Trial begins tomorrow for Sulaiman Abu Ghaith, a son-in-law of Osama bin Laden. The "spokesman" for Al-Qaida is charged with conspiracy to kill United States nationals, conspiracy to provide material support and resources to terrorists and providing material support and resources to terrorists.

The Government claims that prior to 9/11, he urged others to swear an oath of allegiance to Osama bin Laden and told Osama he would help him by giving speeches and appearing in al Qaeda propaganda for the purpose of recruiting additional al Qaeda personnel. It claims that Osama bin Laden sought a meeting with him on 9/11, and that after 9/11, he made speeches and videos in support of al Qaida. It also claims he had advance knowledge of Richard Reid's shoe bomb attempt and made speeches supporting it, which the Government claims, amounts to providing material support to terrorists.

Abu Ghaith, prior to his arrest, was an Iman and high school religion teacher. [More...]

Who is looking forward to the Oscars?
To Oscar Pistorius' Trial?
To the next story on Chapo Guzman and our failed war on drugs?

If those don't entice you, please pick a topic that interests you. This is an open thread.

There's an interesting article in the New York Review of Books on the arrest of Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman. In one portion, it explores alternative theories of his arrest:

Many now believe that Chapo voluntarily turned himself in, that the commandos who went through the building at four in the morning, according to witnesses, were there simply to guarantee the operation’s safety while all the appropriate contracts and agreements were signed, that Emma Coronel was there to say good-bye.

This version does not attempt to explain why Guzmán would feel like ending his life at large, with the prospect of a lifetime of solitary confinement in a US prison before him, but there are many other views about how and why Guzmán was snared.

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Congrats to Jerry Lefcourt and Bill Aronwald, defense lawyers for Kerry Kennedy, for the acquittal today on charges of drugged driving. The jury deliberated for one hour.

On July 13, 2012, she drove her Lexus S.U.V. erratically after swallowing Zolpidem, a generic form of the sleep medication Ambien. She sideswiped a tractor-trailer on a highway in Westchester County before she was found, slumped over her steering wheel, her car stalled on a local road.

Ms. Kennedy has maintained that she took the pill accidentally, mistaking it for medication she took for a thyroid condition. She testified on Wednesday that she did not realize her mistake until well after the accident.

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More than 1,000 protesters held a "Free Shorty" march in Culiacan yesterday for Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman. Another report says there were 2,000 marchers.

Attorney General Eric Holder went to the hospital today after feeling faint and short of breath.

Schapelle Corby's first words after release revealed in interview that will air Sunday in Australia.

Alfredo Vasquez-Hernandez, one of the two defendants set for trial in May in the Jesus Vicente Zambada-Niebla case, will plead guilty without a plea agreement next week. His lawyer says it has nothing to do with capturing "El Chapo" Guzman. The second says he's likely to plead as well.

It's a court day for me, here's an open thread for you.

Oscar Pistorius goes on trial Monday in South Africa for the killing of his girlfriend and illegal possession of ammunition. Yesterday, a judge ruled parts of the trial will be televised and live audio will be provided for all of it.

The trial will take place in the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria.

Eyewitness News, eNCA and MultiChoice are launching a 24 hour Oscar trial channel on Sunday.

The televised portions include opening and closing arguments and the state's witnesses. Oscar's testimony, and the testimony of his witnesses will only be available on audio. [More...]

I'm really glad the Voice is back.

Also, Camelia la Tejana begins tonight on Telemundo. I hope it's better than Unimas' La Viuda Blanca, the story of Griselda Blanca, which started Sunday. So far I don't like it at all.

What I'm really looking forward to is El Capo 3 which begins in March on MundoFox. Since Xfinity doesn't offer MundoFox in Denver (it's only available over the air), I had to get an antenna. The first one brought in 40 channels but no MundoFox. The second one, an RCA that cost $30, brought in 50 channels, including MundoFox. [More...]

In a 6-3 opinion written by Justice Alito (Justices Ginsburg, Kagan and Sotomayor dissented), the Supreme Court made another dent in the Fourth Amendment today. The case is Fernandez v. California and the opinion is here.

The Court upheld the search of a jointly shared residence even though one of the parties objected. The Court said he wasn't physically present when the search occurred, and it didn't matter that he wasn't there because the police had removed him from the residence -- after he objected to the search.

Previously, in Randolph v. Georgia, the Court held "a physically present inhabitant’s express refusal of consent to a police search[of his home] is dispositive as to him, regardless of the consent of a fellow occupant.”

In this case, police came to suspect Fernandez' home and asked permission to search. Fernandez objected. They hauled him off to jail, came back later when his girlfriend (who was also an alleged victim) was there, and got consent from her. Fernandez' argument:[More...]

Joaquin "Chapo" Guzman-Loera won't be leaving Mexico anytime soon. A judge has ordered him to stand trial in Mexico.

The judge said Tuesday that Guzman will stand trial on drug trafficking charges. Mexico's top officials say he must face all local charges and interrogation by investigators looking to dismantle his multibillion-dollar cartel before possible U.S. extradition.

The U.S. will have to wait.

Mexico's interior minister, Miguel Angel Osorio Chong, emphatically states that the DEA did nothing more than provide intelligence information in the arrest of Joaquin "Chapo" Guzman-Loera and that the U.S. was not involved in his capture. (Similar article in English here.)

"There was no involvement of any single person, everything has been by special operation of the Navy of Mexico (...) I have not heard of anyone from the U.S. government and any statement about this is clear because there is not" , he said.

Osorio Chong insists all the DEA did was provide geo-location technology for Chapo's satellite phone. [More...]

Ex-Congressman Mel Reynolds has been deported from Zimbabwe after pleading guilty to an immigration offense. The p*rn charges were dismissed.

I'm pretty much glued to the Chapo Guzman story, so here's an open thread, all topics welcome.

While prosecutors in Chicago and the Eastern District of New York vie to extradite Chapo Guzman, they may have to cool their heels. Mexico has filed new charges against Guzman.

More on his capture and the wiretaps and tunnels here and here.

El Proceso in Mexico today reports that Jesus Vincente Zambada-Niebla, the son of Ismael Zambada-Garcia, who is charged in Illinois, has agreed to plead guilty and cooperate to avoid a life sentence. It claims an announcement will be made soon. [More...]