I always said he was going to change the world...

And so it goes on...

Judge Charlie Baird abused his discretion when he did not recuse himself from considering a motion that challenged his authority to conduct a court of inquiry to examine whether Cameron Todd Willinghamwas wrongfully convicted and executed, according to a ruling issued today by the 3rd Court of Appeals in Austin.

Baird was set in October to decide on a request to convene a court of inquiry to investigate whether the Corsicana father was wrongfully convicted of setting a fire that killed his three daughters. But Navarro County prosecutor R. Lowell Thompson requested that Baird recuse himself, arguing that the judge's previous ruling on the Willingham case and his reputation as a death penalty opponent called into question his impartiality. Baird voted in 1995, when he was on the Court of Criminal Appeals, to reaffirm Willingham's death sentence.

Baird denied Thompson's motion and continued the hearing, but the appeals court stayed the proceedings before the judge could issue a ruling on whether a court of inquiry was warranted in Willingham's case. The three-judge panel today ruled that in response to Thompson's motion, Baird should have either recused himself or referred the motion to the presiding judge of the administrative judicial district. The court granted Thompson's motion to recuse Baird and postponed the court of inquiry proceedings until the judge complies with the motion.

My favourite album of 2010

Premiere: Stedapol C.C. Watt, ‘Samba Soul’

by KEVIN on DECEMBER 15, 2010

There are enough revivalists around these days to fill a festival full of tents, but few that mind the heartbeat of soul like Stedapol C.C. Watt. This ain’t neo-, it’s real — and seemingly out of nowhere, the Los Angeles trio has self-released an EP (“Glassell Park Groove”) and album (“Glassell Park Grit”) that stacks up with Stax. Questlove has tweeted about them (“I need this soul”), they’ve done some low-key gigging, and now with the October release of their albums to iTunes, they seem ready to get the funk out of obscurity. But who are they? Stedapol C.C. Watt — the band bears the name of a friend, with his blessing — is the brainchild of veteran drummer/keyboardist Rob Brill, his son Jonny on bass and singer-guitarist Rodney Gardiner, a New York City transplant with an acting background. “We won’t want to be perceived as a nostalgia act,” the elder Brill says. “We’re not looking back 30 years, we’re keeping it contemporary.” Brill (Berlin, the Thorns, Pete Droge) started the project with his son after returning to L.A. from several years on the road. “It took us a year and a half to find Rodney,” he says, “but he was a find.” Brill says the next step may be adding a guitarist and perhaps a keyboardist — as a three-piece their live gigs currently present only stripped-down versions of their music, which is flavored with horns, organ and Latin percussion.

||| Download: “Samba Soul”