Welcome to The Now

 ... in particular because of the circumstances : Their issue lies with Alabama’s accomplice liability law which allows a suspect to be charged with murder if someone is killed during the commission of a crime regardless of whether they caused the death. When the five teens broke into a Millbrook home, suspect A’Donte Washington was fatally shot by a responding Millbrook Police officer after he charged the officer with a gun.   As a result, Smith and three other co-defendants were charged with murder for Washington’s death. On Friday, Smith appeared before Elmore County Circuit Judge Sibley Reynolds in a post-conviction hearing. Smith’s attorney, Leroy Maxwell argued that Smith’s trial attorney failed to present mitigating evidence that could have helped to shorten his sentence. So instead of just being charged with breaking and entering and/or theft, Smith was charged with the death of someone he didn't kill (again, the police did that).  65 years seems like a long ...

We have what would have been a (sadly) normal occurrence in the retail world : Two men were in an east Houston jewelry store Thursday afternoon pretending to be customers when a third man burst into the store and stated, "This is a robbery," Houston police spokesman Kese Smith said. They then proceed to tie up the owner and his wife. Well, I should say "try" instead of "proceed": As they were trying to tie up the store owner, the 52-year-old took out a handgun from his waistband and fatally shot one of the suspects, Smith said. The store owner then grabbed a shotgun and shot and killed the two other suspects in the ensuring gunbattle, Smith said. I know; "Wow!" Yeah, it's amazing how that went down. Especially when you learn that: The newspaper said Castillo was in critical but stable condition at hospital after suffering gunshot wounds to his left shoulder, left abdomen and legs. Whoa, and his wife? The woman was unharmed, police said...