Pretrial Hearings Continue in Case Against Suspected Embassy Bomber: A hearing will be held today in the case against Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, who is suspected of plotting the 1998 bombings of the U.S. Embassies in Tanzania and Kenya. Last month, presiding U.S. District Court Judge Lewis A. Kaplan determined that the testimony of one of the government's proferred key witnesses was inadmissible because the witness was identified through the CIA's use of "extremely harsh interrogation methods" against Ghailani. Today, the government will make another attempt for the testimony's admissibility, arguing that it is "sufficiently attenuated" from the alleged illegality. Ghailani has already tried - unsuccessfully - to dismiss his case based on a violation of his right to a speedy trial. (Read CJLF's brief here.) Jury selection is set to begin next week, making Ghailani the first Gitmo detainee to be tried in civilian court. The New York Law Journal has this story.
Nationwide Murder Suspect Appears in Court: The Napa Valley Register (CA) reports on the court appearance of Roy Allen Melanson, who is suspected of stabbing to death Anita Andrews at a California bar 36 years ago. Melanson arrived at the Napa Superior Court from his current residence - the Colorado Department of Corrections - where he is serving a life sentence for killing backpacker Michele Wallace. Melanson was linked to Andrews's death after he was matched to a crime scene sample through a federal DNA database. He has also been charged with the 1988 murder of Charlotte Lily Sauerwin in Louisiana and remains a suspect in an unsolved Texas murder case.
Husband/Father Takes Stand in Horrific Home Invasion Trial: Connecticut doctor William Petit took the stand today in the case against Steven Hayes who is charged, along with co-defendant Joshua Komisarjevsky, with torturing, sexually assaulting, and murdering Petit's wife and two daughters in 2007. Petit testified that after a pleasant Sunday with his family, he awoke at 3 a.m. on the couch with blood running down his face and two armed men standing in front of him. After the men bound his wrists and ankles to the couch, he heard them upstairs with his wife and daughter. Though he lost nearly seven pints of blood, Petit was able to free himself and crawl to a neighbor's house, but it was too late. Hayes and Komisarjevsky offered to plead guilty for life sentences, but prosecutors commendably pushed for trials and a chance at death sentences for the men. Read ABC New's story here.
Nationwide Murder Suspect Appears in Court: The Napa Valley Register (CA) reports on the court appearance of Roy Allen Melanson, who is suspected of stabbing to death Anita Andrews at a California bar 36 years ago. Melanson arrived at the Napa Superior Court from his current residence - the Colorado Department of Corrections - where he is serving a life sentence for killing backpacker Michele Wallace. Melanson was linked to Andrews's death after he was matched to a crime scene sample through a federal DNA database. He has also been charged with the 1988 murder of Charlotte Lily Sauerwin in Louisiana and remains a suspect in an unsolved Texas murder case.
Husband/Father Takes Stand in Horrific Home Invasion Trial: Connecticut doctor William Petit took the stand today in the case against Steven Hayes who is charged, along with co-defendant Joshua Komisarjevsky, with torturing, sexually assaulting, and murdering Petit's wife and two daughters in 2007. Petit testified that after a pleasant Sunday with his family, he awoke at 3 a.m. on the couch with blood running down his face and two armed men standing in front of him. After the men bound his wrists and ankles to the couch, he heard them upstairs with his wife and daughter. Though he lost nearly seven pints of blood, Petit was able to free himself and crawl to a neighbor's house, but it was too late. Hayes and Komisarjevsky offered to plead guilty for life sentences, but prosecutors commendably pushed for trials and a chance at death sentences for the men. Read ABC New's story here.
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