Douglas Faneuil, the star witness for the Government in the Martha Stewart trial, took the stand today and admitted he told a lie:

Former brokerage assistant Douglas Faneuil, the government's star witness in the Martha Stewart trial, testified Tuesday that he illegally relayed information about one client to another and then lied about it. "I did something illegal," Faneuil said shortly after taking the witness stand. "I told one client what another was doing and lied to cover it up."

Prosecutors have said Faneuil's boss, stockbroker Peter Bacanovic, told Faneuil to pass along a "secret" tip to Stewart on Dec. 27, 2001 - that ImClone Systems founder Sam Waksal was trying to get rid of his shares. Waksal later admitted using insider knowledge about a negative government report to illegally dump his own company stock.

His testimony contradicts Stewart and Bacanovic's claim that they had a pre-existing agreement to sell Stewart's ImClone stock when its price fell below $60 per share.

We'll be discussing the case at 6pm ET on the Dan Abrams show on MSNBC--as well as the latest developments in today's Kobe Bryant hearing.

The New Jersey Supreme Court overturned a death sentence today, ruling that the decision to seek death belongs to grand juries, not prosecutors:

The New Jersey Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that it is up to grand juries - and not county prosecutors - to decide whether the death penalty will be sought in a murder case.

The decision could affect the death sentences of 13 other N.J. death row inmates.

Since the state reinstated the death penalty in 1982, grand juries have determined whether enough evidence exists to charge a suspect with murder.

But the decision of whether to add a capital murder charge was left to prosecutors, and depended on whether there were aggravating circumstances, such as murder for hire, killing a police officer and multiple homicides.

New Jersey's high court ordered the change in procedure because recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings said that the aggravating factors are integral to the murder charge itself, not simply additional factors that determine a potential sentence.

Update: While the article says that public defenders are studying the decision to see if it might apply to others on death row, a lawyer writes in to say it most likely won't affect others:

The Supreme Court explicitly rejected that possibility in its decision. Here's the quote from page *55 of the opinion: "Our holding today applies only to those cases that have yet to reach the penalty-phase." So, defendants in upcoming trials can only be subjected to a capital trial upon an indictment complying with Fortin. Anyone who has already had a trial, even if they are still on direct appeal, are likely out of luck.

The Commission appointed by Mass. Governor Mitt Romney to look into the murder of Priest John Geoghan in his prison cell issued its report today. The report finds:

...failures in the inmate classification system, disciplinary procedures and internal investigative practices by the Department of Correction all contributed to the circumstances that led to Geoghan's slaying Aug. 23.

...Defrocked pedophile priest John Geoghan never should have been moved to the dangerous-inmate unit where he was strangled and beaten to death by another prisoner last year....

...A series of "overzealous and unwarranted" discipline reports by a handful of guards led to the frail, 68-year-old Geoghan being classified as one of the state's most dangerous prisoners, and landed him in a cell unit with murderer Joseph Druce, investigators found.

Voters in seven states pick presidential candidates today. Who will it be? Who, if anyone, is toast if he loses? Here's an open thread to discuss all aspects of the primaries. Our prediction: Kerry takes all but Oklahoma (Clark) and South Carolina (Edwards.)

A civil rights suit filed against Wal-Mart by undocumented workers was amended Monday to include a charge that the store locked its janitors inside stores during their shifts.

The amendment to the lawsuit comes as a federal grand jury in Pennsylvania weighs evidence to determine whether Wal-Mart will face criminal charges in the use of illegal immigrants to clean its stores.

....INS agents raided Wal-Mart stores across the country on Oct. 23 in a sweep that resulted in the arrest of hundreds of janitors on immigration charges. Among those arrested were the 17 named plaintiffs in the civil suit, including 11 Mexican immigrants who were the original plaintiffs, plus six Eastern Europeans added to the list Monday. The lawsuit seeks class-action status for perhaps thousands of immigrants.

The lawsuit is being brought under the federal Racketeer Influenced Corrupt Organizations Act, charging that Wal-Mart systematically violated workers' rights and tried to shield itself from liability by using independent contractors to employ the immigrants.

Our prior coverage of the Wal-Mart arrests and lawsuit is here, here and here.

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In a first ruling of its kind, three former agents got prison time for denying care to an immigrant who died:

...a Houston federal judge sentenced three former immigration agents to prison Monday for denying medical care to a paralyzed illegal immigrant who later died of his injuries.

A federal jury convicted the three men in June of acting with deliberate indifference for failing to get timely medical care for Serafin Olvera after his neck was broken during a struggle with immigration agents in Bryan on March 25, 2001.

Olvera, a Mexican citizen who had been living in Houston since 1977, died in February 2002. U.S. District Judge Lee Rosenthal sentenced Richard Henry Gonzales to 78 months in prison, Louis Rey Gomez to 41 months and Carlos Reyna to 33 months.

Prosecutor Eric Morales, who works for the civil rights division of the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C., said this is the first case he is aware of in which federal agents were convicted of failing to provide medical aid to illegal immigrants.

A 20 year old murder conviction was thrown out today by a California judge who cited the unreliable testimony of a jailhouse snitch and thin evidence as a reason for the reversal.

After a 15-minute hearing, the judge, Arthur Jean of Los Angeles County Superior Court, said he was voiding the conviction of Thomas Lee Goldstein, 55, "because of the cancerous nature of the appearance of this case." Judge Jean's ruling followed opinions from two federal court judges and an appeals court panel who ruled that Mr. Goldstein had been wrongly convicted and should be released from prison immediately.

How can the perils of jailhouse snitch testimony be reduced? According to Cardozo Law School's Innocence Project:

Judges should presume, and instruct the jury, that a jailhouse informant's testimony is unreliable. Moreover, the prosecution should be required to overcome that presumption before the jury even hears said testimony.

Any deal or reward offered or accepted with regard to informants or snitches must be in writing. All verbal communication should be videotaped.

Meet Carlos Lavernia. After sixteen years in prison for a crime he didn't commit, he's free. Or is he? How does one reenter society after such a long time spent as a Rip Van Winkle? With great difficulty.

Lavernia moved in with his stepdaughter in Leander and began to rebuild his life. He phoned his mother in Cuba, who had thought he was dead because he was too ashamed to write her from prison, he said. She plans to visit him in May.

He used some of the $435,416.65 he received from the state for wrongful imprisonment to buy upscale cars for himself and his stepdaughter. He started a home-remodeling business. But the money couldn't solve everything. Something was wrong. His stepdaughter's house was isolated and reminded him of a penitentiary, he said.

So he moved to South Austin a few weeks ago. Now, he said, he's been afraid to leave his sparsely furnished apartment except to work. He avoids nightclubs and won't walk along Town Lake near his apartment. "I'm scared of women," he said. Both cases against him relied on the testimony of female witnesses. A woman testified in 1985 that he raped her while she was jogging along a trail by Barton Creek in 1983. DNA tests weren't available at the time, and Lavernia received a 99-year sentence.

From a press release from the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL):

A new study of Virginia's indigent defense system released Monday concludes that the state is still failing miserably in providing constitutionally-adequate representation in criminal cases to persons who cannot afford it. The report, "A Comprehensive Review of Indigent Defense in Virginia," was prepared by The Spangenberg Group and sponsored by the American Bar Association's Standing Committee on Legal Aid and Indigent Defendants, the Washington, D.C. law firm Covington & Burling, and the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.

"The Spangenberg Report documents what is painfully obvious - that Virginia fails to protect its innocent citizens from wrongful conviction," said Steve Benjamin, Richmond, president of the Virginia Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. "For decades, Virginia has refused to honor its constitutional duty to provide legal representation to citizens who are accused of a crime, but who cannot afford the high cost of their own private attorney. This failure means that innocent people go to prison, while guilty criminals remain free. Without adequate resources for public defenders and appointed counsel, Virginia can’t hope to ensure that our criminal justice system reliably determines the truth of a criminal accusation." Benjamin also serves on NACDL's Board of Directors and is a vice chair of the NACDL Indigent Defense Committee.

A summary of the report is here. The full report is here. (pdf)

Update: Here's a news article on the report.

First, Colorado Congressman Mark Udall said he didn't want to run against Ben Nighthorse Campbell. Then Gary Hart. Now recently departed Denver Mayor Wellington Webb declines the honor. All three of them would be a valuable addition to Colorado's congressional delegation. We're sorry they all said no. We wish Congressman Udall would re-think his decision.

Howard Bashman's 20 Questions interview with 9th Circuit Judge Stephen Reinhardt in today's "How Appealing" is a must read. TalkLeft's appellate friend Peter Goldberger says, "The judge's answers present a powerful, articulate and persuasive defense of the philosophy and practice of a true liberal judge, proudly in the Brennan tradition."

Again, our congratulations to Howard who opened up his own law practice today--a Pennsylvania appellate boutique--the press release is here. His new office address, if you want to send a card or a plant, or something (our idea, he hasn't asked for anything) is:

Law Offices of Howard J. Bashman
1250 Virginia Drive
Suite 1000
Fort Washington, PA 19034
Phone: (267) 419-1230
Telecopy: (267) 419-1231
Email: hjbashman@comcast.net

You thought fingerprint technology was a science and error-free? Think again. Today's Boston Globe has an excellent op-ed by Jennifer L. Mnookin, a visiting professor of law at Harvard Law School, that debunks this commonly held notion.