Quote of the Day

If that's the kind of people we got over
in Iraq, maybe we ought to get out. I
suspect that's not the case. I suspect there
are good people, just like everywhere else in
the world. Mr. Alfatlawi is not one of them.
He is a criminal of the worst kind. He preys
on people that are minding their own
business. He robbed a store where a lady was
trying to make a new store work, in the
middle of the night. They took advantage of
a widow in the Cove area, who went out . . .
to try and give assistance, and they
terrorized her. A man coming home, unloading
his baggage in his home, they robbed. A
young woman walking down the street, who was
out of gas, in the night, coming home from
work, they attempted to rob her. She didn't
have anything, so they couldn't take it.
Random acts of violence, for example, on [one
of the victims]. This is just outside the
pizza store on 13th there. They pull up and
point a gun at him and demand money. He only
has five dollars, but he gives it to them.
And on and on and on.
This is the kind of guy that ought to be
off the street for a long period of time, as
long as I can make it. Considering his
attitude, if the Board of Pardons let's [sic]
him out in other than a box, they are nuts,
because he will do this again. It is too bad
we can't deport him back to Iraq. If I had
any say-so about it, that's exactly where he
would go, and he can deal with the situation
over there. He would last about 20 minutes,
with his attitude.
But, in any event, Mr. Alfatlawi has
earned and he gets from me a consecutive
sentence on each one of these. They all run
consecutively. By my count it is 70 years to
life. . . . This guy deserves to be in
prison for a long, long time. Commitment
forthwith. You can give him the good news,
Mr. Simms.
. . . .
. . . . Tell Mr. Alfatlawi to have a
nice life.

That was Third District Court Judge Hanson on Azharn Alfatlawi, who had just been convicted of six counts of aggravated robbery and one count of aggravated burglary. I had heard of the judge's comments last year when he was sentenced, but now that the sentence has been affirmed on appeal in a publicly available opinion, 2006 UT App 511, I feel I can share it with you all.

This defendant by the way has a tattoo on his forehead that says "Iraqi Pride," try getting a solid lineup with that. What do you do, draw "Iraqi Pride" and his teardrop tattoo on people with magic marker?

Anyway, I urge my readers to spend time with family and friends this next week as I will be blogging little to none while I do the same. Happy Hanukkah, Kwanza, Festivus , or whatever you celebrate. I will be having a Merry Christmas. Two relatives who were not going to be here for Christmas Eve will be joining us thanks to that monster storm in Denver. It is happy for us but sad for their children and grandchildren in Denver. Still, the kids of Colorado have lots of snow to play in and probably haven't been at school for days. All this light snow in Salt Lake has me thinking of them. Also, be safe next week and if you have had ANYTHING to drink, just take a cab. I don't want to see you next time I try a DUI.