Lawyer: Islamic group not linked to gunman

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Published: March. 31, 2012 at 6:50 PM

PARIS, March 31 (UPI) -- The lawyer for the leader of an Islamic group arrested by French authorities said the group has no connection with the Toulouse gunman who killed seven people.

Lawyer Philippe Missamou, who represents Forsane Alizza leader Mohammed Achamlane, one of 19 people arrested Friday for alleged links to radical Islam, said Saturday Achamlane denied the group had anything to do with Mohammed Merah's killings, CNN reported.

Merah killed a rabbi, the cleric's two children and another schoolgirl outside a Jewish school last week and three paratroopers of north African descent the week before.

Merah allegedly admitted to the shootings during a two-day standoff with police at his apartment in Toulouse before he was killed in an exchange of gunfire.

CNN said French media reports have suggested Merah had links to Forsane Alizza, which has followers in Toulouse.

France's Interior Ministry said "19 arrests were made in connection with the group Forsane Alizza" Friday in Toulouse, Marseille, Nantes, Lyon and the Ile de France region, around Paris.

Interior Minister Claude Gueant said five rifles, four automatic weapons, three Kalashnikov rifles and a bulletproof vest were found in searches of the suspects' homes.

Missamou said Achamlane said Forsane Alizza did not support armed combat. The lawyer said the group was not dangerous but worked to battle injustice against Muslims in France.

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Bahrain lawyer: Leading activist could face trial

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MANAMA, Bahrain (AP) — A lawyer for a leading Bahrain rights activist says his client could face possible trial on charges of taking part in anti-government protests in the Gulf kingdom.

Lawyer Mohammed al-Jishi says activist Nabeel Rajab was released early Sunday after hours of interrogation. Al-Jishi says the next step may be a trial for Rajab, the president of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights.

Rajab has been an outspoken critic of crackdowns against Bahrain's Shiite majority, which began an uprising in February 2011 seeking to end the Sunni monarchy's near monopoly on power.

A police statement Saturday said Rajab was detained on charges linked to "illegal" demonstrations and the case was referred to the public prosecutor.

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Bales' lawyer: U.S. is 'hiding evidence' in massacre - Philadelphia Inquirer

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SEATTLE - The attorney for the U.S. soldier accused of killing 17 Afghan civilians said Friday that the U.S. government was "hiding evidence" from the defense team.

John Henry Browne said members of the defense team in Afghanistan were told they would have access to witnesses at a hospital, but later discovered the people had been released.

He also said the U.S. government has not turned over files to the lawyers defending Army Staff Sgt. Robert Bales.

The defense team said in a statement the prosecution was withholding information "while potential witnesses scatter."

"It's outrageous," Browne said. "What they are basically doing is hiding evidence. The only reason to hide evidence is if you don't have evidence."

Maj. Chris Ophardt, an Army spokesman, said in a statement that the prosecution would provide Bales' defense with evidence in accordance with court-martial and military rules of evidence. He said that within these guidelines "the prosecution is and has been communicating with the defense."

Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta, after speaking to hundreds of Marines and sailors aboard the USS Peleliu off the coast of San Diego, told reporters: "I've made very clear that those procedures will be followed and that he'll be entitled to whatever information he would be entitled to under the military code of justice."

At a news conference Friday, Browne said the military is not under a legal obligation to provide his team with certain information at this point, but they were led to believe they'd have more assistance.

He said being given access to information at a later date would not work, especially in regards to witnesses in Afghanistan.

"Normally, we have cooperation with prosecutors and we get information, and in this case they actually promised us if we sent people to Afghanistan . . . that they would cooperate," he said.

Browne also said the military planned to conduct a comprehensive mental-health evaluation of Bales at Fort Leavenworth, Kan.

Browne said the military initiated the evaluation and that it would take place within the next two months.

Bales has been charged with 17 counts of premeditated murder.

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Bahrain lawyer: Leading activist could face trial - Boston.com

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MANAMA, Bahrain—A lawyer for a leading Bahrain rights activist says his client could face possible trial on charges of taking part in anti-government protests in the Gulf kingdom.

Lawyer Mohammed al-Jishi says activist Nabeel Rajab was released early Sunday after hours of interrogation. Al-Jishi says the next step may be a trial for Rajab, the president of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights.

Rajab has been an outspoken critic of crackdowns against Bahrain's Shiite majority, which began an uprising in February 2011 seeking to end the Sunni monarchy's near monopoly on power.

A police statement Saturday said Rajab was detained on charges linked to "illegal" demonstrations and the case was referred to the public prosecutor.

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Lawyer: suspect in Afghanistan was the depression after the Iraq

OLYMPIA, Wash (AP) — the U.s. military. confusion caused by the killing of 17 civilians in Afghanistan marks his second tour in Iraq during the event, which will be "a horrible depression", his lawyer said Wednesday.

Lawyer, John Henry Browne said he could not discuss details of the case, in the absence of further classified. But he expects to be the focal point of the Army Staff Sgt. Robert Bales against in the case of a problem.

"It was caused by him, a huge depression, and," Browne said.

The lawyer said that in the past, experienced a serious foot Bales, and his deployments, injury and trauma to the head, the other significant risks. In addition, exchanges of military foot had been blown in Afghanistan the day before the massacre, he said.

Bales was charged with premeditated murder and 17 counts of other offences. He is running in the Us military prison in Fort Leavenworth, Kan.

The defense team is now in the collection of evidence and other Us soldiers in Afghanistan, who knew Bales interview.

"All you've spoken to compulsory military service does not have any positive things to say about him, but amazingly," said Browne, who is not a team in Afghanistan.

To address these Browne does not believe the group, visit the villages, where the killings took place. The researchers are likely to stay in Afghanistan for a few more weeks.

Browne was questioned by the United States Government against bales, noting at the scene of the crime has not been preserved.

"It is going to be difficult to prove the prosecution," Browne said. ' Is not a ' CSI ' information. Is not in the DNA, which I know. "There is a ballistics, that I know."

Bales has indicated that he had prescription drugs, he or she may have, before the shooting is something the attorney took a larger memory recollection — problems with the indicator.

The lawyer also said, he is the night of the shootings. In a separate interview with The Washington Post Browne said Wednesday at the Bales will be remembered, the smell, the gunfire and human bodies, but not much more.

Browne added his client reported suffering from nightmares, pojastaan war scenes and headache after his multiple combat tours. Bales told of his legal team, that he has woken the night sweats with the long and often concerned with inset, memories of the scene in Iraq that he and his infantry company saw several years ago, Browne said.

The lawyer stressed the Bales does not recognise seemed surprised when his gun was taken away, the newspaper reported.

US military officials said, were drinking in the southern Afghan base Bales on March 11 before the creeping bent away from the village in the middle of the night, Shooting his victims, and then many of them on fire. The nine were children.

Bales has been in the past, alcohol and violence.

In 2002, he was arrested for drunken assault Tacoma Casino security guard. The charge was dismissed after the Bales of anger management training for 20 hours.

In 2008, the pair accused the woman's hand and grabbing his crotch thrusting towards the kicking and punching an intoxicated woman's boyfriend, the Bales before the police report. Prosecutors declined to pursue the case.

___

Associated Press writer Mike Baker can be reached at: http://twitter.com/MikeBakerAP

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The US military lawyer slams Afghan killings ' blackout '

Represents the United States military's mind killing 17 Afghan Villagers by condemned what he called a "blackout" which prevents him from his defence of the Convention.

Attorney John Henry Browne on Friday said he was prevented from interviewing witnesses and injured civilians, southern Afghanistan, following the alleged massacre earlier this month.

"The expected much more cooperation. The Prosecutor in this case, the promised us a lot of cooperation, of which the root is not high, "he told journalists in Seattle.

"We are facing almost the complete information blackout by the Government that a devastating effect on our ability to investigate the charges against our priorities," he added.

His client Sergeant Robert bales, 38, is known as the southern province Kandahar, he walked to the base on March 11 hours and is installed in the massacre nearby villages, many of his victims, women and children.

Browne met with his client in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas earlier this month in which Bales is charged with premeditated murder in the military area, and six counts of 17 counts and attempted murder.

But his team has made progress in only a little In the field. "When we tried to interview shall be dealt with in the Kandahar hospital, injured civilians, we were blocked and told to coordinate the prosecution," it said.

The next day, prosecutors interviewed injured civilians, but soon afterwards, Browne's Office is found to be "civilians, was released from the hospital had their contact information.

"In addition, we have blocked injured civilians for medical records to the Government, which makes even more impossible to locate and interview these crucial witnesses in their possession," it said.

"The prosecution is not the size of the file at the same time, investigations of possible witnesses, scattering the defense team Unknown and potentially available to the regions in Afghanistan."

Browne, who said his team also has not been alleged in the video, the Bales that the trial version for the military rules, it has not been "finding" the right before the 30 days prior to the start of the so-called article 32 preliminary hearing.

"In this case, they promised us if we can send people ... Afghanistan, cooperate with the available witnesses to us. And you appear to be in breach of that promise, "he said.

He also warned the defense, which has access to the "sanity" Bales over the next two months does not officially provide and prosecutors and results--may seize the cooperation.

"If they want to launch, in cooperation with the cooperation from us the better," he told reporters.

Browne said the post-traumatic stress disorder earlier this week, are almost certainly part of his defence is that the prosecutors are proving their case against the Bales.

Killings are still strained already difficult relationship between Kabul and Washington, all time low, the spate of deadly Korans Americans of anti-US protests earlier in the video, in which US Marines, on the Taliban militants corpses, urinating after saving.

US military officials declined to respond to the Browne's claims. But the army spokesman George Wright, told AFP: "the armed forces of the United States, the legal defence team to continue the Bales with in the coming months."

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Lawyer: $2.5m spent on refugee's mistrial - The Union Leader

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One of the attorneys who defended a Manchester woman accused of lying about her role in the 1994 Rwanda genocide to gain U.S. citizenship estimated her recent prosecution and trial in federal court in Concord cost taxpayers between $2.5 million and $3 million.

Manchester attorney Mark Howard, a former federal prosecutor who represents Beatrice Munyenyezi, 42, said taxpayers will bear the cost of both her defense and her prosecution because the court deemed her to be indigent.

The three-week-long trial in U.S. District Court ended in a mistrial two weeks ago when jurors couldn't reach a verdict, but the government said Friday she will be retried.

That trial will likely cost an additional $1 million, Howard said.

Cases of public significance can be expensive to prosecute, Howard said, such as when breaking up dangerous gangs or trying big economic fraud cases.

“But to spend that kind of money to prosecute an individual who has done no harm in the 15 years she has been in the United States makes no sense to me,” Howard said.

Prosecutors alleged Munyenyezi, a Hutu, ordered the rape and murder of mostly Tutsi people from a blockade she controlled at a hotel owned by her husband's family.

But Howard insisted at trial that Munyenyezi never participated in genocide crimes and was, in fact, inside the hotel, sick and pregnant with twins during that time.

“In my own opinion, I don't think the evidence supports another prosecution,” Howard said.

On Friday, the government scheduled a second trial for Munyenyezi, set to begin on Sept. 10.

John Kacavas, U.S. attorney for New Hampshire, did not return phone calls seeking comment on Friday. The U.S. Attorney's Office in Boston, also did not respond.

Howard's estimated costs include attorney fees, agent salaries, the “extraordinary expense” of investigating in a foreign country, bringing witnesses to Concord and hiring experts.

Last year, Howard's co-defense attorney, David Ruoff, spent two weeks in Rwanda, and he and Ruoff both had to return there earlier this year.

Although he and Ruoff are working at much-reduced rates, Howard said, the defense's fees have already climbed to more than $400,000.

Howard said he based his estimates partly on a Freedom of Information Act request by a Kansas newspaper for costs related to a similar trial there last year.

The government refused to release the bulk of the expenses, but Howard said he filled in the blanks in discussions with attorneys there, as well as his own experiences.

The Kansas trial lasted about four weeks, and Howard estimated it cost about the same as the case against Munyenyezi so far, between $2.5 million and $3 million.

In the case against Munyenyezi, the government sent multiple teams of agents to Rwanda five times, Howard said.

During trial, the defense brought 12 witnesses from Rwanda to Concord for a week. The prosecution brought about 15 witnesses from Rwanda for three weeks, Howard said.

Munyenyezi is charged with making false statements on her citizenship application in 2003. The allegation is that she lied about participating in the genocide and her affiliation with the then-ruling party of Rwanda, the Hutus.

The penalty if convicted here would be immediate revocation of her citizenship, a maximum federal prison sentence of 10 years and deportation, Howard said.

Munyenyezi came to the United States with her three daughters in 1998 as a refugee and had worked for the Manchester Housing Authority for $13 an hour.

Munyenyezi has been jailed since her arrest in June 2010.

At trial, the government alleged Munyenyezi controlled local militia in the area of Butare, Rwanda, and oversaw roadblocks being constructed. The government further asserted she controlled those roadblocks and directed others to identify people who were Tutsis, then segregated them to be raped and killed.

Two witnesses testified she killed people, including a nun, shooting the nun herself after ordering her to be raped.

The genocide in Rwanda lasted about 100 days, starting April 6, 1994. Between 500,000 and 800,000 people were estimated to have been killed.

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Egypt army pardons Brotherhood presidency nominee: lawyer - Reuters India

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Muslim Brotherhood's Mohammad Khairat al-Shater, walks into the courtroom in Cairo, Egypt, January 30, 2007.

Credit: Reuters/Nasser Nuri/Files

By Marwa Awad

CAIRO | Sun Apr 1, 2012 10:46pm IST

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's military has dropped two court convictions against the Muslim Brotherhood's new presidential candidate Khairat al-Shater, clearing him to run in the elections to replace ousted leader Hosni Mubarak, the movement's lawyer said on Sunday.

In a policy reversal on Saturday, the Brotherhood opted to field a candidate to contest the votes in May and June and named Shater, a wealthy businessman, as its choice after deciding the other candidates were not worthy of its support.

Shater, 61, was tried in a military court in 1995 and sentenced to five years in jail on charges of "reviving" the Brotherhood. He was also tried and convicted in 2007 on charges of providing university students with arms and training.

He was jailed for seven years in the 2007 case but was freed with many other Brotherhood members in 2011 after serving four and a half years of the sentence.

Under Egyptian law, former convicts cannot occupy official posts.

"All charges and cases against engineer Khairat al-Shater have been dropped," the Brotherhood's lawyer Abdel Moneim Abdel Maqsood told Reuters.

"Shater now has all the civil rights he was deprived of and can now exercise his political rights including running for an official post in the country," he said.

The military would not confirm this but one army source said the Brotherhood would not publicly name any candidate of its own without prior clearance from the ruling military council.

Abdel Maqsood said he had picked up presidential application papers on Shater's behalf from the electoral committee.

Mubarak's overthrow in February last year ended the Brotherhood's official exclusion from politics. Before that, its leaders were often rounded up by state security in what human rights groups said was a deliberate policy to curb their political reach.

The Brotherhood did not begin the protests that toppled Mubarak but has been their most obvious beneficiary, capitalising on a formidable grass-roots campaign machine to secure top spot in a recent parliamentary vote.

That puts Shater among the frontrunners in a race billed as Egypt's first free and fair election in six decades, even though others have months of unofficial canvassing under their belts.

Analysts said the decision to field a presidential candidate suggested the Brotherhood, now on the brink of power for the first time in its 84-year history, was worried it could have its newfound influence snatched away.

Shater's candidacy is likely to split the Islamist vote in the elections further. There are three other Islamist candidates running.

But liberals may still fret over Shater's bid as it signals the rising influence of Islamists after they swept parliament and now dominate an assembly writing a new constitution.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Sunday while visiting Istanbul that the United States will be watching Egypt's political process, urging political actors not to discriminate against minorities.

Many Coptic Christians, who represent around 10 percent of Egypt's population of over 80 million, have voiced concern over the rise of groups pledged to a stricter application of Islamic Sharia law.

(Editing by Tom Pfeiffer and David Stamp)

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Lawyer Says Zuccotti Park Demonstrators Broke No Law - New York Times (blog)

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Robert Stolarik for The New York TimesPolice officers in Zuccotti Park, on Nov. 15, 2011 where they removed tents and arrested Occupy Wall Street protesters.

When hundreds of police officers entered Zuccotti Park early on Nov. 15, they dismantled tents and other structures that had been erected by Occupy Wall Street protesters in defiance of rules established in September by the park’s owner, Brookfield Properties.

The police also arrested dozens of protesters who refused to leave the park, charging them with offenses that included trespassing and disorderly conduct, as officers set up metal barricades around the park’s perimeter.

On Friday, a defense lawyer argued in Criminal Court in Manhattan that such charges filed against two of his clients should be dismissed.

While it might be appropriate for Brookfield to establish rules governing behavior in the park, the lawyer said, the company could not order people out of the park, because an agreement with the city required it to be open to the public 24 hours a day.

“Brookfield lacked the authority to exclude people,” the lawyer, Jethro M. Eisenstein, argued in support of a motion to dismiss the charges, contending that it was “unseemly and unjust to allow Brookfield to harness the power of the state” to clear the park of protesters.

But an assistant district attorney told Judge Matthew A. Sciarrino Jr. that the company was within its rights to revoke permission for protesters to be in the park while the police and sanitation workers removed banned structures.

“They have to have the ability to enforce rules,” the prosecutor, Ryan Hayward, said. “They did deem it necessary to close that park.”

Judge Sciarrino asked both sides to clarify certain points. He asked Mr. Eisenstein if he thought the rules allowed people to use Zuccotti Park for any purpose. Later, he told Mr. Hayward that experience had taught him that sometimes, “the law is not simply what the city says it is.”

At the heart of the arguments is the issue of what authority and responsibilities Brookfield has in managing Zuccotti Park, a half-acre granite expanse in the financial district that the Occupy protesters turned into a headquarters in mid-September. The park was created under an agreement that allowed developers of a skyscraper across Liberty Street to build 500,000 extra square feet of office space.

In return, the developers created a public space that would be open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

According to papers filed by Mr. Eisenstein and the New York Civil Liberties Union, Brookfield can limit public access to the park only after going through a process that involves gaining the approval of the City Planning Commission.

The district attorney’s office, along with the city’s Law Department, disagreed, writing that “Brookfield Properties was faced with a situation where the volume of tenting, structures, sleeping bags, pillows, clothes, trash and other personal property had created a safety condition,” and that the only effective remedy involved clearing people from the park.

At one point, Judge Sciarrino asked Mr. Hayward if he agreed that there was a distinction between rules of conduct and rules of access. Mr. Hayward replied that he did and that in order “to ensure compliance with rules of conduct that temporary closure needed to be effectuated.”

Mr. Eisenstein countered that the closure could not accurately be termed temporary because metal barricades surrounded the park for nearly two months after Nov. 15, and that people entering during that time were subject to searches by private security guards.

Judge Sciarrino did not rule immediately on the motion.

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Lawyer guilty of assaulting police union boss - Herald Sun

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Lawyer: man can enter the US, bury a son in Mexico

ALLENTOWN, PA. (AP) — the immigration lawyer says Mexican man may write to bury his 10-year-old boy, a citizen of the United States of America, which died in the fire in the trade union movement on the Pennsylvania, United States.

Fidelmar "Fidel" Merlos-Lopez was initially barred access. But his Philadelphia lawyer, Elizabeth, says Surin is based on his or her client was granted humanitarian parole to take part in the funeral.

He said at the start of the Sunday Lopez was bound to the Pennsylvania line.

Lopez's son Damien Lopez died in the line of fire Tuesday in his Shenandoah's cousin, aunt, and 7 month old half-brother. The funeral is set for Monday.

Lopez was part of the United States against illegal immigration, which, on a voluntary basis in 2008. He is in the process of getting his green card, so he can join his wife in Shenandoah.

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Lawyer: French Islamist group had no link with Toulouse gunman - CNN

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Mohammed Merah killed seven people in a series of attacks.NEW: Lawyer: The Forsane Alizza group wants to protect the rights of Muslims in FranceThe Islamist group's leader says it had no contact with gunman Merah, his lawyer says19 suspected members of the Forsane Alizza group were arrested Friday, authorities saidPolice have been investigating whether Merah, blamed for 7 deaths, acted alone

Paris (CNN) -- The leader of an Islamist group whose members were targeted in a series of French police raids denies any contact with Toulouse gunman Mohammed Merah, lawyer Philippe Missamou said Saturday.

The leader of the Forsane Alizza group, Mohammed Achamlane, was among 19 people arrested Friday over alleged connections to radical Islam, Missamou said.

The raids came a week after Merah, who killed seven people in a series of attacks, was shot dead after a long siege in the southwestern city of Toulouse.

French media reports suggested Merah had developed connections with the pro-al Qaeda group, which has a cluster of followers in Toulouse.

Forsane Alizza was outlawed in January for encouraging French citizens to travel to Afghanistan to fight jihad.

Missamou told CNN he had last spoken to Achamlane on Monday.

At this time, Achamlane told him that the group had not had contact with Merah, and that it had nothing to do with Merah's killings in Toulouse, Missamou said.

Achamlane said the group did not support armed combat, the attorney said.

Missamou expects to be allowed to meet with members of the group, which he has represented since January, on Monday or Tuesday.

After that they will be put before a judge and either placed under further examination with charges pending, or released, he said.

Missamou disputed the Interior Ministry's claim that all 19 people arrested are members of Forsane Alizza, saying several were not.

Friday's arrests took place in Toulouse, Marseille, Nantes, Lyon and the Ile de France region, around Paris, the Interior Ministry said.

The ministry's media office said "the police had plans to carry out 19 arrests, and therefore 19 arrests were made in connection with the group Forsane Alizza."

Interior Minister Claude Gueant said that several firearms, including five rifles, four automatic weapons and three Kalashnikovs, had been found in searches of the suspects' homes, as well as a bulletproof vest.

Missamou said he had no information on the claims that firearms were found.

He also said he did not know know whether members of the group have spent time in Pakistan or Afghanistan.

The lawyer disputes the characterization of the group as dangerous, saying it works to contest perceived injustice on the part of the French state.

Its members claim that France does not recognize the multi-cultural, multi-racial and multi-religious nature of the country, and passes laws which target Muslims in France, he said.

Police have been investigating whether Merah acted alone in planning his attacks.

He is blamed for the killings of three French paratroopers, a rabbi and three Jewish children ages 4, 5 and 7. Two other people were seriously wounded in the shootings.

Merah told police he had attended an al Qaeda training camp while visiting Afghanistan and Pakistan, according to Paris prosecutor Francois Molins.

But his uncle, Jamal Azizi, denied statements by French authorities that Merah was an al Qaeda sympathizer and that he had traveled to Afghanistan or Pakistan to train to use arms.

Merah was buried Thursday at a cemetery outside Toulouse.

CNN's Anna Prichard contributed to this report.

updated 9:12 AM EDT, Fri March 23, 2012 Did French intelligence services miss vital clues as Mohammed Merah showed signs of growing radicalization? updated 12:11 PM EDT, Thu March 22, 2012 The Toulouse shootings refocus fears on trained attackers who are determined, living legally in the West and operating alone.updated 7:38 AM EDT, Thu March 22, 2012 'Lone wolves' who plot to carry out small-scale attacks on soft targets could be the future of terrorism, a security expert warns.updated 10:32 AM EDT, Fri March 23, 2012 Mohammed Merah, described as a self-styled al Qaeda jihadist, was named as the chief suspect in a series of deadly shootings.updated 12:08 PM EDT, Thu March 22, 2012 CNN examines whether the handling of the crisis will have a bearing on the presidential poll.updated 6:30 PM EDT, Tue March 20, 2012 In the pink-hued streets of Toulouse, France's "Ville Rose," flags are flying at half-mast: The city is in mourning -- and shock. updated 12:08 AM EDT, Tue March 20, 2012 The city of Toulouse is at the highest security alert level, after a teacher and three children were gunned down at a Jewish school.updated 7:51 PM EDT, Mon March 19, 2012 Agnes Poirier, a political commentator, talks about the disbelief in France after the deadly drive-by shooting at a school in Toulouse.updated 6:06 AM EDT, Thu March 22, 2012 Out of nowhere a gunman appeared in the courtyard of a Jewish school in the French city just as students were arriving for morning classes.Most popular stories right now

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US Soldier's Lawyer Says Access Denied to Evidence - New York Times

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“We were expecting a lot more cooperation,” Sergeant Bales’s lead lawyer, John Henry Browne, said during a news conference in Seattle on Friday.

The complaints are expected to be just the first of many disputes over evidence in what experts predict will be an extremely complicated case for both defense and prosecution, given the location of the crime scene in a war zone and the possible hostility of witnesses to lawyers from both sides.

Mr. Browne said that after members of his team were prevented from interviewing survivors of the attacks at a hospital, prosecutors interviewed those witnesses the following day. The witnesses were then released, leaving no contact information. “They could just disappear into the countryside,” Mr. Browne said.

He also said that the team was not given access to health records for the wounded civilians or surveillance video that purportedly shows Sergeant Bales returning to his combat outpost after the killings.

“The prosecution will provide the defense with evidence in accordance with the rules for courts-martial and the military rules of evidence,” said Maj. Chris Ophardt, an Army spokesman at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, south of Tacoma, Wash., where Sergeant Bales was stationed. “Within these guidelines the prosecution is and has been communicating with the defense.”

Eugene R. Fidell, who teaches military justice at Yale Law School, said there was no reason that the government should be expected to share files from an open investigation this early in the case. He added that prosecutors would have to make their major witnesses available to the defense, if they wanted that testimony in the record.

Sergeant Bales, who is being held at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., will be examined by mental health experts to determine whether he is mentally fit for trial, a process that could take months. Mr. Browne, who says that Sergeant Bales cannot remember many events from the night of the killings, will also seek to determine whether the sergeant had a concussive head injury or post-traumatic stress disorder.

Military officials say Sergeant Bales, 38, walked out of his combat outpost in Kandahar Province to two nearby villages early on the morning of March 11 and fatally shot a number of people, at least nine of whom were children. He has been charged with 17 counts of premeditated murder, a capital crime.

The military has yet to suggest a motive for the killings, though officials have said that Sergeant Bales may have been drinking that night and may have been struggling with the stresses of multiple deployments; he was on his fourth deployment in 10 years.

Mr. Browne has said Sergeant Bales was happily married and that there was no evidence he drank alcohol the night of the shootings. He has also said that Sergeant Bales knew a soldier who was badly wounded days before the killings, had a mild traumatic brain injury and may also have P.T.S.D. — though the sergeant’s wife has said she never noticed any symptoms.

Mr. Browne later said that Sergeant Bales had probably tried to hide his problems from her.

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US Soldier's Lawyer Says Access Denied to Evidence - New York Times

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“We were expecting a lot more cooperation,” Sergeant Bales’s lead lawyer, John Henry Browne, said during a news conference in Seattle on Friday.

The complaints are expected to be just the first of many disputes over evidence in what experts predict will be an extremely complicated case for both defense and prosecution, given the location of the crime scene in a war zone and the possible hostility of witnesses to lawyers from both sides.

Mr. Browne said that after members of his team were prevented from interviewing survivors of the attacks at a hospital, prosecutors interviewed those witnesses the following day. The witnesses were then released, leaving no contact information. “They could just disappear into the countryside,” Mr. Browne said.

He also said that the team was not given access to health records for the wounded civilians or surveillance video that purportedly shows Sergeant Bales returning to his combat outpost after the killings.

“The prosecution will provide the defense with evidence in accordance with the rules for courts-martial and the military rules of evidence,” said Maj. Chris Ophardt, an Army spokesman at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, south of Tacoma, Wash., where Sergeant Bales was stationed. “Within these guidelines the prosecution is and has been communicating with the defense.”

Eugene R. Fidell, who teaches military justice at Yale Law School, said there was no reason that the government should be expected to share files from an open investigation this early in the case. He added that prosecutors would have to make their major witnesses available to the defense, if they wanted that testimony in the record.

Sergeant Bales, who is being held at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., will be examined by mental health experts to determine whether he is mentally fit for trial, a process that could take months. Mr. Browne, who says that Sergeant Bales cannot remember many events from the night of the killings, will also seek to determine whether the sergeant had a concussive head injury or post-traumatic stress disorder.

Military officials say Sergeant Bales, 38, walked out of his combat outpost in Kandahar Province to two nearby villages early on the morning of March 11 and fatally shot a number of people, at least nine of whom were children. He has been charged with 17 counts of premeditated murder, a capital crime.

The military has yet to suggest a motive for the killings, though officials have said that Sergeant Bales may have been drinking that night and may have been struggling with the stresses of multiple deployments; he was on his fourth deployment in 10 years.

Mr. Browne has said Sergeant Bales was happily married and that there was no evidence he drank alcohol the night of the shootings. He has also said that Sergeant Bales knew a soldier who was badly wounded days before the killings, had a mild traumatic brain injury and may also have P.T.S.D. — though the sergeant’s wife has said she never noticed any symptoms.

Mr. Browne later said that Sergeant Bales had probably tried to hide his problems from her.

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Lawyer: Islamic group not linked to gunman

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Published: March. 31, 2012 at 6:50 PM

PARIS, March 31 (UPI) -- The lawyer for the leader of an Islamic group arrested by French authorities said the group has no connection with the Toulouse gunman who killed seven people.

Lawyer Philippe Missamou, who represents Forsane Alizza leader Mohammed Achamlane, one of 19 people arrested Friday for alleged links to radical Islam, said Saturday Achamlane denied the group had anything to do with Mohammed Merah's killings, CNN reported.

Merah killed a rabbi, the cleric's two children and another schoolgirl outside a Jewish school last week and three paratroopers of north African descent the week before.

Merah allegedly admitted to the shootings during a two-day standoff with police at his apartment in Toulouse before he was killed in an exchange of gunfire.

CNN said French media reports have suggested Merah had links to Forsane Alizza, which has followers in Toulouse.

France's Interior Ministry said "19 arrests were made in connection with the group Forsane Alizza" Friday in Toulouse, Marseille, Nantes, Lyon and the Ile de France region, around Paris.

Interior Minister Claude Gueant said five rifles, four automatic weapons, three Kalashnikov rifles and a bulletproof vest were found in searches of the suspects' homes.

Missamou said Achamlane said Forsane Alizza did not support armed combat. The lawyer said the group was not dangerous but worked to battle injustice against Muslims in France.

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Carnival Triumph Released to Sail After Deal Struck, Lawyer Says - BusinessWeek

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A Carnival Corp. (CCL) (CCL) cruise liner was released to sail from a Texas port by a U.S. judge who ordered it seized March 30 in a lawsuit over a death in the Costa Concordia shipwreck off Italy.

U.S. Magistrate Judge John Froeschner released the MS Carnival Triumph yesterday from a seizure order holding the cruise liner in its home port of Galveston, said John Eaves Jr., a lawyer for the victim’s family.

The Triumph, which is owned by the same company that owns the Costa Concordia, was sought as security in a lawsuit (CCL) that was also filed March 30 in Galveston federal court by the family of Siglinde Stumpf, a German tourist who died in the shipwreck.

“The matter involving the Carnival Triumph has been resolved,” said Jennifer De La Cruz, a spokeswoman for Miami- based Carnival, the world’s largest cruise-ship operator.

The Triumph was allowed to board passengers and cargo while the seizure order was in effect. The 2,758-passenger ship provides year-round service from the Houston area to ports in the Caribbean and Mexico. It departed about 4:30 p.m. local time for a five-day trip to Yucatan and Cozumel.

Eaves said in a telephone interview earlier yesterday that the Triumph could be freed from the seizure order if the cruise line agreed to post a $10 million security bond in the German tourist’s lawsuit. Details of the resolution, which was reached about 30 minutes before the ship’s scheduled departure time, are confidential, Eaves said in an e-mailed statement.

Eaves, based in Jackson, Mississippi, said he’s part of an international consumer movement lobbying for increased oversight and safety standards in the global cruise industry. He said 16 cruise ships have sunk worldwide in the past 20 years. At least 25 people died after the Costa Concordia ran aground off Italy in January.

Eaves said he filed Stumpf’s lawsuit in Galveston to target the Triumph, which he said has “the same inadequate safety standards as the Costa Concordia, exactly the same.’’

“We’ve not been able to get Carnival’s attention, so this is our shot over the bow to let them know we’re serious about changing the law and maritime standards,” Eaves said. “We want a uniform set of safety standards, and we won’t stop until we get it.”

Carnival said on March 9 it had a net loss of $139 million in the first quarter, compared with net income of $152 million in the year-earlier period.

Fallout from the shipwreck of the Costa Concordia, which ran aground off the Italian island of Giglio, will extend through 2012, the company said in a statement accompanying its earnings release.

Carnival’s troubles compounded when another Costa Cruises ship, the Allegra, was towed to shore in the Seychelles islands in the Indian Ocean after catching fire on Feb. 27, and 22 guests on the Carnival Splendor were robbed on land in Mexico.

The case is Kai Stumpf v. Carnival Plc, 3:12-cv-0099, U.S. District Court, Southern District of Texas (Galveston).

To contact the reporter on this story: Laurel Brubaker Calkins in Houston at laurel@calkins.us.com.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Michael Hytha at mhytha@bloomberg.net

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Lawyer says US blocks investigation of Afghan massacre

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SEATTLE (Reuters) - The lawyer defending the U.S. soldier accused of murdering 17 Afghan civilians claims U.S. authorities are blocking his ability to investigate the incident.

John Henry Browne, the lawyer for Staff Sergeant Robert Bales, said U.S. forces in Afghanistan have prevented his team from interviewing injured civilians at a hospital in Kandahar, and are allowing other potential witnesses to scatter, making it difficult to track them down.

"My gut is the reason is they don't have much of a case," said Browne at a press conference at his downtown Seattle office on Friday.

Bales was formally charged last week with the murders of eight adults and nine children in a pre-dawn shooting rampage in southern Afghanistan on March 11, which further eroded U.S.-Afghan relations already strained by a decade of war.

He could face the death penalty if convicted.

No date has been set for a trial, but U.S. military prosecutors are putting together their case while Browne is preparing his defence.

Browne said he has a team of investigators in Afghanistan now, but they are receiving little cooperation from military prosecutors who filed the charges.

"We are facing an almost complete information blackout from the government, which is having a devastating effect on our ability to investigate the charges preferred against our client," he said in a statement released earlier on Friday.

A reliable account of the events of the night of the massacre has not yet emerged. A recent report indicated Afghan villagers doubt Bales acted alone. Other reports suggest Bales left his base twice during the night.

"I don't believe that's the case, but we can't say that for sure," Browne said on Friday.

Browne said his investigators had spoken to U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan but had not managed to contact any witnesses.

"When we tried to interview the injured civilians being treated at Kandahar Hospital we were denied access and told to coordinate with the prosecution team," Browne said in the earlier statement.

"The next day the prosecution team interviewed the civilians injured. We found out shortly after the prosecution interviews of the injured civilians that the civilians were all released from the hospital and there was no contact information for them." That means potential witnesses will scatter and could prove unreachable, Browne said.

Browne said it was too early to say whether his defence would rely on post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, or other psychiatric problems Bale may have suffered as a defence against the charges.

The next step in the case is for Bales - who is being held at a military detention centre at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas - to undergo a mental assessment by Army doctors independent of both the prosecution and defence, to determine if he is fit to stand trial, known as a "sanity board" in the Army. That could take several months, Browne said.

After that has occurred, the military justice system requires a preliminary hearing, known as an "Article 32" hearing, to establish whether there is a strong enough case to proceed to a court martial.

(Reporting By Bill Rigby; Editing by Todd Eastham and Paul Simao)

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Lawyer expects Sesler to plead not guilty

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The lawyer for a Waller man accused of killing his family said Friday he expects his client to waive arraignment and enter a not-guilty plea.

Frank Blazek,a court-appointed defense lawyer from Huntsville, said he recently visited with his client, Trey Sesler, who is being held at the Waller County Jail.

"He's very young, and you know, obviously, this is a very sorrowful tragedy, and he recognizes the degree of the tragedy," Blazek said.

Sesler, 22, is charged with capital murder in the deaths of his parents, Lawton Ray Sesler Jr., 58, and Rhonda Wyse Sesler, 57, and first-degree murder in the death of his older brother, Mark Alan Sesler, 26. The three were found shot to death March 20 at the family's ranch-style home in the 1600 block of Farr, in Waller.

A funeral service for all three was Wednesday at Canon Funeral Home in Waller. Another service for Trey Sesler's grandfather will be Saturday at the same funeral home. Lawton Ray Sesler Sr., 88, succumbed to a long illness on March 23, just days after the shootings.

Blazek said he is not prepared to go into detail about his conversation with his client, or respond to police allegations that Sesler had planned to carry out a mass public shooting.

"I would say he's got a very complex personality that I have to get to know better, and, at this point, just like in any criminal case, he's entitled to presumption of innocence," Blazek said.

He said he expected a grand jury to hear the case next week.

lindsay.wise@chron.com

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Lawyer: French Islamist group had no link with Toulouse gunman - CNN

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Mohammed Merah killed seven people in a series of attacks.NEW: Lawyer: The Forsane Alizza group wants to protect the rights of Muslims in FranceThe Islamist group's leader says it had no contact with gunman Merah, his lawyer says19 suspected members of the Forsane Alizza group were arrested Friday, authorities saidPolice have been investigating whether Merah, blamed for 7 deaths, acted alone

Paris (CNN) -- The leader of an Islamist group whose members were targeted in a series of French police raids denies any contact with Toulouse gunman Mohammed Merah, lawyer Philippe Missamou said Saturday.

The leader of the Forsane Alizza group, Mohammed Achamlane, was among 19 people arrested Friday over alleged connections to radical Islam, Missamou said.

The raids came a week after Merah, who killed seven people in a series of attacks, was shot dead after a long siege in the southwestern city of Toulouse.

French media reports suggested Merah had developed connections with the pro-al Qaeda group, which has a cluster of followers in Toulouse.

Forsane Alizza was outlawed in January for encouraging French citizens to travel to Afghanistan to fight jihad.

Missamou told CNN he had last spoken to Achamlane on Monday.

At this time, Achamlane told him that the group had not had contact with Merah, and that it had nothing to do with Merah's killings in Toulouse, Missamou said.

Achamlane said the group did not support armed combat, the attorney said.

Missamou expects to be allowed to meet with members of the group, which he has represented since January, on Monday or Tuesday.

After that they will be put before a judge and either placed under further examination with charges pending, or released, he said.

Missamou disputed the Interior Ministry's claim that all 19 people arrested are members of Forsane Alizza, saying several were not.

Friday's arrests took place in Toulouse, Marseille, Nantes, Lyon and the Ile de France region, around Paris, the Interior Ministry said.

The ministry's media office said "the police had plans to carry out 19 arrests, and therefore 19 arrests were made in connection with the group Forsane Alizza."

Interior Minister Claude Gueant said that several firearms, including five rifles, four automatic weapons and three Kalashnikovs, had been found in searches of the suspects' homes, as well as a bulletproof vest.

Missamou said he had no information on the claims that firearms were found.

He also said he did not know know whether members of the group have spent time in Pakistan or Afghanistan.

The lawyer disputes the characterization of the group as dangerous, saying it works to contest perceived injustice on the part of the French state.

Its members claim that France does not recognize the multi-cultural, multi-racial and multi-religious nature of the country, and passes laws which target Muslims in France, he said.

Police have been investigating whether Merah acted alone in planning his attacks.

He is blamed for the killings of three French paratroopers, a rabbi and three Jewish children ages 4, 5 and 7. Two other people were seriously wounded in the shootings.

Merah told police he had attended an al Qaeda training camp while visiting Afghanistan and Pakistan, according to Paris prosecutor Francois Molins.

But his uncle, Jamal Azizi, denied statements by French authorities that Merah was an al Qaeda sympathizer and that he had traveled to Afghanistan or Pakistan to train to use arms.

Merah was buried Thursday at a cemetery outside Toulouse.

CNN's Anna Prichard contributed to this report.

updated 9:12 AM EDT, Fri March 23, 2012 Did French intelligence services miss vital clues as Mohammed Merah showed signs of growing radicalization? updated 12:11 PM EDT, Thu March 22, 2012 The Toulouse shootings refocus fears on trained attackers who are determined, living legally in the West and operating alone.updated 7:38 AM EDT, Thu March 22, 2012 'Lone wolves' who plot to carry out small-scale attacks on soft targets could be the future of terrorism, a security expert warns.updated 10:32 AM EDT, Fri March 23, 2012 Mohammed Merah, described as a self-styled al Qaeda jihadist, was named as the chief suspect in a series of deadly shootings.updated 12:08 PM EDT, Thu March 22, 2012 CNN examines whether the handling of the crisis will have a bearing on the presidential poll.updated 6:30 PM EDT, Tue March 20, 2012 In the pink-hued streets of Toulouse, France's "Ville Rose," flags are flying at half-mast: The city is in mourning -- and shock. updated 12:08 AM EDT, Tue March 20, 2012 The city of Toulouse is at the highest security alert level, after a teacher and three children were gunned down at a Jewish school.updated 7:51 PM EDT, Mon March 19, 2012 Agnes Poirier, a political commentator, talks about the disbelief in France after the deadly drive-by shooting at a school in Toulouse.updated 6:06 AM EDT, Thu March 22, 2012 Out of nowhere a gunman appeared in the courtyard of a Jewish school in the French city just as students were arriving for morning classes.Most popular stories right now

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Dennis Rodman's Lawyer Says He's Not a 'Deadbeat Dad'

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Dennis Rodman's lawyer said Wednesday that the retired NBA player is not a "deadbeat dad," following court papers filed Tuesday that claimed Rodman owes more than $800,000 in child support.

"The way that it's being painted makes it sound like he's in horrible shape," Rodman's lawyer, Linnea Willis, told ABCNews.com. "This makes him sound like he's a deadbeat dead. The bottom line here is that Dennis Rodman has always paid child support to the best of his ability and will continue to do so."

On Tuesday, a lawyer for Rodman's ex-wife, Michelle Rodman, filed papers in a Los Angeles court claiming Rodman owed more than $800,000 in back child support for the couple's 9- and 10-year-old children as of March 1st. He was previously ordered to pay his ex-wife $50,000 per month for child support. In response, Willis filed a motion to counter the $50,000 per month order.

She said that order was issued in 2010 "without consideration of Dennis' actual income, but rather was based on an exaggerated income amount made up by his ex-wife's attorneys." She also said that Rodman was not properly served legal papers.

Rodman's manager, Darren Prince, said Rodman has been paying "at least $4,000 or $5,000" to his ex-wife each month. Willis said the court "didn't have evidence about all the payments that were made."

"The only thing that was at issue was for certain months that her attorney brought up, he did pay something but it wasn't enough," Willis said.

A sentencing hearing for Rodman has been set for May 29. While his ex-wife's attorney said Rodman faces jail time for his inability to pay child and spousal support, Willis said the judge "made it very clear he's not going to give him jail time."

Michelle Rodman's lawyer, Jack Kayajanian, did not respond to ABCNews.com's requests for comment.

Willis also clarified Rodman's condition. Tuesday's court papers described the former Chicago Bulls rebound star as "extremely sick."

"The way that it's being painted makes it sound like he's in horrible shape, he's not," she said. "He plays, he plays in China, he makes appearances."

On Tuesday, Prince, Rodman's manager, told ABCNews.com that Rodman has been sidelined by his "well-documented drinking problem." Willis insisted that despite his setbacks, Rodman remains on good terms with his ex-wife and children.

"Whenever he sees the kids and whenever they're here, they talk," she said. "He loves her still. On their end, it's not contentious."

Dennis Rodman and Michelle Rodman married in 2003 after dating for four years. Michelle Rodman filed for divorce in 2004, but their marriage was not officially dissolved until earlier this year because of attempts at reconciliation.

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