Tate hearing postponed

Tate hearing postponed
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- A hearing that could mean a return to prison for convicted killer Lionel Tate, once the youngest person in modern U.S. history sentenced to life behind bars, was postponed Monday after he sent the judge a letter threatening suicide. Tate, convicted at age 13 of beating and stomping to death a 6-year-old girl, was set to appear before Circuit Judge Joel T. Lazarus, who could send him back to prison for as much as life if he finds Tate violated his probation. Tate is accused of robbing a pizza delivery man at gunpoint. However, the judge said that because of the letter, he decided to wait until after a Dec. 19 competency hearing for Tate, now 18. In the letter, which the judge received Friday, Tate said public defender H. Dohn Williams did not understand "my mental condition."
Arson spree mastermindgets nearly 20 years
GREENBELT, Md. -- The mastermind of an arson spree that destroyed or damaged dozens of homes under construction outside Washington was sentenced Monday to nearly 20 years behind bars. Two other men were also sent to prison. Patrick Walsh, 22, was found guilty in September of conspiracy and for the Dec. 6, 2004, rampage at the well-to-do Hunters Brooke development. No one was injured. U.S. District Judge Roger Titus described the arson as unparalleled in its scope as he sentenced Walsh to 19 years and seven months, the maximum. Aaron Speed, 22, received eight years and four months, and Jeremy Parady, 21, got seven years and three months. Both pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit arson. Two other men are scheduled to go on trial next year.
Calif. teen tops in science
WASHINGTON -- A 16-year-old California boy won a premier high school science competition Monday for his innovative approach to an old math problem that could help in the design of airplane wings. Michael Viscardi, a senior from San Diego, won a $100,000 college scholarship, the top individual prize in the Siemens Westinghouse Competition in Math, Science and Technology. Viscardi said he's been homeschooled since fifth grade, although he does take math classes at the University of California at San Diego three days a week. His father is a software engineer and his mother, who stays at home, has a Ph.D. in neuroscience, he said. "It's unbelievable," Viscardi said of his win. "It's so incredible that I'm in shock right now."
Face patient didn't tryto kill herself, doctor says
MARLY, France -- The French doctor behind the world's first partial face transplant insisted Monday that his patient did not try to kill herself before being mauled by her dog -- even as a British newspaper quoted her as saying she had. The apparent contradiction was just one of the mysteries surrounding last week's groundbreaking operation that grafted a nose, chin and lips onto a 38-year-old woman whose face had been severely disfigured by her pet Labrador. In her hometown, neighbors said the mother of two teenage daughters generally kept to herself before the surgery and wore a surgical mask to hide her face when she walked her new dog. The case has raised questions about the ethics of performing such surgery on someone who may have suffered psychological troubles in the past. London's Sunday Times reported the woman acknowledged in a cell phone interview that she took an overdose of sleeping pills during a fit of depression this spring. That night, she was mauled by her own Labrador, in circumstances still unclear. The woman said the reason for her suicide attempt was "secret," according to the newspaper, whose account was sharply contested by transplant surgeon Jean-Michel Dubernard, who was in charge of one of the two teams that carried out the procedure Nov. 27. "She did not try to commit suicide, I have had to say this 10 times," Dubernard told The Associated Press by telephone.
DeLay's top charges stand
AUSTIN, Texas -- A judge dismissed a conspiracy charge Monday against Rep. Tom DeLay but refused to throw out the far more serious allegations of money-laundering, dashing the congressman's hopes for now of reclaiming his post as House majority leader. Texas Judge Pat Priest, who is presiding over the case against the Republican, issued the ruling after a hearing late last month in which DeLay's attorney argued that the indictment was fatally flawed. When he was indicted in September, DeLay was required under House rules to relinquish the leadership post he had held since 2003. While Monday's ruling was a partial victory for DeLay, he cannot reclaim his post because he remains under indictment. The ruling means the case will move toward a trial next year, though other defense objections to the indictments remain to be heard by the judge.
Associated Press