Ruling puts Anthony closer to probation

Ruling puts Anthony closer to probation

ORLANDO, Fla.

A Florida appeals court on Tuesday denied a request that would have stopped Casey Anthony from being forced to start a one-year probation sentence for check fraud by the end of the week.

The 5th District Court of Appeals disagreed with Anthony’s argument that enforcing the probation order would violate the constitutional prohibition on double jeopardy. Anthony maintains she already had completed the probation sentence in jail while she was awaiting trial on murder charges in the 2008 death of her 2-year-old daughter, Caylee. The ruling upheld a lower court’s order requiring Anthony to report to a Florida probation office no later than noon Friday.

Syrian opposition tries to unite; splits remain

BEIRUT

Syria’s fragmented opposition took steps toward forming a national council Tuesday, but serious divisions and mistrust among the members prevented them from presenting a unified front against President Bashar Assad’s regime more than five months into the country’s uprising, participants said.

Syria’s opposition, fragmented by years of sectarian and ideological tensions, has made unprecedented gains against the regime, but there is no clear leadership or platform beyond the demands for more freedom and for Assad to step down.

With Assad’s forces cracking down on the protests, the overall death toll has reached 2,200, the United Nations said this week.

9/11 remains identified as 40-year-old NY man

NEW YORK

New York City forensic technicians are still identifying human remains found in the rubble of the World Trade Center nearly a decade after the 9/11 attacks.

The office of New York City’s medical examiner announced Tuesday that it had matched a set of remains to 40-year-old Ernest James of New York, who had been assumed dead in the collapse.

A spokeswoman says James was identified within the last few days through DNA testing.

He worked for the professional services company Marsh & McLennan, which lost more than 350 employees and consultants. James’ fianc e says he worked on an upper floor of the North Tower, the first building struck by hijackers.

Authorities have identified the remains of 1,629 victims. Nearly 2,800 people died at the trade center on 9/11.

Child-abuse conviction in hot-sauce case

ANCHORAGE, Alaska

A woman who squirted hot sauce into the mouth of her adopted Russian son for lying about getting in trouble in school was convicted Tuesday of misdemeanor child abuse in what prosecutors said was a ploy to get on the “Dr. Phil” TV show.

Jessica Beagley, 36, made a videotape of how she punished the boy and submitted it to the show. The tape shows Beagley yelling at the crying boy, then tipping his chin up and pouring hot sauce in his mouth.

Beagley then had the screaming boy stand in a cold shower for sword-fighting with pencils in school.

Both actions were recorded on a videotape submitted to the “Dr. Phil” show. Anchorage police got calls from viewers after the show aired last October.

Woman settles suit with Match.com

LOS ANGELES

A woman who sued Match.com after being sexually assaulted by a man she met on the dating website settled her lawsuit Tuesday when she saw proof that the site is screening its members for sexual predators.

Carole Markin sued the website when she found out her attacker had been convicted of sexual battery. She did not seek monetary damages in her lawsuit, just a court order requiring the site to check its members’ backgrounds to weed out convicted sex offenders.

Robert Platt, an attorney for the site, said Match.com has begun checking its members against state and federal sex-offender databases.

Last week Alan Wurtzel, 67, pleaded no contest to assaulting Markin. He could face a year in jail, five years of probation and a lifetime registration as a sex offender when he is sentenced Sept. 19.

Associated Press