Update: The Prosecutor confirms there was no bullying and no drugs were involved. Lane chose his victims randomly. He's just someone who is "not well."

"He chose his victims at random. This is not about bullying. This is not about drugs," Joyce said. "This is someone who's not well, and I'm sure in our court case we'll prove that to all of your desires and we'll make sure justice is done here in this county."

Three of the students shot in the cafeteria of Chardon High School in Ohio have died.

The suspect, T.J. Lane, will have a court hearing this afternoon in juvenile court.

The attorney for T.J. Lane's family has issued this statement apologizing to the community and identified Lane by name. He also said Lane had "pretty impressive" grades, had doubled up on some classes and planned to graduate early this May. He said he was quiet but did have friends. It's not clear why Lane was attending an alternative school. [More...]

After hearing arguments in New Zealand's High Court today on whether to grant the Crown's appeal of the decision granting bail to MegaUpload co-founder Kim DotCom, the Court reserved ruling until 4:30 p.m. tomorrow.

It doesn't sound like the Prosecution had anything more to offer than last week:

The Crown, on behalf of the US Government, argued today that there is a very real risk that Dotcom still has access to offshore funds he is linked with.

But Dotcom's lawyer Paul Davison QC says there is no evidence of this, so his client's flight risk remains low. He said it would make no sense for Dotcom to leave his family or assets behind.

I hope the Judge doesn't reverse the granting of bail. With the extradition hearing not until August, the Crown should have to show more than unsupported speculation he has sources of funds and would likely flee. So far it hasn't.

A suspect has been taken into custody in a school shooting in Chardon, Ohio. As of now, one student has died and four are wounded. Chardon is 30 miles outside of Cleveland.

The student opened fire at 7:30 am in the cafetera.

It's back to the High Court for MegaUpload founder Kim DotCom. The Crown has appealed the order granting him bond, and a hearing has been set for Tuesday.

The Crown Prosecution is not representing the people of New Zealand in this case, it is representing the United States. In other words, the Crown probably couldn't care less that Kim DotCom is on bail, it's just doing what the FBI has requested.

The U.S. has until March 5 to file its extradition request.

Viktor Bout, convicted of arms trafficking and awaiting sentencing in New York, has been ordered to be moved out of solitary confinement. A federal judge today ruled such treatment unconstitutional.

Although I recognize that courts are loathe to interfere with questions of prison administration, an area in which the BOP is best suited to make decisions, I cannot shirk my duty under the Constitution and Turner to ensure that Bout's confinement is not arbitrarily and excessively harsh.

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Many thanks to the New Zealand Ministry of Justice. I sent an email this morning to their media department asking for a copy of the Kim DotCom bail decision, and they cheerfully obliged. Now that's how to run a government agency!

Here is the decision. (I'm about to go read it to see what I missed here.)

Megaupload founder Kim DotCom has been released on bail in New Zealand. (Post-release interview here.) He left jail in a waiting Toyota.

Judge Nevin Dawson said at the North Shore District Court that officials had investigated Dotcom's potential access to funds and "none of significance" had been found. Judge Dawson said it was "highly unlikely" that he had other financial resources available to him that had not already been seized.

The prosecution's argument: He's rich, he must have money somewhere. The Judge disagreed: [More...]

The media attacks on Dominique Strauss-Kahn continue with headlines that gleefully declare he is being detained for questioning in an investigation of corporate, hotel and police involvement in organized prostitution. Others under investigation are a police commissioner, a lawyer, hotel bosses and two local businessmen.

The investigation includes whether the two businessmen used corporate funds to pay the prostitutes who worked the hotel parties that DSK attended. This has zero to do with the issues in his dismissed New York case, or the claims of the French writer over which he was not charged, and it's ridiculous that the media keeps tying the two together. This investigation is not pursuing allegations he engaged in inappropriate sexual conduct or made unwanted advances against anyone.
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A lot of action in Long Beach today. At 2:30 p.m., a small plane crossed into President Obama's airspace in Riverside, CA while he was in the Marine One Helicopter en route to the airport. Fighter jets intercepted the plane and followed it until it landed at Long Beach at 2:30 pm. The plane was searched when it landed, and officials found 40 pounds of marijuana in it. The pilot was questioned by Homeland Security, turned over to local police and booked into the Long Beach jail. The plane is registered to David W. Major and is based in Grover Beach, Calif., near San Luis Obispo.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman Virginia Kice said the department's Homeland Security Investigations unit questioned the pilot, who has been turned over to Long Beach police and remains in custody. He will face local prosecution, Kice said.

Also today, just before 6 pm, three ICE agents were involved in a shootout -- with each other -- on the 7th floor of the federal building in Long Beach. Two died, one is in the hospital. Here's Norad's statement on the incident. The shooter was one of those killed.(Update: ICE says only two agents were involved, one of whom died.)

I wonder if the incidents are related. The Long Beach Courthouse (state) is across the street from the federal building. Were any of the ICE agents in the shootout involved in the earlier search of the plane or questioning of the pilot? Or with Obama's visit? Updates below:

SOCA, the UK's Serious Organized Crime Agency, has shut down the music file sharing site RnBXexlusive. One person, as yet unnamed but described as a proprietor of the site, was arrested and has made bail. Instead of charging a copyright violation, the UK is charging the proprietor with conspiracy to defraud.

The agency posted a takedown notice on the site. [Heads-Up: When you click, it shows your IP Address, Your Browser, Your Operating System and the time and date you clicked, and says "The above information can be used to identify you and your location.]It contains this warning:

SOCA has the capability to monitor and investigate you, and can inform your internet service provider of these infringements. You may be liable for prosecution and the fact that you have received this message does not preclude you from prosecution.

.... If you have downloaded music using this website you may have committed a criminal offence which carries a maximum penalty of up to 10 years imprisonment and an unlimited fine under UK law.

Mathias Ortmann, the only MegaUpload defendant besides Kim DotCom who remained in jail, was granted bail today, over objections by the Crown. Ortmann is a German citizen. Germany does not extradite its citizens to the U.S. He was released on home monitoring, and will live with co-defendants Bran van der Kolk and Finn Batato.

The holdup in the decision was that the FBI alleged a $2.5 million discrepancy in his income. Prosecutors said Ortmann earned $14.5 million from MegaUpload between 2005 and 2010, and $2.5 million in 2011. But his accounts show $20.5 million income instead of $17.5 million. The Judge wanted an accounting of the $2.5 million. His lawyer said it came from trading profits.

In its February newsletter, the New Zealand Police again attempt to justify the raid on the Kim DotCom mansion and takedown of MegaUpload for the FBI. They say the raid was the culmination of several months of planning.

An OFCANZ (Organised & Financial Crime Agency New Zealand)team of five picked up the case last September and worked intently to meet their goal of a mid-January termination... Termination phases were simultaneously carried out in nine countries: New Zealand, Australia, Philippines, Hong Kong, Germany, Canada, Netherlands, United Kingdom and the United States.

...Detective Superintendent Mike Pannett, New Zealand Police Liaison Officer in Washington, monitored termination activities around the world from the FBI’s Multi Agency Command Centre.

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