The FBI explains the 40 search warrants it executed yesterday pertaining to "Anonymous", a group of hackers that engaged in Denial of Service (DDOS)attacks on MasterCard, Visa, Paypal and Amazon as retaliation for cutting off Wikileaks.

No one was arrested in the U.S. but the offenses, if charged, carry up to ten years in prison. The FBI says:

The FBI also is reminding the public that facilitating or conducting a DDoS attack is illegal, punishable by up to 10 years in prison, as well as exposing participants to significant civil liability.

The five people arrested in the U.K. after warrants were executed there have been released on bail. Anonymous issued this letter in response to the U.K. arrests, calling them a "Declaration of War." [More...]

Here come the Government leaks in the Jared Loughner case. The Washington Post reports:

In the weeks and days before the shooting rampage in Tucson, suspect Jared Lee Loughner surfed the Internet on his computer in what investigators believe was an effort to prepare for his alleged assassination attempt, law enforcement sources familiar with the investigation said.

Loughner pulled up several Web sites about lethal injections and solitary confinement in prison, said the sources, who asked to be anonymous because the investigation is ongoing. He also viewed Internet sites about political assassins, according to an analysis of Loughner's computer that was completed by investigators last week, the sources said. (My emphasis.)

According to the Post: [More...]

A federal judge today ruled financier Allen Stanford is incompetent to stand trial due to his inability to assist his lawyers in his own defense.

Several of the news reports on the ruling highlight the judge's finding that Stanford is addicted to drugs he has been given at the federal detention center and need to withdraw from them. A review of the pleadings and court orders in the case (available on PACER, and which I've been following for a few months) tell a much more complex story.

Stanford didn't take these drugs prior to being detained pending trial. He was viciously assaulted in pre-trial detention and sustained brain injuries. Then he was given the medication. Only by withdrawing from them can doctors now determine whether his cognitive deficits are the result of the drugs or the traumatic brain injury he sustained when assaulted. .[More...]

Following up on medical marijuana raids conducted last fall, the Feds have indicted 11 people in Nevada. John Birmele, Jr., the owner of The Happiness Consultants, is charged with 15 counts including distribution of marijuana, using a firearm in
drug trafficking and concealing information from social security. The indictments are here and here.

Nevada state law is a little peculiar.

Under Nevada state law, a person with a medical marijuana license can legally possess up to one ounce of pot and grow seven plants. Technically, it's illegal to buy or sell it.

Many people who are authorized to possess pot in Nevada have argued that state law is a "catch 22". Unlike California, there aren't any legal dispensaries patients can go to. The Las Vegas businesses that were raided are only legally licensed to consult patients in getting medical marijuana cards.

Nevada needs to authorize and regulate dispensaries as do other states. While its law allows people to use medical marijuana, they must grow it themselves. Not everyone has a green thumb. And it's questionable whether it's legal for anyone to possess the seeds needed to grow a marijuana plant.

A grand jury in Philadelphia has returned an Indictment against Dr. Kermit Gosnell and several of his staff, charging them with first degree murder, racketeering and other crimes. Gosnell owned and operated a clinic that performed abortions. His patients were mostly poor and minorities. He allegedly performed late-term abortions, past 24 weeks (the legal cut-off.) During these procedures, he allegedly would induce labor, extract the allegedly viable fetus, and sever the fetus' spinal cord using scissors. The Indictment alleges the fetuses were viable babies born alive, and Dr. Gosnell's actions were murder.

It alleges his unlicensed staff administered labor inducing drugs and narcotics for pain relief in his absence (he only showed up at night after the women had been writhing around in pain all day), and then, amidst squalid conditions and re-using unsanitized equipment, he extracted the fetuses.

The District Attorney has released the Grand Jury's report of its findings. You can read it here. (Don't read it if you are squeamish.) [More....]

The Washington Post reported anonymous federal sources said a federal judge in Arizona would decide on moving the trial of Jared Loughner to San Diego and it would probably happen in the next few weeks. It predicted the trial would be moved. The Justice Department responded with a statement it would oppose any motion to move the trial out of Arizona.

Slow down. First, the Arizona federal bench has recused itself and only Judge Larry Burns, who has been assigned to preside over the case by designation, can make the decision.

Second, and more importantly, the trial can only be moved if Jared Loughner asks for it to be moved. [More...]

President Barack Obama is addressing the nation in Tucson at the memorial service for the victims of the Arizona shootings. You can watch live here.

"Bad things happen, and we must guard against simple explanations in the aftermath," Obama said at a memorial service for the victims.

"The truth is that none of us can know exactly what triggered this vicious attack. None of us can know with any certainty what might have stopped those shots from being fired, or what thoughts lurked in the inner recesses of a violent man's mind," he said.

"We cannot use this time to turn on each other." [More...]

Judge Larry A. Burns of the Southern District of California has been appointed by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to preside over the Arizona federal case of Jared Loughner. From the order (available on PACER)"

Based upon the circumstances occurring on January 8, 2011 in Tucson and the initiation of proceedings in conjunction with them, the impartiality of the District and Magistrate Judges in the District of Arizona might reasonably be questioned. It is therefore determined, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 455(a), all District and Magistrate Judges in the District of Arizona must be disqualified from presiding in this case and all related matters.

Accordingly, IT IS ORDERED all District and Magistrate Judges in the District of Arizona are recused from hearing case number 11-35M and all related matters.

The chief prosecutor will be Wallace H. Kleindienst. AUSA Patrick Cunningham has withdrawn. Entering their appearances to assist Kleindienst in the past few days are AUSA Mary Sue Feldmeier, Beverly K. Anderson, and Christina M. Cabanillas. So far the defense team consists of Judy Clarke, her associate Mark Fleming, and the Federal Defender's Office of San Diego.

Following the preliminary hearing in the case of Michael Jackson's doctor, Conrad Murray, an LA judge has ordered him to stand trial on a charge of involuntary manslaughter.

Prosecutors contended the Houston-based cardiologist was on the phone and distracted after administering a powerful anesthetic to Jackson. They also presented evidence the singer was dead by the time Murray summoned help.

Judge Michael Pastor also ordered Conrad's medical license was ordered revoked as a condition of bail.

Circumstances have changed," Pastor said in court this afternoon. "They have changed dramatically. There are extraordinary circumstances that mandate my approving the request of the [California] Medical Board. Overall consideration is the protection of the public. The continued practice by Dr. Murray does pose an imminent danger to the state of California."

[More...]

The parents of Jared Loughner, accused of the Arizona shootings, have released a statement.

There are no words that can possibly express how we feel. We wish that there were, so we could make you feel better. We don’t understand why this happened. It may not make any difference, but we wish that we could change the heinous events of Saturday. We care very deeply about the victims and their families. We are so sorry for their loss.”

More former friends of Loughner are coming forward, some describing him as extremely paranoid. At times he thought there was a plot to kill him.

Two national polls show a majority of Americans do not believe the tone of political discourse in the country played a role in the shootings.

I haven't written a word about political discourse and Jared Loughner because I don't think political discourse, or even politics, has anything to do with his motive for the Arizona shootings. Nightline attempted to explore some possible motivations last night, and had an interesting discussion on Loughner's obsession with lucid dreaming. (It starts about 3 minutes, 10 seconds into the clip above.)

Lucid dreaming is when a person becomes aware they are dreaming during the dream. Lucid dreamers believe they can manipulate and control the dream -- even change the plot and outcome of the dream. [More...]

Jared Loughner just caught the biggest break of his life. CNN reports the federal court says former Spokane federal defender (also National Capital Resource Counsel and Federal Community Defender in San Diego), Judy Clarke has been appointed to represent him. (Judy is now in private practice in San Diego.)Via CNN:

Veteran federal public defender Judy Clarke, who has experience in several high-profile cases including those of "Unabomber" Ted Kaczynski and convicted terrorist Zacarias Moussaoui, was appointed to defend suspect Jared Lee Loughner, a federal judicial source said.

They don't make defense lawyers any better than Judy. You may remember her from the Susan Smith case in South Carolina, where Smith was charged with drowning her two sons; or the Unabomber case, or the case of Eric Rudolf. Thanks to Judy (and those who helped her), all avoided the death penalty. She also worked on the Zacarias Moussaoui defense team for a while. The AP called her "a one woman dream team."

Judy is a past-President of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL), where she's affectionately called "Saint Judy" -- and a friend. She is both a great person and a great lawyer. [More...]