Baseball player Pete Rose's 35 year old son, Pete Rose Jr., was arrested this morning on a charge of distributing GBL, a steroid related drug. He also pleaded guilty this morning, purusant to a plea deal. The prosecutor says Rose will be sentenced to between 21 and 24 months in jail.

The Drug Enforcement Administration said Rose's arrest was part of a larger investigation into a major GBL trafficking organization. Rose surrendered to authorities shortly before entering his plea.

The indictment said Rose admitted he received GBL from a person in Tennessee while a member of the Chattanooga Lookouts, the Double-A affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds.

What a strange story. James Keown, a Missouri AM radio talkshow host who covers the capitol building in Jefferson City, has been charged with murder in Massachussetts for poisoning his wife with the chemical in antifreeze over a period of time. Allegedly, he spiked her Gatorade.

Just last month, Mr. Keown started a blog which he last updated on Saturday, writing about an event he attended the night before. He certainly gives no clue an arrest was imminent.

I'm against allowing jurors to question witnesses. They are fact-finders, not advocates, and I have always suspected they wouldn't have a clue what questions might be appropriate.

Among the questions jurors wanted to ask actor Robert Blake in the ongoing civil trial for damages over the wrongful death of his wife (Blake was acquitted or murder in the criminal trial):

One of the jurors deciding whether Robert Blake is responsible for his wife's murder wants to know whether the actor can name the four Gospels in the Bible.

Another asked whether Blake let his murdered wife's children — who allege he is liable for her death — attend Bonny Lee Bakley's funeral four years ago.

Another juror wanted to know if Bakley's daughter attended Sunday school.

This is sad.

The 25-year-old son of Miami police Chief John Timoney was arrested for trying to buy 400 pounds of marijuana from an undercover federal agent, the Drug Enforcement Administration said Wednesday.

A court complaint said Sean Timoney of Philadelphia gave the agent a gym bag filled with approximately $450,000 in cash.

Great news for Jamie Olis, the Dynergy exec who was royally aggrieved at sentencing by the Judge computing his guidelines at 24 years. The 5th Circuit has ordered a resentencing.

Sentencing Law and Policy provides more media coverage of the reversal. White Collar Crime Blog weighs in here. Also, Houston's Clear Thinkers has been following the case since the beginning. Click through their links.

The Justice Department's press release at the time of sentencing is here.

by TChris

TalkLeft reported here the manslaughter charge against Bryan Conroy, a New York police officer who shot an unarmed African immigrant he suspected of smuggling counterfeit CD's. The victim, Ousmane Zongo, wasn't involved in that crime. Zongo was apparently frightened of the officer, who was wearing plain clothes and pointing a gun. Zongo, who spoke little English, tried to flee. Conroy gave chase. Conroy claims Zongo lunged at him before he shot Zongo four times.

Conroy's first trial ended in a hung jury, 10-2 in favor of a manslaughter conviction. Conroy, undoubtedly worried that his defense wasn't playing well to jurors, waived a jury for his second trial. That gamble paid off, as the judge acquitted Conroy of manslaughter. He found Conroy guilty of negligent homicide, a lesser crime that exposes Conroy to a maximum prison term of four years.

This is usually TChris's department, but I can't resist.

A rapist was captured after he forced his victim to write him a check and then tried to cash it, police said.

Anthony R. Roberts, 25, was arrested Wednesday night outside a check cashing store, minutes after he left the woman's apartment, police said. Police said Roberts forced his way into her apartment at gunpoint, bound her with tape and raped her. But first he forced her to make out a $1,400 check in his name, and told her to write on it that it was for electrical work, authorities said.

A 16 year old has been charged with the murder of Pamela Vitale, the wife of lawyer and tv pundit Daniel Horowitz.

I'm glad Dan and his family will have the closure. The funeral is today.

Update: A neighbor and sometimes caretaker of the Horowitz property, Joseph Lynch, may be a suspect. Horowitz had tried to get a restraining order against Lynch in June alleging he was afraid for the wife. Horowitz told Dan Abrams it was clear his wife had tried to defend herself. The house was under construction in a remote area and burglary does not seem to be involved. The Horowitz' were living on a trailer on the property while it was being finished.

Sheriff's press conference at 6:30 ET: The autopsy took 3/12 hours. Cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head. It is a homicide. No one is under arrest. It is a wide open investigation. They are considering all possible theories and motives. Both Daniel Horowitz and Joseph Lynch have been very cooperative. They have interviewed several neighbors. They have not ruled anyone out. Crime lab personnel are collecting evidence to test.

Joseph Lynch has talked to the Associated Press. He says he was on the property the day she was killed, and heard the sirens coming. He acknowledged friction between him and the Horowitz' at times.

by Last Night in Little Rock

The wife of prominent Oakland criminal defense attorney and TV legal commentator Daniel Horowitz was found murdered in their home yesterday evening. Horowitz was four days into the murder trial of Susan Polk at the time of the murder. (The San Francisco Examiner and the Oakland Tribune had no stories about the murder today. The Contra Costa Times had this article. For a summary of the "sensational" Polk trial to date, go the Tribune's website and enter "Horowitz" or "Susan Polk" in the archives search.) Horowitz is a frequent guest on CNN, MSNBC, and Fox News, and he was regularly seen during the Peterson trial.

by TChris

It's good to have a large campaign war chest, particularly when you need cash to finance your effort to taint a jury pool.

Tom DeLay is using his congressional campaign to distribute to voters derogatory information about the Texas prosecutor who has indicted him - and to raise more money for a re-election bid that has been affected by the criminal case.

...

Contributors, voters and others who sign up can get regular e-mails and an electronic "toolkit" from DeLay's campaign with the latest disparaging information his legal team has prepared on Texas prosecutor Ronnie Earle.

by TChris

Phil Spector’s defense lawyers face an uphill battle in their attempt to persuade a judge to throw out the incriminating admissions that Spector allegedly made to police officers who questioned him about the woman found dead in his home. Several sources claim to have heard Spector say that he shot the woman accidentally. The police say Spector later changed his story, claiming that the woman committed suicide.

In a recently filed defense brief, attorney Bruce Cutler claimed that Spector, 64, "was experiencing symptoms of withdrawal from his medications, which could include hallucinations, forgetfulness, serious fatigue, and/or slurring." Police refused or ignored his requests for his medication after they took him into custody at his home, Cutler said.

Cutler also argues that the police didn’t advise Spector that he had the right to remain silent, although it appears that Spector made some of the statements before he was taken into custody, when no warning was required. But even if the suppression motion succeeds, the defense will need to contend with the damaging testimony of Spector’s driver: