21 Life Terms... Plus 433 Years:  After being convicted earlier this month of 22 felony counts, a Los Angeles man was sentenced yesterday to 21 life terms (10 of which were stayed) and a base term of 433 years, reports the AP.  In 2008, Charles Juan Proctor's use of a razor blade during his attacks of six women in the Long Beach area gave him the nickname "box cutter."  One victim testified that Proctor dug a blade into her neck and cheek and twisted it to make the wound deeper.  During sentencing, presiding Judge Gary Ferrari referred to the Proctor's crime spree as "unconscionable" and told him "I can say absolutely ... you deserve each of these 433 years."

Federal Judge Holds Hearing in MA Death Penalty Case:  A federal judge yesterday held a hearing in the case of Gary Lee Sampson, the first person to be scheduled for execution in Massachusetts since 1947.  After Sampson pleaded guilty to the stabbing deaths of two men in 2001, a federal jury recommended a sentence of death - rejecting his proferred defense of mental disease or brain damage.  After imposing the sentence, presiding U.S. District Court Judge Mark Wolf angered some family members of the victims by stating that he believed Sampson was indeed mentally ill.  Judge Wolf is now also the presiding judge over Sampson's federal habeas proceeding, and family members are concerned that he will get a second chance to avoid imposing a death sentence for Sampson.  Read the Boston Globe's story here.