RFK assassin Sirhan Sirhan alleges conspiracy theory, seeks release from prison

Sirhan Sirhan, after being arrested for the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy in 1968. …

Attorneys for Sirhan Sirhan, the man who assassinated Robert Kennedy in 1968, have asked that he be released from prison, alleging that he was a victim of "mind-control" and never actually shot Kennedy.

Less than a week after the anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, Sirhan's lawyers have presented their own Kennedy conspiracy theory, alleging that in Sirhan's 1969 trial the court ignored evidence that there were actually two shooters in RFK's assassination. Sirhan's legal team is also arguing that the revolver found on Sirhan was not responsible for the gunshots that killed Kennedy.

"Though the practice of hypno programming/mind control is hardly new, the public has been shielded from the darker side of the practice," Sirhan's court filings say. "The average person is unaware that hypnosis can and is used to induct antisocial conduct in humans."

Attorneys William F. Pepper and Laurie D. Dusek argue that Sirhan at least deserves a new trial, alleging that the original 1969 proceeding were marred by fraud when the court allowed a substitute bullet to be used in place of the real bullet removed from Kennedy's neck.

In addition, Sirhan's attorneys say recently discovered audio recordings provide evidence that as many as thirteen gun shots were fired at the time of Kennedy's assassination assassinated. As CNN explains, the details get even stranger from there:

The attorneys further assert that Sirhan was hypno-programmed to be a diversion for the real assassin and allege that Sirhan would be easily blamed for the assassination because he is an Arab. Sirhan, 67, is a Christian Palestinian born in Jerusalem whose parents brought him and his siblings to America in the 1950s.

Sirhan "was an involuntary participant in the crimes being committed because he was subjected to sophisticated hypno programming and memory implantation techniques which rendered him unable to consciously control his thoughts and actions at the time the crimes were being committed," court papers said.

The California attorney general's office has so far declined to comment on Sirhan's court filings.

Sirhan Sirhan has long claimed that he cannot remember the actual assassination. Harvard Medical School hypno-programming expert Daniel Brown recently worked with Sirhan, claiming to successfully help him remember the assassination for the first time. Brown says Sirhan claims that due to "mind control," Sirhan believed he was at a gun range shooting at circular targets.

Pepper and Dusek also represented Sirhan during his recent unsuccessful attempt to win parole from Pleasant Valley state Prison in Coalinga, California, where he is currently serving a life sentence.

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Florida Inmate Drops Pounds in Exchange for Early Release

A 345-pound man jailed for driving with a suspended license was freed nine days early thanks to a Lake County, Fla., judge's "lose-a-pound, gain-a-day" deal.

George McCovery, 37, dropped 25 pounds in 20 days -- a feat he credited to bland prison food and the judge's weight-loss challenge.

"She gave me a chance to prove myself, and I didn't want to let her down," he told the Orlando Sentinel.

Judge Donna Miller, whose courtroom proceedings are replayed in the TV show "Lake Courts," is famous for her unusual sentence deals. In her 17 years as a judge, Miller has ordered defendants to start jogging, take a dance class, tutor math and write Christmas cards, according to the Sentinel.

"I do what I do to try to change the person in front of me," she said, acknowledging that her self-improvement sentences won't be doled out to everyone. "If the person needs jail, they get jail."

Miller said she would check McCovery's weight after 20 days. And to her surprise, he had already shed 25 pounds.

"It's not easy to lose weight," Miller told the Sentinel. "I thought he'd lose 5, maybe, 6 pounds -- not 25."

Carrying extra pounds can raise the risk of chronic, debilitating and even life-threatening medical conditions such as heart disease, stroke and type 2 diabetes. And if waistlines keep expanding at current rates, experts predict half of the U.S. population will be obese by 2030.

McCovery, who takes medication for high blood pressure, said he wanted to lose weight during the trial. But it isn't easy. Obesity treatments, such as bariatric surgery, are effective, but many people are reluctant to undergo such an invasive procedure. And a dearth of drugs approved to treat obesity leaves few options for extreme weight loss short of strict diets and intense exercise programs.

But the benefits of weight loss are well worth the effort. According to an August 2011 report, if every obese person decreased his or her body mass index by just 1 percent (a loss of 2 pounds for a 200-pound adult), as many as 2.4 million diabetes cases, 1.7 million cases of heart disease and stroke and 127,000 cancer cases could be prevented.

Although McCovery lost more than a pound a day, experts say slow and steady weight loss is the best way to shed the pounds for good.

"There's a lot that goes on between losing that first pound and losing that 100, 50 or even 20 pounds," Lisa Cimperman, a registered dietitian at University Hospitals Case Medical Center, told ABC News. Aiming to lose 1 to 2 pounds per week can help you stay on track and power through the inevitable weight loss lulls.

Along the way, McCovery was encouraged by his detention deputies, the Sentinel reported.

"Studies have shown that support groups or just having someone else encouraging you will help make you successful," said Lisa Cimperman.

That encouragement and the promise of making it home in time for Thanksgiving was enough for McCovery, who earned a note of praise from Judger Miller on his release order that read, "Good job, Mr. McCovery!"

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Continue Reading... Labels: Drops, Early, Exchange, Florida, Inmate, Pounds, Release