Banton was charged with conspiracy to possess and distribute cocaine and aiding two others in possessing a firearm during the course of cocaine distribution. Prosecutors say Banton conspired to buy cocaine from an undercover police officer last year. He faced life in prison if convicted.

Banton’s attorneys have asked that the reggae singer be released on bond. Banton has been held without bond since his December, 2009 arrest.

Banton’s attorney maintains that the singer was entrapped by a government informant.

The jury had sent a note earlier Monday saying they could not agree on a verdict, but U.S. District Judge James Moody ordered them to continue deliberations. After the second note was sent Moody ruled in favor of the defense motion to declare a mistrial.

The trial ignited a lot of debate in Baton’s home country Jamaica, with fans and critics dissecting every detail of the case in editorial pages and on social networking sites, with his most ardent fans comparing him to the reggae legend Bob Marley.

“I’ve been following it close because Buju is big in Jamaica, like a Bob Marley,” Charles Barrett, a resident of the capital, said Sunday. “Way I see it, they need to free the man cause they don’t have any concrete evidence against him.”

There have even been a few conspiracy theories from fans as to how the Rasta star came to be in this predicament. Some say the U.S government framed him, others point to gay rights advocate groups who have actively protested many of Banton’s appearances because of violent, homophobic lyrics from early in Banton’s career as a brash dancehall singer.

Shows in several U.S. cities were canceled because of protests over those early lyrics and his unapologetic anti-gay stance through the years.

The reason for such fierce debate lies in the cultural influence that many say Banton has had on the music scene in Jamaica. According to musicologist and disc jockey Bunny Goodison, “[Banton has] been extremely important through the years because he’s represented Rastafari and black consciousness in a very focused way.”

Others are more critical of Banton, whose real name is Mark Myrie. “No matter how the trial turns out, Mr. Myrie has already let down himself and his fans,” the Jamaica Observer said in an editorial Sunday.

A new trial date is expected to be announced later Monday.

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Jamaican Reggae singer Buju Banton will have to wait until Monday to know his fate as the 13 member panel of jurors have yet to come to a decision.

The jurors are expected to resume their deliberations at 8:45 Monday morning.

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Buju Banton took the stand yesterday for his drug trial. Carribean360 is reporting that he claimed all of the cocaine talk was him just trying to “talk garbage” and impress the man who turned out to be an informant.

“I was talking garbage. I was just talking straight up garbage. He was trying out-talk me,” Buju testified.

“I’m just a humble musician. I was just talking above my head. I was trying to impress this guy and that’s what got me into this hot seat,” he said in another part of his testimony.

Buju also said that he was shocked when drugs were brought to a meeting at a warehouse with Johnson and former co-accused Ian Thomas in December – a meeting that was videotaped and showed Buju tasting the drugs. “I was in over my head,” Buju said.

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OAKLAND, Calif. – This Northern California city is bracing for an upcoming verdict in the racially-charged murder trial of a former Bay Area Rapid Transit officer some 400 miles away.

While Johannes Mehserle, who is white, awaits his fate in a Los Angeles courtroom, officials in Oakland are frantically preparing for any repeat of the violence that occurred after Mehserle fatally shot an unarmed black man 19 months ago. Downtown businesses were damaged, cars were set ablaze and clashes between protesters and police near City Hall ensued.

Now, officers are working 12-hour shifts after undergoing crowd control training. Police also have erected a staging area by the Port of Oakland, primed to call for backup, if necessary.

“I don’t want officers to overreact. We’re just preparing, just in case,” Police Chief Anthony Batts told KTVU-TV. “I’m not getting any indication that we’re going to have a riot or any explosive issues taking place. Just because we’re planning doesn’t mean it’s going to happen.”

In Los Angeles, the jury could begin deliberating on Friday after closing arguments conclude. After defense attorney Michael Rains completes his final statements, the prosecution will have a chance to deliver a rebuttal. Tight security in and around the courthouse will be beefed up on verdict day.

“We have taken all precautions,” said Los Angeles County Sheriff’s spokesman Steve Whitmore. “You will see a large number of deputy sheriffs, significantly more than before, and there will be stuff you won’t see.”

Mehserle, 28, is charged with murdering Oscar Grant, 22, at the BART Fruitvale train station platform in Oakland on New Year’s Day 2009. The incident, videotaped by several bystanders and shown on the Internet, sparked violent uprisings in Oakland. Mehserle tearfully testified in L.A. last week that he mistakenly used his handgun instead of a Taser when he shot Grant.

On Thursday, windows at the Fruitvale station were boarded up as a precaution.

A few miles away downtown, police loomed as demonstrators announced plans for a “Speak Out” on the night of the verdict outside City Hall.

“What the (Grant) family wants, they want a second-degree murder conviction,” Tony Coleman, an organizer, said Thursday. “A conviction is a conviction, but we know if it’s involuntary manslaughter, he can get probation and nobody feels that is justice.”

Coleman later spoke with officers and gave assurances the gathering will be nonviolent.

Yvette Felarca, a local coordinator for the activist group By Any Means Necessary (BAMN), said the event will either be a celebration or an outcry demanding justice.

“The badge cannot be and is not a license for murder. We need to fight for that regardless of what the decision will be,” Felarca said. “Can you be caught on videotape for the whole world to see and still walk free? That’s not acceptable.”

An Alameda County judge moved the trial from Oakland to Los Angeles because of intense media coverage and ongoing tensions set to boil over.

Last week, Batts and Mayor Ron Dellums publicly urged for calm, telling residents to “come together, look out for one another, and stay safe.” They told residents to secure their cars, remove large trash bins and report any destruction once the verdict is announced.

Other city officials were more blunt.

“If the verdict is for acquittal (which some believe is a probable outcome) there will undoubtedly be an outpouring of anger and frustration from many members in the community,” Susan Shelton, a city housing services manager, wrote on city letterhead to concerned parties last week.

Several downtown businesses, both big and small, have boarded up their storefronts. Some shops also have placed posters of Grant’s likeness on their windows as an apparent show of support — and to possibly prevent any damage.

“We’re very nervous, that’s the pulse of downtown,” said Derrick Bell, store manager of a custom hat shop situated near last year’s rioting. “A lot of shops didn’t open back up last year. I don’t want to see that happen again.”

Earlier this week, cleaning crews removed at least a dozen anti-Mehserle spray-painted messages around scenic Lake Merritt, including “L.A. better get it right…or else.”

A proliferation of stickers also have cropped up in trendy Oakland hotspots. One bears Grant’s image and the message, “We don’t forget.” Another shows Mehserle and reads, “We don’t forgive.”

Also, local African-American elected officials and clergy who have watched the events unfold from the onset vow to contact the Justice Department “to seek any and all recourse if an unjust verdict is rendered in this case.”

As the tension esclates, Dellums begged officials at BART — a likely target of protesters — to cancel a Wednesday news conference to avoid stoking any flames.

“Whatever the verdict, those of us who live and work in Oakland and who love this city must direct our energies and our emotion into constructive actions for change and progress,” BART board president James Fang said. “Neither, BART, the City of Oakland, its residents or its businesses have control over the outcome of the People versus Mehserle trial.”

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The Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office announced today the sentencings of two gang members, including the infamous Ronnie Thomas, known as Skinny Suge, the producer of the Stop Snitching videos (link goes to YouTube, video contains offensive language).

In the video, Thomas said, “I can say what I want. F— the police. F— Patricia Jessamy. I can’t go to jail for that. This is how I feel. What y’all getting me for? Freedom of speech?” What they got him for was racketeering conspiracy, and he got nearly the maximum sentence.

The video came to symbolize Baltimore’s witness intimidation culture, and got NBA star and native Baltimorean Carmelo Anthony in hot water for a cameo. The player later apologized and said he didn’t endorse its message.

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LOS ANGELES — The upcoming trial of a white ex-transit officer charged with killing an unarmed black man in Oakland has already sparked racial tensions in the city, one of the reasons the trial was moved to Los Angeles.

On Tuesday, a jury of seven whites, four Hispanics, one East Indian — and no blacks — was selected to hear the case against former Bay Area Rapid Transit police officer Johannes Mehserle, according to KTVU-TV.

Mehserle is accused of murdering Oscar Grant on New Year’s Day 2009 in a shooting that was captured on video by several bystanders. He has pleaded not guilty and his attorneys have said he mistakenly pulled his gun rather than a Taser in an attempt to subdue Grant.

Prosecutors contend he intended to shoot Grant and he used his weapon because officers were losing control of the situation.

The trial could be the most racially polarizing of its kind in California since four Los Angeles police officers were acquitted of beating Rodney King in 1992.

Jack Bryson, who attended Tuesday’s proceedings and whose sons — Jackie and Nigel — were with Grant when he was killed, left the courtroom in disgust just after the jury was selected.

“This is like a slap in the face,” Bryson told The Associated Press. “This case came all the way to Los Angeles after the judge in Alameda County said they couldn’t get a fair and impartial jury there.

“This is the best you can do, and you did this in two days. We could’ve stayed back in Oakland for this.”

Cephus “Bobby” Johnson, Grant’s uncle, said Tuesday that he was “extremely surprised” that given L.A. County’s black population that not one African American was selected from the jury pool.

Selection began Monday with defense attorney Michael Rains asking some prospective jurists whether they’ve been subjected to racial profiling.

One young black woman said her husband was detained by police in Louisiana when he was a teen for simply being “on the wrong side of the tracks.”

“I think it comes with the territory of being black,” she said.

Asked by Rains if racial profiling still exists for her in Southern California, she replied: “Not as frequently.”

Juror 103, a middle-age, white property manager, recounted that he was with a group of black friends one time when they were stopped by police for “driving while black.” He said he didn’t know how often racial profiling occurred but it may have some effect on how he would view the case.

“I just trust that it’s not uncommon,” he said.

Deputy District Attorney David Stein polled every potential juror, asking if they could possibly convict a former police officer. He also asked those who have friends or family who work in law enforcement if they could withstand criticism if the jury found Mehserle guilty. Most said they could.

Bay Area defense attorney Michael Cardoza, who attended several pretrial proceedings, said he was surprised that a jury in such a heated case was selected so quickly.

“This could be a wake up call for communities (of color) who don’t heed to a jury summons. I think that’s the message that has to be sent. If you want representation you have to get out and serve,” Cardoza said.

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BOSTON – A Massachusetts state senator caught on video stuffing what prosecutors said was bribe money into her sweater and bra has pleaded guilty to corruption charges.

Dianne Wilkerson, a Boston Democrat, entered the pleas to eight counts of attempted extortion at a hearing in U.S. District Court on Thursday. She will remain free on bail until her sentencing on Sept. 20.

Federal prosecutors are recommending a sentence of no more than four years in prison. Defense attorneys will be allowed to argue for less.

Wilkerson was arrested in October 2008 and accused of taking $23,500 in bribes to help get a liquor license for a nightclub and helping an undercover agent posing as a businessman who wanted to develop state property.

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More than 120 questions will be posed to potential jurors when selection begins June 8. Former Bay Area Rapid Transit police officer Johannes Mehserle has pleaded not guilty to murdering Oscar Grant III on New Year’s Day 2009 at the Fruitvale station in Oakland.

The questions were posted Tuesday on the Los Angeles Superior Court website. Some ask whether jurors could put aside that Mehserle is white and Grant was black.

Mehserle’s trial was moved from Alameda County to Los Angeles because of widespread media coverage and racial tensions enflamed by the case.

Also Tuesday, a judge issued another ruling in favor of Mehserle in his upcoming trial.

Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Ronald Perry said he would allow defense video forensic analyst Michael Schott to testify in detail about a time-synchronized composite he compiled of four videos of the shooting that claimed the life of Grant, a 22-year-old Hayward man, shortly after 2 a.m. on Jan. 1, 2009. Mehserle and other officers had responded to the station on reports that there was a fight on a train.

Mehserle’s lawyer, Michael Rains, has admitted Mehserle shot and killed Grant but claims the shooting was accidental because the former officer meant to use his Taser stun gun on Grant but fired his gun by mistake.

Alameda County Superior Court Judge C. Don Clay allowed Schott to testify at Mehserle’s preliminary hearing last year but limited his testimony, saying the enhanced video wasn’t relevant and included “nothing new.”

But Rains said in a recent brief that Schott’s composite is “a far more accurate description of the true events” than videos that have been presented by prosecutor David Stein.

Perry’s ruling Tuesday followed a ruling on May 7 in which he said Rains can present evidence of an October 2006 incident in which Grant, who had three felony convictions, allegedly resisted being arrested and was shot with a Taser stun gun when officers tried to handcuff him during a traffic stop.

A pool of potential jurors for Mehserle’s trial will report to Los Angeles County Superior Court on Wednesday to fill out the questionnaire.

Questioning of potential jurors will begin next Tuesday and opening statements could be presented late next week if a jury is selected by then.

Alameda County Superior Court Judge Morris Jacobson ruled last October that Mehserle’s trial should be moved out of the county because the large amount of publicity the case had received jeopardized his chances of getting a fair trial locally.

In November, Jacobson selected Los Angeles County as the new venue and California Supreme Court Chief Justice Ronald George chose Judge Ronald Perry to preside over the case.

In his brief, Rains said he believes that Schott’s composite of the videos shows that Grant tried to knee another BART officer, Tony Pirone, in the groin and that Grant was trying to get up from the ground at the time he was shot.

In another ruling Tuesday, Perry denied Rains’ bid to call Oakland civil rights attorney John Burris as a defense witness.

Burris filed a $50 million wrongful death and civil rights lawsuit on March 2, 2009, on behalf of Grant’s family against BART, Mehserle and other transit agency police officers.

On March 18, a federal judge approved a $1.5 million settlement between BART and Grant’s 5-year-old daughter, Tatiana Grant. However, no settlement has been reached with Grant’s mother, Wanda Johnson.

In another recent brief, Rains said he wanted to call Burris as a witness because Burris represents friends of Grant who were with him at the time of the shooting yet have given depositions, which are helpful to the defense, saying that Mehserle appeared to be shocked when his gun went off.

Rains said he was concerned that Burris said at a news conference in February that the friends “have inherited ‘snitch’ jackets and that their lives are in danger if they give testimony helpful to Mr. Mehserle and harmful to Mr. Grant relating to the events of Jan. 1, 2009.”

Rains said he wanted to call Burris “concerning threats or intimidation which has occurred of these witnesses.”

But Perry said he doesn’t anticipate a problem with Grant’s friends’ lying on the witness stand.

Burris, who has attended most of Mehserle’s hearings since charges were filed against him, would have been barred from attending Mehserle’s trial if he had been listed as a witness. But Perry said Burris can attend the trial.

However, Perry barred Burris, who has frequently commented on the case, from speaking to the news media.

Perry previously kept in place a gag order that Jacobson issued last year that banned Rains and Stein from talking about the case. His expanded gag order also prevents any other attorneys involved in the case, including BART attorney Dale Allen, from talking to the media.

Supporters of Grant were holding a candlelight vigil outside the Alameda County District Attorney’s office on Tuesday evening.

Vigil organizer Rachel Jackson of the Oakland Assembly for Justice for Grant said the purpose of the vigil was to remind the public that “Oscar Grant is the victim here and Johannes Mehserle is on trial, not Oscar Grant.”

Jackson said she and other members of the group “are very concerned that the judge has ruled in favor of defense motions that are allowing Oscar Grant to be put on trial.”

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Rapper Corey “C-Murder” Miller has been sentenced to life in prison for his second-degree murder conviction.

District Judge Hans Liljeberg gave Miller the mandatory life sentence on Friday, days after the rapper was found guilty of the 2002 killing by a Louisiana jury.

The 38-year-old Miller was convicted of shooting 16-year-old fan Steve Thomas at a now-closed nightclub in Harvey.

It was the second time that a jury convicted Miller in the case, but a 2003 conviction was overturned.

Miller has been in jail after pleading no contest to two counts of attempted murder in a separate altercation at a nightclub in Baton Rouge in 2001.

C-Murder Found Guilty Of 2nd Degree Murder

Rapper Corey “C-Murder” Miller was convicted Tuesday of second-degree murder for the 2002 shooting of a fan at a nightclub, capping tumultuous jury deliberations at his second trial in the killing.

The Louisiana jury reached the 10-2 verdict around 1:30 p.m. in its second day of deliberations. Jurors had reached the same verdict earlier in the day, but District Judge Hans Liljeberg ordered them back to the jury room for more deliberation because of a questionable vote.

Liljeberg said after the verdict’s intial reading that one juror had apparently changed her vote just to end deliberations. Three jurors had been seen crying in the courtroom Tuesday morning, and the day before they sent a note that they were having trouble reaching a consensus.

The courtroom was completely silent when the verdict was given for the second time. More than a dozen law officers filled the center aisle, and the judged had warned that anyone who so much as gasped would be arrested.

The victim’s family left in tears.

“I’m not rejoicing. I feel bad for (Miller’s) family. But at least they can see him. what have we got but a gravesite and a photograph,” said George Thomas, whose 16-year-old son, Steve Thomas, was shot to death during the brawl in a Harvey, La., nightclub.

Miller’s family and friends also cried outside the courtroom. His sister, Germaine Miller, shouted and accused the prosecutors of corruption.

The defense attorney for the 38-year-old rapper, who faces life in prison, declined comment.

Prosecutor David Wolff said he thought the verdict would stand up on appeal.

“The judge ran a very clean trial. Deliberating on a homicide case is difficult,” he said.

Miller was previously found guilty of killing Thomas, but a judge overturned the conviction, siding with defense attorneys who said prosecutors improperly withheld criminal background information on three key witnesses.

Miller has been in jail after pleading no contest to counts of attempted murder in a separate altercation at a nightclub in baton rouge in 2001. He faces sentencing later this month in that case.

Drowsy spectators in one suburban Chicago courtroom might want to stifle their yawns from now on. Clifton Williams, 33, of Richton Park, is facing six months in jail for making what court documents call a yawn-like sound in Will County Judge Daniel Rozak’s court last month. The yawn happened as Williams’ cousin, Jason Mayfield, was being sentenced for a drug charge on July 23.

Rozak found Williams in contempt of court and sentenced him to six months in jail. However, Rozak could free Williams after a status hearing Thursday, if Williams apologizes and the judge accepts. By then, Williams will have served 21 days.

Witnesses disagree about whether Williams’ yawn was out of line.

Charles Pelkie, spokesman for the Will County state’s attorney’s office, said the prosecutor in the courtroom at the time told him that what came out of Williams’ mouth could hardly be called a “yawn.”

“This was a very loud, boisterous, deliberate attempt on the part of this individual to disrupt the proceedings and show disrespect to the court,” Pelkie said. “It was not a guy who involuntarily yawned. This guy was making a statement — a very loud statement — in court.”

Mayfield disagreed, saying it was “not an outrageous yawn.” Williams has written his family to say that he can’t believe he’s in jail “for nothing.”

A message left for Rozak Tuesday was not immediately returned.

Six months is the maximum sentence judges can give for criminal contempt without a jury trial.

A trio of Nevada Supreme Court justices focused Monday on whether O.J. Simpson and a former golfing buddy received a fair trial in a gunpoint hotel room heist and whether the case was so unique that the two men should be freed from prison while their appeals are considered.

“This is post-conviction. That’s what concerns me,” Justice Michael Cherry declared during rare oral arguments by lawyers about whether the former football star and co-defendant Clarence “C.J.” Stewart should be allowed to post bond while their appeals are pending.

Cherry, the chairman of the three-judge panel considering the bond request, didn’t say how long he and justices Mark Gibbons and Nancy Saitta might take to decide.

It appeared unlikely a ruling would come before an Aug. 12 deadline for Clark County District Attorney David Roger to file a written answer to Simpson’s appeal.

Roger, who prosecuted Simpson and Stewart, argued Monday the men got a fair trial, a Nevada jury had spoken, and the pair should continue to serve their sentences for kidnapping and armed robbery.

It is unusual for the Nevada Supreme Court, the state’s only appeals court, to hear oral arguments about bond, and it would be even more unusual for Simpson or Stewart to be released. The last such high-profile appellant to get such a chance in Nevada skipped town after posting $100,000 in 1978.

The justices are weighing whether Simpson or Stewart might flee, whether they pose a danger to the community, and if they have a good chance of winning their appeals.

The question of their possible success was the key point of the hearing, and inquiries from the justices shed light on the issues they’re considering.

The justices asked each of the defense attorneys what was different about this case to warrant bail on convictions that carried mandatory prison time with no option of probation.

“I’ve been waiting for you to use the word severance!” Cherry declared, interrupting Stewart lawyer Brent Bryson when he said his client “should have never been tried with Mr. Simpson.”

Bryson asked the court to consider the many times before and during trial when he asked Clark County District Court Judge Jackie Glass to separate Stewart’s trial from Simpson’s.

“Her response was, ‘Severance is dead,”‘ Bryson said.

“I was waiting for you to come up to the Supreme Court with that,” said Cherry, who wrote a benchmark high court opinion several years ago on the issue.

Bryson, his voice rising, recalled Glass’ responses as, “‘Denied.’ ‘Sit down.’ ‘We’re going forward,”‘ and “‘You’re not going to get a separate trial.”‘ He told the court he believed he couldn’t divert his efforts to defend Stewart during trial to continue to fight Glass’ rulings.

“In the history of jurisprudence who else could we possibly imagine would be more prejudicial?” Bryson asked rhetorically about his client being tried with Simpson. “Charlie Manson, maybe? Dahmer? Hitler? Satan? Who else sitting next to someone they have on trial? It was extremely prejudicial.”

Simpson, 62, was acquitted on murder charges in the 1994 slaying of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ron Goldman, in Los Angeles. After the sensational criminal trial he was found liable for the deaths in civil court.

Simpson is serving nine to 33 years for kidnapping and assault with a deadly weapon in the September 2007 confrontation with two sports memorabilia dealers in a Las Vegas casino hotel room. Stewart, 55, is serving 71/2 to 27 years.

Neither was in the courtroom in Las Vegas on Monday while their attorneys argued neither had received a fair trial.

Simpson lawyer Yale Galanter insisted that Simpson would abide by any conditions the court set for his release, and that the NFL hall-of-famer, actor and celebrity criminal defendant couldn’t possibly disappear.

Galanter also spoke of Simpson’s uniqueness in “American jurisprudence.”

“He is probably the one individual on the planet who’s got no place to go and no place to hide,” Galanter said.

Galanter, who told the court he had been making arrangements for Simpson to live in Nevada and seek state residency, said afterward that he was optimistic the court would free Simpson pending his appeal.

“The trial, in all due respect to Judge Glass, was erroneous and just a sham,” Galanter said. “If ever there’s someone who deserves release it’s O.J. Simpson and C.J. Stewart.”

The long-delayed second murder trial of Corey Miller, who gained fame as the rapper C-Murder, is set to begin Monday.

Miller, the brother of rapper Master P, is charged with second-degree murder and faces a mandatory life sentence if convicted of killing 16-year-old Steve Thomas during a brawl in a New Orleans area nightclub in 2002.

Miller was convicted in 2003, but the judge granted a new trial after finding prosecutors improperly kept the defense from seeing criminal background information on three witnesses.

Miller, who spent most of his time since the last trial on house arrest, has been in the East Baton Rouge Parish jail since pleading no contest in May to two counts of attempted second-degree murder in a 2001 incident at a nightclub there.

My man Davey D. is a great Hip Hop scholar and journalist. Here’s is his on the spot coverage of the Oscar Rant trial.

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A woman who videotaped a San Francisco Bay area transit officer killing an unarmed man has testified that the officer didn’t act overly aggressive before the shooting and appeared “dumbfounded” afterward.

Karina Vargas was one of several witnesses who recorded the New Year’s Day shooting.

She told the judge Monday at the preliminary hearing for Johannes Mehserle that she believed other officers were unnecessarily aggressive in detaining Oscar Grant, whom she said didn’t appear to be resisting arrest.

Videos show Mehserle firing a shot into Grant’s back as the man lay face down on a platform. He was being detained for allegedly fighting on a train.

Mehserle has pleaded not guilty to murder. His attorney has said the officer meant to reach for his stun gun.

Snoop Dogg told jurors on Monday that he didn’t hit a man suing him for millions of dollars with a brass-knuckle microphone during a melee at one of his 2005 concerts.

The rapper (real name: Calvin Broadus) took the stand for nearly two hours and denied that he hit Richard Monroe Jr. during the show near Seattle. Broadus said he went back to his tour bus immediately after Monroe jumped on stage and was tackled by security.

Broadus described the people who were on stage during a melee in which Monroe claims he was seriously injured. He identified several people near the struggle as being affiliated with The Game, a fellow rapper who toured with Snoop on the “How the West Was Won” tour.

The often-playful entertainer was mostly serious while on the stand, but did include a few moments of levity while detailing who he saw on stage in a frame-by-frame analysis. When a face on a screen shot proved difficult to make out, Broadus told his attorney, “Man! I can’t it out — a lot of bald heads.”

For the most part, he unflinchingly identified the performers and security personnel who can be seen on the video struggling around Monroe.

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Monroe’s attorneys challenged Broadus’ clear recollection of the incident from the screen shots and attempted to question the rapper about drug use the night of the concert. A judge rejected that request.

Broadus, for his part, said the shots shown in court on Monday were clearer than ones he was shown during a deposition.

Monroe sued in 2006, claiming he was seriously injured after Broadus and members of his entourage and security detail struck him and poured alcohol on him during a performance of the hit “Gin and Juice.” He sued for $22 million; a 12-person jury will decide whether he receives any money.

Monroe testified on Friday that he woke up backstage, naked and in a pool of blood after the altercation. He said he was responding to what he thought was a call for audience members to join the performers on stage.

Broadus’ attorneys have argued that Monroe was wrong to come on stage and that the rappers’ security was reacting because they thought Snoop was being attacked.

Broadus told jurors essentially the same thing on Monday.

“The best way for the injuries not to have occurred (was) for him to stay in his seat and enjoy the show like the rest of the fans,” Broadus said.

The trial is expected to last throughout the week.

Brady Green turned up at television studios from coast to coast in search of Tyra Banks and said he and the supermodel “had a thing together.”

Now he may indeed see her — in a courtroom.

Green, of Dublin, Ga., is scheduled to go on trial Friday on charges of stalking and harassing the television talk-show host beginning in January 2008. He was arrested March 18, 2008, after he tried to see her at the Manhattan building where “The Tyra Banks Show” is taped.

“I know her. She knows me. We’re good friends,” he told police then, according to court documents.

He said he had come by bus to see her.

“We had a thing together,” Green told police. “I sent her flowers. I sent her cards. Should I plead no contest? I’ve got satellites watching me and recording us.”

Green has pleaded not guilty to stalking, criminal trespass and harassment. He has rejected several non-jail plea deals offered by prosecutors.

Manhattan Criminal Court Judge James Burke scheduled Green’s trial after ruling Thursday that most of Green’s statements to police could be used as evidence.

A criminal complaint filed when Green was arrested said building custodian Edward Troiano told police the defendant also had appeared at Banks’ Los Angeles studio multiple times and asked to speak to her.

Troiano said Green had sent letters and flowers to Banks there and had tried to reach her there by telephone at least five times, the complaint said.

Banks, a former Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue cover model, told police Green’s actions made her fear she was in danger, the complaint said. She is expected to testify at his trial.

A judge released Green after his arrest and warned him to leave Banks alone or face going to jail.

Green, 38, faces up to 90 days in jail if convicted of fourth-degree stalking.

Banks, 35, also hosts the CW reality show “America’s Next Top Model.”

The Supreme court rejected Mumia Abu Jamal’s bid for a new trial. Jamal’s lawyers argued that the jury which had two blacks and ten white, was unfair

Last year Abu Jamal’s death sentence was overturned by a federal court in Philadelphia last year.

Read More on Mumia’s Trial and Life

Lil Wayne will face charges on April 20th for an incident in 2007 in which his a gun was found in his tour bus.Wayne was greeted by cheering fans at his court appearance. If convicted, he could face 15 years in prison.  A police officer testified that she saw Wayne on the bus trying to flush marijuana down the toilet and hiding a Louis Vutton bag with a gun. It was after a 2007 Concert with other rappers including Ja Rule who was also arrested on marijuana charges.

Insiders have claimed that Lil Wane was a victim of the infamous Hip Hop cops. Lil Wayne was also caught with 29 grams of cocaine, 41 grams of ecstasy and 105 grams of marijuana in Arizona last year.

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Watch a Video of Wayne’s Drug Arrest

Court documents show Barry Bonds tested positive for three types of steroids, and his personal trainer once told his business manager in the Giants’ clubhouse how he injected the slugger with performance-enhancing drugs “all over the place.”

Prosecutors plan to use those positive test results and other evidence, detailed in documents released Wednesday, at Bonds’ trial next month to try to prove he lied when he told a federal grand jury in December 2003 that he never knowingly used steroids.

The release of documents by U.S. District Court Judge Susan Illston set the stage for a hearing Thursday to decide what evidence to allow jurors to hear.

Hundreds of pages of documents show how the prosecution intends to prove its case without the cooperation of Bonds’ personal trainer Greg Anderson, whose previous refusals to testify resulted in a yearlong prison stint for contempt. And his lawyer, Mark Geragos, said Anderson again will refuse to discuss Bonds if prosecutors call him to testify.

Also among the evidence made public were a positive test for amphetamines in 2006 in a urine sample Bonds gave to Major League Baseball; doping calendars Anderson maintained with the initials “BB” and a handwritten note seized from his house labeled “Barry” that appears to be a laundry list of steroids and planned blood tests; and a list of current and former major leaguers, including Jason Giambi, who are expected to testify at the March 2 trial.

While jurors may not hear Anderson testify about Bonds, prosecutors want jurors to hear the personal trainer’s voice on a recording made by Bonds’ former personal assistant Steve Hoskins in March 2003.

The documents said Hoskins, Bonds’ childhood friend, secretly tape-recorded a 2003 conversation with Anderson in the Giants’ clubhouse because Hoskins wanted to prove to Bonds’ father, Bobby Bonds, that his son was using steroids.
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Anderson and Hoskins, who were near Bonds’ locker, were discussing steroid injections, and at one point, they lowered their voices to avoid being overheard as players, including Benito Santiago, and others walked by, according to the documents.

Anderson: “No, what happens is, they put too much in one area, and … actually ball up and puddle. And what happens is, it actually will eat away and make an indentation. And it’s a cyst. It makes a big (expletive) cyst. And you have to drain it. Oh yeah, it’s gnarly. … Hi Benito. … Oh it’s gnarly.”

Hoskins: “… Is that why Barry’s didn’t do it in one spot, and you didn’t just let him do it one time?”

Anderson: “Oh no. I never. I never just go there. I move it all over the place.”

Also during that conversation, Anderson told Hoskins that “everything that I’ve been doing at this point, it’s all undetectable,” according to the documents.

“See, the stuff that I have … we created it,” he was quoted as saying. “And you can’t, you can’t buy it anywhere. You can’t get it anywhere else.”

He added that he was unconcerned about Bonds testing positive because Marion Jones and other athletes using the same drugs had not been caught doping.

“So that’s why I know it works. So that’s why I’m not even trippin’. So that’s cool,” Anderson said, according to the transcript.

The San Francisco Chronicle first reported about a tape recording involving Anderson on Oct. 16, 2004, but did not identify the person he was speaking to.

Bonds attorneys argued that none of Anderson’s statements outside of court should be admissible.

“If Anderson does not testify for the government, the truth of any statement he may (or may not) have made out of court cannot be so tested,” lead Bonds attorney Allen Ruby wrote. “Mr. Bonds will be stripped of the opportunity to confront and cross-examine the most prejudicial but least reliable evidence against him.”

Bonds and Hoskins had a nasty falling out after the slugger went to the FBI with accusations Hoskins stole from him.

Three of Bonds’ test results were seized in a 2003 raid on the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative, the headquarters of a massive sports doping ring shut down by federal agents. Agents said they seized numerous results of blood and urine tests by Bonds, which prosecutors argue show that the slugger was intimately involved with BALCO.

Bonds’ lawyers moved to suppress 24 drug tests from 2000-06; more than two dozen drug calendars; BALCO log sheets; handwritten notes; opinion evidence on steroids, human growth hormone, THG, EPO and Clomid; witness descriptions of Bonds’ “physical, behavioral and emotional characteristics” _ including acne on his back, testicle shrinkage, head size, hat size, hand size, foot size and sexual behavior; recorded conversations that didn’t include Bonds; and voice mails allegedly left by Bonds on the answering machine of former girlfriend Kimberly Bell.

Bonds’ lawyers also want to prevent the jury from hearing evidence of at least four positive steroid tests they argue can’t be conclusively linked to Bonds because of how they were processed.

According to records prosecutors took from BALCO, Bonds tested positive on three separate occasions in 2000 and 2001 for the steroid methenelone in urine samples; he also tested positive two of those three times for the steroid nandrolone.

A government-retained scientist, Dr. Don Catlin, also said he found evidence that Bonds used the designer steroid THG upon retesting a urine sample Bonds supplied as part of baseball’s anonymous survey drug testing in 2003, when the designer drug was not yet detectable. Federal investigators seized them in 2004 from the private laboratory used by Major League Baseball before they could be destroyed, which the players were promised.

Catlin said the sample also tested positive for Clomid, a female fertility drug, and foreign testosterone.

Included in the evidence was a letter from baseball independent drug administrator Bryan Smith that Bonds tested positive for an amphetamine during a drug test on July 7, 2006, when he hit a three-run homer at Dodger Stadium. There also was a letter from baseball commissioner Bud Selig to Bonds that Aug. 1 informing him of the positive test and telling him that he will be subject to six more tests over a one-year period.

The New York Daily News reported on that test on Jan. 11, 2007, saying Bonds attributed the positive test to a substance he had taken from teammate Mark Sweeney’s locker.

The court documents also show that prosecutors plan to call to the witness stand Giambi, along with his brother and former major leaguer Jeremy Giambi. The government also plans to call Bobby Estalella, Marvin Benard and Santiago, all former teammates of Bonds and clients of Anderson.

Plaxico Burress told police that he had no knowledge of a 2005 shooting incident in the Bronx in which two people were seen firing rounds from a sport-utility truck the New York Giants star borrowed from a dealer.

The oft-troubled New York Giants receiver ended up in a lawsuit over the truck, as a Lebanon, Pa., dealer sued Burress for damaging the 2004 Chevrolet Avalanche and failing to return it.

A civil trial began Wednesday afternoon in Pennsylvania. Burress and the car dealer, Frederick Laurenzo, gave conflicting accounts during the first 90 minutes of testimony. Laurenzo said he spoke by telephone to Burress and the agent, Robert Bailey, and had a verbal agreement about the details of the deal, in which Burress was to make promotional appearances for the dealership and was not to let anybody else drive the car.

Burress said he simply asked his agent to get a car for him and that he never spoke to Laurenzo about any conditions.

There was no mention during the initial testimony about how the truck ended up in the midst of a shooting incident in New York City.

According to New York police, officers saw two men firing off rounds from inside the truck on a Bronx street early on Aug. 20, 2005. It did not, however, appear that they were targeting anyone, police said.

Officers recovered two 9-mm pistols at the scene and arrested two people, one of them a cousin of Burress, police said.

Investigators contacted Burress, who came in with a lawyer more than two weeks later for questioning. Burress signed a statement saying he had loaned the car to a cousin, but that he had no knowledge of the incident and was at practice at the time of the shooting.

Burress’ attorney Benjamin Brafman says he was told that at the time of the incident Burress was with the team at a New Jersey hotel because the Giants had a home preseason game later that day.

Giants spokesman Pat Hanlon declined to discuss Burress’ exact whereabouts at the time of the shooting.

Charges against Burress’ cousin were dropped. The other person in the car pleaded guilty in March 2006 to criminal possession of a weapon, police said.

Police said they released the car to the dealer in January 2007.

Laurenzo said the vehicle was worth more than $36,000, but he loaned it to Burress because the NFL star agreed to sign autographs at promotional events.

Laurenzo filed a civil complaint in September 2006 seeking restitution and accusing Burress of breach of contract because he never showed up to sign autographs and let someone else drive the vehicle. Laurenzo also said Burress made no effort to help him get the damaged vehicle back.

After Laurenzo put a lien against Burress’ house in Virginia, the sides agreed to an arbitration. A three-lawyer panel awarded more than $22,000 to Laurenzo last year, but Burress appealed.

Burress’ lawyer in the vehicle dispute, Matthew T. Croslis, acknowledged Tuesday that Burress is responsible for some damages. The jury will have to decide how much, Croslis said.

The star receiver who caught the game-winning pass in last year’s Super Bowl has been embroiled in controversy for months. Burress, 31, was charged with two counts of illegal weapons possession after he accidentally shot himself in the right thigh at a Manhattan nightclub on Nov. 29.

Burress, who received a five-year, $35 million contract extension from the Giants in September, turned himself in on the weapons charges and was released on $100,000 bail. He is due in court March 31.

After the self-inflicted shooting, the Giants suspended Burress for the remainder of the season.

In December, Burress was sued in Broward County, Fla., for an accident last May in which he allegedly drove his $140,000 Mercedes-Benz into the back of a woman’s vehicle. The woman’s attorney later said that Burress had failed to pay the premium on his car insurance, which had lapsed three days before the wreck.

The US Supreme Court Monday refused to hear arguments for a new trial for Mumia Abu-Jamal, a former Black Panther accused of killing a police officer who has become an icon for anti-capital punishment campaigners.

His lawyer Robert Bryan has already said he will seek to bring a second Supreme Court appeal — on the grounds of racism — for the 54-year-old former radio journalist accused of the 1981 murder of Daniel Faulkner.

Abu-Jamal’s death sentence was overturned in March by a federal court in Philadelphia, which found that the jury in the case had been incorrectly instructed. The judges voted two-to-one to uphold his conviction, however.

Having escaped death row, his lawyers are now fighting a life sentence and want to bring him back before a jury for a new trial.

They had asked the Supreme Court to approve a re-trial because of unreliable testimony from witnesses.

Bryan has said he will not rest until his client is freed. “Even though the federal court granted a new trial on the question of the death penalty, we want a complete reversal of the conviction,” he said in July.

As part of his defense, Abu-Jamal has argued he was denied a fair trial in 1982 because the prosecution barred 10 qualified African-Americans from sitting on the jury, which in the end consisted of 10 whites and two blacks.

The Philadelphia appeals court had rejected his arguments on lack of evidence of any racist intent on the part of the prosecution.

The US penal code bans the exclusion of potential jurists because of the colour of their skin.

Abu-Jamal’s campaign has attracted support from Nelson Mandela, Hollywood celebrities Danny Glover and Susan Sarandon and British parliamentarians, according to campaign group Free Mumia Abu-Jamal Coalition.

Abu-Jamal was serving as the president of the Philadelphia Association of Black Journalists at the time of his arrest. He was a founding member of the Philadelphia Chapter of the Black Panther Party as a teenager.

The Black Panther Party was a Leftist African-American organization from the 1960s and 70s established to promote black power and self-defense.

A key character is waiting to testify in the O.J. Simpson armed robbery-kidnapping trial.

From a downtown Las Vegas hotel, Thomas Riccio, the colorful collectibles broker who arranged the crucial meeting between Simpson and two memorabilia dealers, told The Associated Press by telephone that he was ready and waiting to be called to the courthouse.

“They told me, ‘Anytime from late Tuesday to early Thursday,’” Riccio said. He said prosecutors told him to expect to be on the stand for up to a day and a half and also asked him to “refrain from talking before I testify.”

“I hope they don’t just have to go by what I say,” added Riccio, who said he gave authorities more than 10 hours of audio recorded before, during and after the Sept. 13, 2007, alleged armed robbery in a Las Vegas casino hotel room. “All they have to do is listen to my tapes.”

Simpson and co-defendant Clarence “C.J.” Stewart are being tried on 12 charges, including armed robbery, kidnapping, assault with a deadly weapon and coercion. They have pleaded not guilty. A kidnapping conviction could result in a sentence of life in prison with the possibility of parole. An armed robbery conviction could mean mandatory prison time.

Trial was to resume Wednesday with a taped presentation by an FBI forensic audio expert whose appearance was videotaped last month for the jury while he is traveling outside the country.

On Tuesday, surveillance experts from the Palace Station and Palms hotels in Las Vegas provided testimony about videos showing the comings and goings of Simpson; the five men who accompanied Simpson; Riccio; and memorabilia dealers Bruce Fromong and Alfred Beardsley.

The jury already has heard snippets of recordings made by Riccio, 45, of Los Angeles, who set up the meeting and received immunity from prosecution.

Riccio, who sold recordings to a celebrity gossip Web site before police obtained them, testified at a hearing last November that he saw a gun in the room, but that he was not sure Simpson saw a gun.

Simpson has maintained that no guns were used, and that he only wanted to retrieve personal belongings from Fromong and Beardsley.

Riccio’s lawyer, Stanley Lieber, said he expected Riccio’s testimony would draw contentious challenges from the defense.

“He’s got a past. They’ll play that up,” Lieber said.

Riccio published a book last April that he touted as an inside account of events leading to Simpson’s arrest.

Lieber said he did not know if Riccio gained many takers for his promises to mention commercial products, restaurants and services while the spotlight is on him at the Simpson trial.

Watch a Clip From the Trial