Actor Charlie Sheen has posted an $8,500.00 bond in Aspen tonight and been released from the Pitkin County Jail. His wife called 911 this morning, prompting his arrest. The Aspen Daily News reports:

Aspen police officer Rick Magnuson made the arrest after Sheen’s wife, Brooke Mueller Sheen, called 911 at 8:34 a.m. An ambulance responded to the scene but the alleged victim did not require medical attention, police said.

According to the Pitkin County Sheriff's Department:

"Carlos Irwin Estevez, also known as the actor Charles I. Sheen, 44, of Encino, Calif., was placed under arrest for second-degree assault, a class four felony; menacing, a class five felony and criminal mischief, a class one misdemeanor. All charges are coupled with a domestic violence component."

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If you're in a reading rather than listening mode, here's an old favorite, from The Onion, How the Weed Delivery Guy Saved Christmas.

How's your day going so far? This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

Balloon Boy parents Richard and Mayumi Heene were each sentenced to stints in the county jail today as conditions of probation for perpetuating the hoax that transfixed the nation a few months ago. (In Colorado, a defendant can be sentenced to up to 90 in days as a condition of probation for a felony and 60 days for a misdemeanor.)

Richard Heene, who last month pleaded guilty to a felony charge of attempting to influence a public servant, will have to serve 30 days of the sentence full-time in the Larimer County jail, with the remaining 60 days served on work-release. Larimer County Court Judge Stephen Schapanski said Heene would start serving the jail sentence on Jan. 11. "I will delay this until after the holiday in fairness mostly to his children,"

Mayumi Heene, who helped hatch the scheme and who pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of false reporting, was sentenced to 20 days of jail, to be served through a program that allows her to perform jail-supervised community service a couple days a week and return home at night.

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Republicans claimed a scalp today in Colorado as Stephanie Villafuerte, President Obama's nominee for U.S. Attorney for Colorado, withdrew her name from consideration. Her withdrawal comes after last week's call by Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions for an investigation regarding the Cory Voorhies matter (background here.)

So, who's left? Bill Thiebaut, Jr. the current District Attorney for Pueblo (south of Colorado Springs) and a former state senator, and John Walsh, an AUSA in L.A. for several years, now in private practice in Denver.

Thiebaut has some good positions. He is opposed to the death penalty and while serving as Pueblo DA, called for the passage of a bill to abolish it, even though it was opposed by the District Attorney's Council and state AG John Suthers. He also opposes mandatory adult sentences for teens. [More...]

I haven't posted much this week because I came down with a cold and awful sore throat with almost complete laryngitis. Between the sniffles and not being able to squeak out more than a few sounds at a time,I'm squarely in "the doldrums."

Anyone have any ideas for busting out? I made chicken soup with matzoh balls tonight, but by the time it was done, I was too tired to eat.

I'm looking forward to this weekend so I can stay inside my abode until Monday. Reading makes me dizzy, so I'm just going to watch old movies.

Whhat do you have planned, and if you were feeling under the weather, what would make you feel better?

this is an open thread, all topics welcome.

A mistrial has been declared for the fourth time against John Gotti, Jr. The jury did not find the testimony of mob informants credible.

Several were unconvinced by the prosecution case that relied on the increasingly controversial use of mob informants....[S]ome jurors said after the trial ended that they did not find a self-confessed multiple murderer a convincing witness.

AUSA Elie Honig took the loss graciously: [More....]

President Obama, upon the recommendation of Colorado's two U.S. Senators and others, has nominated former Denver Chief Deputy District Attorney Stephanie Villafuerte for Colorado U.S. Attorney.

Republicans are having a hissy-fit. The brouhaha is over the criminal case of former ICE agent Cory Voorhis. Voorhis was acquitted of misdemeanor charges that he improperly accessed the restricted NCIC database and passed information contained in it to Gov. Bill Ritter's then opponent for Governor, Bob Beauprez, who used it in an ad to attack Ritter as being soft on undocumented residents while District Attorney.

Voorhis' didn't deny accessing the database or passing the information on to the Beauprez campaign. His defense was that he did nothing wrong by doing so and that the charges were politically motivated. [More...]

Via the Oregonian:

Oregon opened another chapter in U.S. marijuana history when at 4:20 p.m. Friday, about three dozen people christened the nation's first cafe for licensed residents to sit down, sip coffee and smoke marijuana.

...Excited patrons spilled down the outside steps at 700 N.E. Dekum St. as the cafe prepared to open at the appointed hour -- "420" being slang for using marijuana. In line were military veterans, grandmothers, young workers, men and women, old and young, black, white and Latino.

The Los Angeles City Council today rejected a proposal to ban sales of medical marijuana. And in Colorado, Attorney General John Suthers issued a legal opinion that medical marijuana sales are subject to taxation, and dispensaries must obtain a sales tax license.

It's really coming down now. Huge, wet snowflakes. And the snow is going to continue until tomorrow late afternoon. I've got a good book (Shantaram ....."Crime and punishment, passion and loyalty, betrayal and redemption are only a few of the ingredients" ) and I'm looking forward to the down time.

Here's an open thread for you, all topics welcome.

The Colorado Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice (CCJC) has issued recommendations to the state legislature to reduce penalties for possession of drugs.

If Colorado legislators adopt the recommendations, possessing up to 4 ounces of marijuana would become a petty offense instead of a criminal misdemeanor, and possessing 8 to 16 ounces would become a misdemeanor instead of a felony.

The Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice also favored lower-level felony charges for possessing a few grams of cocaine or methamphetamine and reducing the charge for illegally possessing various prescription drugs from a felony to a misdemeanor. It excepted possession of "date-rape" drugs, which would remain a felony.

The Commission members include representatives from all parts of the criminal justice system, including prosecutors, defense attorneys, legislators, probation officers, judges and law enforcement. The full report is here (pdf.)

Richard and Mayumi Heene, parents of "the Balloon Boy" will plead guilty in exchange for probation. Mrs. Heene will plead to a misdemeanor and Mr. Heene to a felony.

Mr. Heene's lawyer, David Lane, issued this press release explaining that a felony would have resulted in Mrs. Heene's deportation to Japan and the prosecutors required a package deal. From his statement:

Mayumi Heene is a citizen of Japan. As such, any felony conviction or certain misdemeanors would result in her deportation, even though her husband and children are Americans. Because Mayumi, while being questioned by law enforcement made certain statements which the prosecutor could use against her to possibly obtain a felony conviction and thus, her deportation by the federal government, she is avoiding that possibility with this plea. Unfortunately, the prosecutors insisted upon a package deal where Richard would have to fall on his sword and take a felony plea despite the fact that he made no incriminating statements to law enforcement and Mayumi’s statements could not be used against him.

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Yesterday was a big day for medical marijuana in Colorado when a Denver District Court judge tossed last week's ruling by the State Board of Health changing the definition of "primary caregiver." Today, the reactions come in. Here are a few:

• Aurora Sentinel Editorial: Stop Playing Games with Medical Marijuana
• Westword: Brian Vicente on victory in hearing to void Board of Health's medical-marijuana ruling
• Aspen Daily News: Dispensaries prepare for more regulation

Last night in Boulder, just after midnight, the City Council passed temporary rules regulating dispensaries by restricting where they can be located. [More...]