DEFENSE POSTURE
"A judge ruled Tuesday that a defendant could proceed with her theory of defense, despite objections by the prosecutor. The woman, charged with causing a fatal car crash in 1999, says that she couldn't have been behind the wheel because she was performing a sex act on the driver at the time.
'A defendant has a right to offer a defense no matter how outlandish, silly or unbelievable one might think it will be,' the judge said.
Her lawyer noted that the decendant's pants were down when he was thrown from the car. But the Assistant State said the defense is flawed. 'His pants could have been down because he was mooning a car he was drag racing,' Platt said. 'His pants could have been down because he was urinating out of a window. His pants could have been down because he wasn't feeling well.'"
(SUN SENTINEL, unearthed by Bill Messick)

UNITED STATES V. DAVIDSON
Congratulations to our partner Peter Madden for the latest decision from the Eleventh Circuit. The issue involved the proper interpretation of two sentencing guideline provisions.

GOP STAFFERS PURLOIN DEMO FILES
"Two Republican congressional staffers improperly accessed about 4,700 computer files of their Democratic colleagues, a source familiar with an investigation of the matter said on Thursday.
Members of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee privately received a written report on the probe of their own panel's computer system, and put off until at least next week what, if any action to take, said the source, who asked not to be identified.
Options included -- if consensus can be reached on the often sharply divided panel -- seeking criminal prosecutions against the two Republican staffers who have since resigned."
(REUTER'S, unearthed by Common Dreams)

CUBAN CATHOLICISM EXPLAINED AT TUSCALOOSA
"In Cuba, the Passion did not last 12 hours; it has lasted many years. It started in 1961, and it continues today,' Salvador Larrua said after an address to a small group at the University of Alabama."
(TUSCALOOSA NEWS, unearthed by Larry Clayton)