DNA testing exonerates yet another man after twelve years of imprisonment, this time in Michigan. Congrats to the Innocence Project at Thomas M. Cooley Law School in Lansing for their hard work in freeing Kenneth Wyniemko.

Don't miss South Knox Bubba on a case involving alleged outrageous abuse of juveniles by the Forest Hill Baptist Church and its representatives in Blount County, Tennessee. Read the whole thing.

Don't miss Jim Capozzola of Rittenhouse Review on women bloggers. Every one he mentions is top notch.

As to his comments and praise for Lisa English of Ruminate This, we couldn't agree more. She is one special person and blogger. We e-mail with her frequently and put her at the very top of our list of bloggers for warmth, generosity of spirit and commitment to liberal values. (We also have nothing but compliments for Wampum Blog, we just haven't had occasion, as Jim has, to personally interact with Mary Beth Williams, its author. Now that we've read his remarks, we'll look for one.)

And a special thanks to Jim for including us in his list of favorite women bloggers. Here is his list--we recommend you read them all--in addition to Lisa and Mary Beth, whom Jim lists separately because they are so special to him:

Jeanne d’Arc of Body and Soul, Jeralyn Merritt of TalkLeft, Avendon Carol of The Sideshow, Madeleine Begun Kane of Mad Kane’s Notables and her other sites (be sure to visit ALL of them), Julia of Sisyphus Shrugged, Jane Finch of the Daily Rant, Susan Madrak of Suburban Guerrilla, Ann Salisbury of Two Tears in a Bucket, Devra of Blue Streak, Janet Petrik of Beyond Corporate, Susan of Easy Bake Coven, Kim Osterwalder of Free Pie, Teresa Nielsen Hayden of Making Light, Vanessa Gatsch of Plucky Punk’s Happy Land, Amy Carlton of RubberNun, the anonymous female writer of Doxagora, Elayne Riggs of Pen-Elayne, and Maru Suze of WTF Is It Now?, among others.

An edited transcript of the June 3 closed hearing before the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals in the Moussaoui case has been released

The Government, in arguing to overturn the trial judge's order that Moussaoui must be allowed to interview Ramzi Binalshibh because he may have evidence that would helpful to Moussaoui's defense, told the Court that Moussaoui's involvement was greater than just September 11, and that Binalshibh would do more harm than good to Moussaoui's case.

We're skeptical of the first claim. A key issue at trial will be whether Moussaoui was involved in planning or participating in 9/11 at all --as opposed to a plan to engage in different and later activities.

Second, it's not up to the Government to assess Binalshibh's value as a whole to Moussaoui's case. It's their job to turn over any evidence that shows Moussaoui may not be guilty of the charged crime, may be guilty of a lesser crime, or, and this is important, may indicate that a lesser penalty is warranted.

The Government is seeking to execute Moussaoui. That Binalshibh may have provided information that inculpates Moussaoui is irrelevant to their duty to turn over anything he said that indicates Moussaoui is either innocent of the charged crimes, guilty of a lesser offense or not deserving of the death penalty .

Once they have turned over that information, it is up to Moussaoui and his lawyers to decide whether they want to develop the information further by interviewing Binalshibh, and then, whether they want to call Binalshibh as a trial witness.

The Fourth Circuit is one of the most conservative in the nation. Thus, we are not predicting the Government will lose this appeal. But it should.

The Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) has given an award to the Office of Drug Policy Control's ridiculous marijuana ads. What were they smoking? Talk about spin....

Marijuana is the most widely used illicit drug among youth today. Research shows that marijuana can be addictive and can lead to a host of health, social, learning and behavioral problems at a crucial time in young lives.

Our take on the ads is here.

No, not an organized one. I'm on my way to meet Calpundit and his mother, who are in Denver doing geneological research. We've never met, so this will be fun. More later.

Update: Kevin Drum, aka Calpundit, is personable, handsome and very smart. He looks exactly like his picture on his blog, only happier. Since we read his blog every day, we've seen that picture about 300 times, so seeing him in person for the first time is like seeing an old friend. His mother is delightful as well. We chatted for a little over an hour--about blogs, individual bloggers (anyone's ears burning yet?), politics, our real lives and more. We think he's a little more liberal than his blog makes him out to be--by design. If you aren't already a steady reader of Calpundit, you should be.

After leaving Kevin and his mom, we had the opportunity to meet Colorado's Governor Bill Owens for the first time. He was doing the Fox segment after our's. Owens is a staunch Republican, and very tough on crime. He has a well-known, purposeful habit of appointing ex-prosecutors to the bench. Apparently, he doesn't trust us defense attorneys. Still, it was fun to meet him and he couldn't have been nicer (although we were on good behavior as well.) He told us he saw our tv segment and that we did a good job, especially when we mentioned that a gag order in the Peterson case would be beneficial in stemming police leaks. (Owens knows all about police leaks from the JonBenet Ramsey investigation.) We told him he was doing a good job as governor but we'd like to see him move a little to the left on crime issues.

Gov. Owens looked very healthy and happy too--maybe its the moon or something in the Colorado air, but all the men we've seen today, from our client at court this morning to Calpundit and the Governor all seemed to radiate good health and good feelings.

Cursor is all over the media's obsession with the Laci Peterson case today, even linking to one of our posts from over a month ago, Guilt Sells.

We think the coverage is excessive, but we continue to be part of it. Why? Is this what we went to law school for? To repetitively cover the murder of one woman when there are thousands of murders every year that get no coverage because the victims were neither attractive, white nor in possession of a winsome smile?

In a sense, yes. We do it to remind people of the presumption of innocence, and to try to stem the media lynch-mob mentality that has convicted Scott Peterson when there is not a shred of physical evidence in the public domain linking him to the crime.

This is a death penalty case. Peterson is entitled to a level playing field when his trial starts. Can you imagine sitting in a jail cell, innocent, having just lost your wife and your soon-to-be born son, and facing a death penalty trial? That's how you should be picturing Scott Peterson now. He's entitled to that as are all persons accused but not convicted of crime.

As long as the prosecutrix pundits are out there proclaiming his guilt , we'll be out there doing our part to preserve and protect his constitutional rights--including the most basic one, the right to a fair trial by an impartial jury.

Tonight, Hannity and Colmes....debating OJ former prosecutor Marcia Clark.

We started a new archive category today--Misconduct--to cover injustice news related to police and prosecutorial misconduct. Such as the news that the Los Angeles City Council has agreed to pay a $1.3 million settlement in the case of a police officer who raped women while on official duty on three separate occasions.

Former Officer Joseph Evan Robinson, 27, was convicted this year of raping the women while on duty. The former 77th Street Division patrol officer, who had been relieved of duty in April 2002, is serving three consecutive life terms.

In the first case, Robinson and his partner confronted a woman in January 2002 as she sat in a car with her boyfriend at 64th and Figueroa streets. Prosecutors said Robinson determined the woman had an outstanding warrant, then took her to an alley out of sight of his partner and her boyfriend, and raped her, according to a probation report.

Two weeks later, Robinson handcuffed and sexually assaulted a woman in a Figueroa Street motel room after allegedly finding marijuana in the room she shared with a boyfriend, according to a probation report.

A month later, Robinson forced a woman from a bus stop at 47th Street and Figueroa into his patrol car and drove her several blocks away, where he handcuffed and raped her, the report said.

The category will include future posts pertaining to lab fraud, withholding of exculpatory evidence, false forced confessions, etc. Feel free to e-mail tips.

Max Factor Heir Andrew Luster lost his appeal of his conviction and 124 year sentence for rape and drug crimes. Luster vanished during his trial. He was convicted and sentenced in abstentia. The California appeals court threw out his appeal saying he forfeited his right to appeal when he jumped bond.

We hear that Luster may be found very soon, by this man. We know Dog, and have no doubt he'll get his man.

William Safire provides an insightful explanation in today's New York Times why Martha should fight the charges against her.

I hope she beats the rap because I don't like the idea of a prosecutor — eager to deter others from doing wrong — twisting the law to make an example out of a celebrity. In doing justice, righteous ends don't justify unscrupulous means.

The U.S. attorney has not accused her of the crime of insider trading. After a yearlong investigation, that central matter is nowhere in his indictment. Why not? Because he decided that would be too difficult a charge to persuade a jury to believe.

....Rather than drop the weak case and his chance at national fame, the prosecutor James Comey handed off the insider-trading charge to the S.E.C., which seeks civil damages, not criminal penalties, and must meet a much lower standard of proof. Instead of focusing on what the case is about, Comey told a rapt press conference: "This case is about lying" — to investigators and to investors. "Lying" is a harsh word....But "perjury" is a much harsher word, meaning "lying under oath." Martha Stewart has not been accused of perjury.

The Second Circuit Court of Appeals has agreed to expedite the appeal of Government-proclaimed "enemy combatant" and alleged "dirty bomb" suspect Jose Padilla.

The case likely will be heard between October and the end of the year. Padilla has been held for a year in a South Carolina military brig without access to a lawyer and with no charges filed against him. He is a U.S. citizen.

Judicial Nominee William Pryor came face to face with his past statements in his confirmation hearing Wednesday. While he admitted that his calling the Supreme Court Justices ""nine octogenarian lawyers" a mistake, he refused to abandon or distance himself from his other controversial views:

At yesterday's hearing, Pryor was asked several times about his past assertions that Roe v. Wade "is an abominable decision" and "the worst abomination of the history of constitutional law." He said he still believes that. "I believe that not only is the case unsupported by the text and structure of the Constitution, but it has led to a morally wrong result," he said. "It has led to the slaughter of millions of innocent unborn children. That's my personal belief."

Call your Senators now....toll free...1-800-839-5276 and protest Pryor's confirmation. This man does not belong on the federal bench--especially when his appointment would be for life.

Here's a synopsis of the reasons, provided by Lisa English of Ruminate This:

• He's a Federalist Society ideologue.

• He has successfully fought against federal protections against the disabled and elderly.

• He has a long record as an opponent to Roe v. Wade and women's reproductive rights.

• He is opposed to the separation of church and state. According to People for the American Way, Pryor is "unfit" to be a judge. Dig this: "At a public rally on behalf of a judge who was sued for praying and displaying the 10 Commandments in court, Pryor announced, 'God has chosen, through his son Jesus Christ, this time and this place for all Christians...to save our country and save our courts.'"

• He has fought against civil rights legislation enforcement.

• He has fought against the Family Medical Leave Act.

• He has fought against environmental protections.

• He has fought against consumer and worker rights.

For more, go here and here.

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The U.S. military is investigating whether U.S. troops are responsible for the mystery death of an Iraqi POW.

One military official said tonight there were indications of "foul play" in the death of a 52-year-old Iraqi whose corpse was found last Friday at a prisoner camp run by the First Marine Division near Nasiriya.

The official emphasized it was unclear whether American soldiers, other prisoners or something else was to blame, and that a preliminary autopsy was inconclusive.

British authorities are investigating the deaths of two Iraqis under British control, and accusations that British forces tortured Iraqi prisoners.

It is unclear whether, "whether the prisoner's illness or injuries were related to the interrogation or whether other prisoners, suspecting he had cooperated with the Americans, may have attacked him. "

Here's more. And here's the press release from Headquarters, United States Central Command.