No verdict in the John Edwards case.

The ACLU weighs in on DEA data-mining of license plates (see our earlier post here.)

I'll put up a new thread on George Zimmerman shortly, as our last one is full.

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

How about that Cory Booker? Great surrogate for Obama ay? Prime time speaking gig at the Dem Convention you think? Wait, make that the GOP Convention.

Open Thread.

Dominique Strauss-Kahn faces more trouble in France.

It's a court day for me, so an open thread for you. BTD should be returning soon. All topics welcome.

Update: No verdict today and the jury may still be discussing the Bunny Money.

The jury will resume deliberations in the John Edwards trial today. MSNBC has graciously provided the full transcripts of closing arguments. The Judge's final jury instructions are here. Attorney and trial watcher for MSNBC Hampton Dellinger explains the possible outcomes here.

In case anyone here wants to talk about something besides George Zimmerman, here's an open thread, all topics welcome.

I'm still working through the discovery in the George Zimmerman case. I have a long post I'm writing on Witnesses #6 and #13, who I think may be the most important witnesses to the criminal case.

One thing that stikes me is that police are no better than lay people as eyewitnesses. For example, in describing Trayvon Martin's clothes the night of the shooting:

• Ofc. Ricardo Ayala, Page 14: 2/27/12, 2:28 am: Trayvon is lying in the grass, wearing a black sweater, blue jeans, white/red tennis shoes.
• Officer Joseph Santiago, Page 16: 3/2/12: describing his participation on 2/26: Got to the scene, Trayvon was on his back, had gray sweatshirt, light colored shorts, white tennis shoes.

Trayvon had on a light grey Nike sweatshirt (ME-8) and a dark grey Fruit of the Loom hooded sweatshirt (ME-12.) (Report here. Curiously, the police reports list the sweatshirt as ME-12 and the hoodie as ME-8.) He was wearing tan pants, as is evident in the 7-11 video. [More...]

Go Chelsea!!

Open Thread.

The next wave of Big Brother, courtesy of the DEA:

The DEA and two sheriffs are asking permission to install stationary license plate scanners on the freeway in Beaver and Washington counties. The primary purpose would be to catch or build cases against drug traffickers....

....Gary Newcomb, a supervisory IT specialist from the DEA, flew in from Virginia to testify Wednesday. He said the scanners are already in place on drug trafficking corridors in California and Texas, and the DEA is considering placing them on interstates near the Arizona cities of Kingman and Flagstaff.

[More...]

Our last Zimmerman thread is full. Here's a new one.

One thing I noticed in the discovery is the multiple persons who observed George Zimmeman's injuries at the scene:

Officer Stacie McCoy:

I instructed Officer T Smith to have SFR provide medical care to the subject reference visible blood on his face and to transport the subject to the SPD for everyone’s safety.

Officer Michael Wagner:

I walked to Ofc Smith's car where Zimmerman was sitting and in handcuffs and used my personal iPhone (due to an immediate lack of access to a digital camera) to take a picture of Zimmerman's face. I saw that Zimmerman’s face was bloodied and it appeared to me his nose was broken. I also saw that the back of Zimmerman’s head was bloodied.

I then walked to where Martin lay on the ground and took a photo of Martin’s face as well. I observed no physical injury to Martin

[More...]

Update: No verdict today, the jurors asked for some exhibits and a board to write and markers. Their requests pertained to the Bunny Mellon contributions.

Update: Here are the final instructions given to the jury in the John Edwards trial.

I really want to write something positive today, to give Team Edwards support and let them know that, outside of North Carolina, there are people like me and TalkLeft readers who think John Edwards has gotten the short end of the stick in this trial.

Update: MSNBC has posted all 183 pages of the documents released today. So has The New York Times here.

The discovery in the George Zimmerman case has been released. It's abundantly clear why Zimmerman was not arrested the night Trayvon Martin was shot. There was no evidence he committed a crime.

There are now plenty of photos like this one showing Zimmerman's injuries to his nose and scalp. Police reports refer to Zimmerman's voice being heard crying out for help multiple times in one of the 911 calls. The only eyewitness who could make an identification as the struggle was ongoing and before the shot (who appears to be John) told police at the scene that the man in the red jacket was on the bottom, crying for help, and the guy on top of him was repeatedly hitting him.

So why did one officer request a capias? It had nothing to do with evidence of a crime. It was because the officer said had Zimmerman stayed in his car, nothing would have happened. [More...]

Disco Queen Donna Summer has died of lung cancer at age 63. She was diagnosed just 10 months ago.

MTV details her legacy. R.I.P., and our condolences to her husband and children.