Arkansas detainee Charlie Cook, awaiting trial on meth charges, began drawing and selling Christmas cards. He earned enough from their sale to enable him to post bond. His wife, also charged, had already made bond.

After visiting with prison missionaries, Cook became inspired to draw winter scenes as Christmas cards. Clarence Yoder, a Mennonite who had visited Cook in jail, liked the cards so much that he took them to his bakery and sold them for $2 each.

"We're trying to stay away from the people and circumstances that have contributed to some of the bad choices we've made in the past," Mrs. Cook told the Harrison Daily Times newspaper.

I've received some great Christmas cards from my jailed clients over the years. Some are creative, some demonstrate the client's emotional nature, some rise to the level of art. I keep them all.

I was on Alan Colmes radio show tonight discussing the Scott Peterson verdict. I was suprised that my sparring partner, victim's rights advocate Wendy Murphy, who makes Nancy Grace seem like a liberal defense lawyer by comparison, is philosophically and morally opposed to the death penalty. She acknowledged that Scott Peterson's life has some value. She said she was opposed to the Laci & Connor Law that made it a federal crime to kill an unborn fetus and believes that right to lifers have politicized the case. We ended up spending a significant portion of the two segments discussing how anti-abortionists can claim to value life but support the death penalty. A caller asked me the question in reverse, how could I oppose capital punishment as murder but not abortion. [My answer: abortion isn't murder, executions are state-sanctioned murders.] How can people can claim to choose life but support killing?

Friday, on Hannity and Colmes, former prosecutor and Fox News Legal Analyst Lis Wiehl said she was opposed to the death penalty. Tonight, Bill O'Reilly said in his opening comments that the jury's decision was "emotion driven." Bill O'Reilly has said many times he's opposed to the death penalty. All of them believe that Scott Peterson killed his pregnant wife. But, the death penalty? That's a stretch.

What's next for Scott Peterson? Does he go right to San Quentin? (No, he hasn't been sentenced yet.) The Sacremento Bee has a page answering these kind of questions.

Michael Leavit was nominated today by President Bush to be our new Secretary of Health and Human Services, replacing the departing Tommy Thompson. One group, Safe Access, has wasted no time in asking for his help:

We urge the next secretary of HHS to bring the weight of overwhelming scientific evidence to reclassifying marijuana in the U.S, in recognition of its medical value. This reclassification will increase long overdue access to medical marijuana for seriously ill people here in the U.S., and will remove the barriers (and potentially serious legal consequences) associated with researching, prescribing and administering this substance by U.S. health professionals.

We have a petition for rescheduling marijuana in front of Health and Human Services right now, as well as a challenge under the Federal Data Quality Act for HHS to correct inaccurate assertions made in their 2001 denial of a prior rescheduling petition. This misinformation has maintained the unnecessary and inappropriate restrictions, and severe legal penalties, that limit access to medical cannabis in the United States to treat serious medical conditions for which it has scientifically shown its value. Further, the continued classification of marijuana as a Schedule I drug, a classification supported by HHS's flawed recommendations, restrains legitimate medical research in the U.S. on other potential therapeutic benefits of cannabis.

So much for freedom of expression. The New York Museum showing the 'Bush Monkeys' exhibit canceled it despite its popularity.

A portrait of President Bush using monkeys to form his image led to the closure of a New York art exhibition over the weekend and anguished protests on Monday over freedom of expression.

"Bush Monkeys," a small acrylic on canvas by Chris Savido, created the stir at the Chelsea Market public space, leading the market's managers to close down the 60-piece show that was scheduled to stay up for the next month. The show featured art from the upcoming issue of Animal Magazine, a quarterly publication featuring emerging artists.

More than 2,000 people showed up to view the exhibit over the weekend.

You can see some more Bush-monkey images here and here (not from the closed exhibit.)

The Death Penalty Information Center will release a report tomorrow showing that the number of executions dropped 40% from 1999 to 2004.

The center also found that fewer Americans support capital punishment and that fewer prisoners are being sent to death rows.

It's time for nominations in the third annual 2004 Koufax blogging awards. Go on over and nominate your favorite blogs. TalkLeft is the proud winner of the award for "best single issues blog" in both 2002 and 2003.

I hope you will nominate us again.

Update: If you don't have your own blog yet, the Washington Post gives you some pointers.

Ironically, the death verdict may bring Scott Peterson one benefit: His appeal will be treated extra seriously by the appellate courts. Every aspect of the trial will be scrutinized and errors that might not have been that big a deal with a life sentence could make a difference now.

Example: This judge was incredibly lax in allowing hearsay. All of his rulings on admission and exclusion of evidence will be reviewed with a fine tooth comb. The pre-trial publicity will now get the attention it deserves, so will the choice of trial venue.

As for those criticizing Geragos for not putting on more witnesses, keep in mind we haven't been privy to many of the judge's rulings on evidence because the hearings were held in chambers. He may have tried and been refused by the judge.

[Note: This was live blogged during the press conference, so it is not in complete sentences.]

Three jurors are holding a press conference. One of them, the woman, is especially inarticulate. The other two talk in generalities. And very slowly. In sum: I listened for an hour and learned nothing.

Of these three, one is a youth football and baseball coach; one is an unemployed mother with four kids; One is a firefighter and paramedic. Their answers are defensive and non-specific, they are very concerned with letting people know they had no opinion when it began.

What convinced them he's guilty?

Juror No. One: When you add it all up, there doesn't appear to be any other option.
Juror No. Two: When you put it all together, it spoke for itself
Juror No. Three: Not one thing convinced them of guilt. Then he added, it was Scott's inconsistent statements. The bodies being found where Scott said he went fishing. The framing theory didn't add up.

Update: Three jurors have agreed to a press conference. No time yet. They are free to accept gifts and money for information about the case in 90 days. Let them talk their heads off--maybe the defense will learn something that will cause a reversal.

Update: Scott Peterson was stonefaced. Juror #9 cried, alternate #5 cried, jurors did not look at Scott, except that juror # 12 gave Scott a little glance. They walked out looking at Sharon Rocha. Geragos had his arm around Scott Peterson as the verdict was read.

Update: Death

Update: The jurors are being brought in.

Update: Some of the jurors have asked to talk to the media afterwards.

Update: All the cable news networks will carry the audio feed of the verdict live.

Update: The lynch mob is already at the courthouse. Fox News estimates 500 of them. Just like the day of the guilty verdict. I won't be surprised to see vendors hawking death t-shirts--either messaging that it should been death or trumping that it is a death verdict. They probably prepared both in advance.

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The jury has returned a verdict in the Scott Peterson trial. It will be read at 4:30 pm ET. I'll try to cover it live here.

Comments are open for now, but please keep in mind that this is a defense site, and there will be low to zero tolerance for pro-death views. TalkLeft is a personal site intended to advocate my point of view - not to present both sides.

If you want to rant for death, go over to the Court TV message boards. If you have questions or comments about the trial process, feel free to leave them here.

[Comments now closed, too many people abused them and I don't feel like reading through the drivel to get to the good ones (and there are several of those too)or having to spend my evening making friends with the delete key.]

by TChris

In a unanimous opinion, the Supreme Court decided today that a lawyer in a death penalty case who concedes her client's guilt during the trial's guilt phase (at least when evidence of guilt is overwhelming) in order to preserve her credibility in making a case against death during the penalty phase does not automatically fail to provide the effective assistance of counsel required by the Sixth Amendment. A syllabus of the decision in Florida v. Nixon is here (pdf).

The Court also decided that the reasonableness of an officer's use of deadly force was sufficiently murky (in light of Fourth Amendment precedent in existence in 1999) to shield the officer from a lawsuit. The officer shot a man in the back as he was attempting to elude an arrest for drug offenses and property crimes. In a per curiam opinion, with only Justice Stevens dissenting, the Court held that the officer was immune from suit, regardless of whether the shooting was unreasonable under the Fourth Amendment (a question the Court unhelpfully chose not to decide), because the law was insufficiently clear to place the officer on notice that he shouldn't have killed the fleeing man. The decision is here (pdf).

Update: No decision today in Booker or FanFan--it will be January at the earliest.

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The potentially biggest criminal law decision in the past 20 years could come down this morning from the Supreme Court. Booker and Fanfan will determine the fate of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines in the post-Blakely nation.

It may not be good news, either way. If the Supreme Court invalidates the guidelines, many think Congress already has the bills drafted to create mandatory minimum sentences for every federal crime.

TalkLeft's frequent contributing blogger TChris is counsel for Mr. Booker and argued the case in the Supreme Court. He must be on pins and needles....Good luck, TChris. He did an outstanding job for his client.

Check in with Law Prof Doug Berman at Sentencing Law and Policy for late-breaking developments. ScotusBlog and How Appealing as well.

The New York Times has an article that begins, "What was Bernie Kerik thinking?" Much of the article is about Rudy Giulani, and it's not flattered to the ex-Mayor and former prosecutor:

Most of America knows the heroic Rudolph W. Giuliani, celebrated for his masterful leadership after Sept. 11. But before the terrorist attacks, Mr. Giuliani's popularity had dropped at home. Even fans had tired of his aggressive style.

On the premise that it took tough leadership to tame New York, the former mayor conducted himself with unapologetic hubris, surrounding himself with a deferential inner circle - including Bernard B. Kerik as commissioner of correction and then commissioner of the police.

The insular Giuliani team could be secretive, could play loose with people's rights and would even violate the law, attracting lawsuits that City Hall usually lost.