Private Bradley Manning's criminal case just got a lot more difficult. The Government has added 22 new charges, including one, aiding the enemy, that provides for a life sentence (Actually, it also could result in a death sentence, but the Government has said it won't seek the death penalty. How gracious of them.)

He was charged in May with 12 counts of illegally downloading and sharing classified material, including a secret video and military and diplomatic documents.

The new charges include allegations he used "unauthorized software on government computers to download classified information and to make intelligence available to "the enemy". [More...]

Prosecutors in Philadelphia announced today they will seek the death penalty against abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell. They asked for an extension of time to decide whether they will also seek the death penalty against his co-defendants.

We are seeking the death penalty” against Gosnell because of two “aggravating factors” — he’s accused of multiple murders and his alleged victims are younger than age 12, Pescatore said.

His lawyer, Jack McMahon, says:

“He’s a 70-year-old man with no previous record. And Pennsylvania hasn’t carried out an execution in years (since 1999). The reality is there will be no death penalty for Mr. Gosnell, so why clog up the court system with a death penalty case that is death penalty in name only?” McMahon said.

The facts of the case, which I reported on at length here, are gruesome. But the death penalty is overkill. And to use it as a bargaining chip against the co-defendants is particularly odious: [More..]

Opening arguments begin today in the trial of James Arthur Ray, owner of the Sedona, AZ sweat lodge where three people died in 2009. Ray is charged with three counts of manslaughter. The prosecution alleges he was criminally reckless. Among other things:

Prosecutors maintain that Ray psychologically pressured participants to remain in the lodge even when they weren't feeling well, contributing to their deaths.

The defense claims the deaths were an accident.

"We do not seek to minimize the tragedy of the sweat lodge deaths," said a December 2009 letter to prosecutors from defense attorney Luis Li. "But these deaths were not the result of criminal conduct. Mr. Ray and his team relied on Angel Valley to provide a safe environment, warned people of the risks, did not force people to participate, did not prevent them from leaving, and did everything they could to prepare for any problems and to assist when problems arose."

The Indictment is here. Each count carries a possible penalty of four to ten years in prison. Background from the article: [More..]

In the Smugglers Blues department: Two crew members of the Royal Caribbean cruise ship were busted after more than 50 kilos of cocaine were found in their cabins and on one of their persons. The ship had been in Cartegena, and was docked at Montego Bay when the drugs were discovered. According to this news video (no commercials), the first crew member had exited the ship wearing "rather roomy clothing" drawing police suspicion. He was searched, and after the coke was found on his body, was taken back to the ship where more was found in his cabin. Then they got a second crew member.

Is it a new trend? Two weeks ago, a Jamaican waiter on the cruise ship Explorer of the Seas was sentenced to 15 years for bringing four kilos of coke into Bermuda. [More...]

The DEA raided Florida pain clinics today, arresting 22 people, including 5 doctors. The raids, part of "Operation Pill Nation," took place in Miami, Broward and Palm Beach counties. The charges include drug and money laundering violations.

A few weeks ago Florida Governor Rick Scott halted the state's planned prescription monitoring database program, calling it a waste of financial resources and privacy invasive. 38 states have the program. [More...]

Is the time right to legalize marijuana? Should it be legalized? The Seattle Times makes a powerful argument for legalization now and passage of Washington state's HB 1550. Can Washington succeed where California failed? An analysis of the bill is here. The Times says,

Pass HB 1550. Legalize cannabis, regulate it, tax it. It is radical, yet commonsensical.

Its reasons: The cost of marijuana prohibition: [More...]

Patricia Marilyn Spottedcrow and her mother sold $10.00 of marijuana to a police informant inside their home. Patricia's children were present. When the informant paid her, she asked her son for single dollar bills so she could make change. A few weeks later, the informant returned and bought $20.00 of pot.

Both women were first-time offenders. They were offered two years in prison and turned it down, pleading guilty without plea agreements. Patricia got ten years in prison, her mother got 30 years suspended, with five years of drug treatment. Both received fines in the thousands of dollars. Patricia was taken into custody immediately. She has effectively lost her four children and her husband. She was unemployed at the time, and the family had recently lost their home. She had previously been employed at a nursing home, as a certified nursing assistant and certified medical assistant, work she'll never get again when out of prison.

Here's what her life will be like in prison. Here's a photo of Patricia Marilyn Spottedcrow in prison.She won't be up for parole until 2014. [More....]

Abdulwali Muse, the young Somali pirate, was sentenced in federal court today to 34 years in prison.

Muse pleaded guilty last May. As part of the agreement, prosecutors said they would seek a sentence of at least 27 years but no more than 33 years and 9 months. Today they asked for the maximum.

NYTimes:

[Bernie Madoff] asserted that unidentified banks and hedge funds were somehow “complicit” in his elaborate fraud, an about-face from earlier claims that he was the only person involved.

[. . .] He spoke with great intensity and fluency about his dealings with various banks and hedge funds, pointing to their “willful blindness” and their failure to examine discrepancies between his regulatory filings and other information available to them. “They had to know,” Mr. Madoff said. “But the attitude was sort of, ‘If you’re doing something wrong, we don’t want to know.’”

"They had to know" seems the operative phrase of the past decade. "They had to know" that the Bush tax cuts would blow up the budget. "They had to know" the Iraq Debacle was a fraud. "They had to know" that Wall Street was a crooked casino. "They had to know" that banks were abusing HAMP. And so on.

Speaking for me only

Your client is charged with a crime considered so awful that the entire country hates him. He becomes the new poster child for "the worst of the worst." How do you gain his trust to be able to provide an effective defense? This new profile of Judy Clarke, defending Jared Loughner, in the New York Times, provides some clues.

Lindsay Lohan was charged today with felony theft and violating her 2007 DUI probation. She appeared in court and pleaded not guilty. (Background here.) She was released after being booked and posting bond, $20,000.00 for each charge. The judge gave her a stern warning -- if she gets arrested while on bond, he will keep her locked up.

You're in a different situation now that a felony has been filed against you...If you violate the law, I will remand you and set no bail...A felony is a different situation and you're not entitled to bail.

The judge indicated plea negotiations would be taking place before the next hearing. TMZ's video of the judge speaking to Lindsay is here. Here's what she wore to court.

I doubt she'll end up with either a felony on her record or significant jail time. Her biggest problem may be avoiding new allegations while these charges are pending. She seems to be a magnet for them. [More...]

So it appears Lindsay Lohan was captured on camera at the jewelry store wearing the exact $2,500 necklace she will be charged with grand theft this afternoon in court in LA. Her assistant returned the necklace to the police before the search warrant for her house was executed.

So: One of a few things happened: Lindsay tried on the necklace, liked it, and told her assistant to make the arrangements for her to have it on a loaner basis --and the assistant forgot and didn't tell the store. So the store, not having the lending paperwork filled out, thought it had been stolen. Second case scenario: Lindsay tried on the necklace and it is so light she didnt' realize she still had it on when she left the shop. As soon as she was told the police were going to do a search warrant, she told her friend to bring it back Third case scenario, Lindsay tried on the necklace to see if it would go with a specific outfit she had at home. She asked the salesgirl if she could take it home to match with the outfit, promising to return to either buy it or return it. She had other things on her mind for a few days and forgot, and as soon as the news of a search warrant surfaced, she had her assistant return it.

Whichever one it is, it sounds like Lindsay will say (1) borrowing jewelry is her and everyone else's customary practice and stars have assistants to deal with the paperwork; she never intended to permanently deprive the store of the necklace (I bet we'll hear that once she wore it at home with her clothes she decided and asked for it to be returned -- maybe even say she told her aide to return it. [More...]