If you've been dying to see Janet Jackson's breast, you can do it here. Ms. Jackson will be discussing the incident with Larry King tonight, 9pm ET.

Update: CBS offered to let Janet present an award at the Grammies after all--if she apologized. She declined. She's apologized enough. We agree with Roger Friedman -- what do they want from her, blood?

Bush's approval rating is down to 48%, its lowest in 3 years, according to a new Newsweek poll. Even better, 50% of those polled don't want Bush to be re-elected.

Howard Dean lost the support of a big union today, as Kerry wins in Washington State and may also win Michigan:

Sen. John Kerry won the Washington caucuses with ease on Saturday, lengthening his lead in the Democratic presidential race while launching a sharp attack against President Bush. The Massachusetts senator also reached for victory in Michigan caucuses, hoping for a two-state sweep.

Howard Dean, shut out in the primary season to date, suffered a fresh blow when the head of a major union decided to withdraw his support. Democratic officials said Gerald McEntee, head of the American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees, delivered the news to the former

by TChris

A review of data conducted by the Associated Press and an analysis appearing in a new law review article provide new evidence that the death penalty is unfairly applied. According to the data, whether a criminal defendant will be subject to the death penalty in California often depends upon where the crime is prosecuted. Some particularly zealous California prosecutors are more likely to seek death and some populations of jurors are more likely to impose death than are their counterparts in other counties.

While the facts of each case and the nature of each offender differ from case to case, those factors alone does not explain the disparity in the willingness of different counties to seek or impose the death penalty.

[P]rosecutorial zeal and the attitudes of jurors also are factors. The bottom line, according to the data, is that the death penalty sometimes depends on where the crime was committed.

Can the death penalty be administered fairly if arbitrary differences in the political or moral philosophies of prosecutors and jurors in different counties determine whether death is an option?

"Capital punishment should not depend on an accident of geography," said defense attorney Robert Sanger, who prepared a lengthy analysis of California's death penalty system in the current issue of Santa Clara Law Review.

The disparaties exist nationwide, not just at a local level, but the data in California is instructive.

by TChris

Darryl Hunt always knew he did not commit the 1984 rape and murder of Deborah Sykes in North Carolina. Evidence of his innocence has been building for years, but it has taken a confession by the true perpetrator to finally exonerate Hunt. On Friday, Superior Court Judge Anderson Cromer granted the joint request of the prosecution and defense to vacate the judgment of conviction and to dismiss Hunt's case with prejudice. The dismissal "with prejudice" assures that Hunt will never face these charges again.

The victory follows a long struggle for justice.

Police arrested Hunt a month after the murder on the strength of two eyewitness identifications. They never had any physical evidence to tie him to the crime, but several eyewitnesses testified that he was at or near the scene. He was convicted in 1985, and after his first conviction was overturned on a technicality, he was convicted again in 1990.

DNA testing ten years ago revealed that Hunt was not the source of the semen recovered from the victim. Hunt expected to be freed at that time, but the court did not consider the compelling new evidence of Hunt's innocence to be an adequate reason to give Hunt a new trial. An appellate court upheld that unfortunate decision. Hunt turned down a plea bargain that would have freed him at the time, saying he "would not plead guilty to a crime he didn't commit."

Last year, DNA testing linked the semen in the murder victim to Willard Brown, a man who had been a suspect in a different rape in 1985 and who resembled Hunt in some respects. Brown confessed after the police confronted him with the DNA evidence. Brown's detailed description of the crime convinced investigators that Brown was telling the truth, and that he had acted alone. Prosecutors then agreed to join the defense in seeking dismissal of the case against Hunt.

Hunt will now apply to the Governor for a pardon. If he is successful, he may be entitled to collect $20,000 per year for each year of his wrongful incarceration. He deserves it.

Hunt is "the 141st man across the country to be cleared by DNA evidence."

by TChris

Mark Geragos, defense attorney for Scott Peterson, is ready to rock. Geragos notified the court and prosecutors that he is ready to begin Peterson's trial immediately. Geragos had been scheduled to begin a murder trial in Pasadena, but an appeal has delayed that case.

Geragos may want to proceed with Peterson's trial now in the hope that he will catch the prosecution unprepared. While delay often benefits the defense in a criminal case, Larry Posner, former president of the National Association for Criminal Defense Lawyers, thinks the request for an immediate trial is good news for Peterson.

"If the defense has announced this (wish to go to trial immediately)," said Posner, "it's a sign of tremendous confidence. The defense is saying (to the prosecution), 'We have weighed everything you have, and it's not there. Let's do it now.' That has to be it. You can't bluff that."

Loyola Law Professor Stan Goldman agrees.

"The longer you wait, the more the prosecution will get its ducks in a row," Goldman said. "You might as well try it now. It's a strategy that worked in the (O.J.) Simpson case successfully.''

And USC Law Professor Erwin Chemerinsky cites a number of factors that may have motivated Geragos to press for a trial:

"There's a perception that the judge will react badly to requests for extensions, there's a client who wants to go forward as soon as possible, and sometimes there's a defense strategy for public relations purposes. Imagine a situation where there have been (public) revelations damaging to the prosecution. The climate for the defense is to go forward now."

A gag order prevents Geragos from commenting upon the reason for his request.

by TChris

A police officer in Garland, Texas who was captured on videotape running up to and tackling a man sitting on a motorcycle has been sentenced to two years' probation, fined $600 and ordered to participate in anger management counseling. He also gave up his license to be a peace officer. The tackle came at the end of a high speed chase.

The officer entered a guilty plea to a misdemeanor assault charge. He was fired earlier this year, as were two other officers who made false reports about the case. The man he was chasing has been charged with a felony for fleeing an officer.

by TChris

In a disappointing decision for opponents of the death penalty, as well as for those who oppose the execution of Kevin Cooper, federal District Court Judge Jeremy Fogel of San Jose, California has ruled that using the drug pancuronium bromide during an execution does not constitute cruel and unusual punishment.

Defense lawyers argue that the chemical may mask the inmate's suffering. It paralyzes the skeletal muscles but does not affect the brain or nerves. A person injected with it is conscious but cannot move or speak. It is possible, defense lawyers say, that an inmate could remain awake as he suffocates.

Judge Vogel accepted a government expert's opinion that an initial injection of sodium pentothal made it unlikely that an inmate would awaken before suffocating.

Deborah W. Denno, a law professor at Fordham University who published a study of the chemicals in lethal injections in 2002, said Judge Fogel's ruling was open to question. "The drug seems to have no other purpose than to keep a person still," Professor Denno said.

Cooper's lawyers point out that several states ban veterinary use of pancuronium bromide. Use of the drug to facilitate executions has been challenged in nine cases recently. Judge Fogel's decision is the first of those challenges to be resolved on its merits.

Cooper is scheduled to die Tuesday. TalkLeft's recent coverage of Cooper's case can be found here. What may be his last interview can be found here. Go here to read a report of new evidence of Cooper's innocence.

Update: Cooper filed an appeal Friday night in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, asking the court to stay his execution and permit the filing of a second petition for a writ of habeas corpus. Cooper's request alleges "that state prosecutors and investigators used false evidence and suppressed other evidence that could be used to prove Cooper is innocent."

TChris is back this weekend. We got a third shot of cortisone in our wrist yesterday for our DeQuervain's Tenosynovitis --it's the last and final one before it either gets better or we have to do the surgery--so we are very grateful that TChris has been so generous with his weekend time. We are going to snowshoe in the mountains instead of type, but we'll check in and write a little over the weekend.

TChris says it's not necessary, but we'd like to share some paypal donations with him anyway--so any donations this weekend that end in $.11 will be passed on to TChris. In lieu of contributions, comments are fine.

If any of you have any experience with DeQuervain's or the surgery for it, please share your info in the comments. Thanks.

by TChris

CBS, guardian of the nation’s moral fabric, has reportedly pressured producers of the Grammy awards to rescind Janet Jackson’s invitation to appear at Sunday night’s award presentation in light of her decision to expose some or all of her right breast to Superbowl viewers. Jackson had been scheduled to introduce a tribute to Luther Vandross. Oddly, CBS will apparently allow Justin Timberlake to sing the Grammy-nominated “Where Is the Love?” with Black Eyed Peas during the broadcast. Timberlake, who removed a portion of Jackson’s costume at the end of their Superbowl performance, has been aptly labeled as Jackson’s co-conspirator.

While this is not a criminal conspiracy (and certainly not worthy of all the hand-wringing, including an ill-conceived FCC investigation), it would be interesting to ask CBS why it decided to ban Jackson but not Timberlake. The criminal law generally decrees that individuals who join together to commit a crime are equally guilty of the crime. Does CBS view Timberlake, who took an affirmative step to expose the breast, as having less responsibility than Jackson, who passively allowed the exposure? Was not this act that CBS regards as an affront to decency jointly planned and executed?

Of course, the criminal law recognizes that shared responsibility is not the same as shared culpability, and some offenders therefore deserve lighter sentences than others. But why is Timberlake (whose actions are described by some, perhaps unfairly, as "a pantomime of sexual assault") less blameworthy than Jackson? Is it her fault that she’s the one who happened to have the breast?

Criminal law doesn’t apply here, but civil law might. Should CBS and/or the Grammy producers be worried that treating the white male more favorably than the black female runs afoul of civil rights laws? Perhaps CBS views presenters differently than it views performers, although it is difficult to draw a principled distinction that justifies the disparate treatment of Jackson and Timberlake. At the very least, the decision betrays an alarming insensitivity that is more offensive than the Superbowl mishap.

*****

For those who were emotionally scarred or traumatized by catching a fleeting glimpse of a woman's breast, help is on the way. A Tennessee woman has started a class action lawsuit "for exposure to lewd conduct" on behalf of the millions of people who saw Jackson's performance. While complaints of frivolous litigation are largely overblown, this may be the silliest lawsuit in recent memory.

Calpundit does Friday cat blogging, we thought we'd try something along those lines--a little humor on Fridays. Here's today's entry, courtesy of Deb in Chicago:

John Aschroft was visiting an elementary school. After 15 minutes of speaking, he asked the class if they had any questions.

Robert stood up and said, "Mr. Ashcroft, I have four questions:

1) How did President Bush win the election with fewer votes than Al Gore?
2) Why are you using the Patriot Act to limit civil liberties?
3) Why haven't you caught Osama Bin Laden?
4) Where are the weapons of mass destruction in Iraq?"

Just then, the bell rang. The kids ran out to play.

Upon their return, Mr. Ashcroft said, "I'm sorry we were interrupted. I will answer any questions you have."

A little girl named Julie stood up and said, "I only have two questions:

1) Why did the bell ring twenty minutes early?
2) Where's Robert?"

Such sad news to report: police have found the body of 11 year old Carlie Brucia, who was kidnapped from a car wash this week.

The body of an 11-year-old girl whose abduction was captured by a surveillance camera was found Friday in a church parking lot, and a mechanic has been charged with her murder. Sarasota County sheriff's officials said Carlie Brucia's body was found about 1 a.m. outside a church a few miles from the car wash where she was abducted. Authorities did not say how she died or whether she had been raped.

Sheriff Bill Balkwill said Joseph P. Smith, 37, has been charged with the girl's murder. Smith, who could face the death penalty if convicted of first-degree murder, is believed to be the tattooed man in a mechanic's shirt who was seen in the surveillance video leading Carlie away by the arm Sunday evening, authorities said.

Investigators found the body after negotiations with Smith, said a law enforcement source who spoke on condition of anonymity. Earlier, authorities had said Smith was not cooperating.