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Man Suspected of Opening Fire at Seattle Cafe Shoots Self; Also Blamed in Separate Killing

Carmen Cox — Thu, 31 May 2012 03:49:47 +0000

ABC News(SEATTLE) -- Police believe a man who opened fire killing four people and leaving one injured at a Seattle cafe Wednesday also killed a fourth person during a subsequent confrontation, then shot himself as officers closed in.

Although Seattle police tweeted Wednesday evening that the suspect "is still alive and receiving treatment at Harborview Medical Center," reports said late Wednesday that the man had succumbed to a self-inflicted gun wound.

The shootings began at approximately 11 a.m. PST when a gunman opened fire at Cafe Racer Espresso in Seattle's University District north of downtown, setting off a massive manhunt, police said. Two victims, both male, died at the scene. A third died at Harborview Medical Center.

People who were brought to the hospital suffered gunshot wounds to the head, according to Susan Gregg, a hospital spokeswoman.

It was unclear what prompted the cafe shooting.

The area where the suspect shot himself was about seven miles southwest of downtown Seattle. Seattle Deputy Police Chief Nick Metz said it also was about a mile to a mile and a half from where the suspect's vehicle earlier was found abandoned. A gun was found on the vehicle's car seat, according to police.

During a search of the area, a detective spotted the suspect on the street and started watching him, police said. When back-up officers arrived and started moving toward the man, he turned to the officers and the officers ordered him to drop his weapon.

Instead, the suspect put a firearm to his head and pulled the trigger, firing one shot, and immediately dropped to the ground.

The second shooting incident occurred in downtown Seattle, about a 15-minute drive from the cafe shootings and about 30 minutes later. An unidentified woman was shot in the head after she was seen arguing with the suspect, police said.

The initial shootings at the cafe spurred a massive manhunt. Police scoured the surrounding area for the suspect and warned people in the area to be on the alert.

Roosevelt High School, which is near the cafe, was put on lockdown while police armed with rifles continued to search the area.

Two other nearby schools, Greenwood Elementary School and Eckstein Middle School, were put on a modified lockdown, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported.

The cafe suspect was described as a thin, white man between 30 and 40 years old. He was approximately 6-foot-1 and had curly, light brown hair and a beard or goatee. Witnesses said he was wearing a white-and-brown plaid shirt and dark pants.

The man who killed the woman in the later confrontation was described as a 35-year-old white man with blonde hair.

"We've had two tragic shootings today that have shaken this city," Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn told reporters.

He said he has asked police to find ways to end the gun violence.

"It's their highest priority to identify the strategies we need to employ to try to bring an end to this wave of gun violence that this city is seeing," he said.

Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio

Lawmakers, Activists Target ‘Gendercide’ Sex Selection

Carmen Cox — Thu, 31 May 2012 02:37:00 +0000

iStockphoto/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) -- In the style of activist-filmmaker James O’Keefe, an anti-abortion group has released an undercover video purportedly showing a Planned Parenthood counselor in Texas assisting a woman who says she’s seeking a sex-selection abortion.

“I see that you’re saying that you want to terminate if it’s a girl, so are you just wanting to continue the pregnancy in the meantime?” the Planned Parenthood counselor asks on the tape. “The abortion covers you up to 23 weeks and usually at five months is usually when they detect, you know, whether it’s a boy or a girl.”

At the close of the conversation, when the woman who says she’s pregnant thanks the Planned Parenthood counselor for not “placing judgment” on her choice, the counselor replies cheerily, “Good luck, and I hope that you do get your boy.”

Released Tuesday, the video was made by Live Action, a group headed by Lila Rose, the 23-year-old media darling of the anti-abortion movement. The video is labeled “Part 1″ on the group’s website, suggesting there might be more tapes coming, in the style of conservatives O’Keefe and the late publisher-commentator Andrew Breitbart.

The video can be found here.

Planned Parenthood has denounced the video as an effort to “promote false claims about our organization and patient services. In highly unusual and scripted scenarios, hoax patients sought services related to sex selection.”

The group said in a statement that it fired the staff member depicted in the April 11 video and that “all staff members at this affiliate were immediately scheduled for retraining in managing unusual patient encounters.”

“Gendercide” -- the practice of killing baby girls or terminating pregnancies solely because the fetus is female -- is estimated to have produced a “gender imbalance” of more than 100 million girls around the world. The practice is widespread in some Asian countries but not limited to them.

Many nations with pro-abortion-rights laws and protections, nevertheless, ban sex-selection abortions. Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Switzerland, Sweden, Norway, Finland and the Netherlands have laws banning sex-selection abortions. The United States does not.

This is the next front in the abortion debate for many anti-abortion activists. The Republican-controlled House of Representatives, however, will vote on legislation this week that would ban sex-selective abortions in the United States

The Prenatal Nondiscrimination Act (PRENDA) of 2012, sponsored by Rep. Trent Franks, R-Ariz., is scheduled to come to the House floor as soon as Wednesday under suspension of the rules. A suspension vote requires a two-thirds majority to pass.

The measure is expected to be approved in the House, although it’s unclear whether the Democratically controlled Senate would follow suit.

Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio

What's the Worst-Dressed City in America?

Carmen Cox — Thu, 31 May 2012 01:40:00 +0000

iStockphoto/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) -- Alaska is known for its panoramic views, diverse wildlife and stunning mountaintops peaked with snow. What it takes to stay warm and safe among those wild animals and frigid temperatures, however, has earned the residents of the state's most populous city a dubious distinction.

Anchorage, Alaska, has been rated America's least stylish city. The flannel shirts, heavy parkas and furry ear covers common in the far north city were too much for the readers of Travel + Leisure magazine who participated in the magazine's annual online poll ranking U.S. cities.

Poll participants were asked to rate 35 cities on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being the highest. The total scores were then averaged and rounded to the nearest hundredth. In the " Stylish" category, Anchorage scored dead last among non-residents with a score of 3.06.

"It's not uncommon to see oversized parkas with fur-lined hoods and bunny boots, and people aren't alarmed when a person wearing a ski mask enters a room," Dr. Miriam Jones, a paleoclimatologist who spent two years studying in Alaska, told the magazine.

Ranking not far behind Anchorage in the magazine's fashion "no" list is another city with a cold climate, Salt Lake City, Utah, followed by a more moderate climate locale, Baltimore, Md., whose residents may not have anyone or anything to blame but themselves for their ranking.

Rounding out the top six on the least-stylish list are Orlando, Fla., where residents can blame the tourists that invade their city dressed for Mickey Mouse and not the runway, and the Texan cities of San Antonio and Dallas, proving that everything is bigger in Texas, even bad fashion.

Taking a bad rap for the way they are portrayed on TV are the citizens of Atlanta who were deemed the nation's seventh-least-stylish citizens thanks to a certain quintet of as-seen-on-TV stars.

"If the flashy reality-TV stars of The Real Housewives of Atlanta are at all indicative of how the rest of Atlanta dresses, it's no wonder our readers ranked it as America's No. 7 least-stylish city," Travel + Leisure writes on its website. "Hotlanta has one of the highest per-capita incomes of any southern city, but as the TV show illustrates and the saying goes: money can't buy taste."

On the other end, the best-dressed cities list stretches from coast to coast and north to south, and includes even a city surrounded by water.

New York City ranked number one with a near-perfect score of 4.56, followed by San Juan, Puerto Rico, Miami, San Francisco and Los Angeles.

Representing the South in a surprisingly high finish is the city of Savannah with a score of 4.32 from the magazine's readers.

Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio

6-Year-Old Eliminated from National Spelling Bee

Carmen Cox — Thu, 31 May 2012 01:08:34 +0000

Bananastock/Thinkstock(WASHINGTON) -- “Dirigible,” the adjective meaning “capable of being steered,” was no match Wednesday for a 6-year-old from Lake Ridge, Va., who breezed through Round 1 of the 85th Scripps National Spelling Bee.

However, it was in Round 2 where Lori Anne Madison, the youngest competitor in the history of the prestigious contest, stumbled. Faced with the word “ingluvies,” meaning “the crop of a bird or insect,” she incorrectly spelled it with an “e” as the first letter and was later eliminated, not moving on to Thursday’s semifinals and finals.

Lori Anne earned her spot in the Scripps by beating out 21 other spellers and winning the 34th Prince William County Spelling Bee earlier this year. She was the youngest participant in that contest as well.

“I have been in competitions with older kids before and I have many friends, some younger and some older, and I feel comfortable in any group,” she told ABC News in March.

She said then that her love of spelling started when she was 3 years old.

“I started reading very early and I read a lot, and that helps. Plus, I work hard and love to find new interesting words in the dictionary,” she said.

In a moment of fun Wednesday, ESPN’s Samantha Steele -- appearing as contestant No. 279 -- tried to tap Lori Anne’s brain for help when the reporter was asked to spell the word “slobberhannes.”

“Lori Anne, any help back here,” Steele asked. “You know? No? You’re not helping me out?”

“I think it’s a joke,” the 6-year-old replied, though the two held hands as Steele attempted to spell the word.

The winner of the competition receives more than $40,000 in cash and prizes -- and the title of world’s greatest speller.

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John Edwards Judge Lets Colorful Alternate Jurors Stay Home

Carmen Cox — Wed, 30 May 2012 22:19:08 +0000

Courtroom Sketch by Christine Cornell(GREENSBORO, N.C.) -- The judge in the John Edwards campaign-finance trial Wednesday told a group of four alternate jurors known for wearing color-coordinated outfits that they no longer have to attend daily court sessions while the other 12 jurors deliberate.

Despite sitting through the entire month-long trial and being ordered to appear every day while the regular panel considers the evidence, the three women and one man who are alternates have had no input in those deliberations and are not permitted in the jury room.

The alternates last week began wearing matching clothes. They've appeared in court wearing matching yellow, red, black or gray, and purple outfits.

"We will miss your cheerful faces," Federal Judge Catherine Eagles told the alternates. "And we will regret not knowing the color for tomorrow."

Though they no longer have to attend the daily court sessions, the alternate jurors are still under orders not to discuss the case or give media interviews. They could also be called to take the place of a juror if one or more are unable to complete deliberations.

The panel has deliberated for 45 hours over eight days and through several delays.

Edwards, a two-time presidential candidate and former senator, is accused of using nearly $1 million in donations from wealthy political backers to hide his mistress Rielle Hunter and their love child during his 2008 campaign.

If convicted Edwards faces up to 30 years in prison and could be fined as much as $1.5 million, although it is unlikely he would face the severest penalties.

Deliberations were briefly stalled Wednesday when the judge received a mysterious note from a juror, prompting a closed-door session to deal with the jury matter, the third such delay in as many days.

It is unknown what information was contained in the note.

Later in the day, the judge cleared the courtroom a second time to discuss the matter with lawyers for Edwards and the government.

The judge signaled Tuesday that potential scheduling conflicts could cause additional delays. Some jurors have requested time off for personal matters, like attending a child's high school graduation. The judge said she will soon have a meeting in her chambers to address those conflicts.

The regular panel of jurors ended their eighth day of deliberations Wednesday evening, adding to anxiety and anticipation surrounding the verdict.

Edwards and his legal team had, until Wednesday, waited out every day of deliberations from a second-floor room inside the courthouse. Early on, Edwards could sometimes be seen pacing the room and looking out the window at journalists assembled outside.

Edwards was not at the courthouse Wednesday morning, but came back following a lunch break.

Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio

Authorities Probe Security Breach at San Diego Airport

Joshua Cohan — Wed, 30 May 2012 20:43:50 +0000

iStockphoto/Thinkstock(SAN DIEGO) -- Authorities on Wednesday continued to investigate how a man was able to board a Los Angeles-bound plane at San Diego International Airport Tuesday without a ticket.

The man, whose name has not been released, was arrested and charged with trespassing. He’d just been released from prison and authorities said he had an extensive criminal history.

The suspect allegedly walked through an alarmed but unguarded emergency door inside the terminal. He then joined a line of passengers boarding United Airlines flight 6323 on the tarmac.

“When he went through the door, it set off the alarm,” San Diego Harbor Police Lt. James Jordan told Fox 5 San Diego. “It was caught on camera.”

Flight attendants became aware of the extra flier, who was then seated on the plane, during a final passenger count.

“They said: ‘What’s your count?’” said passenger Nicholas Blasgen. “She said: ‘This is my count.’ And they said: ‘That’s wrong.’”

Agents from the Transportation Security Administration arrested the man, who was reportedly not deemed a threat.

Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio

American Student Stuck In Mexico Could Miss Graduation

Joshua Cohan — Wed, 30 May 2012 20:26:09 +0000

iStockphoto/Thinkstock(WASHINGTON) -- High school senior Elizabeth Olivas thought she would be enjoying the last days at her Indiana high school with her classmates before graduating on Saturday.

Instead, the Frankfort High School homecoming queen is in her native Mexico, caught up in an immigration technicality that has her future in the United States straddled between U.S. government agencies, according to the Indianapolis Star.

Olivas has lived in the U.S. since age 4, and her father is a naturalized U.S. citizen. But after turning 18, according to the law, she had 180 days to return to Mexico to apply for a long-term visa to the United States. Without that visa she would become an illegal immigrant. So Olivas and her father took the trip down to the Juarez consulate, only to realize they were one day late. Now she must wait three years before entering the country again, unless she receives a "humanitarian patrole" visa waiver.

According to the Star, Olivas’ tardiness in getting to Mexico was a combination of her wanting to miss as little school as possible and a date accounting error by her immigration lawyer.

Sarah Moshe, Olivas’ lawyer, told the paper that her firm did not take into account that this is a leap year. Many law firms use legal calendars as a way of tracking important dates that do not add the extra day in February.

“She feels awful, terrible, devastated,” Moshe said of the student. “The whole situation is crazy.”

Though visas are issued by the State Department, humanitarian parole waivers for those who have violated immigration law must be issued under the Department of Homeland Security’s Citizen and Immigration Services.

On Wednesday, deputy spokesperson Mark Toner said that the State Department can’t comment on specific individual visa issues, but in a case in which humanitarian parole is granted the State Department would “process an application as quickly as possible.”

Time is not on Olivas’s side. Waivers can take anywhere from three to eight months to be issued. A spokesperson for the Department of Citizen and Immigration Services in Dallas told the Star that Olivas will have to wait her turn.

She’s already waited in Mexico for six weeks, missing most of her high school senior milestones, including prom and an academic achievement ceremony. With a near 4.0 grade point average, Olivas will graduate as one of the top students at the school. But now it seems unlikely that she will attend that graduation or get the chance to give a salutation speech about the bright future ahead for herself and her American classmates.

Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio

Seattle Police Hunt for Gunman Who Shot 5 People in Cafe

Joshua Cohan — Wed, 30 May 2012 20:09:51 +0000

ABC News(SEATTLE) -- A manhunt is underway for a gunman who killed three people and shot two others at a cafe today in Seattle's University District.

The suspect opened fire at Cafe Racer Espresso around 11 a.m. PST, police said.

Two victims, both male, died at the scene. A third died at Harborview Medical Center.

No immediate details about the shooting victims were released.

Police scoured the surrounding area for the suspect, who fled north and was believed to be carrying a semi-automatic rifle.

"We are asking folks to be on guard and not to open their doors to anybody they don't know," Assistant Police Chief Nick Metz told ABC's Seattle affiliate, KOMO-TV. "We're focusing our search in the immediate area, probably a good 10 blocks out. We don't have a good idea of where he may be."

The suspect is described as a thin, white man between 30 and 40 years old. He is approximately 6-foot-1 and has curly light brown hair and a beard or goatee. Witnesses said he was wearing a white and brown plaid shirt and dark pants.

It was unclear what prompted the shooting.

Roosevelt High School, which is near the cafe, was put on lockdown while police armed with rifles continued to search the area.

Two other nearby schools, Greenwood Elementary School and Eckstein Middle School, were put on a modified lockdown, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported.

No one answered the phone at Cafe Racer. A recorded message urged callers to "remember to come visit us, where we keep safety third."

A second, unrelated shooting occurred 30 minutes later in the city. An unidentified woman was shot in the head in what police say could have been an attempted carjacking.

The second gunman is also on the loose. He is described as a 35-year-old white man with blonde hair.

Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio

John Edwards Jury Delayed by Mystery Note

Joshua Cohan — Wed, 30 May 2012 19:27:58 +0000

SKETCH BY CHRISTINE CORNELL(GREENSBORO, N.C.) -- A note from a juror briefly stalled deliberations again in the John Edwards campaign-finance trial Wednesday, causing Judge Catherine Eagles to hold a closed-door session to deal with a jury matter -- the third such delay in as many days.

It is unknown what information was contained in the note.

Deliberations dragged into their eighth day Wednesday adding to the anticipation of waiting for a verdict.

The judge signaled Tuesday that potential scheduling conflicts could cause further delays. Some jurors have requested time off for personal matters, like attending a child's high school graduation. The judge said she will soon have a meeting in her chambers to address those conflicts.

The panel of eight men and four women Wednesday spent the morning deliberating before breaking for lunch. They have logged more than forty hours of deliberations since lawyers ended their arguments on May 18. Edwards and his legal team had, until Wednesday, waited out every day of deliberations from a second-floor room inside the courthouse. Early on, Edwards could sometimes be seen pacing the room and looking out the window at journalists assembled outside.

Edwards was not at the courthouse Wednesday morning, but came back following a lunch break. Edwards, a two-time presidential candidate and former senator, is accused of using nearly $1 million in donations from wealthy political backers to hide his mistress and love child during his 2008 campaign.

If convicted Edwards faces up to 30 years in prison and be fined as much as $1.5 million, although it is unlikely he would face the severest penalties.

Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio

Eagle Scout Challenges Boy Scouts' Anti-Gay Policy With Petition

Joshua Cohan — Wed, 30 May 2012 18:21:51 +0000

Zach Wahls, an Eagle Scout from Iowa. (Change.org)(ORLANDO, Fla.) -- Eagle Scout Zach Wahls challenged the Boy Scouts of America's anti-gay policy Wednesday when he delivered three boxes of petitions demanding change, signed by more than 275,000 people.

Wahls, 20, presented the petitions during the Boy Scouts' National Annual Meeting in Orlando, Fla., on behalf of Jennifer Tyrrell, an Ohio mom who was removed as the den leader of her 7-year-old son's Cub Scout troop in April because of her sexual orientation. The Boy Scouts are the parent organization of the Cub Scouts.

Wahls is the author of My Two Moms and a video of his three-minute speech before Iowa legislators urging them not to pass a constitutional amendment that would ban gay marriage and civil unions went viral in February 2011.

The Change.org petition called for Tyrrell's reinstatement and a change in policy for the organization.

"It is time for the Boy Scouts of America to reconsider its policy of exclusivity against gay youth and leaders," the petition reads. "Please sign this petition to call for an end of discrimination in an organization that is shaping the future."

The petition has garnered support from celebrities including Ellen DeGeneres, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Josh Hutcherson, Ricky Martin and Julianne Moore, among others.

After delivering the petitions, Wahls met privately with three Boy Scout representatives.

"It went well. It was an honest conversation, but a productive one," Wahls told ABC News. "The fact that the meeting happened is a really positive indicator."

Wahls said the Boy Scout leaders were "receptive" of his ideas and he believes the conversation is a positive first step in overcoming cultural prejudices.

Following the meeting, the Boy Scouts released a statement that said they have "no plans" to change their policy.

Wahls is not deterred by the statement.

"President Obama said the exact same thing up until the day he endorsed same-sex marriage. I expect we'll see a similar progression from the Boy Scouts," he said. "Obviously, this is a very long-standing policy and I don't think it we'll see a change today, this week or even this year. But over the coming months, we'll continue to take steps in this evolution."

Tyrrell, 32, was not in Florida for the delivery of the petitions, but will join Wahls at the GLAAD Media Awards in San Francisco on Saturday. She told ABC News she is grateful for all of the support.

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Jerry Sandusky Loses Bid to Delay Next Week's Trial

Joshua Cohan — Wed, 30 May 2012 16:47:14 +0000

Rob Carr/Getty Images(BELLEFONTE, Pa.) -- Former Penn State football coach Jerry Sandusky will head to trial next week on charges that he sexually molested 10 boys after the presiding judge refused to delay the trial and allow his attorneys more time to prepare a defense.

Following a final pre-trial hearing Wednesday to iron out details of the case, including privacy of the alleged sexual abuse victims, the case will proceed to jury selection and trial. Judge John M. Cleland wrote in an order released Wednesday that jury selection will begin June 5 and testimony in the trial will not begin "before June 11."

Sandusky and his attorneys arrived unexpectedly at the Centre County courthouse in Bellefonte, Pa., Tuesday, a day before today's scheduled hearing. The appearance sparked speculation that Sandusky and prosecutors may have been discussing a plea deal and that the case would not go to trial.

According to documents posted on the trial's website, however, the meeting was called by Cleland to discuss a motion by Sandusky's attorneys to delay jury selection. Sandusky and his attorneys, Joseph Amendola and Karl Rominger, were joined by state prosecutors in the meeting, where Cleland denied the motion to delay the trial.

Sandusky is expected to face at least eight of his accusers in court as they take the witness stand to explain how the former defensive coach allegedly molested them. Two of the alleged victims will not be in court because the Pennsylvania Attorney General's office was not able to identify them from witness accounts of molestation incidents.

One incident of alleged abuse that has dominated the coverage of Sandusky relies on assistant Penn State football coach Mike McQueary, who testified to the investigating grand jury that he witnessed Sandusky raping a boy in the football building's showers. McQueary said that he reported the abuse to head coach Joseph Paterno, who then told his superiors, Tim Curly and Gary Shultz, about the incident.

Curly and Shultz were arrested shortly after Sandusky was arrested, and charged with failure to report sexual abuse to the police. They were also charged with perjury for testimony they gave to the grand jury in which they claimed they did not know how serious the abuse was, and that McQueary did not tell them he saw child rape. What was said between McQueary and Paterno, and then Paterno and his superiors, remains at the heart of the case against Curly and Shultz.

Paterno died in January at the age of 85 after a battle with lung cancer. He was widely criticized for not doing more after the alleged shower incident and fired from Penn State's head coaching position.

The child who was alleged to have been raped during that shower incident, however, has never been found by the police.

Another alleged case of abuse that is said to have occurred in the Penn State football building was witnessed by a janitor, who told other janitors what he saw. Police have not identified the boy in that incident, and the witness now has dementia and will not testify about what he saw.

Sandusky has denied all of the charges against him.

All of the boys who have alleged that Sandusky molested them were members of The Second Mile, a charity started by Sandusky in the 1970s to help troubled young boys through mentoring programs.

Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio

Etan Patz Suspect: Is Confession Real?

Jeanette Torres — Wed, 30 May 2012 14:19:56 +0000

Sketch Courtesy of Andrea Shepard(NEW YORK) -- Since Pedro Hernandez's confession to the killing of Etan Patz last week, questions are beginning to rise regarding the man's mental health and whether he is telling the truth about what happened in lower Manhattan 33 years ago when he allegedly murdered the 6-year-old boy.

Despite his confession and the second-degree murder charges filed against him, police have offered no possible motive for the crime Hernandez allegedly committed as a teenager, leaving some skeptics wondering if he is admitting to something he didn't do.

As Hernandez's lawyer has said that he "has a history of hallucinations," a trio of forensic psychiatrists has spoken to ABC News about the considerations that come along with a confession from someone who has psychotic mental illness, Hernandez's mental state, and how it might impact the case against him.

"You have to rule out the possibility that he may be faking," said Dr. Harold J. Bursztajn, co-founder of the Program in Psychiatry and the Law at Harvard Medical School. "This may be a wish to get attention; it may even be an unconscious wish, a wish to feel self-important. That's something which needs to be explored in psychological examination."

New York City Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said Hernandez, a 51-year-old New Jersey builder, had told relatives, friends and a church group as early as 1981 that he'd "done a bad thing and killed a child in New York."

While psychopaths generally show no remorse after they commit a violent crime, Hernandez reportedly broke down emotionally during his confession. Unlike most child molesters, Hernandez has no criminal record.

Dr. John Thompson, who is a director at the Division of Forensic Neuropsychiatry at Tulane University, said that a psychiatric evaluation and testing compared with forensic and other data should help lead to a conclusion regarding the accuracy of his confession. While he said that it is difficult to make conclusive statements about Hernandez's mental state given the limited information available, he noted that it is possible that psychological troubles could have led Hernandez to make up his story about what happened to Patz 33 years ago.

"Since one of the hallmark symptoms of schizophrenia is a delusion, or 'fixed false belief,' it is possible for such an individual to make a false confession," Thompson said.

Even if he was telling people about the murder, how did Hernandez provide such grisly details in his confession on how he choked Patz in the basement of a bodega and stored the body in the freezer before disposing of it in the garbage?

Dr. Park Dietz, president of Park Dietz & Associates, Inc. in Newport Beach, Calf., would not directly comment on the Patz case, but said that people with a history of psychosis may have a memory of events that is formed from other sources, such as news, gossip, dreams, fantasies and delusions. Until such details are supported by evidence, their validity is anyone's guess.

Pregnant Michigan Woman Accused of Driving Drunk with Baby in Car

Jeanette Torres — Wed, 30 May 2012 14:19:42 +0000

iStockphoto/Thinkstock(DETROIT) -- A pregnant Michigan woman was arrested earlier this week on suspicion of drunk driving with her 10-month-old baby in the car.

Rania Hijazi, who is eight months pregnant, was arrested by Southfield police after she crashed her vehicle into a street sign around 3:30 a.m. Memorial Day, ABC News station WXYZ-TV reported. There were no reports of injuries to Hijazi or her baby.

Police say Hijazi, 37, failed field sobriety tests and registered a 0.14 blood-alcohol level with preliminary breath tests. She was charged with operating a vehicle while impaired and child endangerment.

In court Tuesday, Hijazi asked for a court-appointed attorney even though her husband is employed. Her bond has been set at $25,000 and a pre-trial hearing is scheduled for Friday.

Florida County Library Lifts Ban on "Fifty Shades of Grey"

Jeanette Torres — Wed, 30 May 2012 13:20:57 +0000

iStockphoto/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) -- A Florida county’s public library system has lifted its ban on the controversial erotic novel Fifty Shades of Grey.

The Brevard County Library System had pulled copies of the racy tome, and the two subsequent books in the trilogy, from its shelves earlier this month.

In a March 4 interview with The Palm Beach Post, Cathy Schweinsberg, the library services director, said the book did not meet the system’s selection criteria.

“Nobody asked us to take it off the shelves,” she said. “But we bought some copies before we realized what it was. We looked at it, because it’s been called ‘mommy porn’ and ‘soft porn.’ We don’t collect porn.”

But in a statement released Monday, the library system said it would immediately restock its 19 copies of the books in the trilogy in response to public demand.

“Earlier this month, a decision was made to pull Fifty Shades of Grey from our libraries as a result of published reviews and our own initial analysis of the book and its controversial content. Since then, we have begun a review of our selection criteria and that review continues even as the decision has been made to supply the book in response to requests by county residents,” the statement read.

“We have always stood against censorship,” Schweinsberg said in the statement. “We have a long history of standing against censorship and that continues to be a priority for this library system.”

Fifty Shades of Grey is the first in a best-selling trilogy by British author E.L. James. The books focus on the relationship between protagonists Christian Grey and Anastasia Steele, and explicitly detail the pair’s sadomasochistic sexual encounters.

Construction of Tennessee Mosque Halted

Jeanette Torres — Wed, 30 May 2012 10:03:06 +0000

iStockphoto/Thinkstock(NASHVILLE, Tenn.) -- Construction of a suburban Nashville, Tenn., mosque that was supposed to have been completed in 2010 has been halted and could be stopped for good after Chancellor Robert Corlew ruled Tuesday that the public wasn't given the proper notice two years ago at a meeting to approve the site plan.

Technically, it means the Rutherford County Planning Commission could still approve the site near the city of Murfreesboro, but its chances of completion are diminished.

Saleh Sbenaty, a spokesman for the leadership of the mosque, says he plans to move forward with the mosque since it's already partially constructed.

Tempers ran high with the announcement of a mosque being built in this conservative Tennessee community, with many opponents proclaiming that Islam is not a legitimate religion.

Two years ago, a fire was set at the site of the planned Islamic center and mosque and investigators looked into the possibility the blaze may have been deliberately set.

At the time, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives spokesman Eric Kehn said, “Any type of activity like this we take very seriously and we look into. When things like this happen, we really need the help of the public.”

A sign promoting the new facility has also been vandalized twice. Members of the local Muslim community have expressed concerns they “no longer feel safe.”