No verdict in trial of suspect’s friend

No verdict in trial of suspect’s friend

BOSTON

The jury in the trial of a man accused of trying to protect Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev deliberated for a second day without reaching a verdict Thursday.

Azamat Tazhayakov is accused of agreeing with another friend to take a backpack containing opened fireworks and other items from Tsarnaev’s dorm room several days after the 2013 bombing. He is charged with obstruction of justice and conspiracy.

The jury began deliberations Wednesday afternoon, and continued deliberating Thursday until a juror became ill. The jury was dismissed about 4 p.m. and will resume deliberations Monday.

Virus epidemic

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico

Health officials in Puerto Rico on Thursday declared an epidemic of the mosquito-borne virus known as chikungunya, which was introduced into the Caribbean region late last year.

Health Secretary Ana Rius said that more than 200 cases had been confirmed on the island as of June 25 and that the majority of them were reported in the capital of San Juan and nearby areas.

Chikungunya causes a high fever and severe pain in the joints but is rarely fatal. There is no vaccine, and it mainly is treated with pain medication.

Remains found in investigation of funeral director

BOSTON

Investigators looking into an unlicensed Massachusetts funeral director accused of stealing from customers said Thursday they have found human remains in a rented storage unit, a day after finding cremated remains at another storage facility linked to him.

The Suffolk County district attorney said investigators found multiple sets of remains at a public storage facility in Weymouth, south of Boston, on Thursday as part of an investigation of Joseph O’Donnell. Prosecutors said they also seized cremated remains at another storage facility in Somerville, just north of Boston, on Wednesday.

O’Donnell has been held on $10,000 bail after pleading not guilty in April to theft of $12,000 in funeral prepayments from an elderly couple. O’Donnell is due in court on today in that case.

Officer dies in rear-end crash

WALDWICK, N.J.

A police officer checking for speeders was killed when a tractor-trailer that didn’t try to stop rear-ended his parked car on a highway shoulder early Thursday, making him the second officer to die in the line of duty in the state this week, prosecutors said.

Officer Christopher Goodell, 32, was operating radar on Route 17 about 1:30 a.m. when the truck went onto the shoulder and struck his unmarked car, pushing it into a wall, Bergen County prosecutor John Molinelli said.

Judge OKs gay marriage in Keys

MIAMI

A judge ruled that gays can marry in Florida’s most gay-friendly county, siding Thursday with same-sex couples in the Florida Keys who challenged a voter-approved ban as discriminatory. But an immediate state appeal quickly silenced their wedding bells.

Circuit Judge Luis M. Garcia said same-sex couples could get marriage licenses as early as Tuesday in Monroe County, but Republican Attorney General Pam Bondi said the voters’ will must be respected. An overwhelming majority approved a constitutional amendment in 2008 that defines marriage as a union solely between one man and one woman. Her notice of appeal creates an automatic stay that prevents any same-sex marriage licenses from being issued, her office said.

Associated Press