whose husband and family date back as Waveland/Hancock County residents for more than the 42 years I’ve been associated with the place.  In fact I’ll add the Wilcox family are quality people.

There are only 2 people in this world that can get me off a topic, Nowdy and Mrs Sop. The stakes are high in District 122 as control of the Mississippi House of Representatives could well hang in the balance.  I mention this because IMHO Mr Baria has serious ethical issues and as a voter I am not very comfortable with the fact that I think he represents mainly himself in the legislature.  OTOH Dorothy Wilcox has drunk heavily from the GOP koolaid dispenser and that is very troubling too though I think she is honest and running for the seat for all the right reasons.

So what we are left with is a real stinker of a choice to make here in District 122, at least from my perspective.  Mud slinging will make the choice easier for me folks.  The mailer is inane I’ll grant but the photoshop of the original photo is pretty good IMHO.  Maybe our own Patricia will save the pic for later use.  😉

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Blaine Kern can’t get his story straight: Viagra won’t help the Krewe of Boo…

As Blaine ages his behavior becomes curiouser and curiouser folks.  I think the translation of this T-P story on the cancellation of the Krewe of Boo parade is that without a company to loot out, some of the more lavish expenses simply had to be curtailed.  After all, Blaine’s various ailments didn’t stop him from very publicly endorsing Nunny for Lite Gov very recently. File this one under life’s a bitch.

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Hot off the courthouse steps: Joe Caldarera loses one on the Baton Rouge Airport job

Folks welcome to construction law where an inexpereinced judge can really screw up a case badly. The bottom line is ol’ Joe entered the court of appeals $139,938.76 ahead of the game and left owing a sub $197,359.01, for a money swing of $337,297.77. Ouch! Click the pic to get the 15 page pdf of the court decision rendered today. ~ sop

That ain’t donut glaze on David Vitter’s diaper as he was the biggest loser in Saturday’s election

The Louisiana  TEA Party, by extension, is also a big loser.  John Maginnis has some quality analysis for the Times Picayune of Jay Dardenne’s win over Nunny and Jim Tucker’s crushing loss in the Secretary of State’s race.

Not mentioned by also big losers was the Jefferson Parish Council who now will have to learn to deal with an independent inspector general.

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