OH TO BE AN EGYPTIAN JUDGE By Jim Redwine
GAVEL GAMUT
By Jim Redwine
Week of 08 January 2018
OH TO BE AN EGYPTIAN JUDGE
Some of you may have noticed I have been a judge for awhile. And, although I know it may surprise you, not everyone of my thousands of decisions has been met with universal acclaim. Occasionally someone may actually disagree with my fair and objective legal analysis and have the bad form to say so. Well, my friends, not if we were in Egypt.
According to a report in the Palm Beach, Florida Sun Sentinel of Sunday, December 31, 2017 a court in Cairo convicted 19 people of making public statements, “[t]he court found to be inciting and expressing contempt toward the court and the judiciaryâ€. If you are wondering why I was reading the Palm Beach paper in sweltering 80 degree weather while some of you may have been enjoying a cool and exhilarating Indiana Christmas season there is no truth to the rumor it was because Peg and I felt compelled to be near President Trump’s Mar-A-Lago winter White House. We did not even receive an invitation to his $750 per person New Year’s Eve party. It may have been lost due to the holiday rush at the post office. Anyway, back to Egypt and the injured dignity of the judiciary.
The newspaper reported that the heinous criminals insulted the judges by making statements that were aired on TV, radio, social media or in other disfavored publications. Now the court did not deign to ignore these demeaning comments or to call for the miscreants to tug vigorously on their forelocks. Oh no. The defendants received 3 years in prison and were fined up to one million Egyptian pounds ($56,270 US).
Each defendant was also ordered to pay one million Egyptian pounds to each of the judges of the powerful union known as The Judges Club. Now I would never advocate for such a response against anyone who had the temerity to publicly disagree with my rulings. However, a few hours in the stocks on the courthouse campus might be considered or parading around the courthouse wearing sackcloth and ashes or maybe a few public recitations of “Judge Redwine is Solomon†or, well, you get the idea.
Actually, it is events such as those in Egypt that truly show what a blessing it is to be in a country where CNN, MSNBC, The NY Times, The Washington Post, FOX News, Breitbart and many other publications can spew their invective against anyone from the Supreme Court to even a court in Posey County, Indiana without fear of being jailed.
Instead of just worrying about the current protestors in our enemy Iran perhaps we should address the draconian pronouncements of offended judges in countries such as our friends in Egypt and elsewhere. The injured sensibilities of some pompous plutocrat may lead to far greater harm to the public than their unfair judgments that get publicly condemned.
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JUST IN -Two Guns, Meth, And Marijuana Found During Car Stop- Three Suspects Arrested
Evansville Police, Narcotics Joint Task Force investigators, and members of the FBI Task Force arrested 3 people on gun and drug charges during a car stop on S. Green River Rd around 9:45am on Friday.
Police received information that KARLON COLE, 43, was in possession of methamphetamine and was armed with a handgun in the area of Green River Rd and Vogel.
A detective observed COLE on the lot of Taco Bell. Another person got into the SUV for 4-5 minutes, then got out and left in another vehicle. COLE then drove away. Officers confirmed COLE was driving on a suspended license. COLE was pulled over by patrol officers in the 200 block of S. Green River.
During the stop, COLE was found to be in possession of a .22cal handgun. COLE is a convicted felon and is on probation for dealing meth in Kentucky. He is not permitted to own a firearm due to his conviction. He also does not have a permit to possess a handgun.
A passenger in the SUV, TERRANCE HARDIMA N (27), was found to be armed with a loaded 9mm handgun. HARDIMAN has a prior conviction for criminal recklessness and possession of a handgun without a permit in Gibson County.
HARDIMAN and COLE both confirmed that the person who had gotten in the SUV bought marijuana from HARDIMAN. Marijuana and meth were found in the SUV.
Another passenger, FITOLAY DEMESMIN (36), was also arrested.
The person who reportedly bought marijuana from HARDIMAN was not located.
The suspects were booked into the Vanderburgh County Jail on the following charges:
COLE- possession of a weapon by a convicted felon, possession of a handgun without a permit, maintain a common nuisance
HARDIMAN- possession of a handgun without a permit with a prior conviction, dealing marijuana, dealing meth, visiting a common nuisance
DEMESMIN- visiting a common nuisance
Eagles surge past Tritons, 70-65
University of Southern Indiana Women’s Basketball held the University of Missouri-St. Louis without a field goal for the final five minutes of the contest Thursday evening as the No. 9/20 Screaming Eagles earned a hard-fought 70-65 Great Lakes Valley Conference victory over the visiting Tritons at the Physical Activities Center.
The No. 9/20 Screaming Eagles (11-1, 3-0 GLVC) trailed 62-58 before outscoring the Tritons 12-3 throughout the final five minutes of the game. A three-point play by junior forward/center Mikayla Rowan (Brazil, Indiana) trimmed USI’s deficit to one point, while a three-pointer by junior guard Alex Davidson (Salem, Indiana) with less than three minutes to play gave USI a 64-63 lead they would not relinquish.
After multiple defensive stands by both teams, senior guard/forward Kaydie Grooms (Marshall, Illinois) sealed the win with four free throws in the final 22 seconds of the contest. Grooms led all scorers with 22 points, 11 rebounds and three assists, while senior forward Morgan Dahlstrom (Grayslake, Illinois) chipped in 14 points, eight rebounds and four assists.
Junior forward Kacy Eschweiler (St. Charles, Missouri) fought through foul trouble to finish with 10 points, while Rowan and Davidson finished with nine and eight points, respectively. Davidson added three assists and a career-high seven steals.
Senior forward Jordan Fletcher led the Tritons (7-14, 1-3 GLVC) with 17 points.
USI returns to action Saturday at 1 p.m. when it travels to Springfield, Missouri, to take on No. 8/20 Drury University in a Top 25 showdown. The Panthers (11-1, 3-0 GLVC), winners of nine straight, have been idle since December 17.
Eagles survive in overtime to defeat Tritons, 84-73
The University of Southern Indiana men’s basketball team outscored the University of Missouri-St. Louis, 11-0, in overtime and posted an 84-73 victory Thursday evening at the Physical Activities Center. USI watched its record rise to12-3 overall and 3-0 in the GLVC, while UMSL goes to 7-6, 2-2 GLVC.
The Screaming Eagles took command midway through the opening half with a 17-6 run to lead by 13 points, 34-21, with 10:42 left before halftime. USI would hold a double-digit lead for the majority of the final 10 minutes in the opening half before going into the locker room with a 42-33 advantage.
USI junior guard/forward Nate Hansen (Evansville, Indiana) led the Eagles opening half attack with 15 points on five-of-nine from the field, including three-of-five from beyond the arc. Junior guard Alex Stein (Evansville, Indiana) followed with nine points on a perfect three-of-three from long range.
In the second half, UMSL used a 19-1 run to build a 56-49 lead with 8:44 to play in the game. The Tritons’ run was aided by a 10 minutes USI field goal drought that saw the Eagles go from the 17:25 mark to 7:23 without a made bucket.
Once the bucket opened back up for the Eagles, USI regained the lead, 57-56, with 6:34 remaining on the strength of an 8-0 run. The teams would race to the end of regulation tied at 73-73 after USI freshman forward Emmanuel Little (Indianapolis, Indiana) knotted the game up with a lay-up with 30 seconds remaining.
In the overtime, it was all Screaming Eagles. USI scored the final 13 points of the game (Little’s bucket at the end of regulation and 11 overtime points) to end the game with the 11-point, 84-73 victory. Stein scored seven of USI’s 11 points in the overtime, while senior forward DayJar Dickson (Washington, D.C.) added a bucket and Little and senior guard Marcellous Washington (Lexington, Kentucky) added free throws down the stretch.
Stein finished with his third-straight game with 20-or-more points, posting a game-high 23 points. He was seven-of-14 from the field, a blistering four-of-six from downtown, and five-of-five from the line to extended his consecutive free throw streak to 54 straight.
Hansen followed in the scoring column with 21 points, while Dickson rounded out the double-digit scorers with 15 points.
Dickson completed a monster game by grabbing a career-high 21 rebounds to complete his second double-double of the season. He had seven offensive and 14 defensive rebounds to lead the Eagles on the glass.
Little also grabbed double-digits rebounds with 12 board, two offensive and 10 defensive. The freshman forward has reached double-digits in rebounds four times this season and missed his fourth double-double of the season with nine points.
The Eagles hits the road to complete the GLVC weekend, traveling to Springfield, Missouri, to visit Drury University Saturday at 3 p.m. The Panther, who were idle tonight, enters Saturday’s match-up with an 8-2 overall mark and 2-1 in the GLVC.
USI is 11-9 all-time against Drury after defeating the Panthers, 77-51, last year at the PAC. Guard Jeril Taylor led the Eagles with 25 points, while Stein and Washington followed with 17 points and 11 points, respectively. The Eagles are 3-4 all-time on the road versus the Panthers.
Exclusive Interview With Earl Martin On Murder Of Erica Bradfield
TYRONE MORRISÂ EVANSVILLE, INDIANA
Three days before Christmas, Evansville Police responded to Martin’s mother’s house on Bellemeade Avenue where investigators located Human remains in multiple trash bags.
Martin was asked why Bradfield was found the way she was. “I was like ‘I got to clean this up’ so I moved her to the basement and I cleaned up, you know, the mess or whatever.â€
While Martin claims Bradfield committed suicide the document charging him with her death tells a different story.
Police say Martin told his 15-year-old son a person broke into his mother’s home. He shot the intruder twice, put a trash bag over her head, and took her to the basement where he proceeded to dismember her body.
The 15-year-old told police his father planned for the remains to be picked up with the regular trash and taken to the landfill. “I knew that what was in the basement was not Erica no more, you know what I mean? And I know it sounds messed up, in a way it is, but it wasn’t her anymore, you know? Erica was gone.â€
Martin’s new version of the story places blame on the victim. “What she did put me in a situation and there was no way to get around it,†says Martin.
While Martin says Bradfield took her own life, here he calls it a murder.
“If it got reported I was going to do time maybe not for the murder but for something else so I tried to cover it up. That’s what I’m guilty of, that’s all I’m guilty of.â€
Martin is charged in a second case where he faces murder and attempted murder charges stemming from what police say was a drug deal gone bad. In that case, 20-year-old Christopher Hoefling died and a second victim, Brandon Waldroup, was shot. Martin remained tight-lipped on that case, saying it could affect his co-defendant.
When told people in the community would view him as a monster. He replied, “I’m sure, of course, a lot of people couldn’t see themselves but when you’re in a tight situation like that I just tried to do the best I could.
The Vanderburgh County Coroner’s office ruled Bradfield’s death a homicide. Coroner Steve Lockyear says suicide is not a reasonable explanation of how Bradfield died.
A forensic anthropologist with the University of Southern Indiana is working with the Coroner’s office to determine what type of saw was used to dismember Bradfield.
Martin did appear in court Wednesday afternoon. He was advised of his charges.
His next court appearance is set for February 22nd.
“READERS FORUM” JANUARY 5, 2018
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