Police spokesman Cpl. Jason Price said a man was seen acting suspiciously by a detective at 10:38 p.m. on Tuesday near the E-Z Pick Convenience Store, a business at 3022 W. Mercury Blvd.

“The detective also observed that the suspect had his face concealed, was possibly carrying a firearm and was approaching the E-Z Pick Convenience Store,” Price said.

As the detective approached the man fled on foot.

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The military policies of detention and interrogation worked out by the Bush Administration and continued at least in part by the Obama Administration cannot be challenged in damage lawsuits in federal courts, the Fourth Circuit Court in Richmond, Va., ruled on Monday.  The Constitution assigns the making of such policy to Congress and the President, and the courts may not trespass, the Circuit Court decided in throwing out a lawsuit by one of the best-known post 9/11 detainees: American citizen Jose Padilla.  The decision can be read here.

The 39-page ruling was a sweeping victory for the government as it fended off claims that top Pentagon officials and military prison supervisors violated a string of constitutional provisions, including the Eighth Amendment ban on cruel and unusual punishment, while Padilla was detained.  Suing along with his mother, Estela Lebron, their case sought a court-approved remedy fashioned directly under the Constitution.  The Circuit Court said it had no authority to do so.

Padilla was captured nearly ten years ago  at OHare Airport in Chicago on his return from Afghanistan, after allegedly being trained by the al Qaeda terrorist network for violent action in the U.S.   But, rather than prosecute him for terrorist crimes, he was named an enemy combatant by direct order of President George W. Bush, and

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A lawsuit filed by Mary and Edward Pritchard several years ago accuses Braley, former Police Chief Frank Richardson, Lt. Phil Johnson, and former Officer Roger Gilbert and his wife, Gail, of staging an improper raid on their home in 2007.

The trial starts Monday in Cincinnati.

Braley was also the lead detective in the case against Widmer, who is serving 15 years to life in prison for drowning his wife, Sarah, in the bathtub of their home in August 2008. Widmer’s attorneys tried twice to get Braley’s falsified employment records before jurors to discredit him. The judge

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The proposal is being considered as part of a cash-saving drive, building on lessons learned from processing offenders following last summer’s riots.

Cases known as “either way offences”, where the accused can opt for trial in a magistrates court or in front of a jury at crown court, are most likely to be affected.

Such cases usually involve relatively low-value thefts, such as shoplifting, or minor cases of criminal damage.

Ministers have been impressed with the speed with which justice was dispensed after August’s riots.

The attorney general, Dominic Grieve, has suggested that magistrates might be given greater sentencing powers, increasing the maximum term they might be able to impose from six to 12 months for a single offence.

But the Ministry of Justice played down reports of a review of trial procedures, insisting that: “We have no plans to remove trial by jury.”

Trials at crown court cost more than three times as much as in the lower courts.

Criminal barristers and human rights groups are likely to be extremely worried by an erosion of what is seen as a fundamental liberty.

A spokesperson for the Magistrates’ Association confirmed that discussions were taking place with ministers and that the organisation backed the move.

“It’s being considered, apparently in the light of the riots,” the spokesperson said.

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According to city police, Conaway “brandished” a firearm during an altercation with blogger Adam Meister outside his Northwest Baltimore home. Conaway said he had a permit for the weapon, but state police spokeswoman Elena Russo said records show it expired in March.

A major sticking point: Even if Conaway’s permit lapsed, he would be allowed to possess the gun on his own property, Russo said. But it is not clear whether Conaway left his property.

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HOUSTON—A woman who was shot while driving crashed into a townhome near the Galleria early Monday. She died shortly after.

Police said the woman was heading to her parents’ home near the intersection of Augusta and Sugar Hill around 12 a.m. when the shooting occurred. The victim then crashed into the garage of a nearby townhome.

Authorities said the woman was on the phone with her ex-boyfriend when it happened. He

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Bowen Du, 20, of Arcadia pleaded guilty in November to a misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter charge involving the death of Alice Zhang, 16, and to reckless driving involving the injury of her friend.

As a part of the plea deal, the Pasadena City College student will serve 180 consecutive days in Montebello City Jail, which prosecutors agreed would be equivalent to a one-year jail sentence, Du’s attorney Evan P. Freed said. Du was also sentenced to five years of unsupervised probation, and will later be ordered to attend a driver safety course and complete 40 days of community labor, he said.

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Two convenience stores on opposite sides of town reported robberies Friday.

Employees at the newly built Dollar General store on McCartney Road on the East Side called police about 7 p.m. Friday after a young man wearing a hooded sweat shirt robbed the store at gunpoint.

The store manager told police he watched the man on surveillance camera enter the store with his face covered and left the office to tell the man to uncover his face while in the store. When he reached the man, however, the man pulled out a gun and demanded money.

Reports say the man took a plastic shopping bag from the store and demanded it be filled with cash. H

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Instead, Juror No. 6 whose name is redacted in court files said in his statement to defense investigators that the dismissed Juror No. 11 is an educated woman who worked on crossword puzzles during breaks and held numerous conversations with him in English, without problem.

Her difficulty, he said, was that she disagreed with other jurors about whether Topete deserved the death penalty for gunning down Yolo County Sheriff’s Deputy Jose Antonio Diaz after a car chase in June 2008.

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If members of the group agree not to set up tents on the City Hall plaza for the next two years, the city will drop all civil charges against them.

That’s the essence of the “civil compromise” sent Monday by Senior Deputy City Attorney Shannon Smyth-Mendoza to Occupiers who were cited for city code violations during the Occupy Wall Street movement that began in early October and ended late last month. The city violations include trespassing, setting up a chair or structure on city plaza property and staying at the plaza after 11 p.m.

City Attorney Rick Doyle said there are about a dozen people eligible for this compromise.

“It’s a fair result,” he said.

Daniel Mayfield, an attorney who has offered to help the loose-knit group, said that he knows of three Occupiers who have already signed the compromise.

“This is the best deal in the world,” Mayfield said.

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Jewelry from the late Elizabeth Taylor sells for $115 million “Part of the proceeds will go to The Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation, which she established in 1991 to help people living with AIDS”

Time Magazine names “The Protester” as “Person of Year” What do you think? Good choice?

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Despite enforcement efforts of the Smoke-Free Workplace Act — being challenged in Ohio Supreme Court by a Columbus bar saying it’s unconstitutional — less than half of fines have been collected from businesses that allowed smoking after the ban went into place on Dec. 7, 2006.

In Butler County, more than $100,000 from fines have not been collected by the state health department.

Businesses statewide have been fined more than $2.74 million since enforcement began in early 2007, but more than $1.82 million is still owed as of Dec. 5, ac

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Caleb Ward, 19, of Franklin, Steven Dean, 19, of Miamisburg, and Terry Cragg, 23, of Franklin, were each indicted on charges of aggravated arson, a first-degree felony; burglary, a second-degree felony; safecracking and tampering with evidence, both fourth-degree felonies.

The indictments were made public on Monday.

Cragg and Ward bond are being held in the Warren County Jail without bond. In addition, Cragg is slated for a two-day jury trial to begin Dec. 1

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