Image shown during Dr. Conrad Murray’s involuntary manslaughter trial was taken moments after MJ was pronounced dead. By Gil Kaufman Conrad Murray Photo: Pool/ Getty Images The involuntary manslaughter trial of former Michael Jackson doctor Conrad Murray got under way again Tuesday (October 11), when the jury viewed photos from Jackson’s autopsy for the first time and heard more testimony from the lead police investigator in the case, the rest of a taped interview Murray gave to investigators two days after the singer’s death, and potentially damaging testimony from L.A. County medical examiner Dr. Christopher Rogers who pronounced Jackson’s death a homicide. Among the highlights of Tuesday’s testimony:
This season of Big Brother was one of many twists. At times too many. The golden keys. The duo format. The one-week return of the duo format. It all felt a little convoluted at times – even by BB standards. Things really picked up in recent weeks, however, beginning with the double eviction mayhem that ousted both Daniele and Jeff, making it anyone’s game. At that point, the Big Brother 13 house was essentially Rachel Reilly and a crew of true floaters. America’s Most Hated was somehow in the driver’s seat. Not that Rache was undeserving. She came in as a painful Big Brother villain of yesteryear (okay, last year). But she was always a fierce competitor, and had morphed into someone who actually understands the social elements! In short, as we noted weeks ago, she could really win this thing! IF she could make it happen and win the final Head of Household battle against Adam Poch and Porsche Briggs, Big Brother 13 was hers to lose. But did she? She did. Rachel won part one, then part three against Porsche, then chose to face off against Porsche for the $500,000 prize, henceforth evicting Adam. “If I was in the final two, I would’ve won,” Adam said, hilariously, to Julie Chen. He’s a likable dude, but going up against Rachel, that’s a dubious claim. In any event, it came down to a jury vote between Rachel and Porsche, who may not even understand how the game works, but did deserve to be there. She floated for half the season, but really turned it up of late. Not the best strategist, no, but a mid-level contestant who opportunistically caught fire. “I hope you see something good in me also to compete in life and do something good with it,” Porsche pleaded with the jury, somewhat convincingly. In truth, the seven-member panel likely saw this as an easy call. Brendon was going with his Boo-Key, and Jeff and Jordan were clearly on Team Rachel . That meant Porsche needed everyone else. Kalia and Dani were locks to vote for her, and did so. Adam also did, for reasons unknown, knotting it at 3-3. Shelly Moore was the dealbreaker for Porsche in the end. Despite issues with Rachel, Shelly voted with her brain and handed the redhead a half million. It’s hard not to be mildly annoyed at this, given her cattiness the last two summers. At the same time, would you have preferred Adam or Porsche win? Rachel Reilly deserves due credit for doing more than win absurd games to control power. She formed alliances and kept the peace from mid-August on. Meanwhile, Jeff won $25,000 as America’s Favorite Houseguest, which fans voted for online. That was far less of a surprise than Rachel winning it all. What do you think of Reilly’s triumph, which seemed impossible a few months ago? Did the jury make the right call? Did Rachel deserve to win BB13?
Remember dude who killed all those women in Cleveland??? The jury in the trial of accused Cleveland serial killer Anthony Sowell returned guilty verdicts Friday on multiple counts of aggravated murder in the deaths of 11 women whose remains were found in and around Sowell’s home. The jury deliberated two hours Wednesday and all day Thursday. Sowell showed no emotion as the judge read the jury’s verdict. Sowell is eligible to receive the death penalty, reports CBS affiliate WOIO. The phase of the trial to determine if he will receive it will begin Monday, August 1. Sowell, 51, lured the women to his home with alcohol and drugs and killed them, say police. Sowell had pleaded not guilty in the deaths of the 11 women who disappeared in his drug-ridden East Cleveland neighborhood starting in October 2007. The defense rested Tuesday without calling a single witness. The prosecution rested on Monday after showing the jury an eight-hour police interrogation of Sowell in which he said “I guess I did that” when asked about the bodies. Sowell faced 85 counts in total, including aggravated murder, offenses against a human corpse, tampering with evidence, kidnapping and felonious assault. He was found guilty of all of them, reports WOIO, except for aggravated robbery. Source
Most people disagree with the jury’s verdict and think Casey Anthony should still be behind bars. For her own safety and stability, maybe she should be. The 25-year-old may be a free woman, but feels anything but, given the psychological trauma she’s already suffered and the challenges she faces now. “Her life is going to be very difficult for a very long time,” attorney Cheney Mason said Monday regarding his client, whose whereabouts are unknown. Her release from jail Sunday gives you an idea of what he means: Casey Anthony Heckled Outside Jail “As long as there are so many of the lynch-mob mentality, willing to deny that the jury found her not guilty, she’s going to have issues,” Mason added . And there are quite a few. Entire Facebook groups are dedicated to finding (” Where Is Casey Anthony “) and eviscerating “I Hate Casey Anthony”) her. But her lawyer says the hounding from the public, which has reacted with nothing short of vitriol since her July 5 acquittal, is only part of her troubles. Casey hasn’t gotten over the loss of Caylee, “and probably never will,” Mason said, to say noting of her being “locked up in a cage” for three years. While convicted of four counts of lying to officials, Casey had been in jail for nearly 1,000 days, or close to what would have been a full sentence. She was therefore set free, but not of the demons internally. “This is very psychologically expensive for a human being, and she will take a while to adjust,” Mason said, adding that “a lot of plans had to be made” to keep her whereabouts a secret amid constant death threats . “She’s gone,” was all he would say. “She’s safe.”
Casey Anthony has been receiving plenty of death threats since she was found not guilty of murder last week, but not everybody hates on her. Support and sympathy from strangers has poured in, as has cash – her bank account is benefiting from financial contributors, People reports . Sympathetic admirers, who need to reexamine their lives, have been sending Anthony letters of encouragement – and checks in the mail. As of Thursday, the 25-year-old earned $472.18 from at least 17 different donors, according to Orange County Corrections Department records. That’s a drop in the bucket compared to the amounts she’s going to be sued for imminently, but every little bit helps when you’re flat broke. Texas Equusearch, for one, is suing Casey Anthony for more than $100,000 to recoup the money they spent searching for Caylee Anthony. Since Casey was convicted of lying to law enforcement authorities four different times, the company certainly has grounds to go after her. In any case, Anthony, who does not appear to know the donors, has spent some money and will keep the rest when she’s released July 17 . Anthony bought deodorant, shampoo, toothpaste, eyeliner, hair ties, premium chicken breasts, peanuts and jalape
The judge declared a mistrial today in Roger Clemens’ perjury case after prosecutors showed jurors evidence that was previously ruled inadmissible. U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton said the prosecutors had made a grave error and that the baseball legend could no longer be assured a fair trial. Walton scheduled a September 2 hearing to determine whether to hold a new trial, but the jurors were dismissed and the case is off – for now. Roger Clemens was indicted for perjury for allegedly lying to Congress during a 2008 investigation into performance-enhancing drug use in the sport. He is not being charged with using drugs, per se, but for knowingly false testimony he allegedly gave involving his use of the substances years ago. This morning, in the second day of testimony, the judge interrupted prosecutors’ playing of a video from his 2008 testimony before Congress. The jury was removed from the room. When they returned, they were dismissed, and the judge issued the following explanation of why: “There are rules that we play by and those rules are designed to make sure both sides receive a fair trial. If this man got convicted, he would go to jail.” Because prosecutors broke his rules, “the ability with Mr. Clemens with this jury to get a fair trial with this jury would be very difficult if not impossible.” Prosecutors suggested the problem could have been fixed with an instruction to the jury to disregard the evidence, but Walton seemed skeptical. He said he could never know what impact the evidence would have during the jury’s deliberations “when we’ve got a man’s liberty at interest.” “I don’t see how we un-ring the bell,” he said. Defense attorney Rusty Hardin patted an unsmiling Clemens on the back as the judge announced his decision. Clemens did not speak to reporters. Clemens and his lawyers remain under a court gag order and they declined to comment as they left. “I’m not going to say anything,” he said.
Cheers to this exciting CSI casting news! Following the departure of William Peterson, and then Laurence Fishburne, Ted Danson has signed on to anchor this long-running CBS drama. The Emmy winner will debut in September as the former head of a Portland crime lab. Said Don McGill of the Danson selection: “From the moment we all started talking about the role, it was clear [Ted] couldn’t be more perfect. Intelligence, wit, warmth, depth of character and emotion, he brings it all. And now he’ll have to bring latex gloves, too.” CSI moves to Wednesday nights, hoping to improve upon recently-declining ratings, this fall. [Photo: WENN.com/FayesVision]
Jurors in the Casey Anthony case were “disgusted” by her behavior, and “sick” over the decision to find her not guilty, but still felt they did the right thing. The foreman said that her shady behavior and evidence of whether or not she murdered Caylee are two different things, and the former didn’t matter. “We were asked … to convict on cause of death,” the foreman, juror No. 11, said on Fox News. “That’s something that, although it is disgusting, it is heinous, we weren’t really able to take into consideration with the verdict.” The jury foreman, who asked that his name not be used due to possible death threats , said the jury deliberated by considering the physical evidence. One Casey Anthony video deemed too inflammatory was not included. Ultimately, despite the duct tape found on Caylee Anthony’s remains, the possible use of chloroform and the strange circumstances, it wasn’t enough. They eventually found Casey Anthony, 25, not guilty of murdering Caylee, but guilty of lying to police four times in the course of their investigation. “We knocked those out right away because the evidence was there,” the jury foreman said, but the murder charge was a different story entirely. An early vote on the murder charge in the jury room was 10-2 to find Casey Anthony not guilty , he said. Less than 11 hours later, it was 12-0. “I think emotion [about Casey’s behavior] could have played into it, just gut response,” the juror said, though he never asked his counterparts. Eventually, the two dissenters came around, he added, as jurors considered what they felt were holes in the prosecution’s evidence. What do you think? Did the jurors get it right?
Welcome to THG Asks, a feature in which two of our celebrity gossip experts debate topical issues in the entertainment world and you decide who wrote the winning argument! Today, THG Asks : Did the jury in the Casey Anthony case get it right? YES by Hilton Hater I firmly believe Casey Anthony is guilty. But I don’t know this for a fact. I wouldn’t bet my life on it. Would you? That’s the decision jurors were faced with in this case; heck, in any court case. A strong suspicion isn’t enough, a hatred for the defendant doesn’t suffice, a number of lies and conflicting stories don’t add up to the one key element missing here: EVIDENCE. Can you tell me how Caylee died? Is there DNA that links Casey to the scene? Is there anything beyond (admittedly grotesque) stories of how Casey partied soon after her daughter disappeared and her searches for terms such as “chloroform” online? Our court system places an extreme burden of proof on the prosecution because the last thing anyone wants is for an innocent person to be convicted. Jury members are instructed to take the words “beyond a reasonable doubt” very seriously. A killer has almost definitely walked free. Nancy Grace has been given opportunities to rant like an attention-starved lunatic. Both results are regrettable. But, given a lack of hard evidence, I’m not sure what we could do to change them.
In a stunning verdict reached in just 10 hours and 40 minutes of deliberation, a jury acquitted Casey Anthony of murder this afternoon in Orlando, Fla. A red-faced Anthony held back tears after the verdict. Having sat grim faced for almost six weeks of testimony, she beamed when she learned her fate. Comprised of seven women and five men, ranging in ages from 32 to 65, the 12 members of the jury handed down the decision at 2:15 p.m. Tuesday. The jurors spent four hours Sunday and six today breaking down the case against Casey. Ultimately, they found reasonable doubt and she walked. Accused of killing two-year-old daughter Caylee, she was found not guilty of first degree murder, aggravated child abuse and aggravated manslaughter. Casey Anthony was found guilty on four counts of providing false information to law enforcement officers. Those charges are misdemeanor offenses. Anthony could face a year in prison for each of the four counts, but since she’s been incarcerated for three years already, she may go free altogether. Sentencing on the guilty counts will be held on 9 a.m. Thursday. The high-profile trial began on May 24. Much of the 33 days of testimony and two of closing arguments made a compelling case against Anthony. Not enough, apparently. The absence of hard, physical evidence against her and a defense theory that was just plausible enough led to an acquittal. Prosecutors claimed Casey Anthony killed Caylee with chloroform and suffocated her with duct tape over her mouth and nose, then left her in the woods. Casey’s defense team admitted she weaved a complex web of lies about what happened, but suggested that Caylee drowned in the pool by accident. As for why Casey lied, her attorneys said that she behaved that way because she had been “trained to lie” through years of sexual abuse by her father. Judge Belvin Perry ruled, however, that there was no evidence that Casey was abused and ordered that it not be mentioned in closing arguments. Did the jury get it right? What do you think …
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