Slog
News & ArtsThursday, August 20, 2009
City The Kalebu Tapes: "I'm Not Crazy."
Posted by Eli Sanders on Thu, Aug 20, 2009 at 7:55 AM
If you watch one video in this series, watch this one:
Notice the expressions on the faces of the attorneys. Notice the rather amazing hand gestures from the security guard in shades. Notice that Isaiah M. Kalebu seems, at the very least, unconcerned about normal courtroom behavior. And notice the date: April 14, 2008.
This hearing took place more than a year before the rapes and murder that Kalebu is now accused of committing in South Park. It came about because Kalebu had brandished a knife and threatened to kill his mother after she told him to take his bipolar medication. At the end of this hearing, Judge Brian Gain sent Kalebu to Western State Hospital for a mental competency evaluation. What the judge eventually heard back, according to court records, was that Kalebu presented "an above-average long-term risk for future danger to others and for committing future criminal acts." Nevertheless, at a hearing six days before the South Park murder, despite concerns from a King County deputy prosecutor about Kalebu's mental state and recent run-ins with the law, Judge Gain let Kalebu go free.
Tomorrow: Kalebu returns from Western State.
Video wizardry: Kelly O
2
Did you ever wonder how blacks in seattle manage to commit at least 85% of the violent crimes like rape and murder when they only make up about 8% of the local population?
3
Oh go away, racists.
Now, in my opinion, this is the kind of reporting that ought to win prizes. Eli's tone is not particularly balanced -- his incredulity at the judge, for one, is unhidden -- but he's asking all the right questions and highlighting all the right objective evidence (the tapes in their quadoptic gaze tell no lies and have no opinion) to make that incredulity justified.
My hope is that through this series of reports, Eli will effect change in the courts system such that people like Mr. Kalebu are held outside of society so that they cannot dip in and out of the justice system, creating mayhem and death between visits.
Now, in my opinion, this is the kind of reporting that ought to win prizes. Eli's tone is not particularly balanced -- his incredulity at the judge, for one, is unhidden -- but he's asking all the right questions and highlighting all the right objective evidence (the tapes in their quadoptic gaze tell no lies and have no opinion) to make that incredulity justified.
My hope is that through this series of reports, Eli will effect change in the courts system such that people like Mr. Kalebu are held outside of society so that they cannot dip in and out of the justice system, creating mayhem and death between visits.
4
dont think this is black and white, mr same guy posing as two different first commentors....its a general issue about a general lax attitude in this state, at least, towards mental health.
that said, this bastard should be drawn and quartered naked in the freezing rain without food or water while bleeding profusely from his absent crotch.
that said, this bastard should be drawn and quartered naked in the freezing rain without food or water while bleeding profusely from his absent crotch.
6
Great stuff, Eli and Kelly! Always helps to get a look inside a court. The hand gestures are truly amazing evidence of how this guy rattles even the guard, who looks like he has seen some interesting things over the years. And note defense counsel's body language--she is practically touching the prosecutor, not wanting to be in her own client's orbit. Also, whatever was in the papers the judge was looking over, he may have gotten the best information just by letting the guy talk: (a) he wanted his mother to speak on his behalf? the judge saw right through that one--the son calculating that his mother wouldn't join in sending him away, lest he make good on his threats to her; (b) his treatment of the whole proceeding as part of a long-running contest of will between the judge and him, with his amazing trash talk to the judge about which won of them would "win"; and (c) his brazen lying about never having mental health treatment or a prescription for meds, as though there wouldn't be proof of that in the papers. It seems pretty clear that there is more going on here than just a healthy disrespect for authority!
I'm looking forward to tomorrow's installment, but anybody who thinks that being a judge, defense lawyer or prosecutor on the mental health calendar might be some kind of walk in the park needs to see this video.
I'm looking forward to tomorrow's installment, but anybody who thinks that being a judge, defense lawyer or prosecutor on the mental health calendar might be some kind of walk in the park needs to see this video.
7
@2 FTW as a general societal observation, however not in this particular case because mental health issues are part of the equation, and mental health disorders are not race specific. This guy could have been white, latino, etc, and done this. It is an outlier in the statistical breakdown of violent crime, as the mental disorder overrides normal logic and action.
There is clearly some negligence by the judge in this entire matter. Mr. Kalebu shows classic signs of someone with bi-polar disorder combined with a temper and feeling of omnipotence.
Spot on assessment @6
There is clearly some negligence by the judge in this entire matter. Mr. Kalebu shows classic signs of someone with bi-polar disorder combined with a temper and feeling of omnipotence.
Spot on assessment @6
8
Judge Brian Gain is not up for reelection until 2012. No other candidate filed against him in last year's election so his name didn't even appear in the primary or general election ballot.
9
Eli Sanders should run against Gain in 2012 since he can tell so much more about a defendant from a grainy 120x90 pixel video than Judge Gain can from inside his own courtroom. Eli is Seattle's own Bill Frist.
10
I am enthralled with this case, even though when I think and/or look at Kalebu, I also flash on the horrible description of what he did to those two women. It haunts me. However, as I am about to enter into the mental health arena as a therapist, I realize that people such as Kalebu may someday present themselves to me…and that haunts me even more. Will I be able to predict their violence? Will I make the same mistake that some may have made in this case, which may in fact not be a mistake, but more so a constraint mandated by the law? Kalebu keeps me up at night for many, many reasons.
12
@10 I know what you mean. My girlfriend and i were robbed at our house (in Pittsburgh) last weekend while we were away on vacation and I'm terrified that they'll come back and I can't quit thinking about this case...ugh!
13
@2 - to be fair, the real stat is that blacks commit at least half of the murders in Seattle.
http://tinyurl.com/no5knk
From the article "List of 2008 homicides in Seattle" from the Seattle PI
selected from the list of the 28 Seattle homicides in 2008....
Allen Joplin, Jan. 4 -- black killed by black
De'Che Morrison, Jan. 10 -- black killed by black
Maurice "Moe" Allen Jr., Jan. 26 -- black killed by black
Degene Barecha, Jan. 30 -- black killed by black
Perry Henderson, Feb. 6 -- black killed by black
Stephan Dwaine Stewart, April 2 -- black killed by black
Eldora Earlycutt, July 4 -- black killed by black
James Paroline, July 10 -- white killed by black
Troy Peters, July 22 -- black killed by black
Pierre Lapoint, Aug. 5 -- black killed by black
Jane Kariuki, Oct. 16 -- woman of unknown race killed by black man named Christel D. Murphy
Quincy S. Coleman, Oct. 31 -- black killed by black
Edward McMichael, the "Tuba Man", Nov. 3 -- white killed by multiple blacks
Nathaniel Lee Thomas, Nov. 23 -- black killed by black
So by my count blacks (8% of Seattle) were the killers in at least half (that's at least 50%) of the murders in the Seattle area in 2008. At least five of the other murderers were latinos.
The numbers are actually worse for 2009 and do approach the 85% mark. Up to June there have been at least 5 murders in Seattle and in at least three of them the murder was black.
Just look at all the attention that Slog has given those two white lesbians who were raped and stabbed (one killed) by that black guy that your loony white-guilt courts let go!!!
Actually the only reason you even paid any attention to it was because they were lesbians, even going so far as shrieking about how it was an anti-gay hate crime, totally ignoring the more obvious possibility that if it was any kind of hate crime at all, it was a black-on-white hate crime.
More...
http://tinyurl.com/no5knk
From the article "List of 2008 homicides in Seattle" from the Seattle PI
selected from the list of the 28 Seattle homicides in 2008....
Allen Joplin, Jan. 4 -- black killed by black
De'Che Morrison, Jan. 10 -- black killed by black
Maurice "Moe" Allen Jr., Jan. 26 -- black killed by black
Degene Barecha, Jan. 30 -- black killed by black
Perry Henderson, Feb. 6 -- black killed by black
Stephan Dwaine Stewart, April 2 -- black killed by black
Eldora Earlycutt, July 4 -- black killed by black
James Paroline, July 10 -- white killed by black
Troy Peters, July 22 -- black killed by black
Pierre Lapoint, Aug. 5 -- black killed by black
Jane Kariuki, Oct. 16 -- woman of unknown race killed by black man named Christel D. Murphy
Quincy S. Coleman, Oct. 31 -- black killed by black
Edward McMichael, the "Tuba Man", Nov. 3 -- white killed by multiple blacks
Nathaniel Lee Thomas, Nov. 23 -- black killed by black
So by my count blacks (8% of Seattle) were the killers in at least half (that's at least 50%) of the murders in the Seattle area in 2008. At least five of the other murderers were latinos.
The numbers are actually worse for 2009 and do approach the 85% mark. Up to June there have been at least 5 murders in Seattle and in at least three of them the murder was black.
Just look at all the attention that Slog has given those two white lesbians who were raped and stabbed (one killed) by that black guy that your loony white-guilt courts let go!!!
Actually the only reason you even paid any attention to it was because they were lesbians, even going so far as shrieking about how it was an anti-gay hate crime, totally ignoring the more obvious possibility that if it was any kind of hate crime at all, it was a black-on-white hate crime.
15
Eli,
A read this from Juan Williams in the WSJ on Michael Vick and dog fighting:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424…
What fazed me is this line:
"That logic leads apologists to excuse dog fighting in modern America as a "black thing," a cultural artifact that is misunderstood when it emerges in an urban context with poorly educated, low-income young men strutting down the street with threatening, muscular dogs straining a leash."
Alas, Kalebu owns a pit bull. Wow.
A read this from Juan Williams in the WSJ on Michael Vick and dog fighting:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424…
What fazed me is this line:
"That logic leads apologists to excuse dog fighting in modern America as a "black thing," a cultural artifact that is misunderstood when it emerges in an urban context with poorly educated, low-income young men strutting down the street with threatening, muscular dogs straining a leash."
Alas, Kalebu owns a pit bull. Wow.
18
I find the tape disturbing for different reasons. Mr. Kalebu had no actual hearing, to which he was entitled before a judge suspended the speedy trial rule, and sent him involuntarily to Western State Hospital for a competency evaluation. His "lawyer" did nothing whatsoever except wrongly represent his own views to the court. There is no suggestion that he was shown the evidence presented to the judge based on which the judge ordered the competency hearing.
The fact that the defense "lawyer" stood away from Mr. Kalebu and did nothing whatsoever to defend him or his position is not some telling indicator that he is a really bad guy. I am sad to say that many defense attorneys act like that toward their clients in court, especially when the client is mentally ill or unhappy with the lawyer's representation (perhaps for good reason). It's inappropriate, but common. It doesn't mean everyone in the room should be able to glean that the defendant is going to commit random homicides.
The security officer's hand gestures in the end are just inquiring whether the judge is ready for Mr. Kalebu to be removed to the holding tank at the side of the courtroom. Posters are evidently reading something else into the gesture.
The fact that the defense "lawyer" stood away from Mr. Kalebu and did nothing whatsoever to defend him or his position is not some telling indicator that he is a really bad guy. I am sad to say that many defense attorneys act like that toward their clients in court, especially when the client is mentally ill or unhappy with the lawyer's representation (perhaps for good reason). It's inappropriate, but common. It doesn't mean everyone in the room should be able to glean that the defendant is going to commit random homicides.
The security officer's hand gestures in the end are just inquiring whether the judge is ready for Mr. Kalebu to be removed to the holding tank at the side of the courtroom. Posters are evidently reading something else into the gesture.
19
"The fact that the defense "lawyer" stood away from Mr. Kalebu and did nothing whatsoever to defend him or his position is not some telling indicator that he is a really bad guy. I am sad to say that many defense attorneys act like that toward their clients in court, especially when the client is mentally ill"
Awwwwwwwwwww.
Maybe next time she should give him a hug, or a handjob perhaps.
Awwwwwwwwwww.
Maybe next time she should give him a hug, or a handjob perhaps.
21
@20 - no of course not! She definitely should have given him a handjob and maybe sucked his cock.
23
"Just look at all the attention that Slog has given those two white lesbians who were raped and stabbed (one killed) by that black guy that your loony white-guilt courts let go"
Exactly! We white liberals are particularly shocked because he murdered some of OUR people.
Exactly! We white liberals are particularly shocked because he murdered some of OUR people.
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