16 posts tagged “judicial system”
Witness-wise, what exactly is the difference between a "secret witness" and a "surprise witness?" For example, singer RR Kelly's trial is delayed because of a secret witness who may testify that she was part of the three-way with an underage girl, while political fixer Tony Rezko faces more heat because of a surprise witness who claims to have abeted a couple of his corruptions.
** For Big Jo, the delicious secret is also the most surprising. **
Unintentional humor is often the best ... unless the laugh it at your expense -- I mean my expense, but may cut you some slack as thanks for reading. So there is great glee in reporting that Anthony Pellicano, secret stealer to-for-and-from the stars according to the NY Times trial update offered as some defense of his various alleged crimes "...that he never intended their secrets to become public," . And who does?
They (those omniscient unknowns) say Fawza Falih has secret powers that can turn a man impotent. And, so the Saudi Arabian "witch" may lose her head -- swordwise, that is. While this sounds outrageous to [many, most?] western ears, we don't have to go all the way back in history to the Salem Witch Trials to consider how possible/probably innocent women (and men) have been treated when bad things happen. There is now a movement in Scotland to posthumously pardon a woman convicted for being a witch who gave away the secret that a boat was sunk. (Actually it was pretty obvious the boat sunk; it was just the British government didn't want the public to hear the bad news and so tried to keep it secret.)
Virtue has the secrets to help triumph over evil. How much better can a Hollywood story get than having (Tarita) Virtue emerge from a hidden location to take the stand and testify against the evil king of filmdom private investigators, Anthony Pellicano, who is imprisoned and on trial for a long list of ill deeds committed on behalf of his various big shot clients. And, oh yeah, Pellicano threatened to kill Virtue.
It may seem like a good idea at the time, but murdering an ex-lover rarely seems to work out as a way to keep the relationship secret. The latest to take the fall for following that fool's gold strategy is Pennsylvania's Jennifer Vinsek, sentenced to life without parole when her ex-boyfriend was shot to death by her new beau. Apparently, there was a plan to keep the two apart; but the plan fell apart.
Without the allure of a WWE Smackdown, the Disgustingly Impotent take on the Inbred Delusional. The Democratic National Committee, standing in for congressional democrats, is suing the U.S. Justice Department, representing the "brain trust" of the Bush administration. There are e-mails the latter refuse to share that the former believe will prove the long-dead "scandal" of U.S. attorneys fired because of their lack of political kowtowing. Like this is actually some sort of well-kept secret that the Dems think needs to be proved and the Reps believe isn't true unless someone sees pieces of paper. Ladies, gentlemen, move on.
Presumably, the judge was smiling with the irony as he issued a gag order on sharing actual dirt and residual splatter secrets from the McCartney-Mills car wreck. Secrets haven't been kept before and there are too many people in the know with diverging agendas to keep them now or for very far into the future. The most the judge could assume is a bit of gagging before the bile is thrown up. Look forward to it.
James Risen, author of State of War, will likely be imprisoned for keeping secrets. The NY Times reporter is scheduled to face an Alexandria, Va., Grand Jury that wants him to reveal who told him of CIA screwups, although the CIA did issue comments that he didn't have their secrets, he had someone else's fictions. So far, he says he'll protect his sources, citing a First Amendment to the Constitution that seems to offer fewer Supreme Court interpreted protections all the time.
The Italian Supreme Court has ruled that common sense should prevail: If you have a secret, don't share it if you want to avoid trouble. The particular vessel for this wisdom is the case of a 49-year-old who gave a tape of himself and his girlfriend having sex to his girlfriend after they broke up. It seems he lied just a tad about actually taping their particular transaction, but the court ruled that because he didn't share it with others no crime (that they could rule on) was committed.
According to the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, the less access you have to "top" secrets the more secrets of your own you get to keep. Thanks to the decision, overruling a judge's earlier pronouncement, lower level NASA employees at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory will not have to face divulging "highly personal information using an open-ended technique including asking for 'any adverse information' ."
