After her Indictment was disclosed today, Martha Stewart posted a letter on her website, that included the following:

To My Friends and Loyal Supporters,

After more than a year, the government has decided to bring charges against me for matters that are personal and entirely unrelated to the business of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia. I want you to know that I am innocent -
and that I will fight to clear my name.

I simply returned a call from my stockbroker. Based in large part on prior discussions with my broker about price, I authorized a sale of my remaining shares in a biotech company called ImClone. I later denied any wrongdoing in public statements and in voluntary interviews with prosecutors. The government's attempt to criminalize these actions makes no sense to me.

I am confident I will be exonerated of these baseless charges, but a trial unfortunately won't take place for months. I want to thank you for your extraordinary support during the past year - I appreciate it more than you will ever know.

For more information, please visit the special website I have established for you at www.marthatalks.com. I will do my best to post current information about the case, and you will be able to contact me there at martha@marthatalks.com. I look forward to hearing from you.

The New York Times Thursday has an article on prosecutors stalking celebrities. You can read the full text of the Indictment here. And don't miss her lawyer's statement in response to the charges.

The American Film Festival has released its list of the top heroes and villains in movies. "The 100 heroes and villains were chosen from 400 character nominees on ballots sent to 1,500 actors, directors, critics and others in the movie business."

So who's the number one hero? Criminal defense lawyer Atticus Finch in "To Kill a Mockingbird."

"I think Atticus Finch just represents the goodness all of us want to see in others and feel in ourselves," said Jean Picker Firstenburg, the institute's director. "This is a hard time in human history, and we look for the bright spots that show us the way."

[link via Kate Jones and Dan Dodson, Indigent Defense Director and Media Affairs Director, respectively, of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL.)

Speaking of NACDL, we'll be at an NACDL Executive Committee retreat starting tomorrow, through the weekend--we will be posting, but probably mostly mornings and nights instead of throughout the day.

Hooray for Ed Rosenthal! The convicted "guru of ganja" was sentenced in San Francisco to one day in jail--which he had already served--so he's free.

A big and well-deserved slap in the face to Ashcroft.

U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer sentenced convicted marijuana grower Ed Rosenthal to one day in federal prison with credit for time served, essentially setting him free.

Rosenthal was convicted in January of three marijuana cultivation and conspiracy charges. He faced more than 80 years in federal prison and $2.5 million in fines. The Federal Probation Department had recommended that Rosenthal be sentenced to two 21-month sentences to be served concurrently.

Charles Breyer prevented him from using California's Prop. 215 as a defense in his case. Prop. 215, which is not recognized by the federal government, allows critically ill patients to grow, posses and consume cannabis with a doctor's recommendation. When the jurors who convicted Rosenthal later discovered that he had been growing starter plants for patients, they renounced their guilty verdict and announced that they had been misled.

The Attorney General of California and eight of the jurors in the case wrote the Judge asking for leniency for Rosenthal. U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer said Rosenthal genuinely believed that what he was doing was not against the law. "He was unaware his conduct was not immunized from federal prosecution," the judge said.... Federal law does not permit legalization of marijuana for medical use, although Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Nevada, Oregon and Washington allow it.

Our full coverage of the case is here.

Martha Stewart has been indicted. She appeared in court, was released on her own recognizance and pleaded not guilty.

The 41-page indictment unsealed on Wednesday charges Stewart with securities fraud, obstruction of justice, conspiracy and making false statements to prosecutors and the FBI. The charges stem " from her alleged involvement in the ImClone insider-trading scandal.....

Stewart, 61, accompanied by her lawyer, entered the courtroom of U.S. District Court Judge Miriam Goldman Cedarbaum of Manhattan just after 3 p.m. and took notes throughout the 10-minute proceeding. She wore a tan, light-weight wool pantsuit and large diamond stud earrings.

"How do you plead to the indictment?" Cedarbaum asked. Stewart, who appeared strained, answered crisply and emphatically, "not guilty."

We think this case is political. We're angry about it. In fact, even though we haven't been much of a Martha Stewart fan before, we reformed last night by buying our first copy of Martha Stewart Living at the grocery store. This investigation has caused her a fortune--it's been a guy thing and a power play since day 1. As her lawyer posited today in a written statement asserting her innocence,

"Is it for publicity purposes because Martha Stewart is a celebrity? Is it because she is a woman who has successfully competed in a man's business world by virtue of her talent, hard work and demanding standards?"

We believe the answer is a resounding "yes." Fight, Martha, fight.

If you're for Martha, and want to express yourself, here's how, according to this article from Reuters:

John Small, who founded the Save Martha Web site, wrote: "What Martha Stewart did is the corporate equivalent of jaywalking, but they are treating her like she's guilty of genocide!"

Love Martha? Think she's been mistreated? Head to www.savemartha.com to tell the Internet world. Want to spread the message further? Spend a few bucks on a "Save Martha" mug, T-shirt, apron or chef's hat.

Shareholders ...were asked to weigh in on Tuesday as they made their way to Martha Stewart Living's annual meeting in midtown Manhattan. Outside the building, dozens of photographers, reporters, producers and cameramen swarmed about, shouting questions or snapping pictures.

"Is Stewart guilty?" [a shareholder named] Sawka was asked by someone in a crowd of reporters. "I'm no Gypsy, but I still say 'Go Martha!"' responded Sawka, who had taken a bus from Connecticut to attend her first shareholder meeting.

Martha's lawyer, Robert Morvillo, says she will fight all the way and go to trial. We're glad to hear it. Fight, Martha, Fight. [that's what our tee-shirt would say.]

P.S. For a serious account of the Stewart news today, here is the morning AP story. We think the Government would be wise to forego the insider trading charge and limit the indictment to obstruction of justice. It's less technical and we think there will be less public resentment.

We're also troubled by the witness against her --her former stockbroker who is singing for his supper--you can't trust testimony when it's purchased with promises of freedom or leniency. We'll be looking to see who else, if anyone, provides evidence Martha sold the ImClone stock because she knew it was going to tank. Sam Waksal sure didn't.

For those of you who represent high-rollers, or who want to, here's a new and favorable decision from a New York Judge :

Conversations between a public relations firm and lawyers for the target of a grand jury investigation are protected by the attorney-client privilege, as long as they relate to the handling of the client's legal problems, a federal judge in New York ruled in the case of an unnamed company's high-profile legal troubles. The privilege can also extend to talks between the target and the PR firm that are "for the purpose of obtaining legal services."

Hillary Clinton's memoirs hit the bookshelves Monday. The New York Times details the section about her learning her husband had an affair with Monica Lewinsky:

Mrs. Clinton said that at first she accepted her husband's story that he had befriended Ms. Lewinsky when she asked for job-hunting help, "had talked to her a few times" and that the relationship had been misconstrued. "For me, the Lewinsky imbroglio seemed like just another vicious scandal manufactured by political opponents," she wrote.

More than six months later, with the president preparing to testify before a grand jury, Mrs. Clinton was adamant that he had done nothing wrong and was the victim of a "vast right-wing conspiracy." Then, on Saturday, Aug. 15, 1998, he woke her, paced by the bed and "told me for the first time that the situation was much more serious than he had previously acknowledged."

"He now realized he would have to testify that there had been an inappropriate intimacy," Mrs. Clinton wrote. "He told me that what happened between them had been brief and sporadic."

Congratulations to our friend and fellow NACDL member James Thomas on the acquittal of his client on the terrorism charge in the Detroit sleeper cell terror case. This is the first national terrorism case to make it to a jury.

Ahmed Hannan, 34, was acquitted of conspiracy to support terrorism, and was found guilty of the non-terror-related charge of conspiracy to engage in fraud and misuse of visas, permits and other documents. He was acquitted on two other fraud counts. Two of the other three defendants were convicted on the terrorism charge. A fourth defendant was acquitted entirely.

The Government alleged the four defendants were part of a sleeper cell, and had conspired to get weapons and fake identification for religious zealots and blow up U.S. targets. Defense lawyers argued the government had twisted innocent actions into something much more sinister. You can read a synopsis of the case here.

From the Washington Post, March 27 (available on lexis.com):

"These guys were of Arab descent, and they were immediately suspect," said James Thomas, Hannan's lawyer....The case has become nationally significant, because the Detroit suspects are the first to face terrorism-related charges before a jury.

Several other cases have ended in plea agreements, such as those of the Buffalo Six and James Ujaama.

Denver, the nation's 25th largest city, elected a new mayor today--John Hickenlooper --a brew pub owner with little experience in politics. We had the opportunity to meet him last week at a local tv station when his show was ending as our's was beginnng. He was charming. He charmed us. He won easily, with 65% of the vote.

Hickenlooper, 51, who owns eight restaurants, touted his experience in business and inexperience in politics, saying he will bring fresh new approaches to governing and leading the city out of an economic slump. Recent surveys showed his message appealed to voters across all geographic, ethnic and political lines.

The new mayor will have to deal with an economic slump that has cost residents 35,000 jobs over the past 18 months. He also will have to find a way to cope with a $50 million budget gap predicted for next year.

Congrats to Mayor-elect Hickenlooper, we wish you well.

Teresa Lewis, 34, pleaded guilty to murder in Virginia and the judge sentenced her to die. If she had gone to trial, her penalty would have been what?

The last woman executed in Virginia was in 1912--a 17 year old. There are no other women on death row in the state, but there are 48 on death row nationwide, as of April 1, according to the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc.

Bump and Update: Well, it didn't go too smoothly, we're rebuilding all our 3,000+ posts now. If you can't post comments or access anything on the site, please email us at talkleft@aol.com.

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Well, we're doing it again--changing servers. Hopefully it will go smoother this time and there shouldn't be any down time. But if you have trouble accessing TalkLeft tomorrow, at least you'll know why.

The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL), through President Lawrence Goldman, issued the following press release today regarding the Inspector General's report concerning treatment of post-9/11 detainees:

Without checks and balances, fairness is elusive

Inspector General report on post-9/11 detentions highlights result of denial of effective oversight

Washington D.C.—In response to yesterday's release of a report on the treatment of post-9/11 detainees by the Office of Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Justice, National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers president Lawrence Goldman issued the following statement:

"This is what happens when the checks and balances of a democratic system of justice-- the press, the courts, and lawyers for the accused--are excluded.

"Where normally scrutiny by the media, presentation of exculpatory information by defense counsel, and assessment of evidence by judges minimizes wrongful detentions, in this case the Justice Department fought all three oversight mechanisms tooth and nail. Instead, the DOJ asked the American people to trust it to do justice. Its own Inspector General's report demonstrates that government in secret does not foster justice.

"The clear lesson is that the government, in its understandable and laudable resolve to protect our security, cannot be relied on to protect our basic rights and liberties. Public scrutiny and the protections of our court system are necessary to ensure elemental fairness."