Clowning in Court: Memo to advocates: don't make stupid attempts at humor when you are in court on a very serious topic. Everybody knows that, right? Not quite. In a hearing on lethal injection in Ohio, ACLU legal director Jeff Gamso brought three Darth Vader masks to court and suggested that the three anonymous, medically trained members of the execution team could wear them while testifying. Judge James Burge was not amused. Neither was Ohio AAG Steve Maher. Brad Dicken reports here for the Chronicle-Telegram.

Phoenix Sniper Pleads Guilty: One of the two suspects arrested in 2006 for a series of random shootings in Phoenix between 2005 and 2006 has agreed to plead guilty. AP writer Chris Kahn reports that Samuel Dieteman also agreed to testify against his co-defendant Dale Hausner in a plea agreement which may spare him from a death penalty. The pair are implicated in shootings that killed seven and wounded 17. It is likely that Arizona taxpayers and the victims in this case will see justice done with less expense and more speed because the state has a death penalty that Dieteman wanted to avoid.

Creative Financing of the San Francisco District Attorney's budget has been found by federal auditors who want the city to repay $5.4 million in grants made by the Southwest Border Prosecution Initiative. The program funds border state prosecution of drug smugglers which could have been prosecuted by the federal government. The defendants are often illegal aliens. SF Chronicle reporter Jaxon Van Derbeken writes that while the city claimed it handled 2,241 cases, the audit reported that none were prosecuted by DA Kamala Harris' office. As a sanctuary city, San Francisco refuses to assist federal law enforcement in cases involving illegal aliens.

Police ID Bank Robber: Michigan police arrested a woman one hour after she attempted to rob a bank in Warren. Moments prior to pulling a gun and demanding money, the woman completed an account application and included the required picture ID. When she panicked and ran, police went to her nearby apartment and arrested her. "We're probably not dealing with the smartest person in the world," said the police commissioner. The AP story is here.