Vincent Bugliosi, the man who convicted Charles Manson and 20 other murderers without ever losing a case, is convinced that a murder charge can be brought against George Bush and he seems pretty serious about following through on it:

Bugliosi v. Bush

I’ve also drafted a letter to DAs across the country offering my services. I’m dead serious about this. With my record as a prosecutor with twenty-one consecutive murder convictions, I would never in a million years argue for a prosecution against the President of the United States unless I knew I was standing on firm and strong legal grounds.

I’m going after Bush and I’m not going to be satisfied until I see him in an American courtroom prosecuted for murder.

Christ-a-mighty, kids! Just use a fucking potato if you’re hard up for a piece. . . like a normal person!

3 accused of using Humble corpse’s head to smoke pot | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle

The Kingwood teenager’s story of decapitating a corpse and using the head to smoke marijuana was so outlandish that at first Houston Police Department senior police officer Jim Adkins did not believe it.

Yet, Kevin Wade Jones Jr., 17, appeared almost indifferent as he relayed the bizarre description of his and two friends’ activities at an Humble area graveyard, Adkins said.

How bad is this? You manage to convict a guy of stealing a cell phone, an iPod and money off a guy who is dead, but not of his murder.

OK, so crazier shit has happened, maybe he didn’t kill the guy. But when you’ve got another guy who is also going to prison for the exact same shit and who testifies against the first guy, how is it possible that you don’t have strong enough of a case for murder? What could the second guy possibly testify to that was worth putting him on the stand?

Activist’s Accused Killer Acquitted of Murder - 13WHAM.com

However, Cox was found guilty of robbing Slater of a cell phone, iPod, and money. He faces 5 to 25 years on those charges.

. . .
A second defendant, Darnell Norton, pleaded guilty to robbery and faces less than 20 years in prison. He testified against Cox.

As Josh Marshall sez, “uh-oh:

Stabenow’s husband caught in Troy prostitution sting, police report says

Thomas L. Athans was stopped Feb. 26 by undercover officers investigating a possible prostitution ring in a room at the Residence Inn near Big Beaver and Interstate 75. Athans paid a 20-year-old prostitute $150 for sex in a Troy hotel but was not arrested, according to police reports obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request by The Detroit News. The police report said officers observed Athans enter a room under surveillance and leave 15 minutes later. Detectives followed and stopped Athans’ silver 2002 Cadillac DeVille on Interstate 75 near Square Lake Road.

Out of curiosity, can we take it as a sign of the relative health of our economy in New York State that our sex-starved politicians (and presumably, their significants, though that’s yet to be confirmed) pay several times the going rate in Michigan?  Even if you factor in fractions of an hour (fifteen minutes?!?), that’s still only $600 an hour.

The RBJ is conducting a snap poll which asks the question:

In your opinion, what impact is Spitzer’s resignation likely to have on plans for Midtown Plaza and efforts to revitalize the upstate economy?

Ugh.  Hadn’t thought of that: all that money to tear down MidTown Mall and put up the Paetec.  Crimeny.

Rochester Turning has filed a report from the latest Eric Massa press call. They’re reporting that Mr. Massa has decided to give the money he got from Spitzer away to charity rather than keeping it. Below is the relevant text of the post, with some minor formatting:

rochesterturning.com: turning the tide upstate

Q, Jill Terreri, D&C: Why were you compelled to donate the money he gave to you?

A: I want to sever all ties with Eliot Spitzer and myself. I am not going to return the money to him so he can continue using it for whatever purpose he is using his money. We donated the money to battered women in Steuben County to put it to some good use.

Mr. Massa is definitely one of those guys who would make this sort of decision on his own, purely on integrity. But does it concern him at all that the NRCC has already made calls for Democratic candidates to release Spitzer’s “dirty money?” This action may come across to voters as a capitulation to Republican pressure, though his opponent Randy Kuhl has thus far not made the same demands. And what about other candidates, are they likely to follow suit?  Jared Smith at Massa for Congress was good enough to pass along my questions.

The Massa camp reiterated Eric Massa’s “disgust” for Eliot Spitzer’s actions, and said he shared those feelings with all New Yorkers.  They further responded responded that, indeed, their decision to donate the money to The Net Domestic Abuse Program in Steuben County was Mr. Massa’s own decision and not based on any outside pressure. They pointed out that Randy Kuhl is among those Republican politicians who have not returned the money taken from the indicted Tom DeLay, so NRCC pressure does not seem to concern them much.  As for pressure on Democratic candidates, the Massa campaign responded that they can only speak for and act on their own behalf.

I also spoke with Jon Powers‘ campaign manager, John Gerken. He indicated that Mr. Powers supported calls for Spitzer to resign as the best way to resolve the issue for voters in the state. When I asked about Eric Massa’s decision to donate Spitzer’s money, Mr. Gerken said that Jon Powers has not accepted any money from Eliot Spitzer.

Eliot Spitzer is going to be making an announcement at 11:30am this morning, in just a few scant minutes.  13WHAM.com will be streaming the video live, so those of you at work, now is the time to goof off for the good of our state.  Also, Evan Dawson follows up on the blog with reaction from Joe Morelle.  Joe wants (as I think we all do) a statement from our new governor, David Patterson, post haste.

The NYT is reporting that it’s infamous code word, “Client 9″ is now available in tee-shirt form.  How wonderful!

Down there at the bottom of a discussion of Patterson’s prospects of becoming governor, there is a fairly obvious hint that this is precisely what’s about to happen:

If Spitzer steps down, Paterson would move up - 13WHAM.com

Tuesday morning, Assemblyman Republican leader James Tedisco said he got a call from Paterson. Tedisco had been at odds with the Democratic Spitzer, but, Tedisco said Paterson asked if he would consider a fresh start.

It’s pretty obvious that Spitzer needs to step down, but to this moment, it has been less obvious that he would.  This phone call makes it seem like this may already be happening.  Indeed, speculation has been that Spitzer intended to use his stepping down as a part of a plea bargaining deal that would eliminate the need for him to be indicted.