U of Alabama @ Hunstville shooting 2/12/10-Amy Bishop Anderson Sentenced LWOP

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William Keating Press Cofnerence for Bishop murder case  02/25/10
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/NLYmr6c5JEM&amp;hl=en_US&amp;fs=1&amp;color1=0x5d1719&amp;color2=0xcd311b&amp;border=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/NLYmr6c5JEM&amp;hl=en_US&amp;fs=1&amp;color1=0x5d1719&amp;color2=0xcd311b&amp;border=1</a>

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http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,587531,00.html
Friday, February 26, 2010
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. —  The University of Alabama in Huntsville is firing the biology professor charged with murdering three colleagues earlier this month.

University spokesman Ray Garner confirmed Friday that the school is in the process of terminating the employment of Amy Bishop.

While her job status was initially unclear after the shootings on Feb. 12, Garner says Bishop was retroactively suspended without pay since that day.

Bishop is jailed without bond on one count of capital murder and three attempted murder charges. Besides the three colleagues who were killed, she is accused of shooting three more co-workers during a faulty meeting.

An attorney is laying the groundwork for an insanity defense.

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http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/2010/02/bishops_parents.html
 
Attorney: Bishop's parents to cooperate, have 'nothing to hide'
EmailE-mail|Link|Comments (40) February 26, 2010 02:23 PM

By Donovan Slack, Globe Staff

Judith and Samuel Bishop will cooperate in the judicial inquest into the fatal shooting of their son by their daughter in 1986, but they are sticking by their original assertion that it was an accidental shooting, their lawyer said today.

The Bishops, who have refused to speak publicly since their daughter allegedly killed three people earlier this month in a shooting rampage in Alabama, declined to speak with State Police investigators reviewing the death last week but will testify in the inquest, the lawyer, Bryan Stevens, said.

"They have nothing to hide," he said.
Norfolk District Attorney William R. Keating initiated the inquest yesterday after he said the Bishops -- the only witnesses to the 1986 shooting -- refused to cooperate and his investigators discovered evidence that suggests their daughter, Amy, may have shot and killed her 18-year-old brother on purpose. Keating said crime scene photos show there was a newspaper article in Amy Bishop's bedroom that chronicled a crime spree that closely mirrored her activities that day. In addition, Keating noted discrepancies in the Bishops' statements to police.

The lawyer who is defending Amy Bishop in the Alabama shootings also said today that he believes the judicial inquest could turn up information that will help him to mount an insanity defense. He said the same of a federal review initiated this week of an attempted mail bombing of one of Bishop's graduate professors. Bishop had been questioned in the 1993 incident but was never charged.

"My position on this is, if you ever got right down to the truth of the matter of what occurred in those areas up there, I think I would be in a better position to prove she's got a horrible mental defect and has had it a long, long time," said the lawyer, Roy W. Miller

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http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20347289,00.html
Did Alleged Killer Amy Bishop Murder Her Brother?

By Stephen M. Silverman

Friday February 26, 2010 04:00 PM EST


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As authorities continue to gather clues into what might have prompted University of Alabama neurobiology professor Dr. Amy Bishop to allegedly open fire on six colleagues at a Feb. 12 faculty meeting – at which three people died, including the department chairman, and the other three were wounded – investigators in her home state of Massachusetts have uncovered evidence they say suggests Dr. Bishop may have intentionally gunned down her 18-year-old brother with a 12-gauge shotgun in 1986.

The state's Norfolk District Attorney, William R. Keating, on Thursday requested a judicial inquest into the death of brother Seth Bishop, which previously was ruled accidental, reports the Boston Globe.
And, in a case that continues to fascinate, according to a New York Times report this week, shortly after Bishop's arrest in the Huntsville, Ala., incident became known, campus police received a series of unsettling reports about Dr. Bishop, 45, a neuroscientist with a Harvard Ph.D. Among them was one from several biology-department insiders who warned that she may have booby-trapped the university's science building with a type of "herpes bomb" to spread the hazardous virus, according to police.

Continued here.
http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20347289,00.html

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http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view/20100228bishop_lawyer_mom_cant_recall_probe/srvc=home&position=also
Bishop lawyer: Mom can’t recall probe
By Jessica Fargen
Sunday, February 28, 2010 - Added 11h ago
The lawyer for Amy Bishop’s mother says his client has a patchy memory of the events leading to Bishop’s mysterious release from police custody in 1986 after she shot her brother to death, highlighting the daunting hurdles of an inquest ordered by Norfolk District Attorney William Keating.

Judy Bishop recalls being “distraught” as she waited for her daughter at the Braintree police station following Seth’s shooting, said attorney Bryan Stevens. She did not barge into then-Chief John Polio’s office or stop an interview, he said. She recalled that police were kind, Stevens said.

“A number of them came out and reassured her everything was all right. They were very kind, very considerate,” he said.

She doesn’t know why her daughter was released, he said.

Braintree Police Chief Paul Frazier has said Polio, or someone acting on his behalf, ordered the booking process to be stopped. Polio has denied that accusation.

Seth Bishop’s death was later ruled accidental.

Bishop, a neurobiologist, is accused of shooting to death three colleagues at the University of Alabama at Huntsville on Feb. 12.

Keating launched an inquest into the 1986 shooting Thursday, citing as one reason the lack of cooperation from the Bishop parents.

“(Keating) is using the power of his position to beat up on people who are not charged with a crime who simply choose not to talk to his investigators,” Stevens said.

Keating spokesman David Traub said the inquest is a “non-accusatory way for a judge to look at the circumstances of a death.”

“There are significant questions that need to be answered,” he said.

One lingering question, authorities say, is why a state police report did not mention a newspaper in Amy Bishop’s bedroom that described a similar crime.

The Herald has reported that the paper was a National Enquirer with a story about the 1986 murder of actor Patrick Duffy’s parents.

Bishop’s attorney, Roy Miller, told the Herald yesterday that Bishop was a regular Enquirer reader, mostly for stories about aliens. He said she’s given him no indication she was inspired by accounts of the Duffy killings.

“She did tell me that she did read the National Enquirer at the time, but she doubts that that story was in there,” he said of the Duffy killings. “She doesn’t remember that particular story.”

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http://www.al.com/news/huntsvilletimes/local.ssf?/base/news/1267697844256290.xml&coll=1
Shooting victim at rehab center
Thursday, March 04, 2010
By Pat Ammons Newcomb
Times Staff Writer pat.newcomb@htimes.com

UAH prof Joseph Leahy released in good condition

Dr. Joseph Leahy, wounded in a shooting Feb. 12 at the University of Alabama in Huntsville, was released in good condition from Huntsville Hospital Wednesday morning for transport to Atlanta and the Shepherd Center, which specializes in brain injuries.

Leahy has made remarkable progress since being shot during a biology faculty meeting, according a blog family members started to update friends.

Dr. Amy Bishop, an assistant professor of biology, has been charged with capital murder in the deaths of Dr. Gopi Podila, the department chair, Dr. Maria Ragland Davis and Dr. Adriel Johnson.

Bishop also has been charged with shooting Leahy, staff assistant Stephanie Monticciolo and Dr. Luis Cruz-Vera, who was not seriously wounded.

Before leaving Huntsville Hospital, Leahy had been able to stand for very brief periods and has been able to speak to family.

"Those of us who know Joe well have no doubt that this lifelong over-achiever will conquer the challenges that lay ahead," his sister-in-law, Lisa Leahy, wrote on the blog.

Monticciolo remains in Huntsville Hospital, and her family has kept a CaringBridge Web page updated with her progress. She is walking some with assistance and has begun to eat regularly.

Doctors have removed her tracheotomy tube, which has allowed her to begin speaking.

She has had some problems with blood clots, two that became dangerous pulmonary embolisms over the weekend.
"But, as she has told us several times, she's got a mission and decided to stick around to do it," her daughter, Michele wrote on the Web page. "No one can quite believe it, except, of course, those who know the will of Stephanie Monticciolo."

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http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/editorials/articles/2010/03/03/layers_of_deceit_incompetence_surround_seth_bishops_death/
Globe Editorial
The Boston Globe
Layers of deceit, incompetence surround Seth Bishop’s death
March 3, 2010
NO ONE in authority spoke for 18-year-old Seth Bishop of Braintree in 1986 after he was shot to death by his sister Amy Bishop, the woman accused of killing three colleagues last month at the University of Alabama-Huntsville. Someone may at last when a judicial inquest into the death gets underway in the coming weeks.
The inquest initiated by Norfolk District Attorney William Keating is the best chance to peel away the layers of deceit, incompetence, or both that surround this case. Quincy District Judge Mark Coven will be required to consider all material circumstances attending the death of Seth Bishop and, if possible, determine if he was the victim of murder, manslaughter, or any other offense.

Coven and Keating will have their hands full. The finger-pointing among Braintree Police, State Police, and members of the district attorney’s office at the time knows no bounds. The latest to weigh in is retired State Trooper Brian Howe, who led the 1986 investigation into the shooting death. But leadership was nowhere to be found near Braintree that day. Neither Howe nor any other state trooper attached to the Norfolk district attorney even bothered to respond to the death scene. And Howe would eventually close the case and rule it accidental largely on the word of Braintree police, despite his failure to review police reports and crime scene photos. And the shooting barely registered with US Representative William Delahunt, the Norfolk DA at the time.

There’s so much more. Former Braintree chief John Polio has professed he didn’t know that Bishop pointed a shotgun at his own officers after she fled her home. A normal chief would be commending his officers for disarming and arresting such a suspect. But in Braintree, Amy Bishop was released without charges and not even interviewed until 11 days after the shooting.
Did Bishop’s mother, Judith, an elected member of the Braintree town meeting, have unusual access or influence in the department? It’s a key question for the inquest.

Some might chalk the whole thing up to the incompetence of a small-town police force. But proper protocol appears to have been followed just days later by Braintree and state police when a woman was murdered in a Braintree convenience store. The inquest needs to determine what was so different about the Bishop case.

Inquests are not trials per se, but a way to determine if a crime has been committed. They are not open to the public. But the public needs answers, and especially the families of the people slain in Alabama whose loved ones might be alive today had Bishop been held accountable in 1986.

The transcripts of this inquest will be eagerly awaited by everyone concerned about what looks more each day like a monumental miscarriage of justice in Braintree.

[MuffyBee]

http://www.thebostonchannel.com/mostpopular/22755527/detail.html
Delahunt Calls It Quits
Long Time Rep. Says Decision Personal, Not Political
Friday, March 5, 2010
BOSTON -- Calling his time in the U.S. House Of Representatives "a rewarding and remarkable journey," Rep. Bill Delahunt said Friday that he is calling it quits, and his political career will come to a close at the end of this year.
"It is simply time for me to chart a new course, to explore opportunities both private and public that will still allow me to focus on the issues that have been my priority during my public life," Delahunt said.

Delahunt, 68, a Democrat, said his decision was personal not political.

"My decision at its core is personal, not political. It has nothing to do with the current political climate. Undoubtedly, the political landscape will continue to change over the course of the next eight months, and all of my colleagues in government at every level understand that the only constant in politics is change," Delahunt said.

Delahunt's decision to retire was the talk of Quincy, his hometown. Constituents were remembering his accomplishments over seven terms in Congress and a career in public office that has spanned four decades.

"He's done a very, very good job. I understand his decision. You get to the point where you don't want to work anymore. Especially in government," a female voter said near Quincy's town center.

If he had run for re-election, Delahunt likely would have faced a tough fight, given the recent backlash against Democrats, and the scrutiny he's been under for the Amy Bishop case in 1986 when he was the district attorney.

Bishop is the University of Alabama professor accused of killing three colleagues last month. Questions have been raised about why Delahunt's office failed to prosecute Bishop for the shooting of her brother Seth 24 years ago, accepting the explanation that it was accidental.

 
Republican Scott Brown also won almost 60 percent of the vote in Delahunt's district, which stretches from the South Shore down to Cape Cod. The victory has emboldened Bay State Republicans, who are outnumbered in the local Legislature and who, until Brown's election, did not hold even one of the commonwealth's congressional seats.

Even before Delahunt's decision, Republican State Rep. Jeffrey Davis Perry had announced his intention to run against the veteran. Former State Treasurer Joe Malone, another Republican, may also run for the seat.

"He's probably made a decision that it's not his time anymore. It's probably better off that he, you know, made that decision than do something half-heartedly," said a voter.

"I know he's worked hard for Massachusetts. So, we're going to miss him," one woman said.

[MuffyBee]

http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/2010/03/inquest_slated.html
Inquest slated for April in death of Seth Bishop
Thursday, March 11, 2020

By Donovan Slack, Globe Staff

The judicial inquest into the 1986 death of Seth Bishop is scheduled to take place over four days in April, a spokesman for Norfolk District Attorney William R. Keating said this morning.

Quincy District Court Judge Mark S. Coven will conduct the proceedings from April 13 through April 16 in an effort to determine whether Amy Bishop shot her brother intentionally.

Keating initiated the inquest after Amy Bishop, now a 45-year-old biology professor at the University of Alabama, allegedly opened fire at a faculty meeting last month, killing three colleagues and injuring three others.

After the shooting rampage, details emerged about the 1986 shooting casting doubt on whether it was accidental, as authorities had initially ruled.
More...

[MuffyBee]

http://www.wickedlocal.com/braintree/news/x1526459941/Inquest-in-Bishop-case-set-for-April-13-16


Inquest in Bishop case set for April 13-16

Thursday, March 11, 2010

<snip>

Keating is now questioning whether the fatal shooting was accidental, as police and then-District Attorney (now U. S. Rep.) William Delahunt ruled at the time.

“Judge Coven will personally conduct the inquest as stipulated in Chapter 38 of the Massachusetts General Laws,” said Traub, who noted that the inquest “may or may not occupy the full measure of time that Judge Coven has made available.”

To read state laws governing inquests, go to http://www.mass.gov/legis/laws/mgl/gl-38-toc.htm.

[MuffyBee]

http://www.waff.com/Global/story.asp?S=12151799
Preliminary hearing set for accused UAH shooter Amy Bishop Anderson
March 16, 2010

HUTNSVILLE, AL (WAFF) - The UA Huntsville shooting suspect, Amy Bishop Anderson, is scheduled to be in court Tuesday.

Bishop is accused of shooting 6 colleagues and killing three February 12th on campus at the Shelby Center.

Bishop is charged with one count of capital murder and three counts of attempted murder. Her preliminary hearing is scheduled for March 23rd at 9:00 a.m.

Bishop's attorney, Roy Miller, said he will argue that Bishop is insane.

[MuffyBee]

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2010/03/13/suspicious_device_is_detonated_by_robot_in_bishops_ala_home/
‘Suspicious device’ is detonated by robot in Bishop’s Ala. home
Police had feared it was a bomb, newspaper says
March 13, 2010

Alabama police called in a bomb squad after they discovered what they described as a “suspicious device’’ yesterday at the Huntsville home of Amy Bishop, the former Massachusetts resident accused of fatally shooting three colleagues last month at the University of Alabama.

Huntsville police Sergeant Mark Roberts said the squad determined it was not an explosive, but the law enforcement activity created a stir in the neighborhood where Bishop’s husband is living with their four children. Bishop is in jail awaiting trial on capital murder charges.

Roberts said police closed down the road and evacuated nearby houses before sending a robot inside the Bishop residence to blow up the device. Roberts would not say what the device was.

The Huntsville Times reported that it was a section of PVC pipe that police feared contained explosives.

The Globe reported last month that Bishop and her husband were questioned in an attempted mail bombing of a Harvard professor in 1993.

In that case, someone mailed two pipe bombs to the Newton home of Dr. Paul Rosenberg. Rosenberg, who had ended Bishop’s employment in his laboratory weeks earlier, was not injured because the bombs did not detonate.

No one was ever charged in the case. Since the shootings in Alabama, however, the case is getting a fresh look from federal authorities, who want to make sure the investigation was conducted properly.

Yesterday’s search of Bishop’s Huntsville home was the second since since the 45-year-old biology professor was arrested in the fatal shootings at a faculty meeting Feb. Three people were killed, and three others were wounded. The first search was the day of the shootings.

Yesterday, police seized several computers and a video camera, according to The Huntsville Times. The computers had been used by Bishop’s children for school work, her lawyer told the Times.

The police activity in Alabama came one day after authorities in Massachusetts announced that a judicial inquest is scheduled to begin next month in Quincy District Court to examine the 1986 shooting death of Bishop’s brother.

Bishop killed her 18-year-old brother, Seth, with her father’s shotgun, but the shooting was ruled an accident at the time. The inquest will seek to determine whether that ruling was the proper one.

[MuffyBee]

http://www.waff.com/Global/story.asp?S=12172152
Gag order issued in Amy Bishop case
March 19, 2010

HUTNSVILLE, AL (WAFF) - WAFF 48 News first to bring you details of a gag order in the Amy Bishop case, and now we're learning more about the specifics of that order.

Dr. Amy Bishop is accused of shooting 6 colleagues and killing three on the UA Huntsville Campus February 12th.

Judge Ruth Ann Hall handed down her ruling that no one affiliated with this case--including police, prosecutors,defense attorneys, and witnesses-can make oral or written statements to any member of the news media.

That includes the character, credibility and reputation of the suspect.

Attorney Mark McDaniel says its to ensure that both sides receive a fair trial.

"It's a wise move by the judge. It won't keep media coverage from taking place because this case has national attention," said Huntsville attorney Mark McDaniel.

The gag order will not prevent information from being released as part of public record or scheduling of procedures.

Bishop is expected in court for a preliminary hearing next Tuesday.

[MuffyBee]

http://www.wickedlocal.com/braintree/news/x1526462451/Former-judge-offers-perspective-on-upcoming-Bishop-inquest

Former judge offers perspective on upcoming Bishop inquest
March 12, 2010

Former Massachusetts Superior Court Judge Isaac Borenstein believes that the correct decision was made to arrange a judicial inquest into the shooting death of Seth Bishop by his sister Amy in Braintree nearly 24 years ago and the right person has been chosen to conduct it next month.

During a Feb. 25 press conference, Norfolk County District Attorney William Keating asked Judge Mark Coven, the first justice of Quincy District Court, to take a new look at the circumstances surrounding the killing of Seth Bishop, 18, by his then-20-year-old sister at their Hollis Avenue home.

“There’s no question that he (Keating) did the right thing,” Borenstein said. “This is a very strange saga.”

In the aftermath of Amy Bishop’s arrest for killing three colleagues and wounding three others at a Feb. 12 University of Alabama factory meeting, new information led Keating to question whether the fatal shooting of Seth Bishop was accidental, as police and then-District Attorney (now U. S. Rep.) William Delahunt ruled at the time.

Coven has informed Keating’s office that he has scheduled court time for April 13, 14, 15, and 16 for the inquest, Keating spokesman David Traub announced on March 11, the same day that the University of Alabama fired Bishop.

“Judge Coven will personally conduct the inquest as stipulated in Chapter 38 of the Massachusetts General Laws,” said Traub, who noted that the inquest “may or may not occupy the full measure of time that Judge Coven has made available.”

Keating has revealed that Amy Bishop was being booked at the Braintree police station for the murder of her brother when the procedure was halted and she was released from custody.

After Mayor Joseph Sullivan and Police Chief Paul Frazier handdelivered police reports about the case previously thought to have been missing to Keating’s office on Feb. 16, they “made contact with us and said that they had a small volume of additional material, including photos, from the current police command structure that they subsequently made available to us,” Traub told the Forum on Feb. 26.

Meanwhile, State Police from Keating’s office made contact with those who were involved in the initial investigation, and Keating’s statement about the interrupted booking of Bishop came from those contacts, Traub said.

Murder is the only charge that could be filed against Amy Bishop in connection with her brother’s death since the statute of limitations has run out on all other offenses.

“I am optimistic that an inquest is the best way to get to the bottom of this,” said Borenstein, a partner in the law firm of Denner Pellegrino, LLP, which has offices in Boston, Springfield, New York, and Providence. “I know Judge Coven personally, and I know of his repuation as a thoughtful, bright, respected, and experienced judge. I believe that people will have confidence in a report issued by him.”

As a judge, Borenstein presided over several high profile cases, some of which garnered national media attention, including two motions for a new trial in the Fells Acre Day Care case in 1998, the first degree murder trial of Dr. James Kartell in 2000, and the Christopher Reardon church sexual abuse case in 2001.

Borenstein, who handled civil and criminal cases in state and federal court as an attorney for 11 years prior to his appointment to the bench in 1986, never conducted an inquest, which, he emphasized, is not a trial.

“An inquest is extremely rare,” he said. “In some ways, it’s the closest thing to the European system of justice.”

In an inquest, Borenstein explained, the judge takes a more active role—for example, he or she may call witnesses and ask questions of witnesses under oath.

“The judge takes on the role of a person who says ‘Let’s get to the bottom of this,’” he said. “The judge has tremendous discretion. The judge could permit examination of a witness or could do it all by himself. The judge could even appoint an independent attorney to do the questioning.”

A witness at an inquest, which is closed to the public, can have an attorney present, but the judge can compel his or her testimony.

“Remember that the Fifth Amendment (against self-incrimination) is not absolute,” Borenstein said. “The judge could determine that it doesn’t apply in these circumstances and find a witness in contempt. Pleading the Fifth is not automatic. The judge could decide that a witness doesn’t have a Fifth Amendment privilege and must testify.”

A transcript is made of the inquest’s proceedings, and the judge typically issues a report that is made public.

“The issues raised by the Bishop case affect the public’s perception of and confidence in the justice system,” Borenstein said. “The public wants to know if everyone is treated fairly and equally.”

Charges were never brought against Bishop, a 1983 graduate of Braintree High School, who ran out of her home with a shotgun on Dec. 6, 1986 following the shooting of her brother, walked to the former Dave Dinger Ford auto shop a couple of blocks away, and demanded a car and a set of keys immediately.

Thomas Pettigrew of Quincy and Jeff Doyle of Marshfield, who worked at the shop, told police that Bishop pointed the shotgun at them before heading to where Officers Ronald Solimini and Timothy Murphy found her.

Bishop was hiding behind a parked car in the rear of Village News, holding the shotgun at waist level.

Following a standoff with Solimini and Murphy during which she was ordered three times to drop the shotgun, Bishop was arrested and brought to the police station.

Solimini’s lawyer told the Boston Globe that after Bishop arrived at the station, her mother Judith, the only witness to the shooting, demanded to speak to then-Police Chief John V. Polio.

“As he’s standing there, the mother comes roaring into the station saying ‘I want to see John V. Where’s John V.?’”said attorney Frank McGee, recounting what Solimini told him.

Moments later, according to McGee, Solimini saw Judith Bishop disappear down a hallway, and a short time later, Polio or another senior officer called to stop the booking process and allow her daughter to go home with her.

Polio, 87, told the Forum on Feb. 23 that he did not order Amy Bishop’s release and never spoke to Judith Bishop at any point subequent to this incident.

“Neither I nor anyone else acting on my behalf or under my orders instructed then Lieutenant (James) Sullivan to stop the booking process,” Polio wrote in a Feb. 22 statement. “There was no coverup.”

The retired chief said that he would let the Dec. 6, 1986 report of Sullivan to the now deceased Captain Theodore Buker speak for itself concerning the release of Amy Bishop to her mother.

“After consulting with Captain Buker and (now deceased) Captain (Peter) D’Amico, it was determined that no charges would be brought against Amy Bishop at this time,” Sullivan wrote. “With the current information, it would appear to be an accidental shooting.”

The decision to let Amy Bishop leave the police station the day her brother died particularly disturbs the public, according to Borenstein.

“We don’t know, but it looks like a backroom deal,” he said. “People want to know how the investigation was conducted that day and after that day. It does look like a determination was made (that the killing was an accident) without looking at all of the evidence.”

Keating said last month that his office still doesn’t have some physical evidence related to the case, and inconsistencies have been found in the original police reports and interviews.

For example, officers who went to the Bishops’ home after the shooting noted the position of Seth’s body alternately as face up and face down.

A crime scene photograph taken in Amy Bishop’s bedroom showed a newspaper clipping about a well-publicized murder lying next to a shotgun shell on the floor, said Keating, who declined to provide specifics about the article.

A media search of news reports, however, revealed parallel circumstances to a case that occurred a few weeks before Seth Bishop’s death when the parents of “Dallas” star Patrick Duffy were killed at their Montana tavern by two teenagers who used a shotgun and proceeded to steal a Jeep from a car dealership.

Two key questions that Borenstein hopes the inquest will answer are “What really happened here and why?” and “Was there a coverup?”

To read state laws governing inquests, go to http://www.mass.gov/legis/laws/mgl/gl-38-toc.htm.

[MuffyBee]

http://www.whnt.com/news/huntsvilleandmadisoncounty/uahuntsvilleshooting/whnt-amy-bishop-anderson-preliminary-hearing,0,5870510.story
Dr. Amy Bishop Anderson Scheduled To Appear In Court Tuesday
March 19, 2010
 HUNTSVILLE, AL - Dr. Amy Bishop Anderson is headed to court next week. The woman accused of killing three of her UAHuntsville colleagues is scheduled to have her preliminary hearing Tuesday morning.

Attorneys Roy Miller and Barry Abston will represent Bishop Anderson. District Attorney Rob Broussard will be there with his team, too.

Tuesday, the judge will decide if there's enough evidence in the case to bind it over to a grand jury.

"A preliminary hearing is to determine whether or not there's probable cause a crime has been committed and that the accused committed the crime," WHNT News 19 Legal Analyst Harvey Morris said.

From there, the grand jury will decide whether to indict Bishop Anderson, or in other words, to send her to trial.

A Huntsville Police Department investigator and a UAHuntsville Police officer are listed to testify at the hearing.

Judge Ruth Ann Hall issued a gag order in Bishop Anderson's case on Thursday.

"A wise judge, and Judge Hall is a wise judge, has said look. We're not going to let anybody talk about this ... we want to be able to try this case in Madison County," Morris said.

Gag orders are often issued in order to protect the defendant's right to a fair trial.

Morris said it could take a while for the case to go to trial. He said the six judges at the Madison County Courthouse have the heaviest caseload in Alabama.

[trimmonthelake]

http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/03/23/alabama.amy.bishop.hearing/?hpt=T2
Ex-professor faces hearing in campus shooting
By Emanuella Grinberg, CNN
March 23, 2010 9:19 a.m. EDT
Huntsville, Alabama (CNN) -- The basis for a capital murder charge against former University of Alabama professor Amy Bishop is expected to be laid out in open court Tuesday at a hearing to determine whether there's enough evidence for her to stand trial.

Bishop, 44, is accused of gunning down colleagues at a faculty meeting on February 12. The former biology professor is charged with murder and three counts of attempted murder in the shootings at the University of Alabama in Huntsville.

Bishop is scheduled to appear in Madison County Circuit Court on Tuesday morning for a preliminary hearing before Judge Ruth Ann Hall. Prosecutors are expected to call police officers and perhaps other witnesses.

Under Alabama law, the case will go to a grand jury if the judge finds there is sufficient evidence to pursue the charges against Bishop.

Her court-appointed lawyer, Roy Miller, has indicated in comments to the media that the case will focus on Bishop's mental state. According to Miller, Bishop was under suicide watch in jail.

A gag order was issued Friday, and parties on both sides did not respond to requests for comment.
Survivors of the massacre said earlier that Bishop, a Harvard-trained geneticist who had recently been denied tenure at Alabama, stood up at the end of a biology department faculty meeting and started shooting.

The university identified the victims as Gopi Podila, chairman of the biological sciences department; Maria Davis, associate professor of biology; and Adriel Johnson, associate professor of biology. Three others were wounded.

Bishop was arrested as she left the building. A 9 mm handgun was found inside, on the second floor.

In the wake of the shootings, information came to light about previous run-ins with the law Bishop had. She faced criminal charges after an altercation at a Massachusetts restaurant nearly eight years ago, police said.

The police report says Bishop became furious that there was no booster seat available for her child, began screaming at the woman who had taken the last one and struck her in the head.
Authorities in Bishop's hometown of Braintree, Massachusetts, are also looking into the shooting death of her brother, Seth, in 1986. Bishop, then 20, said she accidentally shot her brother in the family's kitchen as she was trying to unload a shotgun, according to police reports.

The district attorney at the time regarded the death as accidental and declined to press charges. However, after the school shootings, the current district attorney in Braintree ordered a judge's inquest to re-examine the incident and determine whether charges are warranted.

In addition, The Boston Globe has also reported that Bishop and her husband, Jim Anderson, were questioned in the 1993 attempted mail bombing of a Harvard Medical School professor.

Under Alabama law, Bishop could face the death penalty if she is convicted of capital murder.

[MuffyBee]

http://www.waaytv.com/Global/story.asp?S=12188674
(Video Avail)
New Details Emerge in Bishop-Anderson Court Appearance

Posted: March 23, 2010 10:23 AM









HUNTSVILLE -  Amy Bishop-Anderson appeared in court Tuesday morning for a preliminary hearing.  Judge Ruth Ann Hall found probable cause that Bishop-Anderson committed the crimes and the case will now go to a grand jury.

She's the woman charged with capital murder for allegedly shooting three of her colleagues.  She's also charged with attempted murder for shooting three other colleagues.  This happened at the Shelby Center on the campus of UA Huntsville February 12th.

Huntsville Police Department's homicide investigator Charles Gray took the stand Tuesday and shed more light on what happened that February day.  He said the deadly shootings happened during a faculty meeting on the 3rd floor of the Shelby Center.  The meeting got underway at 3:00 and the first reported 911 call came in around 3:50.  Inv. Gray testified that the three that died were sitting closest to Bishop-Anderson.  Each was shot in the head at point blank range.

The most shocking testimony he gave was about the 9 millimeter handgun allegedly used in the crime. Gray said police recovered it the women's bathroom on the 2nd floor inside a trash can.  He said they found it underneath paper towels and a jacket, which they later determined belonged to Bishop-Anderson. 

He also testified that gun had a magazine with 15 rounds.  Gray said that 6 rounds were fired, but said after further investigation they determined the gun jammed.  Police later found a second fully loaded 15 round magazine in her black bag that was left in the conference room.

The big question that has surrounded this case is where Bishop-Anderson got the gun?  Investigator Gray said through the help of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives they traced the gun back to a man in Troy, New Hampshire.  When ATF agents questioned the man he said James Anderson asked him to buy the 9 millimeter back in 1989.  He stated that Mr. Anderson was living in Massachusetts, which had stricter gun laws than New Hampshire and needed the gun soon because he was having problems with his neighbor.

Investigator Gray said he questioned James about the gun, but he denied purchasing it from the man and denies owning a pistol.

Investigator Gray and Huntsville Police Officer Kathy Pierce questioned Amy Bishop-Anderson over 2 hours the night of the murders.   He said that she seemed calm, intelligent and responded to all the questions they asked her and was not under the influence of drugs.    Police have combed through her computer and found a journal documenting her issues with tenure but in those documents Gray said is no evidence at this point that she was planning to carry out a malicious act.

District Attorney Rob Broussard said due to all the national media attention it has made this case more difficult.  He said at this point they will continue to investigate and get all their information ready and present this case to a grand jury in the next six months.

[MuffyBee]

http://www.abcactionnews.com/content/news/local/polk/story/Lakeland-man-refuses-to-talk-about-case/-tcBJ81lX0iCdZcqXO_uog.cspx
Lakeland man refuses to talk about case
March 24, 2010
LAKELAND, FL -- A Lakeland man is tight lipped about his alleged connection to last month's fatal rampage at the University of Alabama Huntsville.

Police say Donald Proulx bought a gun more than 20 years ago that was used in the shooting that left three people dead and three wounded.

In an email to the Associated Press, Proulx says he has been told not to comment on the matter and directed questions to law enforcement.

This week in court, a police investigator said Proulx bought the gun in New Hampshire in 1989 for the husband of the woman charged in the shooting. The investigator said the husband wanted the weapon because of problems with a neighbor.

Former professor Amy Bishop is the accused shooter.

[MuffyBee]

http://blog.al.com/live/2010/03/uah_shooting_rampage_update_ma.html
UAH shooting rampage update: Man who bought gun used by Bishop won't talk
March 24, 2010

LAKELAND, Fla. -- A man who police say bought a gun more than 20 years ago that was used last month in a fatal Alabama university rampage is declining to comment on his role.

Donald Proulx  e-mailed The Associated Press today to say he had been told not to discuss the matter. He referred questions to law enforcement.

A police investigator told an Alabama court Tuesday that the gun was bought by Proulx in New Hampshire in 1989 for the husband of the woman charged in the Alabama shooting. The investigator said the husband, James Anderson, wanted the gun because of problems with a neighbor.

Former professor Amy Bishop is charged with capital murder in the shooting at the University of Alabama Huntsville that left 3 people dead and 3 wounded.

Bishop made her first public court appearance Tuesday wearing the jailhouse red scrubs of a "high-risk" inmate as she listened to a police witness describe the capital murder case against her.

District Judge Ruth Ann Hall ruled at the end of the 25-minute preliminary hearing that Bishop should remain in custody without bond and that her case should be presented to a grand jury in the slaying of three Biology Department faculty members.

[islandmonkey]

 

Muffy if you are still around, could you meet me in Musing? I really need to talk to someone who understands........

Thanks in advance if you can