I return to my blog.

It's been far too long, old friends.

My laptop died, I had to get a new hard drive. That explains the absence.

So listen. I wrote this article for Flyer News about a Marycrest cafeteria worker getting rocks thrown at her one morning in October. She said three guys attacked her and called her "nigger" on her way to work.

After the article came out, UD Public Safety released the incident report relating to the incident. This contained the suspects' names and a brief account of the event. I was assigned a follow-up article now that we had suspects' names.

I interviewed two of them and wrote a story that basically described things from their point of view. Their stories differed greatly from the victim's. They claimed that they didn't even see her that morning. The two I talked to said that two of them--one I was interviewing and one I was not--had been found not guilty in Dayton Municipal Court. I wrote this in my article, and my publisher chose it for the headline.

In my article, editors and I decided not to print any names, since they had been found not guilty. One of the students had granted an interview on condition of anonymity, so that worked out well.

Then I get emails from UD's attorney and my editor-in-chief. Turns out they were found guilty in court, which is a little different from not guilty. Granted, assault charges were withdrawn, but the two who'd had their trials had been found guilty of disorderly conduct.

This information was available on the Dayton Municipal Court website, but I didn't think to check it. Jokes 'n.

So my editor wrote a clarification/correction that included all three names. Including the kid who didn't want his name in the paper. Hahahahahahahahaha SHOULDN'T HAVE LIED, FOOL!!!!

Here:

My first article

My second article

Trial results - search criminal results by defendant name, then search "Michael Fields," "Daniel Mingee," and Michael Synck" (which is a misspelling of Synek, and he's the one who hasn't had his trial yet)

My editor's correction

What fun life is.

This blog just might come to life eventually. We shall see.