Update: The New York Times reports the accuser filed the earlier gang rape report when she was 18, and said it happened when she was 14. No explanation for the almost 4 year wait.

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The Duke Lacrosse players' accuser's parents confirm she has prior mental health issues and has been raped previously.

The mother of the alleged victim told ESSENCE magazine that her daughter did go away to a hospital in Raleigh, North Carolina, for about a week last year, where she was treated for a "nervous breakdown." While the accuser's parents did not say they knew what brought on the breakdown, they did say that their daughter was upset about mounting bills. The mother also told ESSENCE that when her daughter was 17 or 18, she was raped by several men, one of whom was someone she knew. The attack took place in the town of Creedmoor, about 15 miles northeast of Durham, and was a "set up," according to the accuser's mother. Although other family members confirmed that the alleged victim reported the incident to police in that jurisdiction, the young woman declined to pursue the case, relatives say out of fear for her safety.

11 members of the House of Representatives will sue President Bush tomorrow to stop enactment of the Deficit Reduction Act. From a press release by Rep. John Conyers (received by e-mail, no link yet):

On February 8, the President signed a version of the "Deficit Reduction Act" that had passed the Senate, but had never passed the House (the House passed version of the bill provided for 36 months of durable medical equipment funding whereas the Senate bill provided for 13 months - amounting to a roughly $2 billion difference) As such, the version signed by the president should not be considered a "law," as it does not comply with the constitutional requirement that the same exact bill pass both Houses of Congress. According to public accounts, the Republican leaders of the House and the Senate, as well as the President, were well aware the legislation before the President had not passed the House of Representatives before the presidential signing ceremony.

There's a great profile today of Daily Kos front page diarist Georgia10 in the Chicago reader. Who knew she is only 23 and a full time law student? She sure is smart and a good writer.

The article also presents a lot of information about Daily Kos and an easy to understand explanation of how diaries work on the site and how the front page diarists are selected.

We need more open threads to satisfy those of you who have something to say on topics other than those TalkLeft covered yesterday and today. Go for it, and I'll be back late this afternoon.

The National Law Journal reports:

A search warrant sent via e-mail to a computer in a police vehicle or maybe to a hand-held device such as a BlackBerry? All become possible under a federal rule scheduled to take effect on Dec. 1.

This brave new world of electronic search warrants and affidavits comes courtesy of Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure Rule 41(d)(3)(A), which simply states: "A magistrate judge may issue a warrant based on information communicated by telephone or other reliable electronic means."

TalkLeft contributor Last Night in Little Rock, being the 4th Amendment guru that he is, is quoted extensively in the article:

Judge Reggie Walton today denied Scooter Libby's motion to dismiss the indictment based on a claim that Patrick Fitzgerald's appointment was constitutionally and statutorily improper. Tom Maguire has the 31 page ruling.

No suprise on this one.

Roger Friedman at Fox News posts the lyrics to Neil Young's song Let's Impeach the President, on his new Living With War album. He says the song will be performed as a "melodic, rocking, campfire ode" and calls it the "catchiest protest song since Country Joe and the Fish's anti-Vietnam ditty, "I Feel Like I'm Fixin' to Die".

When Living with War starts streaming on neilyoung.com on Friday, my guess is the servers will overheat.

I will be featuring the full album player/streams on Friday on TalkLeft when they go live. So make sure to stop back. Also stop by Neil Young's My Space site. and the Living With War blog. Now here are the lyrics:

Megyn Kendall of Fox News is reporting that she spoke to the accuser's father who relayed to her that his daughter told him she was sodomized with a broomstick and isn't certain of the third player's identity.

Last week I predicted Gloria Allred would show up to represent the accuser. She's in New York tonight on Hannity and Colmes, talking about how the accuser needs excellent representaton.

Is she making a pitch?

Update: Two of the legal commentators on Greta's show just came out opining the accuser needs representation and suggested Gloria. One of them is in California, and said, "maybe she's [Gloria] is in that part of the country right now.] He knows she was on the H & C segment Allred a few minutes before he went on.

Continuing from my earlier post with differing reports about whether Karl Rove received a target letter: Let's not get sidetracked. Luskin could have an agreement with Fitzgerald that Rove will plead to an Information charging lesser offenses, and avoid an Indictment. If the grand jury is not going to be asked to indict Karl Rove, there's no reason to send him a target letter. He may not be a target of the grand jury, but he could still be a target of the investigation.

Example: Fitzgerald agrees to charge Rove by Information for false statements and/or perjury and forego obstruction of justice. Rove agrees to waive his right to be charged by indictment to guilty to the charge(s) in the Information, in exchange for an as-yet unspecified sentence reduction that's contingent upon Fitzgerald's determination of the value of Rove's cooperation when all is said and done.

Think Tony Rudy.

More about that here. Jason Leopold has supplemented his article on Rove's target status on the Truthout Forums:

The EU Parliamentary inquiry into Ghost Air has concluded. Today they released their preliminary report finding there have been over 1000 secret CIA flights since 2001, that prisoners have been transported to countries that practice torture, and that European countries may have turned a blind eye.

Flight data showed a pattern of hidden operations by American agents, and they accused some European governments of knowing about it but remaining silent.

[Hat tip to commenter Scribe.]

Reuters reports :

Karl Rove testified for the 5th time before the Plame grand jury today. Is he still trying to save himself or is he shoring up Fitzgerald's case against someone else? Is he singing about the belatedly turned over e-mails from Dick Cheney's office? Or about who provided the information to Bob Woodward's source about Valerie Plame Wilson?

I don't trust the MSM accounts today about the subject matter of his testimony -- they appear to be coming from Rove's camp. Naturally, they want us to believe Rove merely is clearing up details about his own involvement to show Fitz he did nothing wrong. I think it's too late for that. So does Jason Leopold, who writes today that Rove did receive a target letter from the grand jury. [Update: Sample target letter to grand jury witnesses here, background on target letter terminology here and here. Luskin has released a statement denying Rove was advised he is a target.]

by TChris

Emily Marie Delafield was swinging a couple of knives and a hammer, but the threat posed by the 56 year old woman was lessened by her confinement to a wheelchair. The police in Green Cove Springs nonetheless shot her with a Taser. She lost consciousness and later died at a hospital.

This commentator argues convincingly that Taser use -- particularly in Florida -- is out of control.

And even though Scottsdale, Arizona-based Taser, Inc--the company that created it--said it should never be used on children or the elderly, Florida leads the nation in deaths by Taser. The oldest victim to date? Ninety-five. The youngest? A 6-year old boy.

TalkLeft's coverage of the Taser controversy is collected here.