The new issue of Vanity Fair arrived today. We just finished reading Dominick Dunne's column on the Martha Stewart verdict. It's refreshing to see Mr. Dunne take the side of a defendant for a change. Dunne reported one item we hadn't seen before. Remember Mariana Pasternak, Martha's long-time friend who delivered the devastating testimony that while on a Mexican vacation, Martha said "Isn't it nice to have brokers who tell you these things?" Mariana had been on the tarmac with Martha while her plane was being refueled when Martha received the critical phone call from Douglas Faneuil advising that Waksal was selling his ImClone stock. Dunne reports,

The fateful telephone call from Douglas Faneuil to Martha in San Antonio telling her that Sam Waksal was dumping all his stock....was on Dec. 27. Late that same day, there were rumors on Wall Street that Waksal's drug Erbitux was not going to be approved by the F.D.A. In Westport on December 28, Dr. Bart Pasternak, Mariana's ex-husband and the father of her daughters, sold $600,000. worth of ImClone shares --far more than Martha sold.

Interesting. We wonder if Mariana called her ex to tell him the news about Waksal. And if during the conversation, she perhaps said to him, "Isn't it nice to have brokers who tell you these things?" If so, perhaps her testimony on cross that she couldn't remember if Martha actually spoke those words or if that's just what Mariana was thinking, is closer to the truth.

Did the feds ever think that Mariana passed the tip on to her ex-husband? Dunne reports that Martha paid "tens of thousands of dollars" of Mariana's legal fees "before she began speaking with the government in 2002 about Stewart's ImClone sale." If Mariana wasn't under investigation for wrong-doing, why were her legal bills so high?

Has anyone else reported on this?

For anyone interested in watching this week's oral argument in the Rush Limbaugh case concerning the privacy of his medical records, you can watch it online here at his lawyer Roy Black's website. The firm has a page devoted to Rush, with transcripts, briefs, pleadings, news articles and press releases.

It's great not to be under a gag order. We think these types of webpages soon will be de rigeur in high profile cases.

Enron's former CEO Jeffrey Skilling was taken by NY police to a hospital at 4 a.m.

Former Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling was taken to a hospital early Friday after several people called police saying he was pulling on their clothes and accusing them of being FBI agents, a police source told The Associated Press. Police found Skilling at 4 a.m. at the corner of Park Avenue and East 73rd Street and determined he might be an "emotionally disturbed person," said the source, speaking to the AP on condition of anonymity.Police did not charge Skilling with a crime. They took him to New York Presbyterian Hospital for observation. Hospital officials did not immediately return calls for comment.

Skilling was at two bars in Manhattan - American Trash and The Voodoo Lounge - where he allegedly ran up to patrons and pulled open their clothes, the source said. "He was shouting at them 'You're an FBI agent and you're following me,'" the source said. Skilling allegedly did the same thing to people on the street, the source added. He was with his wife at the time. Skilling was described as being intoxicated and highly uncooperative when he was approached by police, the source said.

Skilling is on bail awaiting trial on charges of insider trading and fraud-related crimes.

by TChris

Contending that the prosecution withheld key evidence, lawyers for former NBA player Jason Williams, on trial for manslaughter, want the judge to dismiss the charge. The defense also wants the judge to rule that Williams can't be tried again. Prior commentary about Williams' case is here.

On the last day of testimony in Williams' two month long trial, the prosecutor acknowledged that he had not provided the defense with photographs and notes created by the prosecution's expert witness while examining the gun Williams fired. Shortly before a prosecution expert gave rebuttal testimony, the defense learned for the first time that the expert had disassembled the gun to examine it. Whether the gun might have misfired is critical to Williams' defense, and the disassembly might have altered the weapon's condition, rendering subsequent examinations useless. The defense also contends that the examination occurred in secret, in volation of an agreement that defense experts would be present whenever the gun was tested.

The prosecutor is willing to reopen the evidence, but the defense says the prosecution deliberately withheld the information. They want the judge to dismiss the case without the possibility of retrial. The judge will hear argument on the motion Monday.

by TChris

Two Cubans who fled to the United States never lost their faith in the American way of life, even after they were charged with assault as a result of a confrontation with the Coast Guard. Their faith has been rewarded, as a federal jury today found them not guilty. After the trial, the jury foreman shook their hands and welcomed them to America.

by TChris

Lawyers who represent jailed defendants customarily make sure that their clients are wearing "street clothes," not a jail uniform, when they appear in front of a jury. Allowing the jury to see a defendant in jail garb sends the wrong message: if he's already in jail, he must be guilty.

White supremacist Matt Hale, who has a law degree but isn't licensed to practice, made an odd strategic decision in his own trial: he's going to wear his bright orange jail jumpsuit. Hale is charged with soliciting the murder of a federal judge, and jury selection is underway. Although his trial judge warned him that wearing a jail uniform doesn't make a good impression on potential jurors, Hale chose to disregard that advice. Maybe he thinks he looks good in orange.

by TChris

Yesterday, TalkLeft reported that Melissa Rowland has entered into a plea agreement reducing a murder charge to two counts of child endangerment. Prosecutors based the initial charge on a stillbirth that followed Rowland's decision not to submit to the prompt C-section that her physician recommended.

Although the reduced charges are certainly better than a homicide prosecution, womens' rights advocates continue to call attention to the ramifications of the prosecution's decision to file any charges at all against Rowland. They joined together yesterday to call Rowland "a victim of an overzealous prosecutor, misguided medical personnel, a failed health care system and an abusive jail system."

The women say Rowland had the right to decide if and when she had a Caesarean section, despite the prosecution's contention that Rowland's delay cost the life of her unborn boy.

Activists point out that the decision to prosecute will have a chilling effect on other women who may avoid any prenatal care for fear that the failure to follow a doctor's advice will lead to a criminal charge. In addition,

Pam Udy, vice president of the International Caesarean Awareness Network, said the Rowland case will pressure other expectant mothers into getting C-sections unnecessarily.

A hearing in the Rush Limbaugh doctor-shopping investigation case was held today. Roy Black argued that police violated Rush's rights by getting search warrants instead of subpoenas for his doctors' records. Rush Limbaugh invited his radio audience to the hearing by putting videotaped gavel-to-gavel coverage of the hearing on his website.

by TChris

A Utah woman, charged with murder for failing to follow a doctor's advice to have a prompt Caesarean section, entered a guilty plea to two felony counts of child endangerment. When the procedure was eventually performed, the woman, who has a history of mental health problems, gave birth to a baby girl (since adopted), while a male baby was stillborn. TalkLeft has background information about the woman, Melissa Rowland, and her case here.

A plea agreement calls for the prosecution to recommend concurrent terms of zero to five years in prison, as well as probation and drug treatment. The woman's lawyer says she wanted to resolve the case as quickly as possible. She will be sentenced April 29.

Lea Fastow, wife of indicted Enron exec Andrew Fastow, appeared in court for sentencing today. She had a deal with prosecutors, not binding on the judge, for a five to ten month sentence, with five months in jail and five on house arrest. The Judge said no dice, he wanted to give her 10 to 16 months. She exercised her right under the plea agreement to withdraw her plea, and now must go to trial.

Her lawyer says it's back to the drawing board. Andrew Fastow's deal with the feds to cooperate against others in exchange for ten years won't be affected by his wife's decision.

"The government pointed out if she hadn't been Lea Fastow, she probably wouldn't even have been charged," he said. "This is not a case about Enron. She had no part in the fall." DeGuerin suggested that perhaps the judge had something to prove: "that you can't bind Judge Hittner to a sentence."

The sentencing memo filed by Mrs. Fastow's lawyers yesterday is here.

by TChris

A priest in Ohio has been placed on probation for two years after pleading guilty to growing marijuana in his church residence. Rev. Richard Arko told the court he was cultivating the 35 plants for medical use, and says he prays for the day that Ohio recognizes the benefits of marijuana.

Although probation would be the norm for a first offense in Ohio, prosecutors asked for a prison sentence, arguing that a priest should be held to a higher standard than others. Fortunately, Judge Patricia Cosgrove declined to make an example of Rev. Arko, citing letters she received from parishoners attesting to Rev. Arko's positive contributions to their lives.

The marijuana plants were discovered after an informant purchased marijuana from a man who was living in the parish house. After Rev. Arko's arrest, the informant, Andrew Smith, claimed that Rev. Arko has been sexually assaulting him since he was 15. However, Smith is accused of stealing credit cards and checks from Rev. Arko and the parish, rendering his belated abuse claims suspect.

Ruth Jordan, the now famous Juror No. 4 in the Tyco trial, says she did not flash the "ok" sign in court and she would have voted to acquit on all counts. Her statement contradicts other jurors who have spoken out and said she agreed to find the defendants guilty a few two counts. Ms. Jordan, in an interview to be broadcast on 60 Minutes II tonight, describes the letter she received that led to the declaration of the mistrial:

She had read a letter she received in the mail from a stranger criticizing her supposed unwillingness to consider the possibility of the defendants' guilt. She recounted that the typewritten note — which she said was "disturbing," but "wasn't threatening" — stated that "Dennis and Mark are huge criminals, and how could I have failed to see that or something like that." The note, she said, asserted that "it was very sad that I had brought disgrace on my family and it would be there for generations." The letter, like an anonymous telephone call the previous weekend, had come after The Wall Street Journal and The New York Post broke with journalistic convention and published her name in their accounts of the jury turmoil.

Like some of the other jurors, Ms. Jordan also criticized the prosecutors for dwelling on the defendants' lavish life styles: