Rachel Dougall and Julian Ponder are the latest victims of Indonesia's drug laws. They moved to Bali from Great Britain. They have a 6 year old daughter Kitty, who may soon become an orphan. [More...]

Driving home from work, all I had for information on the reaction to the John Edwards' verdict was Sirius. Against my better judgment, I put up with the incessant commercials for debt and income tax relief. I was sorry I did.

On MSNBC, I thought the comments of Chris Matthews and his guests, including the authors of the Game Change, on John Edwards' post-verdict press statement, were appalling.

Matthews and his panel all agreed John Edwards was a delusional egomaniac with no particular political or social insight beneath the surface. One criticized his reading ability. One even called him a psychopath.

What was the basis for these attacks? According to Matthews & panel, Edwards had the audacity to suggest during his post-verdict press conference (you can view it here) that he might still have a political future. Matthews then aired his statements. I didn't hear Edwards say a word about re-entering politics. He talked about wanting to help children in poverty -- he may have been referring to a future public presence, but that's not even close to suggesting another run for political office. [More..]

Why did the jury unanimously agree John Edwards was not guilty on Count 3 charging illegal campaign contributions from Bunny Mellon in 2008, while it was hung on the other counts?.

This was the one count that they could reject before without even having to decide whether the money was a campaign contribution. They could reject it based on both or one of the following:

• Bunny Mellons' December, 2007 and January, 2008 payments were not deposited until after John Edwards withdrew from the Presidential race. Without those two checks, Bunny Mellon's contributions for the year did not exceed $25,000.

and/or

• Venue in the Middle District of North Carolina was not proven by a preponderance of the evidence on this count. The crime charged was illegal acceptance or receipt of campaign funds. The funds weren't deposited in the Middle District. They weren't even sent there. [More...]

Bump and Update: Huge loss for the Government. The verdict is not guilty on one count, jury deadlocked on others. Edwards spoke after court:

While I do not believe I did anything illegal, or ever thought I was doing anything illegal, I did an awful, awful lot that was wrong and there is no one else responsible for my sins," Edwards said on the courthouse steps.

"I don't think God's through with me. I really believe he thinks there's still some good things I can do and whatever happens with this legal stuff going forward, what I'm hopeful about is all those kids that I've seen, you know in the poorest parts of this country and some of the poorest parts in the world that I can help them," he said.

[Original Post Below:]

Update: Just heard from the state's attorney's office, nothing was released today. But, Mark O'Mara said a former federal public defender has been added to his defense team.

Today is the day new discovery should be available in the George Zimmerman case. Since I'll be at work, readers will likely see it before I do.

Here's an open thread to discuss it, and other matters pertaining the evidence and law in the case. Please, no references to negative information on character that has not been released by the state and which neither party has indicated it will seek to admit.

Predicting what is going on behind the closed doors of jury deliberation is like reading tea leaves. Something is going on behind the scenes with the jurors in the John Edwards trial. What that might be is unclear.

The judge held another closed conference yesterday after a juror submitted a note. She also told the alternates they no longer have to report every day, they are now on "standby."

For once, the media seems to be unwilling to speculate. Why? Absence of facts has never stopped them before, especially if they can create a story that someone will be found guilty. [More...]

Busy day. Here's an open thread, all topics welcome.

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange has lost his appeal on extradition to Sweden. The British Supreme Court says he can be extradited to face charges there.

In a 5-2 vote, the British Supreme Court upheld the validity of an arrest warrant made by a Swedish prosecutor to question Assange over accusations by two Swedish women that he sexually assaulted them.

The ruling is here. The Court's press summary is here [More...]

According to the LA Times, 40 states won't matter much in the November election. Obama v. Romney will be decided by voters in 10 battleground states. Here's the map. Colorado is among them.

Yesterday, Mitt Romney officially won the Republican nomination. Election season has begun.

I think President Obama will win. I know that Big Tent Democrat and I intend to do our part by urging people to vote for him here on our tiny corner of the Internet. Why? The most important reason I can think of is to avoid saddling our children with decades of bad rulings by the conservative federal court judges and Supreme Court Justices that Romney would appoint to lifetime judgeships. That just about trumps every other issue for me. (I'll let Big Tent Democrat speak for himself as to his reasons.) [More...]

Mitt Romney supporter Donald Trump (The Donald is hosting a fundraiser for Romney tonight) still a birther (via Daily Kos):

Thank you Mitt Romney for giving me an excuse to ridicule Trump one more time.

Speaking for me only

In his column today, David Brooks invokes Alexander Hamilton in a completely dishonest way. Brooks writes:

[T]he federal role has historically been sharply limited. The man who initiated that role, Alexander Hamilton, was a nationalist. His primary goal was to enhance national power and eminence, not to make individuals rich or equal.

[... T]his nationalism meant that policy emphasized dynamism, and opportunity more than security, equality and comfort. While European governments in the 19th and early 20th centuries focused on protecting producers and workers, the U.S. government focused more on innovation and education.

[...]

I've generally stayed away from speculative discussions of timelines and possible routes of George Zimmerman and Trayvon Martin the night Travyon Martin was shot, except in relation to the released discovery materials and other material released by the State or City of Sanford.

But we've covered the law and discovery this weekend, and commenters here want to discuss their theories. So here is a thread to do that.

I have put what I think the relevant times are below, as well my latest map showing the possible routes, followed by what I think are the likely possibilities. I don't think we have enough evidence to arrive at a final conclusion, so I don't make one. [More...]