"...two can keep a secret only if one of them is dead."

That's from "Secret" by The Pierces, which is currently being used as the theme song for "Pretty Little Liars." It's apt for this blog, which is going to largely consist of a conspiracy theory.

Yesterday, the alleged snitch, Kyle, testified in the homicide trial. He claims that he was testifying so that he could be done with the ANP once and for all, but he doesn't seem that stupid (as in thinking he could get away with it). Why? For starters, the guy who brought ANP to the prison system in Colorado was axed for testifying against another ANP member in another state. Secondly, around the time of the shooting, members from other states had come visiting Kyle and others in Colorado, so they know what he looks like in other states. Laser surgery to remove his tattoos wasn't part of his plea agreement (as far as I know), so it'll be easy to send out a hit along ANP lines (it is apparently a nation-wide prison gang) for a guy with his tattoos, especially the neck ones, which are visible in a jumpsuit and are large enough that they would be difficult to cover up.

One of the things to remember about negotiating is that you always want to start off beyond your ideal spot, so that you have a better chance at ending at a comfortable position by the end. My guess is that's what happened here with Kyle's initial requests. He promised a lot in exchange for a lot. However, all he's doing is testifying against one person in exchange for being locked up in prison for a couple of decades in an undisclosed state. It may be his shot of moving up the chain of command, giving him a chance to prove that he's willing to risk it all to protect ANP and possibly to restore order in another state's jail system. Or, it could be that he was charged with making sure that a relative outsider took the fall, in order to safeguard another member from being discovered and was afraid of the defendant joining another gang and being able to reach out with that gang to off Kyle. It's clear that Kyle is bringing this supposed danger onto himself by complete choice, so there must be either no consequence from ANP faced by him testifying or he really is the stupidest person alive. He never gave a reason for wanting to leave, which alone raised my eyebrow. I would've asked if he was having any other troubles with ANP. People don't leave these organizations without a damn good reason and a solid way out, which usually means just fading into the woodwork, not running around, mouthing off about the group as much as you can. Neither are present here. There are other signs that things aren't adding up, but I'm not going to disclose them for now. Maybe I'll expand on my little conspiracy theory and turn it into novel form, using this moniker as a safety precaution...not that I'm afraid.

On an unrelated note, I need to win the lottery asap: PORSCHE 550 SPYDER Replica for $14,900 (half of what they usually run for)

Rocky Mountain High and American History Zed

Yah yah yah, I haven't posted anything here in a long time, but whatever. After having completed my first year of law school, I'm currently clerking for a judge in Colorado (in a way, I currently have three residences in three different states...crazy). That means I get to spend a portion of every day watching trials.

Right now there's a murder trial for an American Nazi Party prospect who allegedly killed a female Mexican immigrant (I've come to refer to the case as American History Zed, after the movie "American History X," the "zed" being the non-American pronunciation of "z"). Doesn't appear to be an actual hate crime, but you never know. It seems pretty likely that the guy is guilty (mandatory life in prison), but he also got thrown under the bus by a "soldier" in the ANP. Kyle Gray first told his (now ex) girlfriend that the defendant had killed the woman while driving a stolen car and then had bragged about it to him. Kyle was actually the driver, and the car belonged to the girlfriend. He then wrote a letter to the police, telling them that he could solve this murder for them (the trail went completely cold after a month of searching for the murderer)...if they were willing to give him a sweet plea deal (one of the parts of the deal is that it's not made public where he will serve out his sentence, probably afraid he'll get raped in the ass like in "American History X"). Only then was the defendant arrested.

There are a couple of other curveballs in the saga. First, the victim was having an affair with the eyewitness (someone other than Kyle Gray) at the time, something that the victim's husband didn't know about until the probable cause hearing (where the judge decides whether or not there's enough of a case to present to a jury). Second, the eyewitness had 10 beers earlier in the evening, but couldn't say when he had consumed them. Third, the defendant is the most polite convict that I have encountered. I see convicts almost daily and occasionally pass by them in the hall. Usually there's something about their demeanor that's skeezy, messed up, or mean. Not this guy. He ALWAYS says excuse me whenever people are in the back hall (whenever there's someone being taken to/from a holding cell, all civilians have to line up against the wall to avoid touching the convicts) and is more than happy to move to avoid blocking a person's view. Not to mention, he has no problem laughing whenever something humorous is said in the courtroom (whereas all of the other convicts either keep a straight face or cry).

It'll be interesting to follow, to say the least.