so i haven't commented here about t.i.'s legal troubles and i'm sure y'all have been anxiously anticipating my response in light of my love for him...
or not...
but i'm not going to talk about how stupid he was or how he deserves 50 years for having a gun fetish, more than he'd get for pistol-whipping someone with those same guns. stop. think about it. (c) Martin. cause i don't believe the hype and cause many other folks have done it and exhausted the subject so thoroughly, including fellow bloggers panama jackson and leon.
but being defense-minded and fascinated by our fine adversarial legal system, i am really interested in what his lawyers will argue to get him out of this seemingly impossible situation.
note: to all you fools who think he shoulda took a plea the minute he was arrested i say boooooo! this is what gets folks hemmed up for 10 to 20 years on some bullshit charge cause they rush to take the scraps the state is throwing at them. or because they can't afford competent legal representation to fight the charges. i say if you got the paper, make them bitches work for your conviction. half the time the prosecution can't make their case against you. they must prove that you did what they say you did beyond a reasonable doubt....a very high standard as far as legal standards go.
so surprise surprise when i went over to sandrarose and read about the first of t.i.'s "get ya shit together's" to the feds.
According to the associated press, t.i. is seeking to suppress the evidence seized from his range rover on the day of his arrest and also to throw out the statements he made to the police at the time of his arrest. t.i.'s lawyers allege that the range was searched without a warrant, consent or probable cause; that the arresting officers violated his rights; and that his statement might not have been voluntary.
heavy stuff right? but very interesting *stroking her chin* very interesting indeed.
now we all know (or should know) that the police can't just bust in your house or your car whenever they feel like it (although they do all the damn time). and of course the search of a house is very different from the search of a car cause you have more of an expectation of privacy in your house. and there's greater urgency with cars because you can more easily move a car quickly and destroy evidence in the meantime. despite this, the police still couldn't search the range without probable cause that it contained evidence or weapons that would endanger the officer if he has pulling over the vehicle in a traffic stop but this wasn't a traffic stop, it was a bust and once they'd removed t.i. and co. from the car, they were assured that the vehicle was secure and no longer in danger of being moved. no rush at that point, which means the vehicle could have been impounded and searched later once a warrant was secured. yet they searched it on the spot
enter the suppression argument...the feds really GOT ta be more careful!
i won't speculate as to how successful this suppression motion will be but given the caliber of the legal minds working on this case, (remember ray lewis and that super bowl murder charge, this guy got him off; or jim williams of midnight in the garden of good and evil fame, tried 4 times for the murder of his alleged lover, this guy got him acquitted) the arguments have to be well-founded at the very least.
now here's my thanksgiving tie-in....
Hosea Feed the Hungry and Homeless...what is this you ask? well, it's an Atlanta organization founded by Hosea Williams, a contemporary of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. who also championed civil rights around the state of Georgia. like marching on Forsyth County, an all-white enclave near Atlanta to face the KKK. very gangsta indeed. HFH is now run by his daughter Elizabeth Omilami and basically feeds tens of thousands of people on Thanksgiving and countless more every other day of the year.
now who stepped up and raised $166,000 in three hours after Ms. Omilami lost the support of $150K worth of sponsorship....
my boy. T.I. pimpin!
and crazy-eye Ryan Cameron (ha ha)
i love it...there's really no reason i should but i do so don't judge me.
thus, that many more folks are enjoying thanksgiving (and everyday) dinner because of t.i., right? (despite the thinly-veiled pr scheme to curry favor with the judge, it's still a good thing)
this got me to thinking about a question that's been rolling around in my head for a couple of weeks now....does an individual's philanthropy outweigh all the "bad" he had to do to get the money to give away? what's more effective for the community? black folks on the ground, in the grassroots so to speak, helping out each day as public defenders, social workers, teachers but being piss poor themselves in the process. or black folks infiltrating the corporate world making boocoo money that they can then share with more folks and maintain the black middle class in the process? no easy answer but trying to pick a lane in my own life.
more on that next week...
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