| WIKI | FAQ | Tech FAQ | |
 http://csua.com/feed/ | |
| ||||||
| 5/24 |
| 2008/5/10-16 [Reference/Law/Court] UID:49929 Activity:moderate |
5/10 In Linux, is there a safe way to resize a mounted LVM
ext3 partition? I know you can do it with reiserfs.
None of my partitions are in reiserfs. I was thinking of
converting to reiserfs, but then I don't want to wake up
one morning and read how Linus has decreed no convicted
murderers can touch his git repository now.
\_ Yes. Search for ext2online.
\_ Reiser might yet possibly succeed on an appeal. Did we have
\_ HA! - danh
much discussion about his trial here yet?
http://www.phoronix.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7544
\_ through sheer force of will that crank has posted his
rantings on many many sites on the internet, it doesnt
make it believable. http://jaygaskill.com/blog1 is
a better place to start. or wade through the
sfgate reiser blog articles. - danh
After reading that I'm pretty dubious about how they could
convict him in criminal court. Unless that page is leaving things
\_ uh that is by a known crank... when he's not busy posting
insane stuff about the reiser trial, he is pushing
his guide to cross compiling in windows and linux
and cygwin. dont pay attention to him - danh
\_ Just curious, is there something wrong with his cross-compile
guide?
\_ What does a cross compile guide have to do whether
Hans murdered his wife?
\_ I don't know either, but danh mentioned it like it
proves the pro-Reiser guy is a crank. So, I'm curious.
-pp
\_ Pretend there is a forum for people commenting
on the Reiser trial. Pretend there is a dude
who keeps posting about how the Jews have it in
for Reiser, it's obvious Nina's best friend
killed her, some more stuff about Jews, then
he posts his linux/windows cross compiling guide.
All the posts are by the same guy. It is reasonable
to assume the dude is a crank. Most of his posts
have been deleted from the sfgate news articles
and reiser trial blog, he just can't help himself
from ranting about the Holocaust myth. It's the same
guy on the proronix forum, and it's the same guy
who is the only person who posts to the linux kernel
dev. lists from an AOL account. - danh
\_ Can we give him a soda account?
\_ No computer access allowed in jail.
out. No body, no weapon, no direct evidence.
\_ plenty of circumstantial evidence, plenty of motive,
defendent did an amazing public job of destroying
evidence. - danh
\_ Then he should be tried for destroying evidence right?
\_ Destroying evidence, and getting caught destroying
evidence, before being tried for the murder of your
wife is looked upon poorly by jury.
\_ The prosecutor was able to bring up the reasonable
argument of "Why would Hans destroy the interior of
his car, wash it out with a hose, and tell the jury
a completely implausible story about his actions,
if he were not guilty of murder?"
\_ That may be a reasonable argument, but not
beyond reasonable doubt (w.r.t. implausibility)
\_ It's simple: kill your wife, go to jail. Very
reasonable. Writing a filesystem is not a get out
of jail free card.
What exactly was the circumstantial evidence? The car
seat? That doesn't seem to hold up to the reasonable
\_ You should look up the photos of the CRX interior. A funny
thing is it wasnt even his own car. So he ripped out
the passenger seat, the carpeting in the interior,
and the trunk interior, and just sort of lost it and
says he doesn't remember where he dumped it. Plus
he hosed it out with a garden hose. Then he claimed
he did all of this so he could sleep in his car.
In a storage unit. In Manteca. Then on the stand he
said oh nevermind about all that cat stuff, I only
spent 1 night in it.
\_ He ripped out the carpeting? I thought they said
\_ First, remember this isn't his car. He got rid
of the passenger seat. He got rid of the interior
carpeting of the trunk. He cut out the interor
carpet of the backseat of the car (remember a CRX
has more of a 'bench' back there, not a full seat)
On the witness stand he said he was doing to
make some kind of futon back there. The prosecutor
had a lot of fun picking that argument apart.
ok I don't remember what happened to the interior
carpet on the passenger side. He did hose out
that area (he claimed he was cleaning his car.
Who the hell hoses out their car?). The Oakland
PD inventory report said there was a couple of
inches of water in the soggy carpeting, when
the car was confiscated as evidence.
Hans claimed he slept in the car, even when it
was in this soggy state.
\_ See what I really need is an accurate account
of the trial. All I have so far is the thing
from the "crank" and useless articles like
the wired one below.
\_ yes, obviously you "need" that so you can
try to prove what you already want to
believe. The people who saw it all
convicted him.
\_ No, obviously you're a douchebag.
I'm not trying to prove anything.
I'm skeptical and looking for info.
Juries aren't always right.
You're a douchebag.
\_ There's a ton of info about it all over
the net. Pick your source. The rest of
us figured it out already. He's a cold
blooded killer. --someone else
there was wet carpet in the car? Supposedly he
did not have a real place to live and had
financial problems so trying to live in the car
\_ he could have slept at a friend's house.
it makes no sense that he would store his car
in a storage unit, in manteca, then sleep in it.
he took a lot of weird trips in the car to
Fairfield, Reno, Truckee, and Manteca, even
on days he was supposed to be in court
for the custody of his kids. His own mother
was unable to entire the house for a few weeks
because the police were searching the house
for evidence, she stayed with friends, like
a normal person. Maybe Hans has no friends.
It doesn't appear that he does. _/
Are weird trips evidence of guilt,
or just weirdness? Was he somehow
driving around disposing of body parts?
\_ Maybe! He spent a big chunk of his
testimony saying how much he loved
his kids, and lived for his kids.
There was a hearing for the custody
of his children. Nina couldn't make
it since she was busy being a missing
person. Hans spent the day doing
some unknown thing in Truckee.
\_ Hans and Nina were together in Truckee.
Hans + Nina_corpse + shovel spending a
family day in Truckee.
doesn't seem completely implausible. Forgetting
where he put the car seat does seem implausible
though. I'd like to see a timeline of events
that isn't
doesn't seem completely implausible. Forgetting
where he put the car seat does seem implausible
though. I'd like to see a timeline of events
that isn't from a "known crank". Where did you
get your information?
doubt criterion. Reiser is clearly a weird dude. But
for example it's not criminal to evade surveillance or
buy police investigation books.
\_ It is criminal, and extremely stupid, to get on
the witness stand and lie to the jury
It seems to me that
Reiser's extreme social weirdness made the jurors and
judge hate him. I haven't seen a logical story of how
the killing theoretically happened.
It seems to me that Reiser's extreme social weirdness made
the jurors and judge hate him. I haven't seen a logical story
of how the killing theoretically happened.
\_ I posted a reasonable timeline in a different link.
sure, everyone hates hans. he weirdly spent 10 days on
the stand telling everyone what a horrible human his wife
was. if you're on trial for the murder of your
wife, as your internet lawyer I recommend DONT DO THAT
\_ No, I came around to the general consensus after reading
more. But just from an entertainment/murder mystery
perspective I am pretty curious exactly what he did
and how it fits with the timeline. It's odd that he
did most of the most suspicious things after he was
already under police surveillance. His recorded
phone call response to the wife's friend was pretty
flamingly guilty. This dude has serious issues. He
seems to have near-zero social sense/empathy.
\_ I think it's weird there is no body. I do not think
Hans is/was clever enough to make a body disappear.
\_ I think he was probably quite clever in specific
narrow ways. I mean, if he hadn't sabotaged
his own trial he might now be a free man. Or if
he hadn't said certain things that only a
social retard would say.
\_ no, his ridiculous eye-rolling lies made them hate him.
This has nothing to do with your question of course.
\_ Here's Wired's take:
http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/04/reiser-guilty-o.html
He seems to have been mostly convicted on the 'strength'
of his own testimony.
Not sure why it's first-degree though.
\_ Why did his attorney have him testify at all? Sounds like a
mistake.
\_ His attorney didnt. Hans did. Hans threatened to
fire his attorney. I guess his attorney relented.
Hans is dumb.
\_ jury thought he lured his wife to his house, with the
children, on a weekend when he wasn't scheduled to
see the children. also there are some interesting
ways to interpret 'with pre meditated motive'. you
don't have to plan your crime for days and days
beforehand. - danh
\_ Doesn't that seem flimsy? Is that premedidation beyond
reasonable doubt?
\_ I thought first degree was a bit excessive,
but he did annoy the crap out of the jury. He
should have stayed off the stand.
\_ "Hey Nina come on over so I can whack you dead, bury you
out in nowhere and lie my way into jail!" It was very
clearly first degree. After he killed her he gave a
zillion different stupid stories on the stand, never
said, "oh oops sorry, I killed her in a fit of rage
because xyz" or anything else a reasonable person could
believe. Justice was well served.
\_ Reiser did all sorts of things which removed "reasonable"
doubt. I believe the jury returned the correct verdict
given the evidence. |
| 5/24 |
|
| www.phoronix.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7544 htm "I just keep thinking that I'm stuck in George Orwell's 1984," he said while shackled, dressed in a red, prison-issue jumpsuit, and locked in a cement room. "The government has taken away my kids, invaded my house, held me in solitary confinement and caused me all sorts of financial problems." Name: Hans Thomas Reiser Born: December 19, 1963 Gender: Male Race or Ethnicity: White Height and Weight: Occupation: Computer Programmer Nationality: United States Executive summary: Creator of the Reiser3 and Reiser4 filesystems. Father: Ramon Reiser Mother: Beverly Palmer Wife: Nina (m. May-2004) Son: Rory Daughter: Niorline High School: (does not graduate, but goes straight to UC Berkeley at age 15) University: BA Systematizing, UC Berkeley Work: IBM Almaden Research Center, 1992-1993. Name: Nina Sharanova Born: November 3, 1974 Gender: Female Race or Ethnicity: White (Jew) Height and Weight: 5 ft 5 in, 114 pounds Occupation: Gynecologist Nationality: Russia (US citizen May, 2004) Executive summary: Father: Mother: Irina Sharanova Wife: Hans Reiser (m. Most staff are in Russia, to which he takes frequent trips. Over the years, various Linux companies financially support the development, with the German company, SuSE, being the main contributor. After the American company, Novell, purchases SuSE, this support is stopped. His filesystem, Reiser3 (ReiserFS) becomes the default Linux filesystem, the filesystem used by most Linux users. Although, Reiser3 is an outstanding filesystem, Reiser4 is better, again. The adoption of Reiser4, is actively resisted by Red Hat and associates. Petersburg, to find a bride and meets Nina Sharanova, age 22. Nina moves to Oakland and marries Hans while five months pregnant with their first child, Rory. Reiser claims his wife conceived their son, the first night they meet. After their marriage, the Reisers lived for a time in Moscow. Hans Reiser, a software developer, employed Russian programmers to help with his business. Nina's mother, Irina Sharanova, said she often visited her daughter in Moscow. Shortly, after the birth of Niorlene, Nina has an extramarital sexual affair with Hans' best friend, cross-dresser and BDSM enthusiast Sean Sturgeon, with whom she moves in. Hans' father, Ramon Reiser, takes a break from teaching high school science, to help out at Namesys. Ramon Reiser soon becomes suspicious of his new daughter-in-law, who has taken the title of, chief financial officer, at Namesys. Ramon tells Hans that he believes Nina is stealing large amounts of money from Namesys and cooking the books. I don't know whether it was the exact day, but same month -- close enough," Reiser said (ABC 20/20). Hans moves into his mother's house at 6979 Exeter Drive, in the Montclair District, Oakland hills. Nina and children eventually move to 49th Street, in Oakland, a few miles away. The divorce is still unconcluded two years later, at the time of Nina's disappearance. On her return from Russia, Nina testifies that Hans has been psychologically traumatizing Rory (then aged 4) by making him watch violent movies (an example given was, "Saving Private Ryan") and play violent video games (an example given was, "Battle Vietnam"), causing him nightmares and was away so often on business as to be an ineffective parent. Hans claims that Nina's boyfriend, Sean Sturgeon, is a danger to the children. He obtains a court order to keep Sturgeon away from them. and that he is therefore, in no way, personally liable for repayment. He claims that Sturgeon is having an illicit affair with his wife and that Sturgeon is residing with her, and his children, in defiance of a court order (to keep away from Reiser's children). Nina, he says, spent most of the $84,000 loan during the divorce action and during Sturgeon's cohabitation with her. He notes that the lawsuit is not bought against the company, but against him as an individual and that the co-owner of the company, Nina Reiser, is not named as a defendant. Reiser claims, that this "is clear evidence of his malicious intent to destroy the defendant's marriage and leave the defendant to clean up the wreckage and pay the debts." Reiser states that Sturgeon acted as his financial agent from 1999 through 2002 and had access to and control over deposits, withdrawals and funds at the Patelco Credit Union. He also claims that Sturgeon had attempted to extort money from Hans and his mother by threatening to contact the Internal Revenue Service. The suits are eventually settled (one, just after Nina disappears). Divorce legal proceedings, however, continue and Hans, is to have the children with him one weeknight per week and every other weekend. This amount is contested and later reduced to $1,000 a month. Wed 2006-01-04: Nina withdraws her court motion for a permanent restraining order, and in exchange, Hans, without admitting guilt, agrees to be bound by a one-year civil restraining order prohibiting him from contacting, harassing or disturbing the peace of Nina at her home or place of work and ordering him to stay at least 100 yards away from her. Fri 2006-04-28: Hans contributes $2,000 to Alameda County Supervisor Gail Steele's election campaign, as part of his new-found cause, to reform what he sees as a flawed family court system and sends her e-mail saying this cause may end up being his true life's work. Thu 2006-05-08: Nina brings administrative law proceedings of civil contempt against Hans, alleging he has failed to pay 10 months child support, at $5,400 a month, and 50% of medical and child-care expenses, for a total of over $54,000. Nina had acquired Russian citizenship for daughter, Niorline, some two years earlier. Sun 2006-07-30: Nina mets Anthony Zografos through the Craigslist Web site. Wed 2006-08-16: Reiser's attorney, Gregory Silva, files a response to Nina's lawsuit, in which she claims Reiser is complying with the payment schedule that the parties had agreed upon. Fri 2006-08-25: Hans pleads not guilty to civil contempt, his attorney saying the contempt claim "is not only inappropriate and unfair but underhanded and deceitful." Trial is scheduled for Wed 2006-10-11, but Reiser seems to have been found guilty, without the need for this trial (which never eventuates). Jade Jade is offline Phoronix Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Posts: 111 Default Wed 2006-08-30: Reiser places an angry call to the Alameda County Department of Child Support Services, after getting a warning notice ordering him to pay the $12,161 the system now claims he owes in child support. The notice informs Reiser that the county can confiscate belongings to make good on the debt and that, if found in contempt of court, he may go to jail. Fri 2006-09-01: Nina is offered a full-time job with the San Francisco Public Health Department to serve as a liaison with Russian immigrants. It is also claimed that Nina is preparing to take an examination to qualify to practice medicine in California. Hans telephones Supervisor Gail Steele four times about the court-reform issue, but... But Steele said, neither she, nor her staff, recalled talking to Hans (perhaps Hans was kept on hold for these periods). These four calls have been used to insinuate an obsession with reforming the family court process, however, it turns out this was just Hans, attempting and failing, to make contact with Steele. Sun 2006-09-03, 10:30 AM: Nina speaks by telephone to best friend and fellow Russian emigree bride, Ellen Doren. Items included, soup, egg rolls, pot stickers and soybeans. What then, of the family eating again on arrival at Hans' home? Nina spends about one and a half hours at the Berkeley Bowl. It is not known whether she meet anyone there for lunch. A few days later, Berkeley Bowl officials tells KTVU they had reviewed their security camera tapes for the day, but could not identify Nina Reiser and children. However, the prosecution later produces footage of Nina and the children. One wonders if this footage is from September 3, or some earlier visit, as Nina's son has testified to not remembering visiting the store, that day. There should be plenty of store surveillance video, considering how long she was at the store. Sun ... |
| jaygaskill.com/blog1 -> jaygaskill.com/blog1/ com All contents, unless otherwise indicated are Copyright 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008 by Jay B Gaskill Permission to publish, distribute or print all or part of this article (except for personal use) is needed. com All contents, unless otherwise indicated are Copyright 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008 by Jay B Gaskill Permission to publish, distribute or print all or part of this article (except for personal use) is needed. stm "Scientists have deciphered the genetic blueprint of the duck-billed platypus, one of the oddest creatures on Earth. "The animal comes from an early branch of the mammal family, and like mammals it is covered in fur and produces milk. "Dr Chris Ponting, of the MRC Functional Genetics Unit at the University of Oxford, UK, is one of more than 100 researchers from the US, UK and Australia, who took part in the study. He said the platypus was chosen because of its unusual features. "The platypus is so strange that it was considered a hoax when sent from Australia to European researchers in the 19th Century. "'It has a very weird appearance because it's a mishmash of the bill of a duck, the eyes of a mole, the eggs of a lizard and the tail of a beaver,' Dr Ponting told BBC News. "Dr Mark Batzer, from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, who also worked on the study, said ... One big surprise was the patchwork nature of the genome with avian, reptilian and mammalian features,' he added. "They have acute sight, but only open their eyes above water. "Underwater, they rely on touch and a special sense called electro-reception that allows them to detect tiny changes in the electrical field generated by their prey." venomous More seriously: In the absence of a post-conviction plea bargain (a highly unlikely scenario), there will be an appeal, and I believe that appeal will include allegations of ineffective assistance of counsel. Allegations of this sort are common, but rarely succeed. If the expected "IAC" allegations (ineffective assistance of counsel) are based on Bill Dubois' selection of the "platypus mitigation" argument, they will fail. In general, defense counsel is charged with the obligation to research the law and the facts, then to make informed tactical decisions in the case, after having given due deference to the client's wishes. A bad tactical decision by the defense - as revealed by the fact that it has failed - is not, in itself a basis to overturn a conviction, as long as it is informed by competent factual investigation and legal research and the decision is one that a reasonably competent defense attorney might make under similar circumstances. It is premature, of course, to second guess the Reiser appeal - after all, much depends on events and decisions not yet part of the public record. But the defense was placed in a complicated, almost impossible situation by nature of the evidence in the case and the unreasonable demands of the client. This was a situation in which almost any line of defense would present pitfalls, and therefore would be subject to after-the-fact criticism. It is a mistake to simultaneously attempt to mitigate the culpability of the killer and to deny criminal responsibility. making that attempt in a criminal case is not, ipso facto, "IAC". This may well be a case of "ineffective assistance of client." Hence this following free advice to Mr Reiser: Leave the "lawyering" in your case to the lawyers. This advice is based on a strong lesson, one that applies to my fellow attorneys, to wit: Even a lawyer who represents him or herself has a fool for a client. com All contents, unless otherwise indicated are Copyright 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008 by Jay B Gaskill Permission to publish, distribute or print all or part of this article (except for personal use) is needed. Reiser -- Endnote The Appeal Subject to the vagaries of the legal process, Reiser's sentencing date is July 9 I would expect that to change. "- this a very, very unlikely scenario in my opinion), there will be a post conviction appeal. Here are the rules: The defendant needs only to file a single piece of paper with the court, a "Notice of Appeal" and the rest is automatic. If Hans does not retain an appellate attorney, one will be assigned him from a panel. The appeal will be decided by the California Court of Appeal; this is an intermediate appellate review panel, not the California Supreme Court. The California Supreme Court can and often does refuse to review a Court of Appeal decision. But nothing will happen until the entire record of the case is certified and transmitted to the C of A At that point everything that has "officially" happened in the case, both in public and in Judge Goodman's chambers will be part of the public record. Typically, those revelations are so far downstream and the public's attention of so fickle, that the case drops into a black hole until the appeal is actually argued and decided. If you thought that parts of this very long trial were boring, try wading through the transcripts on appeal! Here's the deal: If a fact or event is not reflected in the official record it just didn't happen as far as the appeal is concerned. This means, for example, that if the so far mysterious figure of Sean Sturgeon is to become a viable appeal issue, the official record may need to be augmented. The usual vehicle for this is a defense motion for a new trial, because new information can be appended in the form of declarations, affidavits or testimony. So far I have heard only rumors about this Sean Sturgeon fellow. He was initially considered a possible suspect in the case. When interviewed by the police, he claimed credit for several, otherwise unidentified homicides, emphatically not that of Nina Reiser. He claimed, as an alibi, that during the critical hours on September 3, 2006, he was helping the homeless. No trace of his DNA was recovered from the Exeter house nor from the CRX, nor from Nina's van. It is unclear whether and when police ever tried to check out his alibi before ruling him out as a suspect. Reportedly, he still cares for Nina and is furious at Hans for killing her. From all reports, it seems that Sturgeon was available as a witness to both sides. I suspect that he wasn't called as a witness because he was radioactive, holding potentially damaging testimony to each side of the case. Why did Judge Goodman apparently rule out references to Sean's "confessions"? A voluntary confession to a crime is inadmissible against the person confessing without independent evidence of the crime itself. And as to a third party, the statement is inadmissible as hearsay. The actual evidentiary value of Sean's alleged statements is close to zero, but the potential tendency to mislead a jury is huge. Without knowing more, it is difficult to fault Judge Goodman's ruling. Having acknowledged all of that, I must add my own take: Knowing the dire trouble this defendant was in, given the weight of the circumstantial evidence surrounding him, I would have been strongly tempted to call Sturgeon to the stand as a hostile defense witness anyway. Better yet, Sean would be forced "take the Fifth Amendment" in front of the jury. So we'll be watching the defense pre-sentencing motions in this case with great interest. com All contents, unless otherwise indicated are Copyright 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008 by Jay B Gaskill Permission to publish, distribute or print all or part of this article (except for personal use) is needed. Hans Reiser Postscript Hans Raiser will be sentenced to an indeterminate life prison sentence with a parole date far, away. Bill DuBois' most effective legal move at this point will be a modest one - a motion addressed to Judge Goodman, as the "thirteenth juror", to reduce the conviction from first degree murder to second degree. Although granting such a motion is within the court's discretion, I offer no opinion as to the merits or the likelihood of its success. I would anticipate a defense motion for a new trial, and that it will be denied. We many learn from the defense motions, however, why the jury did not hear more about the mysterious Sean Sturgeon. Paul Hora's most effective argument was this - onl... |
| blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/04/reiser-guilty-o.html Hans Reiser Trial OAKLAND, California -- Jurors found Linux programmer Hans Reiser guilty of first degree murder on Monday, concluding he killed his estranged wife in 2006. The verdict followed a nearly six-month trial and nearly three days of deliberation The 44-year-old developer of the ReiserFS filesystem, sat quietly as a clerk for Alameda County Superior Court Judge Larry Goodman read the verdict. Reiser faces a mandatory sentence of 25 years to life in prison. Wearing the same dark coat he's worn for months, the defendant was immediately removed from the courtroom by one of four bailiffs watching over the courtroom. Reiser_verdict Hans Reiser, as Monday's guilty verdict is read. no reliable eyewitness and virtually no physical evidence, the prosecution began the trial last November with a daunting task ahead. By the time prosecutor Paul Hora rested his case February 14, he had called some 60 witnesses, but presented mostly circumstantial evidence demonstrating animus between Reiser and his wife, and suspicious behavior by the defendant following Nina's disappearance in September, 2006. The turning point in the trial came when Reiser took the stand in his own defense March 3 In his 11 days of testimony, Reiser offered lengthy and verbose explanations for every piece of circumstantial evidence. But Reiser's version of events often drew disbelieving head shakes from jurors -- and occasional smirks from the trial judge. the passenger seat from his two-seater Honda CRX after Nina vanished. His explanation: He'd been sleeping in the vehicle, and wanted the extra room. Asked why he hosed down the inside of the car, leaving an inch of water on the floorboard, he explained that the interior was dirty, and he mistakenly believed the water would drain out. Reisercarseatdemo At the prosecution's request on March 19, Hans Reiser demonstrates to the jury how he disposed of the passenger seat from his Honda CRX. com / Norman Quebedeau "I just assumed that every car engineer would put a hole in the car," he said. "Don't you remember sleeping on a nice, soft, wet carpet?" By the time he was done, Reiser had succeeded only in dispelling the cloud of ambiguity surrounding his actions in the case, replacing it with a storm of very specific explanations that each strained credulity. Jurors had to choose between Reiser's strained version of events and the plain conclusion that he was lying. Nina Reiser, then 31, was last seen September 3, 2006, while dropping off the divorcing couple's two young children to stay with Hans for part of Labor Day weekend. Authorities believe she never left her estranged husband's house in the Oakland hills alive. When Nina's best friend reported the woman missing two days later, the police launched an investigation that quickly focused on the husband. The couple had separated and were in the midst of an acrimonious divorce and custody battle. Six days after she disappeared, police found Nina's minivan in the Oakland hills about two miles from Hans Reiser's house, and the same distance from her own apartment. The car contained Nina's purse and $144 in rotting groceries that she'd purchased before dropping off the children. When police eventually located Hans Reiser's Honda CRX a few miles from his home, they found the interior waterlogged, the passenger seat missing, and two books on police murder investigations inside. sleeping-bag cover stained with a 6-inch wide blotch of Nina's dried blood. Reiser later testified that the couple had sex in the sleeping bag on a camping trip prior to their 2004 separation. Nina Reiser's blood found on a pillar inside Hans' house. Police arrested Reiser on October 10, 2006, and he was held without bail. "The government has taken away my kids, invaded my house, held me in solitary confinement and caused me all sorts of financial problems." Reiser_56 Nina's boyfriend, Anthony Zografos, testifies the missing wife would never abandon her children, while jurors watch a 2006 home video of Nina playing with the kids at a birthday party. com / Norman Quebedeau Seeking to short-circuit Reiser's defense theory, prosecutor Hora called one witness after another to testify that Nina Reiser wouldn't abandon her children, a boy now 8 and girl now 6 Defense attorney William DuBois cross-examined the witnesses about Nina's extramarital affair with Reiser's former best friend, Sean Sturgeon. A battery of police detectives took the stand to testify that Reiser performed countersurveillance maneuvers following Nina's disappearance, and that when he was questioned early in the investigation he had about $9,000 in cash and his passport in his fanny pack. One Oakland police officer, who'd previously observed Reiser with his wife, testified that he found Hans' behavior menacing. Hora speculated that Reiser might have choked his wife, based on little evidence except that Reiser was a black belt in judo, a martial art where choking is a specialty. As the prosecutor rested his case, it seemed far from clear that the circumstantial evidence would be enough for the jury of seven men and five women to find Reiser guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. misunderstood computer nerd, so inattentive to social cues, and so slavishly devoted to logic, that his innocent behavior could be easily misinterpreted as evidence of guilt. From his seat at the defense table, Reiser seemed to offer supporting evidence for that so-called "geek defense" in the form of his own actions, frequently quarreling with his attorney, and interrupting DuBois' cross-examination. "I'm not sure whether you're doing this on purpose to screw up the process or it's just part of your nature," the judge said outside the presence of the jury. DuBois made little effort to hide his frustration with his client. The biggest bone of contention was Reiser's insistence on taking the stand himself -- a move that may have been Reiser's undoing. On many of Reiser's 11 days on the stand, jurors were seen shaking their heads in disbelief, laughing to themselves and wearing skeptical looks. Hanslastday0 Hans Reiser decries as "silly" the allegations accusing him of killing his wife, Nina, as the Linux programmer finishes his testimony April 14. com Reiser couldn't explain why, following his wife's disappearance, he suddenly drove through the Sierra Nevada mountain range to Reno, to sample casino buffets. And he admitted taking evasive maneuvers while walking and driving to determine if he was being followed by the police, something he attributed to his innate distrust of authority, amplified by the books he read when authorities began investigating him. He bought those books about murder investigations, he said, because he wanted to know how police behaved. Reading up on their techniques was only logical, he testified. "I have a compulsive tendency to say things that I know are true that people don't want to be true," Reiser said at one point. As testimony wrapped up April 14, Reiser offered his assessment of the proceedings in front of the jury. After the jury left, judge Goodman summed up his opinion of Reiser. There are not enough words in the English language to describe the way you are." A slam dunk case would have such things like a dead body and a murder weapon. I don't think the prosecution even proved beyond reasonable doubt that Nina is dead. Apr 28, 2008 3:28:13 PM Though I'm not surprised he was convicted, I must have missed something -- when, in the whole trial, did the prosecution prove this murder was premeditated? Sure, he hated Nina -- but hating someone isn't enough to prove the murder was planned. It makes it more likely, but it doesn't prove it beyond a reasonable doubt. Unless taking actions to conceal the murder makes it first degree, this isn't sitting quite right with me. Apr 28, 2008 3:34:11 PM This is another piece of information that states that in US fear, and not reason, is in the mind of most of the people... I would like to hear the explanation from the jury, if there is one. Apr 28, 2008 3:47:31 PM the last sentences sum up the American justice system. The man was convicted for murder, not because he was guilty, but because he was "rude a... |