The Daily Blog

Kansas Abortion Law Blocked By Federal Judge.

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — A federal judge has temporarily blocked Kansas from enforcing new rules for its abortion providers.

U.S. District Judge Carlos Murguia (Mer-GHEE’-uh) issued an order Friday after a hearing in a lawsuit against a new Kansas licensing law and regulations issued by the state health department. The law and regulations took effect Friday.

Murguia’s order remains in effect until a trial in the lawsuit is settled.

The lawsuit was filed by two doctors who perform abortions at the Center for Women’s Health in the Kansas City-area suburb of Overland Park. The center and another clinic, Aid for Women in Kansas City, haven’t been licensed and couldn’t legally continue to perform abortions.

The state’s third provider, a Planned Parenthood clinic in Overland Park, received a license Thursday.

Jennifer Lopez: A Wardrobe Malfunction on Live TV.

This summer, Jennifer Lopez jets to Europe to promote her album ‘Love?’, presumably with countless fashions in tow.

On Saturday in Mallorca, Spain, the ‘American Idol’ judge made an appearance on the high-spirited hit TV show ‘Wettan Das’ (a German variety series), to perform and give an interview.

Cameron Diaz, promoting ‘Bad Teacher,’ and Heidi Klum were also guests on the episode.

The Grammy nominee, 41, sang for fans in a black mini and stillettos.

Host Thomas Gottschalk also welcomed Lopez onto a temporary outdoor set inside a bullfighting arena, to sit on a sofa for a chat. Looking fabulous in a flowing, low-cut maxi dress, Lopez reached down to tame her voluminous skirt and keep it from doing a Marilyn Monroe in the breeze — and that’s when she pulled a brief Janet Jackson on live TV.

Osama Bin Laden Criminal Charges Dismissed By Federal Judge.

NEW YORK — A federal judge has approved a request by prosecutors to officially dismiss all criminal charges against Osama bin Laden.

The order was made public Friday, more than six weeks after bin Laden was killed by the U.S. military in a raid on his hideout in Pakistan. Such requests are procedural and routine in case where defendants named in indictment die.

The al-Qaida leader was indicted in June 1998 in federal court in Manhattan on charges related to the terrorist attacks on the two U.S. embassies in Africa. It’s the only federal indictment to charge him.

The charges included conspiracy to kill U.S. citizens, conspiracy to destroy U.S. property and use of a weapon of mass destruction.

$5 Million Bond for Mother of Boy Found Dead in Oven.

A judge in Mississippi has set a $5 million bond for a mother who was arrested after police found her 3-year-old son’s burned body in an oven.

Terrie Robinson, 24, of Greenville, has been charged with murder in the death of her son, Tristan Robinson.

Officers with the Greenville Police Department discovered the child’s body Wednesday after they responded to an emergency call. Authorities have declined to provide additional details on the call, citing the ongoing investigation, The Associated Press reported. City Judge Michael Prewitt set the bond amount Thursday during Robinson’s arraignment.According to Washington County Coroner Methel Johnson, the child’s body had been burned and was warm when it was removed from the electric oven. The coroner also noted the boy had suffered some sort of trauma to the head, but it is unclear if the injuries caused his death.

“This is a really sad moment for me. I’ve seen a lot of things, but this is one that will stick in my memory for a long, long time,” Johnson told the AP.

An autopsy that is being conducted on the child today is expected to shed more light on the case and reveal whether he was dead before he was placed in the oven, police said.

Italy’s Berlusconi Indicted in Prostitution Probe.

MILAN — An Italian judge on Tuesday ordered Premier Silvio Berlusconi to stand trial on charges he paid for sex with a 17-year-old Moroccan girl, then tried to cover it up.

Berlusconi has stood trial on a number of business-related charges, but this is the first time the 74-year-old billionaire businessman is being tried for personal conduct. Berlusconi has denied wrongdoing, accusing the prosecutors of seeking to oust him from power.Judge Cristina Di Censo handed down the indictment with a terse statement. The trial is to begin April 6, and will be heard by a panel of three judges, all of them women.

The decision means Di Censo believes there is sufficient evidence to subject Berlusconi to an immediate trial, as has been requested by prosecutors. The sped-up procedure skips the preliminary hearing stage and is ordered in cases of overwhelming evidence. Paying for sex with a prostitute is not a crime in Italy, but it is if the prostitute is under 18.Berlusconi has called the accusations “groundless” and dismissed the case as a “farce.”

But the indictment adds to Berlusconi’s troubles at a time when the three-time premier is politically vulnerable following a split with an ex-ally, and will increase pressure on him to resign - a possibility he has repeatedly rejected.

“We didn’t expect anything different,” one of Berlusconi’s attorneys, Piero Longo, was quoted as saying by the Affaritaliani website.

Prosecutors allege Berlusconi paid for sex with the Moroccan girl, nicknamed Ruby, then used his influence to get her out of police custody when she was detained for the unrelated suspected theft of euro3,000 ($4,103). They allege that Berlusconi feared her relationship to him would be revealed.

Both Berlusconi and Ruby have denied having sexual relations, although she has said Berlusconi gave her euro7,000 ($9,550) on their first meeting.The child prostitution charge carries a possible prison sentence of six months to three years. The abuse of influence charge, which experts say is more dangerous for Berlusconi, carries a possible sentence of four to 12 years.

The trial brings to four the number of judicial cases Berlusconi is currently battling. They will all be starting or resuming in coming weeks, after Italy’s highest-court recently watered down an immunity bill his government had passed to suspend the trials.

Berlusconi is charged in a tax fraud case relating to his Mediaset media empire, and charged with bribery in another case. Another tax fraud case, but pertaining to more recent events than the ongoing Mediaset trial, will continue with a preliminary hearing next month.

Berlusconi has always denied wrongdoing in the many cases involving his media holdings, and has either been acquitted or seen the statute of limitations expire - something that is considered likely in two of the trials now under way.

He has long contended he is the victim of a political vendetta orchestrated by what he says are left-leaning prosecutors.

Tom DeLay Sentenced to 3 Years in Prison.

AUSTIN, Texas — A judge ordered former U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay to serve three years in prison Monday for his role in a scheme to illegally funnel corporate money to Texas candidates in 2002.

The sentence comes after a jury in November convicted DeLay on charges of money laundering and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

Known as “The Hammer,” the Republican who represented the Houston area was once one of the most powerful people in U.S. politics, ascending to the No. 2 job in the House of Representatives. During a several-minute statement to the judge prior to sentencing, DeLay repeated his longstanding claims that the prosecution was politically motivated and that he never intended to break the law.

“I can’t be remorseful for something I don’t think I did,” DeLay said.Senior Judge Pat Priest sentenced him to the three-year term on the conspiracy charge. He also sentenced him to five years in prison on the money laundering charge but allowed DeLay to accept 10 years of probation instead of more prison time.

DeLay was immediately taken into custody, but Priest granted a request from his attorneys that he be released on a $10,000 bond pending appeal once he is processed at the county jail. Prosecutors said it could mean DeLay will be free for months or even years as his appeal makes it through the Texas court system.DeLay’s attorney Dick DeGuerin said he expected the conviction would be overturned.

“If I told you what I thought, I’d get sued,” DeGuerin said. “This will not stand.”

The former congressman had faced up to life in prison. His attorneys asked for probation.

“What we feel is that justice was served,” lead prosecutor Gary Cobb said.

Priest issued his ruling after a brief sentencing hearing on Monday in which former U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert testified on DeLay’s behalf.

Prosecutors attempted to present only one witness at the hearing, Peter Cloeren, a Southeast Texas businessman who claimed DeLay had urged him in 1996 to evade campaign finance laws in a separate case. Prosecutors said the case was similar to the one DeLay was being sentenced for.

But not long after Cloeren began testifying, Senior Judge Pat Priest declined to hear the testimony, saying prosecutors couldn’t prove the businessman’s claims beyond a reasonable doubt.

“You lose. I will not hear this testimony,” Priest said after agreeing with DeLay’s attorneys, who objected to the testimony, saying the former lawmaker was not criminally charged in the case. Cloeren pleaded guilty to directing illegal corporate money into the 1996 congressional campaign of an East Texas candidate.

DeLay’s attorneys had indicated they would have up to nine witnesses but decided to present only Hastert.

Hastert, an Illinois Republican who was House speaker from 1999 to 2006, testified that DeLay was not motivated by power but for a need to help others. Hastert talked about DeLay’s conservative and religious values, his efforts to provide tax relief for his constituents in Texas, his work helping foster children and the help he provided to the family of one of the police officers who was killed in a 1998 shooting at the U.S. Capitol in Washington.

“That’s the real Tom DeLay that a lot of people never got to see,” Hastert said.

Lead prosecutor Gary Cobb asked Hastert if one of DeLay’s religious and conservative values was taking acceptance for doing wrong. Hastert said he hasn’t personally heard DeLay take responsibility for the actions that resulted in his conviction.

DeLay’s lawyers have also submitted more than 30 character and support letters from friends and political leaders, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and eight current U.S. congressmen. Most of the letters ask for leniency in the sentencing.

After a month-long trial in November, a jury determined that he conspired with two associates to use his Texas-based political action committee to send $190,000 in corporate money to an arm of the Washington-based Republican National Committee. The RNC then sent the same amount to seven Texas House candidates. Under Texas law, corporate money can’t go directly to political campaigns.

Prosecutors claim the money helped Republicans take control of the Texas House. That enabled the Republican majority to push through a Delay-engineered congressional redistricting plan that sent more Texas Republicans to Congress in 2004, strengthening DeLay’s political power.

DeLay contended the charges were politically motivated and the money swap in question was legal. DeGuerin says DeLay committed no crime and believes the convictions will be overturned on appeal.

Federal Judge Among Victims in Arizona Shooting.

PHOENIX — A federal law enforcement official says that a federal judge was fatally shot in the attack on Rep. Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona.

U.S. Marshal for Arizona David Gonzales confirmed to the Associated Press that U.S. District Judge John Roll died in the attack Saturday.

Gonzales offered no other details into the shooting.

Ex-Marine Gets Probation for Killing Man Over Peeing Pooch.

An Illinois judge has sentenced a retired U.S. Marine to four years of probation for killing a man whose dog urinated on his award-winning lawn.

Will County Judge Daniel Rozak made the ruling in the case this afternoon. As a result, Charles J. Clements, 69, will not serve any jail time for the May shooting of 23-year-old Joshua Funches, Chicago’s NBC 5-TV reported.

Funches was walking his fox terrier in the Chicago suburb of University Park on May 9 when the dog urinated on Clements’ front lawn, Will County prosecutors said. An argument between the two men ensued, during which Clements pulled out a .45-caliber handgun and pointed it at Funches, police say.Witnesses later told police Funches became agitated and said, “Next time you pull out a pistol, why don’t you use it?” Clements responded by firing a single shot that struck Funches in the abdomen, Assistant State’s Attorney Sondra Denmark said.

According to the Chicago Tribune, Clements had won a lawn-beautification award handed out to residents. Neighbors told the newspaper he was known to yell at anyone who stepped on his lawn.Funches, a father of two, was pronounced dead at St. James Hospital in nearby Olympia Fields.

Clements’ attorney, Daniel Collins, claimed the shooting was in self-defense and occurred after Funches repeatedly struck Clements in the face.

“He feared for his safety,” Collins told the Tribune in June. “He also felt that his life was in danger.”

In October, Clements was convicted of second-degree murder in the shooting. He faced a possible sentence of four to 20 years, with an option for probation.

During today’s sentencing hearing, Rozak said Clements had no prior run-ins with the law and said the case was not about his lawn, but “about your reaction … to being yelled at, pushed and punched in the face by a 23-year-old man,” the Tribune reported.Following the sentencing, the Will County State Attorney’s Office said in a statement that it respected the judge’s decision.

“Given the serious nature of the crime and the evidence presented at trial, the State’s Attorney’s Office asked the judge for a prison sentence for Charles Clements,” the statement reads. “After presiding over the trial and hearing all the facts and circumstances, the judge determined that probation was an appropriate sentence. He is an excellent judge and we respect his decision.”

Funches’ relatives were upset by the ruling.

“This is not justice,” his aunt, Gail Williams, told the Chicago Breaking News Center.

Ex-Cop Gets Minimum Sentence: 2 Years Behind Bars.

(Nov. 5) — A Los Angeles judge sentenced Johannes Mehserle, a former Bay Area Rapid Transit police officer, to two years in prison for his role in the shooting death of passenger Oscar Grant on New Year’s Day 2009.

Judge Robert Perry handed down what was the shortest sentence possible after a jury convicted Mehserle of involuntary manslaughter in July. Perry also tossed out a gun enhancement charge, the San Francisco Chronicle reported, after finding that evidence put forth during Mehserle’s trial did not support it.
Following the jury’s verdict in July, sporadic rioting erupted in Oakland, Calif., where the shooting took place. Today, police in Oakland braced for possible violence, The Oakland Tribune reported, but immediately following the verdict there were no reports of trouble.
“Don’t riot,” Grant’s grandfather, Oscar Grant Sr., said following the verdict, according to the San Jose Mercury News. “Life didn’t stop when my grandson was killed. We have to live here. They could give him 100 years [in prison] and it won’t bring my grandson back.”

Grant, of Hayward, Calif., and a group of New Year’s revelers were taken off a BART train at 2 a.m. on Jan. 1, 2009, and made to sit on the Fruitvale station platform. A chaotic scene ensued, and, while lying face down and unarmed, Grant was fatally shot in the back by Mehserle, who contended in court that he had accidentally fired his weapon. Several train passengers captured the incident on cell phone video.

During his trial, Mehserle expressed remorse for his actions in a letter released to the public.

BART reached a $1.5 million settlement in a lawsuit brought by lawyers representing Grant’s daughter, Tatiana, in January of this year.

Gitmo Former ‘Child Soldier’ Gets 8 Years.

GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba (Oct. 31) — A judge sentenced a former teenage al-Qaida fighter Sunday to eight more years in custody, bound by a plea agreement that compelled him to ignore a military jury that said he should serve 40 years for war crimes that included the killing of an American soldier.

Omar Khadr’s sentencing brings to an end a case that attracted intense scrutiny and criticism because the Canadian prisoner was 15 when he was captured, badly wounded after a fierce firefight at an al-Qaida compound in Afghanistan in 2002.

Khadr stared straight ahead and appeared relaxed as the judge read a sentence that calls for him to stay one more year in Guantanamo before he can ask the Canadian government to allow him to return to his homeland to serve the remainder of his sentence or seek early release on parole. He has been held eight years at Guantanamo but doesn’t get credit for time served.

The jury of military officers deliberated nearly nine hours over two days and had not been told that a sealed plea deal would mean that their decision would be largely symbolic.Military prosecutors, who had portrayed the now 24-year-old Khadr as a dangerous terrorist, had asked the seven-member jury for a sentence of 25 years - and the accused could have received up to life in prison if convicted of even one of the five war crimes counts against him.

Navy Capt. John F. Murphy, the chief military prosecutor, said the plea deal included a provision that Khadr cannot appeal, eliminating the possibility of a reversal or even more time being spent on a case that has been winding its way through the Guantanamo tribunals since 2004. He said the government considered Khadr’s age and background as the child of a prominent al-Qaida figure in agreeing to the eight-year sentence.

“I hope it sends a message to any terrorists that if you are involved with serious offenses like this you face the potential of a very serious sentence,” Murphy said.

Khadr admitted planting 10 roadside bombs in Afghanistan as part of an al-Qaida explosive cell and throwing a grenade that mortally wounded an American special forces medic, Sgt. 1st Class Christopher Speer of Albuquerque, New Mexico. His lawyers and human rights groups said he was a “child soldier,” who should have been sent home long ago for rehabilitation and they challenged the notion that a battlefield killing amounted to a war crime.

Prosecutors said Khadr was a war criminal because he was not a legitimate soldier fighting in Afghanistan but a member of al-Qaida, which hides among civilians, doesn’t represent a country or follow internationally accepted principles of warfare.

His lawyers said they had no choice but to strike a plea deal given the potential for a long sentence.

“I think when you look at it we did quite well,” said Marine Col. Jeffrey Colwell, the chief defense counsel.The jury began its deliberations after nearly a week of testimony that included a wrenching hour of testimony from Speer’s widow about the loss of her husband and a 10-minute statement from Khadr, who apologized to the soldier’s family in his most extensive public statements since his capture.

Speer’s widow, Tabitha, pumped her fist and cheered “yes!” when the jury announced its 40-year sentence. Then she burst into tears.

Later, she said that she was relieved to have the case behind her. She called the jury’s verdict “the right thing” but accepted the eight-year sentence.

“I miss my husband very, very much. There will never be anyone or anything that can replace or bring him back, but today this helps to close a huge chapter,” Speer said, her voice breaking. “And this is going to help my children and I move forward.”

Human rights groups said they understood why the defense would accept a plea deal, but said the case would have presented an opportunity to challenge the government’s notion of what constitutes a war crimes, the legality of the harsh interrogations that Khadr and many other prisoners experienced and the overall legitimacy of the Guantanamo tribunals.

“Having a fake sentence which is basically thrown out the window as soon as the jury leaves the room does not look like fair justice to the rest of the world,” said Andrea Prasow, a a lawyer for Human Rights Watch who observed the trial.In Ottawa, Melissa Lantsman, a spokeswoman for Canada’s foreign affairs minister, declined to speculate about when Khadr might return. She said a decision will be made only when he formally applies for a transfer, and he will be treated like any other Canadian.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s Conservative government has steadfastly refused to request the return of Khadr, the last Western detainee held at the prison. The reluctance owes partly to Canadians’ ambivalence toward the Khadr family, which has been called “the first family of terrorism.”

“Omar Khadr pleaded guilty to murdering U.S. Army medic Christopher Speer,” Lantsman said. “He pleaded guilty to attempted murder. He admitted he was a member of Al-Qaeda. He also publicly acknowledged that he planted roadside bombs and that he knew he was targeting civilians.”