Japan politician Ozawa on trial

6 October 2011 Last updated at 07:01 'Shadow Shogun' Ichiro Ozawa (left) says he will be proved innocent in court Ichiro Ozawa, one of Japan's most influential politicians, has gone on trial on charges of breaking political fundraising laws.

The 69-year-old former leader of the governing Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) is accused of overseeing false accounting by his staff.

Three of his former aides were convicted last week over the scandal, which relates to a 2004 land deal.

Mr Ozawa denies any wrongdoing, saying the charges are politically motivated.

The scandal has deeply divided the DPJ, which has been losing public support.

'Shadow shogun'

Mr Ozawa went on trial in the Tokyo district court on Thursday.

He was indicted on 31 January for alleged false reporting by his fund management company over the land deal in Tokyo, but he told the court he was not guilty.

Continue reading the main story 2003: Merges Liberal Party with DPJ2006: Becomes DPJ leader2009: Resigns as DPJ leader amid funding scandal, just ahead of landmark poll win2010: Challenges PM Naoto Kan for party leadership but fails2011: Goes on trial over funding scandal"There was no erroneous bookkeeping, and I have never conspired with anyone," he said, calling for his trial to be halted.

Mr Ozawa says that he is being unfairly targeted by vested interests opposed to his party's pledge to break the stranglehold of bureaucrats on decision-making and bring politics closer to the people.

A court verdict is expected in April.

Mr Ozawa has been so powerful in Japanese politics that he is known as the "shadow shogun".

He is widely credited with overseeing the DPJ's 2009 election victory, which ended half a century of almost unbroken rule by the Liberal Democratic Party.

But his immense influence in Japanese politics has been eroded by a long investigation into his political fundraising, the BBC's Roland Buerk in Tokyo reports.

This cost him the leadership of the DPJ shortly before the party's election triumph. A year later he went on to challenge former Prime Minister Naoto Kan for the party leadership but lost.

However he continues to lead the DPJ's biggest faction, which has challenged party leaders on several reform pledges.

Analysts say a waning of his influence might lead to greater party stability. Current Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda is the third since the DPJ's election victory in 2009.

But over a four-decade career of brokering alliances, creating and destroying parties, Mr Ozawa has made many come-backs, so even if he is found guilty few will write him off entirely, our correspondent adds.

He adds that if Mr Ozawa is acquitted, he could challenge Mr Noda in a leadership election due next September.

Should Casey Anthony testify at her murder trial?

The drama of the summer continues in Courtroom 23 in Orlando as court watchers wonder if Casey Anthony, the Florida mom accused of killing her toddler, will take the stand in her own defense.

Pool photo by Red Huber

Casey Anthony taking the stand has a serious pitfall, analysts say: The prosecution has shown, and the defense admits, that Anthony is a liar.

Pool photo by Red Huber

Casey Anthony taking the stand has a serious pitfall, analysts say: The prosecution has shown, and the defense admits, that Anthony is a liar.

Legal analysts say she has little choice but to testify after her defense lawyer said in his opening statement that Anthony's daughter, Caylee, drowned in the family pool and her father helped cover it up. The lawyer, Jose Baez, told the jury that Anthony had been molested by her father as a child and that conditioned her to keep quiet about what happened to her daughter.

"She has to take the stand now," says George Parnham, a lawyer who defended Andrea Yates, the Houston mother who drowned her five children during a psychotic breakdown. "She has to explain this to the jury. They need to hear from her. You need to humanize your client."

Anthony's father, George, took the stand during the prosecution's case and denied the allegations. That means Anthony must testify about the alleged abuse and the alleged drowning, other defense lawyers say.

But her taking the stand has a serious pitfall, they say: The prosecution has shown, and the defense admits, that Anthony is a liar. "It's a big risk," says Miami criminal defense attorney and former prosecutor Daniel Lurvey.

Prosecutors, Lurvey and other lawyers say, will methodically pick apart all her stories about what happened to her daughter, including that the child was taken on a trip and that her daughter was kidnapped by a nanny named Zanny.

Lurvey says Baez has boxed himself into a corner.

"He's created a situation that if she does not testify, it's almost as bad as if she does and does badly, Lurvey says.

Baez did not return a call to his office. Anthony is charged with first-degree murder and faces the death penalty if convicted. She has pleaded not guilty.

Prosecutors say she suffocated her 2-year-old daughter with duct tape on her nose and mouth, kept her body in the trunk of her car and later dumped it in woods near her home.

Donald Jones, a law professor at the University of Miami, says the prosecution has a circumstantial case that has not tied Anthony directly to murdering her child. He says the defense should have stuck with poking holes in the prosecution's case, but Baez is giving the prosecutor a chance to discredit her on the stand.

"But because the defense chose the strategy it did, it is dotting the i's and crossing the t's prosecution failed to do," Jones says.

Baez, who was admitted to the Florida bar in 2005, has never tried a death penalty case.

Karin Moore, director of defense and death penalty clinics at Florida A&M University, says his inexperience shows in his questioning of witnesses, which she says is not as focused as it should be.

"Questioning a witness has to be like a surgical strike," she says. "You don't cut your teeth on a death penalty case. … I hope this woman does not receive the death penalty because of it."

Judge Belvin Perry adjourned for the day Monday after he said both sides were wasting the jury's time with legal matters that should have been taken up before court began.

Contributing: Melanie Michael, WTSP-TV; The Associated Presshttp://shop.ebay.co.uk/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p5197.m570.l1313&_nkw=dvd+with+media+on+it&_sacat=See-All-Categories

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Judge orders one-day recess in Casey Anthony murder trial

Casey Anthony is charged with killing her 2-year old daughter in 2008.

It appears that the judge presiding over the Casey Anthony murder trial has had enough - of the lawyers' bickering.

Judge Belvin Parry suspended proceedings for a day, MSNBC.com reported.

While the reasons for the recess weren't immediately clear, they came after he scolded defense attorneys and prosecutors for bickering about legal issues that should have been resolved before the jury was seated.

The judge was visibly annoyed with both attorneys before the start of the 23rd day of the trial, CBSNews.com reported.

The scolding came after he listened to them argue for about 25 minutes following a request from the prosecutor, Jeff Ashton, to delay testimony from two of the witnesses the defense planned on calling

The defense lawyer, Jose Baez, snapped that Ashton was  too inexperienced to know he should have prepared for them weeks before the trial.

That prompted Parry to ask them what time it was.http://shop.ebay.co.uk/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p5197.m570.l1313&_nkw=dvd+with+media+on+it&_sacat=See-All-Categories

When Ashton replied 9:25 and Baez said 9:26, Perry, exasperated, said, "That shows the two of you will never agree on anything."

He also had to dismiss the jury twice on Friday to listen to attorneys from both sides.

Anthony has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in the death of her 2-year-old daughter, Caylee. If convicted, she could receive the death penalty.

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Science takes center stage in Hummel capital murder trial

By Melody McDonald

mjmcdonald@star-telegram.com

FORT WORTH -- The trial of John "Johnny" Hummel turned scientific Monday with jurors hearing how DNA, fingerprints and trace evidence were used to identify and to help determine what happened to three people found dead in a burned-out house in 2009 in Kennedale.

Scientists and analysts from various disciplines dominated the sixth day of testimony in the capital murder trial as prosecutors Miles Brissette and Bob Gill continue to methodically lay out their case against Hummel.

The 35-year-old former Marine is on trial in state District Judge Ruben Gonzalez's court, accused of killing his pregnant wife, Joy; disabled father-in-law, Clyde Bedford; and daughter, Jodi, 5, and then setting fire to the family's home.

A DNA forensic analyst testified that Joy Hummel was pregnant with a girl.

If convicted, prosecutors will seek the death penalty for Hummel, who is being defended by Fred Cummings, Larry Moore and Pam Fernandez.

Hummel confessed to the crime after he was arrested in California. He told investigators that he beat his wife with a baseball bat and then stabbed her with a two swords and a dagger, before resting for a short time and then fatally beating Bedford and Jodi. After his family was dead, Hummel told investigators that he torched his house and began working on his alibi by going to places where his presence would be captured on surveillance video. http://shop.ebay.co.uk/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p5197.m570.l1313&_nkw=dvd+with+media+on+it&_sacat=See-All-Categories

Melody McDonald, 817-390-7386

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Judge Calls Recess After Scolding Attorneys in Casey Anthony Murder Trial

Judge Calls Recess After Scolding Attorneys in Casey Anthony Murder TrialPublished June 20, 2011

| Associated Press

ORLANDO, Fla. -- The judge in the murder trial of a Casey Anthony scolded prosecutors and defense attorneys Monday, warning them they may face punishment when the trial concludes, then he abruptly halted proceedings for the day to give both sides more time to sort out issues with witnesses.

One of the major disputes involves a defense witness who took the stand over the weekend, but neither prosecutors nor the judge knew what he was going to say. With the jury outside of the courtroom still waiting to hear testimony on Day 23 of the trial, Judge Belvin Perry said he was tired of the infighting.

"There has been gamesmanship on both sides," Perry said. "... Obviously there is a friction between attorneys. That's something I guess the Florida bar will deal with. And at the conclusion of this trial, the court will deal with violations that may have occurred."

Anthony, 25, is accused of killing her 2-year-old daughter during the summer of 2008. She has pleaded not guilty. The defense says the girl drowned in her grandparents' swimming pool while the state says she was suffocated by duct tape being placed over her nose and mouth. If convicted, Anthony could get the death penalty.http://shop.ebay.co.uk/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p5197.m570.l1313&_nkw=dvd+with+media+on+it&_sacat=See-All-Categories

The judge highlighted the discord between attorneys when he asked prosecutor Jeff Ashton and defense attorney Jose Baez to look at the clock in the courtroom and tell him what time it was. Ashton said "9:25" and Baez "9:26."

"That shows the two of you won't agree on anything or ever interpret things the same way," Perry said.

The defense was about to call forensic anthropologist William Rodriguez to the witness stand Monday when the prosecution asked the judge for more time to go over a deposition he gave this past weekend.

Rodriguez was supposed to testify Saturday, but he was interrupted after prosecutors said he started talking about information that was not previously disclosed to the state. Perry wound up granting the state time to depose him and admonished lead defense attorney Jose Baez for violating a January court order that made it mandatory for expert witnesses to submit preliminary reports on their testimony.

Ashton said Monday the next expert Baez planned to call submitted only a summary report without any clear opinions. Ashton also said he planned to officially file for sanctions against Baez.

Baez argued that Ashton decided not to utilize the option to depose the new witness this past weekend and was also engaging in legal maneuvering.

"We did not intentionally look at this court's order and say we were going to disobey it," Baez said. Ashton "had a responsibility, omitted it ... and should not be allowed to come forth at the 11th hour."

Click here for complete coverage on the Casey Anthony murder trial from MyFoxOrlando.com

TIMELINE: Casey Anthony murder trial 

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Casey Anthony Trial: Duct Tape Problematic in Murder Case

http://shop.ebay.co.uk/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p5197.m570.l1313&_nkw=dvd+with+media+on+it&_sacat=See-All-CategoriesIt was common knowledge going into the Casey Anthony trial that the state's attorneys charged with prosecuting Anthony for the 2008 murder of her 2-year-old daughter, Caylee Marie Anthony, were going to focus on the circumstances surrounding the remains of child found near her grandparents home outside of Orlando, Florida. Much of that focus was going to center around duct tape found with the remains and believed to have been used to asphyxiate the child. But Anthony's defense offered expert testimony Saturday that could undermine the prosecution's case with regard to the duct tape.

Dr. William Rodriguez was the first of two expert witnesses called by the defense Saturday to refute the duct tape claim, according to ABC News. Rodriguez, a forensic anthropologist with the U.S. Department of Defense Armed Forces Medical Examiner's Office, said it would be impossible to determine the exact position of duct tape on a corpse given the time the remains had been at the mercy of the elements. He also offered that duct tape adhesive loses its stickiness over time and that animals that came into contact with the body could have moved the tape as well.

Forensic expert Dr. Werner Spitz testified that the duct tape the prosecution argued was used in the murder was actually applied after the body began decomposing. He also stated, according to the Associated Press, that the state's autopsy of Caylee Anthony's body had been "shoddy" and that the entire body had not been examined. He attested that he also examined inside the child's skull, something that had not been done prior to his examination.

Spitz, who also testified at the O. J. Simpson trial, said, "The head is part of the body and when you do an examination, you examine the whole body." He added, "... That to me is a signal of a shoddy autopsy."

The defense earlier in the week -- after the prosecution presented evidence surrounding the duct tape -- made certain that the jurors understood that no fingerprint evidence was found on any of the pieces (three) of duct tape found with Caylee's body. In fact, according to ABC News, defense attorney Jose Baez got FBI latent print analyst Elizabeth Fontaine, after an exhaustive tutorial on fingerprint retrieval, to admit three times that there were no fingerprints found.

The defense -- which contends that Caylee Anthony drowned in the family pool at her parents' home and that the death was subsequently covered up by her negligent grandfather, George (Casey Anthony's father), who let his daughter take the blame for the murder -- is pushing for an acquittal on the charge of murder against their client. By offering various refutations of the evidence, they hope to establish reasonable doubt.

Casey Anthony, 25, faces the death penalty phase of a trial should she be found guilty of murdering her daughter.

The prosecution contends that Anthony, then 22 years old, simply and callously planned and murdered her daughter, going so far as to do computer searches on how it could be done, then carrying out the killing, placing her daughter's body in the trunk of her car, allowing it to decompose for as long as five days, then placing the remains in a bag and disposing of it not a quarter-mile from her own parents' home outside Orlando. The remains were discovered two months after Anthony was formally charged with murder.

It was reported that a piece of duct tape was found adhered to the skull and hair of the remains. A heart-shaped sticker was also discovered, one that matched a roll of stickers found in the home of Anthony's parents -- in the room Anthony and Caylee had once shared. It was reported that there was a heart-shaped residue on the tape that had been found near the mouth of the body but the residue had been lost in the handling of the tape during forensic testing -- and no photograph of the residued image was taken to preserve the visual evidence.

Defense testimony resumes in the murder trial Monday. Presiding Judge Belvin Perry noted last week that he hoped that the defense would rest and the jury could begin deliberations by Friday, June 24.

(photo credit: Orange County Sheriff's Office, Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons)

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Conn. jeweler killings trial goes to jury

BRIDGEPORT, Conn.—The fate of a New York man accused of killing a husband and wife during a robbery at their Connecticut jewelry store in 2005 is in the hands of a jury.

The jury in Christopher DiMeo's murder trial is expected to start deliberating Tuesday in Bridgeport Superior Court after final statements from lawyers.

The Connecticut Post reports that the jury on Monday heard from Nicole Pearce, DiMeo's former girlfriend. Pearce, who is in a hospital battling terminal cancer, testified Friday and the recording was played in court Monday.

DiMeo, a former Queens resident, is accused of shooting Fairfield jewelers Tim and Kim Donnelly. He faces the death penalty if convicted.

DiMeo's lawyers have conceded their client killed the couple in February 2005, but say he didn't intend to kill them.

Information from: Connecticut Post, http://www.connpost.com/

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