This is very big news. For background, go here.

Secret Service reports in 1995 state the agency had a video showing the Ryder truck pulling up to the federal building in OKC minutes before the bomb exploded --and that it depicts the "suspects" exiting the vehicle. Up until now, the Government has always claimed McVeigh was alone in the truck. Federal prosecutors and agents say they didn't know about the video.

The article has much more on evidence the Secret Service didn't disclose. If this is true, we hope the Judge in the Terry Nichols trial follows through with his promise to dismiss the case against Nichols, with prejudice.

Today is the 9th anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing.

Update: You can view the OKC documents obtained by the AP here (pdf.)

Terry Nichols' lawyers asked the court today to dismiss the charges against him, alleging that the Government has withheld critical information. The last time this occurred, the Judge said he would throw out the case if it happened again. He has taken the motion under advisement.

The motion claims prosecutors have withheld a video showing suspects leaving the Ryder rental truck that delivered the bomb just over three minutes before the detonation. No such video has been shown to exist. It also claims prosecutors failed to disclose a phone call McVeigh made to a right-wing enclave in Oklahoma known as Elohim City after he rented the Ryder truck. Allegations have surfaced over the years that McVeigh might have received help from people living there.

The motion also says prosecutors did not provide defense attorneys with documents disclosed in a series of Associated Press stories raising the possibility of additional accomplices in the bombing. Those documents included two 1990s teletypes from then-FBI Director Louis Freeh's office citing possible connections between McVeigh and a gang of white supremacist bank robbers.

A video showing suspects leaving the Ryder rental truck that delivered the bomb just over three minutes before the detonation? That's news to us, and if it exists, that would be powerful, new evidence.

Kobe Bryant's lawyers have responded to his accuser's and the prosecution's request to set a trial date. They point out what is obvious to us, that Kobe's life also is being ruined by the criminal case against him.

"The accuser's false accusation of rape has exacted a personal and professional toll on Mr. Bryant that is as incalculable as it is indescribable. No one looks forward to this case being over more than Mr. Bryant," his attorneys Pamela Mackey and Hal Haddon said in a court filing. Bryant could have entered his not guilty plea when he first appeared in court, but he has been proceeding in accordance with court policy, his lawyers said. "Kobe Bryant requests that this court accept his not guilty plea and set a trial date consistent with the Fifth Judicial District's policy and this court's schedule," the defense said.

Kobe's lawyers point out that the delay is not attributable to Kobe:

Instead, the defense blamed delays on disputes over evidence testing and handing over of evidence so the defense could conduct independent testing on the accuser's underwear. The defense maintains that prosecutors have not turned over evidence that could point to Bryant's innocence as prosecutors in the United States are required to do.

Kobe's lawyers dispute the accuser's mother's contention that her daughter "was forced to quit school and was being followed by the media and the defense."

The defense said such statements were incorrect or misleading and "calculated to create public sympathy."

by TChris

The Supreme Court heard arguments yesterday in a case that could have a profound impact on the future of the federal sentencing guidelines. In an attempt to persuade his wife not to divorce him, Ralph Blakely forced her to travel from their home in Washington to family property in Montana. It's easy to understand why Blakely's wife wanted a divorce: during much of the trip, Blakely made her ride in a coffin in the back of his pickup truck with her wrists bound and head wrapped in duct tape. He also threated to shoot their son, who managed to escape on the way to Montana. Blakely was arrested and returned to Washington, where he eventually agreed to plead guilty to two reduced charges while maintaining his innocence.

The maximum sentence was 10 years, but Washington's sentencing guidelines called for a sentence of 53 months. Deciding that deliberate cruelty and violence were aggravating factors that justified a longer sentence, the judge imposed 90 months. Blakely argues that the longer sentence violates Apprendi v. New Jersey because the aggravating factors that increased his sentence were not submitted to a jury or proved beyond a reasonable doubt. The Washington courts disagreed, holding that Apprendi only requires a jury to determine a fact if the existence of the fact would increase the statutory maximum sentence.

Kobe Bryant's accuser testified for 3 hours behind closed doors today. She did not appear upset going in or during the break. We read one report that she seemed shaken when it was over, but we're told by someone present at the courthouse that it isn't so. The accuser was observed right after she left the stand out back smoking a cigarette, talking to her lawyer and looking normal.

The bellhop is on the stand now and has been on for a while. The defense has alleged that the accuser had sexual relations with two prosecution witnesses. He is the first person to have seen her when she came out of Kobe's room. If they were intimately involved at the time, it could show bias and negatively impact his credibility as a trial witness.

We think the fact that the questioning only lasted three hours shows the defense was focused, they knew what they were looking for and they got in and out.

Another witness was the accuser's roommate at University of Northern Colorado. The witnesses for the hearing have been put in another courtroom to wait their turn. We're told that there are at least 15 of them--and some are still driving up. It sounds unlikely that this portion of the hearing will be over today.

[comments now closed]

Kobe Bryant's accuser will testify tomorrow about her sex life--behind closed doors.

The hearing will be held to determine whether details of the woman's sex life can be introduced at Bryant's trial. The defense says the information should be admitted because it could show that the woman's injuries were caused by another sexual partner and that she had a "scheme" to sleep with Bryant, possibly to gain the attention of an ex-boyfriend. The prosecution fought to limit defense questioning, but was rebuffed by the Colorado Supreme Court. The hearing will be the first time the woman has faced Bryant since their encounter last summer.

We'll be talking about it tomorrow on Fox (12:20 ET)- and on MSNBC on the Abrams Report around 6:30 ET.

[Fox cancelled due to coverage of 9/11 hearings....Abrams may do the same. Fox moved to 9:30 ET Thursday--Abrams will also do Thursday]

Death row inmate David Paul Hammer plans to testify at Terry Nichols' trial that while Hammer and Timothy McVeigh were in nearby cells on death row, McVeigh told him that Nichols refused to help build the bomb--and that the bomb was built in an Oklahoma warehouse and not in Kansas. The prosecution says Hammer is not a credible witness. He is scheduled to be executed June 8 for killing a cellmate. More on Hammer and his upcoming book can be found here.

The jury has been seated. Opening arguments are set for March 22.

Nichols' attorneys plan to argue that McVeigh framed him to shield the real accomplices in the bombing. The attorneys have said Hammer will tell jurors that McVeigh revealed who else was involved in the 1995 attack, including the identity of a second person believed to have been with McVeigh on the day of the bombing. Hammer told the newspaper the second person was a member of the Aryan Republican Army, a gang of white supremacist bank robbers.

In only 9 days, a jury has been seated for the Oklahoma murder trial of Terry Nichols. We find this shocking. Even with a change of venue to Denver, and a trial in federal court-- which is known for limited voir dire as compared to that allowed by state courts-- jury selection lasted a month in Terry Nichols' case and three weeks in the case of Timothy McVeigh.

With so much prejudice against Nichols in Oklahoma, the short jury selection process--with most of the questioning done by the judge--gives us very little confidence that this will be a fair trial.

Big win for Kobe Bryant today. The Colorado Supreme Court has declined to hear (PDF) a prosecution appeal of the trial court's order allowing the defense to question the accuser at a closed door hearing about her past sexual history.

Jury selection continues in the Terry Nichols trial. A potential juror yesterday told the Judge she heard 4 or 5 other potential jurors saying they intended to lie to get on the jury and convict Nichols. The Judge refused a defense motion for a mistrial. None of those jurors made it through the initial phase.

Still, if there were 4 or 5 who said it aloud, how many more were thinking the same thing? How many others were swayed by the remarks?

More details are here.

A potential juror revealed Tuesday that she overheard three or four others talk about lying to get on the jury so they could convict Terry Nichols. "I had to tell them right offhand that's not what we're here for," she told the judge, prosecutors and defense attorneys. "We took an oath to be fair and impartial, and this whole time they're lying. That's wrong."

Judge Steven Taylor refused a defense request for a mistrial because of the revelation but promised to "deal with this."

Jury selection began today in the state trial of Terry Nichols. Oklahoma is seeking the death penalty against him. The Judge denied the latest defense request for a continuance based on news that the FBI had not turned over all documents regarding other suspects, however, he gave the prosecution a stern warning:

"This case is going to trial today because this court has been assured" by state prosecutors and federal officials that they have turned over to the defense all relevant documents, Taylor said. Should that prove to be false, the judge said, "There will not be a mistrial. There will be a dismissal of this case."

Given the repeated failure of the FBI to get its act together regarding the documents in this case, our money is on a dismissal.

Bump and Update: Kobe's lawyers say his accuser may have had sex within 15 hours after having sex with Kobe:

Kobe Bryant's lawyers said today that the woman accusing him of rape had sex with someone else less than 15 hours after her alleged assault by the NBA star. The accusation was made in a court filing in which the defense argued that the woman's sex life should be admissible at Bryant's trial, despite Colorado's rape-shield law.

The defense said the woman had "multiple acts of sex" in the three days before her June 30 encounter with Bryant. Bryant's lawyers also said she had sex with two prosecution witnesses, which could affect their credibility.

If one of those sex partners is the bellman, so much for his value as a "prompt outcry" witness. He'd hardly be an impartial witness. It also strikes us as rather non-credible that a rape victim would have consensual sex within 15 hours of being raped.

The defense won a key ruling today. The Judge ordered the prosecutors to turn over to the defense two pairs of underwear --one the accuser wore the night of the encounter with Kobe and one she wore the next day to her rape exam. The Judge was angry the DA's hadn't done it before and gave them 24 hours to do so.

Update: The Judge has delayed the testimony of Kobe's accuser until March 23-24. He is reconsidering a request to limit the questions she may be asked.

*****************
Original Post:

One Denver news station reported tonight that the defense in the Kobe Bryant will not be moving for a change of venue and the trial will be held in Eagle, probably in August or September.

Hearings resume Monday morning, and the accuser is scheduled to testify on Tuesday.

[comments closed. Comments are for commenting, not reprinting news articles. We can't afford the bandwidth. Also, this thread is about the Kobe Bryant case not Mike Tyson.]