James Holmes, Alleged Aurora Shooter, Makes First Court Appearance

Huffington Post- The man accused of killing 12 moviegoers and wounding 58 more in Aurora, Colo., last week made his first appearance in court Monday morning.

James Holmes, a 24-year-old former doctoral student at the University of Colorado, Denver, has been held on first-degree murder charges in the July 20 shooting spree at a midnight screening of "The Dark Knight Rises."



The brief procedural hearing, known as an advisement, took place at the Arapahoe County Justice Center. Holmes, who was represented by a public defender, appeared in court with brightly dyed orange hair and wore a burgundy jail uniform. He seemed sleepy or dazed and often had his eyes shut.



Holmes will face formal charges from prosecutors on July 30, and District Attorney Carol Chambers said her office is considering the death penalty against him, according to the Associated Press. District Court Judge William Sylvester issued an order forbidding Holmes from having contact with victims or witnesses.


Earlier Monday, authorities said Holmes was not cooperating with the investigation because he refused to answer questions about the shooting.




Police arrested Holmes early Friday morning minutes after the shooting in the sold-out theater. Holmes, dressed in ballistic gear and armed with an assault rifle and three other guns, set off gas canisters before opening fire, police said.



A motive in the shooting is not yet known. Holmes will remain detained without bond at the county lockup in Centennial, Colo.

Casey Anthony Trial Conclusion

I realized in all my anger and frustration over the verdict in the Caylee Anthony murder trial that I failed to update this blog.

I must remain faithful and conclude my reporting of this fiasco since I've been so vigilant since the dawn of it's creation; but I'm posting this so long after when the verdict first came out because I simply want to refuse it's reality... I can't believe that she was found not guilty (July 5th, 2011).

Yes, we all felt that way when O.J. raped the court system those seemingly few years ago, but somehow for me this hit me as way worse of a defilement of justice.

So I suppose no one is responsible for Caylee's untimely and probably torturous death? No one will be held accountable? No justice for the most innocent of victims... No justice for Caylee.

She can run, but she can't hide. Karma's a bitch, and there are many, many people looking to take an active role in the future of hers...

All that time of my being consumed by this case (mostly before the hopeless trial even began) and I have to conclude it like this. Tis a shame.


That's all I would like to say.

Sentencing Postponed for Greenwich Man in Daughter's Death

GREENWICH - Sentencing was postponed today for a former Greenwich man who pleaded guilty to killing his daughter.

Police say Adam Dobrzanski fatally slit his 20-year-old daughter's throat at the estate where he worked as a landscaper in Dec. 2009. They say he then attempted to commit suicide.

According to prosecutors, the 56-year-old was experiencing psychological problems and was upset because his wife wanted a divorce.

The hearing was rescheduled for Sept. 16. Dobrzanski faces 40 years in prison.

At Sentencing Will DiMeo Apologize?

CT Post- Barbara Caggiano doesn't recall Christopher DiMeo apologizing to her and her family and even if he did, it wouldn't have made a difference.

"I mean, what was he going to say? `Hey I'm sorry I killed your son-in-law, now please forgive me?' " Caggiano said.

On Aug. 26, 2005, DiMeo was sentenced in New York to life in prison without release for the December 2004 murder of Thomas Renison during the robbery of Renison's Glen Head, N.Y., jewelry store.

On May 6, DiMeo is to be sentenced in Superior Court here for the Feb. 2, 2005, murders of Fairfield jewelers Tim and Kim Donnelly.

As in New York, DiMeo will be receiving a prison term of life without the possibility of release.

As a result of the jury's verdict, Judge Robert Devlin's hands are tied. He can only sentence DiMeo to life without the possibility of release and nothing DiMeo may or may not say at the hearing can affect that.But as he did in New York, DiMeo is expected to say something to Donnelly family members in the courtroom.

DiMeo made a long scripted-sounding speech during the New York sentencing hearing characterized in court by Senior Assistant State's Attorney Joseph Corradino as a remorseless "tale of woe."

"First off and most importantly, I would like to express to Mr. Renison's family, that I'm very sorry for the extreme and ultimate loss that I have caused them," he began. "I know that to hear words could never help diminish the severe pain that I've caused; but I hope at the same time that me serving the rest of my life in prison gives them some sort of closure. I also know that nothing I say or do could ever change the pain they feel. All I can tell them is that my apology is sincere and heartfelt."

Then DiMeo launched into a nearly 900-word speech about his poor upbringing and the dangers of using heroin.

But for Caggiano, and her family, it made no difference.

"What he said didn't give me any closure, I'll never have closure," she said. "It's just lucky that the police got him when they did or he would have killed more people."

Bridgeport drug kingpin Russell Peeler Jr. was in the same position as DiMeo as he stood before Devlin in December 2007 to be sentenced to death for ordering the 1999 murders of 8-year-old Leroy "B.J." Brown and his mother, Karen Clarke. But he didn't apologize.

"This whole process has been a farce!" Peeler shouted. "I had nothing to do with killing these people. He (former State's Attorney Jonathan Benedict) opened up his checkbook to prosecute me. I had nothing to do with killing these people ... This prosecutor, Mr. Benedict, is the wickedest person ever."

But his statement had no effect on the sentence; Peeler sits on death row.

Benedict and others say while it is a criminal's right to have their say, it may only mean something to the family of the victim.

"If the jury has found for death, or even in cases where the jury has reached a decision for life without parole, it's an automatic punishment," Benedict said. "So what the defendant has to say at the time of sentencing is interesting, but it can in no way affect the outcome."

He said it would be interesting to see whether DiMeo does say something at his sentencing hearing. "He could say something that conceivably could help the victims' family with closure,'' he said, "but I don't expect it."

INSIDE STORY: Clues to Why Melissa Huckaby Murdered an 8-Year-Old Girl

People.com(June 2010)- The day 8-year-old Sandra Cantu disappeared from a Tracy, Calif., mobile-home park, Melissa Huckaby sent a text message to the child's mother.

"Tell the police that I had something stolen today around 4 p.m.," Huckaby texted to Maria Chavez on March 27, 2009. "I don't know if that makes a difference or not."

That stolen item turned out to be an Eddie Bauer suitcase that contained Cantu’s body, the victim of a brutal sexual assault and murder.

The case horrified the Central California community, but even after Huckaby pleaded guilty and was sentenced to life in prison, residents were at loss as to why the Sunday school teacher committed such a heinous crime against her own daughter's playmate.

Now, with thousands of pages of previously sealed documents released and the lifting of a gag order, authorities are offering a theory: The bizarre text message and Huckaby's subsequent strange behavior suggested she killed the child in an attempt to attract attention to herself.

A Theory for Motive
Such behavior has a name: Munchausen by Proxy Syndrome, a form of child abuse, in which a person harms somebody else, often children, for attention. The prosecutor in the case noted that Huckaby's daughter may also have fallen victim: the child had a history of being sick and in need of hospital care way too often.

"There were 20 or so times that Melissa cut herself, set fires, or verbally or psychologically attacked someone else, such as a roommate," says Deputy District Attorney Thomas Tesla. "And there was something like that going on here (after the murder), where she wanted to be the center of attention."

The text message was just one clue. Also, the day after Sandra disappeared, Huckaby was hysterical and hyperventilating as she went to police to say she had found a note on lined notebook paper.

Newly Revealed Evidence
The misspelled message stated Sandra's body was locked in a stolen suitcase thrown in water at Bacchetti and Whitehall roads. "I wonder if she wanted to be the one who solved the case by finding the note," Tesla suggests.

Investigators thought it unusual that a woman who reported losing a suitcase "should be the one woman out of everyone in this complex who should happen to find a note that reports that the stolen suitcase was used to hide the child's body," FBI Special Agent Michael Conrad would testify in the grand jury, according to transcripts.

During an April 6 search of Huckaby's home after the suitcase was recovered, FBI agents found a notebook with "Cute but psycho. Things will even out" printed on the cover. On the pages they found indentations matching the letters from the note.

"It didn’t take an FBI expert to figure this out," Tesla says. "She has a distinctive way of writing certain letters. You can compare it to her known handwriting… and tell as a layperson that they’re written by the same person."

When confronted with the mounting evidence, court documents show, Huckaby offered a confession of sorts, saying that Cantu hid in the suitcase in Huckaby’s trailer as part of a game, but stayed inside too long and suffocated. Huckaby also offered a soft version of the events at her sentencing, saying Sandra "didn't suffer. I didn't sexually molest her."

But, Tesla contends, forensic evidence offers a grimmer version of the crime: Huckaby took Cantu to her grandfather’s nearby church, sexually molested her with a rolling pin, strangled her and stuffed her into the suitcase in a snug fetal position that Cantu couldn’t have squeezed into on her own. Huckaby then tossed the suitcase into an agricultural ditch that stunk so badly of manure that searchers couldn’t retrieve the suitcase until it eventually floated to the surface.

In the first few days of the investigation, detectives assumed the killer was a man. They trailed local sex offenders and investigated their alibis. Says Tesla: "We thought there was no way a woman would do these things."

Casey Anthony Updates

It's been a while since I reported any updates in the Casey Anthony case.. I was so frustrated with waiting for the trial to proceed that I really started losing interest in following the petty defense motions and other technical crap that just prolongs the whole damned thing.

So here are a few things I've found recently on the case:

DA Adds New Names To Casey Anthony's Witness List
ORLANDO, Fla. -- Prosecutors have added the name of Zenaida Gonzalez to their witness list for the murder trial against Casey Anthony.
-click for article-

E-mail spat leads to new motion in Anthony case
A disagreement in the Casey Anthony case has led to an email spat between the defense and state prosecutors, who filed a motion Wednesday accusing the defense of trying to avoid complying with a judge's order.

The controversy comes after the court on Monday ordered Anthony's defense team to provide prosecutors with information about the subject matter of planned expert testimony. Since then, the disagreement arose about just how detailed that information needs to be.
-click for article-

New Casey Witnesses Come With Doubt, Cost
Defense Team Uses Up Investigative Hours Finding New 'Key' Witnesses
ORLANDO, Fla. -- Casey Anthony's defense team revealed this week it has new witnesses that could unravel the prosecution's claim Anthony dumped her own daughter in the woods, but finding those witnesses may be coming at a cost to taxpayers.

Anthony's lawyers filed a motion on Wednesday asking that Judge Bevin Perry approve funding for even more investigative hours.

Perry approved more hours in late October. Defense attorney Jose Baez requested 300 hours. Perry approved 30 hours at a cost of $40 per hour.
-click for article-

Jury Selected in DiMeo Murder Trial

FAIRFIELD - A jury has been selected for the trial of a man accused of murdering two Fairfield jewelers in their store.

Chri DiMeo is accused of killing Tim and Kim Donnelly during a robbery in 2005.

DiMeo's ex-girlfriend already has pleaded guilty in the case.

DiMeo could receive the death penalty if he is convicted.
His trial is scheduled to begin on Jan. 18.
Jury selection under way in Fairfield double murder trial

Connecticut Man Faces Trial in Developer's Slaying

GREENWICH, Conn.—The final juror has been selected in the murder trial of a man charged in the stabbing death of a Connecticut real estate developer in his Greenwich mansion.

The 15th juror was picked Friday in the case against 49-year-old Carlos Trujillo of Bridgeport, who is charged with Andrew Kissel's death. Trujillo was Kissel's chauffeur.

The trial is expected to start Nov. 1.

Kissel was found dead in his basement in April 2006, just days before he was to plead guilty in a multimillion-dollar fraud case.

Carlos Trujillo's cousin, Leonard Trujillo of Worcester, Mass., pleaded guilty last year to reduced charges of manslaughter and conspiracy. He's agreed to testify against his cousin.

Supreme Court: Peterson Stays in Jail

(WLS) -- Drew Peterson will remain in jail after the Illinois Supreme Court rejected a request he be released while his case is on appeal.

Peterson's attorneys now plan to take the case for his release to federal court.

The defense has argued that Peterson should be freed while the Will County state's attorney appeals a judge's decision barring key hearsay evidence in his trial for the 2004 murder of his third wife, Kathleen Savio.

Savio's death was first ruled an accidental drowning but was reclassified as a homicide several years later.

Jury Selection Starts In Conn. Murder Trial

I thought we were done with this one already? Lol, whoops..
STAMFORD, Conn.—Jury selection has begun in the murder trial of the former chauffeur for a Connecticut real estate mogul who was tied up and stabbed to death at his Greenwich mansion in 2006.

The Greenwich Time reports four jurors were chosen Tuesday for the trial of 49-year-old Carlos Trujillo of Bridgeport, who's accused of killing Andrew Kissel. Jury selection will continue Wednesday.

Kissel was found dead in his mansion in April 2006, just days before he was to plead guilty in a multimillion-dollar fraud case.

Trujillo's cousin, Leonard Trujillo of Worcester, Mass., pleaded guilty last year to reduced charges of manslaughter and conspiracy.

Kissel's brother, Robert, was killed in 2003 after his wife fed him a drug-laced milkshake and beat him to death in Hong Kong. She's serving life in prison.

Burn Mother F*cker, Burn! - Hayes Convicted in Deadly Cheshire Home Invasion

NEW HAVEN (AP) - A paroled burglar was convicted Tuesday of killing a mother and her two daughters in a 2007 home invasion in an affluent Connecticut town and now could be sentenced to death.

Steven Hayes was convicted of capital felony and three counts of murder by a jury that heard eight days of gruesome testimony about the July 2007 attacks on Jennifer Hawke-Petit and her daughters, 17-year-old Hayley and 11-year-old Michaela.

The verdict triggers a second phase of the trial, in which the same jurors will decide if Hayes should be executed or face life in prison. Hayes was convicted of 16 counts and acquitted of a single count - arson.

Hayes' defense admitted to his involvement in the fatal home invasion but blamed his co-defendant, Joshua Komisarjevsky, for being the aggressor. Komisarjevsky faces trial next year.

Komisarjevsky spotted the mother and her two daughters at a supermarket, followed them to their Cheshire home, then returned later with Hayes, authorities say.

The men broke into the Petit house in the New Haven suburb of Cheshire, beat the girl's father with a baseball bat and forced Hawke-Petit to withdraw money from a bank before raping and strangling her, according to testimony. The men, both paroled burglars who met at a halfway house, tied the girls to their beds, put pillow cases over their heads and poured gas on or around them before setting the house on fire, authorities say.

The girls died of smoke inhalation. Authorities say the men were caught fleeing the scene.

Hayes' attorneys conceded most of the evidence on the first day and spent much of the trial focusing on Komisarjevsky's role. They pointed to graphic photos of Michaela found on Komisarjevsky's cell phone, and Hayes' attorney, Tom Ullmann, said Komisarjevsky escalated the violence at every critical point, starting with Dr. Petit's beating.

Prosecutors rejected that argument, saying the two men were equally responsible for the crime.

Casey Anthony Injured In Fall At Courthouse

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Casey Anthony was injured Tuesday in a fall at the Orange County Courthouse, according to the Orange County Corrections Department.

Orange County Corrections Department spokesman Allen Moore said Anthony fell in the courthouse while being transported to the courtroom and suffered what appeared to be minor injuries.

Anthony's restraints became entangled and she fell forward, but escorting officers were unable to catch her before she fell, Moore said.

Anthony is currently being seen by medical personnel in an undisclosed location.

Moore said the incident appears to be "purely an accident."

Orange County Corrections Internal Affairs will conduct an inquiry into the incident, which is routine procedure.

Anthony's defense team has been made aware of the incident.

Meanwhile, Anthony's attorneys are having several motions reconsidered by Judge Belvin Perry, including whether the death penalty is appropriate in the case.

Perry will reconsider four different motions, including a request made by Anthony's defense team to throw out the death penalty.

Anthony, 24, is jailed on first-degree murder charges in the death of her daughter, Caylee, whose remains were found in a wooded lot in December 2008. Caylee was 2 years old when she was reported missing in July 2008.

Last month, the prosecution revealed the reasons they say Anthony should be put to death if she's convicted, including that the murder was committed during another crime -- aggravated child abuse. The state will also argue Caylee's murder was especially heinous or cruel.

Anthony's defense team wanted the state to turn over forensic documents, including results on tests performed on evidence, but the state told the judge they didn't have the results. Other motions that will be addressed Tuesday include the use of certain forensic evidence.

Court officials told Local 6 the defense team is also asking the court to seal jail visitation logs.

Anthony has pleaded not guilty, claiming that she left Caylee with a baby sitter and the two were gone when she returned to pick up her daughter.

Knox Appears in Italian Court to Face Slander Charges

(CNN) -- American Amanda Knox, serving time in an Italian prison for the 2007 murder of her British roommate, appeared in court briefly Tuesday to face slander charges for saying that Italian police beat her during an interrogation, said her attorney, Luciano Ghirga.

Police in Perugia, Italy, have always denied beating Knox and filed the slander charges against her.

Knox, 22, of Seattle, Washington, was convicted in December of killing her British roommate, Meredith Kercher, in November 2007. Also convicted was Knox's ex-boyfriend, Italian Raffaele Sollecito. Knox was sentenced to 26 years and Sollecito to 25.

A third person, Rudy Guede, was tried separately and initially was sentenced to 30 years, but an appeals court later reduced that to 16 years.

Knox appeared briefly at a preliminary hearing on the slander charges. During her trial, she testified that Italian police gave her "cuffs," or small beatings, while interrogating her regarding Kercher's death. She said police used the threat of physical violence to intimidate and pressure her, which led her to falsely accuse Patrick Lumumba in Kercher's murder.

Lumumba was arrested as a result, but he was released shortly afterward once his alibi checked out. He sued Knox for defamation and won.

Knox's attorneys have challenged the judge in the slander case, since he was the same judge that ruled Knox and Sollecito would remain in custody pending trial in November 2007, Ghirga said Tuesday. An appeals court in Perugia is expected to decide on the recusal request June 17. The next court hearing in the slander case is set for October 1.

Knox "is holding strong," Ghirga said Tuesday, and is taking online Italian language courses from Seattle University.

Amber Dubois' Dad to John Gardner III: "He Will Burn in Hell"

SAN DIEGO (CBS/AP) Amber Dubois' father minced no words with his daughter's killer.

"He will burn in hell for the acts he's committed," Maurice Dubois said during the sentencing of John Gardner III in a California court Friday.

Gardner was sentenced to three life sentences without possibility of parole for raping and killing Amber Dubois, 14, and Chelsea King, 17.

Chelsea's mother, Kelly King, demanded the killer's attention.

"Look at me," she said before describing her beloved daughter.

"Chelsea was a sweet, loving, and innocent soul who could not have fathomed the wretched piece of evil that ended her life that day," said Kelly King.

Tears streamed down Gardner's face.

"Chelsea was everything this man was not," said her father Brent King. "She was as good as this man is evil."

One by one, each parent came to the podium to address the man that stole their daughters.

"I truly hope he suffers a hundred times the amount of pain he caused our families," Amber Dubois' father said. "I just hope that day is an agonizingly long way away, and that he will have to suffer as much as we all have."

Superior Court Judge David Danielsen sentenced Gardner, 31, to two life terms without parole for the rape and murder of both Amber Dubois and Chelsea King, and a third life term for the attempted rape of Candice Moncayo, a jogger who managed to escape Gardner's attack by elbowing him in the nose.

Chelsea King, a straight A high school student, went missing Feb. 25, 2010 while running in a San Diego park. Her body was found five days later in a shallow grave by a lake. Amber Dubois went missing one year earlier almost to the day. Her skeletal remains were found soon after Chelsea King's.

Guilty Plea in Death of 8-Year-Old

(CNN) -- A former Sunday School teacher pleaded guilty to murder Monday in the death of an 8-year-old girl, a court official said.

Melissa Huckaby pleaded guilty in the death of Sandra Cantu, a friend of her daughter's who disappeared in Tracy, California, in March 2009.

Her body was found about 10 days later in a suitcase submerged in a pond on a dairy farm.

Prosecutors had charged Huckaby with murder, kidnapping, lewd and lascivious acts on a child under 14, and rape by instrument. They were seeking the death penalty.

Huckaby will face a sentence of from 25 years to life in prison without parole when she is sentenced June 14, said Sharon Morris, assistant administrator for San Joaquin County Superior Court.

Tori Stafford Update

WOODSTOCK, Ont. — June 21 has been set as the start of a preliminary hearing for one of two people charged in the Tori Stafford case.

The eight-year-old Woodstock, Ont., girl vanished April 8, 2009 and her remains were found more than three months later. The hearing for Michael Rafferty, who is charged with first-degree murder and kidnapping, is expected to last about four weeks.

His co-accused, Terri-Lynne McClintic, is being tried separately on the same charges.

A preliminary hearing allows a judge to weigh the evidence and decide if the case can move forward to trial.

Tori's father, Rodney Stafford, was in court today and said he is disappointed he'll miss the hearing in June.

He will be starting his "Kilometres for Kids 2" fundraiser at that time, cycling from Edmonton to Woodstock with his son, Daryn, in support of Child Find Ontario.

Prosecutor: Evidence in Dugard Case Overwhelming

PLACERVILLE, Calif. - Prosecutors have amassed an overwhelming amount of evidence against a California man charged with kidnapping, raping and holding Jaycee Dugard captive for nearly two decades, a prosecutor said Thursday.

In addition, information has been uncovered that could mitigate the guilt of his wife and co-defendant Nancy Dugard, El Dorado County District Attorney Vern Pierson said during a court hearing.

"We have an overwhelming volume of evidence to prove each and every charge" against Phillip Garrido, the prosecutor said.

Outside court, public defender Susan Gellman, who represents Phillip Garrido, offered a terse response to the claim.

"That's his take on the evidence," Gellman said.

The couple has pleaded not guilty to rape and kidnapping.

Pierson did not provide further details on the evidence at the hearing.

Stephen Tapson, the court-appointed lawyer who represents Nancy Garrido, has said he plans to argue that his client was under her husband's control when Dugard was abducted from her South Lake Tahoe street in 1991 then raped and held captive for 18 years.

"To the extent that evidence exists, and we believe it does exist," prosecutors would make it available to Tapson, Pierson said without elaborating.

During the hearing, defense lawyers demanded copies of videotaped interviews that child abuse investigators conducted last summer with Dugard and her two daughters fathered by Phillip Garrido. The girls are now 12 and 15.

Pierson told Judge Douglas Phimister the information the defense was likely to glean from having the videotaped interviews of Dugard and her children was not worth the potential risk to the family's privacy.

The judge eventually ruled the defense could obtain copies of Dugard's interview but could only review the girls' interviews at the prosecutor's office.

Dugard has made photos and a home movie showing herself, her mother and her stepsister available to People Magazine and ABC News but has not granted any media interviews.

Gellman argued that she was entitled to review the tapes at her convenience and not on a schedule dictated by the district attorney.

Prosecutors have provided transcripts of the interviews, but "I can't get a flavor from a transcript of what someone is saying and how they are saying it," she said.

Phimister also prohibited both the Garridos and their respective attorneys from trying to communicate with Dugard and her daughters or to obtain their address and telephone number.

Pierson requested the protective order in February, claiming it was necessary because Phillip Garrido was trying to manipulate Dugard through comments relayed through Gellman to the lawyer representing Dugard at the time.

Dugard's new attorney, Shawn Chapman Holley, informed the judge last week that neither Dugard nor the girls, whom she also is representing, want any contact with the Garridos.

Gellman told Phimister the protective order was unnecessary.

"It is clear to me (she) does not want to be contacted. I am not going to contact her," Gellman said.

She added, however, that preventing her from contacting Holley "would impede me from doing my job."

Phimister said his order would not bar the defense from reaching out to Dugard's lawyer.

During a closed hearing Thursday morning, Phimister for a second time denied a request by the Garridos for in-jail visits. The judge did grant the couple, who have been jailed separately and allowed to speak by phone twice since then, two more monthly phone calls.

Judge Phimister also scheduled a preliminary hearing for Oct. 7.

Chelsea King-Amber Dubois Plea Deal for Killer John Gardner is Justice Served, Says Ex-Prosecutor

LOS ANGELES (CBS) The plea deal offered by the San Diego District Attorney's Office and accepted by John Gardner in the murders of 17-year-old Chelsea King and 14-year-old Amber Dubois has generated a lot of discussion, and dissatisfaction. In several online polls I have seen, up to 67% of the people were disappointed with the plea.

And while I can relate to the public's feeling that the plea was somewhat anti-climactic when compared to the shock of Gardner's crimes, I do believe that this was an excellent plea from the perspective of the prosecution.

John Gardner pled guilty Friday, April 16 to the murders and sexual assaults of Chelsea and Amber. He admitted to raping and strangling King in February of this year, and raping and stabbing Dubois in February 2009. By leading police to the body of Dubois and admitting to the murders, Gardner spared himself from the death penalty. He will now most likely spend the rest of his life in prison. His sentence is 33 years to life, without the possibility of parole.

These are two critical elements that give the plea deal a more robust legal force. Also, nothing in this plea bars the prosecutor from bringing new cases against Gardner should other victims come forward or be discovered.

After speaking with Carrie McGonigle, Amber Dubois' mom - and also hearing Brent King, Chelsea's father, at a press conference - I believe while there is no "happiness" in this plea for the families, there is a small amount of satisfaction. Satisfaction in the sense that the case has come to a resolution and it is one that will allow both families to start to move on, heal, find closure, and utilize this tragedy as a catalyst for change.

While many people have not come to grips that this case is essentially over, we should all recognize that the wheels of justice do not have to turn slower than molasses. As evidenced by the Gardner plea deal: a case like this can be investigated, filed, pled, and sentenced properly in a short time if all the people are doing their job.

In the Gardner case the police did their job, the prosecution did theirs, and thankfully the defendant did his as well.

Overriding the disappointment that there is no "reciprocal justice" for Gardner (i.e. death) may prove impossible. Regardless of how you feel about the morality or practicality of the death penalty in general, I'm sure we can all pause to sympathize with the specific grieving of the parents of raped and murdered children.

The fact that the monster who did this to these two girls will still breathe every day of his life in jail must be the most painful thing imaginable. Emotionally and psychologically speaking it may take years, if ever, for the families to gain true closure. But there is some bottom line "good news" in this case: legal justice has been served and served expeditiously to Gardner!

Friday Televised Hearing for Casey Anthony

Judge Belvin Perry has replaced Judge Stan Strickland in the Casey Anthony case. He has ordered a case management hearing for Friday, April 30, 2010 at 9:30 a.m. The hearing will be televised live and those who wish to view it may do so on Tru TV.

During the case management hearing, Judge Perry will discuss motions that the defense and state wish to file and will also go over a timeline for motions. Judge Perry will work hard to create a timeline and keep the defense and state on track so that a May 2011 trial date will be realized.

Casey Anthony’s attorney have recently filed a motion stating that the death penalty was added to the case for the sole purpose of bankrupting the defense. Experts feel that this motion has very little chance of succeeding, especially now that Casey Anthony has been declared indigent and her defense costs are being covered by the tax payers of Florida.

Casey Anthony Attorney Banned From Practicing Law

WDBO News- One of Casey Anthony's attorneys wants to be removed from the case after the State Bar of California took away his eligibility to practice law.

Todd Macaluso is best known for his claim in open court that the defense had evidence proving the remains of Anthony's daughter Caylee were put in the woods where they were found after Anthony was already in the Orange County jail. To date, the defense has not backed up that claim.

Macaluso has been under investigation by California's bar for months. On Monday, the bar issued an order making him an "inactive" member and unable to practice law. Wednesday, Macaluso filed a motion to withdraw from the Anthony case in Orange County court.

Anthony will be in court for a hearing Friday in front of the new judge on the case, Chief Judge Belvin Perry, Jr. He took over the case after the previous judge, Stan Strickland, removed himself. Defense attorneys argued he made inappropriate contact with a blogger.