Civil Rights: A federal jury has rejected the claim that questioning an injured suspect without giving him a Miranda warning violated his civil rights. In 2003, the Surpeme Court narrowly rejected Oliverio Martinez's claim that he had a Fifth Amendment right to sue the police officer who questioned him after he was shot during a struggle. Thursday's federal district court decision is reported in an Associated Press story. The incident occured in 1997 when Martinez rode through a vacant lot in Oxnard, CA that was frequently used for drug transactions during a police stakeout. What the article doesn't report is that when the two officers stopped him for questioning, Martinez pulled a knife and then managed to grab one officer's gun. The other officer pulled her gun and shot Martinez, who admitted in the ambulance that he had been shooting up heroin that day.

Firearms Yesterday, Senator Frank R. Lautenberg (D) of New Jersey introduced a proposal that would refuse terrorism suspects from purchasing firearms if the suspect was found “to be or have been engaged in conduct constituting, in preparation for, in aid of, or related to terrorism.” The New York Times story reports that the AG would have the final decision as to whether or not the suspect's purchase would be granted.

A step on a lawn gone wrong. Charles G. Martin, who shot and killed a 15-year-old neighborhood boy after the “little punk” walked on his lawn, was found guilty of murder Thursday in Ohio. 67-year-old Martin told police the boy had harassed him for years, called him names and embarrassed him in front of another neighbor. The sentencing date for Martin is May 23rd as reported by this Enquirer story.

Dangerous Head Cases: Dr. E. Fuller Torry has an interesting piece in today's Wall Street Journal addressing the mental health industry's penchant for playing down the dangers posed by some patients suffering from severe mental illness.