Attorneys Cite Mitigating Factors in Deadly Conn. Home Invasion

Published November 03, 2010

| Associated Press

NEW HAVEN, Conn. -- Attorneys for a Connecticut man convicted of a deadly home invasion say he should be spared the death penalty because he was in a "state of intense rage, despair and confusion" during the crimes and is deeply remorseful for what he did.

Attorneys for Steven Hayes filed a list of mitigating factors in New Haven Superior Court on Wednesday.

Hayes was convicted last month of murdering a woman and her two daughters in a home invasion in Cheshire in 2007.

The defense also cited Hayes' abusive childhood and history of drug addiction. Hayes' lawyers say his co-defendant was the mastermind.

The jury must weigh the mitigating factors against aggravating factors cited by prosecutors, including the heinous and cruel nature of the deaths.

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Gas Explosion Levels Boston Home, No Injuries Reported

Published November 03, 2010

| Associated Press

BOSTON -- A utility official says a home in Boston exploded after construction crews accidentally struck a natural gas line.

There were no immediate reports of injuries.

NStar spokeswoman Caroline Allen says the explosion occurred around 8:30 a.m. Wednesday. She says a contractor for the Boston Water and Sewer Commission was installing a water main at the intersection of Danny Road and Reynolds Street in the Hyde Park neighborhood when the crew hit the gas line.

Gas was released into the home and it exploded.

Broadcast reports Wednesday morning showed the house completely flattened with debris spread around the area and a plume of smoke rising from the wreckage.

The house is not far from Boston Mayor Thomas Menino's home.

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No Serious Injuries After Calif. Inmates Brawl

Published November 02, 2010

| Associated Press

NORCO, Calif. -- Authorities say about eight inmates suffered minor injuries during a brawl at a California state prison that was quickly dispersed.

Lt. Brian Davis of the California Rehabilitation Center in Norco says a small fight in the food line Tuesday morning led to a much larger one in a TV and gaming area in the afternoon.

He says the seven or eight inmates who suffered cuts and bruises were the ones involved in the fight. No one was seriously hurt or taken to a hospital, and no staff members were injured.

Davis says guards used pepper spray to stop the brawl in about eight minutes.

The prison about 50 miles southeast of Los Angeles houses about 4,200 inmates, most of them low-level offenders.

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Mixed Verdicts in Outlaws Biker Gang Trial in Virginia

RICHMOND, Va. -- After a weeklong trial and nearly four days of deliberations, a federal jury convicted only one of four Outlaws motorcycle gang members on trial for racketeering and failed to reach a verdict on the organization's president.

Two members were acquitted Wednesday after a more than two-year undercover operation that resulted in charges against 27 members of the biker gang.

The jury was unable to reach a unanimous verdict on Outlaws national president Jack Rosga of Milwaukee, who was charged with conspiracy to commit racketeering and conspiracy to commit violence in the aid of racketeering. Rosga showed no emotion as the deadlock was announced.

Peter Duffey, the lead federal prosecutor in the case, said Rosga will be retried. U.S. District Judge Henry E. Hudson said a trial date will be set next week.

Leslie Werth, a leader in the Outlaws' Rock Hill, S.C., chapter was convicted on the same charges facing Rosga. He was acquitted of using violence in the aid of racketeering and a firearms charge.

William Davey of Asheville, N.C., was acquitted on four charges and Mark Spradling of Hickory, N.C., was found not guilty of two charges.

Davey's attorney, Horace F. Hunter, said his client was thrilled to be exonerated and going home, and that Rosga also should be pleased that the jury couldn't reach a decision on his case.

"To not get a verdict on Jack Rosga is certainly a victory for him and a defeat for the government," Hunter said.

The U.S. attorney's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The government claimed that Rosga led a criminal enterprise responsible for an array of violent crimes, most of them aimed at gaining an advantage over the rival Hell's Angels motorcycle gang and its allies.

"There are always going to be a few bad apples," Hunter said. "This is an organization of over 600 people."

The government's star witness was an undercover agent who infiltrated the Outlaws for more than two years and established a chapter in Petersburg, Va. He testified about a number of violent or tension-filled conflicts between the Outlaws and their rivals.

Fifteen of the biker gang members who were indicted in June have pleaded guilty. One was killed by federal agents as they tried to arrest him in Maine, and charges were dropped against one. Six others have yet to be tried.

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New Mexico Tribe Bans Newspaper After Story of Killing

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.-- The leaders of a small tribal community nestled in northern New Mexico's mesas and red rocks hoped their tribe could heal from the horrific killing of one of their own.

Then the slaying was recounted on the front page of the Jemez Thunder: "Gruesome murder at Jemez Pueblo." In seven paragraphs, the story described how a tribal member stabbed, slashed and disemboweled another man.

In some places, the story might draw outrage for its details. In Jemez Pueblo, the newspaper was also banned.

The tribe was well within its rights as a sovereign government to prohibit, as the governor did, the distribution of the newspaper at the tribal visitors center and a convenience store.

"The pueblos enjoy sovereign immunity where free speech and the First Amendment are concerned," said Peter Simonson, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union in New Mexico.

The tribe was in the news just a week ago, when it banned trick-or-treating on Halloween. The tribe said it was not part of its traditional culture and was a safety concern because of the small community's unlit roads.

The community of about 2,500 sits an hour's drive northwest of Albuquerque, New Mexico's largest city. The tribe deeply embraces its traditions, including preserving their Towa language.
Tribal lands are apart from the U.S. government. Tribes have their own separate governments, and their own laws. The federal government prosecutes violations of crimes such as murder.

The 1,000-circulation, English-language newspaper is based in the nearby non-tribal community of Jemez Springs, sells for 75 cents and usually runs between 24 to 32 pages, said Robert Borden, who owns it along with his wife, Kathleen Wiegner. The Bordens and a reporter make up the staff, although it also pays some columnists.

Borden said he's written positive stories about the pueblo in the past.

He wrote the story about the killing based on an FBI criminal complaint filed in federal court. He noted he also wrote that the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty. It was published at the bottom of the front page of the paper's Oct. 15 edition, below stories about a horse-riding program and artists being sought for a bridge program.

Lucas Toledo, 22, faces a murder charge in the killing of Matthew Panana, 21, on Sept. 29.
Jemez Pueblo Gov. Joshua Madalena banned the sales, saying the story was sensationalized. Madalena said the paper's failure to exercise restraint shows it is "out of touch with the community's perspective."

Borden, who has published the newspaper since 1995, said he was disheartened rather than angry at the response.

He and Madalena were planning to meet Wednesday for what Borden said would be "a wide-ranging discussion."

Madalena said the discussion needs to be held "to make sure the newspaper is respectful toward the pueblo and the other communities" in the 30-mile Jemez Valley.

Madalena said Tuesday the close-knit community did not need to know the details of the killings. He said the story reopened wounds and was hurtful to the tribe.

The community "is hurt by the fact that this occurred at all," Borden responded. "I didn't hurt the community."

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FDA Tests Confirm Listeria at Texas Food Plant

Federal health officials found the listeria bacteria at a San Antonio food processing plant that Texas authorities have linked to four deaths from contaminated celery, the Food and Drug Administration said Wednesday.

The federal agency said it found the pathogen in multiple locations in the SanGar Produce & Processing Co. plant, confirming the testing announced last month by the Texas Department of State Health Services.

The Texas health authority shut the plant down Oct. 20 and ordered a recall of all produce shipped from there since January. A hearing on the case is set for Nov. 17 in Austin.

"It comes as no surprise to us," Texas health department spokeswoman Carrie Williams said Wednesday of the FDA's findings. "If there was any doubt out there, this erases it. It's another layer of confirmation that this plant had serious issues."

FDA spokeswoman Patricia El-Hinnawy said in an e-mail the agency would not comment on the results.

Jason Galvan, an attorney for SanGar, said he couldn't immediately comment on the FDA report.

"The FDA and the state have not turned over to us the documentation supporting their findings. We cannot comment on these most recent findings until the documentation is provided for independent evaluation by our experts," Galvan said.

After the closure of the plant, which also produced lettuce, pineapple and honeydew, the company alleged the state health inspector who took samples from the plant Oct. 11 could have contaminated them by being dressed improperly and touching surfaces -- an assertion the state department denied.

SanGar has said its own tests would disprove the health department's findings.

The state health department initially traced six of 10 known cases of listeriosis during an eight-month period to celery processed at the SanGar plant, including four deaths. The department last week linked a seventh case to SanGar, Williams said. The agency is investigating the origins of the other three cases.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 500 people die of listeriosis each year in the U.S., and about 2,500 people become seriously ill.

Those with weaker immune systems -- including pregnant women, young children, the elderly and those battling serious illness -- are most at risk of becoming seriously ill or dying because of listeriosis, the CDC says. Healthy adults and children occasionally are infected with the disease but rarely become seriously ill.

The health department has prohibited SanGar from reopening the plant without agency approval.
"We're working with them to clean up their business so that they may be able to reopen in the future," Williams said. "The bottom line is we need to be sure the company can produce safe food before it reopens."

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FBI: 5th Virginia Shooting Linked to Earlier Cases

Published November 03, 2010

| Associated Press

WASHINGTON -- The FBI says the latest shooting at a military building in Virginia is connected to four other shootings reported last month.

The fifth shooting, at a Coast Guard recruiting station at suburban Washington strip mall, was reported Tuesday morning. No one has been injured in any of the shootings.

Lindsay Godwin, a spokeswoman for the FBI's Washington field office, said Wednesday that investigators have not identified a suspect. Details about the kind of gun used have not been disclosed.

Last month overnight shootings were reported at the National Museum of the Marine Corps, the Pentagon, and a Marine Corps recruiting station. The museum was targeted twice.

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