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...]

Jacksonville, Florida , and 11 other counties in northeast Florida are the latestto introduce a program encouraging people to report people they see engaging in behavior they deem suspicious and possibly terrorism-related.

The program is called "IWatch."

The site provides examples of red flags to watch for, such as people with an unusual interest in building plans or who are purchasing materials useful in bomb making. Important places to watch include hobby stores and dive shops.

[More...]

Yesterday, the Judge in the Boston bombing case of defendant Dzokhar Tsarnaev issued an order denying a motion filed under seal in which the defense asked to take periodic photographs of Dzhokhar (Jahar) at Devens Medical Facility to be able to document his evolving physical and emotional state. The court declined to interfere with BOP policy which disallows visitors to have cameras on security grounds. It ruled that the staff at the prison can take the photos which will be shared with both parties (not just the defense.) Here is the Court's order, referencing the motion which was filed under seal as Docket Number 29. The order also refers to a response the Government filed under seal.

Looking at the docket, it appears that there have been many motions filed under seal, because so many numbers are missing. Instead of listing the docket number with a descriptive notation like "Motion to Suppress, Sealed, by Defendant", there's a big nothing. See below: [More..]

O.J. Simpson's former attorney, Yale Galanter, threw O.J. under the bus today, testifying O.J. told him he knew others were bringing guns to the hotel room where O.J. planned to retrieve his possessions. He even said O.J. told him he asked the others to bring the guns (called "heat.")

He also testified he told O.J. not to engage in the plan.

"He told me he finally had a lead on some personal pictures and memorabilia that was stolen from him years earlier," Galanter testified. "I said, 'O.J., you've got to call the police.'"

Things aren't looking good for O.J., even though other lawyers involved in the case have supported O.J.'s claim of ineffective assistance of counsel: [More...]

Fazliddin Kurbanov, a 30 year old Uzbek truck driver legally residing in the U.S. has pleaded not guilty to terror charges in Boise, Idaho. He's accused of providing material support to the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, a designated terrorist organization. He also faces charges in Utah.

The U.S. Attorney says his case is not related to the Boston Marathon bombing.

Wendy Olson, the U.S. attorney in Idaho, said Kurbanov is the only person charged, and any potential threat was contained by his arrest. "He was closely monitored during the course of the investigation," she said. "The investigation has been under way for some time."

I wonder if this case is connected to the ongoing case in Colorado against Jamshid Muhtorov (an Uzbek political refugee and truck driver, living in Colorado) and Bakhtiyor Jumaev, (added later, from Philadelphia, who has an asylum application pending.) While Kurbanov's alleged illegal activity occurs a year after that of Muhtorov and Jumaev, and both have been detained pending trial making it unlikely there's a current connection between them, there was extensive electronic and FISA surveillance used in that case and thorough searches of Jumaev's computers. Muhtorov and Jumaev are charged with providing material support to the Islamic Jihad Union. [More...]

I'm offline today, here's an open thread, all topics welcome.

The media uproar over the subpoena of AP telephone records continues. The reason for seizing the records that is being put forth is that it was part of an investigation into intelligence leaks about a new explosive device being made by AQAP in Yemen that would evade detection by U.S. airline security and allow an Undie Bomber II to succeed.

It seems to be a bit more than that. After reading close to 300 news articles on Lexis (and skimming another 600) from May, 2012, here is more of the story from multiple news sources, here and abroad. (This is a summary from various news sources, and I am not suggesting it is accurate, only that this is what was reported at the time. I’ve listed several of the news articles at the end)[More...]

The federal courts are in a state of financial crisis due to sequester. Here is the letter the Federal Judicial Conference sent to the White House yesterday seeking emergency funding.

"The judiciary is confronting an unprecedented financial crisis that could seriously compromise the Constitutional mission of the United States courts," the letter states. "We believe our supplemental request meets the threshold for receiving an emergency designation."

Interesting inclusion on the cost of defending Dzokhar Tsarnaev and other threat cases in New York: [More....]

Despite it being a boring season, I thought Candace Glover knocked it out of the park tonight with "I (Who Have Nothing)."

On a related note, Shakira and Usher are probably leaving the Voice. Christina Aguillera is returning, and probably Cee Lo Green too. I like the show better with Shakira and Usher.

President Obama tonight announced that Acting IRS Director Steven Miller has resigned, at the request of Treasury Secretary Jack Lew.

A transcript of Obama's remarks at his press conference tonight is here.