Here's the federal complaint filed against Arizona shooting suspect Jared Loughner. An Indictment will be returned within 30 days. The U.S. Attorney's Press Release is here.

Loughner is charged with the attempted assassination of a member of Congress, two counts of killing a federal officer or employee, and two counts of attempted murder of a federal officer or employee. The victims in counts 2 though 5 are Judge John Roll and Gifford staffers, Gabriel Zimmerman, Pamela Simon and Ron Barber.

As to Judge Roll being at the event in his official capacity, the Affidavit in support of the Complaint states: [More...]

While Jared Lee Loughner's mental stability is reported to be in question, there are limits to the alleged insanity. Unlike many a "smart" suspect, Loughner has invoked his right to remain silent:

Mr. Loughner, who was in custody of the Federal Bureau of Investigation on Saturday night, refused to cooperate with investigators and had invoked his Fifth Amendment rights, the sheriff’s office said.

Which reminds me, Loughner is merely a suspect, and indeed, to my knowledge, has not been charged. He deserves the presumption of innocence and has a right to such presumption in a court of law.

Speaking for me only

BTD found these on twitter. The feed of caitieparker. Good Morning America is already onto her.

1. @lakarune I haven't seen him since '07. Then, he was left wing. less than 5 seconds ago via Twitter for iPhone in reply to lakarune

2. @noboa more left. I haven't seen him since '07 though. He became very reclusive. 2 minutes ago via Twitter for iPhone in reply to noboa

3. @antderosa he had a lot of friends until he got alcohol poisoning in '06, & dropped out of school. Mainly loner very philosophical. 3 minutes ago via Twitter for iPhone in reply to antderosa [More...]

22 year old Jared Lee Loughner is the suspect in custody in the Tucson, Arizona shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords this morning. Here's his You Tube channel. He calls himself Classitup10.

He favorited this video,which begins with a breathy voice saying "Let the bodies hit the floor."

Images from his youtube videos below:

Janet Napolitano has confirmed that John Roll, Chief Judge of the Arizona U.S. District Court, was shot by the gunman who shot Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords outside a Tucson Safeway this morning. MSNBC and other outlets report he has died.

As of now, five people are confirmed dead. At least one was an aide to Rep. Giffords.

Howard K. Stern caught a break today when the judge threw out the jury's guilty verdicts against him.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Robert J. Perry dismissed two counts of conspiring to provide prescription drugs against Howard K. Stern, 42, Smith's lawyer and boyfriend at the time of her death in 2007, saying there was "insufficient evidence," despite the fact a jury had convicted him in October.

The judge also dismissed all but one guilty verdict against Anna Nicole Smith's former psychiatrist -- and reduced that remaining count to a misdemeanor.

Judge Perry dismissed the charges at Thursday's sentencing for the two defendants, saying there was no evidence of a conspiracy and that he believed Smith suffered from chronic pain and needed the drugs.

"This case should never have been brought," Stern's lawyer Steve Sadow said outside the court. "It was a waste of time and a waste of effort. And it impacted people's lives in a horrible way."

The prosecution says it will appeal.

Former CIA Agent Jeffrey Sterling has been indicted in Virginia for leaking classified information to NY Times reporter James Risen.

Mr. Risen wrote about a C.I.A. attempt to disrupt Iranian nuclear research in his 2006 book, “State of War: The Secret History of the C.I.A. and the Bush Administration.”

Risen was subpoenaed to the grand jury to disclose his source in April. At the time, he said he would not comply with the request and seek to have the subpoena quashed. The subpoena was quashed and Risen says he did not disclose his source.

“I never testified and never provided the government with any information,” he said. “I never met with prosecutors and never reached any agreement with them.”

This is the 5th case in which the Obama Adminsitration has charged a current or former government official with leaking classified information. [More...]

The grand jury investigation into John Edwards continues. Today, the grand jury heard from Lisa Blue Baron, the widow of Edwards' campaign finance chair Fred Baron. Blue was accompanied by her Washington attorney, Abbe Lowell. Where does Ms. Blue fit in the picture?

Reportedly, the grand jury is investigating whether Edwards' campaign funds were improperly diverted to Rielle Hunter. Fred Baron said the money he gave Hunter was personal money, not campaign related, and that Edwards didn't know about it at the time. According to Andrew Young (whose credibility is zero in my book) Lisa Blue was assigned the task of comforting Hunter on the phone during the time period he was tasked with babysitting her and pretending to be the baby's father.

Rielle Hunter, in her GQ interviewed said:[More...]

Radley Balko has a new article at Slate on the grand jury investigation of Siobhan Reynolds of the Pain Relief Network. Tanya Treadway is the relentless federal prosecutor pursuing her, apparently for exercising her First Amendment rights in the trial of pain doctor and his wife charged with drug trafficking. The fight started when the prosecutor sought a gag order against Ms. Reynolds, lost, and then opened a grand jury investigation and subpoenaed everything but the kitchen sink.

When Reynolds appealed the subpoena, the United States Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit upheld it, as well as the seal on everything related to it. While we can't read the ruling, the justification for the seal is ostensibly the secrecy afforded to grand jury investigations. But that secrecy is supposed to protect the people the grand jury is investigating. In this case, the person being investigated wants it made public. Reynolds feels the subpoena is harassment and wants to shed some light on it. Treadway and the courts are hammering Reynolds with the very secrecy that is supposed to protect her. [More...]

An appeals court in Italy has ruled independent experts will review the DNA evidence presented to the jury in the murder case against Amanda Knox.

The key to the prosecution had been a 12-inch kitchen knife. Genetic material - but not blood - on the handle was linked to Knox, and similar material on thhttp://www.talkleft.com/admin/storye blade to Miss Kercher. Defence lawyers argued that the DNA traces were too slight to be reliable.

Meanwhile the bra clasp, on which Sollecito's DNA was found, had been "lost" for six weeks after it was taken as evidence and could have been contaminated, his lawyers said.

The court will also allow new evidence that impeaches one of the prosecution's witnesses. [More...]

This week, the New York Times reported the Justice Department was considering conspiracy charges against Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, rather than espionage charges.

On Meet the Press this morning, Biden said he can't talk about the grand jury investigation. In the next sentence, he said:

If he conspired to get these classified documents with a member of the U.S. Military, that’s fundamentally different than if somebody drops on your lap here.. "Here is-- classified material."

Could he have said any more clearly the grand jury is focused on a charge Assange conspired with Manning?

Update: The appeals court decided in favor of Julian Assange and he will be released on bail.

Update: Julian Assange's statement upon being released from jail.

The Guardian is live-blogging the appeal hearing of Wikileaks' founder Julian Assange. [More...]