Free Republic

(CNN) -- A Florida man's confession that he kidnapped, raped and buried alive a 9-year-old girl may never be heard by a jury because, according to documents, he previously asked for a lawyer but was not given one. John Couey, accused of murder in the death of Jessica Lunsford, asked for an attorney on March 17, the day before he confessed, according to the transcript of his questioning released by police. At the time of his request, Couey was maintaining he had nothing to do with the girl's disappearance. His request came after Citrus County, Florida, detectives asked him if...

MARTINEZ - While police were seeking Jimena Barreto in connection with the hit-and-run deaths of two Danville children, Barreto asked her building manager to remove cocaine from her apartment, the manager testified Thursday. The jury was not supposed to hear that statement and it could lead to a mistrial. It came after a morning when witnesses testified they saw Barreto, 46, intoxicated and preparing to get behind the wheel on various occasions. "I knew she was a ticking time bomb," said Kathleen McNamara, who met Barreto in a bar a few weeks before the crash. Prosecutors allege that Barreto drove...

Editors have a nasty little habit of telling news writers, "you missed the lead," when a complicated story buries itself in facts and figures but fails to discover the salient feature that made it worth doing and thus worth reading. When an entire newspaper, and then its ombudsman, miss the lead, it is worth a few lines. The Washington Post began an ambitious three-part series Sunday, December 19, entitled "Pregnancy and Homicide: The Unknown Toll," the gist of which was that the states and the CDC and whatever agencies keep track of intentional deaths are remiss in keeping records regarding...

A Small Success at the Washington Post! Last week the Washington Post ran a three-part series on Maternal Homicide and Domestic Violence that was an example of writing (it didn’t qualify as “journalism”) that appealed more to the emotions than the intellect. But this time around, we were ready. Thanks to a cooperative effort among several groups, we hit a home run! On Saturday, the Post ran two excellent letters to the editor – see below. And then on Sunday, the WP Ombudsman Michael Getler devoted one-third of his weekly column to a critique of the series – again, see...

Stephen Byrne (NOTE: MY EMPHASIS BELOW)Stephen James BYRNE Steve, who lived in Edmonds, savored life. He has left us now, in a struggle to find peace, and we will miss him. But we will remember that savoring of life, his love of sailing, biking, cross country skiing, diving, hiking. His love of an incredible mountain vista, how the leaves turned gold in the fall, a great bottle of wine and a wonderful meal with friends, a long ride around Lake Washington or up Washington Pass, completing the STP bike ride for the first time, and the second. He loved his...

Former football star O.J. Simpson, who was found liable for the murder of his wife in a civil trial, expressed sympathy in an interview released Friday for Scott Peterson, who is accused of killing his pregnant wife. "Look at Scott Peterson," Simpson told Playboy Magazine. "Ask anyone in America about him. They'll say the guy is guilty. But we haven't heard one shred of evidence." Fertilizer salesman Peterson of Modesto, California, is accused of killing his wife Laci last Christmas Eve and dumping her body into the San Francisco Bay. A preliminary hearing in the case starts next month. In...

SACRAMENTO (AP) - Scott Peterson could spend his remaining years catching glimpses of the bay where he launched his boat on Christmas Eve 2002, not far from where the bodies of his pregnant wife and unborn child eventually floated to shore. Now convicted of their murders, Peterson will be transported to San Quentin State Prison overlooking San Francisco Bay if the jury recommends a death sentence following a hearing that begins Monday. Cell doors on two of the three units at San Quentin look past walkways patrolled by rifle-toting guards, out at the same water that doomed Peterson when jurors...

Two men face murder trials for deaths of pregnant wives Article Last Updated: Friday, February 06, 2004 - 3:36:15 AM PST Two men face murder trials for deaths of pregnant wives One gets headlines around the world; the other is largely ignored By Amelia Hansen, STAFF WRITER REDWOOD CITY -- Deep inside the Maguire Correctional Facility, a man accused of killing his pregnant wife and unborn child sits waiting for his day in court. His name is not Scott Peterson. But like Peterson, he is in his 30s, has dark hair, and will stand trial for multiple counts of murder....

McKINNEY - A Plano mother who said she drowned two of her daughters to save them from disease and death was found not guilty by reason of insanity Thursday. A Collin County jury of seven women and five men deliberated for 11 hours over two days before acquitting Lisa Diaz of one count of capital murder in the death of her 5-year-old daughter Briana. Diaz also killed Kamryn, 3, inside her Plano home on Sept. 25. Defense attorney Robert Udashen said Diaz will be sent to a mental hospital and be evaluated by psychiatrists. Judge Mark Rusch is expected to...

In October 1997, Jeffrey Curley, a 10-year-old Cambridge, Mass., boy, was playing outside his home when he was lured into a car by Charles Jaynes and Salvatore Sicari. The two men, seeking a child to rape, attacked Jeffrey, who fought back. Then they choked him to death with a gasoline-soaked rag, molested his dead body in Jayne's apartment in Manchester, N.H., stuffed the body into a cement-filled Rubbermaid container and threw the poor child's remains, like a sack of garbage, into the Great Works River in Maine. During their trials, at which the men were convicted of murder and sentenced...

<p>WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Appellate judges ordered Wednesday a new trial for a 16-year-old boy who is serving a life sentence for killing a 6-year-old playmate, raising questions about the Florida law that allows child murderers to be locked away with no hope of parole.</p>

Child killer Joel Steinberg has a cable-TV job waiting for him if he is released on parole next summer, his civil attorney said yesterday. Lawyer Darnay Hoffman, who is general counsel for the show, said he has arranged for Steinberg to work on "New York Confidential," a program planned for a leased-access Time Warner cable channel. Steinberg, 62, is serving 8 to 25 years for fatally striking his illegally adopted daughter, 6-year-old Lisa, in his Greenwich Village apartment in November 1987.

<p>Infamous child killer Joel Steinberg is getting ready for his close-up - he has a TV job waiting for him when he gets out of prison.</p> <p>Steinberg, the abusive monster who became the city's most hated man, will go to work as a reporter and field producer for a new leased-access cable show called "New York Confidential" when he's released next year, his lawyer said yesterday.</p>

Henk Admits To Killing SonSays Brendan Gonzalez wore the mark of the beast Ivan Henk has confessed to killing his four-year-old son, Brendan Gonzalez, saying he thought his son was the Antichrist. The confession came during a court appearance Tuesday afternoon during which Henk was sentenced on two counts related to a police pursuit that he was involved in on the day Brendan turned up missing. That was on January 6th. Henk has remained in custody since then and he was a suspect in Brendan's disappearance but was never charged. Police didn't have the evidence and Henk continuously denied...

'I just don't believe that you bomb women and children in order to enforce the United Nations Resolution on Iraq,' the Harlem Democrat told Fox News Chaneel's 'Hannity and Colmes' program Thursday night.When challenged on his claim that United States forces were killing Iraqi children, Rangle said sarcastically, 'You're right. They are shooting themselves. They just don't know they are being liberated.'After accusing GI's of what amounts to the commission of war crimes, Rangle then slammed President Bush as unqualified to lead the United States into war with Iraq.

Jurors weighing whether to sentence a father to death or life in prison for killing his two young daughters listened Monday to a taped phone call of a mother's anguished moments before she learned her daughters' fate. "Oh, my God, please don't let it be; please, Jesus," Mary Jean Pearle said as she talked to a Highland Park police officer on a cellular phone while waiting outside her ex-husband's apartment, where the girls' bodies were found. "Oh. Oh. I'm so scared." After closing arguments today, jurors will begin deliberating the fate of accountant John Battaglia, convicted last week of capital...