Weekly Docket
Dive into the world of law with 'Weekly Docket,' hosted by Silberman Law Firm's Phil Silberman. Get the latest on landmark cases, practical law, and a unique perspective on the legal landscape. Join us for a weekly exploration of law like you've never heard it before.
Weekly Docket
Ammunition Vending Machines, Famous Presidential Assassinations, Fraudulent Deeds, and Racially Biased ATM Fees
Join Phil Silberman and Austin Black in Episode 27 of the ‘Weekly Docket’ as they discuss the installation of ammunition vending machines in Texas and other states, and examine the history of assassination attempts on U.S. Presidents, including the recent attempt on Donald Trump. Learn about the legal consequences of recording a fraudulent deed in Texas and dive into the controversy surrounding racially biased ATM fees and the slippery slope of economic discrimination. Don’t miss this episode filled with legal insights, expert advice, and lively discussions!
Welcome to Silberman Law Firm's Weekly Docket, Episode 27, where we talk legal news and practical law. Today is July 18th, 2024, and I'm Phil Silberman, owner of the firm and your host. I'm joined by Austin Black, our co host, who works in our Dallas office. How are you doing today, Mr. Black?
austin_2_07-18-2024_125737:I am doing just fine. Looking forward to this podcast.
phil-silberman_2_07-18-2024_135738:All right. Awesome. So before we, tell our listeners what's on our docket this week, we do have an update on the dismissal of the Alec Baldwin case. as many of our listeners know, he was shooting a film. called Rust in New Mexico. He was going through a trial where he was accused of manslaughter and the judge dismissed the case under the Brady rule. are you familiar with the Brady rule, Austin?
austin_2_07-18-2024_125737:Not super familiar with the Brady Rule. I know that the reason that it was dismissed was because they had said the prosecution withheld evidence. I'm sure the Brady Rule is in the view with that.
phil-silberman_2_07-18-2024_135738:that's exactly right. and we don't practice criminal law, so there's no expectation that Austin would know something like that. We do have a lawyer that works at our firm who really specializes in probate now, but he used to be a prosecutor, I think in Waco. And he was the one when the news broke, he sent out a message to our firm chat saying, Hey, the Alec Baldwin case was dismissed under the Brady rule. and he was exactly correct. And apparently there was a case out of Maryland, years ago, I think in the, Maryland. in the 1960s where the U. S. Supreme Court basically said, okay, any exculpatory evidence, anything that is good for the defendant must be revealed by the prosecution. The prosecution cannot hide the ball, right? So there was a,
austin_2_07-18-2024_125737:And, and, and they never
phil-silberman_2_07-18-2024_135738:right, right. Austin's being completely, sarcastic there. But there was a guy, and I think his name was John Brady, and there was this other guy, Charles Boblett, who were convicted, they were robbing, they were committing a robbery, and they were both ultimately convicted of first degree murder, but Brady, John Brady said, look, I admit that I robbed the place or whatever, but I didn't commit the murder. But he goes and stands trial all the way through trial. He's convicted for first degree murder. Boblett is convicted as well as first degree murder. And then Brady later files an appeal because he finds out that his accomplice, Charles Boblett, confessed before the trial. Goes all the way up to the Supreme Court and the Supreme Court says, look, If the prosecution has an exculpatory evidence, anything that could help the defendant, you have to reveal it. So they overturned that conviction. Hence we have the Brady rule. So that's what happened in the Baldwin case where Alec Baldwin standing trial for manslaughter in New Mexico. There was all this fuss about ammunition and apparently the prosecution had some evidence that was good. for Mr. Baldwin, failed to give it to Mr. Baldwin's defense team. The defense team filed a motion, brought it to the judge's attention, and the judge out in New Mexico said, Absolutely correct. Alec Baldwin cannot face a fair trial based on the fact the prosecution has withheld this evidence. It was a big deal. to have a case like that thrown out on the Brady Rule is a big deal. I think the district attorney I think this is right, Austin. I think the district attorney actually resigned over this. So
austin_2_07-18-2024_125737:Really?
phil-silberman_2_07-18-2024_135738:something like that, or at least she made the district attorney may have not been the one prosecuting it herself, but her underlings that were prosecuting it, I think she came out and at least said this was a hundred percent incorrect, what they did, and maybe she offered a resignation, something like that, I don't know.
austin_2_07-18-2024_125737:it was the, it was not the DA.
phil-silberman_2_07-18-2024_135738:Okay.
austin_2_07-18-2024_125737:was the special prosecutor who resigned.
phil-silberman_2_07-18-2024_135738:see.
austin_2_07-18-2024_125737:prosecutor resigned, after the ruling to dismiss the case.
phil-silberman_2_07-18-2024_135738:Okay, so somebody's head did roll, but it wasn't the DA. Big Deal, Austin had made a joke about prosecution. Do you want to explain that to our listeners? Because I think I feel the same way about prosecutors,
austin_2_07-18-2024_125737:the Brady rule, yes, does say that they have to overturn. They have to turn over exculpatory evidence to the defense. But how often do you really hear about that happening? If they if the prosecutor really wants to go after someone, they're going to and prosecutors Very frequently want to use that as a stepping stone to get higher, whether in the prosecutorial ladder, in that branch of government or just eventually go into politics and their quote unquote record conviction record is something that they hold very dearly to, right? And so if they have evidence that they are, they're aware of either through police investigations or some other means that they come into contact with. I very rarely see them willingly turn that over to defense counsel. and yes, that's a violation of the Brady rule, but it happens all the time, whether or not is the question.
phil-silberman_2_07-18-2024_135738:so the way Austin explained it is a hundred percent how I see the prosecution working and the system of justice in America and the idea. that prosecutors are trying to make a name for themselves based on convictions record, based on a conviction record and trying to rise to the top and climb a bureaucratic ladder is the opposite of the way it should be. And this is, this could really be in our rant and rave section and it's a social injustice. I'm, many of our listeners know by now I'm a conservative. I have a lot of conservative policies. This is where I go off the rails away from many conservatives because I'm a big Prison reform guy. I'm a big social justice guy and the way a prosecutor should look at this is Anytime a prosecutor gets a case the prosecutor should take a step back and say can I convince myself that this guy? this defendant may be innocent and make an effort to actually prove his innocence and only by making that effort where the prosecutor is a hundred percent certain that the defendant has committed the crime and has, is, and the prosecutor's able to prove that beyond a reasonable doubt, giving all deference to the defendant. Only then should the prosecutor proceed as a civil servant. to right wrongs and certainly there's a punitive aspect to that. There's also an aspect of victims needing relief and victims needing closure. So all of these very honorable things that a prosecutor can do. And obtain should be the focus, not climbing a bureaucratic ladder. And in this case, you've got Baldwin, who's a public figure. There's always an additional name making component when you're prosecuting a public figure. and,
austin_2_07-18-2024_125737:Absolutely. and Texas has been especially egregious, I believe in, in my opinion of prosecutorial, just overzealousness, like even It's a common saying, right? We're relating to grand juries, right? And grand juries just determine whether or not there's enough evidence for an indictment, right? To actually prosecute someone criminally. but up until 2015 in Texas, we had a system called the key man system. Where judges could just select their friends to be on a grand jury, whoever they wanted to, they could just pick and it's insane. And like the statement that can get a grand jury to indict a ham sandwich really is true. And that's still true today, even without that egregious system where judges can select the grand jurors, it's still crazy.
phil-silberman_2_07-18-2024_135738:yeah.
austin_2_07-18-2024_125737:the indictment rate for a grand jury is over 95%.
phil-silberman_2_07-18-2024_135738:I crooked system. last thing I've got a Halloween video on our social media platforms where I dressed up as a overzealous federal prosecutor with an axe to grind. That was my costume. So listeners, if you're curious, go out there, look us up on TikTok, YouTube, Silverman Law Firm's channel, search for that Halloween video where I dress up as a prosecutor to make a political statement.
austin_2_07-18-2024_125737:yeah, the Silberman law firm does not normally make a practice of carrying around axes. But when we do, it's on
phil-silberman_2_07-18-2024_135738:yeah. We don't want to end up like the, like that, that one guy with the, using the sledgehammer for personal injury cases in Texas.
austin_2_07-18-2024_125737:I feel like me entering the district courthouse with an axe probably would not
phil-silberman_2_07-18-2024_135738:no.
austin_2_07-18-2024_125737:through
phil-silberman_2_07-18-2024_135738:No. I don't think you're getting through.
austin_2_07-18-2024_125737:I don't
phil-silberman_2_07-18-2024_135738:Alright, so that, that does it for our case. update. Mr. Baldwin, I think shed some tears. He's out of the courthouse. He is free A case dismissed. That being said, Austin, what is on our docket this week?
austin_2_07-18-2024_125737:Okay. So first in our legal news section, we are going to be talking about probably one of my dad's favorite subjects, ammunition, vending machines in Texas and other States. and then we will be going over probably the biggest news of last week, Trump the history of assassination attempts on us. People are all familiar with the successful ones, but not many people know about the unsuccessful ones. We'll be going over those too. and then we'll be touching on a legal questions section. specifically, what happens if someone records a fraudulent deed in the real property records? if I just go out and I say, hey, I'm Philip Silberman and I signed a deed conveying his property to me, right? I signed his name and I recorded in the property records. Does the clerk at the county court records, do they look at that and they say, Oh no, this is a bad deed. This can't be Phillips Silverman's handwriting. And do they toss it to the side or do they record it and give legal notice to everyone that now I own his properties? We'll let you know. and then the rant and rave section, Phil's favorite section. And we will be talking about. Racially biased ATM fees and the slippery slope of economic discrimination, which is an important topic.
phil-silberman_2_07-18-2024_135738:Yeah, that one has a very dry, title, but it's super interesting because I think it's Citibank trying to charge white people more money for ATM fees. I'm pretty sure that's what it is. All right.
austin_2_07-18-2024_125737:so wait, it's discrimination against white
phil-silberman_2_07-18-2024_135738:Yes, that can happen sometimes.
austin_2_07-18-2024_125737:can't be discri like, like because of the systems of power, you can't discriminate against white people, Phil. Don't you
phil-silberman_2_07-18-2024_135738:I forgot about that.
austin_2_07-18-2024_125737:okay.
phil-silberman_2_07-18-2024_135738:we're covering it. Anyway, let's go ahead and get our legal news section started off with a bang. Okay, talking about ammunition vending machines in Texas and other states. I did not know this, but recently there's a new law that allows vending machines dispensing ammunition in, I think it's three states, Texas, Alabama, and Oklahoma, no surprise. So Austin, when you or your father are heading to the local grocery store, whichever one, you go to a Kroger or something up there, H E B, alright, your dad walks in, you walk in, you can get your six pack of beer, your cigarettes, and you and your ammunition for the week in a vending machine.
austin_2_07-18-2024_125737:And these vending machines are probably gonna be right next to the, the, scratch off machines,
phil-silberman_2_07-18-2024_135738:Yes. And
austin_2_07-18-2024_125737:the little, the little things where I pour the pennies in and it gives me dollars,
phil-silberman_2_07-18-2024_135738:yes,
austin_2_07-18-2024_125737:I can just get everything done there. It's a, what is America?
phil-silberman_2_07-18-2024_135738:you can satisfy almost all of your vices. Okay.
austin_2_07-18-2024_125737:single one.
phil-silberman_2_07-18-2024_135738:only in Texas can you do something like that.
austin_2_07-18-2024_125737:and Oklahoma and
phil-silberman_2_07-18-2024_135738:and Oklahoma and Alabama. alright, how does it work? apparently you've got this machine, you use a touch screen. We're all very concerned about age. You know there are age restrictions when buying ammunition, Austin. Under Title 18, US code section 9 2 2 B one. You have to, be over the age of 18 for rifle or shotgun ammunition, and 21 for handgun ammunition. So if you have a vending machine out there, you have to verify the age. So how is that gonna be done? It's. It's actually pretty cool. yeah, you, they're using, everything is AI, they're using an AI facial recognition software to make sure that ID that you put into the machine matches your face. And you are who you are, and if you are who you are, then you can get your shotgun or your rifle ammunition for the week, or you can get your handgun ammunition. that's all there is to it.
austin_2_07-18-2024_125737:I think they should install that everywhere, like not just at the ammunition vending machine, but also like just the people at the front to like had someone tell me the other day, they said, you don't look over 21 and I was like, what are you talking about? It's I've never I was very, I'm very flattered by this,
phil-silberman_2_07-18-2024_135738:yeah. You got car, you got carded. You got carded. I've, I was carted the other day, a grocery store. But that's a another story. And I think the kid was a halfway that didn't know what he was doing, but alright. Anyway, Austin, surely you cannot have an ammunition vending machine at a place that sells alcohol. You couldn't have this thing at a bar. I'm.
austin_2_07-18-2024_125737:you absolutely can
phil-silberman_2_07-18-2024_135738:Okay.
austin_2_07-18-2024_125737:machine where you also saw
phil-silberman_2_07-18-2024_135738:just I don't know whether what the law is. I haven't checked the law. I hope that our legislation said, you cannot sell ammunition at places like bars and strip clubs and. Establishments that might create a bit of routing as I hope that's part of the law, but I have not looked at it in that level of detail. This does for me. This does beg the question, though, if you had.
austin_2_07-18-2024_125737:I think I do think that there's a reason the ATF also regulates like Right as well. I
phil-silberman_2_07-18-2024_135738:it's all together, right? in Texas, we have the T. A. B. C. Texas Alcohol and Beverage Commission. But
austin_2_07-18-2024_125737:Sure.
phil-silberman_2_07-18-2024_135738:I did, I was curious because this begs the question, why not alcohol dispensing machines, right? And it turns out that some states do allow them, but not quite in the same way as you might think. New York and California allow them, but the concept got started I think during COVID, where people were scared to go to the bartender, and they were trying to do social distancing. So the idea was that you can somehow go to these dispersed locations in the bar, buy a token, and then use the token to get your drink. Yeah, I,
austin_2_07-18-2024_125737:Do they insert it into there and there's like a robot bartender, because I've seen that stuff in Japan, but I haven't seen that here so much.
phil-silberman_2_07-18-2024_135738:I didn't know they had it in Japan, but there are actual regulations on how the alcohol is mixed, and whether what bottles of wine it comes from, and whether you can serve mixed drinks out of these vending machines. But it's not quite what you imagined. I imagined, why not have alcohol vending machines like in a park? Or like, where do you, or like in airports, right? In the Coca Cola, why not have them all over? But the only states that have, that I saw that have done these New York, California. And it's really more of like you're at a bar and it's an efficiency thing for serving people alcohol. So not quite as
austin_2_07-18-2024_125737:that's interesting. I've been to my fair share of bars in New York and I've never seen one of those. It must be
phil-silberman_2_07-18-2024_135738:it's probably very rare. I, we just had to have something for this segment. I don't think it's pervasive, but so you made the comment that your dad is interested in this. It does your dad. does he,
austin_2_07-18-2024_125737:I don't think he's specifically interested in the vending machines for ammo, like he just talks to me all the time about how expensive ammo has been getting recently. and he really likes going to the gun
phil-silberman_2_07-18-2024_135738:Yeah. Okay. So
austin_2_07-18-2024_125737:15, 17 guns, something
phil-silberman_2_07-18-2024_135738:remember, I'll remember now never to cross your father. I've never met the man. I seems like a very nice guy. He listens to the show. He just seems like an excellent gentleman.
austin_2_07-18-2024_125737:yes. Then I'll be sure to pass it
phil-silberman_2_07-18-2024_135738:Okay, all right, let's move on to our next legal topic related. Unfortunately, this is, the history of assassination attempts.
austin_2_07-18-2024_125737:imagine if the ammo vending machine was like a roulette sort of thing, right? Sometimes you got blanks, and sometimes you got live rounds, and you didn't know which one it was! It was like a
phil-silberman_2_07-18-2024_135738:Yeah, no, that's not going to work. That was the episode of rust, right? the show, the movie, when they were shooting rust with Alec Baldwin, they had the Russian roulette of ammunition.
austin_2_07-18-2024_125737:Yeah, bad idea.
phil-silberman_2_07-18-2024_135738:Austin, there is nothing new we can say about the Trump assassination. That has been covered around the clock by all the media, and
austin_2_07-18-2024_125737:You don't think we can add a new interesting angle to
phil-silberman_2_07-18-2024_135738:I don't think we can add any kind of insight. I will make one attempt before we move on to a history of presidential assassination. I don't know if this is true, but my kid, my 15 year old, he watches things on YouTube when he's not grounded. I let him have a little bit of YouTube, not tick tock. But I think TikTok ends up on YouTube somewhat, another topic, but he shows me that Donald Trump is attending these UFC fights and I think the song that they play when Trump, he's got the bandage on the ear and he's staying up till one, two in the morning at the fight. meanwhile, Joe Biden's in bed at eight o'clock and he's got and he's in his like walk up song to the UFC fight is something like 50 cent, like how they tried to kill him or something like that. and the kids, the kid generation Z, Gen Z and the kids, they are just eating it up. Austin, they're, I don't know if they can,
austin_2_07-18-2024_125737:I know. like I have seen so many memes on this assassination attempt, it was just like all over everywhere and it, yeah,
phil-silberman_2_07-18-2024_135738:yeah.
austin_2_07-18-2024_125737:definitely not the best thing for Biden.
phil-silberman_2_07-18-2024_135738:Okay. No, I, but Trump is alive. It nicked his ear. yeah, he's doing well. This got me thinking of how interesting and how many presidential assassinations we have had in America and how many assassination attempts we've had. So I just thought, many of our listeners out there are attorneys. They're inquisitive people. They're history buffs. Maybe they know this. I learned a lot doing the research for this piece. We're just going to do a rundown of all the assassination attempts on presidents and successful assassinations. So let's go ahead and get started with probably one of the most famous ones. You've got Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States. Republicans today like to remind you, Austin, that he was a Republican, although it wasn't the same kind of Republican as today. They leave that part out, right?
austin_2_07-18-2024_125737:the exact same thing. What are you
phil-silberman_2_07-18-2024_135738:Right, right. Alright. Lincoln was shot in the head while watching a play. He survived the night, but he dies the next morning, April 15th, 1865. his assassin. All right. John Wilkes booth. he shoots Lincoln in the back of the head. he jumps on the stage. He's an actor. He was an actor at John Wilkes Booth, was an actor, jumps on the stage. I think he breaks his left leg jumping on the stage. he was,
austin_2_07-18-2024_125737:Sounds like an actor going for dramatic effect but nothing
phil-silberman_2_07-18-2024_135738:Is that how the saying got there and break a leg started?
austin_2_07-18-2024_125737:I don't think so, but possibly,
phil-silberman_2_07-18-2024_135738:Okay. So he's a, he was a Confederate soldier. It was a very simple idea. Lincoln was the guy who started the war of Northern aggression from the perspective of the South. He was for stop, he signed the Emancipation Proclamation. John Wilkes Booth didn't like it. There was a political motivation. There was actually a saying. logical, mentality going on with Mr. Booth, Austin. And that's important because that's gonna, that's different than the other assassins we're going to come across. So he, can you read Latin? he jumps on the stage and Austin, he says.
austin_2_07-18-2024_125737:Six semper tyrannis, thus always to tyrants, which is what Brutus supposedly said when assassinating Julius Caesar in the Senate.
phil-silberman_2_07-18-2024_135738:And John Wilkes Booth makes his political statement, breaks his leg, limps off the stage. He runs away, stopping, heading south, stopping at various Confederate sympathizers. And eventually he goes into a barn, the cavalry comes after him, and he, they set the barn on fire, he runs out, they shoot him, he's there dying, did you, do you know this history Austin? He's there dying, and he looks at his hands and says, useless, useless, useless. And then he dies. And the family, who's, I think the family, they were English maybe. I think the family's somewhat stable, normal family. And what are you going to do if you've got a kid that does that? It's terrible. They come and get the body and they bury him on the family plot in an unmarked grave in Baltimore. And that's where he, that's where Mr. Booth lies today.
austin_2_07-18-2024_125737:My theory is that John Wilkes Booth just really did not like the play Our American Cousin, which is the one that Lincoln was seeing, and he wanted to save Lincoln from seeing the conclusion of that play. he thought Lincoln needed to see the conclusion of that play like he needed a hole in the
phil-silberman_2_07-18-2024_135738:Okay, there you go. There's, interestingly, there's another play on Broadway right now that focuses on Mary Todd Lincoln,
austin_2_07-18-2024_125737:Okay.
phil-silberman_2_07-18-2024_135738:completely fictional, and it's weird. It's a comedy, and it paints Mary Todd Lincoln as like this, aloof, raging alcoholic. So I, I don't know why, she's
austin_2_07-18-2024_125737:I guess we needed that
phil-silberman_2_07-18-2024_135738:yeah, she's like running around and the white house and, Abraham Lincoln tells her there, there's, we're having a war with the South and her response is the South of what, right? So I don't get it personally. I think, I don't,
austin_2_07-18-2024_125737:South of Africa
phil-silberman_2_07-18-2024_135738:I don't believe Mary Tyler Lincoln was like that, but that's what's on Broadway right now. Alright, we gotta keep moving. Alright, James A. Garfield, 20th President of the United States. Alright, what was Garfield known for?
austin_2_07-18-2024_125737:he was known for making the post office not super corrupt
phil-silberman_2_07-18-2024_135738:I wonder if he made it all so profitable back then.
austin_2_07-18-2024_125737:I don't know. It's not profitable
phil-silberman_2_07-18-2024_135738:No, I know. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
austin_2_07-18-2024_125737:mostly for African,
phil-silberman_2_07-18-2024_135738:Yeah.
austin_2_07-18-2024_125737:Americans. yeah.
phil-silberman_2_07-18-2024_135738:When I read a brief history, it didn't seem to me that he was that bad of a president, but they have rankings and they said he was just, because his term was so short, but that's what happens when someone kills you, right? Yeah, he was murdered July 2nd, 1881. at the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad Station. Okay, and he was on the way. His wife was already on the New Jersey coastline on a beach vacation. He was on the way to vacation with his wife. He was all excited about the vacation. And this guy, Charles J. Gatow. Am I saying that right? I said it's French. Charles J. Guiteau shoots him. And there's a lot interesting about this guy. But he's basically crazy. they, he was one of the first people to, in a very high profile trial, to use the insanity defense. And he did all kinds of,
austin_2_07-18-2024_125737:then temporary insanity, right? They didn't say he was just insanity and insane to cross the board, just
phil-silberman_2_07-18-2024_135738:temporary insanity. he was mad that Garfield, he gave some random, he gave two speeches, allegedly in support of Garfield's presidency. Garfield, and then he starts applying for a consulship. to be like a foreign representative and he wanted to be and he just like you applied to the Silberman law firm Austin. I mean you applied to many jobs just like you or you wanted to apply to some sort of federal job and you just get all these applications and they don't know who he is and they just yeah they just don't respond he's like he's so he's crazy he thinks he's owed this
austin_2_07-18-2024_125737:Yeah,
phil-silberman_2_07-18-2024_135738:so
austin_2_07-18-2024_125737:sure at that time it was easier to get into the Foreign Series, but it's really hard now. So I could see that happening today.
phil-silberman_2_07-18-2024_135738:okay Anyway, he gets denied. They don't even give him the time of day, rightfully because he's crazy. He shoots Garfield. they apprehend him. and then, by the way, Garfield does not die on the spot. He dies later. of infection because at that time the surgical instruments were, they didn't know things about sterilizing surgical instruments, so he ended up dying of an infection, not the bullet wounds. But this guy, how do you say his name again? Austin Gatteau. Yeah, he's crazy. the whole during the trial, he is, he makes a spectacle of himself. he only testifies through poetry. So if they're examined, if the prosecution is examining them, he starts reciting a poem so that they, yeah, they
austin_2_07-18-2024_125737:one way to testify.
phil-silberman_2_07-18-2024_135738:need list.
austin_2_07-18-2024_125737:a witness I had on the stand started doing that, I would probably be a little bit upset though, so
phil-silberman_2_07-18-2024_135738:Okay,
austin_2_07-18-2024_125737:don't
phil-silberman_2_07-18-2024_135738:needless to say, they convict him. He actually dances on the way to the gallows. he shakes the executioner's hand and then he wrote some poem or some sort of. Some sort of song to recite, before they put the black bag on his head because of hanging back. Then it was gruesome to see someone's neck broken. And he requested an orchestra to actually play while he recited the poem, but they denied his request. Yeah, so they hang him.
austin_2_07-18-2024_125737:they deny that? That's so unfortunate.
phil-silberman_2_07-18-2024_135738:parents basically said he was satanically possessed. the family did not claim the body. they buried him in a corner of the jail yard. But there, there was such a, such a, a to do. There was such a, he had such a following for being such a character that people started trying to get a hold of his remains. Yeah, so they had to do something with the body, and then I think, basically, quite literally, a cult like following developed around this guy. And, I think they found out that he was in fact crazy, he had been with prostitutes, and he had gotten syphilis, and he probably started, yeah, His brain is somewhere in a museum today, poor Mr. Garfield. I do feel bad for the guy on the way to vacation with his wife trying to do an honest job as a president of the United States, but,
austin_2_07-18-2024_125737:So the moral of this story is don't sleep with prostitutes.
phil-silberman_2_07-18-2024_135738:yes, I heard that's one of the many morals, but that would be a, a, a.
austin_2_07-18-2024_125737:a president. Don't do
phil-silberman_2_07-18-2024_135738:yes, you know All right, William McKinley 25th president United States He presided over victory of the Spanish American Civil War, 1898. He gained control of Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines. That's his claim to fame. Not such a bad president. I like to visit Hawaii and, yeah, you got Puerto Rico and Guam and the Philippines.
austin_2_07-18-2024_125737:which we have anymore. yeah.
phil-silberman_2_07-18-2024_135738:Okay. there you go. But date and location, September 6th, 1901, Pan American Exposition, Buffalo, New York was where Mr. McKinley met his demise. So he was shot twice in the abdomen. he initially appeared to recover Austin, but then he died of gangrene. Again, just they, the idea they really didn't understand and he was at this, the great irony of this, he was at this Pan American Exposition, which is a technical exposition, right? He was shot and there was the first primitive x ray machine being displayed at the exposition. And all they had to do was use that primitive x ray machine. To see that there was still a bullet inside of them and they could have pulled it out and saved them.
austin_2_07-18-2024_125737:Do you think maybe, do you think maybe at that time they were worried about the effects of the x ray machine on people or
phil-silberman_2_07-18-2024_135738:I don't think they knew. I don't think they had any connection that x rays could potentially call either.
austin_2_07-18-2024_125737:had any understanding of radiation at
phil-silberman_2_07-18-2024_135738:And even the risk, relative to getting the bullet out would have been, minimal. I think the guy who was trying to pedal the x ray machine like suggested that we use it for this. and the McKinley's doctor was like, no, it's a, that's a hocus pocus. And they took him down the road just to have some guy. Pup.
austin_2_07-18-2024_125737:you, wait, are you saying listening to the medical professionals is not always right, Phil? Is that what you're saying?
phil-silberman_2_07-18-2024_135738:Yeah. Sometimes.
austin_2_07-18-2024_125737:They're
phil-silberman_2_07-18-2024_135738:All right.
austin_2_07-18-2024_125737:This is what everyone's been telling me about the Chevron decision that you have to trust the experts.
phil-silberman_2_07-18-2024_135738:you got to trust it.
austin_2_07-18-2024_125737:what we'll do a rant and a rave
phil-silberman_2_07-18-2024_135738:that's another topic. All right. Moving right along, Austin, I'm going to let you take the lead on the JFK, John F. Kennedy execution, on the assassination rather. You want to go ahead and, actually, poor choice of words, but the conspiracy theorist would jump on that.
austin_2_07-18-2024_125737:John F. Kennedy, probably the most high profile assassination of a U. S. president, after Lincoln, I'd say, happened November 22nd, 1963, in Dealey Plaza, Dallas, Texas, where I am. he was in a parade, a motorcade and he was driving with the Top off, which he chose to do. and Lee Harvey Oswald, is the person that the assassination was. says he was, it was pinned on him, but most evidence shows that this is actually something he did. he shot him with a rifle, from the grassy knoll purportedly. and afterwards he was shot and killed on live TV by a nightclub owner, who's named Jack Ruby. this. an interesting one because again, like a lot of other people, he didn't die immediately. he was shot in the head, but he was taken to the closest hospital at the time. Parkland hospital, which is still operates today. They have a, mural over the room where he died. and Parkland hospital is like a more of a teaching hospital. It's the hospital where you go there. lot of times if you don't have health insurance, that's the one that you go to. So this was not the best hospital
phil-silberman_2_07-18-2024_135738:Oh.
austin_2_07-18-2024_125737:and some people think that's actually why he died. If he went to a better hospital, then he could have lived. and so I like to think that mural over, over his room is come to Parkland hospital. And this too can be you.
phil-silberman_2_07-18-2024_135738:I didn't know that you're adding a lot of context and color for our listeners, which is good.
austin_2_07-18-2024_125737:yeah, my girlfriend works at that hospital a
phil-silberman_2_07-18-2024_135738:Oh,
austin_2_07-18-2024_125737:I know
phil-silberman_2_07-18-2024_135738:okay.
austin_2_07-18-2024_125737:at Parkland. and then Kennedy's assassination did have a very. Significant impact on American policies and there have been a lot of conspiracy theories, etc. then there was the Warren commission to determine if there was anything he had to do with it. And, yeah, then it's just a lot, if you've been on the internet or read any books, about all the conspiracy theories that he's still alive. He was abducted by aliens or anything like that. So
phil-silberman_2_07-18-2024_135738:let me say this and many of we do have many of our listeners that are you know Boomers of a certain age and in any time if your you know, father Austin is of that age I don't know but anytime you know, you're talking to someone who's maybe you know 70 years old 60 70 years old probably closer to 70. You always like to ask him You know, what were you doing on the day Kennedy was assassinated? and they all will be able to tell you. It's my generation, Austin being asked, what were you doing on the day of 9 11? So it, you
austin_2_07-18-2024_125737:my parents are in their early fifties.
phil-silberman_2_07-18-2024_135738:So now they're a little younger. I think you've got to be about 70 before you have a vivid recollection of what you were doing for Kennedy's assassination. So if you're out there and you're of that age listening to this, remember for youngish millennials and Gen Z, they don't know about the Kennedy assassination. Okay. That this was as much, the Kennedy assassination is as much history to that generation as, Abraham Lincoln's assassination. So
austin_2_07-18-2024_125737:and then for me, it's like the equivalent of 9
phil-silberman_2_07-18-2024_135738:yeah, So it's important to go back and teach some of this because, it is history. All right. That, those are the successful, and I use that term, somewhat morbidly, assassinations. And then we get into what happened to Donald Trump, which is an assassination attempt. All right. So the first one we've got is Andrew Jackson, who was the seventh U S president. of the United States, and he's one of my favorite presidents, Austin, because he was basically a self made man. why are you laughing? why are you laughing at this?
austin_2_07-18-2024_125737:You gotta be careful saying Andrew
phil-silberman_2_07-18-2024_135738:what,
austin_2_07-18-2024_125737:your
phil-silberman_2_07-18-2024_135738:do they not like him? he was, I know he owned slaves and he was a racist. I don't agree with any of that, but I'm,
austin_2_07-18-2024_125737:sure, yeah.
phil-silberman_2_07-18-2024_135738:is that,
austin_2_07-18-2024_125737:Mostly that side, and more of a populist, right? he had all of his friends, having parties in the White House. All the quote unquote common people,
phil-silberman_2_07-18-2024_135738:but,
austin_2_07-18-2024_125737:some people see as a good
phil-silberman_2_07-18-2024_135738:he, the reason I like him is because he started out as just a common guy. a working man and he very much a self made man and he was a lawyer he was a frontier lawyer and that kind of has a special place in my heart having started a law firm and you know also you know, not come from a family of professionals necessarily. So I, I always have Andrew Jackson of high regard. But yes, like all, like all history, there's certainly a dark side to, to, to all of these figures. Richard Lawrence was his attempted assassin, and he was found. He was just simply crazy. he was found not guilty by reason of insanity and later institutionalized. Not a lot to that. My, yeah,
austin_2_07-18-2024_125737:weapons, right? Yeah.
phil-silberman_2_07-18-2024_135738:favorite part of the story is he tried to shoot, Andrew Jackson, I think unsuccessfully twice and Andrew Jackson started beating, just beating him up with his cane, just cane whipping him.
austin_2_07-18-2024_125737:Yeah. It was common on the floor of the house at the time and it was common in the White House. Yes, absolutely. His pistols misfired and he didn't take care of them properly and then just beat him with the cane. Yeah.
phil-silberman_2_07-18-2024_135738:All right, next one up, Teddy Roosevelt, 26th US President of the United States. Many of our younger listeners know Teddy Roosevelt because of A Night at the Museum. That's where their historical perspective is going to come. He actually, Robin Williams actually plays that part quite well and resembles the real Teddy Roosevelt, rather,
austin_2_07-18-2024_125737:surprised. Yeah, he does really well resemble him. Yeah.
phil-silberman_2_07-18-2024_135738:Now this is, okay, October 14th, 1912, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. And this is my, this is really my favorite assassination story. the assassin was somebody, the guy, some guy by the name of John Schrank. he was shot in the chest. And the, but he had a folded up piece of paper that was his speech. And he had an eyeglasses case. And it slowed the bullet. And the best part is, he was still injured. But the
austin_2_07-18-2024_125737:still hit him.
phil-silberman_2_07-18-2024_135738:Still hit him,
austin_2_07-18-2024_125737:And
phil-silberman_2_07-18-2024_135738:is he went on to finish the speech, Austin, after they shot him. Went on to finish the speech, and I
austin_2_07-18-2024_125737:that's what Trump tried to emulate. I don't know if you heard, he said he wanted to finish it, but the security service pushed him
phil-silberman_2_07-18-2024_135738:as my 15 year old would say, Teddy was a dog. Okay, D A W G. for finishing that speech. All right. So Teddy,
austin_2_07-18-2024_125737:had that dog in
phil-silberman_2_07-18-2024_135738:yeah, Teddy, rest in peace, my friend, that takes quite a bit of courage and composure to finish that speech after you take a bullet in the chest.
austin_2_07-18-2024_125737:Absolutely.
phil-silberman_2_07-18-2024_135738:D Roosevelt, another Roosevelt, no relation, right? Austin or was it a relation? I don't know, but probably no relation.
austin_2_07-18-2024_125737:Glenn
phil-silberman_2_07-18-2024_135738:Austin's going to do the research. I don't think there was a relation, or if there was, it was very distant. Franklin D. Roosevelt, 32nd President of the United States. Date and location, February 15th, 1933, Miami, Florida. Somebody by the name of Zangara, fired at Roosevelt, missed, hitting five others, including the Chicago mayor, Anton, So Mark, who later died, and that was what I mean, the tragedy that unfolded in Trump's assassination attempt, and let's not forget that there was, there was a man there that died shielding, his wife and his and his daughter. So you do have some bystanders, even though that the presidential assassination was not, not successful. Austin, what did you find for us? What relation or no relation between the Roosevelt's, the Teddy and FDR?
austin_2_07-18-2024_125737:believe so. It looks like the Roosevelt, it looks like Franklin Roosevelt. This is part of a different,
phil-silberman_2_07-18-2024_135738:Yeah, that's what I thought.
austin_2_07-18-2024_125737:was very, is still very prominent in us politics, but yeah.
phil-silberman_2_07-18-2024_135738:that right? Yeah, I didn't think there was any relation, but all right. Ronald Reagan, date location, March 30th, 1981 in Washington, DC, John Hinckley Jr. And John Hinckley was just basically crazy. he was not guilty by reason of insanity. he had this weird thing with Jodie Foster. And he was like in love with her, but it was one of these bizarre kind of stalker. There was no real relationship and he,
austin_2_07-18-2024_125737:could you say that? didn't have something
phil-silberman_2_07-18-2024_135738:Yeah. And I, but is it not, when you play like a movie of silence of the lambs, you're going to attract some weirdos. Of course that was well after. The, Reagan assassination, I believe, or the attempted assassination. He, when he shot Ronald Reagan, he actually said, and I quote, this was the greatest love offering in the history of the world. And that was what he said after the trial. And that's how crazy he was.
austin_2_07-18-2024_125737:I would beg to differ. I think that Van Gogh sending his severed ear to his ex lover was more, it was a more prominent offering
phil-silberman_2_07-18-2024_135738:Yeah.
austin_2_07-18-2024_125737:required sacrifice.
phil-silberman_2_07-18-2024_135738:Instead.
austin_2_07-18-2024_125737:cut off a piece of his body and said
phil-silberman_2_07-18-2024_135738:Yeah.
austin_2_07-18-2024_125737:that definitely tops.
phil-silberman_2_07-18-2024_135738:Yeah. He hurt himself. He didn't hurt somebody else.
austin_2_07-18-2024_125737:exactly.
phil-silberman_2_07-18-2024_135738:Reagan was shot in the chest and, but he survived because at that time in 1981 they weren't, lodging other unsterilized instruments into your, to your body and infecting you. So he had good odds. And the incident did lead to increased, security measures for the presidents, obviously. Now, John Hinckley was released in 2016. and the conditions of his release were he had to live at his mother's house. all of his browser activity had to be monitored. And he could not look at pornography, among other things.
austin_2_07-18-2024_125737:Good.
phil-silberman_2_07-18-2024_135738:Good.
austin_2_07-18-2024_125737:should be a law for everyone.
phil-silberman_2_07-18-2024_135738:but don't you think if you're the judge, like making the guy live with mom is also, going to make him even more weird and crazy?
austin_2_07-18-2024_125737:Maybe I don't know. Maybe that's the only one, the only person
phil-silberman_2_07-18-2024_135738:who would
austin_2_07-18-2024_125737:him.
phil-silberman_2_07-18-2024_135738:take him? Yeah, you have to be a mother to love that kind of person. I don't,
austin_2_07-18-2024_125737:could just say the random person on the street's gonna live with him, but then what are he Person?
phil-silberman_2_07-18-2024_135738:He, I think his attorney later ended up getting some less restrictive conditions on living situation as of 2019. I think John Hinckley is probably profiting. I don't know. Austin, could you check to see if he wrote a book? I'm sure he wrote a book. I don't think I think there should be some sort of law passed that when you do things like this, you should not be allowed to profit from it. Like O. J. Simpson shouldn't
austin_2_07-18-2024_125737:book. He has a book called, was it, sorry, his name was John Ley.
phil-silberman_2_07-18-2024_135738:John. Yeah. John Hinckley Jr. I believe so
austin_2_07-18-2024_125737:I think his son
phil-silberman_2_07-18-2024_135738:wrote a book. Okay. It's like the O. J. Thing where O. J. wrote the book like what?
austin_2_07-18-2024_125737:no. It's his parents.
phil-silberman_2_07-18-2024_135738:parents, that's sick. That's sick. There's no reason why the guy was that screwed up. Do you think, if my kid did something like that, do you think I'm writing a book? I don't care how much money they give me,
austin_2_07-18-2024_125737:I do wonder how much they actually wrote and how much was ghost written, but,
phil-silberman_2_07-18-2024_135738:Yeah. Alright, that is a history of presidential assassination. super interesting. great research done by our producer, Aaron, on that, and hopefully that's been educational. All right, let's answer some legal questions. First one, what happens if someone records a fraudulent deed in the real property records? This is happening all over. This is a big part of our practice. We are, while we're not constitutional attorneys, and while we're not criminal attorneys, because we talk about those topics a lot because they're interesting, we are, in fact, real estate attorneys. So We do know about this. So all over the country, there's fraudulent deeds being recorded in attempts to steal people's property. If you're out there and you've got a fraudulent deed recorded, what do you do, Austin? Do what's the first kind of procedure?
austin_2_07-18-2024_125737:so the first procedure and you can only utilize this if a deed is void on its face. And what that means is like, if there's something incorrect with it, if you looked at it and you didn't know the situation surrounding the deed or anything like that. Yeah. And you knew what should be on deeds. You could tell that it's invalid, right? For instance, if it's just not signed by anyone, or if there is not a legal description that is particular enough for someone to identify what type of property it's talking about, that sort of thing. Those things make the deed fraudulent on its face, and you can proceed with an ex parte motion under the Texas Government Code, Section 51. 903. where you just request a judicial review of a certain document. You don't have to open up a full blown lawsuit or anything like that. it's usually supported by an affidavit, frequently from the person who actually owns the property. When this is other random document is what's, What we call clouding their title to the property, and then if the court determines that the instrument is invalid, then it will issue an order in validating that deed that it is fraudulent on its face.
phil-silberman_2_07-18-2024_135738:well said. Bottom line, if some total fraudster scam, scammer out there files some bogus instrument, we, there's an expedited process to have a district court judge in Texas, expedited process to have a move it. If it's not that obvious, Do a more complex, time consuming, quiet title action, which involves actually serving somebody, and then that person has an opportunity to answer, and you can have a trial on the merits. Although, if it still is fraud, it doesn't go very, going very far, because we'll probably be filing a summary judgment motion rather quickly, asking the court to void that deed.
austin_2_07-18-2024_125737:yes,
phil-silberman_2_07-18-2024_135738:If you're out there and you've had fraud occur, and this is more happening more frequently than you think, it's often in poor neighborhoods. Because they know the fraudsters know that poor people often don't have the resources to hire attorneys. So if you have this happen, call an attorney immediately and get this taken care of. All right, that brings us to our rant and rave section, my favorite part of the show. And we're talking about, Citigroup, and they were recently sued for, And here's the, and I don't want to state this in an inflammatory way. If I were being inflammatory, I could quite simply say Citigroup decided it was a good idea to charge white people ATM fees. But minorities like black people, they got a free pass. They got free ATM fees. So if I were to
austin_2_07-18-2024_125737:we get more views by
phil-silberman_2_07-18-2024_135738:write that,
austin_2_07-18-2024_125737:Yes,
phil-silberman_2_07-18-2024_135738:I were, here's really what Citigroup's policy was. The idea was if you banked with a minority owned bank, then when you used a city ATM, and you may notice Austin, if you go use an ATM and you get cash out, If you're not using an ATM from your bank, you're likely going to pay a fee with your bank and you're also going to pay a fee for the bank providing the ATM. So if you go, if you went and used a Citigroup ATM and you were just like a big bank like Wells Fargo, you would pay the ATM fee. 2, 3, whatever it was. If you banked with a, some list of minority owned banks, The idea that these were underprivileged, underserved, banks and their customers were also underprivileged, underprivileged and underserved. Citigroup was going to do a great social service and waive the ATM fee. that's where this came from. There, there were some plaintiffs that decided, no, that is racial discrimination. It's a violation of the, Civil Rights Act. of 1964, which prohibits discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin in various areas. It's the same thing that got passed when black people weren't allowed to eat at certain restaurants, right? it's the same thing. So they call this reverse discrimination. And the idea, Austin was joking around that white people can't be discriminated against. Obviously, that's not true, but Austin, can you imagine if this doesn't get, overturned, if this policy is considered illegal? we would have race based pricing, on everything. what if people called up to our law firm, and we normally, right now, our deeds are 500. What if we charge, white people 500 for a deed? Black people got the price of 200 certainly that's not legal, right? So
austin_2_07-18-2024_125737:sounds like it.
phil-silberman_2_07-18-2024_135738:craziness. just absolute craziness. And the real rant here is the type of bold wokeism and corporate activism that's going on at these big companies is just out of control. Citigroup, don't you have enough going on trying to make your bank profitable, right? Citigroup, I think, is profitable. It's always lagged behind. The other banks like Wells and JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America. I think it's, I think it's underperformed those banks, but this isn't a financial investing show. So double check me on that. And yeah, they let these corporate, woke policies just overtake the whole thing. It ends up costing the money. And if, and I thought about buying shares of Citigroup as an undervalued, as an undervalued company, because I heard one analyst at some point say, if the management at Citigroup could just figure out how to walk and chew gum at the same time, their stock price would go up. And then they do stuff like this, and of course, now I don't want to buy their stock.
austin_2_07-18-2024_125737:Yeah,
phil-silberman_2_07-18-2024_135738:anyway, any comments, opinions on that Austin? So should we check?
austin_2_07-18-2024_125737:I'm not sure if you mentioned that this is a class action suit. so there would be named plaintiffs that brought this and then if they're successful, they would get a sum of money and then try to distribute it. we already talked about that. About class actions, how the people have actually winning class actions are the attorneys.
phil-silberman_2_07-18-2024_135738:Yeah.
austin_2_07-18-2024_125737:but
phil-silberman_2_07-18-2024_135738:Yeah, there you go. look, that brings our show to a close. I've been your host, Phil Silberman. Austin Black has been your co host. Like us, follow us, review us, wherever you get your podcasts. Nothing in this show is to be considered legal advice. And definitely not investment advice. I'm not telling people to go buy Citigroup or not, okay? but nothing in this show is to be considered legal advice. This has all been for entertainment purposes. If you have any legal questions, email us at info at silblawfirm. com. That's I N F O at Silb, S I L B like boy, lawfirm. com. And say you want it publicly answered in the podcast. Thank you, everybody. Have a great afternoon. I've been your host, Phil Silberman. Signing off.
austin_2_07-18-2024_125737:Bye
