The appeal of the decision refusing to hear Roman Polanski's motion to dismiss the 1977 criminal charges and case has been set for Dec. 10 by a California appeals court. The motion was based on the revelations of the documentary, Wanted and Desired, which included interviews with a former prosecutor and the judge, which Polanski argued demonstrate proseuctiorial and judicial misconduct.

Earlier this year, the trial court refused to hear the motion because Polanski was not present in court. The appeal is asking the trial court be required to rule on the motion despite Polanski's non-appearance.

In related news, Polanski's lawyers in Switzerland have upped their bail offer to include a large cash deposit. Will that do the trick?

Via Digby and Lew Rockwell, a chilling story:

The Everett police officer who witnessed another cop fatally shoot a drunken man told investigators he believed the officer was frustrated before he pulled the trigger. Officer Steven Klocker said Niles Meservey was drunk and “ornery” June 10, but didn't pose an immediate, lethal threat to officer Troy Meade or anyone else.

The officers were trying to coax the intoxicated Stanwood man from behind the wheel of his Chevrolet Corvette, which was parked outside the Chuckwagon Inn, where Meservey had been drinking. [. . .] At one point, Meade told Meservey, “I don't know why the (expletive) I'm here to save your dumb (expletive) ... maybe to stop you from killing yourself driving,” Klocker recalled in a June 26 statement to detectives.

[. . .] Meade jumped back. He tossed away his stun gun, drew his handgun and opened fire. [. . .] As he pulled a dying Meservey from the Corvette, Klocker saw the stun gun probes still in the man's shoulder. Meservey, 51, died in the parking lot. He'd been struck seven times by police bullets.

(Emphasis supplied.)

A cryptic hearing was held in federal court today in Bernie Kerik's case.

Specifics about the disgraced former top cop's behavior were not revealed, but a memo to Federal Judge Stephen Robinson from the medical and psychiatry director of the Westchester County jail detailed concern "that was not ordinary," according to the judge.

Judge Robinson said Dr. Mahler told him there "were symptoms he (Kerik) displayed, that when combined with his circumstances that they thought placed him at risk." "There were things unexplained described to me that were either said or done that raised a level of concern for them," said Robinson.

Another hearing will be held Monday. The Judge is asking whether Bernie will waive his confidentiality rights with respect to his medical records. He also suggested there might be another delay in the trial, now scheduled to start Nov. 9. As one reason, he suggested there may be a new issue regarding a conflict of interest regarding his current lawyers. Why would this be coming up at this late date? [More...]

Former NY Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik will remain at the Valhalla County jail pending his trial on tax fraud and corruption charges. The Second Circuit Court of Appeals heard oral arguments in his appeal of the trial court's revocation of his bond yesterday afternoon, and then issued its ruling. His trial has been reset for November 9.

His lawyers argued that the lawyer to whom Kerik sent a non-public pleading they were intending to file that contained information received in discovery was entitled to receive it:

Michael F. Bachner, one of Mr. Kerik’s lawyers, argued that Mr. Kerik should have been allowed to send documents to Mr. [Anthony] Modafferi because he was an adviser who wrote legal memorandums and offered advice on the coming criminal trial.

In court, Judge Raggi sounded skeptical about that argument and appeared to side with Judge Robinson, who had said that Mr. Kerik attempted to obstruct the jury selection process when he sent the documents to Mr. Modafferi. “I’m not sure how we would find clear errors in Judge Robinson’s articulated concerns,” Judge Raggi said.

The order is here (pdf).

Bernie Kerik remains in custody in the Valhalla County Jail. His trial, which was supposed to begin Monday, has been delayed indefinitely. His lawyers filed an appeal today of the court's order revoking his bail.

According to the trial court pleadings on PACER, the reason for revoking Bernie's bail was the Government's assertion that he committed a crime while on release -- criminal contempt, which they allege he committed by providing pleadings discussing non-public information to an attorney who had been advising him on matters related to his criminal case, but who was not a part of his criminal defense team, in violation of the court's 2008 protective order.

The appeal will be heard by a panel of the Second Circuit on Thursday.

Switzerland announced last night on its website that it has received formal extradition papers from the U.S., seeking the return of Director Roman Polanski.

The US extradition request is based on a warrant issued by the Superior Court of the State of California for the County of Los Angeles on 1 February 1978, on which date Polanski had failed to appear before the judge as was required by his bail conditions. During the US criminal investigation, Polanski had admitted to having unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor. He is wanted by the US authorities with a view to passing sentence for this offence.

There will be a hearing at which Polanski's lawyers can submit argument. [More...]

Today the DEA and DOJ announced the arrests of 300 more people in 19 states in "Project Coronado", allegedly affiliated with the La Familia Michoacana drug cartel. From the DEA factsheet on La Familia Michocana:

This DTO has a strong religious background. It purportedly originated to protect locals from the violence of drug cartels. Now, La Familia Michoacana uses drug proceeds to fuel their agenda that encompasses a Robin Hood-type mentality – steal from the rich and give to the poor. They believe they are doing God’s work, and pass out bibles and money to the poor. La Familia Michoacana also gives money to schools and local officials.

More on the arrests and La Familia Michocana from the BBC. [More...]

Michael Wolf at Newser has a good take on why the media shouldn't forget about Bernie Kerik.

Reason #1: Rudy Giuliani. The best way to keep Giuliani from becoming Governor of NY is to remind people about him and Bernie.

Like Wolf, I've never met Bernie in person, but was "befriended" by him on Facebook and we follow each other on Twitter. I've read almost every publicly available pleading in his federal case on PACER, starting with those pertaining to the disqualification of his lawyer and ending with the suggested jury instructions filed last week. During the 2008 primaries, I wrote very detailed posts about him and Rudy, Interstate, Larry Ray (more here) and so on. [More...]

So it was the Swiss authorities after all who alerted the U.S. that Roman Polanski would be in Switzerland to accept the film award. The Associated Press obtained the fax and emails between the Swiss Federal Office of Justice sand the U.S. Office of International Affairs, which is part of the U.S. Department of Justice.

Swiss officials wanted to know if the U.S. would be submitting a request for Polanski's arrest....After receiving the tip, federal officials alerted the Los Angeles district attorney's office, which immediately began drafting an arrest warrant.

I've read in a few places that the Swiss Government was involved in the Film Festival which extended the award invitation to Polanski. For example, the Swiss Ministry sponsored an "Industry Day" for the festival.

The Zurich Film Festival's first Industry Day will take place at the Seefeld Razzia on Tuesday, September 29. Sponsored by the Swiss Federal Office of Culture and Swiss Films, this event is aimed at all professionals involved in the filmmaking industry including producers, directors, authors and actors.

If so, I've been wondering if the Swiss action could be considered a "lure" which would violate DOJ policy, according to the U.S. Attorney's Manual.[More...]

A Swiss appeals court has denied Roman Polanki's request for bail.

Polanski has 10 days to appeal the decision on his release to Switzerland's highest tribunal. He also can continue attempts to persuade the Swiss Justice Ministry to release him. More court proceedings are expected after Washington files its formal extradition request, which it has until Nov. 25 to submit.

Polanski's attorney said Tuesday's decision was a disappointment. "It's probable that Mr. Polanski will appeal," Herve Temime told reporters in Paris. "I repeat that Mr. Polanski has firmly and strongly stated that he will remain in Switzerland during the entire extradition procedure, regardless of its outcome."

[More...]

Former NY police commissioner Bernie Kerik was jailed this morning after his bail was revoked by the federal judge presiding over his criminal case, set to start trial next week. The judge said he failed to heed his warning a few weeks ago to monitor his legal defense fund website which was posting non-public documents in an attempt to taint the jury pool:

[prosecutors] discovered non-public documents placed on a Web site affiliated with Kerik's defense. "I fear he has a toxic combination: self-minded focus and arrogance," the White Plains federal judge said. That combination shows Kerik feels "the end justifies the means" and that "the rulings of the court are inconvenient and are to be ignored," Robinson said.

Bernie is likely to be held at MCC Manhattan. I assume, as a former cop, they will have to put him in solitary for his own safety. (Update: ABC News reports he's going to a county facility at Valhalla, NY., where the federal government rents space. )

Revoking bail for non-compliance with a court order? I could see charging or jailing him for contempt of court, but what does leaking sealed case information have to do with his risk of non-appearance in court or being a danger to the community? His lawyer says he will appeal.

While I was gone last week, the judge announced the verdict in the "face slashing" trial of NY Senator Hiram Monserrate. (Background here.) Congrats to his lawyer, Joe Tacopina: it was not guilty on all felony counts, guilty only of the misdemeanor assault charge relating to the manner in which Monserrate forced his girlfriend out of the building to get her into the car to go to the hospital.

So, the state failed to prove Monserrate purposefully struck his girlfriend with a glass, broken or otherwise, or intended to hurt her. That hasn't stopped the domestic violence crowd from insisting Monserrate is an abuser and calling for his resignation from the Senate. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who's running for a third term for which he's invested $64 million so far, now adds his voice, calling Monserrate's actions "disgraceful, despicable, deplorable." I guess he thinks Monserrate should have left her on the floor bleeding instead of insisting she get medical care. What a cheap vote-getting ploy.

Tacopina responds politely, "...suggest[ing] Bloomberg is "another example of a politician speaking out without having a base of knowledge about the facts of the case or the law." I'll be less polite: The mayor should shut up. [More...]