Graphic words, photos mark Virginia murder trial - USA TODAY

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Mike Burns testified Thursday that he saw George Huguely choking Yeardley Love little more than two months before her death in 2010.

Steve Helber, AP

Lexie Love, left, sister of Yeardley Love, and Sharon Love, the victim's mother, had front-row seats Thursday for graphic testimony and photographic evidence from first responders.

Steve Helber, AP

Lexie Love, left, sister of Yeardley Love, and Sharon Love, the victim's mother, had front-row seats Thursday for graphic testimony and photographic evidence from first responders.

Burns then played lacrosse for a rival team, North Carolina, and prosecutors say he was the romantic rival whose relationship with Yeardley Love fueled a jealous rage in Huguely, her former boyfriend.

Burns testified he was at a party when he heard a woman crying "help me, help me." Burns said he opened a door to find Huguely on his back in bed, with Love on her back on top of him. Burns said Huguely's arm was wound tightly around Love's neck.

Burns demonstrated the hold for the jury in Charlottesville Circuit Court, where Huguely is on trial for first-degree murder. Love died May 3, 2010, only weeks after the late-February party.

Burns said Huguely released his hold and rolled over when Burns came in the room and that Love ran out of the room. "She just said 'Thank you so much,' " Burns said. "She also said she couldn't breathe. She was hysterically crying."

Huguely and Love both played on lacrosse teams at the University of Virginia and Burns said he was in Charlottesville with some teammates to socialize with some UVa players.

Burns said he met Love, a native of Cockeysville, Md., at the Preakness in Baltimore in 2008 and that they also spent time together in 2009 when he worked a summer job in New York but that they were otherwise not frequently in contact. He said he slept at her apartment after the February party.

Defense attorney Francis McQ. Lawrence asked Burns if he "hooked up" with Love, a phrase Lawrence said could mean something short of sex. Burns said he and Love hooked up when they met at the Preakness, after he walked in on the choke hold and when Love and some friends visited UNC in late April.

Prosecutor Warner D. Chapman said in his opening statement Wednesday that Huguely sent Love an email that said "I should have killed you" when he learned she had slept with Burns. Lawrence said that was not a threat, just an expression.

Earlier Thursday, Love's mother, Sharon, and sister, Lexie, sobbed as the jury viewed graphic photos of Love's body. They and other trial spectators couldn't see the pictures from where they sat, but they could hear the testimony of first responders who described Love's swollen right eye and dried blood around her nose and mouth.

Huguely, who could have seen the pictures from his seat at the defense table, dipped his head and appeared to avert his eyes. He has pleaded not guilty to six charges.

K.W. Blackwell, a Charlottesville police officer, said he responded to a call for "alcohol overdose" but said when he saw Love's body he believed she had been attacked.

Michael Hanshew, an EMT that night, said medics tried to revive her for 25 minutes but there was no sign of life.

Charlottesville Police Detective Shawn Bayles testified that he treated the room as a crime scene when he saw a large hole in the door to Love's bedroom. He also said one EMT brought it to his attention that the toilet seat in Love's bathroom was left up.

Danny Mistry, a physician for many UVa teams, testified Love was in peak physical condition. He said he ran EKGs on her three times that he said showed her use of the prescription drug Adderall did not have an adverse effect on her heart.

For more information about reprints & permissions, visit our FAQ's. To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor Brent Jones. For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to letters@usatoday.com. Include name, phone number, city and state for verification. To view our corrections, go to corrections.usatoday.com.

View the original article here

Xbox modding trial on hold after judge berates prosecution - msnbc.com

By Winda Benedetti

The criminal trial against a man accused of modifying, or "modding" Xbox game machines was put on hold Wednesday after the federal judge overseeing the case berated the prosecution and questioned their use of witnesses who may have, themselves, broken the law.

U.S. District Judge Philip Gutierrez told the prosecuting attorneys that he had “serious concerns about the government’s case,” according to a report from Wired.

As we reported earlier, opening statements were scheduled to begin Wednesday morning in the criminal trial of 28-year-old Matthew Crippen of Los Angeles. Crippen — who is accused of modifying Microsoft-made Xbox 360 game consoles for money so the machines could play pirated games and other content — faces time in prison if convicted. (msnbc.com is a joint venture of Microsoft and NBC Universal.)

Authorities arrested Crippen last year on accusations that he violated the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. He was ultimately charged with two counts of trying to circumvent anti-piracy measures. This trial marks the first time a federal prosecution for console-modding has reached a jury trial.

Wired writer David Kravets has been in the courtroom and reports:

Among the judge’s host of complaints against the government was his alarm that prosecutors would put on two witnesses who may have broken the law.

One is Entertainment Software Association investigator Tony Rosario, who secretly video-recorded defendant Matthew Crippen allegedly performing the Xbox mod in Crippen’s Los Angeles suburban house. The defense argues that making the recording violates California privacy law. The other witness is Microsoft security employee Ken McGrail, who analyzed the two consoles Crippen allegedly altered. McGrail admitted that he himself had modded Xboxes in college.

“Maybe two of the four government witnesses committed crimes,” the judge said from the bench. “I think it is relevant and the jury is going to hear about it — both crimes.”

Wired reports that opening arguments were put on hold and, after the berating was over, federal prosecutors asked for a recess to determine whether they would offer the defendant a deal, seek dismissal of the case or move forward with it.

Fore related stories, check out:
Kinect sex – what's the holdup?
With Kinect controller, hackers take liberties
Kinect vs. Move vs. Wii: Fight!

Winda Benedetti writes the Citizen Gamer column for msnbc.com. You can follow her tweets about games and other things right here on Twitter.

View the original article here

Elizabeth Smart storms out of kidnapper's trial - Reuters

By James Nelson

SALT LAKE CITY | Wed Dec 1, 2010 4:25pm EST

SALT LAKE CITY (Reuters) - A visibly upset Elizabeth Smart stormed out of her accused kidnapper's trial on Wednesday as a defense witness told jurors about the homeless street preacher's plans to impregnate her.

Smart, who has shown little emotion through weeks of sometimes graphic testimony, stood up and walked out after Utah state psychiatrist Paul Whitehead said a key motivation of Brian David Mitchell in raping her was so that she would bear his children.

Immediately before she abruptly left, Whitehead testified that Mitchell had told Smart, then 14, about his plans to impregnate her, and that the two had discussed baby names.

Smart, now 23, appeared to glare at the witness as she left court, followed about a minute later by her mother, Lois.

Mitchell, 57, was not in court after being ejected by U.S. District Judge Dale Kimball for disrupting the proceedings by loudly singing the Christmas carols "O Little Town of Bethlehem" and "Hark the Herald Angels Sing."

The defendant was back in court one day after the trial was halted when he collapsed from what defense attorneys said was a seizure, and was taken to a local hospital. The judge made no mention of Mitchell's medical issues as court reconvened.

Mitchell is charged with abducting Smart from her Salt Lake City home on June 5, 2002, and holding her captive for nine months with the intent of forcing her to live as his wife.

His estranged wife, Wanda Barzee, is serving a 15-year prison term for her role in the kidnapping and is cooperating with prosecutors.

Mitchell's attorneys called Whitehead as a witness as part of an effort to prove the self-styled prophet should not be held criminally responsible for his actions because he is mentally ill.

Whitehead said he evaluated Mitchell over the course of about three years and came to the conclusion that he had a "major psychiatric illness" and "delusional disorder."

The psychiatrist also disagreed with a characterization of Mitchell as deeply manipulative.

"I know he was seen as this master manipulator, I was not seeing that in reading the police reports," he said.

Smart has returned for the trial from the Mormon mission she is serving in Paris, and has listened to testimony from her seat in the courtroom gallery, surrounded by family members.

In dramatic testimony during the prosecution case, she recalled that Mitchell abducted her at knifepoint from the bed she shared with her sister, marched her several miles into the foothills above Salt Lake City and raped her.

She has described her time as Mitchell's captive as "nine months of hell."

Smart was rescued in 2003 after she was spotted by passersby walking with Mitchell and his wife on a street in the Salt Lake City suburb of Sandy.

(Writing by Dan Whitcomb; Editing by Jerry Norton)

View the original article here