I don't think I've read any news this week that's not related to the Boston bombings.

I'm turning my attention now to Nurse Jackie, the Good Wife and Celebrity Apprentice.

Here's an open thread, all topics welcome.

Update 7:40 pm ET: CNN reports Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is awake and answering law enforcement's questions. No wonder the U.S. Attorney didn't file charges today. They didn't want a lawyer appointed who could demand to see him and advise him not to sign any waivers. The Boston Police Commissioner said today the brothers acted alone. Where's the continuing public safety threat? An internal FBI policy memo that extends the public safety exception beyond what the Supreme Court has authorized is not controlling law.

Can the Federal Defender file a "miscellaneous action" and ask to be appointed now for the limited purpose of advising him of his rights and request an order directing the FBI to allow them to meet with him before it attempts to secure any waivers?

Update 1:18 pm: It looks like the feds won't be able to use the Faisal Shahazad scenario with Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. He cannot speak at all due to being shot in the throat. Thus, it's unlikely he can be questioned at all, or that he would be able to provide a knowing and voluntary waiver of his right to timely appear before a judge and be appointed counsel after charges are filed and before presentment. Due to his injuries and inability to be questioned, reports now say charges will be filed, perhaps today, a judge will advise him at the hospital, and the public defender's representation would be effective upon advisement. [More...]

The 4/20 marijuana celebration at Denver's Civic Center Park ended abruptly at around 4:40 pm when shots rang out and one or two people were injured. One appears to have been stabbed (photo here, name being withheld), so it's not clear if two people were shot, one was shot and one was stabbed, or some other scenario occurred. The shooting suspects are described as:

Police described the first suspect as a light complexioned black male, about 6-feet tall and weighing about 180 pounds. He was wearing a gray hoodie, black pants and a Carolina blue baseball cap. The second suspect was a black male in a checkered black and white shirt.

The Denver Post was there with its shiny new gigapan camera around 2:30 pm and took this photograph. It took me all of two minutes to find a black male in a checkered black and white shirt. A la Boston, police are asking people to submit their photos. [More...]

Here's a thread to discuss continuing developments in the Boston Marathon Bombing case and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. The Federal Defender in MA today said it expects its office to be appointed to be appointed.

What I've been reading:

• Glenn Greenwald on the public safety exception to Miranda rights.
• Emily Brazelon at Slate on why we should care.
• Andrew Cohen on The Legal Way Forward
• The 2010 FBI memo on the public safety exception to Miranda rights
• Montejo v. Louisiana, 556 U.S. 778 (U.S. 2009)(overruling Mississippi v. Jackson)
• New York v. Quarles, 467 U.S. 649 (U.S. 1984)

What I'm not reading: Any of the garbage put out by Lindsay Graham. [More...]

President Obama is speaking now.

There are unanswered questions. Why did these men resort to violence? How did they plan it? Did they receive help?

Public safety is at risk and we will investigate. We won't rush to judgment about their motivations.

It's important that we do this right.

He talks about the victims and then the people in West Texas.

Buzz word: "Public safety." He won't be given Miranda rights. They will invoke the public safety exception to Miranda. See NY v. Quarles. The High Value Detainee Interrogation Group will do the questioning. Then they will mirandize him. (There is no set limit but it is thought to be around 48 hours.) The most recent high profile case it was used in was that of underwear bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmuttalab. Opinion here.

Question: When will the Federal Defender get to see him?

Update: 8:45 pm ET: Suspect is in custody and alive. A medic has been called.

Thoughts: I'm still having flashbacks to Andrew Cunanan, suspected of killing Gianni Versace, who was surrounded on a houseboat in Miami. (So is reporter Frances Robles, who covered the incident live.) I was in NY that night providing live commentary for MSNBC. I remember when Cunanan was found dead inside the houseboat, and some idiot law enforcement official on the show said "Justice had been done." I blasted him, and told him justice is done when a suspect is arrested and brought to trial, not found dead. Kudos to law enforcement tonight for getting the suspect to surrender or at least apprehending him alive. [More...]

Sounds like the suspect is no longer in Watertown or even in the vicinity. The indoor stay in Watertown has been lifted.

Col. Alben: They have not not apprehended suspect yet, but they will. They followed leads in Eastern Mass, none were fruitful.

They will draw back the tactical teams in Watertown. FBI is leading the investigation.

Shorter version seems to be either he got away or he's dead.

Since patrols are continuing, are they looking for other suspects or people that aided the brothers?

Police are letting people back into their homes. Is Dzhokar dead?

The information coming out on the brothers is still somewhat conflicting as to last night's events.

Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, the suspect in the black hat, was killed last night. He was an amateur boxer with Olympic aspirations. His brother, Dzokhar, 19, is a student at U Mass at Dartmouth. He was an honor student in high school. Their classmates describe both of them as very nice guys that gave no indication of extremist beliefs or violence.

Dzokhar became a citizen on 9/11/12. The family fled Dagestan, next to Chechnya in southern Russia, for Kyrgyzstan in the early 1990's. In 2002 the family (like many others there) was granted asylum in the U.S. The brothers grew up here.

Developing....

Update 4:30 a.m: Latest reports: There has been an official impromptu news conference. The MIT officer is dead, another officer is in surgery. It began with a robbery at a 7/11, followed by the killing of the MIT officer in his car, a carjacking of a Mercedes and a car chase to Watertown. One suspect, reportedly the one in the black hat in the FBI photo, is dead. The suspect in the white hat is at large. Police have surrounded a commercial building in Watertown. [More...]

Did the FBI do the right thing in releasing the photos of persons of interest in the Boston Marathon bombing? If the goal is an arrest, followed by a fair trial, guilty verdict and punishment, I don't think so. (I am intentionally not linking to the photos.)

If either one of the depicted individuals is arrested and tried for the Boston bombing, any eyewitness identifications as to their preparatory actions are bound to be challenged in court. By the time these witnesses will be asked to identify the suspects as having bought a pressure cooker or a backpack or certain kind of sports cap, the suspects' faces will be so well-known that monks living on the mountainside in Tibet would identify them if asked. [More...]

President Obama is speaking at the memorial service for the victims of the Boston Marathon attacks. You can watch live (here.

We will find you and you will face justice... We will hold you accountable.

...."A bomb can't beat us....we carry on."

Update: The number of persons killed is now being estimated at 5 to 15. Last nights numbers provided by EMS were incorrect.

Emergency Medical Services in Waco say 60 to 70 have died in the explosion at a fertilizer plant in Waco, TX. Hundreds more have been injured.

The fire started in an anhydrous ammonia tank and spread to the building, authorities said. The resulting explosion spread the fire to the Middle School and to a nearby nursing home.

To check on injured residents admitted to Hillcrest Baptist Medical Center call (254) 202-1100. The Red Cross is on its way.

When the Oklahoma City bombings first happened, the first suspects were innocent Muslims.

In Boston, the FBI rushed to search the home of a Saudi student injured in the blast. Why does the Washington Post, when reporting that he wasn't involved, refers to him as a "witness" instead of a victim. He sustained serious burns, why isn't he a victim just like the American victims?

In Texas, there was rampant speculation the Aryan Brotherhood or drug smugglers were responsible for the murders of two Texas prosecutors and one of their wives. The New York Times even ran a chart with pictures of "possibly connected" Aryan Brotherhood crimes. Arrests have now been made. While arrests are not indicative of guilt, one of the two arrested admitted participating in the killings with her husband, a disgruntled former Justice of the Peace. [More...]

The Supreme Court today ruled in Missouri v. McNeely (opinion here) that the natural dissipation of alcohol in the bloodstream does not constitute an exigency in every case sufficient to justify conducting a blood test without a warrant.

The majority opinion was written by Justice Sotomayor. There were two concurring and one dissenting opinions.

While the court didn't say a warrant was needed, it made clear officers shouldn't assume one is not needed. Scotus Blog explains: [More...]

The Senate today rejected new gun control measures.

Among the measures that failed: One that banned high-capacity magazines with more than ten rounds, one that banned rapid-firing "assault" weapons and one calling for expanded background checks.

The vote was 54-46 vote, and 60 votes were needed.

While I'm glad the bills failed, I think it was a mistake by Obama to keep bringing out the Sandy Hook survivors in support of his plan.

It's also clear from Boston that gun laws won't stop horrific acts of violence or terrorism. If guns aren't available, anyone bent on mayhem will find another way to commit it. Bombs have a greater destructive potential than guns. [More....]