A Texas jury has found Deanna Laney not guilty by reason of insanity in the stoning deaths of her two children and maiming of a third. What's the difference between Ms. Laney and Andrea Yates? None that we can see. Both were deeply religious, both home-schooled their children. Yates' lawyer, George Parnum, explains the similarities here.

What's the difference in their cases? First, Deanna Laney was tried by a Tyler, Texas jury that was not qualified as a death-penalty jury because the state didn't seek the death penalty in her case. Andrea Yates' jury was a death-qualified jury. Studies show that death qualified juries are more likely to convict in the guilt phase. We think it's likely death qualified jurors are also less likely to find a defendant not guilty by reason of insanity.

The second difference in the cases is that in the Laney case, all of the experts (those retained by the prosecution, defense and judge) agreed that Ms. Laney was insane. In the Yates case, the prosecution's expert did not agree with the insanity finding. It's interesting that the prosecution used the same expert in both cases, psychiatrist Park Dietz.

Call it what you want, but both women were delusional and likely insane. We fail to see any difference between their cases. One goes to jail for life. One goes to a mental hospital until such time as medical doctors determine she's no longer insane. One has a chance at treatment and recovery, one doesn't.

Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) Executive Director Rob Kampia testified before the the U.S. House Government Reform Subcommittee on Criminal Justice, Drug Policy, and Human Resources on Friday, at a hearing about "Marijuana and Medicine: The Need for a Science-Based Approach." The Drug War Rant outlines Rob's powerful testimony. You can access his testimony here (pdf). The theme of his testimony was:

Current federal policies are not based on science; rather, they are based on
myths and lies. Worse yet, the federal government is currently blocking scientific inquiry into the therapeutic benefits of marijuana. This collusion in support of delusion is an outrage and must be stopped. State medical marijuana laws must be respected, and research into the therapeutic benefits of marijuana must be allowed to proceed expeditiously.

...In sum, the Marijuana Policy Project strongly supports a science-based approach to medical marijuana. We hope that Chairman Souder eventually abandons his reliance on myths and lies, stops the federal witch hunt for medical marijuana patients and doctors, and embraces an approach that is based on science.

Rob Kampia is one of the most committed marijuana activists around. We first met him in 1996 when we testified before the House Judiciary Committee, Subcommittee on Crime on marijuana cultivation sentencing guidelines. We've stayed in touch with him and continually are impressed by his dedication to marijuana policy reform.

It is ridiculous that in this day and age, government officials are still claiming with a straight face that marijuana lacks any therapeutic benefit. The scientific and anecdotal evidence to the contrary is right in front of their faces.

by TChris

Sunday's New York Times has a lengthy review of the Bush administration's response to terrorism in the months leading up to September 11. The bottom line: "the White House's impulse to deal more forcefully with terrorist threats within the United States peaked July 5 and then leveled off until Sept. 11."

The review shows that over that summer, with terror warnings mounting, the government's response was often scattered and inconsistent as the new administration struggled to develop a comprehensive strategy for combating Al Qaeda and other terror organizations.

The warnings during the summer were more dire and more specific than generally recognized. Descriptions of the threat were communicated repeatedly to the highest levels within the White House. In more than 40 briefings, Mr. Bush was told by George J. Tenet, the director of central intelligence, of threats involving Al Qaeda.

by TChris

In 2000, George Bush campaigned as a compassionate conservative. After three years of tax cuts and deficits, the President can't afford much compassion or the fiscal conservatives in his base might not show up at the polls. That's a problem for Bush, because fewer Americans than ever believe that the President governs with compassion, according to a recent Washington Post poll.

The Post poll found Americans split over whether Bush has governed in a compassionate way, with 49 percent saying he has and 45 percent saying he has not. That is down sharply from February 2003, when a CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll found that 64 percent of Americans thought he had governed compassionately.

by TChris

One member of the Bush administration, at least, is capable of admitting the possibility of error. It's taken Colin Powell a year to say it, but he now acknowledges that he may have been wrong when he told the United Nations in February 2003 that two trailers in Iraq were used for weapons of mass destruction.

by TChris

Former Louisiana Governor Edwin Edwards is challenging his conviction of extorting payoffs for casino riverboat licenses. He contends that the federal judge presiding in his case, Frank J. Polozola, was too batty to be on the bench. To prove his contention, Edwards wants to introduce evidence from a lawsuit that Judge Polozola brought in state court arising out of a traffic accident. Edwards contends that Judge Polozola admitted in his accident suit that he was impaired by his use of Oxy Contin during a time frame that includes Edwards' trial.

In the accident case, filed in 1998, Judge Polozola, 62, sought compensation for a "serious physical injury" that caused him mental anguish and "impairment of function." In the trial in 2000, Mr. Edwards's lawyers wrote in filings, the judge engaged in "erratic, even paranoid" behavior. The accident case was settled in 2001, and testimony from the judge, his psychiatrist and his psychologist was sealed.

Edwards wants to unseal that evidence, but federal prosecutors asked Judge Polozola to assume control of the state court case to avoid "irreparable injury to a national interest." Perhaps feeling that his own reputation was the "national interest" at stake, Judge Polozola granted the request only twenty minutes after it was made, ordering the evidence in his own case transferred to federal court and sealed.

The action disturbs experts in legal ethics.

by TChris

Dennis Kozlowski narrowly escaped conviction when, after hearing evidence for six months, his jury was discharged and a mistrial declared. While the media focused on the ill-fated trial of the former Tyco CEO and his co-defendant, The New York Times reports that other white collar prosecutions are in the works, and that some have already been more successful.

Last week, Jamie Olis, a former midlevel executive at Dynegy, a Houston energy company, was sentenced to more than 24 years in prison for his role in accounting fraud at the company. The sentence was one of the most severe imposed in a white-collar fraud case, prosecutors and defense lawyers said.

The judge who sentenced Olis explains his reasoning here.

Prosecutors are also pursuing executives at other publicly traded companies, including Computer Associates, a software maker, and the McKesson Corporation, a pharmaceutical wholesaler. Despite the mistrial in the Tyco case and a mistrial last year in the prosecution of investment banker Frank Quattrone, New York criminal defense lawyer Ira Sorkin says that corporate fraud cases can be easy for the government to win.

The evidence in white collar cases tends to be dull, and jurors could not have been happy that the Tyco trial took six months. Prosecutors should learn a lesson from the Tyco trial: jettison weak charges, focus on the things you know you can prove, and get to the point as quickly as you can.

by TChris

An Amish Canadian who married an American citizen would like to live with his wife in the United States. His wife petitioned the government for his permanent residency, but there's a hitch: the Immigration and Naturalization Service told the couple they would have to submit their photographs to the government.

The man and his wife are Old Order Amish. They believe the Bible's prohibition of graven images applies to photographs, so they can't allow the INS to take their pictures. The INS response: no photos, no residency. The INS denied the petition. The man and his wife -- identifying themselves as John and Jane Doe -- are suing.

"Similar objections — and requests for religious exemptions — to photograph requirements routinely have been honored in the past. ... Jane Doe's petition would have been approved but for her refusal on religious grounds to submit a photograph of herself," the lawsuit alleges.

The suit asks the court to hold that the rule requiring photographs to be submitted with a residency petition is unconstitutional as applied to the Amish, and to allow John Doe to return to the United States as a permanent resident. A hearing on John Doe's removal is set for April 21, but his attorney is asking that the removal proceeding be stayed until his lawsuit is decided.

by TChris

Kevin Cooper, whose execution was stayed just hours before his life was to end, is arguing that new tests should be conducted on the blood and hair evidence used to convict him of murdering four people in 1985.

Defense lawyers say testing on blood evidence could reveal the presence of a chemical that would indicate the blood was planted by investigators. Cooper's blood was found inside the [victims'] home and on a T-shirt that also contained the victim's blood. The shirt was found outside a bar several miles from the victims' home.

The defense also wants scientific testing on hairs found in the hands of some of the victims. The hairs aren't Cooper's, and the defense contends that they might belong to other, multiple killers.

The district judge scheduled a hearing in June to hear evidence about footprints found in the home of the murdered family.

This is Thomas Lee Goldstein then:

This is him now:

Mr. Goldstein was freed from prison today after serving 24 years for a murder he did not commit. The cause of his wrongful conviction: an unreliable jailhouse snitch and an eyewitness, both of whom subsequently recanted.

In recent years, five federal judges all agreed that Goldstein's constitutional rights had been violated by the Los Angeles County district attorney's office....

Goldstein, who has always maintained his innocence — and reiterated it today — looked numb as his 24 years in custody came to an end after a two-minute hearing. His defense lawyers, Dale Rubin and Charles Lindner, briefly embraced him as Goldstein, dressed in an orange jail jump suit, left the courtroom.....Reached by phone in Kansas, Goldstein's 78-year-old mother Geri was jubilant.

There's more to the story. Notwithstanding the findings of five federal judges, the LA District Attorney's office refused to free Goldstein and recharged him with the murder after the conviction was set aside:

In a new special report, the Guardian charges that the Pentagon is stretched so thin it has begun sending unfit soldiers back to Iraq:

The report begins with allegations we've read before:

The Guardian has uncovered more than a dozen instances in which ill or injured soldiers were sent to war by a US military whose resources have been stretched near to breaking point by the simultaneous fronts in Afghanistan and Iraq. In its investigation, the Guardian learned of soldiers who were deployed with almost wilful disregard to their medical histories, and with the most cursory physical examinations. Soldiers went to war with chronic illnesses such as coronary disease, mental illness, arthritis, diabetes and the nervous condition, Tourette's syndrome, or after undergoing recent surgery.

What's new to us is the allegation that the Pentagon is sending soldiers who have returned from Iraq, injured and traumatized, back to Iraq:

[Jason Gunn] came within inches of death last November 15, when the Humvee he was driving hit a roadside bomb, killing his sergeant. The entire left side of Gunn's body was splattered with shrapnel, his elbow was shattered and, as he lay in the US military hospital bed in Germany, he was tortured by nightmares. Late on March 23, Gunn told his mother, Pat, that his commanders were putting pressure on him to return to Iraq, but there was no way he was getting on that plane. A few hours later, he was airborne. This week, Gunn's distraught mother, who is herself a navy veteran, received a first official response to her demands to know why a soldier, who was being treated by military doctors for combat stress, was sent back to the war.

The note, which acknowledged Gunn suffered post-traumatic stress, said: "After discussion of his case it was determined ... this may be in his best interest mentally to overcome his fear by facing it. Therefore, he has been cleared for redeployment."

Apparently, Gunn is not an isolated instance:

Via Buzzflash, a new CBS poll has Bush dropping in the handling of terrorism department.

The latest CBS News poll, conducted Tuesday through Thursday, shows declines in the president's approval ratings in a number of policy areas, but especially changes in the evaluation of the president's handling of terrorism.....The president receives a 49 percent approval rating overall; his approval ratings on the economy, foreign policy, and Iraq are lower – and the lowest approval ratings he has received in these policy areas.

Six in ten Americans are following the hearings closely; 56 percent say the administration is cooperating with the panel. But what the administration is saying does not receives high marks: 59 percent say it is hiding something it knew before Sept. 11, and 11 percent even say it is lying. Only one in four think the administration is telling the entire truth.