Prosecutors rest O.J. case

Prosecutors rest O.J. case

LAS VEGAS — The man who told a jury that O.J. Simpson asked him to bring guns and “look menacing” during a hotel-room confrontation with two sports memorabilia dealers acknowledged Monday he didn’t tell police that last October.

“You have a whole conversation with police and you never say, ‘O.J. said to bring guns’?” Simpson defense lawyer Gabriel Grasso asked the witness, Michael McClinton, during a lengthy cross-examination.

“It may have slipped my mind,” McClinton responded. “But Mr. Simpson knew I had a gun. He read my concealed weapons permit.”

McClinton, 50, a Las Vegas resident who worked as a security guard, was the last of four former co-defendants to testify against Simpson in the trial. After he finished two days of testimony, prosecutors rested their case against the former football star and co-defendant Clarence “C.J.” Stewart.

Simpson and Stewart have pleaded not guilty to 12 criminal charges, including armed robbery and kidnapping, and could face five years to life in prison in the Sept. 13, 2007, confrontation in a Las Vegas casino hotel room.

Ruling halts wolf-killing

MILWAUKEE — A federal judge on Monday overturned a decision that removed the gray wolf from the endangered species list in Wisconsin, Michigan and Minnesota.

The ruling immediately halts the practice of killing wolves that threaten livestock and pets in the three states.

The ruling was in response to a lawsuit filed by environmental groups, including the Humane Society of the United States.

Children’s remains found

LUSBY, Md. — Child-size human remains uncovered in a basement freezer were those of two girls and have been there for months, their adoptive mother told investigators. Authorities said Monday they believe she is responsible for their deaths.

Deputy sheriffs were investigating an abuse complaint regarding a third, surviving child Saturday when they discovered the remains encased in ice. The mother told investigators that they had been in her southern Maryland home’s freezer for at least seven months, and police said they are considering the case a homicide.

Autopsies would need to be completed before authorities know for sure whether it is the girls, who would be 9 and 11.

The surviving girl’s mother, Renee Bowman, 43, has been arrested, and a judge has ordered her held without bond. She is charged with first-degree child abuse in the beating of the 7-year-old.

Tour group rescued

CAIRO, Egypt — Egyptian and Sudanese troops, backed by European commandos, swooped down in helicopters Monday to rescue a tour group that had been kidnapped in Egypt and taken on a 10-day dash across the Sahara to the frontier of Chad.

Freedom for the 11 European tourists and eight Egyptian guides came hours after Sudanese troops killed six of the abductors and captured two who revealed where the remaining gunmen were holding their captives.

Afghan cop kills American

KABUL, Afghanistan — An Afghan policeman opened fire on U.S. troops at a police station, killing an American soldier and wounding three, officials said Monday.

An American commander said U.S. forces in the station in eastern Afghanistan then killed the policeman.

“Initial reports suggest that a rogue ANP [Afghan police] official turned on our forces and shot and killed one of our soldiers,” said Col. John “Pete” Johnson, the commander of Task Force Currahee in eastern Afghanistan.

The shooting took place in Paktia province Sunday after American troops and Afghan police brought suspected militants to the station.

Heart patients, depression

DALLAS — Heart patients should be regularly screened for signs of depression, the American Heart Association recommended Monday.

Depression is about three times more common in heart attack survivors and those hospitalized with heart problems than the general population, according to the recommendations published in the journal Circulation. The authors said only about half of heart doctors say they treat depression in their patients — and not all those diagnosed with depression are treated.

Though there’s no direct evidence that heart patients who are screened fare better, depression can result in poorer outcomes and a poorer quality of life, the panel said. Depressed patients may skip their medications, not change their diet or exercise or take part in rehabilitation programs, they said.

Combined dispatches