A Pennsylvania jury has convicted former U.N. weapons inspector Scott Ritter of engaging in an internet chat with a minor. The minor was a police officer pretending to be a 15 year old. Part of the evidence was a video chat in which Ritter performed a sex act on himself.

Ritter testified in his defense. He said he thought the officer was just pretending to be 15. His wife also testified at the trial.

The jury also heard evidence from a sealed, 2001 case against Ritter in which the charges were dismissed: [More...]

Baseball legend Barry Bonds was convicted of one count of obstruction of justice today. The jury was unable to reach a verdict on three counts alleging Bonds made false statements to the grand jury.

What an odd verdict. To convict on the obstruction count, the jury had to consider 7 separate statements, and determine which, if any constituted obstruction. They had to be unanimous on the particular statement.

Of the 7 statements, the jury found Bonds obstructed justice as to one of them, referred to as "Statement C." (The first three statements were the same as those alleged in the three false statement counts. The jury didn't find he obstructed justice with any of those statements. The other four statements were passages from his grand jury testimony, with the underlined portion being the statement the Government alleged amounted to obstruction.)

Here is the instruction the jury was given on obstruction of justice: [More...]

Bernie Madoff was recently interviewed in prison by Financial Times. Like always, he takes full responsibility and insists none of his family members were involved. He says his illegal activity began in the 90's. The trustee has said Bernie's illegal activities began in the 80's. He also predicts the trustee will not only recover all the principal invested by the victims, but some profits as well:

“I said at the very beginning when I met with the SEC and Picard that my hope is that everyone will receive their principal [which amounts to $20bn]. Back then, everyone laughed. But [Picard] has already recovered $10bn and he will cover $20bn easily. If he is successful, he may get $50bn. That means that there will be $30bn profits to go around, which would make me one of the greatest money managers in modern history.”

[More...]

Closing arguments were held yesterday in the Barry Bonds perjury trial. If you thought you could get a sense of how they went from media reports, think again. It's like they were in different courtrooms watching different trials.

The San Francisco Chronicle reporter leans heavily towards the Government, praising prosecutors and characterizing the defense as "flailing around."

...the prosecutors finished strong, while the defense seemed to flail around, devoting a lot of its time to attacking governmental power.

Mark Purdy at the San Jose Mercury News said the opposite: Defense attorney Allen Ruby "stole the show" and owned the courtroom while the prosecutors never connected:

Allen Ruby, the lead Bonds attorney, easily won the best of show award for the trial. Friday, he was a Pavarotti during his closing argument, his deep voice commanding the courtroom as he uttered memorable quotes...By contrast, the leadoff prosecutor, Jeff Nedrow, looked like Alex Smith trying to win a big game for the 49ers. Very smart, very earnest, but never quite able to make the big statement when it counted.

[More...]

The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld the convictions of Enron's Jeff Skilling. The opinion is here.

In a 13-page ruling, a three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld all 19 convictions of conspiracy, fraud and other crimes. It also reaffirmed its 2009 decision that vacated Skilling's sentences of more than 24 years in federal prison and ordered a resentencing. In the 2009 ruling, the appeals court ruled that the sentencing judge misapplied federal sentencing guidelines.

Some of Skilling's convictions were for honest services fraud, which the Supreme Court has since held invalid. The Supreme Court remanded the case back to the 5th Circuit to decide "whether the honest services instruction amounted to harmless error." Today, the 5th Circuit found just that: harmless error, meaning the convictions stand:

Based on our own thorough examination of the considerable record in this case, we find that the jury was presented with overwhelming evidence that Skilling conspired to commit securities fraud, and thus we conclude beyond a reasonable doubt that the verdict would have been the same absent the alternative-theory error.

[More...]

I've been writing for over a year about what I call the DEA's African Vacations. Shorter version: DEA agents go to Africa, set up an elaborate sting, whereby cocaine from South America is flown to Ghana or elsewhere in Africa, so that it can be transported to Europe, its final destination. Even though the cocaine isn't headed to the U.S., the feds in the U.S. indict the participants, have them arrested/kidnapped in Africa and fly them to the U.S. to stand trial on charges ranging from conspiracy to provide material support to a terrorist organization and conspiracy to commit narco-terrorism, to conspiracy to distribute or import drugs.

If the Government is successful in the prosecutions, we will bear not only the cost of the overseas investigation, the cost of prosecution (and in many cases, the cost of defending those charged), and the cost of pre-trial detention, but also the cost of incarceration of those convicted for the next 10 or 20 years. [More...]

Saturday we reported the prosecutor in Willie Nelson's possession of marijuana case offered to let him off with a fine if he sang at the courthouse.

The D.A. is 78 and Willie is 77. The DA says “He’s been my favorite artist all my life. We all know he smokes a little pot.”

Today, the judge said the singing part of the offer was a joke that had gotten out of hand and Willie won't have to sing at the courthouse. He can just pay a fine. (The fine is $100. and court costs are $278.)

Nelson was arrested Nov. 26 when a Border Patrol agent claimed to smell marijuana emanating from his tour bus at the Sierra Blanca checkpoint. After a search, just over six ounces of pot was found on the bus.

Which doesn't mean Willie isn't civic-minded. He'll be playing a benefit in Maui April 10 for victims of the earthquake and tsunami. Nelson is a part-time Maui resident. Also performing: Michael McDonald and Mick Fleetwood.

You remember when Willie Nelson was busted at the border with 6 oz of pot? Those charges have now been resolved. He gets off with a fine and playing a song:

Nelson was arrested Nov. 26 after a Border Patrol agent smelled pot wafting from Nelson’s tour bus at the Sierra Blanca checkpoint. A little more than six ounces was found on the bus.

Nelson was arraigned and on the road again after paying a $2,500 bond. Now the charges have been fully resolved. He has to pay a $100 fine and sing a song at the courthouse:

Update: The text of the memo is here.

The Wall St. Journal has obtained a copy of a new Department of Justice Memorandum authorizing a delay in providing Miranda rights to terror suspects in certain circumstances.

The move is one of the Obama administration's most significant revisions to rules governing the investigation of terror suspects in the U.S. And it potentially opens a new political tussle over national security policy, as the administration marks another step back from pre-election criticism of unorthodox counterterror methods.

Isn't this a risky move by DOJ? What authority does it have to change Miranda rights? Shouldn't this be up to Congress or the Supreme Court? [More..]

The Government began presenting its evidence yesterday in the trial of baseball giant Barry Bonds, who is charged with making false declarations to the grand jury about steroid use and obstruction of justice.

Jeff Novitsky, former IRS agent and lead investigator in the steroid cases, was the first witness. He testified Bonds' misstatements to the grand jury hampered the investigation. One of the elements of the false statement charge is that the statement had to be material to the grand jury investigation.

Also yesterday, the Judge sent Bonds' former trainer, Gregg Anderson, back to jail for refusing to testify. He'll stay there for the duration of the trial, which is expected to last a month. [More..]

Former NY Giants linebacker Lawrence Taylor was sentenced to six years of probation today for to sexual misconduct and having sex with an underage prostitute.

Attorney Gloria Allred gave a press conference after the sentence, accompanied by the underage woman, whose identity up until today was kept under wraps. Gloria, of course, was unhappy Taylor wasn't sentenced to life plus cancer.

She was even more upset the judge didn't allow the accuser to read a victim impact statement in court. The judge pointed out that it's allowed only for felonies.

Allred's presser rendered Taylor's attorney, Arthur Aidala, completely apoplectic. He then took to the mike. TMZ has the video of him excoriating Allred. Allred was present during the tirade. She laughed through the whole thing.

The irony is too rich for it not to make headlines: The Las Vegas assistant D.A. who prosecuted Paris Hilton and Bruno Mars is himself busted for coke possession. But once you get past the titillating factor, I'm not sure the facts add up.

Clark County Deputy District Attorney David Schubert, who for the past two years has been assigned to a federal-state task force, and who prosecuted Paris Hilton and Bruno Mars for cocaine possession last year, was arrested this weekend in Las Vegas after having someone purchase a "rock" of cocaine for him.

According to the arrest report, police on routine patrol (in plain clothes) observed a man in a BMW (DA Schubert) pick up an African American male, identified as Raymond Streeter, in a neighborhood known for drug trafficking. They drove to an apartment complex where Streeter exited the car and went into the complex. Schubert drove around the block for a few minutes then returned to pick up Streeter. The officer says Schubert then made a turn without signaling, so he stopped the car. Streeter bolted, but the cop chased him and with the help of a second cop, captured him. Streeter waived his Miranda rights and ratted out Schubert, saying Schubert had been using him to buy cocaine several times a week for months. [More...]