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3 Jefferson relatives plead innocent Three relatives of indicted U.S. Rep. William Jefferson, D-La., have pleaded innocent to charges they ripped off three charities they founded. Mose Jefferson; his sister, 4th District Assessor Betty Jefferson; and her daughter, Angela Coleman all entered pleas at an arraignment hearing Friday, The (New Orleans) Times-Picayune reported. They are accused of skimming more than $600,000 from three non-profit groups. U.S. Magistrate Louis Moore told the trio to avoid any contact with Brenda Foster, who pleaded guilty Wednesday. Foster, who also goes by the name Brenda Jefferson, is a sibling of the congressman, as well...

It is not the sort of appointment Gordon Brown would make to his cabinet. But then Mr Brown is no Silvio Berlusconi, playboy and man of ostentatious political gestures. The Italian prime minister, long known for his fondness for pretty women, has named former topless model and beauty queen Mara Carfagna as equal opportunities minister in his new cabinet. Miss Carfagna, 33, turned to politics after a career on TV following her sixth-place finish in the 1997 Miss Italy contest. She has also posed topless and semi-naked for photoshoots but has always underlined her family values and stressed none of...

Wrongly Convicted Man Released After 26 Years Reporting Derrick Blakley CHICAGO (CBS) The man who spent 26 years in prison for a crime he says he didn't commit was released on bond Friday night. Alton Logan's release was made possible because of two attorneys who this year dropped a bombshell when they admitted Logan was the wrong man convicted of a crime. CBS 2's Derrick Blakley reports Logan had been serving a life sentence for the 1982 murder of a McDonald's security guard. Another man, Andrew Wilson, told his lawyers years ago that he was the real killer. But under...

Cynthia Sommer, accused of fatally poisoning her Miramar Marine husband with arsenic, spent two years and four months behind bars. Yesterday, the 34-year-old mother of four walked out of the Las Colinas jail a free woman, after prosecutors dropped the murder case against her. Prosecutors said they now have reasonable doubt that Sgt. Todd Sommer was poisoned, based on conclusions reached by a new set of toxicology experts. San Diego Superior Court Judge John Einhorn granted the prosecutors' motion to dismiss “without prejudice,” meaning they have the option to refile charges later. Cynthia Sommer's defense lawyer has said he plans...

After spending nearly 23 years in prison for a rape he did not commit, Thomas Clifford McGowan on Wednesday heard the words that set him free. "Words cannot express how sorry I am for the last 23 years," said state District Judge Susan Hawk, moments after overturning his convictions. "I believe you can walk out of here a free man." McGowan, 49, won his freedom after a DNA test this month proved what he had always professed: that he did not rape a Dallas-area woman in 1985 and then burglarize her apartment. He was convicted of both crimes in separate...

Woman pleads guilty to false rape report By Peyton Whitely Seattle Times Eastside bureau A 22-year-old former Woodinville woman pleaded guiltyTuesday to making a false rape accusation against a local college professor last June. King County District Court Judge Peter Nault called the case one of the "saddest" he'd ever seen in court and one that is likely to have long-term impact on future investigations. "That we hurry to castigate a person who turns out to be entirely innocent ... I don't know how it could be worse," said Nault, saying the incident will make it harder for real sexual...

A bikini model in Japan has been cleared of property destruction after an appeal court heard that her large breasts meant she couldn't have committed the crime. Serena Kozakura – her professional name – was convicted in 2007 of kicking a hole in a man's door and crawling inside, supposedly because she was angry that he was with another woman. However, in her defence, her counsel asked the court to compare the size of the hole in the door with Kozakura's 110cm bust – and suggested that she couldn't possibly have made it through the gap. Kozakura maintains that the...

WASHINGTON, Nov. 15, 2007 – Afghan and coalition forces detained one suspect and treated a woman victimized by Taliban gunfire in Afghanistan in recent days, military officials said. Combined forces detained one suspect in a Nov. 13 operation to disrupt foreign-fighter facilitators in the Qalat district of Zabul province. Actionable intelligence led coalition forces to compounds in the district where they searched for militant facilitators thought to be hiding in the area. Troops found and detained a person with alleged links to foreign-fighter-facilitation operations, as well as other extremist activities, officials said. Some damage occurred to a building during the...

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — FBI and Internal Revenue Service agents searched the home of U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens on Monday. Investigative sources told FOX News that the FBI

Federal law enforcement agents are currently searching the Girdwood home of Alaska U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens, an FBI agent said. "All I can say is that agents from the FBI and IRS are currently conducting a search at that residence," said Dave Heller, the assistant special agent in charge of the FBI's Anchorage office. The search began this afternoon, he said.

Ted Stevens, the longest-serving Republican senator and once the chief power broker for dispensing federal dollars, says he's worried that a corruption investigation "could cause me some trouble" in running for re-election next year. ADVERTISEMENT The 83-year-old Alaska Republican has drawn Justice Department scrutiny over a renovation project in 2000 that more than doubled the size of his home in a resort town surrounded by glaciers. The remodeling was overseen by Bill Allen, a contractor who has pleaded guilty to bribing Alaska state legislators. Allen is founder of VECO Corp., an Alaska-based oil field services and engineering company that has...

Babies not as innocent as they pretend By Richard Gray, Science Correspondent Last Updated: 12:01am BST 01/07/2007 Whether lying about raiding the biscuit tin or denying they broke a toy, all children try to mislead their parents at some time. Yet it now appears that babies learn to deceive from a far younger age than anyone previously suspected. Behavioural experts have found that infants begin to lie from as young as six months. Simple fibs help to train them for more complex deceptions in later life. Until now, psychologists had thought the developing brains were not capable of the difficult...

Ending an investigation that clouded the tenure of former Senate majority leader Bill Frist, federal prosecutors have decided not to file insider-trading charges against the Tennessee Republican for his sales of stock in a family-owned chain of hospitals. The U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of New York and Securities and Exchange Commission staff sent Frist letters last week signaling that they had closed their joint, 18-month investigation. The letters essentially cleared him of wrongdoing. Frist said in a statement that he "acted properly" and that his only reason for selling stock in his trust accounts was to "eliminate the...

After the rape allegations against three young men from the Duke lacrosse team, 88 professors, including 11 from the history department, signed a public statement that they were "listening" regarding the allegations. Their actions led to campus protestors putting up wanted posters of the young innocent men and branding the lacrosse team as rapists. We all watched in amazement as Attorney General Cooper made a statement a few days ago that is almost unprecedented. He didn't say that there was not enough evidence in the case. He said that the young men were innocent. A short time ago, I spoke...

Lacrosse player sues Duke professor who failed him in wake of scandal (1/5/07 - DURHAM, NC) - In the first of a potential series of legal actions against Duke University, a former lacrosse player filed a civil lawsuit today, claiming a Duke professor failed him because of accusations by a hired dancer that she'd been sexually assaulted at a team party last March. The university apparently revised the grade upward months after student athlete Kyle Dowd graduated last spring, according to a copy of the court filings obtained by ABC News Law & Justice Unit. Dowd has not been accused...

A WOMAN'S crime in having sex once with a 15-year-old boy was different from the six-week affair Melbourne school teacher Karen Ellis had with a boy of similar age, a court heard. Diana Nicole Bennett's lawyer said that unlike Ellis, the boy with whom she had intercourse was not under her care, supervision or authority. The County Court heard yesterday that in January 2005, Bennett, a voluntary worker, then 28, had sex with the boy who had telephoned her at home one morning and invited her to his house. Judge Lance Pilgrim was told they had been friends for about...

By Associated Press TACOMA, Wash. (AP) - A Tacoma judge ignored a plea bargain and sentenced a former Buckley teacher to six months in jail for having sex with a 17-year-old student in April, 2006. Rebekah M. Todd, 25, had expected a sentence of 30 days in home detention when she appeared Friday in Pierce County Superior Court. She had pleaded guilty to attempted second-degree assault. Prosecutors said they had evidence she performed oral sex on the White River High School boy. The health and physical education teacher resigned after she was accused and forfeited her teaching certificate. The deputy...

U.S. prosecution of border guards is a baffling miscarriage of justice Saturday, March 10, 2007 The Associated Press article "Border-shooting case shrouded in confusion," Feb. 17, omitted many facts from the trial transcripts and Department of Homeland Security memos. The government prosecuted Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean criminally for acts that called only for an administrative reprimand, based the case on the testimony of an admitted drug smuggler brought back from Mexico and induced to testify by a grant of immunity, withheld crucial evidence from the jury, used the wrong law (which carries a mandatory additional 10-year sentence), and...

MARCH 1--Police tonight arrested two young women, a bank teller, and a fourth accomplice in connection with Tuesday's robbery of a Bank of America branch in Acworth, Georgia. The inside job was allegedly pulled off by Ashley Nicole Miller and Heather Lyn Johnston who are pictured in the below mug shots (Miller is at left). The women, both 19, were aided by Michael Chastang, 27, and Benny Herman Allen, a 22-year old bank employee. The men are pictured in these booking photos. While the incident first appeared to be a bank robbery, cops now consider it a felony theft and...

Notes on a Scandal Bottom Line: The scandal is the misogynist tone taken toward this film's female characters. By Kirk Honeycutt Dec 11, 2006 Cate Blanchett and Judi Dench co-star in this tale of a foolish affair between a married female schoolteacher and a 15-year-old male student. This may run counter of the auteur theory, but "Notes on a Scandal" feels much more like a film by writer Patrick Marber than by director Richard Eyre. Eyre does a fine job overseeing performances by a terrific cast that rings true until female hysteria takes over the final act. But in tone...

Teacher charged with child seduction Suspect turned herself in By Keith Rhoades | krhoades@reportert.com Thursday February 15, 2007 Martinsville Martinsville High School English teacher Cynthia Marie Rynard has been charged with child seduction for allegedly having oral sex with a student. Rynard, 32, turned herself in Wednesday night at the Morgan County Jail. She's being held on no bond prior to her initial court hearing. According to a probable cause affidavit filed by Martinsville Police Department patrolman Rob Townsend, the alleged contact occurred in the Morgan Monroe Forest. Rynard has been a teacher at the school for about three years....

Ex-para faces sex charges: Abasolo-Farley arrested by police Monday Published: Tuesday, February 13, 2007 1:30 PM CST E-mail this story | Print this page DEANNA ABASOLO-FARLEY: Wellington woman arrested Monday WELLINGTON - A para-professional at Wellington High School now faces sex charges alleging she had sexual relations with a student attending the school. Wellington police arrested DeAnna M. Abasolo-Farley Monday without incident following a month-long investigation into the alleged incident. Abasolo-Farley, 34, Wellington, was arrested at 5:30 p.m. by Wellington police and booked into the Sumner County Jail, according to Wellington Police Chief Mike Keller. Abasolo-Farley now faces charges of...

Former teacher gets jail time for having sex with student 02/08/2007 17:20:55 A former U-High teacher will now spend six months in jail for having sex with a student. Sarah Dickerson, 26, pleaded guilty today (yesterday) of two new counts of aggravated sexual assault, dropping five similar charges. On top of jail time, she will have four years of probation, pay several thousand dollars in fines, and register as a sex offender. Prosecutor Bill Workman says the two charges were added after talking to the victim's family. Dickerson reportedly had sex with a 17-year-old student from her Spanish class several...

HOUSTON -- A teenager read love poems in a downtown Houston courtroom Tuesday as he testified about the sexual relationship that he had with a teacher, KPRC Local 2 reported. Shanikka Campbell, 26, pleaded guilty to three counts of sexual abuse of a child on Monday. The former Aldine Independent School District English teacher admitted to having sex with a 16-year-old 11th-grade student she met at Carver High School last Spring. Jurors will decide her punishment, which ranges from probation to 20 years in prison. Defense attorney George Parnham said what his client did was obviously wrong, but the 16-year-old...

MUNCY — In an apparent attempt to avoid media coverage, a suspended junior high school guidance counselor who allegedly had consensual sex with a 16-year-old student visited the magistrate’s office two days before her scheduled preliminary hearing. Jennifer M. Villacrusis, 35, of 256 Highland Drive Extension in Wolf Township waived her case into court Tuesday, largely avoiding media scrutiny and declining to comment at District Judge C. Roger McRae’s office about 11:30 a.m. Villacrusis has been charged with interference with the custody of a child and two counts of corruption of minors, according to an affidavit by Trooper Joseph D....

WATERBURY, Conn. -- A Middlebury woman who was a guidance intern at Newtown High School has pleaded guilty to having a sexual affair with a student, a 15-year-old boy. Under terms of a plea deal, Jillian Gehrkens, 28, will serve nine months of a seven-year suspended sentence at the women's prison in Niantic section of East Lyme, court officials said Monday. ... Gehrkens' affair with the student began in December 2003 and ended sometime after January 2005, according to court documents. Gehrkens was working for the Newtown school district as a paid guidance intern at the time, but left in...

Father of boy at center of teacher sex case lashes out spacer By: Katie Allison Granju, Producer Date created: 1/11/2007 1:51:00 PM Last updated: 1/11/2007 1:53:57 PM spacer Post a Comment spacer By CLAY CAREY Staff Writer - THE TENNESSEAN Advertisement Passions The father of a Warren County teen who was sexually abused by his former teacher lashed out at the woman Wednesday, moments after she was sentenced to more jail time for sending the boy nude pictures while she was on probation. The teacher, Pamela Rogers, was jailed in 2005 after she admitted to having sex with the student,...

Teacher jailed for sex with student By Stephen Hunt The Salt Lake Tribune Article Last Updated: 01/11/2007 12:16:55 AM MST WEST JORDAN - Two years ago, Melinda Lee DeLuca - a married, church-going woman with two young daughters - began enticing a 16-year-old boy, a student in her Copper Hills High School sign-language class. In October and November 2005, they had sex at least twice. During DeLuca's sentencing hearing on Wednesday, a 3rd District Court judge grappled with the question of why the 30-year-old woman's otherwise "blameless and productive" life had gone awry. "I abhor what you have done here,"...

Sex charge filed against ex-employee Dave Olson, The Forum Published Saturday, January 06, 2007 A 28-year-old woman who until recently was a truancy officer for Moorhead schools is charged with sexually assaulting a 16-year-old boy she met while working at a youth treatment center. Kimberly Michelle Nack is also charged in Cass County District Court with one count of harboring a runaway minor. Until a few days ago, Nack lived in an apartment at 2526 15th Ave. S. in Fargo, according to Cass County Sheriff’s Department detective Steve Gabrielson. Gabrielson said Nack has since moved, possibly to Moorhead. According to...

A Chaska high school teacher is accused of having sex with a student. Julia Ozirski Lund has been a language teacher at Chaska High School for two years, but what happened with a 17-year-old didn't involve teaching. "In any situation people are perceived to be an authority - a teacher, a coach, a boss on the job has to be aware of that. It carries with it special responsibilities and there are certainly boundaries," said Chaska High School Principal Paul McMahan. But 28-year-old Lund is accused of crossing that boundary with a 17-year-old student. She is charged with criminal sexual...

BRIGHTON, Colo. -- The school district in Brighton has joined the investigation at Brighton Charter High School after a teacher was accused of having sexual relations with a student there. The district said it wants to know if there was a cover-up by one of the charter board members, or by the entire board. Dist. 27J superintendent Dr. Rod Blunck met with a charter school board member and an attorney Wednesday. <A TARGET="_top" HREF="http://ad.doubleclick.net/click%3Bh=v8/34ae/3/0/%2a/p%3B60955704%3B1-0%3B0%3B12654523%3B4307-300/250%3B19220211/19238106/1%3B%3B%7Eaopt%3D2/2/5e/0%3B%7Esscs%3D%3fhttp://www.budgetdenver.com/DS_View.aspx"><IMG SRC="http://images.ibsys.com/sh/sponsors/47330/den-budgetcarsales-300x250-47330-11292006-980.gif" BORDER=0></A> Blunck said he told charter school board member Ken Mitchell to be upfront with the community about has happened and about what is being...

Parents Won't Go On Trial For Covering Up Teen-Teacher Relationship POSTED: 1:14 pm EST November 20, 2006 UPDATED: 2:04 pm EST November 20, 2006 STRONGSVILLE, Ohio -- A Strongsville couple will not be tried on charges that they covered up a high school teacher's sexual affair with their teenage son. Steven Bradigan, 20, said his relationship with 39-year-old Christine Scarlett began when he was 17 years old and a junior at Strongsville High School. In June, a grand jury had previously indicted Lawrence Bradigan, 53, and his 52-year-old wife, Mary. Officials said the couple will enter a court "diversion" program...

The link above is to a story by the LA Times, which does not allow us to post their stuff. In the article, it claims that two of the accused Marines of the Pendleton 8, Sgt. Lawrence G. Hutchins III and Cpl. Trent D. Thomas, admitted to killing the Iraqi man in question as an act of murder, not combat. The LA Times or the Marine Corps representative who was quoted, Capt. Nicholas L. Gannon, has deliberately misquoted the statements of these men. The Comments below are those of Cpl Marshall Magincalda's mother, one of the Pendleton 8, with an...

The FBI is investigating allegations that self-styled "Painter of Light" Thomas Kinkade and some of his top executives fraudulently induced investors to open galleries and then ruined them financially, former dealers contacted by federal agents said. Investigators are focusing on issues raised in civil litigation by at least six former Thomas Kinkade Signature Gallery owners, people who have been contacted by the FBI said. ADVERTISEMENTThe ex-owners allege in arbitration claims that, among other things, the artist known for his dreamily luminous landscapes and street scenes used his Christian faith to persuade them to invest in the independently owned stores, which...

LONDON, August 8, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The ancient quest of fashionable women to stave off the effects of age has always left them open to the claims of swindlers. The latest edition of the snake oil chronicles, according to the UK’s Daily Mail, has a more “scientific” cachet and involves injecting stem cells gleaned from aborted babies as well as umbilical cord blood directly into the skin. Scores of British women are opting for a procedure that stem cell experts are condemning as charlatanry. A private British clinic makes arrangements for well-to-do English women to travel to Rotterdam in the...

Innocent 8: Just When You Thought It Couldn¡¯t Get Worse After the revelation Friday that the Marine Corps would not allow these men to face their accusers (among other things), we thought it couldn¡¯t possibly go any worse than it already was. If you don¡¯t think it¡¯s bad, check out the case timeline. It has gotten far worse. 21JUL07: Government notifies defense of: (a) additional prosecutors (LTCOL John Baker, Senior Trial Counsel; Major Don Plowman, Major Daren Erickson, and Captain Nick Gannon - in addition to LTCOL Sean Sullivan and Captain Timothy Garrison); They¡¯ve replaced their lead prosecutor. Why? They¡¯ve...

Article 32 Investigations Purpose of Article 32 InvestigationsProcedures for Article 32 InvestigationsRights of the Accused  Purpose            The Fifth Amendment constitutional right to grand jury indictment is expressly inapplicable to the Armed Forces.  In its absence, Article 32 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice (Section 832 of Title 10, United States Code), requires a thorough and impartial investigation of charges and specifications before they may be referred to a general court-martial (the most serious level of courts-martial).  However, the accused may waive the Article 32 investigation requirement. The purpose of this pretrial investigation is to inquire into the truth...

A civil rights attorney known for his police brutality lawsuits pleaded not guilty Monday to federal tax evasion charges. "I plead presumed innocent," Stephen Yagman said, reading a statement in federal court. "But I don't intend that to be construed to dignify the politically motivated, retaliatory charges." Yagman, 61, is accused of trying to avoid paying more than $100,000 in income taxes between 1998 and 2002. Prosecutors claim he hid about $617,000 he received from his mother and elderly relatives in New York, $24,000 in royalties from his legal writings, and transferred ownership of his 2,800 square-foot house near the...

The following is a Free Republic exclusive. Freeper Flightline has been in touch with a family of one of the Marines accused of murder

STRASBOURG, France - Turkey's prime minister urged the West on Wednesday to make a concerted effort to lessen tensions with Muslim societies, saying more tolerance is needed to mend a deepening rift with the Islamic world. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said last year's angry protests over cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad reveal a need to discuss limits to free expression in some cases to keep extremists from exploiting growing polarization. "Islamophobia and xenophobia are gaining ground in the West. In the Muslim world, on the other hand, there is a widening perception that it is besieged and its values...

A first-year Hebron High School teacher and former Miss Texas contestant faces up to 20 years in jail after an 18-year-old student told police he had sex with the 25-year-old woman several times at her apartment in Austin Ranch. Amy McElhenney, who taught Spanish and was a cross country coach at the Carrollton school, is charged with having an improper relationship with a student, a second-degree felony. She was arrested on May 25, the last day of school, posted a $5,000 bond and was released. According to an arrest warrant affidavit, another student sent an anonymous note last month to...

Judge Says Duke Lacrosse Case Won't Be On Fast Track 7:40 pm EDT May 18, 2006 One of three Duke University lacrosse players charged with rape remained silent Thursday as he appeared in court for the first time, watching as his attorney asked the judge to move the case along quickly. Video | Complete Court Video | Slideshow Seligmann Harassed While Entering Court Interactive | Special Section

Sales of merchandise related to the Duke University men's lacrosse team have increased in the past month in the wake of a sexual assault scandal involving members of the team. Supporters of the team -- or simply those looking to profit from the high-profile case -- have been buying up T-shirts and other apparel, sometimes paying large sums. The Web site for Duke University Stores reported team lacrosse T-shirts to be out of stock. Sales at the campus stores reportedly have more than tripled in the past month, with replenishments of T-shirts and other products arriving every morning. On EBay,...

11:02:36 p.m. Men are sitting around the house. Many have plastic cups in their hands. 11:08:28 p.m. Men throw their arms in the air as if they are cheering and posing for the camera. 11:09:25 p.m. A closer picture of a few men posing for the camera. 12:00:12 a.m. The first picture of the dancers. The accuser, wearing pink and white lace lingerie, is lying face down on the floor. 12:00:21 a.m. The accuser and the second dancer are dancing together. 12:00:29 a.m. Dancers are performing. The accuser has what looks like bruising on her knees. Her right shoe is...

The taxpayer advocate at the Internal Revenue Service told Congress last week that since 2001, the I.R.S. has labeled as fraudulent the tax returns of 1.6 million people and has frozen their refunds without notice, although most appear to have done nothing wrong. Overwhelmingly, the taxpayers are poor and are simply applying for a break created for them.

Judges rule testimony by alleged Palestinian victims was unreliable, contradictory The Kfar Saba District Court cleared the leader of the so-called "hilltop" settler youths, Avri Ran, along with two settlers from Itamar, of charges of attacking a Palestinian shepherd last year. The judge ruled testimonies by the Palestinians allegedly attacked in the incident were unreliable, contradictory, and defied logic. A fourth settler, Victor Lezidansky, is accused of being involved in the incident, and is still being tried. He has admitted that charges against him were true. Ran, a hilltop resident near Itamar in the northern West Bank, was incarcerated for...

While enjoying the Christmas season in the comfort of your home, take a minute to say a prayer for the wrongfully convicted. American prisons are full of wrongfully convicted persons. Many were coerced into admitting to crimes they did not commit by prosecutors’ threats to pile on more charges. Others were convicted by false testimony from criminals bribed by prosecutors, who exchanged dropped charges or reduced sentences for false testimony against defendants. Not all the wrongfully convicted are poor. Some are wealthy and prominent people targeted by corrupt prosecutors seeking a celebrity case in order to boost their careers. Until...

When the political history of this era is written by observers detached from current passions, there is no doubt that Rush Limbaugh will accorded a prominent place in explaining the rise of conservatism. He is without question the single most influential media figure in the entire history of American broadcasting. When the history of Rush Limbaugh is examined by objective historians of the future, the shameful persecution he has endured will no doubt the subject of many a doctoral dissertation. Many of them will focus on the shameful persecution he has endured at the hands of a partisan prosecutor. How...

Would you abort a Down syndrome fetus if the birth defect were detected within the first trimester? http://info.detnews.com/feedback/lettersindex.cfm?topic=Down_syndrome&forum=dnletters