After a six week trial, a federal judge in Detroit has acquitted 7 members of the Hutaree militia group charged with terror offenses.

Only weapons charges remain against the supposed leader, David Stone and his son Joshua.

On the second anniversary of the Hutaree arrests, U.S. District Judge Victoria Roberts granted a defense motion Tuesday to acquit the militia members on seven charges, including seditious conspiracy and conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction. The most serious charge could have resulted in life prison sentences. She ordered the trial to continue against Hutaree leader David Stone Sr. and his son, Joshua Stone, on weapons-related charges.

Congrats to Jim Thomas, Bill Swor and the rest of the defense team. [More...]

Everyone seems to have an opinion about the Trayvon Martin case. Even though the facts aren't fully known, and few take the time to actually examine Florida's laws and the multiple fact-driven jury instructions in self-defense cases, those invested in one side or the other either make stuff up or selectively choose certain facts and ignore others to fit their agenda.

Let's look at a case that happened in Illinois. It went to trial and there was a sentencing. Where do you come down on the outcome? It is not equivocal to the Trayvon Martin case, although it does have a few parallel issues.

In University Park near Chicago, a man was walking his dog when it ran up on neighbor's lawn and peed. The homeowner came out and displayed a gun. He didn't use it at the time, but the dog owner, after seeing it, cursed the homeowner and punched him. The homeowner shot and killed the dog owner. [More..]

My preview of today SCOTUS oral argument on the mandate.

Open Thread.

Amnesty International has released its report on the global use of the death penalty in 2011. The full report is available here. The U.S. ranks 5th in the world for the number of executions. The only countries executing more people were China, Saudi Arabia, Iran and Iraq, Great company we're in.

MegaUpload news: Turns out, the same major studios behind the push to take MegaUpload down tried to make licensing deals with it and have MegaUpload host copyrighted content.

In Toulouse news, slain gunman Mohamed Merah will be flown to Algeria for burial. And footage from his recorded videos of his killings were mailed to Al Jazeera. Police don't know whether he mailed them the night before he was killed or an accomplice mailed them the day he was killed. Al Jazeera turned them over to police.

I'm about to watch The Voice and Smash. This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

There are new details of George Zimmerman's account of the fatal encounter with Trayvon Martin.

In an account given to Sanford police that was passed on to the state attorney’s office, George Zimmerman, the neighborhood watch volunteer who shot 17-year-old Trayvon Martin on Feb. 26, said that Trayvon had punched him and then repeatedly slammed his head into the sidewalk in the moments leading up to the shooting.

....In Mr. Zimmerman’s sequence of events to the police, he returned to his S.U.V. after he was unable to find him, Trayvon then approached Mr. Zimmerman from behind and they exchanged words. Then. Mr. Zimmerman said, Trayvon hit him hard enough that he fell to the ground — which, if true, would explain what Mr. Zimmerman’s lawyer, Craig Sonner, has said was a broken nose—and began slamming his head into the sidewalk.

More details of the leaked police report revealed by the Orlando Sentinel are here. The Sun Sentinel also describes a witness' account: [More]

Dominique Strauss-Kahn was placed under formal investigation today in France on charges of participating in an organized vice ring. According to Reuters,

Judges had the option of putting him under investigation for having potentially benefited from misappropriated company funds if he knowingly attended prostitute sessions paid for by his executive friends using expense accounts.

Instead, the investigation will focus on the pandering angle, and whether Strauss-Kahn was aware that the women at the parties were prostitutes supplied by pimps.

He may or may not have to stand trial:

Under French law, "juges d'instruction," which are a cross between investigating prosecutors and criminal magistrates, notify the accused they are under investigation and can hold the person if they believe it warranted. It is they who later decide whether to send the case to court.

Put another way: "Under French law, preliminary charges mean authorities have reason to believe a crime was committed but allow more time for investigation."

He has been released on bond. [More..]

The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld 10 of the 11 counts of bribery, money laundering, wire fraud and RICO (organized crime) on which former LA Congressman William Jefferson. Jefferson was convicted. Jefferson is serving a 13 year sentence. The Court vacated a wire fraud count but that will not affect his sentence. The Court said Virginia was not the appropriate place for a count involving a phone call between Kentucky and Africa. More on today's decision here.

Here how the jury decided the 16 counts against him. The case began when: [More...]

The Supreme Court is hearing six hours of arguments over three days on the Affordable Care Act.

During the first of three days of historic arguments, the justices voiced doubt that a U.S. tax law requiring that people pay first and litigate later should delay the legal challenge to the president's signature domestic legislative achievement.

This morning the court heard 90 minutes of arguments from an outside lawyer about whether it is premature for it to consider the law. It agreed with both parties that it can determine the case now.

Tomorrow the Court will hear argument on the the constitutionality of the provision mandating that individuals obtain insurance. The ruling is expected by June.

Here's a thread to discuss it.

Pakistan has decided to charge three of Osama bin Laden's wives and two of his daughters with the crimes of illegally entering and residing in Pakistan. The penalty is five years in jail. I wonder if they get credit for the 11 months served to date under Pakistani house-arrest in a "sub jail."

Two of the wives, Amal, 29, of Yemen and Khairiah, 61, of Saudi Arabia, had to be separated by Pakistani security officials. Amal suspects Khairiah of helping Americans capture Osama. Khairiah has accused Amal of "sticking to Osama like a prostitute who wanted sex 24 hours a day." [More...]

Health care arguments in the Supreme Court, Trayvon Martin, and the Toulouse killings are still dominating the news. Dominique Strauss-Kahn's motion to dismiss the civil case brought by Nafissatou Diallo will be heard Wednesday. The hearing won't address the underlying allegations, only issues of diplomatic immunity.

Here's an open thread, all topics welcome.

Abdelkader Merah, brother of Mohamed Maher, who was killed in a police raid in Toulouse after confessing to the killing of Jewish students and their teacher and three French soldiers, was brought before a judge at the Palais de Justice in Paris early Sunday morning. He is expected to be charged with complicity in his brother's killings or criminal conspiracy in connection with a terrorist enterprise.

Abdelkader's wife, Yasmina Mesbah who was arrested with him, was released at 4:30 am today without charges, according to her lawyer. (Her name seems to be disappearing from news articles, here's another cached version.) Zoulhika Aziri, the mother of Abdelkader and Mohamed, was released from custody Saturday. She also won't face charges. [More...]

Dick Cheney had a heart transplant today at Inova Fairfax Hospital in Falls Church, Va. He's been on the list for 20 months.

Heads-Up: Comments calling for his demise will be deleted. It's bad form and probably bad karma.

Comments critical of his politics and actions as Vice President are fine, if expressed without name-calling.

The 2011 cost of a heart transplant is $1 million. Is 20 months a normal wait time? Here are the current guidelines for allocation of thoracic organs (heart and lungs.)

Kim and Mona DotCom are the proud parents of twin girls, delivered Thursday at the National Women's Hospital in Auckland. The twins are healthy, and Mona is doing fine.

They arrived as scheduled by caesarean, weighing in at 2.4kg and 2.8kg. On Friday, he texted: "Two healthy Kiwis were born yesterday. All good. When they asked me if I'd like to keep the placenta (weird question) I said 'yes' and 'please send it to the FBI for forensic analysis so they can verify there is no pirate DNA'."

On a more serious note, he thanked the judges who approved his bail:

"I would like to thank them for the opportunity to be there with Mona for the birth. It meant a lot to us."

The other three Dotcom kids have names beginning with "K": Kimmo, Kaylo and Kobi.

The Herald on Sunday suggested a name and he responded: "Kiwi Dotcom it is. Awesome!"

I pick Louisville (+1 1/2) over Florida, Ohio State -3 over Syracuse, Kansas over North Carolina over and Kentucky over Baylor.

Open Thread.

The LA Coroner's office released a summary of Whitney Houston's autopsy report yesterday. You can read it here.

She did not die from a lethal combination of cocaine and xanax as many people assumed at the time. While there were traces of Xanax, Flexeril (a muscle relaxer) and Benadryl (an antihistamine) and marijuana in her system, they did not contribute to her death. Alcohol was not a factor.

She drowned following a cardiac event in the bathtub. The official cause of death was:

1. Drowning
2. Effects of Atheroschlerotic Heart Disease and Cocaine Use

Translation: Her chronic use of cocaine over the years exacerbated the hardening of her arteries and heart disease. The hardening of the arteries caused her to have a cardiac event in the tub and she slipped underwater and drowned. [More...]