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Speaker 1: What's going on. Thank you so much for listening to

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smartphone or tablet, And again, thank you so much for

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your support. There was a development in the the trial

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of de Carlos Brown Junior, who is charged at the

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state level and the federal level in the murder of

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Arena Zerutzka on the Charlotte light rail line. She was

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the Ukrainian refugee. So this from WSOCTV. The family of

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Arena zero Uska may have to wait even longer for

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the man accused of killing her to face a judge.

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You have to wait longer for this guy to go

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before the court. The defense attorney for De Carlos Brown Junior,

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who has been in federal custody for months, is now

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asking the court to delay his next state hearing by

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six months. Okay, so he's got state charges, he's got

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federal charges. He's being held in federal custody, which is

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probably for the best, because if he were to be,

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you know, remanded over to the local jail, like, he

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probably would be released within twenty four hours. That's sorry,

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but it's probably true. A newly filed two page motion

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outlines several arguments for the requested delaying a mental evaluation

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that has already been done and it found that Brown

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was incapable to proceed on the state murder charge. The

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Zerutzka family attorney Lauren Newton is quoted in this piece

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by WSOCTV and says, according to the filing, Brown was

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evaluated at Central Regional Hospital back in December that generated

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a report dated December twenty ninth and concluded that he

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was not capable of moving forward in the state case. Now,

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according to WSOCTV, a judge has not yet ruled on

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those findings. The motion notes that the state could request

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treatment aimed at restoring Brown's mental capacity, but that cannot

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happen while he remains in federal custody. The document says

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prosecutors agreed with this assessment, Newton said. The lawyer for

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the Zarutzka family said that they are willing to accept

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a delay if it ultimately leads to justice. So he's

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again state charges federal charges. And in my observation, in

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you know, twenty years of covering trials and court proceedings

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and that sort of thing, it usually is the case

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where one of the prosecutors sort of takes priority, you know,

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like the state will charge them but then doesn't really

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do anything and the Feds are going to run the

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case or vice versa. Right, But I think usually if

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you're looking at a bunch of federal charges, there's way

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less opportunity for plea agreements and that sort of thing.

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And if the Feds are charging, you got more resources,

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and so a lot of a lot of times the

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state just lets the Fed run point. So this is

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only in the state case. In fact, the New York

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Post picked this story up because the story, you know,

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went national, and the Assistant Attorney General Harmey Dillon said,

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I had a great call this morning with our US

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attorney in Charlotte, that would be Russ Ferguson. Carlos Brown

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Junior remains in federal custody, and so the parallel state

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proceedings are in no way dispositive. In other words, the

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case is not done. Whatever the state is doing, that's

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on the state. She says there will be a federal

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competency determination and prosecution track taking precedents case. So there

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you go, confirming the federal case is the priority. They're

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leading this. So whatever happens in the state proceedings or

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secondary he is facing federal murder charges, and a spokesperson

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for US Attorney Russ Ferguson said the federal case, including

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the competency determination, is separate from the state proceedings. Later

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on in the article, the state has not announced whether

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it will pursue capital punishment, the death penalty. Doctors assess

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whether a defendant can comprehend what is happening and meaningfully

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participate in their trial, and they point out in this

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story another clinician could reach a different conclusion, something that

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a judge would ultimately weigh during a competency hearing. In

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order to put somebody on trial for their life, you

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have to show that they are aware of what the

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charges are, they understand the proceedings, they can participate in

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their defense. This from National Review. At the time of

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the attack, Brown had recently been released by Mecklenburg County

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magistrate Judge Teresa Stokes following a misuse of nine to

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one one charge. There was the incident at the hospital.

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Brown was acting weird. People called the cops. They show

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up and he's like, there's a man made substance controlling

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me and all of this stuff, and they're like that

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sounds like a medical thing. It's not something for the

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police to investigate. Like, we're just cops. We cannot know

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if there's some man made substance controlling your body. And

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so then he got mad at them, and so he

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calls nine to one one again to try to get

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somebody else out there whatever, but he hangs up, and

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so that's when they throw the charge on him of

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misuse of nine to one one. Brown had a long

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criminal record, including a history of mental illness as well

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as violent criminal behavior. The magistrate nonetheless released Brown on

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what is dubbed cashless bail. His earliest crimes date back

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to two thousand and seven, including several serious charges such

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as robbery with a dangerous weapon, possession of a firearm

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by a felon, and felony larceny, along with a slew

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of lesser misdemeanors. National Review reported back in September after

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reviewing court documents before stabbing Zarutzka in the neck. Brown

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was arrested thirty three times and criminally charged on fourteen

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of those occasions. I keep saying it, this is a choice.

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These are choices that people are making in government, that

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voters are making. We don't have to have a revolving door,

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catch and release court system. That's a choice. After the

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stabbing took place, you'll recall that de Carlos Brown Junior's

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mother spoke out, saying that she had struggled to have

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him committed involuntarily and blamed the justice system. He had

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lived with his mother after he was released from prison

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following a six year sentence for armed robbery. He expressed

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both violent and erratic behavior, prompting her to have her

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son evaluated. After undergoing a psychiatric evaluation, Brown was diagnosed

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with schizophrenia, and his mother sought an involuntary commitment order.

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According to state law, a defendant is considered incapable to

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proceed at trial if they cannot comprehend the nature of

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their charges, understand their role in court proceedings, or assist

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in their own defense. Brown's attorneys argue that while he

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remains in federal custody, a hearing to determine whether or

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not he is competent cannot proceed. When a defendant is

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deemed incompetent to stand trial, there is a move to

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quote restore capacity, a process that also can't begin if

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Brown remains in federal custody. To restore capacity, the defendant

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is often treated with meds and therapy and treatment and whatnot,

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and then once they are deemed to be competent, then

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you can put them on trial. So that's where we are.

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So a lot of people were screaming that, oh my gosh,

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she's you know, he's been he's going to avoid trial

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and all this. That is not what has occurred. This

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was a motion filed based on the Psyche valve and

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that's at the state level. The FED case takes priority.

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dot com. Another crime story, it's pretty unbelievable out of

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Charlotte here. According to WBTV, a woman accused of hitting

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a police officer with her car during a street takeover

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back in March, was arrested for wait for it, running

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over her former boyfriend foot with her car. She seems

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to have a preferred mo here record show. Twenty five

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year old Tenasa Austin was charged with assault with a

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deadly weapon and the crime of domestic violence, and she

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was released ten thousand dollars bond. She's out. Yeah. So

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apparently she got into an argument with her former boyfriend

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and as he tried to leave the home, she got

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into her red Jeep Patriot and drove at him, running

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over his foot. Police arrived shortly after and arre arrested her,

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charged with assault with a deadly weapon and the crime

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of domestic violence, and she made a court appearance on Monday.

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She was allowed to keep her license, but they put

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some restrictions on it, like you're only allowed to drive

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between the hours of five point thirty in the morning

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until six thirty at night. So apparently after six point

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thirty she just starts running people over. I guess, but

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she has to be able to do She has to

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be able to drive because she has to take her

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partner slash roommate to work and she has to go

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for treatments for lupus. During the hearing, the Trump appeared

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upset that Austin was improperly screened under the newly passed

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Arena's Law, named after Arena Zerutzka, for an unrelated charge

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relating to a street takeover. The law, which took effect

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after the killing of Arena Zerutzka, makes it harder for

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people charged with violent crimes to be released from jail

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while waiting for trial. The judge said Austin was not

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supposed to have been screened under the law. Oh so

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it's not that somebody was screening her and that like

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they were not doing what they were supposed to do.

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This judge is saying. And I don't know which judge

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this is, but the judge was mad that this person

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was screened. She literally tried to run over a cop.

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It's on video. It went viral, and she was released

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for that, allowed to continue to stalk people in her vehicle.

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Three twenty five am Sunday, March one, at the Harris

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Teeter on Smith Farm Road. There was one of these

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street takeovers, you know, where all these people they all

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say in text messages and whatnot, they set a meetup

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and they all show up and then they drive around.

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They do burnouts and stuff and play loud music and

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all of this. In The affidavit states that an officer

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moved in front of the vehicle. Austin then began to

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accelerate rapidly and struck the officer, causing him to roll

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over the hood of the vehicle. He was taken to

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a hospital for treatment of minor injuries. Again, there was

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video of this. It went viral. She was charged with

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assault with a deadly weapon on emergency personnel and indicted

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by a grand jury. She faced three charges. As of

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April sixth a separate magistrate reportedly faced disciplinary action for

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the screening. It was unclear how the screening affected the

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new charges. Though I'm not really sure what's going on there.

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Joe Bruno from WSOCTV. He had this write up. The

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woman accused of hitting a CMPD officer with her car

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during a street takeover and running over her now former

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boyfriend's foot with a Jeep Patriot is out of jail.

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Tanas Tanasa Austin was arrested on the assault with deadly

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weapon domestic violence charges. She was out on bail for

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the previous CMPD officer incident. Her bail for the CMPD

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related charge was three thousand dollars that was set by

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Judge Roderick Davis. Court paperwork noted the circumstances of the

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arrest were similar to the other arrest. When Austin was

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booked into the Mecklenburg County Jail late Thursday, she was

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given no bond. Under normal circumstances, she would have been

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doing court the next day, but this was good Friday.

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There is a maximum forty eight hour hold for no

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bond domestic violence cases before it has to be set

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by a judge, and if that doesn't happen, the power

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goes to a magistrate. Late Saturday, Magistrate Felicia Wilson set

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Austin's bond at ten thousand dollars secured, which she posted

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and then walked out. So the judge here named by

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Joe Bruno is Judge Roy Wiggins. His name pops up

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a lot, and he's the one who ordered her only

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to be driving in the daylight. If you're going to

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be running people over like you're going to do it

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when the sun is up, Okay, there we go. That's

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that's a crackdown on crime if I've ever seen one.

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How many people does this woman need to run over

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before we consider her to be a threat to the public. Seriously,

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let me jump over to the uh m m m

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m all right. That's from the last hour's topic. This

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is from Jeff to Carlos Brown Junior's actions should be

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further proof to the gun control crowd that you could

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ban and confiscate every gun on the planet, but the

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only way to stop a killer from killing is to

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keep them off the street. They previously took his gun,

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but he still managed to kill her anyway without it. Yeah,

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he was a he did time. I think the charge

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was fell in with a firearm. Yeah. Like, if people

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are threats to the public by their recorded actions, then

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it is your duty to protect the public. Here's a

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make memories that'll last a lifetime. You know me. I

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am all about solutions, right, and so I bring to

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you a piece from John Sanders at the John Locke

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Foundation headline mandating statewide bail guidelines and background checks. This

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was from October of twenty twenty five, obviously after the

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murder of Arena Zarutzka, and while pointing out that passage

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of Arena Law was a great first step, more needs

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to be done. Two critical needs would be to implement

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a statewide systematic bail guide right, so if people want

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to bail out there should be a state wide systematic

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guideline for that, and number two mandate that all magistrates

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in North Carolina conduct a criminal background check of each

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arrestee brought before them. I support both of these ideas,

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so he outlines the current process that magistrates used to

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set bail is often based on their own discretion, sometimes

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with very little data. This process can lead to inconsistent

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bail amounts, release of repeat violent offenders, and public safety concerns.

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Some counties in North Carolina have policies in place regarding

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bail ranges for certain felonies and misdemeanors, although they still

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allow magistrates to use their discretion. I've gone over this

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process before. The sitting Superior Court judge and chief district

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judge are responsible for setting pre trial release policies for magistrates,

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so long as they do not extend beyond the provisions

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of the Eighth Amendment, which prohibits successive bail and fines,

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as well as cruel and unusual punishments. So as you

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might imagine, this process is problematic because the policies can

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vary widely based on where you commit your crime and

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where you're arrested. Right if you are in a conservative county,

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you're probably going to get hit with stiffer bond amounts,

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higher bond amounts versus Mecklenburg County. I recall the story

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that now Congressman Tim Moore told me there was an

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assault on a student at Belmont Abbey College and the

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guy got arrested in Mecklinburg County, and as they crossed

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over back into Gaston County, he started crying because he

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thought he was going to Mecklenburg where he anticipated probably

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that he was going to be released very quickly. Instead

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he got brought back to where the crime occurred in

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Gaston County. And no, they're going to throw the book

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at you. So this again, these are choices the magistrates

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are making, the superior and district judges are making. These

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policies can vary widely. Also, there are a lot of

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times vague enough to allow for broad discretion by the

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magistrates who are setting the bond amounts. Now, magistrates will

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tell you that their job is to set a bond

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amount that will ensure the person shows up to court.

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That's the point, and that is true. However, there is

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a public safety component, right if you've got a guy

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who has been charged with, you know, breaking into a

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dorm room and raping somebody like that person by nature

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of the charge is a threat to public safety, and

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so they should have at minimum a very very large

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bond that they have to come up with. Sometimes magistrates

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they'll say they don't have time to conduct a criminal

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background check. Sometimes they simply choose not to do so.

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They should, but I'm not sure it's a requirement. In

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many counties, a magistrate can set bail within just minutes

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without even knowing whether the accused has a really violent

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passed right. That knowledge gap can put victims and communities

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at risk. Yeah, if you just pick somebody up on

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this one charge and then you don't go and pull

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their record to find, oh my gosh, this person had,

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like to Carlos Brown Junior thirty three arrests, many of

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them for violent crimes, maybe that should factor in as well.

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Once again, at minimum a very high bond, so they

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are unlikely then to bond out, that's the point. And

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if they do bond out and don't show up to court,

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then you go after them for the for the the

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bail bond company would go after them, bring them in

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and then you would be incarcerated until your court date.

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He goes on to say, here North Carolina needs a

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statewide systematic bail slash bond guide for magistrates and for

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magistrates to consider each arrestees previous charges, arrests, and convictions

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in making decisions. He says, yes, these background checks might

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make the first appearance proceedings take longer, but that has

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to be balanced against the social costs of not conducting

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the background checks and therefore not getting the decisions correct.

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And people ask why would they do this, why would

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a magistrate do this right, Well, if they don't know

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the background, they don't know the person's criminal record, and

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you're just looking at this one case in isolation, then

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that could be a reason why they let the person

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go on a low bail because now the cash list

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bail thing that's been thanks to Arena's Law, that's very

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difficult to do now for these types of violent crimes.

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The other is that there is a philosophy that a

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lot of people on the left, and when you're in

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a county like Mecklenburg that's completely controlled by Democrats, you

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have more people of this mindset that are eligible for

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these posts because they're going to know people that get

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them hired and all of that stuff. And so there

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is a decarceration ideology that permeates the left, and you

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00:25:37,200 --> 00:25:39,799
hear them talk about is the defund the police stuff.

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I mean, we've had candidates running for office that are

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against incarceration. They say it's you know, it's it's slavery,

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it's white supremacy and all this. So they want to decarcerate.

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And you cannot have people of that ideology making these

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types of decisions. You just can't. There's a judge on

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the bench right now who is an advocate for decarceration.

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She won the election in the primary. I don't know

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how that's not disqualifying, but you know, in Democrat controlled jurisdictions,

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this is what we get. All right. If you're listening

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00:26:16,839 --> 00:26:18,400
to this show, you know I try to keep up

365
00:26:18,440 --> 00:26:20,240
with all sorts of current events, and I know you

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00:26:20,279 --> 00:26:22,720
do too, and you've probably heard me say get your

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00:26:22,759 --> 00:26:26,640
news from multiple sources. Why Well, because it's how you

368
00:26:26,720 --> 00:26:29,680
detect media bias, which is why I've been so impressed

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00:26:29,680 --> 00:26:33,440
with ground News. It's an app and it's a website,

370
00:26:33,519 --> 00:26:36,240
and it combines news from around the world in one place,

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00:26:36,279 --> 00:26:39,559
so you can compare coverage and verify information. You can

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00:26:39,640 --> 00:26:44,319
check it out at check dot ground, dot news slash pete.

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00:26:44,400 --> 00:26:47,039
I put the link in the podcast description too. I

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00:26:47,079 --> 00:26:49,640
started using ground News a few months ago and more

375
00:26:49,680 --> 00:26:52,279
recently chose to work with them as an affiliate because

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00:26:52,279 --> 00:26:55,559
it lets me see clearly how stories get covered and

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00:26:55,680 --> 00:26:58,799
by whom. The blind spot feature shows you which stories

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00:26:58,839 --> 00:27:01,359
get ignored by the left and the right. See for

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00:27:01,400 --> 00:27:06,519
yourself check dot ground, dot news, slash pete. Subscribe through

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00:27:06,559 --> 00:27:09,240
that link and you'll get fifteen percent off any subscription.

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00:27:09,559 --> 00:27:12,279
I use the Vantage plan to get unlimited access to

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00:27:12,400 --> 00:27:15,839
every feature. Your subscription then not only helps my podcast,

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00:27:15,880 --> 00:27:18,200
but it also supports ground News as they make the

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00:27:18,279 --> 00:27:22,359
media landscape more transparent. From the text line, I got

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00:27:22,359 --> 00:27:29,079
a question basically, can somebody be found guilty or not guilty? Sorry,

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00:27:29,200 --> 00:27:34,519
not guilty by reason of insanity? And yes? In North

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00:27:34,559 --> 00:27:41,559
Carolina if like de Carlos Brown Junior's defense proves that

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00:27:41,640 --> 00:27:47,039
he was incapable of distinguishing right from wrong or understanding

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00:27:47,079 --> 00:27:50,799
the nature of his actions, and that was due to

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00:27:50,880 --> 00:27:56,359
a mental disease or defect. But there's a high legal threshold.

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00:27:56,960 --> 00:28:00,640
According to the Interweb, North Carolina places the burden of

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00:28:00,720 --> 00:28:05,000
proof on the defendant to establish insanity by clear and

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00:28:05,200 --> 00:28:11,759
convincing evidence that is higher than the preponderance of evidence. Right.

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00:28:11,839 --> 00:28:16,359
Preponderance of evidence is basically fifty percent. Could go either way.

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00:28:16,599 --> 00:28:19,440
You're you know, it's like, well, that's the civil standard

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00:28:20,079 --> 00:28:24,400
preponderance of evidence fifty percent plus one. So whichever way

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00:28:24,440 --> 00:28:32,400
you lean more towards that's enough. Criminal is beyond a

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00:28:32,519 --> 00:28:35,720
reasonable doubt. Some people think it's beyond a shadow of

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00:28:35,720 --> 00:28:38,440
a doubt. That's not true. It's beyond a reasonable doubt.

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And that's a higher standard than preponderance. This is an

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00:28:44,119 --> 00:28:49,039
even higher standard has to establish insanity by clear and

402
00:28:49,119 --> 00:28:54,880
convincing evidence. Okay, So that means it's very difficult to

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00:28:55,039 --> 00:28:58,319
actually get that kind of a verdict. And according to

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00:29:00,079 --> 00:29:04,240
the search results here in North Carolina, these types of

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00:29:05,480 --> 00:29:09,279
verdicts not guilty by reason of insanity only occur in

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00:29:09,359 --> 00:29:13,400
about zero point two to three percent of felony prosecutions

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00:29:14,200 --> 00:29:17,960
point two three. Now, I think probably part of that

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00:29:18,200 --> 00:29:25,079
is that you do these competency hearings prior to the trial, right,

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00:29:25,519 --> 00:29:28,319
and that may weed out a lot of these a

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00:29:28,880 --> 00:29:31,599
lot of cases where this could be in question where

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00:29:31,599 --> 00:29:34,279
they won't go to trial, they'll take a plea agreement

412
00:29:34,359 --> 00:29:39,200
or something like that. But anyway, so that's what the

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00:29:39,279 --> 00:29:44,039
AI powered Google Results, not Google Brave. Actually, I think

414
00:29:44,079 --> 00:29:49,920
their AI is called Leo. Then there's this out of Florida.

415
00:29:49,960 --> 00:29:53,839
Governor Ron DeSantis signed into law this week a measure

416
00:29:53,880 --> 00:29:56,920
that gives the state the power to label certain groups

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00:29:56,960 --> 00:30:01,599
as terrorist organizations and then that allows them to dissolve

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00:30:01,680 --> 00:30:06,839
their nonprofit status. It also prohibits public schools and universities

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00:30:07,200 --> 00:30:12,640
from funding educational programs that the state claims promotes terrorism,

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00:30:12,880 --> 00:30:16,400
and requires them to expel students who show in a

421
00:30:16,480 --> 00:30:21,079
disruptive or disorderly manner their support for a state designated

422
00:30:21,200 --> 00:30:27,640
terrorist group's extra legal violence. So this is obviously aimed

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00:30:27,680 --> 00:30:32,480
at the Tenttifada. Right. The new law drafted by the

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00:30:32,480 --> 00:30:36,640
governor's staff also makes it a felony for anybody to

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00:30:36,759 --> 00:30:42,640
provide material support to a state designated terrorist organization. Right,

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00:30:42,680 --> 00:30:46,559
So you have this designation at the federal level, and

427
00:30:46,640 --> 00:30:52,359
so Florida has opted to give itself this power at

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00:30:52,400 --> 00:30:57,480
the state level as well. Desanta says, we don't want

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00:30:57,519 --> 00:31:01,839
money flowing to these groups that are appendedes of terrorist groups,

430
00:31:02,440 --> 00:31:06,400
and he specifically called out the Muslim Brotherhood and the

431
00:31:06,440 --> 00:31:10,400
Council on American Islamic Relations as groups that are likely

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00:31:10,440 --> 00:31:13,680
to be first targeted by the new law. Critics say

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00:31:13,759 --> 00:31:17,759
the law is draconian, that it's islamophobic, as you might

434
00:31:17,799 --> 00:31:23,839
imagine that's going to stifle free speech. DeSantis also mentioned

435
00:31:24,079 --> 00:31:31,480
two non Islamic groups as potential targets, like Antifa as

436
00:31:31,480 --> 00:31:35,559
well as Trende Aragua. The new law also sent alarm

437
00:31:35,599 --> 00:31:41,160
bells through Florida's Muslim community because it specifically references Sharia law,

438
00:31:41,720 --> 00:31:45,039
and it could bar private schools from receiving vouchers if

439
00:31:45,039 --> 00:31:49,559
the state deems they are affiliated with these groups. Students

440
00:31:49,640 --> 00:31:54,319
use vouchers to pay tuition at like twenty five hundred campuses,

441
00:31:54,319 --> 00:31:56,880
but only a tiny fraction of these schools, less than

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00:31:56,880 --> 00:31:59,880
one percent are Islamic, most are Christian. According to the

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00:32:00,160 --> 00:32:05,599
story at The Sun Sentinel, the law could also chill

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00:32:05,640 --> 00:32:10,039
free speech by placing pressure on individuals to avoid speaking, organizing,

445
00:32:10,160 --> 00:32:15,559
or engaging in certain viewpoints. According to the ACLU, DeSantis

446
00:32:15,599 --> 00:32:19,759
acknowledged that civil rights groups will probably sue, but he

447
00:32:19,799 --> 00:32:22,559
said we will win on appeal, and then he called

448
00:32:22,599 --> 00:32:26,599
I loved this line. He called CARE Council on American

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00:32:26,640 --> 00:32:30,960
Islamic Relations an unindicted co conspirator in terrorist activities, a

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00:32:31,119 --> 00:32:35,880
charge the group denies. However, if you go back to

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00:32:36,039 --> 00:32:41,720
twenty ten, the Investigative Project on Terrorism, Assistant Attorney General

452
00:32:41,920 --> 00:32:47,359
Ronald Wyke sent a letter to Congress to four members

453
00:32:47,359 --> 00:32:49,880
of Congress who had asked him for details. One of

454
00:32:49,880 --> 00:32:51,759
those members of Congress, by the way, was our own

455
00:32:51,960 --> 00:32:56,599
SIU Myrick, who was asking how CARE was named an

456
00:32:56,680 --> 00:33:01,559
unindicted co conspirator in the terrorism Findingancing trial against the

457
00:33:01,680 --> 00:33:07,920
Holy Land Foundation. He said, trial transcripts and exhibits demonstrated

458
00:33:07,960 --> 00:33:13,160
a relationship among CARE, individual CARE founders, and a thing

459
00:33:13,240 --> 00:33:17,559
called the Palestine Committee. Evidence was also introduced that demonstrated

460
00:33:17,559 --> 00:33:22,599
a relationship between the Palestine Commity Committee and HAMAS, also

461
00:33:22,680 --> 00:33:26,000
a designated terrorist organization. HAMAS is an offshoot of the

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00:33:26,039 --> 00:33:29,799
Muslim Brotherhood, and the trial exhibits show that the Brotherhood

463
00:33:30,200 --> 00:33:34,960
created the Palestine Committee. So this is why they are

464
00:33:35,319 --> 00:33:42,279
called with evidence, an unindicted co conspirator. But for some reason,

465
00:33:42,799 --> 00:33:46,039
fifteen years later, we have so many people that are like,

466
00:33:47,480 --> 00:33:51,559
that's not true. There's no evidence for that. Yes, there

467
00:33:51,720 --> 00:33:54,359
was who was presented a trial. It's in the transcripts.

468
00:33:56,680 --> 00:33:58,960
All right, that'll do it for this episode. Thank you

469
00:33:59,039 --> 00:34:01,039
so much for listening. I could not do the show

470
00:34:01,039 --> 00:34:03,559
without your support and the support of the businesses that

471
00:34:03,680 --> 00:34:06,759
advertise on the podcast, so if you'd like, please support

472
00:34:06,759 --> 00:34:08,440
them too and tell them you heard it here. You

473
00:34:08,440 --> 00:34:11,079
can also become a patron at my Patreon page or

474
00:34:11,199 --> 00:34:14,800
go to dpetecleanershow dot com. Again, thank you so much

475
00:34:14,840 --> 00:34:18,079
for listening, and don't break anything while I'm gone.