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Joan Orie Melvin's absence may hamstring Supreme Court cases

Cures For Stuff — Sun, 20 May 2012 05:30:11 +0000

May 20, 2012 12:45 am by Paula Reed Ward / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Joan Orie Melvin is the second sitting state Supreme Court justice in Pennsylvania to be criminally prosecuted, and her case has implications for the court in the coming months.

Justice Melvin is accused of using her judicial staff to campaign for the high court in both 2003 and 2009. The nine counts, filed Friday, include theft of services, official oppression, criminal conspiracy, criminal solicitation and misapplication of entrusted property.

She denies the allegations and said that the charges are politically motivated because of her family's history with that of Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen a. Zappala Jr.

The prosecutor denies any improper motive.

On Friday, as charges were filed, Justice Melvin said she was voluntarily recusing herself from the court; that was swiftly followed by notice from her fellow justices that she was suspended.

The move, which reduces the court to six jurists, changes the dynamic of the bench, which had a 4-3 Republican edge before Justice Melvin's removal.

The 3-3 split along partisan and ideological lines could cause trouble for legal practitioners in the state, said Bruce Ledewitz, a Pennsylvania Supreme Court scholar who teaches at Duquesne University School of Law.

There will be no decisions from the court of precedential value in the interim because there likely will be no majority opinions, he said.

“You cannot move the law forward 3-3,” he said. “Its major job is not to decide cases, it's to decide law, and that's what it's hamstrung from doing if it's divided 3-3.”

Issues of law that come before the Supreme Court from the lower courts cannot be reversed in a 3-3 decision, although those same lower court opinions can be affirmed with that split.

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Joan Orie Melvin's absence may hamstring Supreme Court cases

ALL-STAR: Johnson Storms To Victory

Cures For Stuff — Sun, 20 May 2012 03:45:23 +0000

Jimmie Johnson used strategy and speed to perfection Saturday night and breezed to a relatively easy victory in the Sprint All-Star race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Johnson led every lap of the closing 10-lap dash for the cash and finished in front of Brad Keselowski to claim his third win – and a $1 million-plus payday – in the All-Star event.

“It’s all about the restart,” Keselowski said. “The high line on the restart just wouldn’t go. I thought I could do something with him (Johnson). we got beat by a five-time champ and two-time All-Star winner. I want that one more spot. we just weren’t able to pull it off tonight.”

Completing the top five at the finish were Matt Kenseth, Kyle Busch and Dale Earnhardt Jr.

“This race car was so amazing,” Johnson said. “I put it up on the outside at the start of the first heat and let it rip around the top and take the lead.”

The no. 48 team is on a roll. Johnson won the Southern 500 last week at Darlington Raceway to score Hendrick’s 200th Sprint Cup victory. the team also won the Sprint Pit Crew Challenge this week.

The winners of the race’s first four segments – Johnson, Kenseth, Keselowski and Earnhardt Jr. – lined up at the front for the final restart. none of those following Johnson had a shot at him as he bolted to a strong lead at the drop of the green.

The post-race celebration took an unusual turn as Johnson picked up team owner Rick Hendrick and gave him a victory ride along the frontstretch on the side of the winning car.

Earnhardt Jr. roared to the lead in the night’s fourth segment, and Keselowski led the third after turning back a strong challenge from Kasey Kahne. They ran side by side to the finish line, Keselowski edging Kahne by about a foot.

Completing the top five in the segment were Earnhardt Jr., AJ Allmendinger and Marcos Ambrose.

The race’s second segment was led by Kenseth, who passed Denny Hamlin to move to the front.

Parked during the second segment was the Ford of Carl Edwards, who blew the engine in the no. 99. Edwards won the race last year.

Greg Biffle, Edwards’ Roush Fenway Racing teammate, blew his engine during the fourth segment.

Johnson roared to the front on lap 15, passing pole winner Kyle Busch, and led the first 20-lap segment.

The opening segment saw some tight racing. Richard Childress Racing teammates Paul Menard and Kevin Harvick exchanged a little paint during the run, and one of the bumpups between the two resulted in Harvick slamming the outside wall.

Halfway through the segment, Tony Stewart bounced off the wall.

Mike Hembree is NASCAR Editor for SPEED.com and has been covering motorsports for 30 years. he is a six-time winner of the National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year Award.

Cures For Stuff.com

ALL-STAR: Johnson Storms To Victory

Saltalamacchia, Red Sox power past Phillies

Cures For Stuff — Sun, 20 May 2012 03:15:09 +0000

Philadelphia, PA – Jarrod Saltalamacchia went 3-for-4 and launched one of Boston’s four homers, as the Red Sox halted the Phillies’ six- game winning streak with a 7-5 decision at Citizens Bank Park.

David Ortiz had a two-run homer, while Mike Aviles and Will Middlebrooks added solo shots for Boston, which has split the first four games of its eight-game road trip.

Jon Lester (3-3) gave up four runs on eight hits in six innings to pick up the victory, while his counterpart, Joe Blanton took a loss at home for the first time in over two years.

Blanton (4-4), who was 8-0 in 17 home starts dating back to may 8, 2010, surrendered seven runs — six earned — on nine hits in 4 1/3 innings.

Freddy Galvis hit a two-run homer, while Shane Victorino went 3-for-5 with an RBI but popped out to leave the bases loaded in the eighth.

Philadelphia went 2-for-12 with runners in scoring position and stranded 11.

The hosts had two hits in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings and failed to score. in the seventh, Ryan Sweeney robbed Carlos Ruiz of a potential two-run double with a sensational diving catch on the center field warning track.

Jimmy Rollins saved a run in the eighth when the shortstop threw to the plate from his knees and nabbed Saltalamacchia trying to score. Rollins then beat out an infield single in the bottom half to knock in Ty Wigginton and pull the Phillies within 7-5.

Aceves gave up the hit to Rollins, then walked John Mayberry on four pitches to load the bases with two outs. on the next pitch, Victorino popped out to Aviles at short to end the threat.

Aceves locked down his ninth save with the help of a double-play line drive off the bat of Ruiz in the ninth.

The Red Sox hit three homers in the series opener — a 6-4 Phillies win — and kept their big bats going Saturday with Aviles’ first career leadoff blast.

There were no longballs in the second, but Boston tacked on two more runs when Saltalamacchia and Sweeney reached on hits and scored on ground balls hit in the infield.

In the home third, Victorino had to settle for an RBI double after nearly clearing the left-field fence, a problem Middlebrooks and Saltalamacchia didn’t have when they cranked back-to-back shots off Blanton in the fourth.

Hector Luna, like Victorino, narrowly missed homering in the fifth, though his single off the left-field wall plated Ruiz. Luna did trot home, however, as Galvis connected on his third round-tripper of the season.

Ortiz followed Dustin Pedroia’s leadoff single in the fifth with a moonshot to straightaway center.

Before the game, outfielder Pat Burrell officially retired as a Phillie after signing a one-day minor league contract…Mayberry and Luna each had three of the Phillies’ 13 singles…Lester, who four years ago on may 19 threw a no- hitter against the Royals, had pitched to a 0.43 ERA at Citizens Bank Park coming in…With Ortiz playing first base, Adrian Gonzalez started in right field and went 0-for-4.

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Saltalamacchia, Red Sox power past Phillies

Syria: Bomb kills at least 9 near military complex

Cures For Stuff — Sun, 20 May 2012 02:30:09 +0000

Beirut —

A car bomb in the parking lot of a Syrian military compound killed at least nine people Saturday, the latest in increasingly frequent bombings in the country’s major cities to attack the government’s security services.

In Damascus, top U.N. peacekeeping and military officials met with Syrian officials to try to salvage the United Nations’ peace plan, which has been marred by daily violence and dismissed by the opposition as unrealistic. a cease-fire that was supposed to start last month has never taken hold, undermining the rest of international envoy Kofi Annan’s plan, which is supposed to lead to talks to end the 14-month crisis.

Saturday’s suicide bombing struck the eastern city of Deir al-Zour, blowing holes in the walls of nearby buildings and sending up a plume of smoke that stretched across the horizon.

The state-run Syrian Arab News Agency said the blast hit the parking lot of a military residential compound, while an opposition group, the British Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, reported that the bomb went off close to the city branches of the Military Intelligence Directorate and Air Force Intelligence.

Attacks like the one in Deir al-Zour, which once served as a transit hub for militants heading to fight U.S. forces in neighboring Iraq, have raised fears that militant Islamists are taking advantage of chaos in Syria to carry out al Qaeda-style attacks.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the bombing. The government blamed it on terrorists, who it says are behind the uprising against President Bashar Assad.

A spokesman for the city’s rebel military council denied the opposition was behind the attack and blamed the blast on the government.

“This is not our style because we work to protect civilians and their homes from the bullets and shells of Assad’s gangs,” Mohammed Attallah said in a video posted online Saturday.

A group calling itself the Al-Nusra front has claimed previous attacks through statements posted on militant websites. little is known about the group, although Western intelligence officials say it could be a front for a branch of al Qaeda militants from Iraq operating in Syria.

The country’s last major bombing hit an intelligence building in Damascus on may 10. The high death toll – about 55 people – made it the deadliest attack of the uprising.

Saturday’s bombing was the third so far in may. April and March saw two major bombings each, while the three previous months all had one each. Most of the attacks have been near security-related buildings in Aleppo and Damascus, Syria’s two largest cities.

The revolt started in March 2011 with mostly peaceful protests calling for political change. As the government cracked down on dissent, many in the opposition took up arms to protect themselves and attack government troops. The United Nations said weeks ago that 9,000 people had been killed. Hundreds more have died since.

President Obama said leaders of the Group of Eight industrial nations, who are meeting outside Washington at Camp David, support the U.N. peace plan for Syria, but added that it had not taken hold fast enough.

“We all believe that a peaceful resolution and political transition in Syria is preferable,” Obama said Saturday.

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Syria: Bomb kills at least 9 near military complex

Hearing Aids Review: The 4 Leading Brands

Cures For Stuff — Sat, 19 May 2012 20:45:21 +0000

Are you looking for a hearing aid but don’t know where to start? Here is the definitive guide to the leading brands of hearing aids. I will review some of the top names in hearing aids including Siemens hearing aids, Beltone hearing aids, Starkey hearing aids and Phonak hearing aids.

Hearing aids are available in analog or digital models. Analog hearing aids have been on the market for years. these are less expensive than digital hearing aids but do not provide the sound quality and features that digital hearing aids do. Digital hearing aids offer a cleaner sound quality than analog models and can be programmed by computer to achieve a high level of adjustment. Digital hearing prices have fallen, hence, more people can afford them.

There are several types of hearing aids on the market. A hearing aid specialist can help you choose the type that suits you best. the closer the hearing aid sits to the eardrum the better the sound will be.

Here are 4 types of hearing aids:

BTE: Behind the Ear

This type fits over the ear and rests behind it. it is typically the least expensive.

ITE: in the Ear

This is the most common type that sits in the ear

ITC: in the Ear Canal

This type fits slightly lower into the ear and is not very noticeable.

CIC: Completely in the Ear Canal

This fits down into the ear canal, requires the most fitting and is the least visible to others.

There are 4 leading manufacturers of hearing aids that have proven to provide superior products. they provide the ultimate in customer service to ensure improved hearing and customer satisfaction.

Siemens is a name you can trust for hearing aids. Siemens has been in business for over 125 years and is the largest manufacturer of hearing aids in the United States. Siemens has hearing aids to meet every budget yet all are made with the same expertise and precision. there are basic styles, value and ultimate. all Siemens hearing aids come with a two-year warranty. the higher priced Siemens hearing aids have more channels and offer more features than the lower priced versions. if cost is a concern try the Phoenix or Cielo models. the top of the line Artis e2e has wireless ear-to-ear technology.

Beltone is a leading brand of hearing aids. it has an outstanding reputation and boasts over 1300 locations in the United States. they offer an aftercare program called Belcare to help with your ongoing needs. the professionals at Beltone will help you complete a lifestyle assessment called the Personalized Hearing Health Assessment (PHHA) to determine which type of Beltone hearing aid is best for you. Beltone offers a wide variety of hearing aids including basic, quality, advantage and premier styles. Each group has products to suit your needs. the Edge model is affordable and has 3 channels. the Mira model is a mid-range model with 6 channels. the top of the line Oria has 12 channels and offers many additional features.

Starkey Laboratories is the world’s largest manufacturer of hearing instruments. they offer many hearing aids to provide you with the best solution for your hearing loss and lifestyle. they were the first to provide a warranty as well as a free trial period. they have many hearing aid models available starting with the 3-channel Aspect. the mid-level Destiny comes in several models to accommodate your needs. the top of the line Eli provides a wireless solution that is compatible with Bluetooth enabled phones.

Phonak is a worldwide company with headquarters in Switzerland. they offer specialized hearing instruments, which are available in a wide array of products to suit your hearing loss and budget. the 6 channel eXtra model provides a basic entry-level hearing aid. the mid-range Valeo and Elva models have 16 channels. the top of the line Savia has 20 channels and numerous features to provide the best hearing assistance available. Phonak also has wireless hearing aid solutions.

Hearing Aids Review: The 4 Leading Brands

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Hearing Aids Review: The 4 Leading Brands

G-8 leaders say Greece should remain in Eurozone

Cures For Stuff — Sat, 19 May 2012 18:15:05 +0000

From left: Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, President of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso, President Barack Obama, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and German Chancellor Angela Merkel make their way to a photo op at the G-8 Summit Saturday, May 19, 2012 at Camp David, Md.

(Credit:AP Photo/Charles Dharapak) (CBS News) Leaders from the Group of eight nations, meeting at Camp David in Maryland, said Saturday they are interested in keeping Greece part of the European economic zone.

“We agree on the importance of a strong and cohesive Eurozone for global stability and recovery, and we affirm our interest in Greece remaining in the Eurozone while respecting its commitments,” the G-8 leaders said in a statement.

Leaders from France, Germany, United Kingdom, Italy, Japan, Russia, Canada and the United States are discussing the challenges facing a global economy, with the fragility of the eurozone central to the agenda.

Today’s statement may temporarily alleviate the possibility that Greece could be dropped from the economic coalition because of its debt crisis and subsequent political gridlock. The country’s harshest critic has been German leader Angela Merkel.

“We support Euro Area Leaders’ resolve to address the strains in the Eurozone in a credible and timely manner, and in a manner that fosters confidence, stability and growth,” the statement also said.

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G-8 leaders say Greece should remain in Eurozone

Will “willfully” save John Edwards?

Cures For Stuff — Sat, 19 May 2012 16:45:10 +0000

(CBS News) GRENBORO, N.C. — The jury in the John Edwards political corruption trial is scheduled to resume deliberations Monday after failing to reach a verdict Friday, their first day of trying.

Edwards is charged with six felony counts in connection with alleged campaign finance fraud.

Prosecutors say Edwards belongs in prison for devising an elaborate scheme to use nearly $1 million from wealthy donors to hide his affair with Rielle Hunter, in violation of campaign finance rules, notes CBS News correspondent Anna Werner.

But Edwards defense lawyer Abbe Lowell told jurors Edwards “confessed his sins. … But he has pleaded not guilty to violating the law.”

“48 Hours Mystery” correspondent Erin Moriarty, who’s also an attorney, says deliberations “could take a while.”

“This is a very, very difficult deliberation for them,” she pointed out to “CBS this Morning: Saturday” co-hosts Jeff Glor and Rebecca Jarvis. “When you read the jury instructions, they’re told they have to look at the intent of the (campaign) donors, Rachel ‘Bunny’ Mellon and Fred Baron.

“The problem is, neither one of them testified. Fred Baron died in 2008 and Bunny Mellon is almost 102. so now, (jurors) have to go back to the hard evidence and try to figure out what was in their minds. Did they intend these to be gifts, that they would have helped John Edwards no matter what, or was this definitely to affect the election? And what’s tough is, you know, all the evidence kind of goes both ways.”

Edwards jury goes home for the weekend

Still, says Moriarty, “It ultimately is gonna come down to whether the jury believes [Edwards aide] Andrew Young or not. there are a lot of reasons not to. he got full immunity. there are a lot of reasons for him not to be entirely truthful. he took so much of the money for his house. … he was the key witness. If they (the jurors) believe him, I think John Edwards has a real chance of being convicted. If they don’t —

“There’s one word I think is gonna save John Edwards: the word ‘willfully,’ because the way it’s defined in the jury instructions is that he had to know what he was doing was against the law. And from the times I sat in the courtroom, I did not hear a lot of evidence about that. ‘Willfully’ may be the word that saves him.”

To watch the discussion with Erin Moriarty, click on the video in the player at the top of this story.

To see the report filed by Anna Werner about Friday’s proceedings, click on the video below:

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Will “willfully” save John Edwards?

Texas high court orders state to pay ex-inmate $2M

Cures For Stuff — Fri, 18 May 2012 20:15:16 +0000

AUSTIN, Texas – the Texas Supreme Court ordered the state Friday to pay about $2 million to an ex-inmate who spent 26 years in prison for murder before his conviction was overturned, a decision legal experts said could set a new standard for when ex-prisoners should be compensated.

Texas has paid nearly $50 million to former inmates who have been cleared. But state Comptroller Susan Combs had resisted paying Billy Frederick Allen, arguing that his conviction was overturned because he had ineffective lawyers, not because he had proven his innocence.

The state Supreme Court, in a unanimous opinion written by Justice Dale Wainwright, disagreed, saying the state’s criminal courts had shown Allen had a legitimate innocence claim and he should be paid.

Jeff Blackburn, chief counsel of the Innocence Project of Texas, which works to free wrongfully convicted inmates, said Friday’s ruling could open the door for more compensation claims from ex-prisoners.

“The floodgates are not opening, but what this will do is give a fair shake to people who are innocent,” Blackburn said. “This is a major step forward in terms of opening up and broadening the law of exoneration in general.”

Texas’ compensation law is the most generous in the U.S., according to the national Innocence Project. Freed inmates who are declared innocent by a judge, prosecutors or a governor’s pardon can collect $80,000 for every year of imprisonment, along with an annuity.

What makes Allen’s case different is that he didn’t have an innocence declaration. what he had instead was a Court of Criminal Appeals ruling that reversed his conviction based on ineffective counsel and supported a lower court’s finding that the evidence against him was too weak for a reasonable jury to convict him.

In effect, the Court of Criminal Appeals, the state’s highest court in criminal matters, supported Allen’s claim of “actual innocence” and he should be paid, the state Supreme Court ruled.

Kristopher Moore, one of Allen’s attorneys, said the ruling should send a message to Combs that the state’s top financial officer is not qualified to interpret criminal law.

“The only body allowed to answer the question of innocence in a case like this is the Court of Criminal Appeals, not the comptroller,” Moore said.

Combs spokesman R.J. DeSilva called the ruling “helpful guidance” for the comptroller and said the state has already started the process of paying Allen.

“The Court’s decision will also help us pay any other exonerees with similar circumstances to mr. Allen,” DeSilva said.

Combs’ office has challenged several compensation claims before the Texas Supreme Court. another ex-inmate, Richard Sturgeon, had his conviction for a 1998 robbery overturned based on problems with his trial attorney and witnesses. he filed a claim similar to Allen’s.

Texas has paid 80 people about $49.5 million for wrongful conviction and imprisonment. most were freed through DNA testing or because their cases involved a drug detective in the Texas Panhandle town of Tulia who was later convicted of perjury.

While DNA evidence has led to most of Texas’ exonerations, those cases are expected to dwindle because DNA testing has become standard in modern investigations where such evidence exists. more former inmates like Allen — whose case has no DNA evidence — are likely to account for more compensation cases, Blackburn said.

“Billy Allen is a classic case where technically speaking you could say that he wasn’t really exonerated because certain magic words weren’t used,” Blackburn said. “The Supreme Court has a much more common sense approach to innocence.”

Allen was convicted in the 1983 fatal shootings of James Perry Sewell and Sewell’s girlfriend, Raven Dannelle Lashbrook. Allen said he’d frequently visited Sewell because he wanted to sell Sewell scraps of gold as part of a legitimate business, and that he’d leaned against Sewell’s car a few days before the couple’s deaths, according to court filings.

Court documents said Sewell was found “gagged, handcuffed and covered with blood” near an apartment building, and that Allen’s handprint was discovered on top of the car, where Lashbrook was found dead. A police officer testified that when he asked Sewell who attacked him, he answered: “Billy Allen.”

But a defense investigator after the trial found two paramedics who heard Sewell saying three names as he was dying. one heard him say “Billy Wayne Allen,” the name of another possible suspect. the other paramedic remembered hearing a middle name, but couldn’t recall it.

That new evidence left the officer’s testimony ineffective, and the remaining major piece of evidence — the palm print on the car — would not have been enough to convict him, the Court of Criminal Appeals determined. Allen’s conviction was overturned in 2009 and he was freed from prison.

Although prosecutors dismissed the charges, they said they still considered him a suspect and have kept the case open.

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Texas high court orders state to pay ex-inmate $2M

John Edwards trial: jury requests evidence in campaign finance case

Cures For Stuff — Fri, 18 May 2012 19:30:11 +0000

A jury deliberating whether John Edwards broke campaign finance laws made a request for evidence and office supplies on Friday, suggesting they are settling in for detailed talks about the money from wealthy donors that was used to hide the candidate’s pregnant mistress during his 2008 White House bid.

After about two hours of discussions, jurors asked to see several exhibits and wanted a complete list of the exhibits, which the judge said would take a clerk at least an hour to compile.

The trial has renewed national attention to a scandal that destroyed Edwards’ promising political career, built on his now-shattered image as a youthful, committed family man and defender of America’s working class.

Jurors heard about 17 days of testimony, a lot of it focusing on the details of the lurid sex scandal between the democratic candidate, his mistress Rielle Hunter and his once-trusted aide Andrew Young, who initially claimed he was the father of his boss’s baby. but they also reviewed phone and financial records from a period of about two years.

Edwards is charged with six criminal counts including conspiracy to violate the Federal Election Campaign Act, accepting contributions that exceeded campaign finance limits, and causing his campaign to file a false financial disclosure report. he faces up to 30 years in prison and $1.5m in fines if convicted of all charges.

Jurors asked for eight exhibits and all of the notes from a wealthy heiress who provided about half of the money at issue. they also wanted a transcript of the heiress’ lawyer’s testimony, but the judge told them to rely on their memory. they said they need markers and a board to write on, too.

Jurors will have to weigh whether to believe Edwards, who argued that he didn’t knowingly break the law, or his aide, Andrew Young, who said Edwards recruited him to solicit secret donations in excess of the legal limit for campaign contributions, then $2,300.

The choice before them comes down to choosing which person to believe.

Young, the prosecution’s star witness, falsely claimed paternity of his boss’s baby in December 2007, after tabloid reporters tracked a visibly pregnant Hunter to a doctor’s appointment.

Edwards repeatedly denied having a relationship with Hunter, only to go on national television in August 2008 to admit having a brief affair with Hunter but that it was physically impossible he was the father of her baby girl. in fact, his relationship with Hunter had lasted more than a year. a recording of that interview was played for the jury last week as the prosecution rested its case.

The bulk of the alleged illegal campaign contributions flowed to Young, including $725,000 in checks from heiress Rachel “Bunny” Mellon, who is now 101 years old. Young spent some of the money to care for Hunter, but financial records introduced at the trial showed the aide siphoned off most of the money to help build his family’s $1.6m dream home.

Another $400,000 in cash, luxury hotels, private jets rides and a $20,000-a-month rental mansion in Santa Barbara, California, were also provided by wealthy Texas lawyer Fred Baron to help cover up the affair. Baron served as Edwards’ campaign finance chairman.

Prosecutors say Edwards knew about the money and directed the cover-up, showing the jury phone records indicating he was in constant contact with Hunter and Young while they were in hiding.

The defense countered that it is Young who should be on trial, not Edwards, accusing the aide of using Edwards’ name without his knowledge to bamboozle Mellon out of hundreds of thousands of dollars for his personal use. Young received immunity from prosecutors.

During closing arguments on Thursday, lead defense lawyer Abbe Lowell admitted that Edwards had lied to his wife and the American people. but his client didn’t violate federal campaign finance regulations, Lowell said.

“This is a case that should define the difference between a wrong and a crime … between a sin and a felony,” Lowell told the jury. “John Edwards has confessed his sins. he will serve a life sentence for those. but he has pleaded not guilty to violating the law.”

Meanwhile, prosecutor Bobby Higdon used Edwards’ old stump speech against him, saying the presidential candidate violated laws meant to protect “the two Americas” in an attempt to avoid a sex scandal. in the 2004, when he ran for vice president with Senator John Kerry, Edwards spoke often of the two Americas, saying the rich and poor needed an equal say.

“Campaign finance laws are designed to bring the two Americas together at election time,” Higdon said. “John Edwards forgot his own rhetoric.”

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John Edwards trial: jury requests evidence in campaign finance case

Chen Guangcheng’s brother describes beating by officials

Cures For Stuff — Fri, 18 May 2012 11:15:09 +0000

The brother of blind Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng has told reporters how he was chained to a chair and beaten for three days to make him reveal how his sibling escaped from house arrest in the Shandong countryside.

Chen Guangfu described his ordeal in an interview with a Hong Kong magazine as his son, Chen Kegui stood accused of attempted murder for fighting back against a similar beating.

A team of independent lawyers who have offered to represent the defendant were dismissed by the authorities and told not to speak about the case.

Chen Guangfu told a reporter from iSunAffairs.com that local officials came to his home after his brother fled late last month from his home village of Dongshigu to the US embassy in Beijing.

“They put me on a chair, bound my feet with iron chains and locked my hands with handcuffs behind my back,” he said, according to a transcript of the interview released to the BBC.

“They pulled my hands upwards forcefully. Then they slapped me in the face,” he said.

“They first asked me if I knew what this was about. I said ‘I don’t know’, So they beat me and slapped my face. Only on one side, not the other. And they trampled my feet.”

He tried not to implicate others by initially claiming all the responsibility for the escape. but he said the interrogators seemed to know who had been involved so it was ultimately impossible to resist.

His wife, Ren Zongju, also described how officials attacked her son.

“They started fighting inside the house. So many people were beating him. His face was bleeding, and his legs. His trousers were ripped,” she was quoted as saying. “He said to me ‘Mum, I need to get out immediately’. We had 1,000 yuan… So I picked it up and gave it to my son.”

The report is difficult to confirm. Journalists have been turned away from Dongshigu and neighbouring villages. but it fits with Chen Guangcheng’s telephone statement to a US congressional hearing earlier this week in which he reported a “pattern of abuse” against his relatives.

The blind activist is now in a Beijing hospital, where he is being treated for colitis and injuries sustained during his escape. Under a deal between the US and Chinese governments, he expects to be given permission to study in New York. US authorities say visas for Chen and his family have been prepared. The Chinese side has told him that passports and travel permission will be ready in 15 days.

“I am not worrying. For sure I can get my visa within two weeks,” Chen told the Guardian on Friday. “My worry now is for my family. The local police have confessed that they beat [my nephew] Chen Kegui so his fight back is just self-defence.”

It is unclear which family members will be allowed to travel to the US with the activist. although his wife and two children are certain to go, an official said there were also discussions about whether his mother might join them.

Chen’s mother is now 78, and suffers from arthritis and coronary heart disease. according to Chen, local officials previously prevented her from getting medical treatment and followed her when she went out to buy food. but now, she is free to walk around in the village and chat to neighbours.

The activist says he is in daily phone contact with her, but that she does not want to go to New York because she is concerned about those that would be left behind. “She is worried about my extended family, especially her grandson, my nephew Chen Kegui,” he said.

A senior lawyer defending the activist described to the Guardian last week how he lost his hearing in a beating by a senior state security official after he tried to visit Chen Guangcheng in hospital.

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Chen Guangcheng’s brother describes beating by officials