Jim Capozzola of Rittenhouse Review is in a tough spot and could use some help. If you're a blogger or a reader of blogs, please hit his paypal button. If you're associated with any reputable publication, take our word for it: you ought to hire this brilliant man and kick-ass writer immediately.

In other blogging news, we're pleased to see that Dwight Meredith, formerly of PLA, will be blogging over at Wampum, courtesy of Mary Beth. Great news. Here's Dwight's announcement.

Say hello and welcome to Joshua Matthew Sherman, son of Mark and Rachel, and grandson of another good pal of our's, lawyer and tv legal eagle Mickey Sherman. This is Josh at less than an hour old:

Our pal Dog the Bounty Hunter, aka Duane Chapman, responsible for the capture of Andrew Luster in Mexico this summer, is hot on his new case. Dog is tracking a Beaverton, Oregon softball coach named Andrew Garver who allegedly kidnapped and ran off with a 15 year old student in September. Police think the girl went willingly, but say she is too young to give legal consent. Dog says the trail leads to Vancouver, B.C. According to Dog (from the first linked article),

The alleged kidnapper's family retained Chapman for the search and the bounty hunter said he is in touch with them every day. Garver has shown suicidal tendencies in the past and Chapman said it is likely the suspect is carrying a weapon and may try to get himself killed by police.

Chapman said the suspect is emotionally unstable and is a "drugstore junkie." Garver takes up to 18 doses of Sudafed per day, drinks copious amounts of Starbucks coffee, and uses chewing tobacco, he said.

Dog is being more careful this time around about grabbing a suspect in another country:

Chapman said he has three or four people in B.C. working for him and looking for the couple. If Garver is spotted, Chapman said he could travel from Hawaii to B.C. in six to eight hours. Chapman said he won't attempt to restrain Garver on his own and has been working with Canadian officials in his search.

The Dog is a man on a mission. We wish him the best.

The LA Times has more on the death of the Iraqui POW that has resulted in two marines being charged with negligent homicide. The U.S. says the marines didn't actually kill the Iraqui POW themselves. But, if true, what they did do is inexcusable:

The prisoner reportedly was left alone with other prisoners after being interrogated by U.S. military and intelligence-agency personnel and was later found dead. Officials say Paulus and Hernandez should have known that the prisoner might be killed by his own countrymen unless he was given special protection.

They will be tried under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. The maximum punishment for negligent homicide is three years and a dishonorable discharge. "It is the least severe charge that can be levied against someone accused of causing the death of another."

Here's our detailed post from yesterday describing the charges and incident.

Of the six other marines charged with beating and mistreating prisoners, one of them, Lance Cpl. William S. Roy, has an excellent defense attorney, Donald Rehkoph, who has done a yeoman's job as co-chair of the Military Law Committee of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) in battling the proposed rules for military tribunals. Rehkoph blames the military for not providing adequate training to reservists on how to handle prisoners:

Lots of good reading around the bloggerhood this weekend:

Lisa English of Ruminate This has the latest on the blackbox voting story.

Daily Kos on the "Wesley Clark Praises Republicans" propoganda.

Jeanne D'Arc of Body and Soul on Bolivia.

Beautiful Horizens on the trial of Fernández Larios. Larios, a former Chilean military officer and admitted terrorist conspirator, was found liable under the Alien Torts Claims Act by a Miami jury for the death of Winston Cabello, a Chilean economist murdered as part of the infamous "Caravan of Death" tour shortly after the coup in Chile in 1973.

David Neiwert of Orcinus on the so-called "First Amendment zones" that are being deployed wherever President Bush and Vice President Cheney appear these days.

Skippy on the Bush family banking connection to the Nazis of pre-war Germany. Hesiod of Counterspin on his delayed reaction to same.

Say hello to LegalWrites, by members of Open Source Politics.

Oliver Willis is angry over news that the State Department had forewarnings about problems plaguing Iraq.

Pacific Views sums up the Saturday blogs.

And on a lighter note, Politics in the Zeros touts Friendster. If we were in our 20's and lived in California, we'd be tempted.

Attorney General John Ashcroft is coming under increasing fire as critics and those in Congress move forward with legislative proposals to scale back the Patriot Act.

A bipartisan group of senators introduced legislation last week that would gut major provisions of the Patriot Act, including the "sneak and peek" provision, which allows federal investigators to delay notifying terrorism suspects about search warrants. The House effectively voted to do the same thing to the provision, in an amendment attached to an appropriations bill in July.

Critics applauded the attempts at scaling back the Patriot Act, saying that Ashcroft has used the act to push a conservative agenda, politicize his office and curtail civil liberties. As they see it, Ashcroft is the very embodiment of the Patriot Act.

That's our view too. We recommend the whole article, particularly these comments by Sen. Richard Durbin:

Bill Lockyer, a Democrat, and the Attorney General for California, issued free-speech guidelines to the states' law enforcement officers this week. They aren't exactly in sync with those of the FBI:

California law enforcement officers should not spy on citizens exercising their constitutional rights of speech, religion and association unless they have reason to think a crime has been or will be committed -- no matter what John Ashcroft says.

That's the gist of one of a series of legal guidelines that state Attorney General Bill Lockyer sent to every police chief and sheriff in the state this week in the form of a book titled, "Criminal Intelligence Systems: A California Perspective."

In a story of redemption vs. punishment in Georgia, for once, redemption wins out.

Charles Young was 28 when he brutally killed a banker. He was convicted, sentenced to death, and then resentenced to life with parole. After 28 years in prison, at the age of 56, the Georgia Parole Board has voted to parole him.

During Charlie Young's 28 years in prison, he has never been cited for breaking the rules. Young's parole file is filled with the names of wardens, chaplains and counselors willing to provide character references for him.

Conventional wisdom has it that lawyers for alleged sniper John Muhammed will focus on saving his life rather than trying to convince the jury that he is not guilty.

Opening arguments are set for Monday. We'll be paying close attention as we are scheduled to do a live chat for the Washington Post on the case on Tuesday. More details when we have them.

Philadelphia Mayor John Street faces more trouble. Not only was his office bugged, but the feds have subpoenaed his bank records...as well as those of his wife and son.

The subpoena was served Friday at Commerce Bank's Philadelphia headquarters and sought bank records for Street, his wife Naomi Post, his son Sharif Street, and Ronald A. White, a lawyer who has been among Street's closest advisers and who has raised more than $250,000 for his campaigns, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported Saturday, citing sources familiar with the investigation.

It does seem like a dirty leaks campaign is going on. Who but law enforcement would know about the subpoena and leak it? Sure, maybe bank employees knew, but what would be their motive to leak it and why would they risk their job to do so? After the leak, a bank spokesman confirmed the existence, but not the scope, of the subpoenas.

Lawyer White had this to say about the seizures:

White, speaking outside a youth foundation event Saturday, said federal authorities had taken "every record I have." Why have they focused this entire investigation on only minority businesses?" White told WPVI-TV. "Are you telling me that minorities are the only people that have contracts in this city? I don't think so."

The U.S. announced today that eight U.S. Marine reservists have been charged with mistreating Iraqi POWs. Two of the eight reservists, Maj. Clark Paulus and Lance Cpl. Christian Hernandez are charged with negligent homicide in the June death of one prisoner.

Paulus was also charged with dereliction of duty, cruelty and maltreatment, making a false official statement and assault. Hernandez also faces charges of dereliction, cruelty and maltreatment, and assault.

We reported on this incident back in June, here. The Washington Post report is here. US Central Command issued this press release about the commencement of an investigation into the death.

This is not the only such incident that has been investigated. In August, we reported on military hearings conducted into reports of mistreatment of Iraqi POW's by four reservists from the 320th Military Police Battalion, based in Ashley, Pa. Among those allegations: kicking, punching, breaking one prisoner's nose and holding prisoners down while encouraging others to kick them.

[comments now closed]

Rita Cosby on Fox News is reporting new information about the accuser's yellow panties that she wore to her rape exam the day following the encounter with Kobe. "Sources close to the prosecution" now tell Rita that these were dirty panties lying around the accuser's room that she just happened to put on. Panties that were dirty from a sexual encounter that had happened weeks earlier. Isn't this in violation of the gag order?

This is laughable. We repeat, the prosecution wants to say the accuser wore dirty underwear she had laying around her room for weeks following another sexual encounter to her rape exam. Talk about damage to the accuser's reputation....who wants to be known for having such poor personal hygeine that you leave dirty underwear around your room for weeks - and then re-wear it?

But more troubling is Rita's repeated references to "sources close to the prosecution." All law enforcement, prosecutors and court personnel are effectively gagged by the court's July 24 Order. The Order also directs prosecutors to maintain a tight lid on their investigators and employees. Time for another investigation.