Judge considers probe of TV interviews

Judge considers probeof TV interviews
HOUSTON -- A judge is considering an investigation into whether her gag order was violated by the husband and chief prosecutor of a woman accused of drowning her five children, according to reports.
Russell Yates and Harris County District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal were interviewed about the case by the CBS news magazine "60 Minutes" in a segment that aired Sunday night.
State District Judge Belinda Hill is considering appointing a special prosecutor to look into the matter, unidentified sources told the Houston Chronicle and Houston television station KPRC.
Attorneys for both sides met in Hill's chambers Monday, but neither Yates nor Rosenthal were present. Hill had no comment when asked afterward about the discussions.
Yates told the Chronicle that he had been given a legal opinion that cleared him to publicly discuss his wife's psychiatric treatment prior to the killings. He declined to say where he got the opinion.
His wife, Andrea Yates, is charged with capital murder in the June 20 deaths of three of the five children. She has pleaded innocent by reason of insanity. Jury selection is scheduled to begin Jan. 7.
500-pound foster dadloses custody of kids
BUFFALO, N.Y. -- A 500-pound foster father was forced to say goodbye Monday to three boys he has raised for six years after a court ruled that he is too fat to care for them properly.
Brian Jones, 38, said his inexplicable 200-pound weight gain over the past two years left him unable to defend himself in court, but not incapable of raising the 9-, 10- and 16-year-old brothers he hopes to adopt.
"I told them today I'm not going to abandon you, I will never abandon you," he said Monday after spending the weekend packing up the boys' belongings.
Barely mobile, Jones said he seldom leaves his house because taxis and wheelchair transportation services cannot accommodate him. Desperate to attend last week's Family Court hearing, he asked furniture stores to drive him in a delivery truck. They refused.
"I'm beyond the shame part now," he said. "I was willing to go in a Sears truck."
Judge Marjorie Mix ordered the children removed after a caseworker reported that Jones supervises the children mostly from his bedroom and relies on the oldest to do chores like cooking and shopping.
Jones, who is single, hopes eventually to regain custody of the boys, who have lived with him since being taken from their drug-addicted mother.
Mother found innocentin daughter's death
ADEL, Iowa -- A mother who testified she was distracted and running late for work when she left her 7-month-old daughter in her minivan was found innocent Monday in the girl's death.
Judge Paul Huscher found Kari Engholm innocent of involuntary manslaughter and neglect of a dependent person in the June 26 death of her daughter, Clare. Temperatures were near 90 that day and the girl died from overheating.
"We're very pleased with Judge Huscher's decision," Engholm said outside the Dallas County Courthouse. Engholm said Huscher, who heard the case without a jury, recognized that Clare's death was a "heartbreaking, tragic accident."
Defense attorneys had said in closing arguments that prosecutors had failed to prove that Engholm had acted recklessly. The judge agreed, saying Engholm did not consciously forget about her child and so did not act with reckless disregard for her daughter's safety.
Bus company raided
LOS ANGELES -- Federal agents swarmed the offices of a regional bus company, charging it with operating an immigrant smuggling scheme that transported and harbored tens of thousands of illegal aliens throughout the Southwest.
Federal agents raided Golden State Transportation's downtown bus terminal Monday and charged 32 people, including officers, bus terminal managers, dispatchers and drivers.
The two-year investigation, dubbed "Operation Great Basin" centered on Golden State's operations in California, Arizona and Colorado. The scheme reportedly began in 1996.
Attorney General John Ashcroft said Golden State sold blocks of bus tickets to smugglers to transport immigrants from Mexico border communities to cities like Los Angeles and Denver.
Between 50 and 300 migrants were reportedly shuttled from city to city each day last year, officials said after unsealing a 39-count indictment in federal court in Tucson, Ariz.
"We have no comment to make at this time," said Roger Mora, operations manager for Golden State in Los Angeles.
Associated Press