DeLay files motion to dismiss indictments News
DeLay files motion to dismiss indictments

[JURIST] Attorneys for Tom DeLay, (R-TX) [official website] have filed a motion to dismiss grand jury indictments against the former House majority leader. DeLay's legal team alleges that Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle [official website] and his staff engaged in prosecutorial misconduct when they tried to coerce members of a grand jury into filing a second indictment against DeLay. The first indictment on one count of criminal conspiracy [text] was issued on September 28, and a second indictment [JURIST report] on charges of money laundering followed on October 3. On October 5, reports indicated that a third, and previously unknown, grand jury had declined to indict DeLay on the same charges [JURIST report]. Earle released a statement late Friday refuting Delay's allegations, and maintaining the integrity of his actions. Reuters has more.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Dreyfus convicted of treason

On December 22, 1894, Jewish French army officer Alfred Dreyfus was convicted of treason in a court-martial trial that prompted worldwide allegations of anti-Semitism. Dreyfus was later cleared. Learn more about the case of Alfred Dreyfus and read an English translation of the famous public letter J'Accuse...! by novelist and Dreyfus partisan Emile Zola.

US passed Embargo Act, banning foreign trade

On December 22, 1807, the Embargo Act was passed at the urging of US President Thomas Jefferson. The act barred trade with any foreign nations in an effort to avoid American entry into the Napoleonic Wars of Europe. However, the act proved unenforceable and was replaced with the Non-Intercourse Act, which barred trade with France and Great Britain. Learn more about the Embargo Act of 1807 from Monticello.org