The jury returned a verdict in phase one of Amr Mohsen's trial; they found him guilty on all the charges they were considering. (The gaps in the count numbers in the verdict document were charges against Aly Mohsen, who plead guilty.) Opening arguments in phase two of the trial are scheduled for March 6. More court documents here.
Sorry I haven't written much here lately. I've been busy with a bunch of stuff. And I've started playing Hex again. Hex is the most elegant board game I know of. It's a subtle game, even though the rules can be learned in one minute (as opposed to, say, Go, which has a bunch of wrinkles). I'd been playing Hex online a few years ago, long story why I'd stopped.
Thursday 02.23.06
A Tommyjournal entry from last month, that included my shoe size, elicited a comment from a reader--"I don't believe there is a 6E"--to which I say, "oh yeah?"
Meanwhile, documents from this week's proceedings in Amr Mohsen's trial are now mirrored here. The trial minutes from yesterday say (among other things) "Defense rests. Government has no rebuttal."
Saturday 02.18.06
A neighbor and friend had a 70th birthday party this afternoon. I definitely wanted to be there, even though I'm out of my element in medium-to-large-sized social gatherings.
The afternoon included an unexpected treat: live music, graciously provided by local musicians. Victor, on guitar, played just what was needed to support the vocals. He's got a delicate touch that I really like.
A certain individual who likes medium-to-large-sized social gatherings even less than I do (which is saying something) made a cameo appearance--i.e. if you blinked, you missed him. But at least other partygoers got to walk in the glow of his majestic presence, even if just for a few moments.
Tuesday 02.14.06
On Sunday, a neighbor told me "your Vice President shot someone." The neighbor is not a US citizen, hence the "your".
I guess he's my VP, but I didn't vote for him and I didn't contribute to his salary last year (my income in 2005 was too low to owe any tax on).
I get occasional phone calls from accidental depressions of cellphone keys. I may be more likely to get such calls because I'm usually first on a speed dial list that's arranged alphabetically by last name. A phone call (with no one saying anything on the other end) woke me up at 2:05 this morning. Isn't technology wonderful.
Happy Valentine's Day, everyone.
Friday 02.10.06
I'll be building a new marimba this spring. More specifically, I'll be building the frame; I've ordered custom rosewood bars. I want the fabrication and tuning of the bars done by someone with plenty of experience.
It will have 46 notes, G# - F, and (if you know me) you won't be surprised to hear that this is not a range you'll find on any production marimba. The low G# (≈103.8 Hz) is the lowest note I can have without having to put a bend in the resonator. (A homemade marimba with lower notes and bent resonators can be seen here.) I'm not going higher than F (≈1396.9 Hz) to keep the length of the instrument manageable. If it were much longer I'd have to make the rails hinged so they could be folded for transport, and that's a complexity I want to avoid.
Why build it myself? To get a marimba that looks rad and has first-rate tone at half the cost of a factory-made instrument--and also for the satisfaction of designing something and building it.
Thursday 02.09.06
Notes on Amr Mohsen's trial:
Amr is accused of having introduced phony engineering notebooks in a patent lawsuit. In their opening statement, the defense said they don't intend to contest the evidence showing that the notebooks were back-dated. Instead, they said they'll base their defense on the notebooks not having any bearing on the outcome of the lawsuit. The indictment charges Amr with having made "numerous material false statements under oath"; the defense says they'll show that the statements weren't material. I have no idea whether this defense has a chance of working.
Amr is also charged with attempting to flee the country in advance of trial in violation of the terms of his bail agreement. The defense's opening statement didn't give any indication of how they plan to respond to those charges.
The prosecution described how the FBI had Amr under round-the-clock surveillance in March of 2004. For example, an FBI agent hid under a table in a restaurant, near a pay phone where Amr made a phone call about travel arrangements (according to the prosecution's opening statement).
I was struck by how expensive this trial is. In the courtroom alone, it's requiring a judge, a clerk, a recorder, a bailiff, two government attorneys, two FBI agents, and Amr's public defenders. (The bailiff, by the way, didn't have anything like a sheriff's uniform on; he was wearing a business suit and could have passed for a lawyer. US District Court has a more refined atmosphere than the county courts I've been in.) And in addition to all the court staff, there were 18 jurors (12 primary and 6 alternates) who will be spending hundreds of hours of time on this case.
I schmoozed a little with the FBI agents. I thanked them for upholding the law.
For your convenience, I'm mirroring some of the court documents in Amr's case.
As with all defendants, Amr Mohsen must be presumed innocent unless and until convicted.
I didn't make the trip to SF just for the trial. I also got to visit with friends, and yesterday I got to climb at Pinnacles (in 80° weather, even).
Sunday 02.05.06
So far this month, readers found Tommyjournal pages by typing these keywords (and others) into search engines:
- dreams "hidden rooms"
- lion's way
- sunbeam t-9 toaster
- amr mohsen
Saturday 02.04.06
Demonstrators in Syria have set the Danish and Norwegian embassies on fire to protest the publication of cartoons of the prophet Mohammad.
I support freedom of speech. I deplore the violent responses to the cartoons.
Although I've disagreed with Andrew Sullivan in the past on a bunch of points, I think he gets it right in this case:
And just for the record: statements that offend people's religious beliefs are perfectly acceptable in a free society. They may not always be admirable; they may even be objectionable. But freedom does not distinguish between "acceptable" words and "unacceptable" ones, when it comes to commenting on public matters, including - and especially - religion.The current imbroglio over the Mohammad cartoons reminds me of the response to Salman Rushdie's 1989 novel The Satanic Verses. At the time, my friend Brian Covell bought Rushdie's book to see for himself what the fuss was about. I remember Brian telling me how appalled he was by the book's typography (lousy kerning, if I remember correctly). I miss Brian.
Friday 02.03.06
We've been having killer weather here. Highs around 60°F.
But there was a bunch of (artificial) snow on a street in town today because UPS was filming a commercial.
Wednesday 02.01.06
Opening statements in Amr Mohsen's trial are scheduled for next week. (See Tommyjournal for July 27, 2003, July 17, 2004, and July 27, 2004 if you don't know who Amr Mohsen is, or why his trial is of interest to me.)
Note that Amr's brother Aly won't be on trial; he has plead guilty. This is the same Aly Mohsen who a newspaper had quoted back in 2004 as saying "As a proud American citizen and a member of the U.S. military, I have no doubt that justice will prevail and I will be exonerated and cleared from all charges."
The court Amr is being tried in offers PACER access to its documents. (For your convenience, I'm mirroring some of the files.) From the minutes of today's proceedings in his trial:
| 11:32 a.m. | Final trial jury of 12 selected, with 6 additional jurors serving as alternates. |
| Jury trial oath given. | |
| The court gives the jury its instructions for the conduct of the trial. The jury is informed that the trial of the two sets of charges will be bifurcated. Phase One of the trial will hear Counts 1 through 20, and for Phase Two, Counts 21, 22, and 23. | |
| Jurors directed to return at 8:30 a.m. Monday, February 6, to hear the parties' opening statements. Jurors given their weekend recess instructions. |
As with all defendants, Amr Mohsen must be presumed innocent unless and until convicted.
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