to enter insanity plea
Lawyers for the man accused of killing 12 people and injuring 70 in a Colorado movie theater say he wants to change his plea to not guilty by reason of insanity.
Attorneys for James Holmes said in a court filing Tuesday they plan to formally ask for the change of plea at a May 13 hearing.
A judge in the case previously entered a standard not guilty plea for Holmes, 25.
If the judge accepts the new plea, Holmes would be sent to the state mental hospital, where doctors would determine whether he was insane at the time of the July 20 shootings.
Holmes’ attorneys have said in court hearings that he is mentally ill and was being seen by a psychiatrist before the attack on a midnight screening of the latest Batman movie.
— Associated Press
delaware
Senate votes to allow same-sex marriage
A divided Delaware state Senate voted Tuesday to make the state the 11th in the nation to allow same-sex marriage, after hearing hours of passionate testimony from supporters and opponents.
The Senate’s 12-9 vote sends the bill to Gov. Jack Markell (D), who supports the measure and planned to sign it. It would go into effect July 1.
“I think this is the right thing for Delaware,” the governor said after the vote, while posing for pictures with supporters outside his legislative office.
Gay rights activists and their supporters in the chamber erupted in cheers and applause following the Senate vote.
The same-sex marriage bill was introduced in the Democrat-controlled legislature last month, barely a year after the state began recognizing same-sex civil unions. The bill won passage two weeks ago in the state House on a 23-18 vote.
— Associated Press
texas
Probe confirms fertilizer detonated
Investigators have confirmed that ammonium nitrate stored at a West, Tex., fertilizer plant detonated in the devastating explosion that left 14 people dead and about 200 injured last month, the Texas state fire marshal’s office said.
The actual cause of the April 17 fire and subsequent blast at the West Fertilizer Co. facility is still being determined, investigators said.
The blast caused an estimated $100 million in damages to homes, businesses and schools near the fertilizer plant. The dead included 11 firefighters and other first responders who had rushed to contain a fire at the plant.
Ammonium nitrate is a dry fertilizer mixed with other fertilizers such as phosphate and applied to crops to promote growth. It can be combustible under certain conditions. It was used as an ingredient in the 1995 bombing of a federal building in Oklahoma City that left 168 people dead.
— Reuters
Houston man sentenced to death in courthouse killing: A Houston man who admitted opening fire on his daughter outside a Southeast Texas courthouse was sentenced to death Tuesday for fatally shooting a 79-year-old bystander. Bartholomew Granger, 42, was convicted last week of capital murder in the slaying of Minnie Ray Sebolt. He testified that he opened fire on his daughter outside the courthouse in Beaumont in March 2012, after she had testified against him in a sexual assault case. The daughter and her mother were among three women wounded in the attack.
Former justice gets house arrest for abuse of office: Former Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice Joan Orie Melvin, 57, avoided prison time Tuesday for her campaign corruption conviction but was ordered to send written apologies to every judge in the state because she abused her office. Melvin and her sister and former aide Janine Orie each received house arrest for illegally using the judge’s state-funded staff as part of her two campaigns for a seat on the state’s highest court.
Jurors watch murder victim’s blink video: Captivated jurors in a Cincinnati murder trial watched video Tuesday that prosecutors say shows a dying, paralyzed shooting victim who couldn’t speak identifying a photo of his killer by blinking his eyes. In the 17-minute video, shooting victim David Chandler, 35, answers detectives’ questions by blinking twice to say “no” and three times for “yes.” Ricardo Woods, 35, is charged with Chandler’s October 2010 murder and has pleaded not guilty. Woods’ attorneys argue that Chandler’s blinks were inconsistent and unreliable.
— From news services
Lawyers for the man accused of killing 12 people and injuring 70 in a Colorado movie theater say he wants to change his plea to not guilty by reason of insanity.
Attorneys for James Holmes said in a court filing Tuesday they plan to formally ask for the change of plea at a May 13 hearing.
A judge in the case previously entered a standard not guilty plea for Holmes, 25.
If the judge accepts the new plea, Holmes would be sent to the state mental hospital, where doctors would determine whether he was insane at the time of the July 20 shootings.
Holmes’ attorneys have said in court hearings that he is mentally ill and was being seen by a psychiatrist before the attack on a midnight screening of the latest Batman movie.
— Associated Press
delaware
Senate votes to allow same-sex marriage
A divided Delaware state Senate voted Tuesday to make the state the 11th in the nation to allow same-sex marriage, after hearing hours of passionate testimony from supporters and opponents.
The Senate’s 12-9 vote sends the bill to Gov. Jack Markell (D), who supports the measure and planned to sign it. It would go into effect July 1.
“I think this is the right thing for Delaware,” the governor said after the vote, while posing for pictures with supporters outside his legislative office.
Gay rights activists and their supporters in the chamber erupted in cheers and applause following the Senate vote.
The same-sex marriage bill was introduced in the Democrat-controlled legislature last month, barely a year after the state began recognizing same-sex civil unions. The bill won passage two weeks ago in the state House on a 23-18 vote.
— Associated Press
texas
Probe confirms fertilizer detonated
Investigators have confirmed that ammonium nitrate stored at a West, Tex., fertilizer plant detonated in the devastating explosion that left 14 people dead and about 200 injured last month, the Texas state fire marshal’s office said.
The actual cause of the April 17 fire and subsequent blast at the West Fertilizer Co. facility is still being determined, investigators said.
The blast caused an estimated $100 million in damages to homes, businesses and schools near the fertilizer plant. The dead included 11 firefighters and other first responders who had rushed to contain a fire at the plant.
Ammonium nitrate is a dry fertilizer mixed with other fertilizers such as phosphate and applied to crops to promote growth. It can be combustible under certain conditions. It was used as an ingredient in the 1995 bombing of a federal building in Oklahoma City that left 168 people dead.
— Reuters
Houston man sentenced to death in courthouse killing: A Houston man who admitted opening fire on his daughter outside a Southeast Texas courthouse was sentenced to death Tuesday for fatally shooting a 79-year-old bystander. Bartholomew Granger, 42, was convicted last week of capital murder in the slaying of Minnie Ray Sebolt. He testified that he opened fire on his daughter outside the courthouse in Beaumont in March 2012, after she had testified against him in a sexual assault case. The daughter and her mother were among three women wounded in the attack.
Former justice gets house arrest for abuse of office: Former Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice Joan Orie Melvin, 57, avoided prison time Tuesday for her campaign corruption conviction but was ordered to send written apologies to every judge in the state because she abused her office. Melvin and her sister and former aide Janine Orie each received house arrest for illegally using the judge’s state-funded staff as part of her two campaigns for a seat on the state’s highest court.
Jurors watch murder victim’s blink video: Captivated jurors in a Cincinnati murder trial watched video Tuesday that prosecutors say shows a dying, paralyzed shooting victim who couldn’t speak identifying a photo of his killer by blinking his eyes. In the 17-minute video, shooting victim David Chandler, 35, answers detectives’ questions by blinking twice to say “no” and three times for “yes.” Ricardo Woods, 35, is charged with Chandler’s October 2010 murder and has pleaded not guilty. Woods’ attorneys argue that Chandler’s blinks were inconsistent and unreliable.
— From news services