U.S. court to hear case on blocking executions in Oklahoma
OKLAHOMA CITY (Reuters) – A federal judge in Oklahoma will hear arguments starting on Wednesday in a lawsuit filed by 21 death row inmates trying to halt future executions there after a troubled lethal injection this year led the state to revamp its de…
Jury gets case of Montana homeowner who shot German student
MISSOULA, Mont. (Reuters) – A jury began deliberating on Tuesday over whether a Montana homeowner committed a crime when he fatally shot a German exchange student who entered his garage, in a case testing the state’s version of a “castle doctrine” self…
Florida man pleads guilty to helping baseball star Puig flee Cuba
MIAMI (Reuters) – A Florida man who received $2.5 million after helping to smuggle Los Angeles Dodgers slugger Yasiel Puig out of Cuba pleaded guilty on Tuesday, according to court documents.
U.S. teens’ use of alcohol, cigarettes at 40-year low, study finds
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Fewer U.S. teenagers are consuming alcohol or smoking cigarettes than at any time in at least 40 years, although their use of many illicit drugs remains steady, according to a national study released on Tuesday.
Chinese student pleads guilty in U.S. to arms export conspiracy
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (Reuters) – A Chinese man in the United States on a student visa pleaded guilty on Tuesday to conspiring to export illegally to China high-tech sensors used by the defense industry, a federal prosecutor in New Mexico said.
No credible sign of plot on theaters over Sony movie: U.S. officials
BOSTON (Reuters) – U.S. security agencies are investigating a threat against theaters planning to show Sony Corp’s controversial movie about an assassination of the leader of North Korea, and so far they have seen no real sign of an active plot, two U….
Woman found in Massachusetts home with dead babies charged with murder
BOSTON (Reuters) – A 31-year-old Massachusetts woman who authorities discovered living with the bodies of three dead babies tucked inside a closet in her rodent-infested house was charged on Tuesday with two counts of murder, prosecutors said.
Texas jury considers death penalty in revenge plot killing
DALLAS (Reuters) – A Texas jury that convicted a former justice of the peace of murdering a suburban Dallas prosecutor’s wife in a revenge plot began deliberations on Tuesday in the penalty phase of the trial, in which it could sentence him to death.
Convicted killer Jodi Arias was mystery witness at her sentencing retrial
PHOENIX (Reuters) – Convicted murderer Jodi Arias was the mystery witness allowed to testify in secret at her sentencing retrial in Arizona because of fears for her safety after her lawyers said she received death threats, court papers showed on Tuesda…
Lawyer in New York jail ‘soap ball’ death disputes photo evidence
NEW YORK (Reuters) – A lawyer for a former New York City jail captain asked jurors on Tuesday to discount graphic photos they were shown of a mentally ill inmate who died in 2012 after swallowing corrosive detergent known as a soap ball.
