PUBLIC HAS RIGHT TO ATTEND CIVIL TRIALS, CALIFORNIA RULES
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- In a ruling said to be the first of its kind in the nation, the California Supreme Court said a judge was wrong to exclude the media and public from parts of a trial over a lawsuit filed against actor Clint Eastwood.In a unanimous decision Tuesday, the court said a California judge can close part of a civil trial only if the judge holds a special hearing and finds there is an "overriding interest" supporting closure.
While the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled repeatedly that criminal trials must be open to the public and the media, the courts have not affirmed a similar constitutional right in civil proceedings.
CLINTON AVENUE IS CUT SHORT, DUE TO PRESSURE FROM PUBLIC
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) -- The drive to establish a President Clinton Avenue hasn't been the smoothest ride.
Little Rock's Board of Directors gave in to public pressure and reversed a 1997 decision to rename a 21-block stretch of Markham Street after the president.
The board voted 8-3 on Tuesday to limit the portion to be renamed to a small section, roughly two blocks, around the site of Clinton's presidential library, which has yet to be built.
The measure also calls for a series of public hearings, an element absent from the original resolution and one of the reasons the issue drew so much fire. The city's planning commission will also have to sign off on the change just like any street renaming.
PASTOR SENTENCED TO PRISON FOR SMUGGLING CHILD SLAVES
BALTIMORE (AP) -- A pastor has been sentenced to 27 months in prison for smuggling Estonian children into this country on the promise of a Christian education, only to force them to work 15-hour days to support her lavish lifestyle.
"I think these kids were worked to the bone," U.S. District Judge Marvin Garbis said Tuesday. "They were cheated."
Joyce Perdue, the 55-year-old pastor at Word of Faith Outreach ministry in Woodbine, Md., was ordered to pay back nearly $65,000 to the children and was fined $25,000.
EX-FLORIDA HOUSE SPEAKER SENTENCED FOR TAX EVASION
PENSACOLA, Fla. (AP) -- A former Florida House speaker and his wife have been sentenced to prison terms for tax evasion.
Bolley "Bo" Johnson received two years in prison and his wife, Judi, 15 months. They failed to report $452,675 in income paid to them by representatives of various interests seeking to take advantage of his influence with former Gov. Lawton Chiles.
"I'm sorry for the pain and suffering that has been brought to the people I love and care about," Bo Johnson said Tuesday in a brief statement to U.S. District Judge Lacey Collier.
RARE BOOKS TAKEN BY NAZIS ARE IN N.Y. GALLERY, SUIT SAYS
NEW YORK (AP) -- A collection of rare prayer books stolen by the Nazis from the French home of a Jewish art collector during World War II have resurfaced in a Manhattan gallery, a lawsuit says.
The eight books, valued at $15 million, belonged to Alphonse Kann, who collected more than 1,200 pieces of art, including paintings by Picasso, Manet and Matisse. He left his home in 1939, ahead of the Nazi occupation of France.
In a lawsuit filed Tuesday in state Supreme Court, descendants and heirs of Kann said the 15th, 16th and 17th century manuscripts, known as "Books of Hours," are currently at the Wildenstein Gallery. The estate was made aware of their location in 1996.
FEDERAL AGENTS JOIN PROBE OF FATAL LAWN MOWER BLAST
JASPER, Ala. (AP) -- A man riding his lawn mower was killed when the machine exploded, hurling pieces of the mower over the roof of his house.
James McAnnally was killed instantly when the 11-horsepower mower exploded Monday. His age was not available. His dog was also killed.
McAnnally had not started cutting his grass but had driven a short distance across his back yard when the lawn mower exploded.
Investigators for the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms joined a probe of the death Tuesday.
ACTOR IS STABBED WHEN SWORD PUNCTURES COSTUME ARMOR
NORTHAMPTON, Mass. (AP) -- An actor in an Elizabethan drama was rushed to the hospital after being accidentally stabbed during a sword-fight scene in which the weapon slipped through the costume armor.
Rydwyn Davies, 21, suffered a 2-inch puncture wound Saturday and was released from the hospital the same day.
"It was one of the scariest moments," director Tim Holcomb said Tuesday. "We went from thrilling to chilling in a moment."
After a short break, the show went on.