Dzhokhar Tsarnaev has his arraignment tomorrow in federal court in Boston. These aren't long hearings, he will just plead "not guilty" unless he has a deal, in which case he'll plead guilty.

I wonder how his medical condition is, and whether he will be kept at medical facility or shipped to a prison that houses detainees.I also wonder whether his lawyers have been able to forge a relationship with him. From the few accounts available, it seems like they have. No one I know is better at mastering that difficult task than Judy Clark.

Has anyone watched the new reality program Siberia? I've never seen a reality show where they show a contestant getting killed in the opening episode. Then again, maybe it's one of the illusions of the show. [Added: Thanks to those who emailed me to let me know it's a fake reality show. The "contestants" are actors playing reality show contestants and it's scripted. I think I'd rather watch a bad reality show than a good fake one. The whole point is that even though we know the show casts them by personality type and creates the drama with pre-planned story arcs, how the contestants deal with it and each other is still up to them. On the other hand, I loved the soap opera parody Mary Hartman years ago, so maybe I'll watch a few more episodes of Siberia.]

EPIC has filed a petition with the Supreme Court to stop the NSA warrantless electronic surveillance program by vacating this Order of the FISA court. Among the questions presented in the Petition is whether the FISA court exceeded its authority :

when it ordered Verizon to disclose records to the National Security Agency for all telephone communications “wholly within the United States, including local telephone calls.”

A federal judge in D.C. has ruled she is without authority to stop the force-feeding at Guantanamo due to Congress, but in her ruling, invites Obama to step up and do so.

Here's an open thread, all topics (except Zimmerman) welcome.

It was a big day for the defense at the George Zimmerman trial. Before getting to the testimony, I want to address the hearings held after the jury recessed for the day.

I wrote a long post this morning about the issue of whether the toxicology report should be introduced. After hearing from both sides, the Court ruled the report was admissible, and it would be reversible error not to admit it. She cited the Arias case which I referred to earlier, and a later case citing Arias. In argument today, the defense also referred to the lighter found on Trayvon's body and his swaying in the 711 video. [More...]

During the pre-trial proceedings in the George Zimmerman case, both sides filed motions in limine to exclude evidence at trial. Some are still pending, some were granted, and some were granted or denied provisionally, meaning the court would make a final ruling during trial.

Here is the court's ruling on June 5 on the bulk of the state's motions to exclude evidence about Trayvon Martin, which had been argued on May 28. As to what the judge ruled before trial cannot come into evidence: [More...]

I've been so immersed in covering the George Zimmerman trial, I forgot to put up an open thread for other topics yesterday. Only one more week to go, and then I'll be back to regular blogging on other topics.

This is an open thread for all topics except Zimmerman. Please put Zimmerman comments in one of the threads on the trial threads.

The defense calls Gladys Zimmerman, George Zimmerman's mother, as its first witness. She identifies George as the person screaming in the background of Jenna Lauer's 911 call. She is not asked anything else

The next witness is Orange County Deputy Sheriff Jorge Meza, who is also George's uncle. Orange County is next to Seminole County where the trial is taking place. Meza is adamant is is George's voice. [More...]

The state has finished its case. The defense argued its Motion for Judgment of Acquittal. The state responded. The judge denied the motion, saying only that the state had provided sufficient evidence for the charge to go to the jury. See, for example, the 2012 Florida Supreme Court opinion in Patrick v. State.

The defense argues that because the state's evidence as to ill will, hatred, or spite is entirely circumstantial, the state's evidence must disprove any reasonable hypothesis of innocence.

If, after viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the State, a rational trier of fact could find the existence of the elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt, sufficient evidence exists to sustain a conviction.

However, if the State's evidence is wholly circumstantial, not only must there be sufficient evidence establishing each element of the offense, but the evidence must also exclude the defendant's reasonable hypothesis of innocence.

During the Zimmerman trial today, Medical Examiner Shipping Bao, who conducted the autopsy of Trayvon Martin, took the stand. He surprised both the prosecutor and defense when he changed his opinion on two matters.

Bao testified Trayvon Martin could have live up to 10 minutes after being shot. Up until three weeks ago, his opinion was that Martin could have lived 1 to 3 minutes.

Bao also changed his opinion about whether the level of marijuana in Martin's system could have affected his physical or mental condition. Previously he said it would not. Now he says the level of marijuana could have impaired Martin, but he can't say for sure. He changed his opinion on this within the last 60 days.[More...]

Guilt sells in America, innocence does not. More often than not, the public tunes in for guilt, and changes the channel for innocence. Either innocence is boring to them, or they take a perverse joy in believing some defendant they know nothing about has more flaws than they do, which means their lives aren’t so flawed after all. Or, perhaps it’s that their lives are so filled with perceived slights by others, at work or at home, they just want someone to beat up on – their own personal punching bag – to lessen their frustration and make them forget their own problems. What better scapegoat than a stranger everyone agrees to hate in unity?

The media, all too willing to sacrifice truth for higher ratings and increased ad revenue, indulges the guilt- hungry viewing public. It’s a vicious cycle that never seems to end. Add to the mix a few private parties with a well-oiled public relations team, and chaos ensues. [More...]

I'm off to the mountains for a jail visit.

Here's an open thread, all Non-Zimmerman topics welcome.

The state may rest today.

The judge seems to be in rush to conclude the trial. It's beyond strange that the parties haven't even concluded discovery and the state is resting. Depositions are still being taken at night. Today the judge told the defense it has tomorrow, the 4th of July, to prepare.

If this is all the state has, I don't see a case. I'm looking forward to hearing the judge's explanation for denying the defense motion for judgment of acquittal when the state rests.

The state tried its hardest this morning to walk back the damage from yesterday's testimony of two of its own witnesses, Officers Chris Serino and Doris Singleton. I don't think it succeeded.

Yesterday, officer Serino testified that he believed George Zimmerman was telling the truth. Both he and Singleton testified the inconsistencies in Zimmerman's statements to them the week of the shooting and during his re-enactment of the event did not amount to significant differences. Serino and Singleton both testified to a point I have made here repeatedly: No one recounts an event the exact same way every time. If they did, it would be suspect. Variations are not the equivalent of significant differences.

Serino testified yesterday that when he told Zimmerman that Martin may have videotaped the encounter (a police ruse to get him to think he wouldn't get away with lying), Zimmerman's response was, "Thank G-d, I was hoping someone had videotaped it." It was after this that Serino said he thought GZ was telling the truth. [More...]