2006 - Courtartist

Yearly Archives: 2006

French lab rules out date-rape drug

Posted on December 20, 2006 by Art Lien — No Comments ↓

Testifying over speaker phone at a hearing for Annapolis Midshipman Kenny Morrison who is accused of drugging and raping two women, also students at the Naval Academy, Pascal Kintz, director of the French laboratory ChemTox, said in a heavily accented voice, “we can say with huge accuracy that there was no exposure”.

Hair samples from the two victims were sent by the prosecution to the French laboratory for analysis after previous tests by a Texas lab were called into question at an earlier Article 32 hearing.

Posted in Military Tagged with: Article 32, Court-Martial, Navy

Cheney to testify for Libby

Posted on December 19, 2006 by Art Lien — No Comments ↓

Scooter Libby’s attorney Ted Wells, standing on the left at the podium next to Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald, told Judge Reggie B. Walton “we’re calling the vice president”.

Libby’s trial on charges of lying to the Grand Jury and obstruction in the CIA leak case is set to begin January 16.

Posted in Courtroom Tagged with: Cheney, Libby

Can Rumsfeld be sued for torture?

Posted on December 8, 2006 by Art Lien — No Comments ↓

Deputy Assistant Attorney General C. Frederick Beckner III, representing outgoing Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, argued to Chief Judge Hogan that his client cannot be held legally responsible for the torture of prisoners in Iraq and Afghanistan as plaintiffs’ lawyers, in the foreground, looked on.

Posted in Courtroom Tagged with: Guantanamo, Rumsfeld

Use of race in school admissions argued in Supreme Court

Posted on December 4, 2006 by Art Lien — No Comments ↓

Lawyer for Seattle parents, Harry J. F. Korrell, argues against the school district’s “open choice” policy aimed at overcoming the effects of the city’s segregated housing patterns on it’s high schools.

Arguments were also heard in a similar case from Louisville, Ky.

Posted in Arguments, Supreme Court Tagged with: Affirmative Action, Open Choice, SCOTUS

Heated debate

Posted on November 30, 2006 by Art Lien — No Comments ↓

The Supreme Court yesterday considered for the first time the issue of
global warming and the EPA’s role in regulating greenhouse gases. The case, Massachusetts, et al. v. EPA, brought by twelve states, three cities and several environmental groups seeks to force the EPA to regulate auto emissions.

Massachusetts Asst. Attorney General James R. Milkey is shown delivering his argument to the Justices.

Posted in Arguments, Supreme Court Tagged with: EPA, SCOTUS

Extreme amends

Posted on November 16, 2006 by Art Lien — No Comments ↓

In an effort to atone for past wrongs William Beebe e-mailed a woman he had date raped twenty years ago at a University of Virginia fraternity party. The victim, however, was not satisfied with an apology and took the e-mails to the police.

This sketch is from the preliminary hearing on March 24, 2006 where Beebe and the victim came face to face for the first time since they were students at UVA. The case went to the Grand Jury which indicted, and a trial date was set for November 27. Instead of going to trial Beebe entered a guilty plea earlier this week and will be sentenced March 15.

Posted in Courtroom Tagged with: Beebe, UVA

Abortion arguments

Posted on November 8, 2006 by Art Lien — No Comments ↓

The Supreme Court today heard arguments in two cases challenging the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003.

Posted in Arguments, Supreme Court Tagged with: Abortion, SCOTUS

Another Naval Academy rape case

Posted on November 2, 2006 by Art Lien — No Comments ↓

In July Annapolis midshipman and star quarterback Lamar Owens was aquitted of rape charges by a court-martial. Today another Naval Academy middie, and football team member, faced accusations by two women who testified at his Article 32 hearing.

Midshipman Kenny Ray Morrison, seated between his civilian and military lawyers on the right side of my sketch, listens as victim #1 is questioned by LCDR Colin Kisor, JAGC, USN.

Posted in Military Tagged with: Article 32, Court-Martial, Navy

Tobacco case goes up in smoke

Posted on October 31, 2006 by Art Lien — No Comments ↓

A case before the Supreme Court that was expected to be a major test of the constitutionality of punitive damage awards, Philip Morris v. Williams, instead fizzled out as the issue narrowed to the meaning of a jury instruction that the trial judge had refused to give.

Sketch shows Andrew L. Frey arguing for petitioner Philip Morris. In the foreground are reporters (LtoR) Joan Biskupic, USA Today, Charles Lane, The Washington Post, Nina Totenberg, NPR, Pete Williams, NBC News, and David Savage of the Los Angeles Times.

Posted in Arguments, Supreme Court Tagged with: SCOTUS

Safavian sentenced

Posted on October 27, 2006 by Art Lien — No Comments ↓

Safavian’s voice cracked and his wife wept as he asked for leniency, but Judge Paul L. Friedman showed little sympathy as he sentenced him to 18 months in prison for obstruction of justice.

Posted in Congress Tagged with: Abramoff, Safavian