NATION IN BRIEF (original) (raw)

NATION IN BRIEF

From news services
Thursday, October 14, 1999; Page A14

Three Police Officers Slain

PLEASANTON, Tex.--Three law officers were lured to a trailer park by a bogus 911 call and shot to death by a gunman who wounded two others before killing himself late Tuesday, authorities said.

One of the slain officers had arrested Jeremiah Engleton, 21, early that morning on charges of beating his wife, and a counselor with the sheriff's department had persuaded her to take their 15-month-old daughter and leave him.

Atascosa County sheriff's deputies Thomas Monse, 31, and Mark Stephenson, 32, and Texas State Trooper Terry Miller, 37, were gunned down in their patrol cars.

Country Singer Acquitted in Death

UVALDE, Tex.--A jury acquitted country singer Johnny Rodriguez of murder yesterday in the killing of an acquaintance Rodriguez alleged was a burglar.

Israel "Bosco" Borrego, 26, was shot once in the abdomen in 1998 at the Rodriguez family home in Sabinal.

Rodriguez's lawyers had argued that he was justified under Texas law in defending himself and his property.

The 47-year-old singer, who could have faced life in prison, put his face in his hands when the verdict was announced.

"I'm just sorry that the whole incident took place," Rodriguez said. "I don't want to go through anything like this again.

Addenda

* CHARLESTON, S.C.--The city council declared the Ku Klux Klan a terrorist group and condemned other hate groups after debating whether the action would infringe on First Amendment rights. A resolution approved Tuesday by voice vote says Charleston welcomes diverse opinions "but not those views that instigate fear, bias, bigotry and hate." It condemns any organization "whose purpose is to encourage hate of any individual, race, religion, culture or way of life."

* HARRISBURG, Pa.--Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge signed an execution warrant for former radio journalist Mumia Abu-Jamal, less than two weeks after the Supreme Court rejected his request for a new trial. Ridge ordered that Abu-Jamal be executed by injection Dec. 2 for killing a police officer. Abu-Jamal's case has become a cause for opponents of capital punishment. His supporters say he did not get a fair trial.

* NEW YORK--A federal judge resentenced four men convicted of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing to more than 100 years each in prison and said the new hearing had cost taxpayers about $1 million. U.S. District Judge Kevin Duffy, who had sentenced the four to 240 years each, yesterday sentenced Mohammad Salameh, 32, to 116 years and 11 months in prison; Nidal Ayyad, 32, to 117 years and one month; Mahmud Abouhalima, 39, to 108 years and four months; and Ahmad Ajaj, 34, to 114 years and 10 months.

* BOSTON--South African-born Margaret Marshall became the first female chief justice of Massachusetts' highest state court, the Supreme Judicial Court, the oldest appeals court in the United States. In a 6 to 3 vote, Marshall, 55, overcame charges of anti-Catholic bias to win confirmation to the top post from the Governor's Council, which must approve all appointments. Her elevation means for the first time in the state's history "we have a woman leading one of the branches of state governments," Massachusetts. Gov. Paul Cellucci (R) said.

* LOS ANGELES--Patrick Naughton, the 34-year-old top executive with Walt Disney Co.'s Go Network who was accused of trying to arrange sex over the Internet with a 13-year-old girl, pleaded not guilty Tuesday. His trial was set for Nov. 30.

* MIAMI--Tropical Storm Irene formed in the northwestern Caribbean, prompting the Cayman Islands and Cuba to put residents on alert and forecasters to issue a hurricane watch for the lower and middle Florida Keys and the Dry Tortugas. Irene was expected to grow to hurricane strength within 36 hours, forecasters said.