A federal court in Nevada has issued a writ of execution authorizing the U.S. Marshals to use "reasonable force" to seize $63,720.80 in cash and/or assets of copyright troll Righthaven that sued scores of bloggers and tried to take their domain names for publishing too much of news articles and photographs from papers like the Denver Post and Las Vegas Review Journal which had ostensibly assigned their copyrights to the company.

The money is owed to the Randazza Legal Group which represented many of the bloggers. The court awarded the firm a judgment of $34,045.50 for legal fees in the case of Righthaven v. Hoehn, 11-cv-00050-PMP. Righthaven filed an appeal and asked for a stay, claiming the judgment would put them out of business and push them into bankruptcy.

The trial judge granted the stay provided Righthaven file a cost bond with the court for the amount of the $34,045.50 judgment by October 28, 2011. Righthaven didn't file the bond. Nor did it timely seek further relief from the 9th Circuit, or file a bankruptcy petition. Randazza went back to court yesterday for a writ of execution. [More...]

Remember the terror wannabes aka bumbling holy warriors from Florida caught in an FBI terror sting and charged with planning to blow up the Sears Tower in Chicago? The only al-Qaeda member they met with was an undercover informant posing as one. They couldn't even afford boots. It took prosecutors three tries to get a conviction. (More here, all our coverage is here.)

The 11th Circuit upheld their convictions yesterday.

Prosecutor Jacqueline Arango said during sentencing hearings that the U.S. "shouldn't have to wait for people to be harmed to punish these people for their desire to inflict harm."

Punish people for their desires? Wow. I guess punishment for thoughts is coming next. The opinion is here.

Just another reason to ski in Colorado. Voters in Steamboat Springs yesterday rejected a proposal to ban medical marijuana businesses. Steamboat is in Routt County, and a separate proposal to ban the businesses throughout the county also failed. As one commenter to the article noted:

More people voted to retain MMJ businesses than voted for any member of the City Council.

In related news, Dan Hartman, the state's director of Medical Marijuana Enforcement has been reassigned to a different division. While the Department won't confirm it, many believe the reassignment came about because of his public stance opposing local bans of medical marijuana businesses. Here's the letter he wrote that was published in the Steamboat Springs Pilot: [More..]

The 9th Circuit has reversed a conviction in a drug case because of the prosecutor's "inflammatory comments" during closing argument in a drug trial. Even though the defendant didn't object at trial, the court found plain error. The opinion is here.

The defendant, a U.S. citizen living in Mexico, brought drugs across the border. His defense was duress. He said the traffickers threatened his family. He said he didn't want to transport the drugs because he had a 2005 drug conviction. When he was caught, he asked the border patrol to check on his family, but they say he did not explain it was because they had been threatened.

In closing, the prosecutor delivered these objectionable "send a memo" comments: [More...]

Our earlier open thread is just about full.

We've got a blizzard starting. Frontier Airlines has already canceled flights for the morning.

I'm reading the U.S. Sentencing Commission's new report on mandatory minimum sentences and its recommendations to Congress. It doesn't recommend they be abolished, but it does point out they are too severe and applied inconsistently. One really good recommendation it makes is for Congress to expand the Safety Valve to apply to non-violent offenders with 2 or even 3 criminal history points. Overall, it says: [More....]

The jury in the Viktor Bout case is deliberating (background here.) Here's a good summary of the closing arguments.

What happens if Bout is acquitted? The U.S. may have a backup plan. There's another pending indictment filed in February, 2010 pending against him and his former business associate Richard Chichakli in New York, for money laundering, wire fraud and conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act ("IEEPA") by attempting to purchase two airplanes in the U.S. after the U.N. and OFAC imposed blocking sanctions. The Indictment is here. [More....]

I've got court this afternoon. Here's an open thread, all topics welcome.

Brooklyn Detective Jason Arbeeny has been convicted by the Judge at his bench trial on charges he planted drugs on innocent people. Isolated instance? Hardly.

During the trial, prosecutors described the corruption within the Police Department drug units that Detective Arbeeny worked for; one former detective, who did not know the defendant, testified that officers in those units often planted drugs on innocent people.

Arbeeny was convicted of "falsifying business records, official misconduct and offering a false instrument for filing."

Hillary Clinton's mother, Dorothy Rodham, has died at age 92. The Clinton family has released this statement:

"A warm, generous and strong woman; an intellectual; a woman who told a great joke and always got the joke; an extraordinary friend and, most of all, a loving wife, mother and grandmother."

I had a few conversations with her in Iowa during the 2007 caucus -- usually in the elevator. (It seemed like everyone was staying at the same hotel -- the mainstream media, the Clintons, bloggers, etc.) I remember how absolutely freezing it was and how it never bothered her. She was always smiling and ready to venture out. Mrs. Rodham was an active part of Hillary's campaign during the primaries. In Iowa, she was part of Hillary's "bring a buddy" program.

R.I.P. Mrs. Rodham and our condolences to the Clinton family.

The prosecution and defense gave their closing arguments Monday in the trial of Russian businessman Viktor Bout, accused of agreeing with pretend FARC members to sell weapons to be used against the U.S. in Colombia. The elaborate DEA sting began in Curacao, continued in Denmark, Russia, Romania and Moscow, and culminated in Thailand. The heart of the defense argument:

Mr. Dayan’s core argument was that Mr. Bout had humored the supposed FARC representatives’ interest in weapons, and even encouraged it, in an attempt to sell two cargo planes that he intended to persuade the men were necessary for the delivery of the weapons. Mr. Dayan emphasized that Mr. Bout never actually believed the men were members of FARC and said his client was “acting out” throughout their dealings; a weapons deal, Mr. Dayan said, was never agreed upon, nor did Mr. Bout ever plan on delivering any military equipment.

Mr. Dayan said that by the time of his arrest, Mr. Bout had made the transition from a legal arms-dealing trade to other business opportunities, like real estate, and the defense lawyer seemed to blame the fiasco on Mr. Smulian, Mr. Bout’s former associate. While Mr. Bout fought extradition in Thai courts after his arrest, Mr. Smulian voluntarily traveled to the United States and has cooperated with prosecutors for three and a half years.

[ More...]

Who dressed up? Who went trick or treating? Who turned off the lights and pretended not to be home?

Here's an open thread, all topics welcome.

Thanks Occupy:

Two-thirds of likely voters say the American middle class is shrinking, and 55 percent believe income inequality has become a big problem for the country, according to this week’s The Hill Poll.

It may not resonate in DC YET, but it is resonating.