Raphael Caro-Quintero, accused of the murder of DEA agent Kikki Camerena in 1985, has been released from prison in Mexico after 28 years. An appeals court reversed his conviction, finding the federal court in Mexico lacked jurisdiction because Camerena was not a consulate official or diplomat and should have been tried in state court. (also see the translated version of this article from Mexico.)

The DEA is angry. It wants Caro-Quintero to stand trial in California for Camerena's murder and has an extradition request and international alert for him. [More...]

Azamat Tazhayakov and Dias Kadyrbayev have been indicted by a federal grand jury in Boston on charges of Obstruction of Justice and Conspiracy to Obstruct Justice. The Indictment is here.

Robelo Philliipos was not indicted. His lawyer says he is still negotiating with the Government.

What's missing from the Indictment? Any reference to what the two told the FBI during their early interviews. Did DOJ conclude their statements were inadmissible? The Complaint against them had alleged: [More...]

At BloggingHeads TV, Glenn Loury and Ann Althouse discuss whether George Zimmerman's shooting of Trayvon Martin was the right case for to pick as emblematic of racial profiling and race relations. I've been reading Ann's view of the case for months at her blog, so her view is not surprising to me. (While our politics are different, we have similar views of the evidence and legal aspects of the case.)

But I think some people, particularly those who view themselves as liberal, will be surprised by Loury's view. (The clip above is a one minute capsule of his position.)

In addition to agreeing this wasn't the right case to use to highlight problems with racial profiling and racial injustice, he questions whether Zimmerman should have been charged at all and says he would welcome an investigation into whether the prosecution was politically motivated. [More...]

Here's the video of George Zimmerman's traffic stop in Texas. [Added: Longer version here. Sounds to me like he describes Zimmerman as a "black male, last name Zimmerman" at 2:47 in.)

Why wouldn't he have a gun with him? He's the target of death threats. Those who object should examine why he feels the need to be armed. If lawyers who view their duty to be "social engineers" as greater than their duty to be lawyers, and as a "higher calling" than being an attorney, the media and a public all to ready to declare guilt, hadn't created an atmosphere of hatred for Zimmerman, his life would not be at risk. To suggest he shouldn't be able to protect himself by possessing a lawfully acquired firearm is preposterous.

George Zimmerman shot and killed someone who attacked him. He committed no crime. He has a valid concealed weapons permit. If the media and public didn't continue to perpetuate the false myth that he is a racist and a "murderer", there might be no death threats and no reason for him to be armed at all times. In other words, you reap what you sow. [More...]

Last week the Nevada Board of Parole held a hearing on O.J. Simpson's request for parole. You can watch the hearing here.

The parole board has granted his request, but since on some counts, the sentences were consecutive, he could have to serve up to four more years.

OJ's motion for a new trial based on ineffective assistance of counsel is still pending.

MIT has released a 182 page report on its actions in the Aaron Swartz case. The website for the documents is here. The President of MIT describes the report as:

...an independent description of the actual events at MIT and of MIT's decisions in the context of what MIT knew as the events unfolded. The report also sets the record straight by dispelling widely circulated myths. For example, it makes clear that MIT did not “target” Aaron Swartz, we did not seek federal prosecution,
punishment or jail time, and we did not oppose a plea bargain.

MIT says it adopted a policy of neutrality. MIT did not say it was opposed to jail time, only that it wasn't seeking it. It rejected his defense team and family's requests to take a position against the prosecution. [More...]

Bradley Manning hears his verdict today. Think good thoughts.

Update: Manning not guilty of charge of aiding the enemy but convicted of five counts of violating Espionage Act. Also guilty of Computer Fraud (10 years). See Nathan Fuller's Tweets and Alexa O'Brien, who says he faces 136 years in prison and sentencing will be tomorrow.

Manning was found guilty of 19 counts, 4 of which were his lesser included pleas. [More...]

The New Zealand prosecutor's office has spent almost 10,000 hours battling Kim Dotcom in New Zealand, either on behalf of the U.S. or defending against NZ's actions in providing assistance to the FBI.

The latest figures show 9688 hours worked on the case since July 15, 2011 - the date the Crown Law Office opened its file on the American request. The estimate of $2 million is based on rates usually paid for counsel hired to work for the Crown. In this case, additional legal work for the Crown had been done by Christine Gordon QC, Kirsty McDonald QC and Mike Ruffin, adding about 200 hours.

...Some of that work is on behalf of the United States but most has been damage control around the mess which came with helping the FBI shut down Mr Dotcom's Megaupload.

It's not just a drain of money. It's also a drain on prosecutorial and court resources that could be better spent on other matters, such as crime in New Zealand.

As to why you should care, it's because the same waste of money and resources is occurring with DOJ's prosecution of Kim Dotcom and Megaupload in Virginia.[More....]

Looks like our recent George Zimmerman posts have maxed out at 200 comments, which is the limit. Here's a new thread.

Over at Slate, William Saletan breaks down the Juror B-29 interview pointing to ABC's phoney-baloney editing job, which appears to be designed to produce the maximum salacious effect. Three versions are here, here and here. [More...]

Juror B-29, the sole minority juror in the George Zimmerman trial, and her attorney flew to New York to be interviewed by Robin Roberts of ABC News.

ABC identified B-29 as Maddy and said she is Puerto Rican.... Maddy tells ABC that the case was never about race for her.

In fact, Maddy says she doesn't believe the case should have gone to trial. "I felt like this was a publicity stunt," she tells Roberts. "This whole court service thing to me was publicity."

In other reports of the interview, "Maddy" says she wanted to convict Zimmerman but the jury instructions didn't allow it, and she thinks he "got away with murder." [More....]

An appeals court in Peru has upheld the 28 year sentence of Joran Van der Sloot for homicide and simple theft pertaining to the murder of Stephany Flores. Van der Sloot's attorney, Maximo Altez, had sought a lower sentence.

According to the chief Judge, Javier Villa Stein, the decision means Van der Sloot will have to serve his entire sentence in Peru before being extradited to the U.S. to face his extortion charge pertaining to Natalee Holloway's mother.

Javier Villa Stein, president of the high court, who noted that this decision was made unanimously after evaluating the sentence issued in January 2012 on charges of homicide and simple theft. Furthermore, [Judge Stein] noted that Van der Sloot must meet his sentence in Peru before being extradited to the United States....

The Seminole County Sheriff's office today released a statement confirming that last Wednesday, four days after being acquitted of murder and manslaughter, George Zimmerman helped free a family of four from a rollover accident. [Added: Here are the 911 calls.]

After spotting the vehicle on the side of the road, George grabbed a fire extinguisher from inside his truck, thinking a fire might break out, and with another man, freed the trapped family before first responders arrived at the scene.

The driver of the vehicle identified Zimmerman as the man who pulled him to safety. Officers spoke with Zimmerman who then left the scene. [More...]