Sad. Facing a sentence of 5 years to life for the killing of his teammate Patrick Dennehy, Carleton Dotson, who at one time had been declared ncompetent to stand trial, and who earlier claimed self-defense for the shooting, suddenly pleaded guilty last week - without a plea agreement - and was sentenced today to 35 years in prison.

Backgound here and at Begging to Differ.

We give the last word on the Michael Jackson verdict to Jon Stewart of the Daily Show, who hilariously takes apart the media and legal analysts covering the Michael Jackson trial. Crooks and Liars has the video.

Second to the last word- for the best take on the verdict by a legal analyst -- goes to CBS's Andrew Cohen, and his column You Just Had to Be There in Court.

Verdict Watch, Day 7
Monday June 13, 2005

Congratulations to Michael Jackson....Not Guilty on all counts! Kudos to Tom Mesereau and team. Shame on DA Tom Sneddon, man on a mission.

Other losers:

• Martin Bashir
• The Accuser's mother
• Larry Feldman
• Gloria Allred

Sneddon Press Conference: He's not going to quarrel with the jury's verdict. He has not spoken with accuser or family. Denies that his past history with Michael Jackson had anything to do with his office's decision to file.

Verdict Watch, Day 6
Friday, June 9, 2005

The jury has recessed for the weekend without a verdict. There are 2,200 journalists on site.

This is not a surprise. 28 hours of deliberations is not excessive by any stretch, given the 100 pages of jury instructions, 130 witnesses, 14 weeks of testimony and the complex verdict form.

After a five-week high profile trial, a jury has returned a verdict of "not guilty" against former Bank of America Corp. broker Theodore Sihpol ... The Wall Street Journal reports (subscription only):

Former Bank of America Corp. broker Theodore Sihpol was found not guilty of improperly trading mutual funds, in the first real courtroom test of New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer's campaign against financial fraud.

.... The acquittal is a high-profile setback for Mr. Spitzer, who has made a name for himself while largely avoiding the courtroom. He has extracted multimillion-dollar settlements from corporate defendants, forced executives to resign and launched sweeping changes of practices on Wall Street and in the mutual-fund and insurance industries. Buoyed by his victories and the cheers of supporters, Mr. Spitzer has announced plans to run for governor in 2006.

What's up with this? 300 agents in a choreographed simulcast bust the Bandidos in the Western U.S? Why not Osama? Oh, it's the ATF, the folks that brought us Ruby Ridge and Waco. Never mind.

Today more than 300 federal, state and local law enforcement officers have teamed up to execute 21 search warrants and 32 arrest warrants across the Northwest. This investigation centered in Bellingham, Washington, addresses federal firearm and narcotic violations, allegedly committed by members or associates of the Bandidos Outlaw Motorcycle Organization. Additional search and arrest warrants are being executed in the states of Montana & South Dakota.

Verdict Watch, Day 3
Tuesday, June 7, 2005

No verdict. No questions from the jurors.

But if you have questions, CBS Legal Analyst Andrew Cohen has the answers. And he's right on the money.

In support of accused actor Russell Crowe, who spent the night in a Manhattan jail, accused of throwing a telephone at a hotel clerk which carries a possible penalty of four years in jail, here's his side of the story.

Lea Fastow, wife of Enron former CFO Andrew Fastow, left the downtown federal detention center this morning, where she has been serving her year sentence on an income tax violation connected to the case, and arrived at a half-way house where she will be serving the last five weeks of her sentence.

Hand-in-hand with her soon-to-be-imprisoned husband, Lea Fastow walked out of a downtown Houston prison before dawn today.....The 43-year-old wife of former Enron CFO Andrew Fastow looked healthy in a white polo shirt and jeans, with a pink sweater folded over her arm, as she emerged from the Federal Dentention Center moments before 4 a.m., just as sprinklers started up. She stopped briefly on the sidewalk at 1200 Texas Avenue to speak to a reporter and photographers before being whisked away in a private car to the halfway house where she'll stay until July 10.

"It's been a tough year, but it's supposed to be a tough year,'' said Fastow, a stay-at-home mom before going to prison. "I am going home to my family soon. That's exactly what I'm looking forward to.''

by TChris

In a country so deeply divided, it's surprising that relatively few trials end with a hung jury. Twelve people in a locked room will generally agree on a verdict. Sometimes they struggle; sometimes deliberations become a contest of wills. Recalcitrant jurors usually surrender at some point, if only because they don't know how long the judge will otherwise force them to stare at each other in the locked room.

Occasionally, differences are irreconcilable, wills are equally strong, and unanimous agreement cannot be won. That may be the result in the government's first Sarbanes-Oxley prosecution.

Federal prosecutors Friday appeared on the verge of a serious setback in their landmark fraud case against Richard M. Scrushy, perhaps Alabama's best-known businessman, as jurors in Birmingham told the judge they were badly deadlocked on all charges.

Scrushy's apparent good fortune may be the product of a public relations strategy tailored to Bible Belt jurors.

Verdict Watch
June 3, 2005

The verdict isn't even in but the grandaughter of the 79 year old juror in the Michael Jackson case says the grandmother said she planned to write a book on the experience and she is working to make sure her grandmother follows through.

The granddaughter has already lined up a co-author, who has confirmed the plan, but says they will wait 90 days as required by law to finalize it.