Dominique Strauss-Kahn faces more trouble in France.

It's a court day for me, so an open thread for you. BTD should be returning soon. All topics welcome.

The jury will resume deliberations in the John Edwards trial today. MSNBC has graciously provided the full transcripts of closing arguments. The Judge's final jury instructions are here. Attorney and trial watcher for MSNBC Hampton Dellinger explains the possible outcomes here.

In case anyone here wants to talk about something besides George Zimmerman, here's an open thread, all topics welcome.

I'm still working through the discovery in the George Zimmerman case. I have a long post I'm writing on Witnesses #6 and #13, who I think may be the most important witnesses to the criminal case.

One thing that stikes me is that police are no better than lay people as eyewitnesses. For example, in describing Trayvon Martin's clothes the night of the shooting:

• Ofc. Ricardo Ayala, Page 14: 2/27/12, 2:28 am: Trayvon is lying in the grass, wearing a black sweater, blue jeans, white/red tennis shoes.
• Officer Joseph Santiago, Page 16: 3/2/12: describing his participation on 2/26: Got to the scene, Trayvon was on his back, had gray sweatshirt, light colored shorts, white tennis shoes.

Trayvon had on a light grey Nike sweatshirt (ME-8) and a dark grey Fruit of the Loom hooded sweatshirt (ME-12.) (Report here. Curiously, the police reports list the sweatshirt as ME-12 and the hoodie as ME-8.) He was wearing tan pants, as is evident in the 7-11 video. [More...]

Go Chelsea!!

Open Thread.

The next wave of Big Brother, courtesy of the DEA:

The DEA and two sheriffs are asking permission to install stationary license plate scanners on the freeway in Beaver and Washington counties. The primary purpose would be to catch or build cases against drug traffickers....

....Gary Newcomb, a supervisory IT specialist from the DEA, flew in from Virginia to testify Wednesday. He said the scanners are already in place on drug trafficking corridors in California and Texas, and the DEA is considering placing them on interstates near the Arizona cities of Kingman and Flagstaff.

[More...]

Our last Zimmerman thread is full. Here's a new one.

One thing I noticed in the discovery is the multiple persons who observed George Zimmeman's injuries at the scene:

Officer Stacie McCoy:

I instructed Officer T Smith to have SFR provide medical care to the subject reference visible blood on his face and to transport the subject to the SPD for everyone’s safety.

Officer Michael Wagner:

I walked to Ofc Smith's car where Zimmerman was sitting and in handcuffs and used my personal iPhone (due to an immediate lack of access to a digital camera) to take a picture of Zimmerman's face. I saw that Zimmerman’s face was bloodied and it appeared to me his nose was broken. I also saw that the back of Zimmerman’s head was bloodied.

I then walked to where Martin lay on the ground and took a photo of Martin’s face as well. I observed no physical injury to Martin

[More...]

Update: No verdict today, the jurors asked for some exhibits and a board to write and markers. Their requests pertained to the Bunny Mellon contributions.

Update: Here are the final instructions given to the jury in the John Edwards trial.

I really want to write something positive today, to give Team Edwards support and let them know that, outside of North Carolina, there are people like me and TalkLeft readers who think John Edwards has gotten the short end of the stick in this trial.

Update: MSNBC has posted all 183 pages of the documents released today. So has The New York Times here.

The discovery in the George Zimmerman case has been released. It's abundantly clear why Zimmerman was not arrested the night Trayvon Martin was shot. There was no evidence he committed a crime.

There are now plenty of photos like this one showing Zimmerman's injuries to his nose and scalp. Police reports refer to Zimmerman's voice being heard crying out for help multiple times in one of the 911 calls. The only eyewitness who could make an identification as the struggle was ongoing and before the shot (who appears to be John) told police at the scene that the man in the red jacket was on the bottom, crying for help, and the guy on top of him was repeatedly hitting him.

So why did one officer request a capias? It had nothing to do with evidence of a crime. It was because the officer said had Zimmerman stayed in his car, nothing would have happened. [More...]

Disco Queen Donna Summer has died of lung cancer at age 63. She was diagnosed just 10 months ago.

MTV details her legacy. R.I.P., and our condolences to her husband and children.

By now it's hardly a surprise, just a major disappointment, that the Judge in John Edwards' trial continues to restrict his defense and rule against his legal arguments, while giving the Government everything it wants.

The latest: The Judge is going with the Government's position on the meaning of "the" in the statute that prevents candidates from accepting donations over $2,300.00 if they are "for the purpose of influencing the election."

Although Eagles said she tried to balance the wishes of prosecutors and the defense in drafting her instructions, she delivered a clear victory for the government by saying she would tell the jury that money doesn't have to be for "the sole purpose" of influencing an election to be considered a campaign contribution.

[More...]

It's a court day for me, and BTD is busy at work as well. As much as I hate to miss slow drip of details from those attending the closing arguments in the John Edwards trial, that's the way it is.

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

Mark O'Mara says on camera he did not leak Zimmerman's medical report to ABC News. I'd bet he's telling the truth and didn't leak it. Who's suggesting he did? Team Crump, of course.

O'Mara has had this report for weeks. He had it in court with him at the bond hearing and said he hadn't yet turned it over to the prosecution. Zimmerman's father, brother and friends referred to it in interviews weeks ago.

The report was given exclusively to Matt Guttman of ABC News. [More...]

The New York Times reports the results of its reporters' investigation over the last several weeks into the shooting death of Trayvon Martin.

It includes a lot of unnamed police sources and claims by unnamed witnesses made after the fact. Most of this stuff we've heard before, and I'd caution against assuming the New York Times is reporting facts. It's reporting what unnamed police sources and witnesses told the reporters, which may or may not be accurate. [More...]

I'll be working the rest of the day, here's an open thread, all topics welcome.