Wide receiver for the Jaguars arrested

By Calvin Palmer

A wide receiver for the Jacksonville Jaguars was arrested in Houston the early hours of this morning for driving while intoxicated and the possession of marijuana.

Reggie Williams, 25, was charged with two class B misdemeanors after being arrested in the 1100 block of Birdsall, according to Harris County District Attorney spokeswoman Donna Hawkins.

Williams is free on $1,000 bond. If convicted, he could be sentenced to a maximum of six months in jail and a $2,000 fine.

[Based on a report by the Houston Chronicle.]

Jury hands out death sentence for birthday party killings

By Calvin Palmer

A jury in Texas today sentenced to death a 21-year-old man for killing a five-year-old girl and her grandmother during a family birthday party in Fort Worth.

Erick Davila was convicted on February 19 of shooting 48-year-old Annette Stevenson and her granddaughter, Queshawn Stevenson, on April 6, 2008.

The Tarrant County jury deliberated roughly seven hours before deciding that Erick Davila posed a continuing threat because of his violent criminal acts.

Jury members also decided that there were no mitigating factors that warranted giving him life in prison instead. With those answers, State District Judge Sharen Wilson was required to impose the death penalty.

Prosecutors Tiffany Burks and Bob Gill cited a string of violent crimes that Davila committed last year to convince jurors that he poses a continuing threat to society.

They said that Davila has been charged in the April 3 killing of Darrel Ford and the April 4 armed robbery of Joe Jimenez in the days before the April 6 shooting that killed Queshawn and Annette Stevenson and injured four other relatives during a party at their Stop Six town house.

Although Davila has not been convicted in the first two cases, prosecutors were allowed to present evidence about them during the punishment phase of his trial.

That seems a bit naughty but I guess when you are going down in Texas, you are going down!

Also, while in the Tarrant County Jail awaiting trial, Davila and two other inmates attacked and injured two jailers and two maintenance men during an escape attempt.

Defense attorneys Robert Ford and Joetta Keene put forward mitigating factors for Davila’s crimes.

His mother was unable to bond with him. Davila  was conceived during a rape when she was 13. Given that and his low IQ, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and home in a poor, crime-ridden neighborhood, it was not surprising that he joined a gang and committed crimes, Keene said.

Did the defense attorneys forget about his puppy running away when he was a child and then his goldfish dying?

[Based on reports by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and Associated Press.]

Plan for troop withdrawal from Iraq draws displeasure from Democrats

By Calvin Palmer

President Barack Obama today announced a withdrawal of U.S. combat troops from Iraq by next August.

Speaking at the Camp Lejeune Marine Corps Base, North Carolina, President Obama said around 100,000 troops would be brought home by August 2010, with 35,000 to 50,000 staying on to advise Iraqi forces, target terror and protect U.S. interests.

The plan met with approval from Republicans, including Sen. John McCain.

“Overall it is a reasonable plan and one that can work and I support it,” McCain said.

He added that one factor that sold him on the plan was that there will be “very little drawdown between now and the national elections” that are scheduled in Iraq in December.

But Democrats such as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Democratic Senate Leader Harry Ried were somewhat displeased.

Pelosi was clearly upset, saying she could not understand “the justification” for 50,000 troops remaining.

No surprises there.

Reid said it was “a little higher number than I anticipated.”

Obama told the Marines: “Thanks in great measure to your service, the situation in Iraq has improved. Violence has been reduced substantially from the horrific sectarian killing of 2006 and 2007.”

Yet he warned: “Let there be no doubt. Iraq is not yet secure, and there will be difficult days ahead. Violence will continue to be part of life in Iraq.”

Obama said his ultimate goal was “an Iraq that is sovereign, stable and self-reliant”. He declared that the US would intensify diplomatic efforts in the region to help achieve that goal, including talks with Syria and Iran, who he indirectly accused of “working to undermine Iraq’s security”.

He added: “The future of Iraq is inseparable from the future of the broader Middle East…we can no longer deal with regional challenges in isolation.”

 Obama also promised more aid for displaced Iraqis, and in a direct message to the Iraqi people, he said: “Ours is a bond forged by shared bloodshed.”

He added: “Let me clear about America’s intentions. The United States pursues no claim on your territory. We can build a lasting relationship founded upon mutual interests and mutual respect as Iraq takes its rightful place in the community of nations.”

The U.S. has about 142,000 troops in Iraq, down from a peak of 170,000 in 2007. More than 4,250 U.S. troops have died, and more than 120,000 Iraqi civilians by most estimates.

 The cost of the war has now reached a staggering $650 billion.

The congressional budget office has estimated that the eventual cost, including interest payments on money borrowed to pay for the war, could be $2.7 trillion, about double the current budget deficit.

[Based on reports by The Times, The Daily Telegraph and Reuters.]

Truck driver’s concern rescues confused 90-year-old from freeway

By Calvin Palmer

In this fast-paced world, it is comforting to know that old-fashioned care and consideration still exists.

When 90-year-old Stanley Murphy took a wrong turn on his 8-mph mobility scooter yesterday, after leaving his Mill Hill home in Shoreham, Sussex, to buy a newspaper, he suddenly found himself on the busy A27 — a British version of a freeway.

It was pretty clear to anyone in not too big of a hurry that something was wrong. Vehicles sped past Murphy at speeds of 70 mph as he trundled towards the Shoreham flyover.

But ‘knight of the road’ James Dunne, 46, of Worthing, came to the rescue.  He contacted the police, pulled over, switched on the flashing lights of his truck and attempted to flag Murphy down.

Dunne, who owns a paving company, said: “The old chap looked pretty confused and scared and looked like he was not going to stop.

“He started to try to overtake me but I got him to pull in. The police arrived a few minutes later.

“He did not say very much and looked pretty shell-shocked. He did not tell me his name but said he was trying to get back to Mill Hill where he lives with his daughter.”

Police arrived on the scene and gave Murphy a lift back home. Dunne loaded the Atlas mobility scooter on to his truck and took it back for him.

Back at his home, Murphy expressed his gratitude.

“I don’t know how I ended up on the A27 but I am thankful to everyone who helped me,” he said.

“I would also like to thank the driver who put his flashing lights on to prevent the incident worsening and who helped deliver this old gent’s scooter to his home address.”

A spokesman for Sussex Police said that by law an electric mobility scooter, as a mechanically propelled vehicle, requires a tax disc and number plate before it can be driven on a main road like the A27.

“However, this gentleman was obviously confused and in the circumstances it is unlikely that we would take any further action.”

[Based on reports by The Argus and The Times.]

Knox did cartwheels and the splits at police station, says chief detective

By Calvin Palmer

Amanda Knox, the American accused of murdering Leeds University student Meredith Kercher, performed cartwheels and the splits in a police station after the killing, a witness told the court in Perugia, central Italy, today.

Former head of the flying squad Domenico Giacinto Profazio said Knox and her boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito had a “strange attitude” when they were brought to the police station for questioning following the discovery of Meredith Kercher’s body.

He said that on one occasion Knox sat on Sollecito’s lap. “I told them it was not appropriate,” said Profazio.

He also recalled other officers reporting that Knox was doing cartwheels and splits in the police station.

Knox, 21, known as “Foxy Knoxy” on her Facebook page, and her ex-boyfriend Sollecito, 24, are accused of murdering Kercher, 21, from Coulsdon, Surrey, after she refused to participate in an extreme sex game.

Her throat had been stabbed and her semi-naked body was partially covered by a duvet.

Knox and Sollecito have been behind bars since Nov 2007. Ivory Coast national Rudy Hermann Guede was sentenced to 30 years in jail last year in a fast-track trial he had requested. All three deny wrongdoing.

Profazio also listed DNA evidence that prosecutors say points to Knox and Sollecito.

Prosecutors allege that Knox’s DNA was found on the handle of a knife that might have been used in the killing, and the victim’s DNA was found on the blade. The knife was found at Sollecito’s house.

They also allege that Sollecito’s DNA was found on the victim’s bra, although his defence team said the bra bore multiple DNA traces and maintain the evidence might have been inadvertently contaminated during the investigation.

Prosecutors claim that Miss Kercher was killed during what began as a sex game, with Sollecito holding her by the shoulders from behind while Knox touched her with the point of a knife. They allege that Guede tried to sexually assault Kercher and then Knox fatally stabbed her in the throat.

Knox’s defense team also says any DNA evidence may have been “contaminated” and that she was not in the house on the night of the killing.

[Based on reports by the Press Association and BBC News.]

Amador daughter told school friend about sexual abuse

By Calvin Palmer

After Wednesday’s killings in a Miami home, allegations have surfaced that Pablo Josue Amador had been sexually abusing his daughter Priscila since  elementary school.

A few weeks ago, Priscila, 14, confided in two classmates and told them her father had molested her.

One of the students told her mother of the allegation and it was revealed to the media hours after the killings.  The other classmate alerted her father who said yesterday, on the condition of anonymity, Priscila had given his daughter a “desperate” letter.

He said the police came to his house and took the letter.

Around 6:00 a.m. on Wednesday, Amador, 54,  shot and killed his wife, Marie Joy, 47, and daughters, Priscila and 13-year-old Rosa before turning the gun on himself and committing suicide.

Son, Javier, 16, managed to flee the house in the Palmetto Country Club Estates community, in Miami, and call 911. The eldest child, Beula “Bea” Beatriz, 20, a University of Miami student, was not at home.

Hours after the killings, Marcela Cojulun, 14, a classmate at Southwood, said Priscila had recently told her that her dad had molested her for years, since she was between six and eight years old.

”She was telling me . . . throughout her life her dad would sexually abuse her. She was done with it and she didn’t want to live,” Marcela said.

Marcela said she told her mother what Priscila had said about the molestation. Marcela’s mother, Gloria Cano, told reporters Marcela advised her of the allegations about a month ago and that she wishes now she had acted on them.

Marcela said Priscila had been ”emotionless” the past few days at school and asked her friend ”to pray for her.” Marcela said she encouraged Priscila to speak with someone about the abuse.

She also said that Priscila had become so despondent that she had recently cut herself in two places.

”She couldn’t take any more, being sexually abused,” Marcela said.

The father of the second classmate said his daughter told him about the allegations about two weeks ago, and that Priscila had been upset in school.

”When I read the letter she wrote she was a desperate person,” he said.

Priscila recently wrote a post on MySpace.com that suggested she was experiencing personal problems but did not mention molestation.

”I have gone through so much and yet I still try to stand tall, because this whole world is coming down on me, and me blocking it hurts more and more,” she wrote. “That’s why I don’t care anymore.”

Miami-Dade police would not talk about the abuse allegation yesterday, but they said they are looking at all possible motives.

”We will follow up on the molestation claim like any other possible lead until we are able to come to the conclusion as to what caused this individual to commit such violent acts,” said Miami-Dade police spokesman Detective Alvaro Zabaleta.

Officials from the state Department of Children and Families said records show the agency had no prior contact with the family.

The Rev. Brian Carr, pastor at Perrine-Peters United Methodist Church, where the family attended weekly services, said he was unaware of any molestation allegations.

”I had no inkling that anything was wrong,” he said. “I don’t want to get into it. I know nothing about any of this.”

The surviving Amador children were unable to be reached for comment.

[Based on a report by the Miami Herald.]

Stanford executive arrested on criminal charge

By Calvin Palmer

The chief investment officer for Stanford Financial Group was arrested in Houston yesterday on criminal charges of obstructing an investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Laura Pendergest-Holt, a resident of Tennessee, was at Stanford offices in Houston to cooperate with the federal investigation when she was arrested, according to her Houston lawyer Dan Cogdell.

Pendergest-Holt was held in the Federal Detention Center downtown on a federal charge out of Dallas alleging she lied in a February 10 interview with the SEC.

According to the complaint, the SEC was questioning Pendergest-Holt in its investigation into allegations that Stanford Financial and related companies, including the Stanford International Bank, had defrauded investors and account holders of an estimated $8 billion in deposits.

Pendergest-Holt was named in the SEC’s civil complaint filed earlier this month. That civil lawsuit also named chairman R. Allen Stanford and chief financial officer James M. Davis.

The criminal complaint alleges she “made several affirmative misrepresentations to the SEC in order to obstruct its investigation”.

Pendergest-Holt is scheduled to appear before U.S. Magistrate Judge Mary Milloy today.

It is the first criminal charge arising from a wide federal investigation into Stanford’s operations.

“She unequivocally committed no crime. Before today, she cooperated with authorities and even flew here to cooperate,” Cogdell said. “We were shocked at the way she was arrested. The whole deal — flying her here was a deception to arrest her here and make a big splash.”

Cogdell said he expects it to be a “nasty, drawn out fight”.

[Based on a report by the Houston Chronicle.]

Opel workers protest against GM

By Calvin Palmer

Thousands of German workers took to the streets yesterday to demonstrate against the restructuring plans of General Motors and to save their jobs.

About 15,000 demonstrators carrying placards saying “No closures in Europe,” “Free Opel” and “Opel cannot be allowed to die” turned up for the rally held at Opel’s German headquarters in Ruesselsheim.

Trade union IG Metall’s boss Berthold Huber told the crowd that Opel could not be allowed to perish. “We’re not going to accept plant closures or layoffs,” he said.

Germany’s Vice Chancellor and Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier pledged to help keep Opel in business.

“This is a fight for jobs and I’m fighting without any reservation for you,” Steinmeier said outside the company, which has been making cars in Germany since 1899. “Opel is a part of German history. We’ve got to defend that history.

“This is about more than just Opel. It’s about the future of the car industry in Germany. The car sector isn’t just any ordinary industry here. It’s the backbone of our economy.”

Chancellor Angela Merkel told a news conference in Berlin she had not yet seen the required restructuring plan to decide on any state help for Opel but that if it needed it, the priority would be financing guarantees rather than more direct state aid.

“Germany has an interest in strengthening companies which have a strong foundation,” she said.

Opel, once Germany’s biggest carmaker, is just one of General Motors’ European brands near collapse in the wake of the global crisis. The German firm has been hit by weak demand and its woes have been aggravated by troubles at its US parent.

It became the first European carmaker to seek a government bailout since the financial crisis began, asking the German government for backing to guarantee loans of about 1 billion euros ($1.3 billion) for 2009. Sources close to the company say it needs 3.3 billion euros ($4.2 billion) to keep afloat through to the end of 2011.
 
And criticism was directed at Detroit by Economics Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg. He accused GM of failing to provide adequate information about a future business plan for Opel.

He said up until now both potential investors and the German Government still did not know what the GM group planned for Opel.

GM is expected to unveil a rescue plan possibly today, which Opel hopes will pave the way for Berlin to provide the struggling carmaker with aid.

But the European Commission warned yesterday that it would take action to head off countries providing what it considered to be unfair support to their national car sectors.

In addition to Germany, GM has operations in Britain, Spain and Sweden. However, GM’s Swedish Saab company has already filed for bankruptcy protection.

I have the feeling there are going to be tears and recriminations before this whole mess is resolved.  And if politicians make promises they cannot keep, perhaps even worse things may follow.

[Based on a report by Deutsche Welle.]