Zimmerman jurors begin sequestration

Zimmerman jurors begin sequestration

sanford, fla.

The six jurors and four alternates who will hear opening statements today in George Zimmerman’s murder trial are beginning their time together in a sequestered bubble: They won’t return to their homes for weeks, contact with family and friends will be limited, and Internet and phone usage is restricted. Court officials are keeping mum about the details of the jury sequestration, which begins this week.

Prosecutors and defense attorneys say the sequestration is necessary to eliminate jurors’ exposure to outside influences as they consider whether the neighborhood-watch volunteer committed murder last year when he fatally shot 17-year-old Trayvon Martin. The attorneys will make opening statements today.

Bomb attacks kill at least 20 in Syria

damascus, syria

Suicide bombers targeted security compounds in Damascus and a car bomb exploded in a pro-regime district there Sunday, killing at least eight people, the latest in a surge of civil war violence in the capital.

In northern Syria, a car bomb killed 12 soldiers in Aleppo, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which relies on a network of activists in Syria for information. It had no other details.

Court has options in gay-marriage cases

washington

The waiting is almost over.

Sometime in the next week or so, the Supreme Court will announce the outcomes in cases on California’s Proposition 8 ban on same-sex marriage and the federal Defense of Marriage Act.

The federal law, known by the shorthand DOMA, defines marriage as the union of a man and a woman and therefore keeps legally married gay Americans from collecting a range of federal benefits that generally are available to married people.

The justices have a lengthy menu of options from which to choose. They might come out with rulings that are simple, clear and dramatic. Or they might opt for something narrow and legalistic. The court could strike down dozens of state laws that limit marriage to heterosexual couples, but it also could uphold gay marriage bans or say nothing meaningful about the issue at all.

As flooding recedes, residents return

calgary, alberta

About 65,000 residents of Calgary were being allowed to return to their homes Sunday to assess the damage from flooding that has left Alberta’s largest city awash in debris and dirty water. Some were returning to properties spared by flooding, but others were facing extensive repairs to homes and businesses.

About 75,000 people had to leave at the height of the crisis as the Elbow and Bow rivers surged over their banks Thursday.

Three bodies have been recovered since the flooding began and a fourth person was still missing.

Police say girl, 5, fatally shoots self

new orleans

Police say a 5-year-old girl fatally shot herself when her mother locked her inside their home and went to the store. The New Orleans Police Department said the girl was home alone Sunday, found her mother’s revolver, and accidentally shot herself in the head. The mother, 28-year-old Laderika Smith,SFlbwill be booked on a charge of second-degree murder. Police say her negligence resulted in the death of her daughter.

Upon returning home from the store, police say Smith found her daughter lying on a bedroom floor with a gunshot wound. She died at a hospital.

Associated Press