SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images(CHARLESTON, W.Va.) -- The state of West Virginia Thursday released what is expected to be the final report on the investigation into the Upper Big Branch mine explosion that killed 29 people in April 2010.
The report, like three others, says a methane explosion at the mine was exacerbated by coal dust. Massey Energy -- owner of the Upper Big Branch mine -- favored production over safety and failed to properly rock dust the mine, according to the report.
The state issued 253 citations against the coal company. Those violations were for improper ventilation, equipment problems, and personnel issues pertaining to the foreman or fireboss, among other areas.
The explosion at Upper Big Branch has been called the worst U.S. mining disaster in nearly 40 years.
Mark Wilson/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) -- Army Pfc. Bradley Manning, accused of providing hundreds of thousands of classified military documents and State Department cables to online publisher WikiLeaks, deferred entering a plea at his arraignment Thursday.
Sitting in the Ft. Meade, Md., courtroom in his dress Army greens and signature black-rimmed glasses, Manning had his civilian counsel, David Coombs, and his assigned military counsel by his side.
Although Manning sat in the same chair and courtroom as he did throughout his December pre-trial Article 32 hearing, this is the first time he has sat before a military judge, facing a court-martial.
When Manning was asked how he would plead, Coombs replied on behalf of the former Army intelligence analyst. “PFC Manning would like to defer both on his plea and on motions,” Coombs said.
Manning barely spoke throughout the arraignment, responding “Yes, your honor” when asked by the military judge whether he understood the charges against him, including aiding the enemy, wrongfully causing intelligence to be published on the Internet, knowing that it is accessible to the enemy, stealing public property or records and transmitting defense information.
Coombs also deferred selection of the kind of forum in which Manning is to be tried.
Manning has the option to be tried before a military judge alone, a panel of members, which is the military equivalent of a jury made up of officers, or a member panel made up of one-third enlisted soldiers.
The default selection would be a panel with enlisted soldiers to protect the accused, according to a legal military expert, adding that deferring the forum selection and plea is often done for tactical reasons. The plea can be entered anytime before the start of the trial.
The trial date is left to the military judge to determine. But the defense objected to any delay past their requested date of June, saying it would violate Manning’s “due process rights.”
“As of today, PFC Manning has been in pretrial confinement of 635 days,” Coombs said.
“If government gets its way,” with a requested trial start date of Aug. 3, Manning would have spent “over 800 days before trial begins” in pre-trial confinement, he added.
Unlike during the December Article 32 hearings, Coombs did not challenge Military Judge Col. Denise Linds’ proceeding over the hearing; although he did cast multiple questions toward the military judge about her pre-existing knowledge of the case and possible conflicts of interest.
The majority of the 45-minute hearing dealt with an alleged government “spillage,” in which the defense submitted a motion containing classified material through an unclassified system, as well as other filings of motions.
Manning is next expected before the court March 15-16 to address multiple motions that have been submitted by both the government and defense.
If the 24-year-old is convicted, he faces life in prison, as well as a reduction in rank to the lowest enlisted pay grade, total forfeiture of all pay and allowances and a dishonorable discharge.
iStockphoto/Thinkstock(BIRMINGHAM, Ala.) -- The judge presiding over the so-called honeymoon killer trial dismissed murder charges against Gabe Watson after the prosecution completed its case Thursday.
The charges were dismissed before the defense presented a single witness.
Watson, 34, was charged with killing Tina Watson in 2003 during an Australian honeymoon 11 days after they were married.
Prosecutors had claimed that Watson had shut off his wife's air supply while scuba diving off of Australia's Great Barrier Reef, then turned the air back on after she had died. The motive, prosecutors claimed, was to collect on her life insurance and her possessions.
The prosecution rested its case Thursday after two weeks of testimony. Defense lawyer Brett Bloomstom immediately made a motion to dismiss the case for lack of evidence, and Judge Tommy Nail agreed that the prosecution had failed to prove that Watson had killed his wife.
Watson's lawyer Brett Bloomstom said his client "hopes this will be the end of this case and that it will be put behind them."
Prosecutor Don Valeska said there is no appeal of the judge's ruling. "Judge Nail did what he thinks is right. I strongly disagree with him. I'm extremely stunned and at a loss for words," Valeska said.
Gabe Watson claims his wife panicked and when he went to help her, she accidentally knocked his mask and regulator off. By the time he recovered, she had drifted out of his reach.
Watson had pleaded guilty to negligent manslaughter in Australia for failing to save her and spent 18 months in prison. Alabama tried him for murder, claiming the alleged crime was plotted in the U.S.
If convicted, Watson could have been sentenced to life in prison.
Multnomah County Sheriff's Office(PORTLAND, Ore.) -- An Oregon man landed in jail earlier this week after allegedly posing as his pregnant ex-girlfriend and posting sex ads on Craigslist.
Andre Flom, 31, posed as his ex-girlfriend and posted her name, address and phone number in ads inviting men to her Portland, Ore. home for sexual encounters, Detective Levi Yandell told ABC News. The messages were written to appear as if the woman wrote them herself.
The first ads were posted in November, shortly after Flom was convicted of strangling his ex in an act of domestic violence, court documents show. At the time, strangulation was a misdemeanor in Oregon, and Flom received probation, Yandell said. The victim is pregnant with Flom’s child, according to Yandell.
The victim, who also has a 2-year-old son fathered by another man, told detectives that after one of the ads posted, about 15 men showed up at her home asking for sex. The victim’s toddler was home when the men came calling.
“When you do that and you think it’s funny, there’s something wrong with you,” the victim’s mother told ABC News Portland affiliate KATU. She asked not to be identified because, she said, she and her daughter have been humiliated enough. Flom posted some ads with the victim’s address and phone number, and some with her mother’s address and number.
“I have like 100 texts, max, on my phone. I’d get that in like five minutes,” the victim’s mother told KATU. “The kinds of things that were being said were pretty obscene.”
There were also ads offering free trees on the victim’s property for anyone who wanted to dig them up, and one offered a children’s play structure to anyone who wanted to fetch it from her property. All told, Flom posted 37 ads from November to January.
Detectives were able to trace the IP address used to post the ads to Flom’s neighbor, who told detectives that his wireless Internet was not password protected.
While the victim sought help from police shortly after the strange men started showing up at her door, it took months for detectives to follow the “digital footprints,” Yandell said.
The victim has a restraining order against Flom. He is charged with aggravated identity theft, computer crime and identity theft. He is being held at the Multnomah County Iverness Jail on $30,000 bail.
U.S. Marine Corps/Pfc. Sean Dennison(YUMA, Ariz.) -- Seven Marines were killed during night training west of Yuma, Ariz., Wednesday when two helicopters collided, the Marine Corps told ABC News.
Six of the Marines were from Camp Pendleton and one was from Marine Corps Air Station Yuma.
The crash occurred around 8 p.m. and the helicopters, belonging to the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, were identified as a two-seat Cobra attack helicopter and an UH-1 trooper carrier, commonly known as a Huey.
The names of those who died in the crash will not be released by the Marine Corps until their next of kin have been notified.
The helicopters went down along the California/Arizona border just outside of the Yuma Training Range Complex.
Yuma is an area used extensively for helicopter and fighter jet training because the desert landscape is similar to Afghanistan.
Ingram Publishing/Thinkstock(OAKLAND PARK, Fla.) – “I don’t want to die please.” Chilling words from a 14-year-old Florida teen to a 911 operator as a burglar rummaged through her home.
Kaylia Watson and her 12-year-old sister hid in one bedroom while their 11-year-old brother hid in another part of their Oakland Park home. Their mother, who was on her way to work, listened from a cell phone as Kaylia told her to calm down and simultaneously spoke with operators on the home landline.
The burglary occurred last Friday and the tapes of the calls were publicly released Wednesday.
“Somebody broke into our house. Somebody please come,” Kaylia whispers calmly, telling the operator she could hear him in her mother’s bedroom. “He’s inside the house. Please hurry.”
“What did you see or hear that made you think somebody broke into the house,” asks the 911 operator. “The window crash and then someone climbed into the window,” responds the calm yet frightened teen.
She said she saw a male who she did not recognize knocking on the door and she and her siblings hid in the bedroom.
“Does the bedroom have a closet in it?” asks the operator. “Go into the closet. Stay on the phone. Be real quiet.”
For 13 minutes Kaylia remained on the phone giving police a detailed description of the suspect and his clothes until police arrived. When the 911 operator told the scared teen that police were surrounding the house and that she could come out, the girl was hesitant.
“Can they come in and get me please,” Kaylia responded.
A minute later, police entered the house and found 18-year-old Robert James hiding in the closet of the children’s mother, authorities said. Police say he at some point was bitten by a dog and was taken for treatment. When he was released, he was charged with three counts including burglary.
“They did a great job. The call taker did an excellent job of keeping the kids calm and allowing enough time for deputies, helicopter and K-9 to surround the house,” said Keyla Concepcion, spokeswoman for Broward County Sheriff’s Office. “The kids did a remarkable job considering how scared they must have been. She [Kaylia] was focused enough to give deputies all the info they needed to arrest the suspect and take him out the house.”
iStockphotos/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) -- In an unusual legal move, when a New York City man goes on trial this spring for allegedly plotting to detonate explosives in the subway, it will be an anonymous jury that determines his fate.
U.S. District Court Judge Raymond Dearie sided with prosecutors who argued for an anonymous jury because the charges against Adis Medunjanin, "are of the highest possible seriousness."
"Given the nature of the allegations, the involvement of al Qaeda, a foreign terrorist organization with global reach and a history of targeting civilians in New York City, and the virtual certainty of substantial media and public attention, a fair trial requires empanelling an anonymous jury," prosecutors said in court papers.
Medunjanin is accused of being a willing suicide bomber and partnering with convicted terrorist Najibullah Zazi and others to detonate homemade explosives in the subway system in September 2009.
In the case of an anonymous jury, any identifying information for the jurors is withheld from the public and they are only referred to by an assigned number -- a rare but not unheard of judicial move in sensitive, high-profile cases.
Court records say Medunjanin traveled to Pakistan, "with the goal of joining the Taliban and fighting violent jihad against the United States and coalition troops in Afghanistan." Instead, court records say, Medunjanin returned to the U.S. intent on conducting a suicide attack.
Zazi and co-defendant Zarein Ahmedzay pleaded guilty to terrorism charges and are expected to testify against Medunjanin, their one time high school friend, at trial, which is scheduled to begin in April in Brooklyn.
"One need not conjure up worst-case scenarios to observe that even the mere possibility that the defendant's co-conspirators in al Qaeda, or their sympathizers, might threaten the judicial process in this case is a valid concern," said Assistant U.S. Attorney David Bitkower.
Defense attorneys called the prosecution argument "inadequate" and said there was no compelling reason to seek an anonymous jury.
"Here, the government does nothing more than invoke the specter of al Qaeda and terrorism as a justification for the extreme steps of empanelling and partially sequestering an anonymous jury," attorney Robert Gottlieb said.
Judge Dearie did not immediately decide whether to also order U.S. marshals to escort jurors between their homes and the courthouse.
FIle photo. Ryan McVay/Thinkstock(BRIDGEPORT, Conn.) -- A van containing keys to ATMs across Connecticut has been stolen, leading police to issue a lookout warning.
The unmarked van was stolen from the train station in Bridgeport, Conn. on Wednesday. The vehicle, a white 2010 Ford E-150 van, belonged to workers installing an ATM at the train station, according to ABC News Connecticut affiliate WTNH.
The van contained unmarked keys, which are used to access other ATMs throughout the Connecticut.
Authorities said that they believe a large amount of cash was inside the van at the time it was stolen, the Connecticut Post reported. Later police said there was no money in the van at the time.
Keys to the van were reportedly not in the ignition at the time of the theft.
Police in Bridgeport have now issued a warning to other police departments to be on the lookout for a stolen van.
Brand X Pictures/Thinkstock(CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va.) -- A jury recommended Wednesday that a judge sentence George Huguely V to 26 years in prison just hours after finding him guilty of second-degree murder in the beating death of his ex-girlfriend, Yeardley Love, at the University of Virginia.
The jury recommended 25 years in prison for the second-degree murder conviction and one year for a grand larceny conviction resulting from an allegation that Huguley stole Love's laptop.
Circuit Judge Edward Hogshire is scheduled to formally sentence Huguely, 24, on April 16.
Huguely, of Chevy Chase, Md., had his head down in court as the sentence recommendation was announced.
The Charlottesville, Va., jury of five women and seven men reached its guilty verdicts after nine hours behind closed doors. The sentencing recommendation came about three hours later.
Huguely was accused of killing Love in a drunken rage in 2010 just weeks before she was to graduate from the University of Virginia. Both Huguely and Love were star lacrosse players on the university's elite teams.
Two jurors gave ABC News their rationale for the verdict on their way out of the courthouse.
"We worked hard to come to a fair, just verdict," one juror said. "We had a good team -- educated, well-informed people. We all really believe justice was served. Everyone felt good about our decision."
The juror said there did not appear to be "premeditation," so they could not convict Huguely on the first-degree murder charge.
Members of the Huguely family were visibly upset as they left the courthouse. A little girl, one of Huguely's cousins, was crying hysterically and saying, "That's too much."
Huguely's mother was kept protected on the inside of the group and Huguely family members did not speak to the media.
Huguely's attorney, Francis McQ. Lawrence, said the defense was "disappointed with this verdict but proud to represent George over the years."
"He has the support of a loving family, has displayed amazing resilience and courage, is hopeful and spiritual, and we look forward to some corrections on what happened here tonight," Lawrence said.
Sharon and Lexie Love, Yeardley Love's mother and sister, left the courthouse from a side exit and also did not speak to the media, though they released a written statement after the sentencing.
David De Lossy/Thinkstock(SEATTLE) -- A Seattle area third-grader is in critical condition Thursday after being shot in the abdomen when a gun went off in her classroom.
Amina Bowman, 8, was airlifted to Harborview Medical Center after the gun discharged from another student’s backpack around 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, according to police in Bremerton, Wash. Upon arrival, she was quickly rushed into surgery, ABC News' Seattle affiliate KOMO reported.
Armin Jahr Elementary School was put into immediate lockdown after the incident.
“She had the kids sit, get underneath their desks and then made sure that the kids were accounted for,” MaryLou Tucker, a parent of a student at the school, said of the teacher.
Students streamed from the school into the arms of worried parents minutes after the incident.
A friend says Bowman’s mother was in disbelief when the school called.
“She’s a sweet little girl, and I don’t know what to do,” Lori Morsette told ABC News. “I’m trying to be supportive for my friends, and I’m trying to be there for them. Right now, they’re at the hospital.”
Although it’s still unclear how the third-grader obtained a gun, the boy was taken into custody and booked into Kitsap County Juvenile Detention Center on charges of unlawful possession of a firearm, bringing a weapon to school and assault, according to Bremerton police.
“We do have the other student and the weapon with us at this time,” Lt. Pete Fisher of the Bremerton Police Department told ABC News.
The gun was found inside the classroom as angry parents outside questioned how something like this could even happen.
Bremerton schools spokesman Patty Glaser said that the school will reopen on Thursday, and that three counselors will talk to teachers, students and parents.
“Students will continue to be safe at school, school will continue tomorrow, we will have grief counselors on site,” Glaser said.
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SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images(CHARLESTON, W.Va.) -- The state of West Virginia Thursday released what is expected to be the final report on the investigation into the Upper Big Branch mine explosion that killed 29 people in April 2010. 
