Attorneys seek dismissal of case

Attorneys seek dismissal of case

COLUMBUS

Attorneys for a high school football player facing rape accusations in Ohio are asking a judge to dismiss the case against him because they say the “unavailability of material witnesses” denies him his right to a fair trial.

A West Virginia judge last week rejected requests that three juveniles be called to testify at the eastern Ohio trial of two high school football players charged with raping a 16-year-old girl. The girl is from West Virginia.

Attorneys representing defendant Trent Mays argue in a motion to dismiss the case that one of the witnesses was a friend of the girl’s and can testify to the purported victim’s alcohol intake and relationship with Mays.

Jury convicts ex-Detroit mayor

DETROIT

Jurors in a city buffeted by financial crisis convicted former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick on corruption charges Monday, capping a five-month trial that exposed a brazen pay-to-play culture during his years in office while the distressed city lost jobs and people and veered toward insolvency.

Kilpatrick could face more than 10 years in prison for two dozen convictions, from racketeering conspiracy to bribery to tax crimes. Once hailed as a hip, young big-city leader, he was portrayed at trial as an unscrupulous politician who took kickbacks, rigged contracts and lived far beyond his means.

Report: UK had abuse data in ’60s

LONDON

An independent report into how British police handled allegations against disgraced late BBC entertainer Jimmy Savile said today that police had records that connected him to sexual abuse as early as 1964, but failed to carry out an investigation.

Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary, an independent police oversight group, found that police recorded five allegations and two pieces of intelligence against Savile during his lifetime.

Once one of Britain’s most popular entertainers, Savile’s reputation took a dive after his death in 2011 at age 84, when hundreds of witnesses and victims came forward accusing him of sexual abuse.

Modest quake hits parts of S. Calif.

INDIAN WELLS, Calif.

A modest earthquake left Southern California with the jitters Monday but no serious damage as the temblor caused swaying and rolling from the desert to the coast, sending children scrambling under their desks and office workers running for the door.

The 9:55 a.m. quake had an estimated magnitude of 4.7, said Nick Scheckel, seismic analyst at the California Institute of Technology’s seismological laboratory in Pasadena.

The temblor, which occurred at a depth of 8 miles, caused a swaying or rolling motion in Los Angeles and San Diego as well as in Orange and San Bernardino counties.

Father, baby shot

CHICAGO

A father was changing his infant daughter’s diaper in a parked minivan when a gunman walked up and shot both Monday afternoon in the Woodlawn neighborhood of Chicago, police said.

The 6-month-old girl, identified by family members as Jonylah Watkins, underwent hours of surgery at Comer Children’s Hospital after she was shot in her right shoulder and a bullet lodged in her left thigh, police said. She remained in critical condition Monday evening, according to a fire department spokesman.

Her father, Jonathan Watkins, 29, was shot in his left side and right buttock and suffered a graze wound to the face, police said. He was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital in serious-to-critical condition, the fire department said.

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