Bump and Update: You can find the latest on what possible defenses Muhammed may raise here and here . If Muhammed is convicted, here's what the State intends to introduce against him in the death penalty phase.

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On Tuesday, October 14, trial begins for John Muhammed, the older of the two "sniper" suspects.

Prosecutors in the Muhammad case said they plan to introduce evidence from up to 15 shootings across the country they have connected to the two defendants. About 20 investigators from the sniper task force have moved to Virginia Beach, and a truck full of evidence went down Monday. Defense attorneys will be taking their own trucks soon.

Here is the transcript of Rush Limbaugh's comments yesterday about his addiction to opiate medication and plans to enter rehab.

In other Rush news, the AP is reporting that unnamed police sources confirm that Rush is under criminal investigation.

So Rush is in Day 1 of rehab. We wonder what happens in Day 1. It can't be pleasant.

The state of Oklahoma, in the midst of a death penalty prosecution against federally convicted OKC bombing defendant Terry Nichols, has sent a memo to Ashcroft warning him that the Justice Department's lack of cooperation in the case may result in it dismissing the charges against Nichols.

Oklahoma prosecutors have warned U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft that lack of federal cooperation could lead to the dismissal of state murder charges against Oklahoma City bombing conspirator Terry Nichols. In a letter to Ashcroft released on Friday, Oklahoma County District Attorney Wes Lane says an Oklahoma judge may dismiss the case against Nichols because his defense team has not been allowed to depose federal government witnesses.

"The unwillingness of the federal government has brought this case to the brink of dismissal," Lane says in the letter. "There has been NO progress."

Nichols is serving a life sentence imposed for his federal court conviction. His jury considered but declined to impose the death penalty. His federal trial included charges of murder against federal officials killed in the 1995 blast. The state charges are for murder of the remaining victims.

Go, Martha! She won a big round in court and the Government is so upset it may appeal.

U.S. District Judge John E. Sprizzo last week said depositions of 15 witnesses in her criminal case can be taken by lawyers representing investors who sued Stewart after her company's stock value declined when she became embroiled in an insider trading scandal.

Prosecutors tried to block the depositions, contending that the sworn testimony of government witnesses would give defense lawyers an unfair look at evidence prepared for her January trial on criminal obstruction charges. "We're reviewing our options," said Marvin Smilon, a spokesman for U.S. Attorney James B. Comey in Manhattan. He declined to elaborate.

It's about time something broke her way.

Martha Stewart's lawyers today filed motions to dismiss the charges against her.

"These motions by Martha Stewart seek to dismiss... the so-called "securities fraud" charge, to dismiss... the "obstruction of justice" charge, to strike inflammatory and irrelevant language in the indictment, and to request various discovery before trial," her lawyers said in a release posted on her Web site.

From the release:

Count Nine, the "securities fraud" charge, seeks to criminalize Ms. Stewart's public declarations that she had not engaged in insider trading in making a personal stock sale. This charge is unprecedented in the seventy-year history of the federal securities laws. It violates the First Amendment, the Due Process Clause, and the securities statute itself.

Count Eight, called "obstruction of justice" by the prosecution (even though it is not based on the obstruction of justice statute), must be dismissed because none of Ms. Stewart’s statements could have hindered the SEC investigation and the Indictment does not adequately allege that she was even aware of the SEC investigation when the statements were made.

You can read her lawyers's brief in support of their motin to dismiss here. We hope Martha wins. As we've said before, Fight, Martha, Fight. All of our coverage of Martha's case is available here.

The Palm Beach Post interviews several local defense attorneys and former prosecutors who explain why, from a legal standpoint, it is unlikely that Rush Limbaugh will face criminal charges. We agree with them.

The rumors were correct--Rush Limbaugh has retained famed Miami criminal defense lawyer Roy Black to represent him in connection with the Palm Beach drug investigation into his alleged purchases of painkillers.

The Palm Beach Post confirms our suspicion that Rush Limbaugh's housekeeper was granted immunity from prosecution for her role in selling narcotic painkillers to him.

Here's what the Palm Beach Post reports today:

The Drudge Report has this developing exclusive report:

President Bush expressed support of radio star Rush Limbaugh in conversations with top staff on Thursday, a senior administration source told the DRUDGE REPORT.

"Rush is a great American," the president said of the beleaguered host, who has championed the conservative movement for decades. "I am confident he can overcome any obstacles he faces right now."

Update: ABC News has confirmed that Rush Limbaugh is being investigated for allegedly buying illegal prescription drugs in the Palm Beach area.

Smoking Gun has the search warrant that outlines the drug investigation that has embroiled Rush Limbaugh:

OCTOBER 3--Meet Louis Beshara and his wife, Gloria Rodriguez. The Florida couple are at the heart of the drug scandal now enveloping radio superstar Rush Limbaugh. Investigators allege that the duo illegally sold hundreds of thousands of prescription painkillers from a Palm Beach-area pharmacy they owned. According to a Palm Beach County Sheriff's search warrant affidavit, Beshara provided Hydrocodone, the powerful and addictive painkiller, to middlemen drug dealers like Joseph Coppola who then resold the pills to users. It has been reported that Limbaugh scored some of the Beshara pills via Wilma Cline, a former maid at the radio star's West Palm Beach mansion. Beshara and Rodriguez, who each face two felony drug trafficking charges, are free on bail, though Beshara is under house arrest. (8 pages)

WPTV, a TV station in West Palm Beach, has reported Rush has retained Roy Black, Miami's justly famed criminal defense attorney. Great choice.

As we said yesterday, you won't find much Rush-bashing here, although commenters are free to post their thoughts on him, his hypocrisy and his politics. We'll try to stick to details about the criminal investigation. Now that Rush is a subject of a criminal probe and may have some criminal liability, the issue to us becomes the misguided drug war that jails people for addiction and dependency problems.

If Limbaugh was overusing painkillers, we think it's a medical issue and we're not going to trash him for it. Drug dependency is a medical condition. It should not be a crime. If he is in legal trouble for it, we hope he gets the best legal help possible.

Back in March we made reference to the arrest of anti-police brutality activist Laro Nicol on explosives charges in Tempe, AZ. We just received this update:

[Laro Nicol] is an activist being targeted by the BATF. He spoke at the College of Law yesterday and is a very committed and passionate person. He claims that he is the victim of a paid informant who told the BATF that Laro was a drug addict. Then the BATF raided his home and declared that the guns he possessed were illegal firearms and arrested him as a "prohibited possessor" due to his alleged "drug addiction".

Laro is extremely clean cut and eloquent. His job at the time was as an Air Traffic Controller, meaning that he was subjected to random drug testing for the previous 8 years (and he never had any problems passing). He is going to arraignment today for additional charges. The BATF is claiming that one of his guns is an 'automatic weapon'. Laro says that
this is not true.

We believe that Laro is being targeted due to several reasons:

Amina Lawal's sentence to death by stoning for adultery has been vacated by the Islanic appeals court . The Court determined there were errors in her original trial. Four of the five judges voted to throw out her sentence.

The Islamic appeals panel ruled the conviction couldn't stand because Lawal wasn't given enough time to understand the charges against her; only one judge, instead of the required three, presided at her trial; and she was not caught in the act of sex out of wedlock.

In the sole dissenting opinion, Judge Sule Sada said Lawal had confessed to the crime and the conviction should stand. But the defense had argued that the court should reject Lawal's confession because no lawyers were present when she made it.