US soldier charged in Fort Hood bomb plot (AFP)

WACO, Texas (AFP) – A soldier suspected of planning an attack on fellow soldiers near a US military base refused to stand up for the judge during a brief court appearance and was escorted shouting from the room.

Army Private Naser Jason Abdo has been charged with possession of an illegal firearm after his Wednesday arrest at a Killeen, Texas motel where police found bombmaking materials and literature in his room, along with a copy of the Al-Qaeda English-language magazine, Inspire.

"Abdeer Qassim al-Janabi, Iraq 2006! Nidal Hasan, Fort Hood 2009!" Abdo shouted as he was escorted out of the Texas courtroom, apparently referring to an Iraqi girl who was raped and killed by US soldiers in Mahmudiyah in 2006, and Major Nidal Hasan who is facing a court martial for killing 13 people and wounding 32 others at a Fort Hood deployment facility in November 2009.

Friday's hearing lasted just five minutes. Abdo, who was wearing a white prison jump suit, refused to stand up when the bailiff called "All rise," as Judge Jeffrey Manske entered the courtroom. Eventually four US marshals took him by the arms and made him stand before the judge.

Manske questioned Abdo about his education, and the AWOL soldier said he graduated from high school and had one year of college. When the judge asked if he was under the influence of drugs or alcohol, Abdo responded with a "no."

During an interview with FBI officials, Abdo admitted he planned to build two bombs in his budget hotel room by packing gun powder and shrapnel into pressure cookers he would then detonate at a restaurant popular with soldiers from Fort Hood, a sprawling US Army base in Texas, according to the affidavit.

Items found in his room included a .40 caliber handgun, ammunition, an Inspire article entitled "Make a bomb in the kitchen of your Mom" and bombmaking components -- including six bottles of smokeless gunpowder, shotgun shells, shotgun pellets, two clocks, two spools of auto wire, an electric drill and two pressure cookers, court documents said.

The criminal complaint filed against him was unsealed in Waco, Texas, by Judge Mankse. If convicted, Abdo faces up to 10 years in federal prison and a maximum $250,000 fine.

Attached to the 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, Abdo had sought conscientious objector status to refuse deployment to Afghanistan, saying he could not fight other Muslims.

But after his status was granted in May, Abdo was charged with possession of child pornography on a computer. He then left Fort Campbell without permission early this month.

The Washington Post, citing congressional and federal officials, said Abdo had been inspired by Hasan and his shooting spree at Fort Hood in 2009.

Hasan, who mowed down fellow soldiers before he was set to deploy to Afghanistan, goes on trial March 5 and faces the death penalty if convicted.

Investigators allege that Hasan, like Abdo born in the United States of Palestinian descent, had been in contact with key Al-Qaeda cleric Anwar al-Awlaqi, a US citizen at large in Yemen.

Abdo was arrested following a tip from a clerk at Guns Galore, a store where Hasan had bought weapons used in the deadly attack. Abdo had purchased gunpowder, shotgun ammunition and a magazine for a semi-automatic handgun from the shop.

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Two men charged with Dodger Stadium beating (Reuters)

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Two men newly arrested in the savage beating of a San Francisco Giants fan outside Dodger Stadium were charged on Friday with assault and battery, while an ex-convict jailed two months ago as a suspect was officially exonerated.

The turning point in a case that drew national headlines and stymied the Los Angeles Police Department for weeks came as the family of Bryan Stow, 42, who was left in a coma by the beating, said he was finally showing signs of improvement.

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Police Chief Charlie Beck waited until after prosecutors had formally charged the two men arrested on Thursday to confirm at a news conference that the latest suspects were in custody.

"The process has worked," Villaraigosa said.

Louis Sanchez, 29, and Marvin Norwood, 30, both of Rialto, about 50 miles east of Los Angeles, are slated for arraignment on Monday. They were held in lieu of $500,000 bail each.

The district attorney's office said both men were charged with mayhem, assault by means likely to produce great bodily injury and battery with serious bodily injury -- all felonies collectively punishable by up to eight years in prison.

Sanchez was also charged with two misdemeanor counts of battering stemming from a separate incident the same day. He faces another year behind bars if convicted of those charges.

Authorities said a woman was also arrested in the case but has not been charged. She was identified by the Los Angeles Times as Dorene Sanchez, 31, believed to be Louis Sanchez's sister and the wife or girlfriend of Norwood.

Investigators concluded that the convicted felon originally arrested as a suspect, Giovanni Ramirez, 31, a documented gang member, was not involved in the attack.

"I want to tell the world, Giovanni Ramirez is no longer a suspect in this case," Beck said. "It is just as important to exonerate the innocent as it is to implicate the guilty."

Ramirez, arrested on the basis of a tip from a parole officer in what police then called a major break in the case, was never charged with the beating. But he was sent back to prison for 10 months on a parole violation stemming from the discovery of a gun in the apartment where he was staying.

His lawyer and family have steadfastly maintained his innocence, saying he was not at the stadium at the time of the beating. His mother, Soledad Gonzalez, called her son's arrest "a big, big mistake."

Stow, a paramedic and father of two, had driven to the game in Los Angeles from his northern California home in Santa Cruz to see his favorite baseball team, the Giants, play the Dodgers on the Opening Day game March 31 at Dodger Stadium.

Dressed in Giants apparel, he was attacked by two men wearing Dodgers gear in the stadium parking lot after the game, beaten so badly that he was left in a coma.

The assault touched off a furor in Los Angeles over what critics said was a failure by the city and team officials to provide adequate security.

Stow remains hospitalized in San Francisco, but his family said on its website that he was opening his eyes and alert, and was able to mouth his last name, just days after suffering a medical setback that had led to emergency surgery.

(Reporting by Steve Gorman; Editing by Cynthia Johnston)

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Man is charged with stalking Paris Hilton (AP)

LOS ANGELES – A man accused of stalking Paris Hilton has pleaded not guilty to felony charges that could land him in jail for five years.

City News Service says 36-year-old James Rainford entered pleas Friday in Los Angeles to two felony stalking charges and three misdemeanor counts of disobeying a court order to stay away from the socialite.

Rainford was arrested on the Fourth of July after paparazzi recognized him outside Hilton's Malibu home. It was his third arrest in less than a year related to Hilton.

Rainford is jailed on $150,000 bail. Jail records don't indicate whether he has an attorney.

Rainford was released from jail in May after serving time for misdemeanor battery. Authorities say he had tried to grab Hilton's then-boyfriend outside a courthouse earlier this year.

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Man charged with taking Picasso pleads not guilty (AP)

SAN FRANCISCO – A New Jersey man accused of stealing a valuable Picasso from a San Francisco art gallery pleaded not guilty Friday to grand theft and burglary charges.

Mark Lugo entered his plea in Superior Court in connection with the July 5 theft of a 1965 drawing worth more than $200,000 from the Weinstein Gallery in downtown San Francisco.

Lugo also faces charges in connection with stealing artwork and wine in New York and New Jersey.

In San Francisco, Lugo's request to have his bail reduced from $5 million to $2 million was denied. Judge Samuel Feng said the 30-year-old suspect is charged with a "brazen" crime and poses a threat to public safety.

Lugo's attorney, Douglas Horngrad, had argued that bail was set too high because of attention from "overhyped media."

"There are murder cases in this county where bail is not set at $5 million," Horngrad said.

But Assistant District Attorney Lindsey Chow said bail was appropriate since Lugo was accused in a crime spree that spread across multiple states.

Feng noted that the crimes involved highly valuable artwork and also ordered Lugo to surrender his passport.

Lugo remains in custody and is scheduled back in court on Aug. 23.

On July 6, San Francisco Bay Area authorities found the Picasso titled "Tete de Femme" — Head of a Woman — undamaged, unframed and prepped in Napa to be shipped to an undisclosed location.

Surveillance video from a nearby San Francisco restaurant showed a man matching Lugo's description walking by with a piece of framed artwork covered by a newspaper under his arm, police said.

After the drawing was snatched, police said, Lugo took a taxi to a nearby luxury hotel. He was later arrested at an apartment in Napa where he was visiting friends.

Meanwhile, authorities said Thursday they found $500,000 worth of artwork reported stolen from New York galleries and hotels in Lugo's apartment in Hoboken, N.J.

Lugo, who has worked as a sommelier in upscale Manhattan restaurants, also faces charges in New Jersey in connection with the theft of $6,000 worth of wine from a retail cellar in April.

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3 charged in alleged airport drug smuggling scheme (AP)

SALT LAKE CITY – A federal grand jury has indicted two former Salt Lake City airport contract employees and another man on conspiracy and drug possession charges.

Federal prosecutors say they smuggled about 500 grams of methamphetamine between Utah, California and Georgia by bypassing airport security and using employee doors to move the drugs through the Salt Lake City airport.

The 10-count indictment was unsealed Friday in Salt Lake City's federal court.

U.S. District Court records show Angel F. Segura, 43, of West Jordan, is facing seven counts of conspiracy and attempted possession of methamphetamine with the intent to distribute and three counts of entering an airport area in violation of security requirements.

Also charged are Oswaldo Rosas, 29, and Jesus A. Aleman, 20, both of Salt Lake City. Rosas is charged with three counts of conspiracy and attempted drug possession and two of violation airport security rules. Aleman is facing just two drug charges.

Authorities believe the men began transporting the drugs October and continued into June.

Court papers say that in June Segura and Aleman went to retrieve three kilograms of meth at a hotel near Los Angeles International Airport. Segura was paid $4,500 to transport the drugs to Atlanta, charging documents state.

After driving a rental car with Aleman from California to Utah, authorities say Segura contacted Rosas by phone as asked if he was "willing to do what they had talked about."

Court papers say the men met on June 10 in a Salt Lake City International Airport parking lot. Segura gave Rosas a package, which he placed in his backpack and carried into the airport through a secure employee door, court papers say. Rosas bypassed security and took the package into a Delta Airlines lounge, court papers say.

Segura cleared security, recovered the package from the lounge and then transported the drugs — about three kilograms of meth — in a black duffel bag to a client at a hotel near the Atlanta airport, court papers say.

In Salt Lake City, Segura and Rosas were both employed by an airport contractor that provides passenger services, such as curbside baggage handling and wheelchair transportation, airport Director of Operations Dave Korzep said.

Segura worked at the airport for two and a half years and Rosas for about one and a half, he said. Both have been fired.

Segura made an initial appearance in federal court on Friday and a judge ordered him held pending a Sept. 19 trial. A telephone message left for his federal public defender after hours on Friday was not returned.

Aleman and Rosas are both scheduled to make initial court appearances on Monday. Court records show no listed attorney for Aleman. Rosas's attorney, Darin Goff, also did not return an after-hours message Friday.

Each of the conspiracy and attempted possession of methamphetamine charges carries a possible maximum penalty of life in prison and the airport security violations each carry a penalty of up to 10 years in prison.

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Trial opens for La. officers charged in shootings (AP)

NEW ORLEANS – The first day of jury selection ended Wednesday without anyone seated to hear the case of five current or former New Orleans police officers charged in the deadly shootings of unarmed people on a bridge in Hurricane Katrina's chaotic aftermath.

For more than five hours, U.S. District Judge Kurt Engelhardt and attorneys questioned prospective jurors individually behind closed doors. The jury pool is set to return Thursday for more questioning.

Still, Engelhardt told the jury pool they were making good progress.

"I'm very confident that we will complete this process (Thursday)," he said.

Earlier Wednesday, roughly 70 potential jurors were questioned in open court about their Katrina experiences and their knowledge of the case in which two people were fatally shot and four others wounded after the 2005 storm. The shootings happened on the Danziger Bridge less than a week after levee failures during the storm flooded 80 percent of the city.

When Engelhardt asked the assembled pool whether they had heard anything about the case, almost all of them raised their hands, and about a half dozen raised hands when asked if they had formed an opinion on the officers' guilt or innocence.

During questioning about Katrina, one jury pool member said the Coast Guard rescued him from the city. Several others said they had relatives who had to be rescued.

Five former officers already have pleaded guilty to participating in a cover-up to make it appear that police were justified in the shootings.

Four other officers — Sgts. Kenneth Bowen and Robert Gisevius, officer Anthony Villavaso and former officer Robert Faulcon — were indicted last year on charges stemming from the shootings. Two police investigators — retired Sgts. Arthur Kaufman and Gerard Dugue — were charged in the alleged cover-up.

Dugue will be tried separately. The trial for the other five indicted officers is expected to last up to eight weeks.

Engelhardt read a list of about 170 potential witnesses, including two former police chiefs, Eddie Compass and Warren Riley.

One of the potential witnesses listed by Kaufman's attorney is James Youngman, who was named in a police report as a civilian who witnessed part of the shootings. Prosecutors, however, claim Youngman was an imaginary person Kaufman fabricated as part of the alleged cover-up.

In a court filing Tuesday, prosecutors asked Engelhardt to order Kaufman's attorney to provide identifying information that would allow them to interview Youngman, if he exists. In response, Kaufman's lawyer said his client denies fabricating Youngman but says the government has the burden of proving he doesn't exist.

The case is one of several Justice Department probes of alleged misconduct by New Orleans police officers. Last year, a jury convicted three current or former officers in the death of a 31-year-old man who was shot by a police officer in Katrina's aftermath before another officer burned his body.

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Trial opens for cops charged in Katrina killings (AP)

NEW ORLEANS – On a brisk January morning in 2007, seven New Orleans police officers waded through a crowd of cheering supporters outside the city's jail to face charges stemming from a deadly encounter with residents on a bridge in Hurricane Katrina's aftermath. Before they were booked, the grim-faced officers accepted hugs and handshakes from fellow cops who shouted, "Heroes! Heroes!"

Three of the officers who received the hero's welcome have admitted they were concealing a dark secret the day they surrendered, one so lurid it stunned a city with a long history of police corruption.

The other four members of the so-called Danziger Seven — named after the bridge where police shot and killed two unarmed people and wounded four others — and another police investigator go on trial Wednesday in a federal case that will rehash the most infamous chapter in the city's awful post-Katrina annals and could severely test efforts to mend the police department's frayed relationship with the public.

One officer is accused of fatally shooting a mentally disabled man in the back before a sergeant stomped on him. Prosecutors say the same sergeant, armed with an assault rifle, fired on wounded and unarmed people lying on the ground. All are accused of participating in a cover-up that allegedly included a plot to plant a gun, fabricate witnesses and falsify reports.

"It's going to be a painful process for this whole community to see the depths to which the police department had fallen to," said Rafael Goyeneche, head of an independent police watchdog group in New Orleans. "But I also think it's absolutely necessary to bring officers who betrayed the public trust to justice."

The group was dubbed the Danziger Seven after they were charged in state court with murder or attempted murder in December 2006, but a judge threw out all the charges in August 2008. Federal authorities then began their own investigation a month later, which led to charges against the Danziger Seven and four others.

The Danziger Bridge shootings broke out the morning of Sept. 4, 2005, less than a week after flooding from broken levees plunged New Orleans into chaos. After hearing a radio call that other officers were taking fire, a group of officers working from a makeshift station piled into a rental truck and drove to the bridge, which connects two neighborhoods hit hardest by flooding.

Prosecutors' account of what happened next is outlined in court filings that accompanied guilty pleas last year by five former officers, including Danziger Seven members Michael Hunter, Robert Barrios and Ignatius Hills. All five admitted participating in the cover-up.

Hunter, who drove the rental truck, says he fired warning shots when he saw a handful of people casually walking on the east side of the bridge. The people scattered and took cover behind a concrete barrier. As the truck stopped, an unidentified sergeant allegedly fired an assault rifle at a man who raised his head above the barrier but didn't appear to be armed.

Hunter says he exited the truck and saw the sergeant and at least one other officer firing at the barrier. They initially complied with his order to stop shooting, as he believed there was no threat. But the sergeant "suddenly leaned over the concrete barrier, held out his assault rifle, and, in a sweeping motion, fired repeatedly at the civilians lying wounded on the ground," according to an April 2010 court filing.

Police shot and killed 17-year-old James Brissette on the east side of the bridge. Hunter hitched a ride with a state trooper to the west side of the bridge, where they saw Lance Madison and his 40-year-old mentally disabled brother, Ronald, running away.

As the trooper's car stopped, an unnamed officer fired a shotgun at Ronald Madison's back. As Madison lay dying on the pavement, the sergeant repeatedly kicked and stomped on him "with as much force as he could muster," the court filing says. Prosecutors say neither brother was armed.

Yet Lance Madison was arrested on charges he tried to kill officers. He was jailed for three weeks but released without being indicted.

The officers have claimed they opened fire only after being shot at. They point to testimony less than a month after the shootings by Lance Madison, who said a group of teenagers fired at him and his brother before they encountered police.

Prosecutors, however, claim police immediately embarked on a brazen cover-up because they knew they had shot unarmed residents.

Jeffrey Lehrmann, a former detective who pleaded guilty to participating in a cover-up, says he helped craft and document false stories about the shootings, using Katrina's hardships as an excuse for gaps in the probe.

The remaining four Danziger Seven members — Sgts. Robert Gisevius and Kenneth Bowen, officer Anthony Villavaso and former officer Robert Faulcon — will be tried on charges related to the shootings.

Two other officers — retired Sgts. Arthur Kaufman and Gerard Dugue, who investigated the shootings — are charged with participating in a cover-up. Kaufman will be tried along with the four Danziger Seven members. Dugue will be tried separately.

Henry Dean, a New Orleans police commander and president of the local Fraternal Order of Police, said the rank-and-file's support for the accused officers hasn't waned since the day they were greeted with applause outside the jail.

"The way it's expressed has changed, that's all," Dean said.

But he conceded the Danziger case and several other Justice Department probes of alleged police corruption in New Orleans have eroded the public's trust.

"It has made their job a little more difficult," Dean said.

A judge has refused to move the trial despite defense claims that the officers can't get a fair trial in New Orleans because of widespread news media coverage of this and other cases, including last year's trial in the post-Katrina death of Henry Glover, 31. A jury convicted a former officer of manslaughter for shooting Glover and found another guilty of burning his body in a car.

The judge also has ruled out any general testimony about the chaos after the storm, when helicopters were plucking stranded residents from rooftops, looting was rampant and dead bodies littered the city. Many officers abandoned their posts. Those who stayed endured harsh conditions, with little sleep and few ways to communicate.

Andrea Celestine, a sister of Danziger shooting victim James Brissette, said months passed before her family could confirm he was dead. And they didn't know police were responsible until a New Orleans prosecutor approached them about a year after Katrina. She said her mother has waited to hold a funeral until the trial is done.

"It's just so senseless," she said. "It's almost like they were using them for target practice."

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Woman charged in pregnant mother's death arraigned (AP)

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – A south-central Kentucky woman has pleaded not guilty to charges that she killed a pregnant woman and took her baby last spring.

Warren County Deputy Circuit Clerk Teresa Render said 33-year-old Kathy Michelle Coy of Morgantown appeared in court Friday and entered not guilty pleas to murder, tampering with physical evidence, resisting arrest and two counts of kidnapping.

Judge John Grise set a pretrial hearing in Coy's case for Sept. 19.

The remains of 21-year-old Jamie Stice were found in Warren County on April 14, less than a day after she was last seen leaving her home with Coy. A detective has said Coy was arrested after showing up at a Bowling Green hospital with a newborn baby but no sign of having given birth.

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U.S. soldier charged with Afghan murder freed from brig (Reuters)

By Laura L. Myers Laura L. Myers – Sat Jun 11, 1:54 am ET

SEATTLE (Reuters) – One of five U.S. soldiers accused of killing Afghan civilians in cold blood was freed on Friday from a year of pretrial detention and an Army major has recommended that the current charge of premeditated murder be reduced to manslaughter, the soldier's lawyer said.

The release of Private Andrew Holmes came weeks after an Army judge ordered fact-finding proceedings reopened and granted a defense request for a new evidentiary hearing in the case, which was referred in January for court-martial.

Major Michael Liles, the investigating officer who presided over the new hearing last month, concluded that military prosecutors lacked sufficient evidence to prove the murder charge, for which Holmes faced a life sentence if convicted.

Instead, Liles urged that Holmes be charged with the lesser offense of manslaughter stemming from the death of a young, unarmed Afghan villager. Under the military code of justice, manslaughter is punishable by a prison term of up to 15 years.

Ultimately, the decision to accept or reject Liles' recommendation rests with the top two commanders at Joint Base Lewis-McChord near Tacoma, Washington, the home installation for Holmes' Army unit.

Liles' report was issued June 7 and furnished on Friday to Holmes' civilian lawyer, Dan Conway, who provided it to Reuters. Conway said the recommendation "reenergizes us."

Holmes is the youngest of five members of an infantry unit formerly called the 5th Stryker Brigade charged with murder in connection with three Afghan civilian slayings investigators say were staged to look like legitimate combat casualties.

One of the other soldiers, Jeremy Morlock, was sentenced to 24 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to three counts of murder and agreed to testify against his co-defendants.

Another of the accused, Michael Wagnon, was released in April from pretrial confinement, and two others remain in detention -- Adam Winfield and the alleged "kill team" ringleader, Calvin Gibbs.

Holmes, who is from Boise, Idaho, remains restricted to Washington state and is required to wear an electronic monitor on his ankle, Army spokesman Christopher Ophardt said.

He said Army commanders let Holmes out of detention after deciding "he is no longer a flight risk or will conduct serious misconduct in society." He immediately returned to his unit for administrative duty, Ophardt said.

Family members said in a statement on Friday that Holmes had been incarcerated since returning to duty in Afghanistan from a home leave in May of 2010, and expressed hope that his release from the brig marked a turning point in his favor.

"We are guardedly optimistic that this may also be the first step taken toward a larger, more definitive release from custody and dismissal of charges."

The investigation into the incidents involving Holmes and the four Stryker troops, which began as a probe of hashish use by soldiers, has grown into the most serious prosecution of alleged atrocities by the U.S. military during 10 years of war in Afghanistan.

Holmes faces a single count of murder stemming from the death of a 15-year-old Afghan boy in January 2010.

Both he and Morlock appear in photos published in March showing them, posed separately, crouched over the bloodied, prone corpse of the Afghan youth, holding his head up for the camera by the hair.

At his first evidential hearing last year, Holmes professed his innocence to the presiding officer, declaring, "I want to tell you, soldier to soldier, that I did not commit murder."

Liles said that photos of the victim's body presented as defense evidence last month showed the "lack of bullet pattern that would be consistent with" the type of machine-gun Holmes was carrying at the time. Holmes has admitted firing his weapon on orders from Morlock but that he intentionally missed.

A trial date of September 19 has been set, Conway said.

(Writing by Steve Gorman; Editing by Jerry Norton)

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Anchorage woman charged with abusing 6 adopted kids (Reuters)

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Reuters) – An Anchorage woman accused of inflicting years of abuse on her six adopted children pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to assault and kidnapping charges.

Prosecutors say Anya James, who was arrested on Tuesday, allegedly confined the children to small rooms equipped with alarm-rigged doors and windows, forcing them to use a kitty litter bucket as a toilet.

Some of the children, whom James, 50, adopted and home-schooled while collecting over $750,000 in government benefits, were so malnourished that they did not reach puberty in their teen years, authorities said.

James was ordered held on $100,000 bail during a court hearing on Wednesday.

Outside court her attorney, Rex Butler, told reporters that prosecutors had presented a grossly distorted picture of his client and her home life.

Butler said James took in children with emotional problems, who needed extra care and would not have been accepted by many adoptive or foster parents.

"There were a lot of psychological and emotional issues, and these were tough children to deal with, and yet she dealt with them well and in good faith," he said.

There were no locks on bedroom doors, but the children needed extra watching because they were so troubled, he said. Buckets used as toilets were merely optional, in case children did not want to walk to bathrooms, he said.

Anchorage police spokeswoman Anita Shell said two of the children had already left the home when an investigation into James began eight months ago, and that the other four were removed immediately.

Shell said some of the children removed from the house were so malnourished they had to be hospitalized. The youngest are teenagers and the oldest is now 20, she said.

Authorities said they were investigating the possibility that James adopted other children prior to 2000.

"There were some photos in her house of some other children that we could not identify," she said. "We don't know who the kids are."

(Editing by Dan Whitcomb and Jerry Norton)

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3 teens charged in San Diego Craigslist killing (AP)

SAN DIEGO – Three 17-year-old boys have been charged with murder in the death of an 18-year-old San Diego college student who was allegedly robbed of cash and his cell phone after meeting the assailants to buy a $600 computer that was advertised on Craigslist.

Rashon Abernathy, Seandell Jones and Shaquille Jordan were charged Friday as adults with murder and robbery. Each faces a maximum penalty of life in prison if convicted of either charge.

San Diego Superior Court Judge Joseph Brannigan entered not-guilty pleas on their behalf and set bail at $5 million for each of them.

Prosecutors say 18-year-old Garrett Burki died from a bullet wound to the chest. Abernathy allegedly fired the shot from the back seat of a car as Burki cornered him in a cul-de-sac after a chase.

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Tacoma, Wash., woman charged in death of newborn (AP)

TACOMA, Wash. – A 20-year-old Washington state woman has been charged with second-degree murder in the death of her newborn daughter in Tacoma. Pierce County prosecutors say Melissa Cathryn McMillen pleaded not guilty Friday. Bail was set at $1 million.

The News Tribune says court papers indicate McMillen told investigators she gave birth in the toilet of her home last Saturday, and she said the baby was dead. According to the documents, she said she didn't touch the baby, only looked at her from a distance, and she later stashed the baby in the basement.

The newspaper says McMillen's boyfriend called for medical aid Tuesday night, saying his girlfriend had given birth to a stillborn four days earlier.

The Pierce County medical examiner's office says the child was born alive after a full-term pregnancy. The cause of death was not immediately known.

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Virginia bus crash driver charged with manslaughter (Reuters)

NEW YORK (Reuters) – The driver of a bus that crashed in Virginia's Caroline County killing four people has been charged with involuntary manslaughter, authorities said on Friday.

Kin Yiu Cheung, 37, was driving a passenger bus on 1-95 between Greensboro, North Carolina and New York City with 58 passengers aboard when police say the bus swerved and flipped over near Richmond, Virginia.

The bus company, Sky Express, was in the process of being shut down at the time of the crash for violating multiple federal safety regulations, according to a statement released by the Federal Department of Transportation.

A grand jury is scheduled to review the manslaughter charges on July 6.

(Reporting by Bernd Debusmann Jr., editing by Greg McCune)

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John Edwards charged in felony indictment (AP)

By MIKE BAKER and NEDRA PICKLER, Associated Press Mike Baker And Nedra Pickler, Associated Press – 55 mins ago

RALEIGH, N.C. – A federal grand jury charged two-time presidential candidate John Edwards on Friday with soliciting and covering up the secret spending of more than $925,000 to hide his mistress and their baby during the peak of his 2008 campaign for the White House.

The grand jury's indictment in the case of USA v. Johnny Reid Edwards contained six counts, including conspiracy, four counts of receiving illegal campaign contributions and one count of false statements.

The indictment said the payments were a scheme to protect Edwards' White House ambitions. "A centerpiece of Edwards' candidacy was his public image as a devoted family man," the indictment said.

"Edwards knew that public revelation of the affair and the pregnancy would destroy his candidacy by, among other things, undermining Edwards' presentation of himself as a family man and by forcing his campaign to divert personnel and resources away from other campaign activities to respond to criticism and media scrutiny regarding the affair and pregnancy," the indictment added.

The indictment and an arrest warrant were filed in Greensboro, N.C., which is in the district where his campaign was headquartered.

Edwards, 58, was scheduled to make an initial appearance Friday afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Judge Patrick Auld in Winston-Salem, N.C.

Negotiations between Edwards' attorneys and federal prosecutors to settle on a charge to which Edwards was willing to plead guilty continued through Thursday, but proved fruitless, according to people with knowledge of the negotiations. Prosecutors had insisted on a plea to a felony, which would endanger his ability to keep his license to practice law.

If convicted, Edwards faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine on each of the six counts. First time white collar offenders usually don't receive prison terms in federal court, but the Justice Department typically presses for at least a short prison sentence for public officials. While Edwards was a private citizen as a candidate, he was receiving taxpayer money for his presidential campaign.

Edwards did not comment directly, but his attorneys issued statements from campaign finance experts advising him. The experts argued the Mellon and Baron payments were not campaign contributions. One, former Federal Elections Commission Chairman Scott Thomas, said if the FEC had investigated it would have found the payments did not violate the law, even as a civil matter.

"A criminal prosecution of a candidate on these facts would be outside anything I would expect after decades of experience with the campaign finance laws," Thomas said.

The indictment is the culmination of a federal investigation begun by the FBI more than two years ago. The probe scoured virtually every corner of Edwards' political career. That included his political action committees, a nonprofit and a so-called 527 independent political group. It even examined whether he did anything improper during his time in the U.S. Senate, which ended seven years ago.

But the centerpiece of the investigation has long been the hundreds of thousands of dollars privately provided by two wealthy Edwards supporters — his former campaign finance chairman Fred Baron and Rachel "Bunny" Mellon, the 100-year-old widow of banking heir Paul Mellon. That money eventually went to keep mistress Rielle Hunter and her out-of-wedlock baby in hiding in 2007 and 2008, during the apex of the Democratic nomination campaign.

The indictment refers to $725,000 in payments made by Mellon and another $200,000 made by Baron. It said the money was used to pay for Hunter's living and medical expenses and for chartered airfare, luxury hotels and rental for a house in Santa Barbara, Calif., to keep her hidden from the public.

Mellon sent her money through her decorator. The indictment said she listed items of furniture in the memo lines of her checks such as "chairs," "antique Charleston table," and "book case" to hide the true purpose.

It accused Edwards of lying when he told the media he never knew about any payments.

The indictment refers to Edwards' discussions with a former employee in summer 2009 in which they prepared a statement to the media in which he would admit he was the father of Frances Quinn Hunter. A person familiar with the investigation has identified the former employee as speechwriter Wendy Button. The indictment said Edwards told her that he was aware Baron provided money to hide Hunter from the media.

"Edwards further told the employee that this was a huge issue and that for `legal and practical reasons' it should not be mentioned in the statement they were preparing," the indictment said. The statement Edwards eventually issued seven months later claiming paternity did not mention the money spent on Hunter.

Former campaign staffer Andrew Young, who initially claimed paternity of Hunter's child, has said Edwards was aware of the private financial support that helped keep the mistress satisfied and secluded. Prosecutors believe the private gifts should have been considered campaign contributions since they aided his candidacy.

The case opens a new front in how the federal government oversees the flow of money around political campaigns. An attorney for Edwards said last week that the government's case was "novel and untested" and argued that the government's theory was wrong on both the facts and the law.

With one of Edwards' former campaign rivals now sitting in the White House, the case includes a measure of political intrigue. Greg Craig, who was previously White House counsel for President Barack Obama, emerged as a leading figure on Edwards' legal team just as Obama's Justice Department was reviewing the case that prosecutors in North Carolina had prepared.

Meanwhile, with the backing of North Carolina's two senators, Republican-appointed U.S. attorney George Holding stayed on the job in the Obama administration to finish the Edwards probe.

"Democracy demands that our election system be protected, and without vigorously enforced campaign finance laws, the people of this country lose their voice," said Holding. "The U.S. Attorney's Office and the Department of Justice are committed to the prosecution of individuals who abuse the very system of which they seek to become a part."

Edwards and Hunter began their relationship in 2006, just as the 2004 Democratic vice presidential nominee was plotting a second run for the White House. She was hired to shoot behind-the-scenes video footage of the prospective candidate. Edwards' political action committee and a nonprofit affiliated with him both paid Hunter's video-production firm about $100,000 for the work.

Edwards initially denied having an affair with Hunter but eventually admitted to it in the summer of 2008. He then denied being the father of her child before finally confessing last year. His wife, Elizabeth, died of cancer in December.

Young has said that Edwards agreed in 2007 to solicit money directly from Mellon. And the long-time Edwards aide, now estranged from his former boss, has said he received hundreds of thousands of dollars in checks from Mellon — some hidden in boxes of chocolate.

Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer, head of the Justice Department's criminal division, said, "As this indictment shows, we will not permit candidates for high office to abuse their special ability to access the coffers of their political supporters to circumvent our election laws."

Mellon and Edwards are still friendly despite the glare of the federal investigation. They had lunch together at her Virginia estate last week even as the indictment appeared imminent.

Baron's support was even more direct. The wealthy trial lawyer said in 2008 that he helped Young and Hunter move across the country to protect them from media scrutiny. Baron, who died a few months later, said Edwards wasn't aware of the aid, but Young has said that Edwards did know.

Young, Hunter and Baron's wife were among many Edwards aides and supporters who were called to testify before a federal grand jury or have been interviewed by investigators.

___

Baker can be reached at http://twitter.com/MikeBakerAP. Pickler reported from Washington and can be reached at http://twitter.com/nedrapickler

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IMF chief expected to be charged with sex attack (Reuters)

NEW YORK (Reuters) – New York prosecutors on Sunday charged IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn with a criminal sexual act, attempted rape and unlawful imprisonment in the alleged sexual assault of a hotel maid in New York City, police said.

Strauss-Kahn is expected to be brought before a state court judge later on Sunday. His attorney, Benjamin Brafman, said in an email to Reuters Strauss-Kahn "will plead not guilty."

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IMF chief to be charged in alleged sex assault: police (AFP)

NEW YORK (AFP) – IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn, widely expected to run for the French presidency next year, was set to be charged Sunday over an alleged sexual assault on a New York hotel maid, police said.

The 62-year-old would be charged with a "criminal sexual act, unlawful imprisonment and attempted rape," a police official told reporters late Saturday.

He was likely to be indicted some time on Sunday, police indicated, although it was not immediately clear where it would take place.

Strauss-Kahn, a Socialist who had been leading French opinion polls for the 2012 elections, was escorted off an Air France flight Saturday just minutes before it was to leave John F. Kennedy International Airport, officials said.

"We took him into custody and we handed him over to the New York City police department," an official for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey told AFP on condition of anonymity.

Authorities were investigating an alleged attack on a maid at the Sofitel New York hotel earlier in the day, police said. A maid in the hotel alleged she had been assaulted by the IMF chief when he got out of his shower naked.

Strauss-Kahn, a well-known figure on the French political scene popularly known by his initials DSK, has not officially thrown his hat into the ring to challenge center-right President Nicolas Sarkozy in next year's presidential race.

But the former French finance minister had been widely expected to stand, and polls out earlier Sunday before news of his arrest broke had put him narrowly ahead of the pack if he ran with 26 percent of the vote.

NYPD spokesman Officer Michael DeBonis told AFP by phone late Saturday that Strauss-Kahn has "been taken into custody. He's being questioned about an alleged sexual assault."

It was believed he was being questioned at precinct five in Harlem, which is a special unit dealing with sexual harassment.

DeBonis would not comment on any other details, but according to police sources he had allegedly left the hotel room in a hurry leaving behind his mobile phone and personal effects.

In Washington, an International Monetary Fund (IMF) spokeswoman had no immediate comment.

The Port Authority official said Strauss-Kahn, who has headed up the IMF since 2007, was removed from the flight 10 minutes before departure, at 4:45 pm (16:45 GMT).

"Ten minutes before a flight takes off? That doesn't happen too often," the official said. "He did not resist."

Strauss-Kahn had been due to meet with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin on Sunday to discuss an aid package for debt-laden Greece.

He was then due to attend a meeting of EU finance ministers on Monday and Tuesday in Brussels.

In 2008, Strauss-Kahn was discovered to be having an affair with an Hungarian IMF economist. The affair was investigated by the IMF, which concluded he had not exerted pressure on the woman, but noted his inappropriate behavior.

John Sheehan, director of security at Sofitel New York, told AFP by phone that they are cooperating with the probe.

"The Sofitel is working very closely with the NYPD with their investigation," Sheehan said. "The safety and security of our clients and team members are of the utmost priority to us."

Strauss-Kahn's stint at the helm of the IMF in Washington does not officially end until September 2012, several months after the scheduled date of France's vote.

But the French political world has been buzzing with speculation that he would end his tenure early to stand as the Socialist Party's candidate.

Sarkozy's party has launched virulent attacks against the IMF boss denouncing him as a rich "champagne socialist," and arguing he has been away too long to still be in touch with France.

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IMF chief to be charged with attempted rape: police (AFP)

NEW YORK (AFP) – IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn will be charged with a "criminal sexual act, unlawful imprisonment and attempted rape," a police official told reporters.

Strauss-Kahn, widely expected to run for the French presidency next year, was detained Saturday and quizzed over an alleged sexual assault on a New York hotel maid, police said.

The IMF managing director was escorted off an Air France flight just minutes before it was to take off from John F. Kennedy International Airport, officials said.

He was expected to be arraigned overnight before a Manhattan judge.

In Washington, an International Monetary Fund spokeswoman had no immediate comment.

Strauss-Kahn had been due to meet with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin on Sunday to discuss an aid package for debt-laden Greece.

He was then due to attend a meeting of EU finance ministers on Monday and Tuesday in Brussels.

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