Michael Baden

No ifs, ands or butts . . . The President demands new rules to curb teen smoking: "Congress balked, however, when he tried to limit campaign contributions to two PACs a day." (Alex Pearlstein) * "He wants the tobacco industry to launch a $150-million ad campaign to discourage youth smoking. Try this: 'This is Joe Camel. This is Joe Camel on a respirator. Any questions?' " (Cutler Daily Scoop) * "A tobacco industry representative responded today.

A final forensic expert testified for the defense at the Phil Spector murder trial Thursday, completing what lawyers have called the heart of the famous music producer's fight to clear his name. Testimony is expected to finish Monday, followed by a discussion of legal instructions the judge will give to the jury before it begins deliberations. Closing arguments by attorneys are expected to occur just after Labor Day.

Lana Clarkson's mother rose from the spectator seat she has occupied nearly every day of the Phil Spector murder trial and took the witness stand Monday to answer questions that could help a jury decide who is responsible for her daughter's death. Spector, 67, the legendary producer of records for the Beatles, Righteous Brothers, Ike and Tina Turner and many other pop music giants, is charged with murdering Lana Clarkson, 40, in his Alhambra mansion Feb. 3, 2003.

A university professor of forensic science, suspecting foul play in J. Edgar Hoover's death, has been granted access to the District of Columbia medical examiner's records to reinvestigate how the former FBI director died. George Washington University professor James Starrs believes the records may clarify the circumstances around Hoover's 1972 death at age 77, which was attributed officially to a heart attack. No autopsy was performed.

An autopsy indicated Monday that a Palestinian prisoner who died last week in an interrogation chamber was beaten to death and did not succumb to a heart attack, as military authorities first announced. The autopsy was carried out by Israel's chief forensic doctor, assisted by Michael Baden, the forensic chief for the New York state police. Civil rights lawyers acting on behalf of the victim's family called for an independent examiner to assist in the examination.

Expert witnesses gave conflicting testimony Wednesday about Christian Brando's story that he accidentally shot and killed his half-sister's lover during a struggle over a gun. Testifying at a Santa Monica Superior Court hearing that will help the judge decide Brando's sentence on his guilty plea to a charge of voluntary manslaughter, a forensic pathologist called by the prosecution said victim Dag Drollet was probably lying down when he was shot.

Dr. Richard Pryde Boggs murdered a stranger, planted false identification on his body and reported the death as a heart attack to collect $1.5 million in insurance, a prosecutor told jurors Tuesday. But Deputy Dist. Atty. Al MacKenzie didn't say in his opening statement what caused the death of Ellis Henry Greene other than that it was "not of natural causes." Greene's death remains a mystery.

The death of New York police Det. James Zadroga, which was previously linked to his work in the rubble of the World Trade Center, was caused by injections of ground-up pills, the city medical examiner's office said Thursday. "What caused the disease was the injection of the drugs into his bloodstream, as opposed to something he breathed," said Ellen Borakove, spokeswoman for Chief Medical Examiner Charles Hirsch. The ruling outraged the family of Zadroga, 34, who became a symbol of post-Sept.

Dinosaur teeth, the huge prehistoric jaws of a shark, a 180-million-year-old horseshoe crab and a humpback whale skeleton once owned by the legendary circus entrepreneur P.T. Barnum went on sale Thursday in Manhattan.

Weeks ago, the judge in the Kobe Bryant sexual assault case scheduled today's hearing for one day after Game 7 of the NBA Finals would have been played. The worry at the time among Laker faithful was that Bryant might miss the championship parade. Instead, the season ended in disappointment, and it is unclear whether the All-Star guard will re-sign with the Lakers or sign with someone else. The greatest uncertainty concerning Bryant's future, however, continues to be his legal situation.