(Source: China Daily) The Chinese mainland is poised to overtake Japan this year as the economy with the world's second-largest number of dollar millionaire households, behind the United States. And the Asia-Pacific region will surpass North America in four years as the world's wealthiest region, according to a report by the Boston Consulting Group. In its annual study of the world's wealth management industry, the global management consulting firm said worldwide wealth grew faster last year than in the previous two years. But it predicts that revenue growth and profits at wealth management firms will fall over the next five years, as the faster creation of wealth in Asia-Pacific and other developing regions poses challenges that will rob firms of the momentum they started to gain in 2012. BCG calculates millionaires by their investable assets excluding a primary residence or business. In 2012, the US had the most millionaire households, with 5.9 million, followed by Japan with 1.5 million and the Chinese mainland with 1.3 million. See complete report at http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/
Sick perverted homos and dykes won't be getting married in Illinois this year....Illinois gay marriage bill won't pass House this session
Sponsoring Rep. Greg Harris, D-Chicago, said he would try again in the fall and apologized to those who won’t wake in the morning “with equality.”
The lack of action came after mounting pressure from advocates and opponents alike, pitting those who believe same sex marriage is about ensuring equality for all against critics who contend it would violate religious and moral values.
The Senate passed the measure on a 34-21 vote on Valentine’s Day. Gov. Pat Quinn has vowed to sign the bill into law.
Twelve other states have approved gay marriage. In recent weeks, the governor expressed frustration as momentum lagged in Illinois while other states approved gay marriage. Rhode Island, Delaware and Minnesota put in place laws that take effect later this summer.
The push for gay marriage comes just two years after Illinois legalized civil unions for same-sex couples and reflects shifting attitudes in favor of same-sex marriage.
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Benet Academy high school senior Jennie Dizon, 17, dies after struck by lightning in Downers Grove
Police were called to O’Brien Park at 68th Street and Dunham Road in the western suburb about 5:20 p.m. Thursday and found Jennie Dizon, 17, on the ground, unconscious and not breathing, police said.
Paramedics were unable to revive her and she was pronounced dead at the scene at 5:45 p.m., according to the DuPage County coroner’s office. An autopsy today indicated she died of electrocution consistent with a lightning strike, the coroner’s office said. A final determination is pending.
Benet Academy posted a notice about Dizon’s death on its website today. Commencement activities for the class of 2013 are scheduled for Sunday. Dizon, from Downers Grove, had two younger siblings at the school, according to the school statement.
“Benet Academy is mourning the loss of senior Jennie Dizon, who passed into eternal life last evening, apparently having been struck by lightning during a thunderstorm,” the statement read. “Throughout the day today, Benet's chaplain, campus minister, counselors, administrators, and teachers have been available in the chapel, in their offices, in classrooms, and throughout the school building to offer assistance, comfort, and consolation to our students and members of the school community. Please join the entire Benet Family in remembering Jennie and the Dizon family in prayer.”
Four firefighters killed, five injured battling Houston blaze
Fire Chief Terry Garrison told a news conference that firefighters were searching for people who may have been trapped inside when the roof gave way. "They were in the highest amount of risk possible because we thought we had some civilians in the structure," he said.
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Illinois lawmakers approve concealed carry gun bill - Basically you can't carry a handgun anywhere a black thug could rob you - This IS NOT CONCEALED/CARRY
Rep. Brandon Phelps, D-Harrisburg, center left, and Sen. Gary Forby, D-Benton, center right, co-sponsors of the concealed carry bill, celebrate its passage. (E. Jason Wambsgans/Tribune)
State lawmakers today approved compromise legislation to set up rules on who can carry concealed guns and where they can be carried.
Trayvon Martin's parents living high off the hog making a ton of cash off of Trayvon "The Thug" Martin justifiable death - TrayMom™ and TrayDad™ – The Mounting Fortune of TrayGrief™
Sporting new designer shoes, custom-tailored hand-made King Street suits, and fashionable new friends, the scheme team takes Trayvon’s Tour of Tears™ to British Parliment.
After organizing the overseas contingent of fundraising TrayMom™ waves “ta-ta”, grabs TrayDad™, TraySon™, along with attorneys TrayParks™ & TrayCrump™, and jet back home to swelling bank accounts.
Kansas City Star Report - Sybrina Fulton, TrayMom™, who has worked at the Miami-Dade County housing authority for 23 years, collected $40,825 worth of donated vacation time, county records show. The paid time off is in addition to the nearly $100,000 the family raised on wepay.com and at rallies, which will be used to launch a criminal justice advocacy foundation in Trayvon’s name.
The donated days are the latest in a mounting fortune in contributions that have amassed on both sides of the controversial case. With websites dedicated to the grieving parents of Trayvon Martin as well as for the man who killed him, and now even his attorney, funds gathered in the wake of the Feb. 26 tragedy promise to reach half a million dollars. Donors continue to reach into their pockets, even as each side criticizes the other’s purpose and intent in seeking donations.
As previously reported here at True News USA - Due to BLACKS attacking WHITE CHURCH CARNIVAL GOERS - Westland officials could decide to ban ALL carnivals
WESTLAND, Mich. (WJBK) -
It's a popular pastime for many families, but now Westland officials are talking about banning carnivals. It's not the carnivals themselves, but rather it's that they're attracting too much trouble.
"The carnivals have been attracting some unruly BLACK crowds, some gang activity, some fights, and not just our community, but communities around us, and we're just kind of looking to see what we can do to keep everybody safe," said Westland Police Chief Jeff Jedrusik.
He says over the last few years, the problems have seemed to get worse. Last month, a fight involving more than 100 young men broke out at the Westland Firefighters Charity Fund Carnival. Part of it spilled into a nearby shopping center. Police were forced to make several arrests.
The chief says it comes down to rival gangs marking their territories and using social media and carnivals in different communities to do it.
"It's their carnival, and they're fighting off the other gangs that show up, and that's what we're trying to get away from. We're just trying to keep everything safe," Jedrusik said.
Westland's Summer Festival is just around the corner. Westland is not looking to do away with it all together, but possibly going back to the way it used to be with no rides and no midway shows. It would just be a festival in hopes it would draw more families and not crime.
"We start to go back to more of a community oriented food, music, fireworks and try to get more of the community involved," Jedrusik said.
The chief said if they do go forward with the carnival, he did also suggest shutting it down before dark hoping that would help with security issues.
"The carnivals have been attracting some unruly BLACK crowds, some gang activity, some fights, and not just our community, but communities around us, and we're just kind of looking to see what we can do to keep everybody safe," said Westland Police Chief Jeff Jedrusik.
He says over the last few years, the problems have seemed to get worse. Last month, a fight involving more than 100 young men broke out at the Westland Firefighters Charity Fund Carnival. Part of it spilled into a nearby shopping center. Police were forced to make several arrests.
The chief says it comes down to rival gangs marking their territories and using social media and carnivals in different communities to do it.
"It's their carnival, and they're fighting off the other gangs that show up, and that's what we're trying to get away from. We're just trying to keep everything safe," Jedrusik said.
Westland's Summer Festival is just around the corner. Westland is not looking to do away with it all together, but possibly going back to the way it used to be with no rides and no midway shows. It would just be a festival in hopes it would draw more families and not crime.
"We start to go back to more of a community oriented food, music, fireworks and try to get more of the community involved," Jedrusik said.
The chief said if they do go forward with the carnival, he did also suggest shutting it down before dark hoping that would help with security issues.
Read more: http://www.myfoxdetroit.com/story/22463257/westland-officials-could-decide-to-ban-carnivals#ixzz2UvFW84O5
Tornado emergency declared with extensive damage reported in Oklahoma City suburbs - Severe thunderstorms were blamed for the death Thursday of Sheriff Cody Carpenter of Scott County, Ark
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8 welfare wildebeest arrested after brawl at kindergarten graduation - Moms said this is probably the only graduation my child will have!
Photo: Arrested mother screams, "Go get my LINK CARD and bail me out!"
A kindergarten graduation in Cleveland ended with eight people in detention — police detention — after an argument erupted into a sidewalk brawl.
Families of students at the Michael R. White School were gathered for the end-of-year ceremony when two teenagers got into a dispute and stepped outside to continue it, said Roseann Canfora, a spokeswoman for the city schools.
"There were no students from our school involved," Canfora said.
Cleveland Police Commander Wayne Drummond said investigators were trying to confirm reports that a spilled cup of punch sparked the original argument.
He said the first 911 call came in as a report of a shot fired — which turned out not to be true — and the school was put on lockdown while several patrol cars responded within minutes.
"There were no guns, but one individual did pull out a club or a stick and one person did grab a hammer," Drummond told NBC News.
"Officers were able to separate the combatants," he said.
Seven adults and one teenager were arrested for aggravated rioting and prosecutors will decide whether to charge them, he said. No one was seriously injured, but there were a number of scrapes and bruises from the fisticuffs.
Drummond said it was unfortunate that what should have been a joyous day for the little scholars moving onto first grade ended with their relatives getting hauled away in handcuffs.
"It's just sad that it was marred by some adults who should be setting an example for the kids of how to behave but who did quite the opposite," he said.
Ten-year-old Tyler Schaefer finds $10,000.00 in a KC hotel room
Ten-year-old Tyler Schaefer likes to find stuff. He sticks his fingers in coin-operated machine slots, scans the ground for lost cash and looks for prize tickets hanging out of arcade games at Chuck E. Cheese.
But neither the boy nor his father was prepared for what Tyler would find in a drawer Saturday night in their room at the Hilton Kansas City Airport hotel.
It was $10,000, and for now no one has claimed it. If no one can prove legal ownership, it could someday belong to the Schaefers.
Cody Schaefer, Tyler’s father, said Tyler started looking for things a few years ago.
“He looks for stuff at random,” Schaefer said. “He’s very observant.”
About an hour after they checked into their room, Tyler began methodically opening all the drawers.
“What are you doing?” his dad asked.
“Somebody might have left something cool,” Tyler explained, while continuing his quest.
Then he announced: “I found money!”
Schaefer figured his son had stumbled upon a $10 bill or something. But when Schaefer looked closer, he saw neatly stacked bills totaling $10,000.
“Is that real?” Schaefer wondered.
The bills bore the appropriate watermarks and appeared to have come from a bank, Schaefer said.
“We didn’t know what to do at first,” Schaefer said.
They contemplated various theories of how the money came to be abandoned. Maybe it was a drug dealer? Maybe it was someone who had recently sold a vehicle?
Schaefer concluded they could not keep the cash because they didn’t know to whom it belonged. Tyler agreed and didn’t even want to take a photo with the dough.
“We need to call the cops,” Schaefer told him.
They found two off-duty police officers working security at the hotel and gave them the cash. The officers summoned Sgt. Randy Francis, a property and evidence supervisor, who logged and stored the cash at a police facility.
In 13 years working in property and evidence, Francis said, he has only seen one other instance of a large amount of cash being surrendered –– and it was about $1,000.
In that case, an older woman’s shopping cart ran over a wad of rolled-up cash in a northeast area grocery store parking lot about five years ago. When no one stepped forward to claim it, the woman got it back, Francis said.
No one has called the hotel or tried to claim the $10,000 yet, which is surprising, Francis said.
“I think I would know I was missing $10,000 pretty quick,” he said.
Police don’t know how long the money has been in the room. They say it could have been hidden for months, and they can’t track down every nightly guest who stayed in that room recently.
The hotel’s general manager did not return phone calls for this story.
According to Missouri statutes, lost money can revert to a finder after about seven months if no one can prove ownership.
Schaefer, a truck driver and mechanic who lives in South Dakota, meets his ex-wife in Kansas City every year to get his three children for summer vacation. It’s a central meeting point between their homes.
During their stopover in Kansas City this year, Schaefer and his kids visited the new Sea Life Aquarium and Legoland Discovery Center, where Tyler completed the scavenger hunts. Tyler, a Cub Scout and fan of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, is always looking for clues and treasure, his dad said.
Schaefer told several friends and relatives about his son’s most recent “find,” and nearly everyone told him he did the right thing.
“But one person said I was an idiot,” he said.
The way Schaefer looks at it: “I didn’t come there with $10,000 and I didn’t leave with $10,000, so it was a wash.”
Marines angered by loss of hot meals in Afghanistan... Caretakers for wounded warriors at Walter Reed receive furlough notices...BUT THERE IS ENOUGH TAX PAYERS DOLLARS FOR THIS NON-SENSE - U.S. Department of The Health and Human Services’ announces Website For Girls, 10 to 16, Informs Youth About Birth Control, Gay Sex, ‘Mutual Masturbation’
PHOTO: Perverted Faggots in Washington DC "We have a right to eat each others assholes!"
A government website designed for girls ages 10 to 16 offers health advice and information on a wide range of topics, including homosexuality, anal sex and “mutual masturbation.”
The Health and Human Services’girlshealth.gov includes tips on fitness and nutrition and an “environmental health” section where girls can read about leading a “green” lifestyle.
But the site also includes a glossary that explains anal sex and “mutual masturbation” and includes information about birth control and how to access everything from condoms to “emergency contraceptives.”
The website is described this way on the “About” portion: “Girlshealth.govwas created in 2002 by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Office on Women’s Health (OWH) to help girls (ages 10 to 16) learn about health, growing up, and issues they may face. Girlshealth.gov promotes healthy and positive behaviors in girls, giving them reliable and useful health information in a fun, easy-to-understand way.”
“The website also provides information to parents and educators to help them teach girls about healthy living,” the site states. “Our tagline is ‘Be Happy. Be Healthy. Be You. Beautiful. It focuses on the idea that being yourself — finding what makes you smile and how to live well — is what makes you ‘you.’ And that is beautiful!”
The mission statement also notes that the website is for girls ages 10 to 16.
Sexual Content
If girls click on the “Body” tab on the home page, then the “Your Sexuality” tab, then “Dealing with Dating and Sexual Feelings” link, they will find the“Could I be Gay?” link.
“If you’re having feelings of romantic or physical attraction to other girls, you may wonder about your sexual orientation,” the site states. “It’s natural as you develop to wonder about these feelings, and it may take time to figure out your sexual orientation.”
ILLINOIS STATE SENATE - Decision day for pension reform, gay marriage, gun control
Senate President John Cullerton, D-Chicago, speaks to reporters. (E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune)
Five months of debate, negotiation and procrastination among lawmakers led to a high stakes Friday adjournment showdown that could decide the fate of the state's most controversial issues: public pension reform, gun control, gay marriage and a Chicago casino.
Oak Park Shooting - The once working class quiet suburb falls to black crime
Thursday 30 May 2013
The shooting was reported on the 900 block of Taylor Avenue after 6 p.m. Thursday. Police would not offer details, but did confirm that someone was shot.
No condition was available for the victim, although a neighbor did see the victim taken away in an ambulance.
The incident puzzled neighbors, because shootings are nearly unheard of in the neighborhood, said Patti Wesley, who said she’s lived near Taylor Avenue for 13 years.
“If it was random it makes us all very scared,” Wesley said, describing the woman who owns the home where the shooting took place as a recently retired foster mother.
Wesley said she believes a man who rented out a portion of the house was the person who was shot, but police would not confirm the information.
Vince Baratta said he was grilling outside in his house next door and didn’t hear anything suspicious.
“A man was shot, taken away,” Baratta said.
The house where the shooting occurred was cordoned off by yellow police tape Thursday evening. A water gun and potted plant with a miniature American flag tucked in it were outside the home. Police brought search dogs to the yard, and a white car was towed away from the scene.
Sedrick McDonald, who said he lives down the street from the scene of the shooting, said extreme violence rarely takes place in Oak Park. “It’s normally not here.”
Person struck, killed by Metra Southwest train - Approximately 10100 South Moody in Chicago Ridge
A person was struck and killed by a Metra Southwest Service train this evening in Chicago Ridge, a Metra spokesman said.
The train involved was stopped in Chicago Ridge after the person was struck about 7 p.m., just before the train was to arrive at the Chicago Ridge station, said Metra spokesman Tom Miller.
Other trains were stopped and unable to pass the train, which was stopped north of the station, which is at 103rd Street and Ridgeland Avenue.
Yet another Chicago Public Schools student shot & killed - 15 year old black boy shot dead on the 1700 block of West 85th Street - 1/2 dozen other blacks shot & wounded
A 15-year-old boy was shot dead this afternoon in the Gresham neighborhood on the South Side, one of at least seven people shot since midday today, police said.
He was shot several times around 12:30 p.m. in the 1700 block of West 85th Street, police said. Preliminary reports indicated two people were taken into custody.
The victim was pronounced dead at 1:15 p.m. at Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office.
He was shot several times around 12:30 p.m. in the 1700 block of West 85th Street, police said. Preliminary reports indicated two people were taken into custody.
The victim was pronounced dead at 1:15 p.m. at Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office.
The boy had not yet been identified as of about 7 p.m., according to the medical examiner's office.
At 2:10 p.m., a 20-year-old man was shot in the knee in the 2700 block of West 64th Street, said Chicago Police News Affairs Officer Joshua Purkiss. Police had no information about the circumstances of the shooting.
About 1:40 p.m., a 22-year-year-old man was shot in the leg in the 7400 block of South Emerald Avenue. He was taken to St. Bernard Hospital and was in good condition.
About 10 p.m., four people were shot in the 1300 block of West Washburne Avenue. Check back for more information.
Chicago Tagger gets the ELECTRIC CHAIR - 19 year old village idiot gets electrocuted while tagging on the 1800 block of West Montrose Avenue
He was alive when authorities discovered him in the 1800 block of West Montrose Avenue but died at Advocate Illinois Masonic a short time later, authorities said. He was pronounced dead at 3:56 a.m.
Police said the man may have been tagging because the transformer where he was found was defaced. Firefighters and paramedics brought him down with a ladder, police said.
The man, who the Cook County medical examiner's office has not identified, has been arrested seven times with criminal defacement of property or posession of paint or markers with an intent to deface property, police said.
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Pension Reform Dies In Illinois Senate
 Fraternal Order of Police Chicago Lodge #7Current Update May 30, 2013 |
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Long Beach EB-5 Conference is a Great Success
Angelo Bennett charged with killing strip club manger Phat Charles Jones, 42
Angelo Bennett, of the 4300 block of North Ashland Avenue, faces first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder and aggravated battery/discharge of a firearm for the early Sunday slaying of Charles Jones, 42, and wounding of a 44-year-old woman who was in the passenger's seat of the 2007 Maserati Jones was driving in the 1000 block of North Branch Street, police said.
Police said a 2005 Buick LaCrosse sideswiped the 2007 Maserati luxury sedan about 2:50 a.m. before the shooting. Jones had pulled over after the crash and went to speak to the driver of the Buick, police said. The Buick's driver and a passenger then got out of their car, went to another car and then to the Maserati and began shooting, police said.
Details on the investigation and what led police to Bennett were not immediately released, but he was expected to appear Friday morning in Central Bond Court.
Jones and the wounded woman were taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead and the woman was originally listed in serious condition with a wound near the spine, officials said.
Jones was identified with a home address of the 2900 block of Indian Creek Drive in Miami, Fla., but had a local address on the 1100 block of North Dearborn in the Gold Coast according to a spokesman for the Cook County medical examiner's office and police.
Jones was listed as a manager of The Factory, a Far South Side gentleman's club on the 12000 block of South Doty Avenue. According to The Factory's Twitter page, someone posted, "God called his soldier home, R.I.P Charles Jones." Calls to the company's owner were not returned.
Inside the police tape in the industrial neighborhood -- down the block from a 5 a.m. bar whose patrons stumbled out to their cars past the crime scene -- sat the white Maserati with Texas license plates.
"I saw him (Jones) wobble and fall," said a 24-year-old man, who said he was driving by when the shooting happened.
The 24-year-old who saw the shooting raised his hand to show where the shooter pointed the gun when he opened fire -- about head height -- then dropped his hand to show the weapon pointing down when he shot again. The man was holding a black handgun, he said.
Village Idiot Robert “Bobby” Cann dead trying to go green with his bike - Drove his bicycle like a mad man in traffic and got his ass handed to him
The Manhole Gay Bar loses its best customer
Bobby "In My" Cann
A transplant from New Hampshire, Robert “Bobby” Cann was an ambassador for Chicago biking, taking the time to answer any new riders' questions—or even taking them on test rides to help familiarize them with city streets.
Cann, who worked at Groupon Inc. on the Near North Side, was an avid bicyclist who rode in all sorts of weather, but always kept in mind the need to share the road with other vehicles, friends said today. Wednesday night, Cann, 26, was riding in the 1300 block of North Clybourn Avenue when a southbound Mercedes sedan hit him, fatally injuring Cann, then another car, authorities said.
The driver of the Mercedes is being questioned by police on suspicion of driving under the influence in the collission, which took place about 6:45 p.m. Wednesday, police said.
Cann, of the 3200 block of North Southport Avenue, was pronounced dead at 7:05 p.m. at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office.
Cann had worked in the editorial department of Groupon, headquartered at 600 W. Chicago Ave., since 2010, a company spokesman said.
"We are incredibly saddened by Bobby's death," the company said in a statement, which called Cann "a popular and talented member of our team."
Friends said they saw Cann’s willingness to help in work and in his social life.
Lawyer: Zimmerman prosecutor withheld evidence - As the Obama administration secretly pushes to "fix" this case
ORLANDO, Fla. -- A court employee who retrieved photos and deleted text messages from Trayvon Martin's cellphone has been placed on administrative leave after an attorney testified that prosecutors didn't properly turn over the evidence to the defense, an attorney said Wednesday.
Former prosecutor Wesley White said he was ethically obligated to reveal that Fourth Judicial Circuit Information Technology Director Ben Kruidbos retrieved the data that weren't turned over.
Kruidbos was placed on leave shortly after White testified during a hearing in George Zimmerman's second-degree murder case on Tuesday. White said Kruidbos was interviewed by state attorney investigators twice before the action was taken.
White said he wasn't surprised of possible evidence violations by Zimmerman prosecutor Bernie de la Rionda.
"I was saddened by it, but I'm not surprised," he said.
White first learned about the evidence through Kruidbos more than a month ago, he said.
Phone and email messages left at the office of Fourth Judicial Circuit State Attorney Angela Corey were not immediately returned.
Zimmerman is charged with second-degree murder in 17-year-old Martin's killing and has pleaded not guilty, saying he acted in self-defense. Circuit Judge Debra Nelson has denied a defense motion to delay the trial, which scheduled to begin on June 10.
White led the Nassau County state attorney's office before resigning in December, citing differences of opinion with Corey. He is now in private practice.
White said the photos Kruidbos retrieved were of a hand holding a gun and one depicted drugs. The content of the text messages wasn't specified.
"I'm an officer of the court and I'm obliged to inform the court of any misconduct or any potential misconduct coming before the court. Whether it's by the defense or prosecution," White said.
The defense released photos of a gun, marijuana plant and Martin's text messages publicly, saying that if prosecutors planned to paint Zimmerman as the aggressor and Martin as the innocent bystander, they wanted the information to defend him. Attorneys won't be able to mention the teen's drug use, suspension from school and past fighting during opening statements at the trial, Nelson ruled Tuesday.
Nelson has set a full hearing on the turning over of evidence for next week.
Defense attorney Mark O'Mara has previously brought a handful of motions alleging that the state attorney's office had been slow to turn over other evidence.
White said his disclosure to the defense isn't sparked by any animosity toward his former employer.
"It has to do with the rule of law," White said. "When Mr. Kruidbos testifies next week, it will be his testimony and not my own."
O'Mara said Tuesday that he felt compelled to bring this matter to the attention of the judge after a hearing earlier this month in which De la Rionda was emphatic that he'd turned over all evidence related to Martin's cellphone.
"(Kruidbos) knew information that nobody else would know about what (the state attorney's office) didn't give us," O'Mara said. "The picture of the gun in the hand, for example, had not been turned over to us. But that had been created back in late January within the state attorney's office.
"That inquiry, if in fact it continues and it certainly should, could lead to some very dire consequences for those who made presentations to the judge that were not accurate."
O'Mara reported on the defense team's website Wednesday that Zimmerman's defense fund had less than $5,000 left. The fund had raised almost $315,000 by January.
His attorneys are calculating that Zimmerman needs another $120,000 to put on a good defense, or even another $75,000 to give him a fighting chance.
New Jersey appellate court upholds five-year sentence for ex-cop who was driving with his legally owned guns.
New Jersey appellate court upholds five-year sentence for ex-cop who was driving with his legally owned guns.
Motorists driving through New Jersey can be subjected to a warrantless search if their luggage is similar in appearance to a gun case, an appellate court ruled last week.
The Superior Court's Appellate Division upheld a five year prison sentence against Dustin S. Reininger, a former police officer who was in the process of moving from Maine to Texas when a Readington Township police officer recognized the cases in the back of Reininger's vehicle as the sort that usually carries a rifle.
During the long trip on March 20, 2009, Reininger became tired and decided to pull off the road in an empty, well-lit parking lot. He stopped his green Toyota SUV, turned off his lights, and went to sleep in the driver's seat under a blanket. At 3:25am, Officer Gregory Wester knocked on his window and woke him up, shining a flashlight in his eyes. Officer Wester testified that Reininger appeared "nervous and tired." The policeman asked Reininger whether he was carrying anything illegal.
"No, no, all good," Reininger replied.
Reininger believes he was targeted because of his Texas license plates. Officer Wester then looked inside the SUV with his flashlight noticed two nylon cases in the back seat. Once backup arrived, Officer Wester asked for consent to search the vehicle, but Reininger said no. Officer Wester then opened up the vehicle to search the cases "for safety reasons" any way. Reininger was arrested.
After obtaining a warrant, police recovered fourteen rifles, four shotguns and three handguns, including a loaded Glock. A grand juror had asked the prosecutor whether this man would have been charged if he had used a different case.
"Basically, if someone is moving... from Residence A to Residence B, or transporting, say, for example, they just purchased it, so they can transport it to their home, if they are properly secured, locked in a trunk, locked in a special lockbox and unloaded, then that would most likely provide an exception to these requirements, and therefore a defense to being charged," prosecutor Bennett Barlyn explained.
Reininger's SUV did not have a trunk, and state law only requires the firearm be in a "closed and fastened case" or "securely tied package" while transported. His attorney argued the zippered cases satisfied this requirement.
A jury acquitted him of the charges for possession of the "assault firearms" and handgun possession but convicted him in absentia of illegal possession of hollow-point bullets, shotguns, rifles and a high-capacity magazine. He was apprehended in Texas and extradited to New Jersey.
"What I don't understand is I am a citizen without a criminal history who has served this country not only in the military but as a volunteer to my community and as a police officer, not even making hardly any income at all, and I would have given my life to protect another person and for this country," Reininger said in a statement. "How can I be convicted for exercising my right? When does it become a crime for exercising one's right?"
The three-judge appellate panel insisted New Jersey's gun control laws do not violate the constitutional right to keep and bear arms, citing the Supreme Court's recent Heller decision.
"The Second Amendment does not create 'a right to keep and carry any weapon whatsoever purpose,'" Judge Ronald B. Graves wrote for the panel. "Furthermore, the Second Amendment does not preclude the state from regulating the manner in which accessories must be transported."
The court also upheld the warrantless search of Reininger's vehicle.
"Based on the outward appearance of the nylon cases, Wester reasonably believed they contained rifles or shotguns that were easily accessible to defendant," Judge Graves wrote.
"In our view, however, the warrantless seizure was not necessary for the officers' safety, because defendant had been removed from the vehicle and there were multiple backup officers at the scene. Nevertheless, we conclude the limited seizure was valid under the plain view exception to the search warrant requirement."
A copy of the decision is available in a 170k PDF file at the source link below.
Source:
New Jersey v. Reininger (New Jersey Superior Court, Appellate Division, 5/20/2013)
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