An Atlanta federal judge has dismissed a civil lawuit against the parents of JonBenet Ramsey. In the 93 page opinion, the Judge "criticized police and the FBI for what she said was a media campaign aimed at making the family look guilty."

U.S. District Court Judge Julie Carnes in Atlanta said in the ruling this week there was no evidence showing the parents killed JonBenet and abundant evidence that an intruder killed the child.

You can read the 93 page opinion here. The Ramseys were represented in the case by Atlanta attorney and libel expert Lin Wood:

"I just find it, from A to Z, a total, unequivocal victory for John and Patsy Ramsey," Wood said. "The court has done what I've urged the public to do from day one. Look at the evidence. ... If you look at the evidence, you will reach the same conclusion Judge Carnes reached. This is a family that has been horribly and wrongfully accused of the murder of their child." Wood said that since Boulder County District Attorney Mary W. Keenan took office, she has rejuvenated the investigation into JonBenét's murder. Characterizing Keenan's investigation as "very active," Wood said investigators "are doing things in that case that have never been done before," including testing foreign, male DNA that was found in JonBenét's underwear.

The Plaintiff, Chris Wolf, who had sued the Ramseys for defamation, was represented by New York Lawyer Darnay Hoffman, who has been on a crusade to charge and convict the Ramseys for years, at one point even threatening to move to Boulder and run for District Attorney.

In her 93 page opinion, Atlanta federal Judge Julie Carnes found abundant largely uncontested evidence that an intruder killed JonBenet Ramsey, including:

• At least seven windows and a door in the Ramsey home were found open or unlocked after JonBenét disappeared. The alarm was off and windows were accessible from the ground level, including three that opened into the basement.

• Evidence suggested that an intruder climbed through a basement window and walked through the room where JonBenét was found.

• JonBenét's body was bound with complicated rope slipknots and a garrote that the order described as "sophisticated bondage devices" by someone "with an expertise in bondage." No evidence suggests the Ramseys knew how to tie such knots.

• Black duct tape found on JonBenét's mouth was never found in the Ramsey home, although evidence suggested "it came from a roll of tape that had been used before."

• Nothing in the Ramsey home matched dark animal hairs found on the duct tape and JonBenét's hands.

In dismissing a defamation suit against the parents of JonBenet Ramsey, Atlanta Federal Judge Julie Carnes praised the efforts and experience of investigator Lou Smit while expressing sharp criticism for the work and experience of Boulder police detective Steve Thomas.

Carnes reserved special criticism for Thomas, the former Boulder detective upon whose theories the Wolf complaint was based. "Whereas Detective Smit's summary testimony concerning the investigation is based on evidence, Detective Thomas' theories appear to lack substantial evidentiary support," she wrote. "Indeed, while Detective Smit is an experienced and respected homicide detective, Detective Thomas had no investigative experience concerning homicide cases prior to this case. In short, the plaintiff's evidence that the [Ramseys] killed their daughter and covered up their crime is based on little more than the fact that defendants were present in the house during the murder," Carnes wrote.

Thomas wrote a book claiming the Ramseys were guilty, was sued for libel and settled the case for an undisclosed sum. Lou Smit, hired as a special investigator in the case, resigned because the police investigation was so biased against the Ramseys.

[comments now closed.]

We are impressed. Sen. Gary Hart is not only posting on his weblog, he's answering questions posed by readers and soliciting opinions and ideas.

Hart has not decided yet whether he will run for President, but comments like these show he's still giving the idea serious consideration:

The Democratic party has not offered a great idea for more than a quarter century and we risk permanent minority status because of it.

Run, Gary, Run.

It's been a while since we've talked about the "Sniper" case. It's in the news because of leaks about juvenile suspect's John Lee Malvo's supposed confession. The defense has filed a motion to suppress Malvo's statements arguing his rights were violated.

Someone with access to the tapes of Malvo's statements read portions of a summary of the tapes to the New York Times. In an article yesterday, the Timees says the tapes show possible flaws in the statements. Police are worried. They should be. But that doesn't justify leaking the statements to the public in an obvious attempt to prejudice the jury pool.

An investigator involved in the case said today that the sniper task force did not object to the leak because there was a strong likelihood that the statements would will be suppressed anyway. "This way at least the public will know what he said," the investigator said.

In our opinion, this is egregious police misconduct and we hope the Court holds a hearing and imposes some heavy sanctions on the party responsible for the leak. Aside from the general impropriety of leaking a suspect's statements, the Court imposed a gag order on the police back in December that prevents them from "disclosing the existence or contents of any confessions, any discussion about the reputation or criminal history of the suspects or of any prospective witnesses, and any opinions regarding evidence in the case." We wrote at length about the need to gag the police in the case here. In addition to the potential violation of Malvo's rights, there are other problems with the statements:

But the summary of the statements does not provide explicit indication of a confession. Instead, it suggests vague answers to questions that some defense lawyers for Mr. Malvo have speculated were designed to frustrate the task force or to protect Mr. Muhammad.

You can access all of our sniper case coverage here.

On April 1, Attorney General John Ashcroft testified before the Commerce, Justice, State and Judiciary Subcommittee of the Senate Appropriations Committee in connection with the submission of Bush's propsed budget for the Department of Justice. You can read his testimony here. At times, he deviates from his prepared script.

Ascroft discusses many DOJ projects, listing successes.

Now, I would like to give you a brief overview of the results to date of our integrated prevention strategy to fight the war on terrorism:

First, we are gathering and cultivating detailed intelligence on terrorism in the U.S

Hundreds of suspected terrorists have been identified and tracked troughout the United States

Our human sources of intelligence have doubled

Our counter-terrorism investigations have doubled in one year

Over 18,000 subpoenas and search warrants have been issued;

Over 1,000 applications in 2002 were made to the FISA court targeting terrorists, spies and foreign powers that threaten our security, including 170 emergency FISAs. This is more than 3 times the total number of emergency FISAs obtained in the 23 years prior to September 11th.

Ashcroft also provides details of DOJ's Iraqi Task Force:

Media Horse is back from vacation.

David Neiwert at Orcinus covers increasing threats to anti-war protesters.

Dr. Helen Smith's documentary, Sixes, 6ixes, sixes , on a famous Tennessee case involving juvenile murderers is out with a good review. Dr. Smith is married to Instapundit. At least someone is looking at why these crimes occur instead of just calling for more punishment.

Alternet has an article about Justice in Tulia. [link via Cursor]

Eric Alterman has a new Nation column on Jews and dual-loyalties.

Arthur at Light of Reason on the increased lifting of restrictions on police surveillance.

Atrios is incensed by the news that an Army Chaplain is offering baths to soldiers if they will agree to be baptised. Calpundit is mad about it too, as is Matt Yglesias. Add us to the list.

Sean-Paul Kelley of The Agonist isn't blogging today because...he's getting married. But he promises to be back with his minute by minute war news tomorrow. Jay is filling in for him today. Talk about blogger dedication!

The bodies of eight persons recovered in the raid that rescued Private Jessica Lynch have been identified. Seven of the eight were from Lynch's 507th Maintenance Company, based at Fort Bliss, Texas. The other soldier was with the 3rd Division Support Battalion, based at Fort Stewart, Georgia.

A ninth body had not been identified as of the posting time of the article.

Update: CNN television just reported that Private Lynch's dog tags have been recovered in a private residence behind the hospital. Ammunition and weapons were also found in the house. CNN says the emerging theory is that Lynch was taken there before being put in the hospital. The reporter showed the dogtags on the air. Investigation ongoing.

Al Jazeera television network has resumed full coverage in Iraq after Baghdad backed down on its expulsion of two of its reporters.

The trial judge in the case against Zacarias Moussaoui Friday questioned whether the government could proceed with the public trial of accused terrorist Zacarias Moussaoui because prosecutors are operating in a "shroud of secrecy." From her Order which you can read in full here:

The United States has apparently taken inconsistent positions regarding the classification status of its theory of the case as evidenced by the complete redaction of all references to the same prosecution theory about which the defendant complains from the transcript of the January 30, 2003 hearing provided to Mr. Moussaoui.

We are disappointed today in a San Francisco Judge's dismissal of conspiracy charges against five police commanders in the city's "Fajitagate" scandal.

For background to the case, you can view all our prior coverage of the case here.

The Judge dismissed the charges because she didn't find evidence of an agreement to obstruct the investigation of the fight. The existence of an agreement to violate the law is the core element of a conspiracy charge. She asked, "Where's the nod? Where's the wink?"

DA Terrence Hallinan is rightfully disappointed. Here's what the Indictment alleged in the conspiracy charge:

Jim Capozzola of The Rittenhouse Review makes an audacious claim today: Saddam is alive but no longer in Iraq and our Government knows it.

Update: From one of the comments to this post, check out Debka.com, which has this report:

Iraqi TV shows Saddam Hussein - or his double - visiting bombed residential areas of Baghdad Friday and being greeted by apparently spontaneous crowds

Intelligence analysts suggest man on street not same as man in earlier address over Iraqi TV. Absence of bomb damage could mean street scenes shot earlier.

Iraqi information minister Mohammed al-Saeef threatened “non-conventional” action against US troops at Baghdad airport Friday night. Asked if he meant WMD, he said no. There will be martyrdom operations from which no one will survive.

Shortly after "non-conventional"threat was broadcast, Saddam Hussein appeared in taped speech, calling on people of Baghdad to “do what they can” against invader and promised victory. Thousands continue to flee Baghdad

Tape analysis by intelligence experts indicate speech pre-recorded March 24, about time DEBKAfile reported flight of Iraqi leadership to Latakiya, Syria, showing him alive and unhurt. “Martyrdom” is way Iraqis refer to suicide terrorism.