The answer is, if you are shooting spells intending to incapacitate your target, the No, a 1st lawbreaker wont give you a bonus, if you are shooting spells to kill, then Yes, it will give you a bonus.

Or, for that matter, you could make it an Item of Power.  After all, Items of Power are - by definition - investing a portion of your powers into an external object.  It's just that, in this case, the "object" is a creature or construct of some sort.

This is a very good idea for modeling it. I'll have to remember it incase I ever want to use a familiar.

Its mentioned that they can be compelled to be affected by such things under the part that talks about their high concept.

Musts: A Red Court Infected must have a high concept that addresses the character’s infected status (e.g., Once Bitten, Twice Red or Infected Insurgent). This aspect may be compelled to inflict watered-down versions of the Red Court’s weaknesses on the character— he will experience aversion to holy objects and sunlight and, when exercising his powers, he may even be damaged by them. On the other hand, these can also help him resist his vampiric urges when he isn’t using his powers.

So it seems that they are only vulnerable to the catch when they are using their powers. Otherwise it helps them control their urges.

-edit-

As for belly wounds, probably defeats the catch after they've succumbed to feeding.

I dont know if this has been mentioned or not, but it looks like Martin (OW PG 189) and Susan Rodriguez (OW PG 219) don't have a catch attached to their Inhuman Recovery.

I only upped the cap of his skills to 1 higher than your example of Listens to Wind, I figure that the Merlin would have access to one tier higher on the skill chart, as far as sponsored magic, he needs a way to cast wards at evocation speed.

I decided to see what I would do for The Merlin's powers at a refresh level of 36, here is what I got.

COST      POWERS
 -3         Evocation (Earth, Fire, Wind, Water, Spirit)
 -3         Thaumaturgy
 -1         The Sight
 -0         Soulgaze
 -0         Wizards Constitution
 -2         Wards Sponsored Magic
-26         Refinement



Evocation Specialization: (7 Refinement)
Spirit      (Power +4, Control +3)
Earth      (Power +3, Control +2)
Water      (Power +2, Control +1)
Fire      (Power +1, Control +1)
Thaumaturgy Specializations: (15 Refinement)
Wards      (Control +5, Complexity +5, +1 to Each from Sponsored Magic)
Veils      (Control +4, Complexity +4)
Divination   (Control +3, Complexity +3)
Crafting   (Strength +2, Uses +2, Focus +1)
Conjuration (Control +1, Complexity +1)

Focus Items: (4 Slots)

Merlin's Staff (Ward Complexity & Control +2, Spirit Power & Control +2)

Enchanted Items: (8 Slots)

Rank   Skills
8      Lore, Conviction, Discipline
7      Contacts, Presence, Alertness
6      Scholarship, Resources, Investigation
5      Deceit, Rapport, Intimidation

Wards Sponsored magic lets The Merlin use his wards without he speed and methods of evocation, can use his wards Control as the Control bonus for wards cast with the speed and methods of evocation. Also gives him +1 Control and Complexity for casting wards.

This lets the warden cast a 16 shift ward with a complexity of 16 as an evocation spell, he will take 3 points of mental stress for it though.

When I have time I'll try to min/max the bonus from lawbreaker.
DFRPG hasnt many boni to increase the range.
If nobody does the work before me, I'll post an Focused Practioner Mindcontroller.
I'm still listing pro and contras...thats for real? So Cowl and Co all have only lawbreaker aspects?

Here is the best I could do for optimizing a lawbreaker, note that this guy is going to most likely be an NPC in most games, unless you slowly accrue lawbreakers.

COST   ABILITIES
-3   Evocation (Spirit, Water, Earth)
-3   Thaumaturgy
-2   Kemmlerian Necromancy
-2   Lawbreaker (First)
-1   Lawbreaker (Third)
-2   Lawbreaker (Fourth)
----
-13

Evocation Specializations:

Spirit (Power +1)

Thaumaturgy Specializations:

Necromancy (Control +2, Complexity +1)

Focus Items:

Necromancer's Staff (Necromancy Control +2, Spirit O. Power +2)

Rank   Skills
5   Conviction
4   Lore, Discipline, Endurance
3   Presence, Alertness, Athletics
2   Deceit, Rapport, Intimidation
1   Guns, Melee, Fists

Necromancy Evocations (Using Spirit as the Base Element) +11 Control, 8 Shifts of Power for a Necromancy evocation aimed at killing somebody.

-edit-

Though, to be more rounded it would be a refresh 16 character

COST   ABILITIES
-3   Evocation (Spirit, Water, Earth)
-3   Thaumaturgy
-1   The Sight
-0   Soulgaze
-2   Kemmlerian Necromancy
-2   Lawbreaker (First)
-2   Lawbreaker (Third)
-2   Lawbreaker (Fourth)
----
-15