Federal judge in Virginia tosses death sentence (AP)

RICHMOND, Va. – A federal judge on Tuesday threw out a drug dealer's murder-for-hire conviction and death sentence in the 2001 slaying of his marijuana supplier in a case that exposed a distribution ring in the wealthy northern Virginia suburbs.

U.S. District Judge Raymond A. Jackson of Norfolk ruled that Justin Michael Wolfe, 29, was wrongfully convicted in the death of 21-year-old Daniel Petrole Jr. in Prince William County. Wolfe claimed that the shooter, Owen Barber IV, acted alone.

Barber was the key prosecution witness in Wolfe's 2002 trial. Barber agreed to plead guilty to first-degree murder and testify against Wolfe in exchange for a life sentence.

Barber recanted his testimony in 2005. Five months later, he again changed his story and said he had testified truthfully at Wolfe's trial. Barber's former roommate and his former cellmate also filed sworn statements saying Barber told them he acted alone in killing Petrole.

Jackson said in his ruling that the state's use of Barber's false testimony was grounds for vacating Wolfe's conviction and sentence. He rejected prosecutors' claims that they did not know Barber's testimony was false at the time.

"They had prior knowledge of falsities in Barber's testimony, yet never pursued or investigated the information," Jackson wrote. "In light of the Commonwealth's conduct, the Commonwealth cannot be entitled to benefit from their deliberate ignorance and/or reckless disregard for the falsities in Barber's testimony."

He also ruled that Wolfe's due process rights were violated when prosecutors withheld information from his attorneys. Jackson listed several pieces of evidence that were suppressed, including recorded witness interviews and a "gentlemen's agreement" not to prosecute one witness in exchange for his cooperation with authorities.

The judge wrote that the actions of Prince William prosecutors were "not only unconstitutional in regards to due process, but abhorrent to the judicial process."

The Virginia attorney general's office could appeal the ruling to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The office did not respond to an inquiry about its plans.

"We're gratified by the district court's thorough and thoughtful opinion," said Brian Meiners, an attorney for Wolfe in Washington, D.C. "We're hopeful the state will accept this determination and move on."

Meiners said attorneys informed Wolfe about the ruling.

"He was very happy and is naturally curious as to what is going to happen next with this case," Meiners said.

Wolfe's mother, Terri Steinberg, said in a telephone interview that she found it frightening that an appeal by the state could drag the case out for several more years.

"We can't really enjoy this until we know for sure that it's over," she said. "Today, we're just trying to enjoy the victory and be glad that somebody finally listened."

According to trial testimony, Wolfe was making $10,000 to $15,000 a month selling high-end marijuana he bought from Petrole. Wolfe had been friends since high school with Barber, who sold lower-grade marijuana.

At the time of Petrole's death, Wolfe owed Petrole about $60,000.

On March 15, 2001, after Petrole delivered the pot to Wolfe, Barber followed Petrole to his home and shot him 10 times as he sat in his car. Barber testified that in exchange for the slaying, Wolfe forgave a $3,000 debt, gave him more than five pounds of marijuana and promised an additional $10,000.

In his affidavit recanting the testimony, Barber said he had intended to confront Petrole but thought he saw him reach for a gun, so he fired. He said he implicated Wolfe to avoid the death penalty.

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Associated Press writer Dena Potter contributed to this report.

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Life sentence in US border agent's death (AP)

SAN DIEGO – A federal judge in San Diego has sentenced a Mexican man to life in prison for striking and killing a U.S. Border Patrol agent with a drug-laden Hummer as the officer laid spike strips in an attempt to puncture the vehicle's tires.

U.S. District Judge Michael Anello also sentenced Jesus Navarro on Friday to an additional 80-year term on drug counts.

The judge called the crime "particularly brutal, violent and heinous."

Agent Luis Aguilar was killed in January 2008 at a campground in California's Imperial Sand Dunes near the Arizona border.

Navarro told the judge that he was being dealt an injustice and plans to appeal.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

Federal prosecutors want a Mexican man sentenced to life in prison for striking and killing a Border Patrol agent with a drug-laden Hummer as the officer laid spike strips in an attempt to puncture the vehicle's tires.

Jesus Navarro didn't intend to kill the agent, only avoid the spikes, says his attorney, who recommends that a judge deliver a 40-year prison sentence Friday.

A jury deliberated only two hours in April before convicting Navarro of second-degree murder and conspiracy to distribute marijuana in the death of Agent Luis Aguilar at a campground in California's Imperial Sand Dunes near the Arizona border in January 2008.

Navarro, 25, was extradited to the United States last year.

Shortly after Aguilar died, Navarro was arrested in Mexico and signed a detailed confession — after authorities beat and threatened him, he later said — that acknowledged a split-second choice to hit the 32-year-old Border Patrol agent instead of the spikes. He was held in Mexican prison until a judge cleared him of unrelated migrant smuggling charges and released him five months later.

The Mexican government said at the time the United States didn't ask to arrange for Navarro's extradition until after he was released.

The U.S. government was offering a reward of up to $350,000 when Mexican agents arrested him again, in February 2009, near Zihuatenejo.

Navarro testified at his two-week trial that he was in the central Mexican state of Sinaloa on the day Aguilar was killed and that Mexican authorities who were working closely with U.S. officials forced him to confess to a crime he didn't commit.

Navarro testified that he stopped driving loads of drugs after a 2007 run-in with the Border Patrol. David Bartick, his attorney, told jurors that Navarro was "basically expelled" from his drug smuggling organization.

Prosecutors highlighted testimony of Navarro's collaborators that he remained an active smuggler after the 2007 incident. Eyewitnesses to Aguilar's killing identified Navarro as the driver in photos.

His 9-year-old daughter and other family wrote U.S. District Judge Michael Anello to plead for leniency.

"He is a responsible person who does not deserve to be in there," wrote Karla Nunez, his wife of 10 years with whom he had three children. "Please don't give him too much time, his children need him."

Aguilar is one of 23 Border Patrol agents who have died in the line of duty since 1990. The married father of two children had been an agent for nearly six years and was assigned to the Yuma, Ariz., sector.

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U.N. asks Texas to commute Mexican's death sentence (Reuters)

GENEVA (Reuters) – The top U.N. human rights official urged the governor of Texas on Friday to call off the execution next week of a Mexican citizen convicted of murder who was not told of his right to diplomatic advice when arrested.

Humberto Leal Garcia was convicted of raping and killing a 16-year-old girl in Texas in February 1998 and his conviction was upheld the following year, a spokesman for United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said.

"We understand that the execution of Mr. Leal Garcia is now set for Thursday, 7 July. The governor of Texas still has the power to commute the sentence to life imprisonment. The High Commissioner has written to him directly requesting him to do so," her spokesman Rupert Colville told a news briefing.

At the time of his arrest, Leal Garcia was not informed of his right under international law to have consular assistance from Mexican authorities which, as a foreign national, he is entitled to under the Vienna Convention, he said.

"The lack of consular assistance and advice raises concerns about whether or not Mr. Leal Garcia's right to a fair trial was fully upheld," Colville said.

The case also raised questions about U.S. compliance with a 2004 ruling by the International Court of Justice, he said.

The court ruled that as a remedy for violating the Vienna Convention, the United States must provide "review and reconsideration" of Leal Garcia's conviction and sentence, according to the U.N. spokesman.

Colville, asked about U.S. authorities failing to inform foreign nationals about their consular rights, replied: "It's a continuous problem. It is also a problem between the federal and state level in the United States.

"I think that at the federal level there is recognition that the problem exists, but at the state level tends to be where the difficulty lies."

Dozens of former U.S. law enforcement officials and ex-diplomats appealed last month for the execution of Leal, now 38, to be blocked arguing that it would put Americans at risk in prosecutions abroad.

Mexico's ambassador to the United States, Arturo Sarukhan, has also asked that the execution be stopped.

A spokeswoman for Texas Governor Rick Perry told Reuters last month that "the governor would have to receive a favorable recommendation from the Board of Pardons and Paroles to consider the clemency requested."

(Editing by Robert Woodward)

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Death sentence for killer of 3 Pittsburgh police officers (Reuters)

PITTSBURGH (Reuters) – A Pennsylvania man was sentenced to death on Tuesday for killing three Pittsburgh police officers who responded to a domestic dispute at his mother's house in 2009.

Richard Poplawski, 24, was found guilty over the weekend of murder and other charges for fatally shooting officers Eric Kelly, Stephen Mayhle and Paul Sciullo on April 4, 2009, at the house in the city's Stanton Heights neighborhood.

Poplawski's mother had called 911 to report a domestic dispute. He was arrested after being wounded during a three-hour standoff with police.

His mother said she had argued with her son that morning after discovering his dog had urinated inside the house, according to a criminal complaint filed by police.

She said Poplawski had been discharged from the Marine Corps for assaulting his drill sergeant and had been stockpiling guns and ammunition because he believed police were no longer able to protect society due to the economic collapse, according to court documents.

On Tuesday evening, a jury of seven men and five women reached a verdict of three death sentences, said Mike Manko, a spokesman for the Allegheny County district attorney's office.

The decision came after family members testified during the penalty phase of the trial, which began on Monday.

The jury had been transported across the state from Dauphin County to avoid the influence of pretrial publicity.

(Reporting by Daniel Lovering, Edited by Peter Bohan)

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Jury chooses death sentence for Tennessee man (AP)

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – A jury issued a death sentence Saturday for a Memphis man found guilty of murdering the mother of his three children and then dismembering and disposing of her body.

The jury reached its decision shortly before 7:30 p.m. EST in the case against 33-year-old James Hawkins.

Hawkins' 15-year-old daughter, the prosecution's chief witness, had testified that her father repeatedly sexually abused her when she was 12 years old.

The girl said she saw her father stab and strangle 28-year-old Charlene Gaither during an argument on Feb. 9, 2008. Hawkins' two sons, ages 13 and 14, also testified against him.

It took less than two hours for the jury to convict Hawkins on Friday.

During the sentencing hearing Friday, jurors were shown six gruesome photos of Gaither's torso, which had dark gray wounds where the head, feet and hands were removed. They also heard for the first time about Hawkins' 17 prior convictions on aggravated robbery and aggravated assault charges.

The defense called witnesses, who testified that Hawkins had an IQ of 77 and suffers from attention deficit disorder.

Hawkins' mother, Della Thomas, told the jury Saturday she did not want her only son to die.

She said Hawkins' father, James Hawkins Sr., would hit her and also abuse their daughter.

Thomas said her son's behavior worsened after his brother was fatally shot at age 15. Thomas said she raised Hawkins and his five siblings the best she could as a single mother who had to work to support the family.

"He is my only son," Thomas said. "Like any mother, you don't want your son to die."

Hawkins showed more emotion during the sentencing phase than during the trial. On Saturday, he would often close his eyes and bow his head. He could be seen drying his teary eyes during his mother's testimony.

Hawkins did not testify, but he did apologize to Gaither's family.

Outside the courtroom, the victim's father, Louis Irvin, said he was relieved to finally get justice for his daughter.

"I'm sad, though, his mother is going to lose a child," Irvin said. He also said that he hopes the sentence serves as a deterrent for people who think of committing murder.

"We need to make this an example," Irvin said. "We have to stop this violence and hatred."

Relatives of Hawkins declined to comment.

Defense attorneys were not available for comment after the verdict was read.

Prosecutor Missy Branham said that the heroes of the trial were the children who testified against their father.

"This was just a trauma for all the children," Braham said.

Cynthia Guy, Gaither's sister, has been taking care of the victim's three children. She said they are doing fine and she would do her best to care for them.

"The jury did their job," Guy said. "Like I said, nobody wins in this situation."

Because of the sexual abuse allegations, The Associated Press is not identifying the defendant's children, whose last names are different from the father's.

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