David Lemus and Olmado Hidalgo have been in jail for 14 years for the notorius 1990 New York Palladium murder. They may be innocent. A hearing will be held tomorrow, and a decision to free them, give them a new trial, or leave their convctions and sentences intact could come down within weeks.

The case has taken over the lives of three unlikely allies: A former prosecutor, a former detective and the jury forewoman. All are working to free the men.

Dan Slepian, the "Dateline" producer who has been following the case since 2002, says he finds the devotion of Mr. Cohen, Mr. Addolorato and Ms. Kramer remarkable. "The ultimate truth of what happened that night, while important, is in many ways less interesting then these three people," he said. "Here you have three former strangers who have come together to fight for what they believe is the truth."

Josh Marshall says,

But if recollection serves, there are DOJ guidelines which say that prosecutors should exercise a great deal of discretion when trying to compel testimony from journalists. They're not supposed to do it just to tie up a few loose ends, but only if there's real and significant crime they're trying to prosecute. And before they do so, they're supposed to have exhausted all other possible ways to get at the information.

He's right. There are both U.S. Attorney Guidelines (contained here and here in the U.S. Attorney's Manual) and regulations (contained here, taken from the Code of Federal Regulations.)

Josh will be on Al Franken's radio show today. (update: appearance canceled.)

Judy Keen of USA Today interviewed President Bush Monday about his choice of a Supreme Court replacement for retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. The text of the interview is here.

He defended his "great friend" Alberto Gonzales. It will take him a few weeks to make a decision. He wants people to "tone down the rhetoric." Twice he said he is looking for someone who will "faithfully interpret the Constitution and laws of the country." He says his judges will not have to pass a "litmus test" on Roe v. Wade or other issues. Bush's role models for a Supreme Court Justice are Scalia and Thomas.

Bush said lobbying won't affect him: "I feel no pressure except the pressure to put somebody on the bench who will bring dignity to the office, somebody who's got the intellect necessary to do the job, somebody of great integrity and somebody who will faithfully interpret the Constitution."

That won't stop the special interest groups, who are expected to spend between $50 and $100 million on campaigns. The Christian Science Monitor today analyzes the political factors at work in Bush's decision.

Update: The UK IndyMedia has good coverage.

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After a peaceful demonstration Sunday in Edinburgh, Scotland, attended by 225,000 people supporting the "Make Poverty History" movement which is allied with the Live 8 concerts, the anti-capitalist anarchists showed up and the mood drastically changed. Today ended with 30 injured and 90 arrested. Don't miss this photo, it's the funniest.

Here's an account of how things turned once the anarchists arrived to protest:

Valerie Plame has returned to work at the CIA after a year's leave of absence. She won't, however, be resuming undercover work.

There has been so much attention paid to the leakers and reporters in the case, it seems like the fact that a woman's life was turned upside down been lost in the shuffle.

by TChris

It wasn't a happy Independence Day for U.S. Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham, who missed the pancake breakfast he usually attends rather than face reporters.

The pancake breakfast was to have been Cunningham's first public event since last month's disclosure that congressman sold his previous home to a defense contractor for what may have been an overinflated price. Mitchell Wade, founder of the defense firm MZM Inc., bought Cunningham's house for $1.675 million in 2003 and sold it nearly a year later for a $975,000 - a $700,000 loss in one of the nation's hottest housing markets.

Cunningham likes to have his picture taken with flag wavers, but the timing was off this year.

On Friday, the FBI searched Cunningham's $2.55 million mansion in the exclusive community of Rancho Santa Fe as well as the 42-foot yacht, the "Duke Stir," owned by Wade, where Cunningham has resided in Washington. Federal agents also raided MZM's Washington, D.C. offices.

The Indonesian high court has agreed to reopen Schappelle Corby's case and allow her new defense team to present new witnesses.

The defense has a tough job though - the Court is expecting it to produce the person who put the 4.1 kilos of marijuana in her luggage.

[Lawyer Hotman Paris Hutapea]called on Australians to write to the Government to ask them to identify those airport staff who were on duty the day Corby travelled. He also wanted the Australian Federal Police to give evidence about incidents of illegal movement of drugs through Australian airports.

[hat tip to Heretik]

John Aravosis of America Blog is a credentialed blogger for G-8, blogging from Scotland. He's got great photos up. The bloggers flew over on the Live 8 plane from JFK, Bob Geldof met them at the airport and gave an impassioned speech. The protesters were also there.

What will they think of next?

Some Wisconsin judges are making people accused of alcohol-related offenses wear special ankle bracelets to track whether they are drinking. The bracelet's maker, Alcohol Monitoring System of Colorado, believes the device can replace random breath tests.

A couple of beers can trigger the bracelet, which measures alcohol consumption through skin perspiration, according to the device's maker. The bracelet takes a reading and sends the information via wireless modem to a monitoring center. Milwaukee and Racine county court systems have joined an increasing number of systems nationwide using the bracelets.

Some experts doubt the accuracy of the device:

Update, 11/30/07: Kalpoe brothers ordered released again.

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Update: More Here, this thread is ending.

Bump and Update: 7/4/05 1:55 pm. The Judge has ordered the release of the Kalpoe brothers, Deepak and Satish. Joran van der Sloot will be detained for up to another 60 days.

A judge has ordered the release of two of the three suspects being held in the disappearance of Alabama teenager Natalee Holloway in Aruba, court officials said Monday.

Through their mothers, the three say this is what happened:

The Kalpoes' mother has said one of her sons admitted lying to protect Van Der Sloot and said he and his brother took the Dutch youth and Holloway to a beach and dropped them off.

Anita Van Der Sloot also has said her son changed his story and admitted being alone with Holloway on the beach, saying he then left her because she wanted to stay there.

Your choice, all topics, whatever's on your mind.

[Monday's over, comments closed]

by TChris

Some Senate Democrats believe that their obligation to advise and consent regarding Supreme Court appointments requires them to know something about the nominee's views. Something beyond the predictable, "I will be faithful to the Constitution and only vote to overrule settled law in the rarest of circumstances."

"All questions are legitimate," Senator Charles E. Schumer of New York, a Democratic member of the Judiciary Committee, said in an interview. "What is your view on Roe v. Wade? What is your view on gay marriage? They are going to try to get away with the idea that we're not going to know their views. But that's not going to work this time."

Many Senate Republicans want none of it. They argue that judicial candidates shouldn't be required to prejudge cases that might come before the Court. True, it would cross a line to insist that a nominee explain how he or she might vote in a case that's been accepted for review, but there's nothing wrong with insisting that a nominee opine about the wisdom of cases--like Roe v. Wade--that have already been decided. How can the Senate give informed advice or decide whether to consent if the nominee keeps her thoughts about the legal issues of the day to herself?