There's a white collar $60 million stock fraud trial going on in state court in New York. Bloomberg has the details.

The Government is relying in part on the testimony of John D. Mazzuto, the former CEO of a Pittsburgh-based company called IEAM, who pleaded guilty and agreed to testify against others to save his own skin, to get a conviction against James Margulies, the company's former chief counsel.

New York criminal defense attorney Ira London, who is representing Margulies, got his shot at Mazzuto during cross-examination last week. Henry Blodgett of Business Insider says Ira "eviscerated" him and shows how with portions of the transcript.

For the lawyers out there, note Ira's great use of trilogies (three questions (sometimes more) for each point, or one question asked three different ways. Often, each question will add one additional fact.) Great work, Ira.(Disclosure: Ira is a long-time friend.) The trial is expected to last two more weeks. [More..]

James Richard Verone is 59, has no priors, and worked for years for Coca Cola. Then he got sick. He didn't qualify for anything but food stamps. He needed medical care for a variety of conditions, from a protrusion on his chest to carpal tunnel, back pain and arthritis.

He made a plan: Rob a bank for a dollar, go to prison, get health care and three squares a day.

He handed the teller a note demanding one dollar, and medical attention.....[Vernone said] “I told the teller that I would sit over here and wait for police

So far it's worked.

He has seen several nurses and has an appointment with a doctor Friday. The ideal scenario would include back and foot surgery and a diagnosis and treatment of the protrusion on his chest, he said. He would serve a few years in prison and get out in time to collect Social Security and move to the beach.

[Hat tip to Sentencing Law and Policy.]

India has released the world's oldest prison inmate, Brij Bihari Pandey, a Hindu Priest who began serving a life sentence for murder at 84.

He is now 108. He can't walk so his relatives carried him from the prison. But he had a broad smile, and hugged his fellow inmates goodbye, as he was presented with a wreath. He said,

God is great. Thank you."

India said his medical care was becoming too costly, so they freed him on humanitarian grounds. What a great Fathers Day gift for his children and grandchildren.

Five inmates testified in for Amanda Knox today at an appeals court hearing in Italy.

Prosecutors are doing everything they can to say these witnesses are hardened criminals who can't be trusted.

Whatever happened to "what's good for the goose is good for the gander?" Prosecutors never say that when they call criminals as snitches to prove someone guilty. Then they say things like "you have to lay down with dogs to catch the fleas" or that the criminal may be a bad person but he's telling the jury the truth. [More...]

How long did police hold Dominique Strauss-Kahn at the office of a detectives' unit before formally arresting him, Mirandizing him and bringing him before a Judge? Why wasn't he brought to a jail to await the judge? Why did they wait until late Sunday afternoon to bring the accuser in for a lineup -- so they could make sure she had enough time to see his face plastered all over TV (which she did?)

Here's the Disclosure Statement the District Attorney filed today.

May 14:

• 4:40 pm: Police remove him from jetway
• 5:00 pm: Arrive at JFK Port Authority Precinct. He's handcuffed (in custody, not free to leave.)
• 5:15 pm: En route to Manhattan Special Victims Squad
• 5:40 pm: At Manhattan Special Victims Squad, still hasn't been able to call the consulate or a lawyer
• 9:00 pm: Still at Manhattan Special Victims Squad and still hasn't been able to call a lawyer. He asks them if he needs a lawyer. They answer, it's his right in this country. They add they don't know if he has any kind of diplomatic status. He says:

  No, No, No, I'm not trying to use that. I just want to know if I need a lawyer

  Answer: That's up to you.

• 10:55 pm: Still at the Manhattan Special Victims Squad, has talked to his lawyer, they still are asking him if he wants to talk, he says no.
• 11:20 pm: Still at Manhattan Special Victims Squad, they offer him something to eat.

Time Magazine reports a federal grand jury is investigating the 2003 torture and killing of Manadel al-Jamadi at Abu Ghraib as a potential war crime. Years ago, navy seals were charged over the death. At least one went to trial and was found not guilty.

TIME has obtained a copy of a subpoena signed by Durham that points to his grand jury's broader mandate, which could involve charging additional CIA officers and contract employees in other cases. The subpoena says "the grand jury is conducting an investigation of possible violations of federal criminal laws involving War Crimes (18 USC/2441), Torture (18 USC 243OA) and related federal offenses." [More...]

McClatchy reports on anonymously sourced accounts of the final plea negotiations between John Edwards and the Government. It's very detailed.

The essence: Edwards had a choice between a felony and the ability to argue for no jail time, or a plea to three misdemeanors and a six month sentence. If he took the latter, he couldn't argue for home detention or a halfway house instead of prison.

Because the misdemeanor deal would have precluded him from arguing for a non-jail sentence, he turned it down. The final negotiations lasted past Midnight on Thursday, and into Friday morning, just minutes before the grand jury returned the Indictment on Friday. [More...]

The charges in the John Edwards Indictment are all premised on the assumption that the monies from Fred Baron and Bunny Mellon that ended up financing Rielle Hunter and Andrew Young's excellent adventures were campaign contributions rather than gifts. If they weren't campaign contributions, there's no crime.

There's no case law on point. There are no prior federal prosecutions alleging a candidate mislabeled a campaign contribution as a gift, thereby violating federal election law.

What the Government told Edwards' attorneys and election law experts prior to the Indictment was that there was a FEC civil advisory opinion in 2000 (the Harvey opinion) that supported its position. Team Edwards responded that opinion was distinguishable from his situation, and pointed out another advisory opinion (the Moran opinion) in 2002, closer to his situation which concluded the donated money was not a campaign contribution. The Wall St. Journal has more here, and also check out election law expert Rick Hasen at Slate.

Neither opinion is directly on point in Edwards' case. Both are distinguishable. And newer FEC advisory opinions clearly state the opinions are not only advisory, but that they are not to be relied on in cases with distinguishable facts. [More...]

Update: Here is John Edwards' statement after his court appearance today.

John Edwards has arrived at the federal courthouse in North Carolina with his daughter Cate.

The unnamed staffer in the Indictment who claimed John Edwards knew of Fred Baron's payments to Rielle Hunter during the campaign is reportedly Wendy Button. She didn't include that detail in her article on helping draft the statement admitting paternity (which wasn't used.) [More...]

The John Edwards Indictment has arrived. It contains six counts. You can read it here.

It's all about Rielle Hunter and Andrew Young, Fred Baron and Bunny Mellon. Nothing as I thought here about his PACS and other campaign related companies. The New York Times writes:

At issue are financial contributions that prosecutors say Mr. Edwards received in excess of federal limits, did not report properly and then misused for the political purpose of hiding his extramarital affair to save his candidacy. Mr. Edwards, 57, has maintained that he used the money to hide the affair, but for private purposes — to conceal it from his wife.

[More...]

Dominique Strauss-Kahn's lawyers have written a letter to Manhattan DA Cy Vance complaining about leaks of information, which they attribute to New York police. The letter has been filed with the court.

The letter also states they have uncovered material to undermine the credibilty of the hotel maid accusing DSK of sexual assault.

“Indeed, were we intent on improperly feeding the media frenzy, we could now release substantial information that in our view would seriously undermine the quality of this prosecution and also gravely undermine the credibility of the complainant in this case.”

The letter was also a discovery request. Apparently, what's being leaked in the media hasn't yet been turned over to the defense. Defense lawyers shouldn't have to learn the evidence against their client from media reports consisting of selectively leaked information from anonymous cops.

The Manhattan District Attorney's office just lost a big rape case. After a six week trial and seven days of deliberations, the jury acquitted two police officers of rape, burglary, and falsifying business records, and convicted only on misdemeanor official conduct charges. The cops were immediately fired due to misdemeanor convictions, and they face up to two years in jail, but they avoid a potential 25 year sentence on the rape charge.

Congrats to my pal Joe Tacopina who defended officer Kenneth Moreno. There was no DNA evidence in the case.

The jury placed little faith in what prosecutors thought was their best evidence - a secret recording in which Moreno seemingly admits to the rape, he said. "He said on that tape 24 times that he did not have sex with that woman," Tacopina said.

[More...]