Virginia medical doctor William Hurwitz was sentenced to 25 years in a federal prison today for over-prescribing pain medication.

Prosecutors said Hurwitz knowingly turned a blind eye to patients who were obvious drug addicts and drug dealers, and that his waiting room was at times filled with stoned, sleeping patients with track marks on their arms from drug abuse. Patients received prescriptions for as many as 1,600 pills a day. An FBI agent's affidavit indicated that 21 percent of Hurwitz's patients had criminal records.

Hurwitz's supporters packed the courtroom:

About 100 of Hurwitz's supporters packed the federal courtroom in Alexandria, and several testified that Hurwitz saved them from debilitating pain that other doctors were unwilling to treat.

Remember Patricia Tabram, the 66 year old British grandma who didn't go to jail for cooking casseroles with marijuana for her neighbores? The Guardian has an update:

She was rumbled, she says, by a police informer on her street and remains utterly unrepentant. "Cannabis lifts depression! Queen Victoria used it for her period pains!" Now she is hoping to tackle the secretary of state for Wales, Peter Hain, on the electoral battleground of his Neath constituency, on a platform denouncing most mainstream medicine. ... "Since I started medicating with cannabis I don't use my walking stick any more, I don't wear my neck collar, I don't wear my hearing aid."

So far, Michael Jackson's attorney has made some serious inroads into derailing the prosecution's witnesses, discrediting them with financial and other motives to lie. None of them are free of heavy baggage.

Today the mother of the 1993 accuser testifies. You can expect the defense to bring out on cross that she knew her son was sleeping in Jackson's bedroom.

On a legal note, the defense has filed a motion (pdf) that I think has an excellent chance on appeal of reversing a conviction, should one occur. The motion objects to the introduction of past conduct evidence because it is not coming in through the accusers, but through third parties.

The Judge in the Martha Stewart case has rejected her request for resentencing.

I'm not surprised, the worst is over for Martha and it's hard to argue that home detention is that onerous --although, it's no walk in the park, either.

Saying he didn't want to turn this 66 year old grandmother into a martyr, a British judge has refused to jail this unrepentant woman who bakes goods with marijuana for her friends and neighbors:

Patricia Tabram, a 66-year-old who has developed recipes for chicken, leek and cannabis pies and cannabis curry since her arrest last summer, said she would continue to take the drug for medicinal reasons, although she would not supply it to others.

"It's far better than any tablets you can get from the doctor," she said as she left Newcastle Crown court for her remote bungalow in the Northumberland countryside. She will also continue negotiations about publishing her biographical cookbook Grandma Eats Cannabis.

[link via Howard Bashman at How Appealing.] The British papers are eating this story up. Howard reports:

A few days ago we sang the praises of Eric Rudolf's defense lawyer, Judy Clarke. Today, the Associated Press has much more - a "one woman dream team." What a great and accurate description.

David I. Bruck, who helped Clarke defend Susan Smith, said she is intelligent and "tough as nails" in court, but also has a calming influence on clients.

"She's straightforward, she's direct, she's honest. That's essential in the process of convincing a client that he should spend the rest of his life in a steel cage," Bruck said.

A former president of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, Clarke gained prominence with the Smith case, convincing jurors that Smith did not deserve to die for drowning her sons by strapping them in a car and driving it into a lake. She donated her $83,000 fee for the case to a group that defends the poor in capital cases.

Before an Alabama judge appointed her to represent Rudolph, Clarke was assisting with the defense of Zacarias Moussaoui, the only U.S. defendant charged in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

We call her "Saint Judy."

In our continuing "America. Prison Nation" series: A 30 year old spammer named Jeremy Jaynes from North Carolina has been sentenced to nine years by a Virginia jury.

Nine years? As Xoverboard points out, what is he, the most dangerous man in America? You don't get that much time for manslaughter or child molestation in a lot of places.

At least the judge has allowed him to remain on bond pending the appeal, citing serious constitutional issues with the law, not the least of which is that is seeks to regulate activity outside of Virginia:

[Loudoun County Circuit Judge Thomas Horne] said he might also reconsider the sentence if Jaynes loses the appeal. "I do not believe a person should go to prison for a law that is invalid," he said. "There are substantial legal issues that need to be brought before the appellate court."

No one likes spammers, but this is excessive.

In Baltimore, a court has thrown out the conviction of a defrocked priest in a sex abuse trial:

Less than two months after he was convicted of molesting a boy who later shot him, defrocked priest Maurice Blackwell was granted a new trial by a judge who said testimony about other alleged victims was inappropriate.

In a case where "credibility is a critical issue," Circuit Judge Stuart R. Berger wrote, the witnesses "improperly attempted to enhance the credibility of the state's critical witness by injecting references to other victims."

Too bad Michael Jackson isn't being tried in Maryland. California's Rule 1108 does nothing but inject unfairness into the proceedings. More on Jackson and the prior accusers here, here and here.

The parade of disgruntled Neverland employees continues. Yesterday was the former guard. Today it's the former cook, Phillip LeMarque, who claims to have been shocked, yes shocked, that one night, 14 years ago, he delivered french fries to Michael Jackson and saw Jackson with his hand inside Macaulay Culkin's pants. This was no surprise visit, Jackson had called down for the fries.

Under cross-examination from defense attorney Thomas Mesereau, LeMarque acknowledged that his employment with Jackson ended with him suing the star for overtime owed him and that the case was settled out of court.

During a break in testimony, Judge Rodney Melville barred the defense from raising the issue of LeMarque's later work as the operator of a p0rnographic Web site.

Operator of a p0rn0graphic web site. Shocked. Not enough to report it, just enough to remember it 14 years later.

by TChris

CNN reports that Eric Rudolph will plead guilty to all charges alleging his involvement in bombings (including the 1996 Olympics bombing and a 1998 clinic bombing in Atlanta) in exchange for a life sentence. As TalkLeft reported here, Rudolph's jury selection began this week.

by TChris

Another news story that will upset the "culture of life" crowd:

A man who helped his cancer-stricken friend commit suicide was granted a special probation Thursday in which his conviction can be erased from state records after a year.

Huntington Williams, 74, gave his 66 year old friend a gun and discussed with him "the most effective spot to aim the weapon." Connecticut Superior Court Judge Robert C. Brunetti showed compassion for the difficult choice that confronted Williams. "Mr. Williams," the judge said, "I can only say to you, I'm glad it wasn't me put in your position that day."

One hundred courtroom supporters of Williams burst into applause when Williams was placed on probation with the opportunity to expunge his conviction. Let's hope that Judge Brunetti won't be threatened with impeachment (or worse) for daring to be kind.

The prosecution may rue the day it decided to put former Jackson security guard Ralph Chacon on the stand. Chacon testified today he saw Michael perform oral sex on a young boy. No other witness has made that claim to date. The defense wasted no time in tearing Chacon apart:

"Jackson defense attorney Thomas Mesereau Jr. quickly established that Chacon had sued Jackson, claiming he was improperly fired, and that Jackson had countersued, accusing Chacon of stealing from him."