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Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes of the Quezon City Regional Tria l Court Branch 221 reset the hearing of the absence of Nelson Roque, legal couns el of murder suspect Police Inspector Michael Joy Macaraeg.

Roque failed to show up for the c ase conference at Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City on Friday. Solis ordered Roqu e “to explain why he should not be cited for contempt” for not showing up at the case conference.

The August 11 case conf erence will be held at the Quezon City Hall of Justice. A pre-trial will also be held on August 17 at Camp Bagong Diwa.

According to private prosecutor Nena Santos, “the judge had to res et because there will be a technicality if he [Macaraeg] is not represented duri ng this stage of the trial.”

“Ang pagkakaalam ko, sabi niya na-traffic daw siya kaya hindi siya makapunta [We were told he got caught in traffic],” Santos told reporters.

Reyes was supposed to appoint defense political lawyer M arlon Paguaduan, who represents some of the accused, to stand as Macaraeg's counsel de officio , or any political lawyer who could competently defend someone who doesn't have a counsel.

However, a quest ion on “conflict of interest” was raised because Macaraeg had testified against his fellow a ccused, some of them were Pagaduan's clients in a separate administrative case hearing.

“That's why we raised hell a while ago… Kasi napakalaking abe rya nito sa mga pamilya ng biktima na balikan sa Mindanao (Because the postponem ent is a huge disruption in the lives of the families of the victims, who had to fly to Manila from Mindanao and back just to attend the hearings). The proceed ing is getting derailed,” Santos added.

She said the families were “inconvenienced” and their time is being wasted every time the heari ng gets reset or delayed.

She was referring to the inconvenience of the kin of the 57 people killed in the Maguindanao massacre, considered the worst single-day, election-r elated violence in the Philippines.

Santos said the families of the victims always had to fl y in to Manila from their hometowns in different parts of Mindanao, such General Santos City, Koronadal City in South Cotabato, and Buluan town in Maguindanao t o attend the hearings.

She added that the money used to bring the families back and forth to Manila is being “wasted.”

Non-government organizations, such as the Freedom Fund for Journalists, are giving financial assistance to the victims' kin.

Prima Quinsayas, another private prosecutor, expressed “disappointment” over their fel low prosecutor's failure to show up.

“He should know how to take care of his schedule and should not be late or absent,” she told GMANe ws.TV.

The prosecution said it was the first time Roque was absent from the hearings, adding that he had always been “cooperative” in the past.

Prosecution political lawyers said they were hoping Roque would final ly show up in the next case conference. “I hope Macaraeg changes his mind and change his polit ical lawyer,” Santos said.

Like the other members of the families of the victims, Maguindanao Gov. Esmael “Toto” Mangudadatu, whose wif e and sisters were among the massacre victims, also frowned at Roque's absence, saying he has to leave behind his government work in Maguindanao every time he attends a heari ng.

“But of course, I make it a point that my work as governor does not get disrupted by this hearing,” Mangudadatu assur ed.

Earlier, scores of pending motions that need resolution had forced Reyes to suspend the proceedings indefinitely .

The trial only resumed last month, when 17 suspects in the case, including prime suspect former Datu Unsay mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr., all pleaded not guilty to a 57th charge of murder. — LBG/VVP, GMANews.TV

“The DOJ should have all the information it needs to evaluate whether it believes (the sher iff's office) has violated the law, or, at a minimum, more than enough information to define w hat they are looking for,” Driscoll said in a statement.

SAN FRANCISCO — This week's invalidation of California's same-sex marriage ban is a huge victory, but only one step in a legal journey that probably will end with a battle for the support of every U. S. Supreme Court justice, one of the attorneys in the case said Thursday.

David Boies, who represented the plaintiffs who challenged the state Constitution's ban as enacted b y Proposition 8, told a sympathetic crowd at the Commonwealth Club of California that he believes the American system of justice worked well this week.

“The concept of equali ty is baked into the American soul. We believe in it, everyone believes in it,” he said. But h e added that some people remain willing to exclude certain groups from certain r ights, and the courts are a crucial bulwark against such discrimination.

“Gradually, we are co ming to understand that all people, in the words of our Declaration of Independe nce, are created equal, that all people have the same inalienable rights, and th at our Constitution is designed to protect that,” he said.

Boies — who gained fame for serving as special co unsel to the US Department of Justice in the Microsoft antitrust litigation, a nd for having represented Vice President Al Gore in the Bush v. Gore case that s ettled the 2000 presidential election — is representing the plaintiffs in this case along with former US Solicitor General Ted Olson.

Moderator Pamela Karlan, a Stanford La w School professor, likened Boies

on Thursday to a Zelig- or Forrest Gump-like character who has popped up in all the key constitutional law issues of recent y ears.

US District Judge Vaughn Walker, of San Francisco, on Wednesday deemed C alifornia's same-sex marriage ban, enacted in November 2008, to be in violation of the US Co nstitution's 14th Amendment guarantees of equal protection and due process of law. He temporar ily stayed his ruling for several days so the parties can argue whether it shoul d remain on hold as the case moves to the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals.

Pre s. 8′s supporters filed their appeal Thursday, and the case is likely to end up before the US . Supreme Court.

Officials in several counties — including Alameda and Contra Costa — have said they are rea dy to start issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples should the stay be lif ted.

Boies said Walker will decide next week whether to maintain the stay; judges often he sitate to do so after they have found people's fundamental rights are being infringed.

He sai d he believes his side won in the trial court because “religion does not have a place in Ameri can legislation, and that has been true since the First Amendment to the Constit ution was passed.”

“The other side doesn't have any precedent, doesn't have any facts, doesn't really have any experts,” he said. “It has a bumper sticker, and the bumper sticker says 'Marriage is only between a man and a woman.' "

Contact Josh Richman at jrichman@bayareanewsgroup.com . Read the Poli tical Blotter at www.ibabuzz.com/politics .

Depression and insomnia symptoms

Can't sleep? Feeling depressed?

You're not alone. Both insomnia symptoms and depression are surprisingly common complaints. About 15% of adults suffer from chronic insomnia symptoms. Nearly as many suffer occasional b outs of depression.

insomnia symptoms and depression often go hand-in-hand. Although just 15% of people with depression sleep too much, as many as 80% have trouble falling a sleep or staying asleep. Patients with persistent insomnia symptoms are more tha n three times more likely to develop depression.

The relationship between insomnia symptoms a nd depression is far from simple, however. “Until recently, insomnia symptoms was typically seen as a symptom of depression,” says Michael L. Perlis, MD, an associate professor of psychiatry and director of the Behavioral Sleep Medicine Program at the University of Pennsylvania. “Treat the underlying depression, the thinking went, and sleep problems would go away.”

But new research shows that insomnia symptoms is not just a symptom of depression. “What we've come to understand is that insomnia symptoms and depression are two distinct but overlapping disor ders,” says Perlis. Research shows that by treating both simultaneously, docto rs have a better shot at improving a patient’s sleep quality, mood, and overal l quality of life.

Can insomnia symptoms Trigger Depression?

It's easy to understand how insomnia sympto ms might be linked to depression. “Chronic sleep loss can lead to a loss of pl easure in life, one of the hallmarks of depression,” explains Stanford Univers ity research psychologist Tracy Kuo, PhD. “When people can't sleep, they oft en become anxious about not sleeping. Anxiety increases the potential for beco ming depressed.”

Indeed, recent findings show that insomnia symptoms often shows up before a bout of depression strikes, serving as a useful warning sign. A worsening of i nsomnia symptoms can also signal depression.

But the relationship is far more than simply cau se and effect. When depressed people suffer from insomnia symptoms, their risk o f recurring depression is greater than that of patients who don't have insomni a symptoms. “So insomnia symptoms may serve as a trigger for depression,” Pe rlis says. “But it also appears to perpetuate depression.”

How insomnia symptoms Treatmen t Can Ease Depression

The latest findings have helped improve treatment strategies. Evidence shows that treating sleep problems can ease depressive symptoms and may even pre vent relapses. In one study, 56 people who suffered both depression and insomnia symptoms received psychotherapy for their sleep problems alone. The symptoms of depression eased in more than half of the people, even though their treatment h ad not targeted depression.

Another study, with 545 patients, found that depressed patients w ith insomnia symptoms who were treated with both an antidepressant and a sleep m edication fared better than those treated only with antidepressants. The people treated for both insomnia symptoms and depression slept better and their depress ion scores improved significantly more than patients on antidepressants alone.

“Both of the se studies offer strong evidence for why it's so important to treat insomnia s ymptoms, whether it's associated with depression, chronic pain, cancer, or oth er co-existing disorders,” Perlis tells WebMD.

Filming is taking place at the Taylor Northeast Little League ball field on Wick near Monroe for the movie “Homerun Derby.” Starring in th e movie are: Dean Cain of the TV show “Lois and Clark,” Jose Canseco, a Majo r League Baseball player and Barry Bostwick, who was in “Hannah Montana: The Movie,†“Nancy Drew” and many others. Bostwick, pictured with dozens of extras, is t he older man on the right. He is wearing a gray polo-type shirt and a ball cap, talking with a man in red with his back turned. (Photo by Dave Chapman)