Black and White and Thin Blue Lines

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Join summer intern and law clerk Lauren Pountnay, Serge Antonin, and Clarke Ahlers as they veer off the beaten path of criminal justice issues to discuss something that everybody is talking about: the 25th Amendment to the United States Constitution.  This isn't a political diatribe. One (or maybe two) of the hosts make reference to apparent shortfalls of President Biden. Still, this is a fair and balanced discussion of the constitutional process of dealing with presidential disability. We hope you will listen, or watch the "Vodcast" on YouTube. 

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Say her name: Rachel Morin. On August 5th, 2023, Rachel -- a mother of five -- was murdered while exercising on the Ma & Pa Heritage Trail in Hartford County, Maryland. Rachel's family turned to Maryland attorney Randolph Rice, the managing partner of Rice, Murtha & Psoras for assistance. In today's episode, Randolph Rice describes the efforts he and Morin family made to bring Rachel's killer to justice. Recently, Victor Martinez-Hernandez, an illegal immigrant from El Salvador, was charged with Rachel's murder. Randolph Rice is a well known and respected courtroom advocate. The Rachel Morin matter also proves him to be one hell of a victim's advocate!

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Join Serge and Clarke and special guest Lauren Pountnay for this podcast about the Hunter Biden trial. Lauren is a rising senior at N.C. State. She is Clarke's intern/law clerk for the summer of 2024. Lauren and Clarke attended one day of the Hunter Biden trial in Delaware and are interviewed by Serge about the trial. If you follow this podcast, you may be surprised at Clarke's analysis but whether you listen to this podcast regularly or are a new listener, this is an interesting assessment of one of the nation's biggest trials.

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In this episode, Serge and Clarke discuss a video of Sean "Diddy" Combs assaulting Cassandra "Cassie" Ventura in the hallway of the L.A. InterContinental Hotel in 2016 as well as the recent Homeland Security search warrant raids on Diddy owned properties in Los Angeles and Miami. Clarke offers Diddy's team some legal advice. Serge disagrees. In the second portion of the podcast, the hosts discuss the defunded and demoralized Chicago Police Department's abject failure to timely respond to a woman's 911 call for help during a home invasion robbery.  

And ... this is the first podcast (Season IV, Episode 2) that Serge and Clarke visually record the podcast have upload to YouTube. This may not be exciting to our longtime listeners, but to an old dog like Clarke and a "young adult" like Serge, this is good stuff! 

A special thank you to Lauren P -- go Wolfpack!!!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hU4KpMpJ7RE

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Serge and Clarke begin Season IV with a discussion of the tragic shooting death of a United States Airman in his own home by a Deputy Sheriff in Okaloosa, Florida. Then Serge and Clarke discuss the efforts of Marilyn Mosby and her supporters, including the NAACP, to have the President of the United States pardon her before her sentencing in federal court. Clarke is okay with it; Serge ... not so much! It's an interesting episode with the podcast hosts mostly in disagreement. Where do you stand? 

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In Baltimore County, Maryland a man has been arrested and accused of creating and publishing a recording that purported to be a high school principal making offensive racial remarks to the vice-principal. This is the new world of artificial intelligence and is the topic of a discussion between Serge and Clarke. Be assured: this episode is a genuine Black and White and Thin Blue Lines podcast. Avoid cheap imitations!

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In part 2 of the podcast, Kenny Somers reflects on the arrest, his incarceration, and his thoughts on the past and future of Baltimore. 

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Imagine the following story. "John Doe" steals a car -- or more accurately, John Doe steals the same car two times. The car owner, Kenny Somers, a professional automobile recycler, recovers the car the first time and attempts to recover the car a second time. But John Doe has other plans and tries to kill Kenny Somers. Somers fights back and prevails. Police are called. While police are investigating, Somers kicks John Doe in the head as John Doe lay on a sidewalk. This is part one of a two part series of how the criminal justice non-system in Baltimore treated John Doe, Kenny Somers, and the responding Baltimore City Police Officer. This podcast is worth a listen!

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Join Serge and Clarke as they share Nathan Steelman's experience sitting as a juror in judgment of a woman charged with domestic violence in Florida.  You have heard the expression "I'd rather be judged by 12 than carried by 6." (Clarke disagrees: he would rather be carried by six than judged by 12).  But as you will learn, that expression doesn't work in Manatee County, Florida.  This episode is interesting, entertaining, and informative. Enjoy. 

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Serge and Clarke comment in the murder of Ofc. Diller and update the listeners on renewed efforts on the Columbia Project. Worth a listen.