NEW YORK — We haven’t reported on a thong since Monica Lewinsky’s under-garment of choice was uncovered during the impeachment of President Clinton. Well, the flimsy clothing item is once again front and center in the news.

A Los Angeles woman has filed a lawsuit against lingerie-maker Victoria’s Secret, claiming she was injured by one of the company’s thongs. The garment in question is called the “low-rise v-string” from the Victoria’s Secret Sexy Little Thing line. Macrida Patterson, 52, maintains she was attempting to try on the underwear when a decorative metallic piece flew off and struck her in the eye, causing her permanent corneal damage.

The question is whether Victoria’s Secret should be held responsible for the injury because it sold a “defective” product with a “design error” that almost blinded Patterson. Shouldn’t the woman be compensated for loss of wages, hospital and medical expenses if she was using the garment in the manner it was intended? The court documents can be found on TheSmokingGun.com Web site.

Victoria’s Secret asked to examine the thong in question, but Patterson’s attorney denied the request. One does have to weigh Patterson’s responsibility in all all this and wonder just how this small decorative item could have been catapulted into Patterson’s eye and finally, whether this belongs in an overburdened Los Angeles Superior Court system.

–Bob Regan, In Session senior executive producer

SEATTLE, Washington–After a stretch of two days without a word, the jury weighing the fate of Naveed Haq asked a series of lengthy questions Monday before advising the judge near the end of the day that they had unanimously decided only one part of one count and were deadlocked on the remaining charges.

The judge ordered the jury to continue their deliberations, over the objections of the defense who suggested the judge call the jury out and read them the Allen charge instead.

Before ordering the jury to continue, the judge noted that the case offered, “some of the most complex testimony heard in this court.” Judge Paris Kallas said she would reconsider giving the Allen charge, urging the jury to come to a verdict in the case, should the jury give another indication that they were at an impasse.

Their note was the second of the day, coming after they asked the judge for more instruction on insanity.

The notes were the first communication from the jury after two days of silence. Their last note, last Wednesday, (day 3 of deliberations) indicated they could not reach a unanimous decision on count one — aggravated murder, or alternatively, second-degree murder — and asked the judge for guidance on whether they could move on to deliberate the other charges.

They ended their deliberations Monday after five hours and 15 minutes, for a total of 33 hours and 20 minutes over six days.

They will resume their deliberations Tuesday at 12:00 EDT.

– In Session staff

ELIZABETH, New Jersey –The divorce trial between former New Jersey governor James McGreevey and his estranged wife, Dina Matos McGreevey, resumed Tuesday in an Elizabeth courthouse.

Once again, Mr. McGreevey took the stand to testify that he has nowhere near the financial resources to pay Matos McGreevey the support she is seeking – but later in the day, as the defense began its own case, a forensic accountant suggested that the ex-governor’s earning potential is actually much higher than he’s led the court to believe.

Earlier, forensic accountant Sharon Maggio testified that McGreevey has generated no celebrity good will, a condition which would theoretically enhance his earning capacity. But on Tuesday afternoon, the defense’s own forensic accountant, Kalman Barson, testified that McGreevey actually has the potential as a lawyer to earn well over $1,000,000 per year – far in excess of the $48,000 or so he earns now.

It’s come down to a battle of the experts in the McGreevey divorce trial – and at some point, the judge will have to sort it all out for herself.

–In Session staff

SEATTLE, Washington – Dr. Robert Wheeler continued his testimony Tuesday with a treat for jurors after lengthy expert testimony in the case of Naveed Haq; a simple-to-follow, plain-language, chronological development of events – with a brief explanation of how each point in this timeline supported his conclusions.

Haq is charged with killing one person and injuring five others in a shooting at the Jewish Federation headquarters here on July 28, 2006. He has presented an insanity defense in the case.

Wheeler told jurors that Haq was certainly capable of appreciating his actions and their consequences – from picking a target and the best weapon, to surrendering in a manner that ensured his survival.

“There was a plan in place; there was an objective to the plan; and there is nothing to suggest that capacity was impaired by his mental state,” he said.

–In Session staff

SEATTLE, Washington – A combination of psychosis and mania caused Naveed Haq’s mind to focus squarely on the “mission” God had commanded him to embark upon, said Dr. James Missett Tuesday, his fifth day on the witness stand, before finally wrapping up his direct examination. The statements Haq made to 911 operators speaks volumes about his mental state at the time, Missett said, and Haq stays on topic – “I’m making a point!” – but fumbles when trying to make broader arguments on what that point actually is.

“He’s somewhere else,” said Missett, “and you can’t tell from the 911 tape where that somewhere is.”

Haq is charged with murder, attempted murder,  kidnapping and malicious harrassment for killing one and wounding five others in a shooting July 28, 2006 at the Jewish Federation headquarters in Seattle. He is mounting an insanity defense.

The psychosis and mania, opined Missett, were brought on by a combination of life pressures, lack of sleep, and inappropriate and mismanaged medications. The psychiatrist stated that in his opinion, the result was that Haq could not distinguish right from wrong, and that he indeed was insane at the time at the time of the shooting. He also made it clear he does find a substantial risk of future violent behavior, and would like to see Haq spend his life in a “secure state mental hospital.”

Missett’s testimony continues today.

–In Session staff

SEATTLE, Washington – We got rare glimpses of emotion from the defendant Thursday, as he smiled at his brother’s account of Haq’s ideas for how to appeal to women, and chuckled at a joke by his father – before returning to the distant, despondent appearance Haq has had throughout the trial, sitting perfectly still, and blinking slowly.

Haq’s mother also showed a new side, as the demure woman became angry at Erin Ehlert’s questions, and was allowed to have her say, uninterrupted. “He’s a very compassionate, sensitive person,” said the mother. “I can not believe in my heart that he did the things you are telling me.”

As for Haq’s religious affiliation, several witnesses testified Haq saw the religion of Islam as too restrictive, even making a show of eating in front of his fasting family members during Ramadan. Instead, he turned to a Christian church with a “more welcoming” reception and spontaneous worship. But, those who know Haq suspected this, too, was a fleeting interest for his troubled mind.

“If this is what gives you peace and consolation, fine,” his father told him. “But you have a habit; you start a thing and after a month it will fizzle out.”

– In Session staff 

NEW YORK — I love my job but there are things I hate about this business. Like when we hype a story for weeks and then just let it drop because the people involved continue to be torn apart by whatever event made them a story in the first place.

As usual, Jami Floyd has the Last Word.

That’s exactly the case in Texas with the polygamy ranch raid last month. We reported that story every day for weeks — all about alleged sexual abuse at the ranch — none of it yet proved, by the way. But, now that the media brouhaha has died down, don’t think the story is over for the children taken from their mothers, because here iw what has been proved and not widely reported:

These children are now on an odyssey through the Texas child welfare system. Children who had never eaten processed foods, had never watched television. And Wal-Mart? They don’t sell those prairie dresses.

Imagine the shock of being flung headlong into potato chips and the likes of Hannah Montana. All of this in the context of a child welfare system that was underfinanced and already failing the children in its care, even before it took on 462 new cases.

What were they thinking? I’m thinking they weren’t.

And that’s the Last Word.

– Jami Floyd, In Session anchor

NEW YORK – From the moment I arrived at the Queens County Courthouse, I knew tensions were high and emotions were volatile. The verdict was about to be announced in the Sean Bell case. This is the case in which a 23-year-old groom-to-be was shot dead by New York Police detectives November 25, 2006.

Bell was concluding his bachelor party in those early morning hours when 50 shots came from the guns of five police detectives. Three of those detectives had been charged, and two of the three, if convicted, could have been sentenced to 25 years in prison.

The officers said those bullets were justified because they reasonably believed that Bell’s friend had a gun and would use it on them.

Now, after a lengthy trial, Judge Arthur Cooperman was to deliver the verdict. He presided at a “bench trial” because the defendant detectives gave up their right to a jury trial and asked for a judge to determine their guilt or innocence.

A few minutes after 9 a.m., people started running out of the courthouse, screaming, “Not guilty!” Hundreds of supporters for Bell and his friends voiced their objections to the verdict through protests that got very loud as I was doing my live shots.

Law enforcement officers circled the courthouse, forming a security base in case emotions ran too high. They did not. Protesters remained peaceful. When Bell’s fiancee and family left the courthouse, supporters followed them as they made their way to Bell’s gravesite.

Once again, we see a family that has lost a son, a fiancee who lost her future husband, police officers who said they reasonably believed that they were in danger themselves and a very experienced judge who looked at the facts and the law to render his verdict.

– Jean Casarez, In Session correspondent

SEATTLE, Washington – At the Jewish Center shooting trial, Detective Don Ledbetter has finally left the stand after wrapping up his series of daily stints on the stand by discussing the number of bullets and their respective trajectories – indicating, it seems, that the shots – “at least nine” — were fired in a deliberate manner.

SWAT officers also told jurors about their slow clearing of the offices, and encountering bleeding, terrified victims. One officer, who escorted 14-year-old Kelsie Burkum out of the center, said he was near the stairs with Burkum when he realized, “Oh my god, I’m going to take her right by her friend who is deceased.” Watch SWAT officer describe finding victims

The officer clasped Burkum’s hand and told the girl to close her eyes and “feel my body, move down with me,” as he led her around the corpse as quickly as he could – not knowing whether shooters still roamed the floor.

Defendant Naveed Haq, a 30-year-old Muslim American, is accused of killing one woman and wounding five others. He is mounting an insanity defense.

– In Session staff

NEW YORK – Polygamist leader Warren Jeffs is behind bars but his Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is going strong, with 10,000 members. This, despite 165 years of intolerance for these people who engage in a very different form of faith.

That’s why the latest raid in Texas raises the question of religious freedom. The FLDS counsels young women to “give themselves to their husbands.” And we all know these folks are far from your run of the mill congregation.

Authorities claim that this latest raid comes on the heels of a 16-year-old girl claiming she’d been married to a 50-year-old man. In Texas, a girl that young can’t marry, even with her parents’ permission. But so far, the girl hasn’t turned up. And hundreds of women and children have been rousted from their homes.

If a crime was committed, by all means prosecute. But to target religious people for practicing the tenets of their faith, well, in this lawyer’s opinion that’s not prosecution, it’s persecution.

And that’s the Last Word. Watch the Last Word on video

– Jami Floyd, In Session anchor