It's been a while since we last wrote about Kumari Fulbright, the University of Arizona law student accused of kidnapping and torturing her ex-boyfriend. What's up with her? Is she summering at a large law firm?

(Not as far as we know. One recent news report mentions that, after being suspended from UA law school, she moved to Texas.)

Although things have been quiet on the Fulbright front, it appears that negotiations have been taking place behind the scenes. From KTAR.com:

After striking a plea agreement, state prosecutors said they hope a Tucson man will help them convict a former Tucson beauty queen and suspended University of Arizona law student accused of kidnapping, robbery and assault....

[Larry Bruce] Hammond, 40, pleaded guilty Monday in Pima County Superior Court to aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, a Class 3 felony that carries a prison sentence of two to 8.75 years.

In agreeing to testify, the Arizona Attorney General's Office is dropping charges of kidnapping, aggravated robbery, armed robbery and another aggravated assault charge against Hammond.

A generous deal, it seems -- and therefore not good news for Kumari. To quote our tipster, "things are looking almost as bad as her mugshot."

Read more, below the fold.

Be very afraid. And keep 911 on speed dial.

Judge OKs arrested Arizona beauty queen's travel to Dallas for family reunion [AP]

Earlier: Prior ATL coverage of Kumari Fulbright (scroll down)

So what's going on with everyone's favorite beauty queen turned law student turned alleged kidnapper, Kumari Fulbright?

First, she's still suspended from the University of Arizona's law school. As reported yesterday in the UA student newspaper, The Wildcat (yes, The Wildcat -- how apropos):

On Jan. 7, Fulbright and her lawyer, Marc Beginin, met with UA officials and Fulbright was placed on interim suspension by the Dean of Students Office, said Johnny Cruz, a university spokesman.

"There's no designated end date as to when the status will change," Cruz said Thursday. "Any student on interim suspension cannot be on campus."

Beginin pointed out that the suspension is a mandatory part of school policy. "It's only an administrative suspension that is an automatic function when someone's involved in an investigation," he said Thursday. "It wasn't a decision based on merits of the case."

Second, on a much more exciting note: Kumari Fulbright has contacted us! Since the scandal broke, she hasn't been speaking with the media, letting her lawyer to do the talking. So we were thrilled and honored to receive this message from her, via Facebook:

You forgot a quote of mine on your blog.....

"God gave you 2 ears and 1 mouth.... Take the hint"

With all that Ivy League education under your belt that should be reasonably self explanatory... but maybe not.

Well, God also gave us two (2) hands, with which to type up blog posts. Anyway, back to Kumari:

Also, where is your country of origin? In the United States we believe in innocent until proven guilty.

THANKS FOR ALL YOUR SUPPORT!

We usually enjoy being abused by beautiful legal divas, but for some reason we didn't take kindly to this. Read our response, after the jump.

In an earlier post about the Kumari Fulbright situation at the University of Arizona law school, we noted that the UA administration has been fairly taciturn about the whole matter. Perhaps in response to the community's desire for more openness, Dean Toni Massaro just sent out an email discussing the matter.

It was forwarded to us by a tipster, who commented:

Can you believe this BS? It is a "welcome back" email from Dean Massaro at the University of Arizona Law School in which she "addresses" the Kumari Fulbright situation. But the Dean doesn't really "address" anything. The school in effect says nothing at all....

With a [student] (Craig Cordes) who allegedly killed a cop in New York, a "beauty" queen gone bad, and other issues, the school needs to step up and make an affirmative statement that not only addresses these issues directly, but also defends from ridicule the few capable students at the school that have BigLaw jobs.

AZWildcat2L

AZ Wildcat 2L, why are you being so hard on Dean Massaro? Longtime ATL readers may recall that she was nominated as one of America's hottest law school deans. One of her nominators wrote:

Not only is Dean Massaro brilliant, attractive, and self-assured, she's also a cancer survivor AND a lesbian. It's easy to make Advanced Con Law sexy, but how many Deans could get 3rd year students out of bed every morning for an 8 am class and have a packed classroom? Moreover, students just LOVE her Civil Procedure classes. I'm not kidding.

Check out the email from Dean Massaro, one southwestern hottie opining on another, after the jump.

Time for an update on everyone's favorite law student cum beauty queen cum accused kidnapper, Kumari Fulbright. If you're not familiar with her story, click here, and read through the ATL archives.

First, from an observant reader, some sad news for those of us who were her Facebook friends:

It looks like Kumari finally realized we weren't all her friends. Her Facebook page is gone.

Darn it, now we're down a friend. And just as we're closing in on the 1,000 friend mark!

Second, poor Kumari Fulbright has been temporarily suspended from the University of Arizona law school. Getting indicted on kidnapping and assault charges will tend to do that to you. One UA alum, who brought the news to our attention, observed:

Well, it took the alma mater long enough to react. I've been forwarded this godd**ned story from everyone I know across the country, all with some variation of either (a) UA law students are stupid / crazy or (b) girls in Tucson are ugly / felonious. Stay classy, Arizona.

We object -- strenuously. The "felonious" part is not established; she's been indicted, not convicted. And the "ugly" part is belied by the record evidence. Even though her Facebook profile is gone, we'll always have that screenshot (above right), which amply demonstrates Kumari's overwhelming hotness. The way you become a beauty queen is by being beautiful. Who'd have thunk it?

Our Arizona tipster adds:

[T]his story's insane... It's been killing me at happy hours or other lawyer gatherings here in Phoenix... Everyone has been taking their swipes at the U. of A law school for the past two weeks!

The school hasn't made many statements, and I really doubt they will. They're all touchy-feely down there. I'm surprised they didn't try to cure her with hugs.

More about the suspension, plus links to news articles, below the fold.

Just half an hour ago, in our exegesis of her Facebook profile, we observed -- and yes, we'll 'fess up, our feelings were a trifle hurt -- that Kumari Fulbright hadn't returned our Facebook poke.

Our apologies to the fabulous Ms. Fulbright. It seems that we poke -- er, spoke -- too soon:

Oh noes! Where do we go from here? Send her a spare roll of duct tape as a "gift"? Bite her and turn her into a "zombie" -- because she's not fearsome enough already?

Facebook can be so confusing!

Earlier: Brief Reflections on the Facebook Profile of Kumari Fulbright

As we mentioned in our earlier post about Kumari Fulbright, the former beauty queen and current law student indicted on charges of kidnapping her ex-boyfriend, we poked her today on Facebook. She has not yet returned our poke. But, surprisingly enough, she did add us as a friend.

(We also asked her, via Facebook message, if she had any comment on her case. But we haven't heard back from her, even though she has been online for most of the day.)

Update: Exciting news! Kumari Fulbright has poked us back. See here.

Now, although we've been added as a friend, we're not in very exclusive company. Since her story broke, Ms. Fulbright has been rapidly acquiring friends -- over 50 in the last 24 hours. Can you imagine if (1) social networking sites existed at the time of the Monica Lewinsky scandal, and (2) that curvaceous beauty was on MySpace or Facebook? She would have picked up "friends" faster than her blue Gap dress picked up presidential DNA.

Anyway, as a Facebook friend of Kamari Fulbright, we have access to her profile. We offer some observations and advice, after the jump.

Sure, it might feel really good to (1) bite your ex-boyfriend on the arm, hand and ear; (2) hold a butcher knife to his head; and (3) threaten to kill him. Just imagine how satisfying that bunny-boiling must have been for Alex Forrest (Glenn Close) in Fatal Attraction.

But if there's any truth to the allegations against Arizona law student, former judicial extern, and ex-beauty queen Kumari Fulbright, and if her experience is at all representative, it won't do wonders for your looks:

More about the alleged misadventures of the Fulbright scholar -- who was indicted last month on charges of kidnapping, armed robbery, and aggravated assault, among other things -- below the fold (i.e., click on the "Continue reading" link below).