Suzie Pena was the 19-month old little girl who was killed when her drunk and meth and coked-up father, Raul Pena, threatened violence in a quarrel with his wife, Lorena Lopez, then after the wife went to get a restraining order, managed to get into a shootout with police, most of the time while holding his baby daughter.
Eventually an LAPD SWAT team stormed the inside office of Pena’s South LA used car dealership where the man was holed up. Of the 50 rounds that the SWAT guys fired in that final battle, two struck Raul, killing him, and two struck the little girl, one of them hitting her in the head, killing her too.
I reported extensively on the bad, sad situation back in 2005, here and here.
(I also blogged about a story that the LA Times’ Joel Rubin wrote, in which an overzealous LAPD criminalist tried to get the LA coroner to change his report to show that Pena was the one who shot his daughter. Icky stuff.)
Now, the civil suit against the LAPD that everyone knew was coming has arrived, with Lorena Lopez, Suzie’s mother, the plaintiff.
Jury selection begins today, and the trial is expected to last around 20 days.
This is a sad circumstance all the way around. A beautiful little girl died, and she was the person whom the SWAT officers wanted desperately to rescue.
And yet, as one who has talked in depth with LAPD brass about the incident, and stared at the bullet riddled walls of that death-filled office on the day after the shooting for more time than is likely healthy, I would say that the odds are very strongly on the side of the plaintiffs.
Based on what I have seen and heard, some bad calls were made by brave and honest men who risked their lives to try to save Suzie Pena—and who ended up killing her instead.
****************************************************************************************************************
MEANWHILE ANOTHER NOBODY-WINS TRIAL has just begun in Ventura County in which 15-year-old Brandon McInerney is on trial for the February 2008 murder of then-15 year old Larry King, and openly gay kid.
McInerney had just turned 14 when he shot Larry King twice in the back of the head while both boys were in their English class.
Had he still been thirteen, he would be tried in juvenile court. Instead, McInerney is being tried as an adult for first degree murder, a decision by the prosecutor that turns one hideous tragedy unavoidably into two tragedies, as both boys—one dead, one the admitted killer—are now to be lost.
The LA Times’ Catherine Saillant, is following the case. Her first two dispatches may be found here and here.
*******************************************************************************************************************
(GENTLE NOTE TO THE LA TIMES: Could you possibly get your act together so that the link to one article may be accessed from the other article in the same series? That would seem to be a no-brainer.)
The murdered kid was gay and the shooting was in English class. Somehow, this information doesn’t seem to fall into place. Surely, they weren’t reading poetry at the time.
Another social injustice against blacks…. Why was Rosetta Stone brought in and why won’t they free her?
The Alabama Capitol and Free Rosetta Stone
Ah yes…Woody’s perverse instincts come to the fore in the face of tragedy. So glad we get to suffer this shit in the course of reading a great blog…
yeah, reg, life should be all tragedy and guilt.
In commenting on a tragedy my instinct would be to avoid stupid snark – but that’s more often than not all you’ve got and you’ve obviously got some personal issues when discussing anything involving gay people.
Keep turning every comments thread into your sandbox. (It must have been tough for you when you had to move from kindergarten to first grade – seems like you’re still not over the trauma.)
reg: Keep turning every comments thread into your sandbox.
reg must mean this literally rather than sarcastically, given his sandbox comments aimed at me over the past few days. Here are samples of reg’s strongest counter-arguments. CAUTION: The following reg quotes are Rated R.
What’s a good response to these personal attacks? Perhaps it’s what Marc Cooper recently wrote at his site on the matter.
Boring, indeed, there and here, too.
Regarding your concern about “perverse insticts,” reg, is it possible for you to tone it down and respect the views of others so as to not ruin these threads in the future?
Learn from Thumper’s father:
While you could say something nice, you choose not to, so just limit your comments to the topic rather than spew venom at individuals.
On the first story…. No matter whose bullets struck the girl, the LAPD did not kill her. Her father did. The responsibility is his.
– – –
On the second story…. This is significant information from the articles.
and
That poor teacher, who tried to help but has now lost so much over this.
Larry King was the victim, not the murderer. But, he isn’t innocent of creating a murderer with his actions.
Why don’t people who want to dress and act weird understand that others, particularly kids, aren’t going to let that go any more than them teasing someone showing up with a breakout of pimples.
If there is a deeper story, it has to be that of Larry King and what brought him to act the way that he did, and I’m fairly certain that it has to do with his environment and upbringing.
And, Brandon McInerney was pushed beyond his limits. We’ll find out more about that in the trial.
Three lives lost and ruined. Common sense should have trumped the expectation of tolerance at that stage, and Larry King brought it on.
Could you manufacture any more bogus outrage, you hypcritical little smarm ? You’re a racist, a hatemonger and a homophobe and you prove yourself bordering on soulless with your first half-assed response to the story about the two kids. Go fuck yourself. It’s really the only response you deserve.
Somehow you dragged the accusation of “pedophile” against me out of your bag of filth and repeated it steadily over a period of weeks. The “fag” shit doesn’t bother me, because I have nothing against gay people. That one just exposes your garden-variety bigotry. Somehow “pedophile” strikes me as peculiarly perverse, even for someone with your sorry record of sleazemongering and hysterical bullshit. But it’s wrong for me to call out a racist, homophobic, wingnut denizen of Gingrich County. Excuse the fuck out of me..
All of the reams of evidence proving that you are some combination of an idiot and a liar when you make assertions about various issues were, in fact, a waste of time. Just go fuck yourself, asshole.
Incidentally “you mindless hatemongering fuck” was in response to this:
“Liberals, along with reg, continue to hate the U.S., our military, and, after thirty years, continue to spit on our Vietnam vets”
It followed by, “…I’ve got a kid in the military” – which fact makes Woody’s slime particularly offensive and unhinged.
This little prick wants to sling insults with impunity. I guess this routine of putting him back in his place – in the gutter – is so fucking boring that I’m an idiot for not just letting him get away with his childish, foul antics.
“kids, aren’t going to let that go any more than them teasing someone showing up with a breakout of pimples”
So I guess the moral of Woody’s ruminations is that if a kid killed someone for teasing him about his pimples, the dead kid would be faulted for “creating a murderer.”
Interesting brand of “conservative thought.”
(Prepare yourselves for a long, incoherent, childish, defensive whine from Woody for having been caught once more saying things that make Glenn Beck sound like a deep thinker.)
Once again, you’re wrong, reg.
The parallel is that if teenagers will tease another one about pimples, then they are much more likely to tease a boy who wears dresses, high heeled shoes, and make-up. In fact, King wore make-up before most parents gave permission for that to their daughters.
Larry King flaunted his “noncomformity,” which encouraged more retaliation…much like you flaunt your gayness. Had he acted anywhere close to normal and not been in the faces of the other kids, none of this would have happened.
Did your mother ever wash out your mouth with soap? She should have.
Woody – those peeps into your homophobic mindwarp are about as pleasant as if you just dropped your pants and posted the jpg. I won’t go so far as to blame the fact that you’re mired in backwardness and bigotry by asserting failings on the part of your mother. First of all, that’s obviously inappropriate – not that such concerns have ever stopped you. Second, it would be giving you an excuse that you don’t deserve.
Oh, I see, reg. By saying it and then saying it’s wrong to say it, it’s as though you never said it! Brilliant logic.
Where I live, we call normal what you call homophobic and bigoted. There’s no high road for you when you take the side of perverts.
“Where I live, we call normal what you call homophobic and bigoted.”
Who knew ?
(Your first sentence of last comment makes no sense – except as a typically dishonest, whiny attempt at distraction from your own lack of common decency…)
reg, it’s perfectly normal for me and others to ignore political correctness, especially since it’s wrong. Only brave people ignore societal pressures like you push rather than go along like liberals needing to feel acceptance or a phony moral superiority.
Homosexuality is a disease and people who won’t admit it and who excuse it hurt those who are afflicted, by not allowing them to work out of it. Calling me names only makes your conscience feel better towards gays, but it’s the wrong approach.
Love Won Out
I hope you can find time for the Birmingham conference on November 7th. Even you might be able to change.
Some great use of our tax money.
The UIC College of Nursing has received a $3 million federal grant to continue research to identify risk factors for excessive drinking among lesbians.
Well, at least we know that it’s not the men trying to get them drunk.
Regarding the Ventura County trial (and ignoring the pissing contest) one has to commiserate with all THREE of the vics here, the dead, the perp, and the teacher. Adolescence for me is only a vague memory, but a few things stand out still, and I was priviledged to relive them with my now 26 yr old son. Sexual identity and where one stands in the panorama of life and gender is a huge factor in one’s growth, and unfortunately one that went grossly awry for Brandon McInerney. Some of you surely recall how the hormones raged and emotions were hair-triggered back in those turbid post-pubescent years? I’m pretty sure that if there was mediation for each of these kids the tragedy would have averted. Larry King was obviously flaunting his sexuality, and McInerney responded, albeit in radical fashion. Sad, but understandable when you consider the ages of the vics. Nobody wins for sure.
Woody, it’s sad to wander over here and see you acting like a child…again. Everytime I think you’ve hit the bottom, you seem to manage to go just a little lower.
Let’s see:
But, he isn’t innocent of creating a murderer with his actions.
Common sense should have trumped the expectation of tolerance at that stage, and Larry King brought it on.
Larry King flaunted his “noncomformity,†which encouraged more retaliation
Where I live, we call normal what you call homophobic and bigoted. There’s no high road for you when you take the side of perverts.
I’ll take reg’s vulgarity all day over the deeply sick and intolerant values on display in your comments here.
Logic side note: You’re *constantly* harping on the sheep-like onformity of liberals, yet when one young boy strikes out on his own, in the face of enormous social pressure–he’s a pervert and the architect of his own murder. Evidently you only like certain kinds of indepenence; the kind that conforms to and confirms your world view.
I’ll also add that I don’t think there is any tragedy for McInerny at all. Gava Joe cites hormones? This kid murdured another kid. With a gun. He executed the other kid. When the logic starts to “understand” how someone who is made uncomfortable could be driven to such lenghts, it’s time to start asking some deep and personal questions about agency and responsibility.
One more point. In college (so that means I was 19, one year removed from Gava’s raging hormones) I was constantly and relentlessly hit on by a gay classmate–at school, at parties, etc. And you know what? I didn’t kill him. (What! Really?) I didn’t beat him up. I didn’t yell at him. I turned it into a bit of a joke, and it turned into this sort of razzing ritual we played at over time. That’s what responsible people do; they cope. They find some solutions that don’t involve murder. McInerney belongs in jail for a long long time.
Book em Dan O….
DanO–spot on.
And for the morally obtuse, here’s a little thought experiment:
1) John Doe is one of the few whites in a mostly-black school.
2) John Doe repeatedly taunts Bill Smith, who is black.
3) Bill Smith kills John Doe.
Which of the following is true?
A. John Doe “created a murderer” with his actions.
B. Common sense should have trumped the expectation of tolerance at that stage, and John Doe brought it on.
C. John Doe flaunted his nonconformity, which encouraged more retaliation.
D. None of the above.
E. All of the above.
F. Wait, I’m lost. Stop trying to trick me, liberal fag-lovers!
If you want to fell bett about LAPD cops and our legal system, just compare the U.S. to Mexico.
http://www.latimes.com/la-na-mexico-drug-war21-2009jul21,0,5811875.story
Federal authorities announced indictments Monday against the reputed leaders of Mexico’s Gulf cartel and its paramilitary force, the Zetas, accusing them of trafficking tons of cocaine and marijuana from South America through the Texas-Mexico border.
Hundreds of miles of Mexican territory along the border is controlled by the Company, which has carried out a violent campaign against Mexican law enforcement officers and rival drug traffickers, the indictment alleges.
Wiretap evidence apparently captures the suspects talking about drug shipments, the pricing of cocaine and marijuana, bribe amounts and threat against rivals, according to federal authorities. Records of shipments, bribes and debts owed were allegedly kept on laptop computers and flash drives, the indictments allege. Treviño claimed to control the ministerial police in the state of Veracruz and once discussed a $2-million bribe to Mexican government officials, according to U.S. authorities.
“The Mexican government has offered rewards of up to $2,400 dollars for tips leading to the capture of the Gulf suspects. The U.S. is offering $50 dollars in reward money.”
^That there above is the big problem. There is just no real incentive to help out. Just pitiful.
So, Dan O, you have nothing to say except to join reg in his personal attacks.
Which is more childish – expressing an opinion or calling someone names when you disagree with him? Yeah, I didn’t think that you would admit it.
And, your left-wing herd-mentality followers can only shout “me too, me too!” rather than think for themselves. And, their examples display the typical liberal idiocy of comparing two unlike situations and saying that they are the same.
If I have certain views about issues, in this case homosexuality and with a view shared by more than who will admit it, then I’m entitled to express that view. If your only retort is to say that I’m homophobic or childish, then you have no argument and refuse to accept the obvious and prevailing historical perspectives.
Political correctness is a psychological disease that afflicts people who have no backbone to stand up against attacks by the left. Things that you and reg say about me come from the same spinless saps who get so upset when I tell them that global warming is a hoax.
Dan O., this may explain you and reg and your fellow jellyfish.
Political correctness occurs when people become embarrassed to call something what it is because they – the users of these strange “politically correct†terms – are embarrassed by or feel uneasy about the subject of their conversation. The problem is not one of language but one of psychology. Most people have complexes or hang-ups of one sort or another. In this case, these complexes cause certain people to feel in some way offended by a word because it touches a sensitive spot in their own subconscious. So they avoid the word that makes them feel uncomfortable and find some way – any way – of avoiding it.
You’re afraid to call someone a homosexual because gay sounds so much happier.
So, in the end, there can be no discourse, no disagreement, because you set the rules to where no one can say anything to disagree with you.
Sorry. I don’t play games where the game is fixed.
Grow up and learn to lose gracefully.
Well, at least we know that it’s not the men trying to get them drunk. – Woody
Time once again to plop Woody into the B.O.H.I.C.A. welcoming position.
Political correctness is a psychological disease that afflicts people who have no backbone to stand up against attacks by the left.
And you say this based on what authority? Is it in the DSM-IV? If so, what page?
If I have certain views about issues, in this case homosexuality and with a view shared by more than who will admit it
And you know this how? Are you omniscient? Do you believe that you and only you see into everyone’s hearts and minds? Are you aware that pride is a cardinal sin?
Gay friends can be a real pain in the arse!
Keep yourself covered Woody.
Gay male & female dinosaurs: Rumpasauras & Licalotapus.
Just so you know, I have a number of gay friends. We just don’t talk about sex or politics. One of them works for the IRS, which is worse than being gay.
A couple weekends ago, a boatload of them pulled up to our dock to join our part. As each one climbed out they were greeted with “Hello, Mary.” That didn’t offend them in the least. It would you guys.
Haha. Next Woody be saying Gay politicians always be seeking mandates.
Gays in the military bring new meaning to “Rear Admiral”
Haha-very funny Woody.
Me think Woody have Gay drill sergeant when he in Marines.
Woody, there seems never to be much point in trying to contend with you in a serious way since you don’t take any of this seriously at all. You are twice as guilty of doing what you accuse everyone else of doing, but you think because you don’t swear that you’re absolved. My point was that your deeply bigoted views are vastly more offensive than any f-bomb. That’s not a personal attack, that’s an argument.
Just for the record, I actually have a pretty deep antipathy towards political correctness and the excesses that we all saw in the late 80’s. I don’t like–yes–some of the mental conformity that comes out of it. But I don’t let my dislike of various PC tropes become an excuse to hate people. That’s what you do: under the cover of fighting for intellectual freedom and independence you advance a noxious strain of hatred and contempt for people who are unlike you. It’s a sham. It’s just trying to shine up shit.
One more story. The proudest time in my days in politics was when I was working for a homosexual (why would you think I feared that word?) Senator who was sponsoring a bill to expand the non-discriminaiton clause of the MN human rights laws to sexual orientation. I’m happy to say it passed, with the help of a conservative, but also thoughtful Republican Senator who happened to be a Protestant minister. The point of this story is that I had to answer the phones in the office while that bill was making its way through the commitees. I’ve never heard such vileness before or since. It was really despicable, graphic, and horrifying, the things they said. And Woody, the problem I have with you, is not that you are not PC enough, the problem I have is that you lend fuel to that fire, you spread hatred and vileness around you, and as a result, you have a hand in restricting the freedom of Americans who have done you no wrong. You should be ashamed, you lover of freedom and independence. You should be ashamed.
Woody – you can say anything you want. But take the reaction like a man. If you want to shout “nigger” on this site, go right ahead. But don’t whine and go crybaby if you get called a racist. “Poltically correct” isn’t my game. Not even close. What I do is call them like I see them – and I see a crazy-ass, childish bigot whining because he can’t stand the heat he loves to generate in a deliberate and persistent effort to gain attention by annoying and insulting others.
You’re a coward and a clown.
Ms. Celeste, please place Ensign Woody in the torpedo tube now.
Yeah, Woody – we know, you’ve got gay friends and black people love you. It so happens I’ve got friends who are as wingnut as you are. The other day I saw a couple of them at an “Obama Birth Certificate Rally”, and I shouted, “Hi, you racist rightwing shitheads. Wazzup? Still as stupid as you were the last time we talked?” and they all waved and laughed. But you go all crybaby when I say that. You’re too fucking politically correct.
Mr. Woody, you are found guilty of sexual harrasment & stinking!
O.K. Ms. Moderator, you may now officially blow a gasket.
Aliens have found Voyager, and have sent a? message to Earth … Send less comments by Woody.
Hiroshi and Pepe Le Peu smell alot like Don Culo and his many, many aliases, que no, Don Culo.
I think that all the readers should know the Mayans prophesized Woody’s birth.
I asked reasonable questions in a polite manner. Woody apparently is unable to answer them. Think about what that says.
First, “Walter Mitty attorney”, your questions reasonable? Polite? Please cite sources that they are reasonable and provide data indicating that they were well-intentioned.
I didn’t call you names, Woodrow. That’s reason enough.
Please answer the question. You said that political correctness is a “psychological disease.” Is it listed in teh DSM-IV? If so, where. If not, by what authority do you make that claim?
Simple questions. What is the problem with answering them?
Randy, do you deny telling me to ESAD? Well, you did.
Here’s a useful book, especially as it relates to drinking studies of lesbians mentioned above and priority AIDS funding:
How Political Corretness is Corrupting Medicine
Randy, it’s obvious that political correctness is a psychological disease driven by insecurities and the need for acceptance. There would be more studies on that if the researchers weren’t intimidated by threats of firing or losing grants, such as those opposing global warming hysteria. It’s also a disease accompanied by misery and abnormal feelings of guilt.
Clearly, people who come up with the terms and rationalizations of the politically correct have to be out of their minds. I like how another described it.
Let me recommend a book for you to read: “The Liberal Mind: The Psychological Causes of Political Madness.”
Still didn’t answer.
The young boy was clearly either extremely poorly parented, or psychologically ill. That sort of behavior, at his (?) age should not be allowed. In fact, cross dressing at school shouldn’t be allowed period.
Kids at that age are literally a bit crazy (neurological research backs that up), and this sort of thing shows it.
The victim was allowed (by our politically correct world) to engage in outrageous behavior. The killer, also crazy as kids are that way, over-reacted by far and should be punished – but NOT with a first degree murder charge with the hate crime aggravator thrown in!
[regarding whether homosexuality is a psychiatric illness]
Right. The APA would never, ever do anything out of political correctness and pressure from the gay lobby, would they now? Why, they’re obviously utterly objective and operating from scientific truth.
As to Woody’s “homosexuals can be cured” – nonsense. Most cannot be cured – they are right about that. Some can change their sexual orientation if they want to – gender identity is a spectrum, not binary.
Moore,
You are almost as dim as Woody. Here’s what I asked:
Your piss-poor reading comprehension is your own problem, not mine.
As for this statement: “The APA would never, ever do anything out of political correctness and pressure from the gay lobby, would they now?”
Proof?
Randy, you sure stifle any discussion by dismissing, out of hand, any comment unless outside proof adequate to you is presented, for which you are never satisfied.
Before we can answer you, please provide us with proof of your existence with drivers license, birth certificate, and DNA.
Randy, you sure stifle any discussion by dismissing, out of hand, any comment unless outside proof
You never show a shred of proof, nor does Moore. You still let your opinion masquerade as fact and then whine when someone asks for a modicum of proof.
Man up.
It’s interesting that Woody recommends a book on political correctness and the psychiatric profession by conservative MD and sometimes controversial critic of her profession who, nonetheless, agrees with the APA that homosexuality is NOT a mental disorder and declassifying it was “a victory for gay people and the enlightened wing of the psychiatric profession” and – more to the particular point – considers sweeping, patently unscientific notions like Woody’s that “political correctness is a pyschological disease” as precisely the kind of bullshit she’s arguing against in the book he links to.
Once again, Woody proves himself dumber than dirt…
reg, here you go with your “Ooooh, wish I had said this” arguments long after the discussion is over. Too slow. I was referencing the downside of political correctness in one field alone with its “new speak” and nothing more. Then, you act more like an idiot by thinking that you are reinforcing Randy’s question with something entirely different.
An “enlightened wing” of the psychiatric profession switched its long-term stand that homosexuality is a deviant mental condition only after it was threatened and bullied by the gay lobby and saw what happened to those who didn’t bend over.
Unlike you, I tend to think that people who engage is anal sex are mentally off, and M.D.s agree that such physical activity brought on by a certain mentality is detrimental to life and health.
Incoherent rambliing, evasive and in no way addresses the fact that you were linking to a source that actually undermines your idiotic rantings.
I linked to the source precisely for the reason that I outlined and which was the subject of the source and nothing more — not other thoughts from whether queers are gay or what color pumps go best with your outfit. The next thing I know, you’ll find that the author voted for a Democrat and claim that undermines everything that I said. You’re so pathetic.
You linked to a source and in the following sentences proceeded to do PRECISELY what the source was debunking and calliing bullshit.
Dumber than dirt…
I’m sorry that you feel that way, reg. It’s amazing that I earned a bachelor’s and a Master’s degree from a top program being as stupid as I am, but look how far your brains got you and with no extended education!
Maybe you’re reading something that I’m not. Otherwise, just go away feeling that you’re superior.
Ward presented a thought experiment but contaminated it by bending it to his own prejudices. Here are some thought experiments and after you read them, what would your reaction be:
Justified? Not justified? does your political bias shift your answer on this?
Justified? Not justified? does your political bias shift your answer on this?
Justified? Not justified? does your political bias shift your answer on this?
Justified? Not justified? does your political bias shift your answer on this?
Please answer all scenarios and please don’t cop out with “murder is never justified” or similar concept. See if you can figure out what your biases are.
Hey, Woody – you’re a fucking accountant.
Of course I’ve learned a lot you haven’t. Lots. You’re intellectualy incompetent and culturally limited by your perverse biases. I just proved that – again – by taking apart your idiot comment in which you referenced a book to “support” your point of view and then proceeded to do exactly what the book criticized as completely fucked up. You’re not just an annoying little jerk, a racist and a homophobe – you’re a total fucking idiot. Everyone who reads your shit here knows it…you’ve exposed your inability to think or argue coherently, your dishonesty and your petty nature time and again. Truth is, I wouldn’t have to write a word.
You’re a ridiculous little weasel, trolling for attention.
You’re a ridiculous little weasel, trolling for attention.
Projecting again, reg?
You’re a fascist fuck. And I guarantee, that’s no projection.
reg, you would say the same thing about me over a spelling error, which has the same substance of what you do when you ignore the main issue to go after what you consider mistakes in incidentals. Given your comments and ravings, the things that you’ve learned that I haven’t…I wouldn’t want to learn.
One fact is clear. I’m honest, rational, analytical, and logical. Liberals never can deal with that, so they resort to name calling and nit-picking. Sad.
Please deal with your envy.
[…] This morning L.A. Superior Court Judge Rolf M. Treu tossed out the lawsuit that the mother of 19-month-old Suzie Pena, Lorena Lopez, filed against the city in relation to the […]