There's been a spate of new pleadings in the George Zimmerman case. (This morning's filings are discussed here.) The defense is asking for a trial continuance (motion here) because of expert Alan Reich, who it appears, is not a speaker identification expert or analyst but a "speech" analyst. The state didn't turn over his report making this evident until May 10. It wants more time to verify Reich's credentials and determine whether his area of expertise really is an area of expertise, and to retain its own expert. (My analysis of Reich's report, which I called a joke, is here.)

The defense also filed another motion for sanctions against the state (available here). Turns out, the state didn't deliver and hasn't delivered any reports of items extracted from Trayvon Martin's phone, or identify any items extracted from the phone. What it did was turn over a raw "bin" file which is unreadable without special software. The state has the software and the defense says it is "undeniable" that the state analyzed what's in the bin files and compiled reports, but failed to identify any items extracted from the files as exculpatory or impeaching and failed to disclose any reports on the items extracted. As O'Mara says, it's like they turned over the letters A to Z and said all the words you need are in there, go find them. That's not what Brady and Giglio require. [More...]

The jury has deadlocked on the sentence for Jodi Arias and the court declared a mistrial.

Under federal law, that would mean a life sentence. Not so in Arizona. A new jury will be seated to give the state another shot at killing her.

Under Arizona law, a hung jury in the death penalty phase of a trial requires a new jury to be seated to decide the punishment. If the second jury cannot reach a unanimous decision, the judge would then sentence Arias to spend her entire life in prison or be eligible for release after 25 years. The judge cannot sentence Arias to death.

Arizona has some really misguided laws. If a jury can't unanimously decide on death, why does the state get a second bite of the apple? If there is one person who has a doubt about whether someone should be put to death, that should be doubt enough.

(Larger version here)

The defense in the George Zimmerman case today released another batch of discovery it has provided the state. They include text messages and photos extracted from Trayvon Martin's cell phone. Several texts pertain to guns (Martin wanted one), marijuana, fighting, and his school suspension. There are many messages with Witness 8.

You can view all the items here. Diwataman has some of the most relevant screenshots here. [More....]

While unnamed officials continue to tell the media that Ibragim Todashev "implicated" himself in the killing of three men in Boston in 2011, his wife (from whom he was separated) and father are speaking out and disputing the media allegations.

Ms. Manukyan, an Armenian who converted to Islam before marrying Mr. Todashev, says she met her late husband in 2010 through a mutual friend in Boston. She says she separated from Mr. Todashev last November but was still in regular contact with him and was partly supporting him through their joint bank account. She says she saw him last week when he came to visit her in Atlanta and spoke to him this week.

[More...]

Lots of work today. Here's an open thread, all topics welcome.

Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper today granted a reprieve from the death penalty to Nathan Dunlap, who is scheduled to be executed in August for killings 15 years ago at a Chuck E. Cheese pizza parlor.

The reprieve is not clemency. A future governor could lift it. But it means Dunlap's execution date is canceled and Hickenlooper says he is unlikely to revisit the decision.

"It is a legitimate question whether we as a state should be taking lives," the order says. "Because the question is about the use of the death penalty itself, and not about Offender No. 89148, I have opted to grant a reprieve and not clemency in this case."

The Governor's press release is here. The Executive Order granting the reprieve is here. [More...]

In a letter from Attorney General Eric Holder to Congress today, for the first time, the U.S. has admitted killing 4 American citizens in drone strikes in Yemen and Pakistan.

The letter is here. It says only Anwar al-Awlaki was targeted for killing. Samir Kahn was killed in the same strike. al-Awlaki's son was killed in another drone strike in Yemen, and Jude Mohammed was killed in drone strike in Pakistan. [More...]

The FBI and Boston police were in Florida questioning Ibragim Todashev, an acquaintance of Tamerlan Tsarnaev, when the FBI says he got violent and an FBI agent shot and killed him in self-defense.

Here is an interview with a friend of Todashev's.

An unnamed source says Todashev is "directly involved" in the triple murder in Massachusetts, in which one of the victims was a friend of Tamerlan Tsarnaev. The source says Todashev and Tsarnaev knew each other from martial arts.

Undoubtedly, there is much more to this story. [More...]

Ryan Lizza at the New Yorker has details of the Government's investigation of Fox News Reporter James Rosen. DOJ also got phone records.

In South Africa, Oscar Pistorius' brother Carl was acquitted of culpable homicide and lesser charges stemming from a car accident.

A Bronx Detective has been charged in federal court with computer hacking -- obtaining emails and personal records of fellow cops and others. The FBI press release is here.

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

Jodi Arias has changed her mind. She wants to live. Today, she spoke to the jury and told them why, and what she can contribute from prison. More here and here.

The judge denied a motion for mistrial after a defense witness who would have provided mitigation testimony about Arias' abusive childhood said she had received threats and decided not to testify. The judge also denied a motion for defense counsel to withdraw from the case. Arias was the only defense witness in the penalty phase. [More...]

George Zimmerman's attorneys have filed a response to the State's motion to exclude evidence of Trayvon Martin's marijuana use. The pleading is available here and includes this information:

From other evidence in the case, it is known that Trayvon Martin brought marijuana with him from South Florida to use while he was in Sanford and that he used it at least one time after arriving in Sanford prior to his death. Trayvon Martin was suspended from school for possessing a baggie containing marijuana residue and was known to smoke n1arijuana with his friends. In George Zimmerman's non-emergency call to the police, he describes the person, later identified as Trayvon Martin, as appearing as though he was "on drugs."

Additionally, on close inspection of Trayvon Martin's physical appearance at the 7-Eleven, where he was recorded on video within an hour of his death, he sways at the counter as if he's under the influence of some substance.

The motion states the defense has deposed the state's toxicologist, Dr. Bruce Goldberger, who testified: [More...]

Gov. Peter Shumlin has signed Vermont's "Death With Dignity" law. The law allows doctors to prescribe medication that permitting the terminally ill to end their lives. It takes effect today.

The law, which went into effect Monday, allows for an end-of-life procedure with the consent of a patient's doctor after the patient has made more than one request for help in ending life. The bill also stipulates that the patient has a chance to retract the request.

Under the bill, a qualifying patient must be at least 18 years old, a Vermont resident and suffering from an "incurable and irreversible disease," with less than six months to live. Two physicians, including the prescribing doctor, must make that medical determination. The patient must also be told of other end-of-life services, "including palliative care, comfort care, hospice care, and pain control," according to the bill.

Vermont is the fourth state to allow physician-assisted end of life measures. The others are Oregon, Washington and Montana.

The Senate Finance Committee is holding a hearing on the IRS targeting of conservative groups. Former acting IRS commissioner Steven Miller is testifying now. You can watch here.

Also expected to testify: Former IRS commissioner Douglas Shulman. Shulman was in charge when the targeting began in 2010.

Miller says the targeting was not partisan-engendered.

Busy day. Here's an open thread, all topics welcome.

Our last open thred (Friday) is all filled up.

I'm off to a college graduation this morning (which unbelievably is going to last four hours until 1 pm, and then with lunch, till 3pm.) Then I get to rush home to meet Comcast who will try and tell me why my DVR machine blacks out every night and loses the saved recordings. Since it's probably a box problem, I guess that means I'll be getting a shiny new DVR. Hard to believe the one I have is already 5 years old. Hard to complain though. How many electronics that you run hours a day for five years can last much longer than that?

On Friday, the Government delivered discovery in my latest case with 18 defendants: 16 wiretapped phones and more than 5,000 pertinent calls, all in Spanish. That's my night-time project, to start digging in. I'll be curious to see what language they're using in 2013 for getting prospective cell cite locator information -- whether they are sticking to their argument that they don't need to show probable cause, just a relevance showing under the Stored Communications Act, or whether they've modified it to include probable cause based on the numerous recent court decisions distinguishing between historical and real-time data. In a recent case, I asked the FBI agent if they had the real time locator information showing on a monitor in the control room where they listen to the wiretap calls, and he said yes.

Here's an order denying prospective or real-time cell site locator data by a Magistrate judge named Owsley in Texas. [More...]