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Improve The Mind

Quote of the Day - 19 May 2012

In order to improve the mind, we ought less to learn than to contemplate. Rene Descartes, (1596-1650)

New Details Are Released In Shooting Of Trayvon Martin

Florida - 19 May 2012

When police officers arrived on the scene of the shooting of Trayvon Martin on the rainy night of Feb. 26, they tried frantically to revive the 17-year-old, who had been shot in the chest and was lying motionless behind a row of town houses in a gated community in Sanford, Fla. (Read Full Article Here)

Trayvon Martin Case Evidence Raises More Questions

Florida - 19 May 2012

Prosecutors released a trove of new information detailing the investigation of Trayvon Martin’s death. Martin was the unarmed Florida teen killed by neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman in February. Host Michel Martin speaks with NPR’s Greg Allen, who says the material could be helpful to both sides in the case. (Read Full Article Here)

Florida: 2 Plead No Contest In Hazing Of Band Member

Florida - 19 May 2012

Two defendants have pleaded no contest to lesser charges of misdemeanor hazing in the beating of a fellow Florida A&M University band member. (Read Full Article Here)

Five Nominated For Volusia Judgeship

Florida - 19 May 2012

The Seventh Circuit Judicial Nominating Commission has chosen five attorneys for consideration as a Volusia County judge, said commission Chairman Mike Lambert. A vacancy was created on the county bench when County Judge Stasia Warren resigned in March. The five names sent to Gov. Rick Scott are: Judith Duggan Davidson, Wesley Heidt, A. Kathleen McNeilly, [...]

Toner Primed For Judge’s Role

Florida - 19 May 2012

His peers encouraged him to give the judgeship pursuit another try. It set up perfectly for Stephen Toner Jr. this election cycle. He was the only judicial candidate to make the filing deadline. In November, the longtime defense attorney will replace Judge Daniel Merritt Sr., who will retire. (Read Full Article Here)

Jurors Banned From Blogging About Criminal Cases

Florida - 19 May 2012

In case it has not been made crystal clear, the Florida Supreme Court doesn’t want any jurors in criminal cases to use electronic devices or social media to blab about their cases. The high court adopted the work of its Committee on Standard Jury Instructions in Criminal Cases in an opinion released Thursday [May 17]. [...]

Florida Death Penalty Reform Is Overdue

Florida - 19 May 2012

The guest column is by former Florida Supreme Court justice Raoul Cantero and Mark Schlakman, senior program director for the Center for the Advancement of Human Rights at Florida State University and board chairman for the Innocence Project of Florida. Schlakman also is a past member of the American Bar Association’s Florida Death Penalty Assessment [...]

Malcom Thompson To Return As Osceola Clerk Of Court

Florida - 19 May 2012

Osceola County Clerk of Court Malcom Thompson’s staff learned Thursday [May 17] that Gov. Rick Scott is allowing him to return to work. The governor’s announcement comes three weeks after Thompson was acquitted in two trials of workplace violence against employees. Chief Deputy Clerk Kim Hennecy, whom Scott appointed to replace Thompson, notified the courthouse’s [...]

Trayvon Martin’s Dad Told Police The Person Crying For Help On 911 Tapes Was Not His Son

Florida - 19 May 2012

The fathers of Trayvon Martin and George Zimmerman gave Sanford, Fla., police their opinions about the person who was crying for help in 911 tapes of the Feb. 26 confrontation that ended with the shooting death of 17-year-old Martin, according to documents released by the special prosecutor in the case. Neither said the voice was [...]

Florida Steps Up Effort Against Illegal Voters

Florida - 19 May 2012

In an attempt to clear the voter rolls of noncitizens, a move that had set off criticism and a threatened lawsuit, Florida election officials decided on Thursday to use information from a federal database to check a list of 182,000 voters who they suspect are not citizens, officials said. (Read Full Article Here)

Judge Sees “Devastating Effect” If New DA’s Prior Defense Work Knocks Office Off All His Old Cases

National - 19 May 2012

Steve Wolfson was a busy defense attorney before he was appointed in January to serve as district attorney for Clark County, Nev. That has presented a problem for his new colleagues, who have been dealing with efforts to disqualify the entire DA’s office from prosecuting at least seven cases due to Wolfson’s claimed prior involvement [...]

Defendant Told Others Of Urge To Kill Judge And A Wait With A Gun, Plea Document Says

National - 19 May 2012

A Tennessee man armed with a 9 mm semi-automatic pistol waited outside the offices of an administrative law judge last February, but the judge never emerged, according to a federal document supporting a plea in the case. (Read Full Article Here)

Justice Breyer Is Crime Victim Once Again; This Time Burglar Nabbed Silver Items

National - 19 May 2012

Justice Stephen G. Breyer has been victimized by criminals for two months in a row. In the latest incident, Breyer’s Washington, D.C., home was burglarized, according to the Washington Post blog the Reliable Source. The burglar made off with a pair of $500 silver candlesticks and a silver set valued at $2,500, the story says. [...]

U.S. Rethinks Secrecy On Drone Program

National - 19 May 2012

The Obama administration is weighing policy changes that would lift a tattered veil of secrecy from its controversial campaign of drone strikes, a recognition that the expanding program has become a regular part of U.S. global counterterrorism operations. (Read Full Article Here)

Trial Looms In Federal Case Over Death Of Family Pet Shot By Police In Front Of Girl, 12

National - 19 May 2012

In a scenario that is increasingly in the news as the subject of internal investigations and legal claims, two police officers in Connecticut are set to go to trial in federal court in Hartford on Monday for killing a family pet after entering the perimeter of a home. The guardian of a 12-year-old girl who, [...]

Edwards Defense Asks The Jury To Distinguish Sin From Crime

National - 19 May 2012

John Edwards has been a United States senator and a presidential candidate and has fathered five children. But this day was the most important day of his life, Abbe D. Lowell, his lawyer, told a jury on Thursday. (Read Full Article Here)

Maryland High Court Blocks Request To Reconsider DNA Ruling

National - 19 May 2012

Decision puts appeal on track to U.S. Supreme Court. (Read Full Article Here)

Head Of JPMorgan Chase Called To Testify Before Senate Committee

National - 19 May 2012

JPMorgan Chase head Jamie Dimon, whose bank was once seen as best able to make the public case against some of the more controversial parts of the Wall Street reforms, will be asked to testify before the Senate Banking Committee next month on JPMorgan’s recently reported $2 billion trading loss, the committee’s chair announced Thursday. (Read [...]

House To Consider Proposal To Bar Indefinite Detention After Arrests On U.S. Soil

National - 19 May 2012

The House is preparing to vote again on an unresolved legal controversy: whether the military may imprison terrorism suspects captured on United States soil without trial. The renewed debate comes as a federal judge has enjoined the government from enforcing a statute codifying the government’s powers of indefinite detention. (Read Full Article Here)

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