I'm still following the confusing reports from Peru on Joran Van der Sloot. My Spanish is getting better by the day because the Google and other online translators are pretty awful, and I've found that by reading the Spanish, I get a more accurate sense, even accounting for the words I don't know. Also, their pronouns are often wrong and in the wrong place making it hard to figure out who they are talking about. It's clearer to me reading the Spanish.

That said, while I can understand most of the written Spanish, I'm not able to translate it into English, so especially when pressed for time (like now) I may move to summaries, with links to the Spanish. From what I gather today: [More..]

Just when I thought I was out, they pulled me back in. Reburied workwise.

Open Thread.

Update (TL): I'm off to the jail. I'll miss Charlie Sheen's plea coverage at 4pm MT. Last night's post with what's expected to happen is here.

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Original Post: Agency Drops Helen Thomas For Israel Remarks

Via Politico, Helen Thomas' agency, Nine Speakers, has dropped her as a client due to her recent remarks on Israel.

It is with a heavy heart that Nine Speakers, Inc. announces its resignation as the agent for Helen Thomas, Dean of the White House Press Corps.

Ms. Thomas has had an esteemed career as a journalist, and she has been a trailblazer for women, helping others in her profession, and beyond. However, in light of recent events, Nine Speakers is no longer able to represent Ms. Thomas, nor can we condone her comments on the Middle East. Nine Speakers will continue to enthusiastically represent all of our other current and future clients.

At least one of their other clients, Craig Crawford, says the agency made the right decision. Others highly critical of Thomas: Lanny Davis and Ari Fleischer. [More...]

The U.S. has spent $500 million upgrading Guantanamo since 2001, according to the first published report on the prison's spending.

Here's some of where the money went:

• $188,000 for a marquee sign that says "Welcome Aboard"
• $249,000 for an abandoned volleyball court
• $296,000 for an unused go-cart track
• $3.5 million for 27 playgrounds, mostly unused
• $683,000 to renovate a cafe that sells ice cream and Starbucks coffee
• $773,000 to remodel a cinder-block building to house a KFC/Taco Bell restaurant.

The point of these expenditures: "[T]o comfort the military personnel and contractors who run detainee operations." Despite the decline in number of detainees (now at 181), the spending continues:

Next up is an expansion of one of the most popular spots on the base: O'Kelly's, an Irish pub. [More...]

New York Magazine has an in-depth, 6 page article on how Bernie Madoff is faring in prison. He's a hero, groupies and all.

Based on interviews with two dozen current and former inmates, and a lawyer he gave an interview to after his arrival, a portrait emerges: Repentent? Not one bit. He's had enough of that.

“F*ck my victims,” he said, loud enough for other inmates to hear. “I carried them for twenty years, and now I’m doing 150 years.”

His Ego: Fully intact. Everyone wants his opinion about business. His closest buddies: those doing huge sentences like him, including convicted spy Jonathan Pollard and Mob Boss Carmine Persico. [More...]

The BP Gulf Oil Coast spill may last until fall.

Two men from New Jersey are facing terror charges after trying to board a plane at JFK to Egypt. The feds say they were on their way to Somalia to join Al Shabaab and wage jihad. The New York Times reports the men were going to fight a civil war, not jihad.

Apple announces the new iPhone tomorrow. Now that I have my iPad which I totally love, I've been thinking about swapping my iPhone for something else. Why have both, and I hate synching and the idea of putting more stuff in the omnipresent cloud. Maybe it's time for a Droid or a Blackberry or a Palm. But I'm still curious to see what Apple comes up with.

The MTV Movie Awards are tonight. Sandra Bullock will accept the Generation Award. Last night she made her first public appearance since her split with Jesse James, to accept the Spike TV Troops Choice award for entertainer of the year, voted on by members of the American military worldwide. [More...]

Charlie Sheen, who will plead guilty to misdemeanor assault tomorrow in Aspen, just got another benefit added on: He's going to be able to get work release during his 18 day county jail stint to teach at a local theatre and it will apply to his useful public service obligation. The jail's guidelines are here.

I still think Sheen is being treated more harshly because of his celebrity, and it seems even the D.A. doesn't disagree:

“He's really not getting anything different than the average person under similar circumstances would receive,” [D.A. Arnold] Mordkin said, “and perhaps, he's receiving a little more harsh treatment.”

Also, apparently the jail has been getting so many media inquiries as to whether it's really a jail or just a comfy country club, Sheriff Bob Braudis is holding a media conference at 4:00 pm to explain. [More...]

Update: Joran will be held at the Miguel Castro Castro prison for the duration of the investigation phase. The prison was the subject of a huge lawsuit in 2006 for violation of prisoners' rights. (see end of this post for more.)

Update: Report from Peru: Joran is refusing to answer questions without a lawyer. Smart move, if true. He also reportedly asked for a non-Dutch attorney and said he was not arrested in Chile but surrendered, knowing he was being sought. Maybe that's why he wasn't handcuffed.

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Original post: Netherlands Offers Defense Attorney to Joran Van der Sloot

Peru may come to regret the gratuitous perp walk of Joran Van der Sloot. A few days ago, the Netherlands said it would not provide a lawyer for Joran Van der Sloot. Today, that's changed.

Stephen Clancy Hill, an actor in adult films, is dead. A suspect in a co-worker's murder, Hill stood on the top of a cliff for 8 hours, threatening to kill himself. He sat down for a few minutes to drink some water, stood back up, and again threatened to kill himself.

What did the Swat team do? It fired a taser at Hill, who collapsed, and either jumped or fell off the cliff, and died.

I'm sure they were tired of waiting for Hill to make a decision, but that's part of their job. [More...]

I'm still following the developments in Peru in the case of Joran Van der Sloot, so for those with other things on your mind, here's an open thread. All topics welcome.

Peruvian news is reporting (translation here, another article here , with translation here) that a judge in Peru has extended the detention of Joran Van der Sloot for 7 days. Under Peruvian law, he was to be presented to a judge within 24 hours of being expelled from Chile.

This afternoon, at the request of Ninfa Espinoza Sotomayor, head of Criminal Prosecution in Lima, police took Joran to the office of the Public Ministry and then back to the police headquarters at Dirincri.

Here are the images from the hotel security camera. (Another video of images with times is here.) Here is the Peru Constitution .

Joran Van der Sloot has arrived in Lima where he was taken to the Criminal Investigation Department (Dirincri) of the National Police on Spain Avenue. A press conference was held and he was perp-walked for the media. You can watch a video here. (Update: Here's a better one, they start the perp walk at 3 minutes in.)

Peruvian Minister Octavio Salazar declined to give details of the investigation. Nor did they answer questions asked by journalists. Apparently, he will now be interrogated.

He faces up to three days in the dungeons of the Dirincri and then [he will] be made available to the Peruvian justice. The judge will decide which prison the Dutchman [goes to.]

[More...]

The greatest basketball coach in history, John Wooden, has passed away:

John Wooden, a staid Midwesterner who migrated to U.C.L.A. and became college basketball’s most successful coach, earning the nickname the Wizard of Westwood and an enduring place in sports history, died Friday at Ronald Reagan U.C.L.A. Medical Center, where he had been hospitalized since May 26. He was 99.

In a NYTimes Editorual published today:

Two recent moments have brought to mind Chief Justice John Roberts’s simplistic description of a Supreme Court justice as an umpire who confines himself to calling balls and strikes. The first was the reminder in Detroit on Wednesday night that umpires are highly fallible, and their calls subjective, even when something as important as Armando Galarraga’s nearly perfect game is at stake.

The other was former Justice David Souter’s brilliant demolition of the umpire metaphor in his commencement address at Harvard last week. It is hard to imagine a better preparation for the confirmation hearings of Elena Kagan later this month.

[More...]

Update 6/7: He is still at the police headquarters facility. Reports that he will be moved to Miguel Castro Castro are now contradicted by the ex-prison chief, who says it is not secure enough to protect him. The ex-chief now thinks he will go to the maximum prison at Piedras Gordas, which he says does have adequate security. More here. This does seem to be his opinion, not fact. He's the former prison head. Article from Peru here.

Update 6/6: Joran Van der Sloot is being moved to the Miguel Castro Castro maximum security prison. Details here.

Getting details on the Peruvian penal code and procedural rules when you can't read Spanish is no easy task. Even Lexis and Westlaw offered little help. Our State Department has some basic information in this report dated March, 2010:

Trial Procedures

The justice system is based on the Napoleonic Code. The prosecutor investigates cases and submits an opinion to a first instance judge, who determines if sufficient evidence exists to open legal proceedings. The judge conducts an investigation, evaluates facts, determines guilt or innocence, and issues a sentence. All defendants are presumed innocent; they have the right to be present at trial, to call witnesses, and to be represented by counsel, although in practice the public defender system often failed to provide indigent defendants with qualified attorneys. The Ministry of Justice provided indigent persons with access to an attorney at no cost, although these attorneys were often poorly trained.

[More...]