Manssor Arbabsiar, Texas used car dealer charged with in a murder for hire plot to kill the Iranian ambassador, has been sentenced to 25 years in prison. The Government alleged the Iranian military used him to hire a Mexican drug cartel to carry out the assassination.

Arbabsiar had approached someone he thought was a member of Los Zetas. He turned out to be a government informant.

Marcy at Empty Wheel has been following this story. Her post today on the sentencing is here.

Yesterday, George Zimmerman's lawyer posted and tweeted the defense fund was out of money and desperately in need of $75,000 to $150,000 for experts, deposition transcripts and other expenses.

Since then, they have raised $12,000. Some of the donors have explained why their are contributing.

“I don't know if George Zimmerman is guilty or not, but he deserves the ability to defend his self in court as best he can. This donation wouldn't be necessary if certain individuals and organizations hadn't attempted to act as his judge, jury, and executioner in the wake of that terrible night. Good luck, and may the truth prevail, whatever it may be.”

[More...]

Abdulbaki Todashev, the father of Ibragim Todashev, is demanding an investigation into his son's shooting death by the FBI. Holding a picture of his dead son that shows his autopsy scars, he accuses the FBI of murder.

“I want justice. I want an investigation,” he said at a Moscow news conference. “They come to your house like bandits, and they shoot you.”

It now appears his son was unarmed when agents and or cops blasted him with 7 bullets (six shots to the body and a “control” shot to the back of the head.) Of course, other unnamed officials continue to say he had a weapon. The disparity alone this long after the shooting shows something is askew. They can't even get their stories straight.[More...]

Lulzec/Anti-Sec hacker Jeremy Hammond pleaded guilty in federal court yesterday to the Stratfor hack. He did not cooperate for a lesser sentence, and faces up to 10 years in prison. Had he gone to trial and lost, his sentencing guidelines exceeded 30 years. The Government has agreed not to bring additional cases against him.

Jeremy released this statement after his plea.

[E]ven if I was found not guilty at trial, the government claimed that there were eight other outstanding indictments against me from jurisdictions scattered throughout the country. If I had won this trial I would likely have been shipped across the country to face new but similar charges in a different district. The process might have repeated indefinitely. Ultimately I decided that the most practical route was to accept this plea with a maximum of a ten year sentence and immunity from prosecution in every federal court.

He says it's a relief to admit his actions. As to his hacking activities, he says "I did what I believe is right." [More...]

A pre-trial motions hearing begins at 9:00 am in the George Zimmerman case.

Here's a link to watch live.

You can read all the pleadings on the Zimmerman web site. For analysis and discussion, visit DiWataman.

Here's a thread to discuss the proceedings.

There's been a spate of new pleadings in the George Zimmerman case. (This morning's filings are discussed here.) The defense is asking for a trial continuance (motion here) because of expert Alan Reich, who it appears, is not a speaker identification expert or analyst but a "speech" analyst. The state didn't turn over his report making this evident until May 10. It wants more time to verify Reich's credentials and determine whether his area of expertise really is an area of expertise, and to retain its own expert. (My analysis of Reich's report, which I called a joke, is here.)

The defense also filed another motion for sanctions against the state (available here). Turns out, the state didn't deliver and hasn't delivered any reports of items extracted from Trayvon Martin's phone, or identify any items extracted from the phone. What it did was turn over a raw "bin" file which is unreadable without special software. The state has the software and the defense says it is "undeniable" that the state analyzed what's in the bin files and compiled reports, but failed to identify any items extracted from the files as exculpatory or impeaching and failed to disclose any reports on the items extracted. As O'Mara says, it's like they turned over the letters A to Z and said all the words you need are in there, go find them. That's not what Brady and Giglio require. [More...]

The jury has deadlocked on the sentence for Jodi Arias and the court declared a mistrial.

Under federal law, that would mean a life sentence. Not so in Arizona. A new jury will be seated to give the state another shot at killing her.

Under Arizona law, a hung jury in the death penalty phase of a trial requires a new jury to be seated to decide the punishment. If the second jury cannot reach a unanimous decision, the judge would then sentence Arias to spend her entire life in prison or be eligible for release after 25 years. The judge cannot sentence Arias to death.

Arizona has some really misguided laws. If a jury can't unanimously decide on death, why does the state get a second bite of the apple? If there is one person who has a doubt about whether someone should be put to death, that should be doubt enough.

(Larger version here)

The defense in the George Zimmerman case today released another batch of discovery it has provided the state. They include text messages and photos extracted from Trayvon Martin's cell phone. Several texts pertain to guns (Martin wanted one), marijuana, fighting, and his school suspension. There are many messages with Witness 8.

You can view all the items here. Diwataman has some of the most relevant screenshots here. [More....]

While unnamed officials continue to tell the media that Ibragim Todashev "implicated" himself in the killing of three men in Boston in 2011, his wife (from whom he was separated) and father are speaking out and disputing the media allegations.

Ms. Manukyan, an Armenian who converted to Islam before marrying Mr. Todashev, says she met her late husband in 2010 through a mutual friend in Boston. She says she separated from Mr. Todashev last November but was still in regular contact with him and was partly supporting him through their joint bank account. She says she saw him last week when he came to visit her in Atlanta and spoke to him this week.

[More...]

The FBI and Boston police were in Florida questioning Ibragim Todashev, an acquaintance of Tamerlan Tsarnaev, when the FBI says he got violent and an FBI agent shot and killed him in self-defense.

Here is an interview with a friend of Todashev's.

An unnamed source says Todashev is "directly involved" in the triple murder in Massachusetts, in which one of the victims was a friend of Tamerlan Tsarnaev. The source says Todashev and Tsarnaev knew each other from martial arts.

Undoubtedly, there is much more to this story. [More...]

Jodi Arias has changed her mind. She wants to live. Today, she spoke to the jury and told them why, and what she can contribute from prison. More here and here.

The judge denied a motion for mistrial after a defense witness who would have provided mitigation testimony about Arias' abusive childhood said she had received threats and decided not to testify. The judge also denied a motion for defense counsel to withdraw from the case. Arias was the only defense witness in the penalty phase. [More...]

George Zimmerman's attorneys have filed a response to the State's motion to exclude evidence of Trayvon Martin's marijuana use. The pleading is available here and includes this information:

From other evidence in the case, it is known that Trayvon Martin brought marijuana with him from South Florida to use while he was in Sanford and that he used it at least one time after arriving in Sanford prior to his death. Trayvon Martin was suspended from school for possessing a baggie containing marijuana residue and was known to smoke n1arijuana with his friends. In George Zimmerman's non-emergency call to the police, he describes the person, later identified as Trayvon Martin, as appearing as though he was "on drugs."

Additionally, on close inspection of Trayvon Martin's physical appearance at the 7-Eleven, where he was recorded on video within an hour of his death, he sways at the counter as if he's under the influence of some substance.

The motion states the defense has deposed the state's toxicologist, Dr. Bruce Goldberger, who testified: [More...]