PROSECUTORS DROP PLAN TO TRY TEEN IN MURDER PLOT AS ADULT
RACINE, Wis. (AP) -- A 16-year-old boy accused of masterminding a plot to kill students and teachers at his high school will be tried as a juvenile.Prosecutors on Tuesday withdrew a petition to prosecute the boy as an adult on murder conspiracy charges. However, they added six other conspiracy counts.
The decision came after the recommendations of psychological and criminal justice experts, Assistant District Attorney Richard Barta said.
Lawyers for two other 16-year-old boys accused in the plot said they have been told by prosecutors that their clients also will be tried as juveniles.
If convicted in juvenile court, the defendants face up to three years in custody. If tried as adults, they would face up to 120 years.
ANTI-ABORTION ACTIVIST DENIES ANY LINK TO 'HIT LIST' WEB SITE
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) -- An anti-abortion activist conceded that he has advocated the use of lethal force to halt abortions but denied direct links to a Web site plaintiffs say amounts to a hit list.
Andrew Burnett testified Tuesday in a federal trial to determine whether fliers made to look like wanted posters and the Web site that lists the names, addresses and phone numbers of abortion doctors is constitutionally protected free speech.
"From my information, all the information in those files can be legally obtained," said Burnett, publisher of Life Advocate magazine.
BLAZES AT 2 N.J. HOMES KILL 3 KIDS, BADLY BURN ANOTHER
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) -- Three children were killed and another critically burned early Wednesday as fires swept through homes in two of New Jersey's largest cities. At least two other people were injured.
In Newark, 19-month-old Jasmine Crowell and her 7-year-old brother, William Crowell III, died in an apartment fire at about 3 a.m.
Their father, William Anthony Crowell Jr., was critically burned trying to save his children, police Sgt. Derek Glenn said. He had to be rescued himself from a third-floor window by firefighters, and was hospitalized with third-degree burns over 40 percent of his body.
In Trenton, a house fire killed one child and critically burned at least one other. An adult also was taken to a hospital, but other details were not available.
In Brentwood, N.Y., early Tuesday, a house fire killed two boys while their mother cried outside clutching their baby sister.
FLYNT SAYS HE NEEDS DELAY IN TRIAL FOR SOME SURGERY
CINCINNATI (AP) -- Larry Flynt says he's too sick to go to trial on obscenity charges.
The 55-year-old Hustler publisher and his brother, Jimmy, 49, are accused of obscenity and other charges for selling sexually explicit videos at their Hustler Magazine & Gifts store. The trial is set for Jan. 19.
Flynt's attorneys asked for a postponement of two months, saying he needs surgery to correct a urological problem common among paraplegics. Flynt has been in a wheelchair since he was shot in 1978.
"The doctor is really worried about this," lawyer H. Louis Sirkin said.
A judge scheduled a hearing Wednesday on the request.
Flynt was charged after a 14-year-old boy said he bought a video at the store. If convicted, Flynt could get 24 years in prison.
VIOLATION OF PROBATION EARNS HACKER 5 MONTHS BEHIND BARS
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- A flamboyant computer hacker who says he helped put superhacker Kevin Mitnick behind bars has been sentenced to five months in federal prison for violating probation.
Justin Petersen, 38, was sentenced Tuesday by U.S. District Court Judge Stephen Wilson., who warned: "If you commit another crime, you face up to seven, eight, 10 years."
"I suggest you become a little less charming and a little more hard-working," the judge said.
Petersen was known for his computer skills as well as his love of Los Angeles night life, despite losing his left leg below the knee in a motorcycle accident.
PUERTO RICO JUDGE RELOCATES TRIAL OF 7 CUBAN-AMERICANS
MIAMI (AP) -- A federal judge in Puerto Rico has moved the trial of seven Cuban-Americans accused of conspiring to assassinate Cuban President Fidel Castro to Miami.
A defense motion for a change of venue was approved last week by U.S. Judge Hector Laffitte, who said the alleged plot "was hatched, nurtured and fledged in south Florida."
The men were indicted in Puerto Rico because four of them were intercepted off its coast by the U.S. Coast Guard in October 1997 on a yacht.
They were allegedly on their way to Venezuela to kill Castro, who was there attending a meeting of Latin American leaders. A search of the boat uncovered a stash of weapons, including two high-powered assault rifles.
The defendants -- all have pleaded not guilty -- were the first ever charged in a U.S. court with trying to kill the Cuban president. They face life in prison if convicted.
ANOTHER NAME GONE FROM LIST OF GOTTI JR.'S CO-DEFENDANTS
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. (AP) -- The list of co-defendants in John A. "Junior" Gotti's racketeering trial has dwindled again, with a 66-year-old man taking a plea bargain from his hospital bed and his son offering a courtroom confession.
In a bedside court session Tuesday at the Westchester Medical Center, Gregory DePalma -- who is ill with lung cancer -- told a federal magistrate that he was guilty of gambling, extortion, labor racketeering and tax crimes, defense lawyer John Mitchell said.
Prosecutors agreed to a prison sentence of between 10 and 13 years.
Though he won't be appearing at Gotti's federal racketeering trial, DePalma still is likely to be major presence because many of his conversations are among the thousands collected by federal agents with wiretaps.