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One is charged with second-degree murder and another is accused of involuntary manslaughter in the slaying of Kelly Thomas, who suffered from schizophrenia. Orange County prosecutors charged two veteran Fullerton police officers in the death of a mentally ill homeless man, accusing them of a callous cascade of violence against Kelly Thomas as he begged for his life. Dist. Atty. Tony Rackauckas on Wednesday said what began as routine questioning by police devolved into a "beating at the hands of an angry police officer," with other officers eventually joining in. He stressed that Thomas did not provoke the attack and...

(excerpted) Authorities had been collecting marijuana plants on Round Mountain at the end of Rabbit Lane, according to a sheriff's report. "We could hear the rounds pass by and hit," Fontes said. Officers initially thought the shots came from the growers, Fontes said, but later discovered it was Speyrer who lived in a nearby home. According to the report, when officers noticed Spreyer in the area, they approached her and ordered her to get on the ground. Here's what the report states happened next: "Why do I have to get on the ground," the senior asked. "You shot at us,"...

MARSHALLTOWN, Iowa -- A Marshalltown homeowner faces felony charges after shooting at a trespasser Sunday afternoon. Officials said the trespasser has been charged with a misdemeanor. Clayton Jensen told officials he had just come home from running an errand when he looked out his back window and saw a man in his backyard. Jensen said he was concerned for his family's safety. "He was kind of heightened alert because one of his family members had seen someone outside the house at night and then they took off when they were confronted," said Brian Batterson, Marshalltown assistant police chief. Several homeowners...

Former Czech Prime Milos Zeman may face criminal charges for calling Islam an ”anti-civilization” enemy whose type of thinking he compared with the Nazis. Speaking at an international conference on Europe last month, Zeman stated, “The enemy is the anti-civilization spreading from North Africa to Indonesia. Two billion people live in it and it is financed partly from oil sales and partly from drug sales.” The former prime minister, who is known for strong statements and insulting speeches, last week compared the manner and strength of Muslim beliefs in the Koran with the followers of Nazism, who he noted believed...

Rachel Maddow should immediately accuse Matt Lauer and the today show of trying to scare white people. Here’s the story as told on Today: Here’s what the good kids who made bad choices did to Carter Strange: He had to have emergency surgery to remove a blood clot on his brain, and underwent an operation on Thursday to rebuild his nose, which was badly broken. He also suffered a fractured eye socket. Meanwhile the police say they haven’t found any evidence that Carter was targeted because he is white: Columbia Police Chief Randy Scott…said he cannot call it a hate...

Shariatpur, Bangladesh (CNN) -- Hena Akhter's last words to her mother proclaimed her innocence. But it was too late to save the 14-year-old girl. Her fellow villagers in Bangladesh's Shariatpur district had already passed harsh judgment on her. Guilty, they said, of having an affair with a married man. The imam from the local mosque ordered the fatwa, or religious ruling, and the punishment: 101 lashes delivered swiftly, deliberately in public. Hena dropped after 70. Bloodied and bruised, she was taken to hospital, where she died a week later. Amazingly, an initial autopsy report cited no injuries and deemed her...

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Actress Lindsay Lohan was charged on Wednesday with grand theft over a $2,500 necklace that was allegedly taken from a Los Angeles jewelry store. Lohan was scheduled to appear in court later on Wednesday for an arraignment on the single felony count. If convicted, the 24-year-old "Mean Girls" star could be sent to prison just as she struggles to end more than three years of court appearances, failed drug tests and brief spells in jail stemming from a 2007 drunk driving conviction. Lohan's lawyer has said that the actress denies the allegations and will fight them...

New York - A Canadian man helped a terror network carry out bombings in Iraq that killed five U.S. soldiers and numerous Iraqi citizens, New York authorities said Wednesday. They said he even tried to become a suicide bomber. Faruq Khalil Muhammad 'Isa is charged in Brooklyn in a truck bomb attack outside U.S. base in Mosul, Iraq, on April 10. Five American soldiers were killed. Muhammad was arrested in Edmonton, Alberta, on Wednesday, authorities said. The network allegedly used Tunisian radicals to help carry out bombings. A second attack at an Iraqi police station killed seven Iraqis, prosecutors said.

A new analysis of political signs displayed at a tea party rally in Washington last month reveals that the vast majority of activists expressed narrow concerns about the government's economic and spending policies and steered clear of the racially charged anti-Obama messages that have helped define some media coverage of such events. Emily Ekins, a graduate student at UCLA, conducted the survey at the 9/12 Taxpayer March on Washington last month by scouring the crowd, row by row and hour by hour, and taking a picture of every sign she passed. Ekins photographed about 250 signs, and more than half...

<p>An NFL analyst who writes for ESPN has been arrested on child porn charges, police said Thursday.</p> <p>Jeremy Green, 38, of Southington was arrested at an area hotel about 5 p.m., police stated in a press release. He was charged with first-degree possession of child pornography, possession of narcotics and possession of drug paraphernalia and was in custody on $750,000 cash bail.</p>

14-year-old girl was arrested and charged Monday in the April death of her newborn son, Houston police said Tuesday. SNIP Investigators said the 14-year-old girl was afraid her mother would find out she was pregnant, and that she would get in trouble. So police said she, her sister and two friends watched a video online about giving birth, and then she had her baby at a friend’s apartment in the 10100 block of Bissonnet on April 16. Investigators said the newborn was placed on a mattress, but his head was covered with what police believe was the amniotic sac, so...

ELYRIA — Gay pornography was found by police on the computer of the slain Duane Hurley. The graphic images — some appearing to feature underage boys — were shown this afternoon during the testimony of North Ridgeville police Detective Adam Freas. Daniel Kovarbasich’s defense attorneys have said that showing such pornography to the 16-year-old was part of Hurley’s efforts to “groom” the boy to be molested. Daniel, who is being tried as an adult, is on trial on murder and felonious assault in connection with the Jan. 22 beating and stabbing death of Hurley at Hurley’s North Ridgeville home. Daniel’s...

If I had told you Wednesday the story about Anat Kamm, an Israeli journalist charged with espionage, I might have been arrested. A gag order on the case has prevented journalists from reporting it. The media ban was lifted today. Anat Kamm, 23, faces espionage charges for allegedly taking more than 2,000 documents while completing her required military service—700 pages of top secret, classified documents according to the Shin Bet, Israel's secret service. Kamm was doing her military duty in Israel's Defense Forces Central Command. She's been under house arrest for the past four months.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The man accused in an incident of road rage over an Obama bumper sticker Thursday afternoon says he was only trying to get around another car that had stopped in front of him. Harry Weisiger told News 2, "He slammed on his brakes, and I hit him in the bumper when I tried to go around him." Weisiger, 70, is accused of hitting Mark Duren's car on Blair Boulevard around 4:30p.m. Friday. Duren claims Weisiger flipped him off and rammed into him with his SUV after noticing an Obama-Biden bumper sticker on his car. "He pointed at...

CHICAGO – Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich and his brother were charged Thursday in a fresh corruption indictment that contains no new allegations of misconduct but that prosecutors hope will help avoid delays to the start of Blagojevich's trial. The new indictment only adds charges based on the same allegations the Blagojeviches have faced for months, including scheming to sell or trade the Senate seat vacated by President Barack Obama's election to the White House and a variety of political fundraising abuses. The new charges are an attempt by prosecutors to ensure that a legal controversy now before the U.S....

SALISBURY, Conn. – Actor Elmore "Rip" Torn has been charged with breaking into a Connecticut bank and carrying a loaded handgun while intoxicated. State police say the 78-year-old Salisbury resident was arrested Friday night after police found him inside the Litchfield Bancorp with a loaded revolver. The "Men in Black" actor has been taken into custody and booked on charges including burglary and possession of firearm without a permit. He is being held on $100,000 bond and is scheduled for a Monday appearance in Bantam Superior Court.

Danish authorities say a Somali man has been charged with two counts of attempted murder for an attack on an artist whose cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad ignited riots and outrage across the Muslim world. Jakob Scharf, head of Denmark's intelligence agency, said the 28-year-old Somali man with ties to al-Qaida broke into Kurt Westergaard's home in Aarhus on Friday night. The 75-year-old artist pressed an alarm and fled with his 5-year-old granddaughter to a special safe room. Police say they then shot the attacker in the hand and knee when he threatened them. The suspect was charged at a...

Sounds like this video was produced in Great Britain. It was posted a week or so ago and it's a parody of highly politically charged outdoors peaceful protesting. The title says it all actually and it's quite entertaining!

NEW YORK (Reuters) – A U.S. man has been charged with giving al Qaeda details about the New York City transit system and the Long Island Railroad, as well as firing rockets on U.S. troops in Afghanistan, according to court papers unsealed on Wednesday. Bryant Neal Vinas, 26, is also accused of receiving military-type training between March and August last year from the Islamist extremist group headed by Osama bin Laden. Vinas provided al Qaeda with "expert advice and assistance, including assistance derived from specialized knowledge of the New York transit system and Long Island Railroad, communications equipment and personnel,...

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – A federal grand jury has indicted the environmental group Greenpeace and 11 people involved in hanging a banner on Mount Rushmore. Greenpeace has said three of its members hung the 65-by-35-foot banner calling for a stop to global warming July 8 while others blocked access to the site.

Another South Bay physical education teacher was arrested on suspicion of having an inappropriate relationship with a student — the third in two weeks. Megan Sainsbury, 31, a teacher and former coach at Prospect High School in Saratoga, was arrested Wednesday on three misdemeanor counts of "annoying or molesting'' a 17-year-old student, according to court documents. The alleged misconduct occurred between October 2007 and January 2009. According to court records, Sainsbury and the student kissed and touched, but there is no evidence they had sex. They allegedly exchanged text messages of a romantic nature. Sainsbury bought the teen gifts, including...

A New York City councilman accused of intentionally slashing his girlfriend in the face with a broken glass called it an "unfortunate accident" on Saturday. "I have been charged with offenses that I did not commit and am not capable of committing," Hiram Monserrate, a Democratic councilman and state senator-elect, said in a statement a day after he was arrested on domestic violence charges. Monserrate got into an argument with girlfriend Karla Giraldo, 30, early Friday at his Queens house, according to a criminal complaint. Giraldo said Monserrate broke a glass in his hand and cut her face with it,...

LONDON – British police charged a 43-year-old man Thursday with plotting an act of terrorism and having two improvised explosive devices, chemicals, timers, and a Nazi-themed handbook. Neil Christopher Lewington was first arrested last week after police discovered a suspected explosive device when they searched him at a railway station in Lowestoft, a coastal city in eastern England. --snip-- Scotland Yard said in a statement that Lewington carried two improvised explosive devices to Lowestoft from Reading, a city near London where he lives, on Oct. 30. --snip-- The police statement said Lewington had four containers of weed killer, seven timers,...

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich (WZZM) Two people from West Michigan are facing felony charges after authorities say they forged multiple voter registration applications. Robin Anderson and Patty Wallace are both facing multiple charges of felony forgery. The State Attorney General's Office says Anderson and Wallace both told Grand Rapids authorities they turned in fake voter applications to meet quotas set by their employer Community Voter's Project. They face up to 14 years on each count but could face tougher penalties for being habitual offenders. Anderson was convicted of dealing drugs in 2006. Wallace was convicted in Florida of unemployment compensation fraud...

CANBERRA (Reuters) - Police in Australia have charged a man for drink driving in a motorized wheelchair after he was found to be six times over the legal alcohol limit, local media reported on Monday. Police in the tropical northern Queensland city of Cairns said the man had a blood alcohol reading of 0.31, and was so drunk he was asleep at the controls of his motorized wheelchair in a turning lane of a major highway. --snip-- Other motorists on the four-lane highway had to swerve to avoid the wheelchair, police said.

HARARE (AFP) - The Zimbabwe opposition's number two was charged with subverting government on Thursday and faces a potential death penalty, as more violence was reported before next week's presidential run-off. Tendai Biti, the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) secretary general, faces four charges including subverting the government, election rigging and "projecting the president as an evil man." MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai, who faces President Robert Mugabe in the June 27 run-off election, dismissed the charges as "frivolous." The charges stem from documents prosecutors say Biti authored discussing plans to rig the March 29 first-round parliamentary and presidential vote,...

PARIS - French judges filed preliminary insider trading charges Friday against Noel Forgeard, a former co-chief executive of Airbus parent EADS, his lawyer said. The investigating judges ordered Forgeard freed after two days in the custody of financial police pending the investigation, lawyer Jean-Alain Michel said. Investigators are looking into the sale of EADS shares by top executives and shareholders before a June 2006 announcement of delays for the A380 superjumbo that made EADS shares crash 26 percent in one day. Forgeard has denied wrongdoing. Forgeard told judges Xaviere Simeoni and Cecile Pendaries during questioning "that he had not committed...

LONDON (AFP) - Supermodel Naomi Campbell has been charged with a string of offences after allegedly assaulting a police officer at London's Heathrow airport, her lawyer said Thursday. Campbell, 37, was taken off a British Airways plane by officers on April 3 after she boarded a flight to Los Angeles in the United States and was told before takeoff that one of her bags was missing. She is charged with five offences -- three counts of assaulting a constable, one of disorderly conduct likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress and one of using threatening or abusive words or behaviour...

NEW CITY, N.Y. - An ex-prosecutor and former PTA president who is also the wife of a suburban police chief has been charged with having sex, smoking marijuana and drinking with high-school-age children. Beth Modica, 44, a former assistant district attorney in Rockland County and Queens, pleaded not guilty Tuesday to counts including statutory rape, sex abuse and endangering children. Her hands were cuffed in front of her in court, where the indictment was unsealed. She later posted $75,000 bail. Her husband is police chief of Spring Valley. He is "not implicated whatsoever," Rockland County District Attorney Thomas Zugibe said....

ATLANTA - The 80-year-old leader of a suburban Atlanta megachurch has been charged with lying under oath, court documents show. A warrant for the arrest of Archbishop Earl Paulk, co-founder of Cathedral of the Holy Spirit at Chapel Hill Harvester Church, was issued Monday, according to court documents. Paulk was making arrangements Monday night to turn himself in to authorities, WAGA-TV reported. Paulk's attorneys did not immediately return calls from The Associated Press for comment. Former church employee Mona Brewer is suing Paulk, his brother, Don, and the church for allegedly manipulating her into an affair from 1989 to 2003...

A Texas employer is facing federal charges for allegedly helping an illegal immigrant return to the United States after he was deported, an illegal who now is accused in the fatal shooting of a police officer, according to a published report. Juan Leonardo Quintero-Perez is accused of shooting and killing Houston policeman Rodney Johnson and jury selection in the capital murder trial is scheduled March 31. He could be sentenced to death if convicted, according to a report by the Associated Press. "Every single time an illegal alien is arrested for a crime, police should be asking who their employer...

2 charged in Wash. holiday killingsBy DONNA GORDON BLANKINSHIP Associated Press Writer Posted on Fri, Dec. 28, 2007 AP Photo - King County Sheriff Sue Rahr, left, and Prosecutor Dan Satterberg leave after addressing members of the media to explain charges being filed against a couple accused of killing members of the woman's family, Friday, Dec. 28, 2007, in Seattle. Michele K. Anderson and Joseph Thomas McEnroe, both 29, were charged Friday with aggravated first-degree murder in the methodical Christmas Eve shooting deaths of her parents, her brother, his wife and their two young children. The two were ordered held...

Former "American Idol" finalist Jessica Sierra was jailed early Saturday after a drunken confrontation with police and onlookers... The arrest comes less than two weeks after she pleaded no contest to charges of battery and possession of cocaine. Sierra, 22, was charged Saturday with disorderly intoxication, resisting arrest and violating conditions of her parole on earlier felony battery and possession charges. She was being held without bond. Sierra, who was supposed to be completing a drug-rehabilitation program to be televised nationally, was arrested at a bar in Ybor City at 2:10 a.m. Saturday. "As the defendant was taken into custody,...

Two engineers about to go on trial for allegedly stealing confidential computer chip designs from their Silicon Valley employer and a partner firm were indicted Wednesday on the rare and more serious charge of economic espionage, prosecutors said. The indictment returned by a grand jury in U.S. District Court in San Jose accuses Lan Lee, 42, of Palo Alto, and Yuefei Ge, 34, a Chinese national living in San Jose, of orchestrating the computer-chip plot so they could go into business with the Chinese military. The men are accused of stealing secret data sheets and other confidential documents from NetLogic...

SAN FRANCISCO - Federal authorities on Thursday charged a rookie San Francisco lawmaker with fraud, accusing him of attempting to extort $80,000 from a group of fast-food franchisees who had business permit troubles with the city. During an FBI sting earlier this year, the tapioca drink shop owners delivered a $40,000 payment to Supervisor Ed Jew in marked $100 bills and promised to pay the rest later, authorities said. Jew has acknowledged taking the money, but said he did so at the businessmen's insistence and on behalf of a consultant he recommended they hire to help with their permit problems....

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. (AP) - Former major league All-Star Jose Offerman was charged with two counts of second-degree assault after hitting an opposing team's pitcher and catcher with his bat during an independent minor league game. Offerman posted $10,000 bond and was due in Bridgeport Superior Court on Aug. 23, court officials said Wednesday.

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia - Cambodia's international genocide tribunal charged the head of a Khmer Rouge torture center with crimes against humanity on Tuesday, a historic first indictment against a top figure in the communist regime that created Cambodia's infamous killing fields. The suspect, Kaing Guek Eav, has acknowledged heading the S-21 prison, where the Khmer Rouge's suspected enemies were tortured before being taken to killing fields near the capital. An estimated 1.7 million people died from hunger, disease, overwork and execution when the Khmer Rouge was in power in 1975-79. The 62-year-old, also known as Duch, was one of five...

PARIS - Judges filed preliminary charges Friday against former Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin for his suspected role in a smear campaign that targeted Nicolas Sarkozy before he became France's president, an attorney said. The case stems from an attempt three years ago to discredit Sarkozy, who was a government minister at the time and a political rival of Villepin within their conservative UMP party. Sarkozy and other prominent figures were falsely accused of having secret bank accounts to hold bribes from a 1991 sale of frigates to Taiwan. Villepin was charged with "complicity in slanderous denunciations" and complicity in...

ROY, Utah - A man fired six shots at a backyard intruder who was trying to light a barbecue grill, police said. "Way odd," Police Chief Greg Whinham said. Michael Wilder, 66, was charged with attempted homicide after chasing Kory Scott and shooting at him. "Nobody should wake up and find someone in their backyard doing anything, but the law's very specific that you can't use deadly force in that situation," Whinham said. Scott was not injured in the July 11 incident. He twice tried to run away when Wilder confronted him, according to court documents. "Stop or I'll shoot,"...

DEVELOPING REPORT: GOLD Coast doctor Mohamed Haneef has been charged with providing support to a terrorist organisation, the Australian Federal Police (AFP) said today. Police will allege Gold Coast doctor Mohamed Haneef supported a terrorist organisation by "recklessly'' giving his mobile phone SIM card to people planning car bomb attacks in the UK. Dr Haneef, an Indian national who worked as a registrar at Gold Coast Hospital, will today face Brisbane Magistrates Court charged with providing support to a terrorist organisation. "The specific allegation involves recklessness rather than intention,'' Australian Federal Police Commissioner Mick Keelty said in Canberra today. "The...

NEWARK, N.J. - Former Newark Mayor Sharpe James was indicted Thursday on corruption charges involving land sales and allegations that he spent extravagantly on himself and several women using city-issued credit cards. The federal grand jury's 33-count indictment charges James with fraud for allegedly facilitating and approving the cut-rate sales of city-owned land to a female companion. It also charges James, 71, with using the city-issued credit cards on himself and eight women during trips to destinations including Rio de Janeiro, Puerto Rico and Martha's Vineyard, U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Christie and state Attorney General Anne Milgram announced. "The allegations...

A retired accountant murdered his wife when her suicide attempt went wrong, a jury was told. Frank Lund had climbed into bed with Patricia and watched as she swallowed 80 paracetamol tablets. But when it became clear that the overdose was not fatal and she started to be sick, he pulled a plastic bag over her head and smothered her with a pillow, holding her in his arms until she died, the court heard.

TAMPA, Fla. - Former "American Idol" finalist Jessica Sierra was arrested early Sunday on felony battery charges for allegedly hitting a man on the head with a heavy glass at a cafe, police said. Sierra, 21, was booked in the Hillsborough County Jail on a charge of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. She was also charged with possession of cocaine and introduction of contraband into a correctional facility after officers found a small amount of the drug while searching her, police spokeswoman Andrea Davis said. Sierra was released Sunday afternoon on $11,500 bail. There was no immediate indication if...

PHOENIX - A Border Patrol agent was charged Monday with first-degree murder in the shooting of an illegal immigrant at the border in January. An investigation found that Agent Nicholas Corbett's killing of Francisco Dominguez-Rivera, of Puebla, Mexico, was not legally justified, said Cochise County prosecutor Ed Rheinheimer. Corbett is also charged with second-degree murder, manslaughter and negligent homicide. Corbett's attorney, Daniel Santander, didn't immediately return a message left Monday afternoon by The Associated Press. The shooting, which drew condemnation from the Mexican government, occurred while Corbett was trying to apprehend Dominguez-Rivera and three others who were trying to enter...

Nigeria VP Charged With Corruption(AP) NEW YORK Nigeria's Vice President Atiku Abubakar was charged Tuesday at a special anti-graft court with more than a dozen counts of corruption stemming from the alleged diversion of $125 million of public funds to private interests. Charges filed by prosecutors before the Code of Conduct Tribunal in the Nigerian capital against Abubakar also include allegations he received more than $4.6 million in bribes. Abubakar, who is feuding with President Olusegun Obasanjo, has in the past dismissed the allegations as part of a plot to stop him from running for Nigeria's top office in April's...

SALT LAKE CITY - The parents of a bride-to-be told their daughter they were taking her on a shopping trip, but then drove to Colorado and kept her there until she missed the nuptials, officials said. Lemuel and Julia Redd have been charged with second-degree felony kidnapping. Utah County Attorney Kay Bryson said Tuesday he met with the couple's daughter, Julianna, and her now-husband Perry Myers before charging the parents. "I've never had a case quite like this," Bryson said. "It is strange that parents would go to that extent to keep an adult daughter from marrying the man that...

1 hour ago EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. - A woman was charged Saturday in the deaths of a pregnant friend and the fetus authorities believe she cut out from the slain woman's womb after knocking the victim unconscious. Tiffany Hall, 24, was charged as authorities implored the public for help in their search for the victim's two sons, ages 7 and 2, and 1-year-old daughter. Authorities say they were last seen with Hall on Monday, three days before she was taken into custody. Hall, who was jailed on $5 million bond, faces charges of first-degree murder and intentional homicide of...

LONDON (AFP) - A 13th person was charged in connection with the foiled alleged terror plot to blow up US-bound passenger jets from Britain, a police spokesman told AFP. Nabeel Hussain was one of 25 people arrested since police staged pre-dawn raids on August 10 in connection with the plot. Five have since been released without charge. Police also have warrants to quiz the remaining seven until Wednesday. Under British anti-terror laws, suspects can be detained for up to 28 days without being charged, subject to regular court approval. Hussain is the ninth of the terror suspects to be hit...

CHICAGO -- A Pulitzer Prize-winning foreign correspondent for the Chicago Tribune was charged in a Sudanese court Saturday with espionage and other crimes. Paul Salopek, 44, was charged in a 40-minute hearing with espionage, passing information illegally and writing "false news," the Tribune reported on its Web site. His driver and interpreter, both Chadian nationals, faced the same charges. ---snip--- "He had no agenda other than to fairly and accurately report on the region," Johns said. ---snip---

LONDON - Police found martyrdom videos and bomb-making components during the investigation of the alleged plot to blow up U.S.-bound jetliners, prosecutors said Monday in announcing 11 people had been charged with terrorism offenses. Officials confirmed for the first time that the plot involved the manufacture of explosives, which were to be used to assemble and detonate bombs inside as many as 10 airliners. U.S. officials previously had said the plot appeared to involve mixing liquid-based chemicals to make explosives aboard the aircrafts. One person was released from custody Monday and police continued to interrogate 11 others who remain "under...