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April 17, 2011

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Mystery deepens as bodies turn up on Long Island

A search on a rustic barrier island for a missing prostitute has yielded a series of grisly finds pointing to a serial killer, or maybe two. Authorities are stumped, and locals are shaken.

In the summertime, the beaches along Ocean Parkway on Long Island are an American photo album of family picnics, July Fourth fireworks and minivans wedged bumper to bumper. But in the winter, this idyllic place is a windswept wilderness laced with thickets of brush that, it seems, provide the perfect dumping ground for murder.

That's the macabre scene that has unfolded since a prostitute went missing a year ago and a search party began scouring this seashore getaway for some sign of her.

What turned up instead was a string of mostly skeletal remains suggesting the work of a serial killer, or maybe two. Police are eager to find Shannan Gilbert, 24, who they suspect is somewhere in the impenetrable terrain that keeps offering up mysteries they can't explain.

So far, this barrier island off Long Island's south shore, 40 miles from New York City, has yielded a terrible crop of death, including the bodies of four other women known to have worked as prostitutes, shrouded in burlap; a bag of arms and legs; a human skull; and the body of an unidentified woman lying near that of a child about 5 years old, wrapped in a blanket.

Authorities are stumped, and the hardy, eclectic, year-round dwellers here are shaken. Yet such grisly finds have taken on a sad familiarity; strings of prostitute killings, most unsolved, exist in almost every major city and many smaller places, experts say, and Long Island has not been immune. Joel Rifkin of East Meadow was convicted of killing nine women, mostly drug-addicted prostitutes, between 1989 and 1993 and is serving a 203-year prison sentence. Robert Shulman of Hicksville was convicted of five such killings in the 1990s; he was serving a life term in prison when he died in 2006.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-long-island-bodies-20110417,0,4015003,print.story

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For Alejandra Tapia, prison as punishment

A judge gave Alejandra Tapia a longer sentence so she could be in a rehabilitation program. But we're moving away from that idea in our justice system.

On Monday, the Supreme Court will hear arguments in a case that focuses on a narrow issue: whether a judge had the right to increase a convicted defendant's sentence so she could participate in a rehabilitation program in prison. But the case of Alejandra Tapia also raises the much broader question of whether Congress should reconsider the nature and purpose of incarceration.

After being convicted of smuggling illegal immigrants across the U.S.-Mexico border, Tapia came before a federal judge who sentenced her to a period in prison long enough for her to enter a drug rehabilitation program with a long waiting list. The judge said that "one of the factors that affects this is the need to provide treatment."

His heart was in the right place. Faced with a woman with a sad history, he sought to use his office to help her improve her situation. But Tapia's lawyer cites language in federal law saying that "imprisonment is not an appropriate means of promoting correction and rehabilitation." The only approved objectives of imprisonment are deterrence, incapacitation and retribution.

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/opinionla/la-ed-rehab-20110416,0,3245917,print.story

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Facebook looks to cash in on user data

Profiles, status updates and messages all include a mother lode of voluntarily provided information. The social media site is using it to help advertisers find exactly who they want to reach. Privacy watchdogs are aghast.

Julee Morrison has been obsessed with Bon Jovi since she was a teenager.

So when paid ads for fan sites started popping up on the 41-year-old Salt Lake City blogger's Facebook page, she was thrilled. She described herself as a "clicking fool," perusing videos and photos of the New Jersey rockers.

Then it dawned on Morrison why all those Bon Jovi ads appeared every time she logged on to the social networking site.

"Facebook is reading my profile, my interests, the people and pages I am 'friends' with, and targeting me," Morrison said. "It's brilliant social media but it's absolutely creepy."

For Facebook users, the free ride is over.

For years, the privately held company founded by Mark Zuckerberg in a Harvard dorm room put little effort into ad sales, focusing instead on making its service irresistible to users. It worked. Today more than 600 million people have Facebook accounts. The average user spends seven hours a month posting photos, chatting with friends, swapping news links and sending birthday greetings to classmates.

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-facebook-ads-20110417,0,4593395,print.story

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FAA to extend minimum time off for controllers

Air traffic controllers would be guaranteed a minimum off at least nine hours off between tightly scheduled shifts under a plan that U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood plans to announce on Sunday morning.

LaHood's announcement of shift changes will come a day after a seventh air traffic controller was suspended for sleeping on the job. The incident in a Miami traffic center prompted Federal Aviation Administration head Randy Babbitt to announce immediate changes in scheduling practices deemed to put drowsy controllers behind the microphone.

Finalizing those schedule changes took negotiation with the controllers union, the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, whose members favor scheduling practices that compress their schedule and lengthen their weekend to three days or more.

Those issues were worked out yesterday, according to an internal union e-mail sent to members late Saturday night, and LaHood is to announce the results on the Sunday morning television talk shows.

The four changes that will be implemented within 72 hours include a guaranteed nine-hour minimum between shifts, a ban on trading shifts with other controllers unless the minimum is met, prohibited swapping of regular days off in some circumstances and an extension of the hours a manager is on duty until 1 a.m.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/faa-to-extend-minimum-time-off-for-controllers/2011/04/17/AFTepItD_print.html

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Wondering where your tax dollars go? There's an app for that.

With many Americans scrambling to pay their taxes before April 18, the White House launched an online tool that lets people see where their tax dollars are going.

The White House's Federal Tax Receipt tool allows tax payers to enter their tax information and gives back an breakdown of which general areas of government get what amount.

It also comes as President Obama has launched a full-scale war against the Republican Party over the nation's tax policy and tax cuts for the wealthy.

In his weekly radio address, Obama hailed the new tool, saying "for the first time ever there's a way for you to see exactly how and where your tax dollars are spent and what's really at stake in this debate."

A look at the site reveals a breakdown of the biggest use of American tax payer dollars that begins with 26 percent of federal tax dollars going to national defense spending.

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/156477-white-house-launches-tax-receipt-to-show-where-tax-dollars-are-spent

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April 16, 2011

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Fear runs deep for Syrian Americans

Worries of reprisal lead many to shy away from taking part in local solidarity rallies.

After the Egyptian revolution began in January, Garden Grove resident Samira Hammado, her Egyptian husband and their five children attended weekly demonstrations in Los Angeles and Orange County, often joining more than a hundred people gathered to support the protesters in Cairo's Tahrir Square.

But when anti-government protests broke out recently in Hammado's native Syria, she found herself one of just a few dozen Southern Californians who showed up regularly for small Syrian solidarity demonstrations.

At one rally in Anaheim, they faced off against protesters backing the authoritarian regime of President Bashar Assad. Some took photos of the anti-regime demonstrators, threatening to cause trouble for their families still in Syria. A few people hid their faces behind sunglasses or signs. Many others said they had stayed away after hearing rumors that Syrian security agents would monitor the protests.

After Hammado later posted some anti-regime comments on Facebook, she said a friend asked her, "Aren't you afraid?"

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-syria-fear-20110416,0,4901518,print.story

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At Mexico Morgue, Families of Missing Seek Clues

MATAMOROS, Mexico — The last time anybody heard from Josué Román García was last August, after he and his older brother stopped for dinner in an isolated town about 90 miles south of the Texas border. His final known words went out via text message, from inside the trunk of a car.

“They just kidnapped us in San Fernando,” Mr. Román, a 21-year-old student, wrote to a friend. He warned against calling, and added, “If anything happens, just tell my parents, ‘thanks, I love them.' ”

On Wednesday, his father, Arturo Román Medina, answering calls on a cellphone that stores that brief note, arrived at the morgue in this border city, hoping and fearing that he would find his sons. For two weeks now, the authorities have been bringing in bodies from mass graves around San Fernando, 145 corpses at last count, and with each new grave discovered, another crowd appears, seeking news of missing loved ones, clutching photographs, holding out their arms to give blood for a DNA sample.

They are looking for closure, but as their gathering has grown into the hundreds, it has hardened a perception that government authorities have fought desperately to dispel: parts of northern Mexico, including most of this state, Tamaulipas, have been lost to criminal gangs, and for quite some time.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/16/world/americas/16mexico.html?_r=1&pagewanted=print

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Somali Pirates Release Some Prisoners

MOGADISHU, Somalia — After receiving more than $3 million in ransom, Somali pirates released a hijacked ship and some of its crew, but kept the Indian crew members to try to win the release of pirates held by India, pirates and residents said.

“We are holding the Indian nationals to exchange for our colleague prisoners that the Indian government is holding currently in their prisons,” a pirate named Ahmed said.

The Indian Navy has been aggressively patrolling the shipping lanes off East Africa, where piracy has been rampant, and has captured more than 100 pirates. Last month, the Indian Navy reported capturing 61 pirates as they fled a hijacked vessel that caught fire after navy patrols attacked it in the Arabian Sea off Kochi, India.

The ship released Friday, the Indian-owned Asphalt Venture, was hijacked late last year. The ship was held off the Handule area of Harardhere, a pirate hub.

It was not clear how many Indian crew members the pirates still held.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/16/world/africa/16somalia.html?pagewanted=print

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T.V.A. Considers Improvements for 6 U.S. Nuclear Reactors

WASHINGTON — The Tennessee Valley Authority said Thursday it was considering millions of dollars of improvements to protect its six nuclear reactors from earthquakes and floods.

It is the first American reactor operator to announce safety changes that it is weighing since an earthquake and tsunami set off a nuclear crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi plant in Japan last month. Other operators have said publicly that they might have to make changes, but they have avoided saying what those were.

The T.V.A. issued a fact sheet saying that it was considering reducing the amount of fuel in its spent fuel pools by transferring older fuel to passively cooled “dry casks” and adding additional backup diesel generators.

It also listed three changes that are less commonly discussed: improving electrical switchyards to make them more resistant to earthquakes, adding small generators to recharge cellphone batteries and keep the lights on, and reinforcing the pipes that provide cooling water to spent fuel pools.

Of the six reactors operated by the T.V.A., three are boiling water reactors that resemble the Fukushima reactors. The authority said that none of its reactors are in areas where an earthquake risk is high. But it said it was looking at “potential vulnerabilities from a chain of events, such as damage from a tornado or earthquake combined with flooding from a dam failure.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/15/science/earth/15nuclear.html?pagewanted=print

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Riding Along With the Cops in Murdertown, U.S.A.

A sign taped to the entrance of police headquarters says it all: “Closed weekends and holidays.” Every weekday, the doors are locked at dusk.

It's not that the cops here are scared; it's just that they're outmanned, outgunned and flat broke.

Flint is the birthplace of General Motors and the home of the U.A.W.'s first big strike. In case you didn't know this, the words “Vehicle City” are spelled out on the archway spanning the Flint River.

But the name is a lie. Flint isn't Vehicle City anymore. The Buick City complex is gone. The spark-plug plant is gone. Fisher Body is gone.

What Flint is now is one of America's murder capitals. Last year in Flint, population 102,000, there were 66 documented murders. The murder rate here is worse than those in Newark and St. Louis and New Orleans. It's even worse than Baghdad's.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/17/magazine/mag-17YouRhere-t.html

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Did Long Island serial killer taunt sister of victim?

(CBS/WCBS) - A report has been published saying that that the possible Long Island serial killer may have taunted the teenage sister of victim Melissa Barthelemy, a prostitute whose body was among four found by police last December. According to The New York Times, officials say Barthelemy's sister received a series of phone calls from Barthelemy's phone that terrorized the family.

Barthelemy's mother, Lynn, told the paper that the calls all lasted less than 3 minutes, and that the man kept the family "hopeful" until the last call. "In the final call, he said he had killed her," Lynn Barthelemy told the Times. The paper reports that when Barthelemy's sister told the caller she wanted to see her sister again, he said he'd killed her after having sex with her, then hung up and didn't call back.

Crews have uncovered at least 10 sets of human remains along the coastline in both Nassau and Suffolk Counties, including a skull, the bones of a toddler and the remains of four missing prostitutes.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-20054363-504083.html

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President Obama Releases the National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace

Today, President Obama released the National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace (NSTIC) (PDF).This Strategy seeks to improve security in cyberspace and e-commerce. We can see how this plays out in at least two areas. First, passwords alone are not secure enough, which contributes to online fraud and identity theft. It is also inconvenient to have to remember dozens of passwords to access different online services. Second, it is difficult for individuals to prove their true identity when they want to perform a sensitive transaction online, like banking or accessing health records. These problems are limiting the full economic potential of the Internet, because certain services cannot easily be moved online. NSTIC envisions a private sector led effort to create a new infrastructure for the Internet, built on interoperable, privacy-enhancing, and secure identity credentials. This new infrastructure is centered around choice. First, you don't have to use it at all. If you do, you can choose when or how to use it.

For example, you might get a "digital credential" bundled with your cell phone plan that resides as an application on your smart phone. It would remain inactive when you are just browsing the web. But with a single, short PIN or password, you could use your credential on the phone to do a range of transactions from logging in to your favorite online game as “anon01” where you do not want to reveal your real name to accessing your tax information where you do. To see an animated example of this system, visit the NSTIC program office's home page .

http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2011/04/15/president-obama-releases-national-strategy-trusted-identities-cyberspace

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April 15, 2011

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Georgia passes immigration bill similar to Arizona's

Police would be given the power to check the immigration status of 'criminal' suspects and many businesses would be required to do the same with potential hires.

Following Arizona's lead, the Georgia Legislature on Thursday passed a strict measure that would empower police to check the immigration status of "criminal" suspects and force many businesses to do the same with potential employees.

The bill passed in the waning hours of the legislative session despite critics' outcries. Immigrant advocates threatened a state boycott if it became law, and Georgia's powerful agricultural industry warned, among other things, that federal guest worker programs alone could not provide enough laborers to meet farmers' needs.

Now the measure heads to the desk of Republican Gov. Nathan Deal, who campaigned last year on the promise of implementing an Arizona-style law in a state with, according to one 2009 estimate, 480,000 illegal immigrants — about 20,000 more than Arizona.

Since his election, however, Deal has warned that immigration laws should not place an "undue burden" on employers, raising concerns among foes of illegal immigration that he was wobbling.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-georgia-immigration-20110415,0,1661491,print.story

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U.S. urged dealer to continue gun sales despite concerns, inquiry finds

The Arizona gun dealer repeatedly raised red flags about weapons ending up in the hands of Mexican drug cartels as part of Project Gunrunner, but his concerns were brushed aside, congressional investigators say.

The investigation into a federal operation that allowed Mexican drug cartels to acquire U.S. weapons escalated Thursday with new revelations that an Arizona gun dealer repeatedly expressed fears that his guns were falling into the "hands of the bad guys" but was encouraged by federal agents to continue the sales.

A series of emails released by congressional investigators showed that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives encouraged the gun dealer against his better judgment to sell high-powered weapons to buyers he believed were agents for the drug cartels.

Employees of the dealer videotaped gun buyers — suspected "straw purchasers" who could legally buy the guns, though cartel members could not — exchanging money with other individuals on the dealer's premises.

The aim of the ATF program, called Project Gunrunner, was to gather intelligence on suspicious weapons sales and arrest senior members of international trafficking chains.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-guns-20110415,0,2146783,print.story

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16 Officers Arrested in Mexico Deaths

MEXICO CITY — The authorities have arrested 16 police officers and charged them with protecting a criminal gang suspected of murdering dozens of people and dumping their bodies in farmland about 90 miles south of the Texas border.

The arrests, announced late Wednesday, suggest how it was possible for the gang to operate for months in San Fernando, an unpopulated area in Tamaulipas State, where people have vanished after being kidnapped from long-distance buses.

Security forces said Thursday that they had now found 145 bodies in mass graves.

Officials said last week that the discovery of dozens of bodies might offer an answer to the mystery of what happened to men who had been forced off buses at gunpoint in front of witnesses.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/15/world/americas/15mexico.html?pagewanted=print

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Despite Setbacks, Arizona Sheriff Won't Yield the Spotlight

MESA, Ariz. — It is not uncommon for law enforcement agencies to have helicopters and planes to patrol from above, but Joe Arpaio , the sheriff of Maricopa County, has created what he calls his own air force: a collection of 30 private planes that his “air posse” uses to track illegal immigrants and drug smugglers.

In what Mr. Arpaio is calling Operation Desert Sky, private pilots have begun flying over central Arizona to act as spotters for Maricopa County Sheriff's Department deputies. The overhead surveillance has not yet led to any arrests, two weeks after it began, but Mr. Arpaio said it would have a deterrent effect.

In short, Sheriff Joe — as he is widely known — is still at it.

Despite court setbacks to Arizona's aggressive illegal immigration law, two continuing federal investigations into his law enforcement practices and an audit of his budget released this week that found that millions of dollars had been misspent, the sheriff — as vividly highlighted by the creation of the Arpaio air force — is not backing down in his pursuit of illegal immigrants, or the limelight.

“This is just another controversial program that I don't think is controversial,” Mr. Arpaio said in his characteristic gruff way.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/15/us/15arpaio.html

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Spending Agreement Hurts Police and Fire Agencies

It may have kept the federal government from shutting down, but the budget agreement that President Obama struck with Congress will make it harder for some struggling cities to keep their police stations and firehouses staffed.

A program that helps cash-starved cities hire police officers — which has become highly sought-after in recent years as the economic downturn has forced cities from Camden, N.J., to Oakland, Calif., to take the rare step of laying off police officers — was cut by $52 million.

The reduction means that the program, under which the Justice Department awards cities grants that pay the full salary and benefits of new officers for three years, will be able to pay for roughly 200 fewer officers this year than it did last year, when it paid for 1,388 officers.

The budget deal also changed the rules governing a similar program that helps struggling cities hire firefighters — reducing the grants so much, union and city officials said, that many cities may find themselves unable to take advantage of the program.

Many cities have eagerly sought the grants to pay for firefighters as the budget crunch has forced fire departments in Philadelphia, San Diego and Baltimore to institute what they call “rolling brownouts,” in which they shut down different firehouses each day because they cannot afford to staff them.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/15/us/politics/15safety.html?pagewanted=print

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The Guns of Academe

By Monday, Gov. Jan Brewer of Arizona must decide whether to sign a bill partly lifting her state's ban on guns on college and university campuses . Gun advocates insist that will make campuses safer by discouraging mass killers and giving students the ability to fight back. Gun control proponents warn the law will lead to more lethal violence.

Both sides are probably wrong. Gun violence at colleges and universities — there are fewer than 20 homicides on campus per year — will probably not be affected much, one way or another. What is really at stake is America's gun culture.

Colleges and universities have long been gun-free zones. In 1745, Yale adopted a policy punishing any student who “shall keep a gun or pistol, or fire one in the college-yard or college.” Today, most universities, public and private, prohibit anyone but authorized security and law enforcement officers from bringing guns onto campuses. Arizona would join Utah as the only states to require public colleges to permit guns on campus, but Texas and eight other states are considering similar laws.

Many find the idea of students with guns shocking. They fear that undergraduates are too young to handle firearms responsibly and that the presence of guns will lead to the deadly escalation of minor disagreements. Others worry about the volatile mix of guns and alcohol. Glocks don't belong at a frat party.

Even if the bans are lifted, however, few students will tote guns around the quad. Under federal law, those under 21 cannot buy guns from a dealer. And most states require a permit to carry a concealed weapon. (Arizona only requires such a permit for persons under 21.)

As a professor, I'd feel safer if guns were not permitted on campus. I worry more about being the target of a student upset about failing grades than about a mass killer roaming the hallways.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/15/opinion/15winkler.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&pagewanted=print

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Celebrating National Crime Victims' Rights Week

The following post appears courtesy of Joye E. Frost, Acting Director, Office for Victims of Crime

National Crime Victims' Rights Week (NCVRW) is being observed nationwide April 10-16, 2011. Every year during this week, cities, towns, organizations, and community members come together to honor crime victims and those who serve them. A local celebration with national support, NCVRW is firmly rooted in our nation's communities. NCVRW is a time for every citizen to focus on raising awareness and promoting victims' rights.

The Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) helps lead NCVRW efforts throughout the country and hosted prelude events in Washington, D.C., last week, including the Annual National Candlelight Observance and the Attorney General's National Crime Victims' Service Awards Ceremony. The events kicked off NCVRW and placed a national spotlight on what is ultimately a local observance.

To help communities plan and execute their own celebrations, OVC provides a variety of resource materials. The NCVRW Resource Guide features educational content, campaign materials, artwork, and a theme video. These tools make it easy for communities to plan local events and work with local media outlets to promote awareness. To provide national consistency, OVC selects a theme highlighting particular crime victims' issues every year.

The NCVRW theme for 2011 – “Reshaping the Future, Honoring the Past” – acknowledges the contributions of victim service providers to meeting tomorrow's public safety challenges and pays tribute to our nation's crime victims. The theme also highlights the capacity of victim service providers to help mold the future of the crime victims' services field. The amazing individuals who received awards during last week's ceremony are just a few of the thousands of professionals throughout the country who are helping to make sure that victims are protected, acknowledged, and involved in every phase of the justice system – that justice for all always includes justice for victims.

http://blogs.usdoj.gov/blog/archives/1299

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Associate Attorney General Tom Perrelli Speaks at the D.C. National Crime Victims' Rights Week Ceremony

Thank you, U.S. Attorney Ron Machen, for having me here today. And let me thank you for hosting this event to give faces and voices to those in our community who have been the victims of crime-- and to recognize individuals and organizations that have made a commitment to reshaping the futures of crime victims by seeking rights, resources, and protections needed to set them on the right path.

I grew up in the DC area, and, so, this commemoration has special meaning to me. There's a lot that we do at the Justice Department that is unglamorous and trying—but, I value these moments which allow us all to celebrate the good, the courage, and the resolve in our community.

As the U.S. Associate Attorney General, one of my many hats is to oversee our grant programs: those administered by the Office on Violence Against Women, Community Oriented Policing (COPS), and our Office of Justice Programs, which is responsible for providing resources to tribal communities and our youth.

These programs are deeply personal to me. Last year, on the 15 th anniversary of the Violence Against Women Act, I and my Justice Department colleagues took a nation-wide tour of college campuses to underscore the need to tackle sexual assault victimization among our young women. It is unacceptable that on college campuses today, Justice Department research tells us that, over the course of a college career, 1 in 4 women will be raped. That's a flabbergasting statistic. We spoke with students about ways to prevent violence against women on college campuses, and the role that federal, state and local government, working with university staff, faculty and students, should play in ensuring that these crimes are taken seriously and that young victims have access to the resources and support that they need.

http://www.justice.gov/iso/opa/asg/speeches/2011/asg-speech-110414.html

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Botnet Operation Disabled

FBI Seizes Servers to Stop Cyber Fraud

In an unprecedented move in the fight against cyber crime, the FBI has disrupted an international cyber fraud operation by seizing the servers that had infected as many as two million computers with malicious software.

Botnets are networks of virus-infected computers controlled remotely by an attacker. They can be used to steal funds, hijack identities, and commit other crimes. The botnet in this case involves the potent Coreflood virus, a key-logging program that allows cyber thieves to steal personal and financial information by recording unsuspecting users' every keystroke.

Once a computer or network of computers is infected by Coreflood—infection may occur when users open a malicious e-mail attachment—thieves control the malware through remote servers. The Department of Justice yesterday received search warrants to effectively disable the Coreflood botnet by seizing the five U.S. servers used by the hackers.

“Botnets and the cyber criminals who deploy them jeopardize the economic security of the United States and the dependability of the nation's information infrastructure,” said Shawn Henry, executive assistant director of the FBI's Criminal, Cyber, Response, and Services Branch. “These actions to mitigate the threat posed by the Coreflood botnet are the first of their kind in the United States,” Henry noted, “and reflect our commitment to being creative and proactive in making the Internet more secure.”

http://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2011/april/botnet_041411/botnet_041411

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April 14, 2011

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Suspect in killing at Canoga Park bowling alley wanted bragging rights, prosecutor says

A co-defendant charged with the 2008 murder of a black Canoga Park bowling alley employee was seeking bragging rights and earning his gang moniker “Outlaw” when he willfully participated in the racially motivated crime, a prosecutor told jurors in closing arguments Wednesday.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Daniel Akemon of the Hardcore Gang Division told jurors at the Van Nuys Courthouse that Martin Sotelo helped fellow gang member Richard Bordelon gun down James Shamp " in cold blood because of the color of his skin, in a display of senseless violence and a complete disregard for human life.”

Shamp, 48, a husband and father of two children, was taking out the trash at the Canoga Bowl on Dec. 22, 2008, when a car carrying Latino gang members pulled up, prosecutors said.

Sotelo, 26, was behind the wheel. He stopped the vehicle so Bordelon could take aim like a sniper, striking Shamp “right through the heart,” Akemon said.

The jurors -- six men and six women -- will be asked to decide whether Sotelo willfully conspired to commit murder and targeted Shamp because he was African American.

Los Angeles Times

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California deaths parallel Double Initial Murders in New York

A photographer who traveled the country, now 77, is charged in the slayings of four women in Northern California. The victims share alliteration of names like three East Coast victims. The killings date to the 1970s.

The slayings of four young women from 1977 to 1994 in three Northern California counties at first appeared unconnected.

Now, however, investigators say they have linked them to one suspect: Joseph Naso, 77, who was charged Wednesday in a Marin County courtroom with four counts of murder.

But a bigger mystery remains. Did their names play a role? And could the killer of Carmen Colon, Pamela Parsons, Roxene Roggasch and Tracy Tafoya be the same man who committed the infamous "Double Initial Murders" in upstate New York four decades ago?

The killings of the girls in the Rochester area in 1971 and 1973 have never been solved, and all three victims' names had the same first and last initial. One also was named Carmen Colon.

"We expected the calls the moment the arrest became public," said Allan M. Dombroski, a senior investigator with the New York State Police.

Naso lived in the Rochester area in the 1960s and early '70s, Dombroski said. Naso was a New York native and traveled the country as a professional photographer.

Los Angeles Times

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LAPD announces $75,000 reward in shooting of three at South L.A. adult day-care center

It was lunchtime at the South L.A. adult day-care center and a group was gathered in the backyard when shots suddenly rang out: 10 semiautomatic rounds intended for someone else.

One woman was hit in the head, a man was shot in the face and another woman's head was grazed. The three adults, all of whom suffer from "profound mental challenges," are expected to recover, authorities said, but the culprits of the March shooting are still on the loose.

LAPD investigators, who have acknowledged they're short on details, announced a $75,000 reward Wednesday for information into the shooting.

What police do know is that two men were near the 2000 block of Vernon Avenue in Vermont Square, while a third likely waited nearby in a light-colored compact car. They fired at two other men running past the day-care center, and missed.

The chain-link fence that separated the facility's backyard from the street couldn't shield those inside from the bullets. Though violence between the Rollin 40s and the Van Ness Gangsters is common on both sides of Vernon Avenue, detectives say they're unsure if the shooting was gang-related.

Los Angeles Times

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N. Korea Says It Is Holding U.S. Citizen

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea confirmed Thursday that it has arrested an American man for committing an unspecified crime against the country and is preparing to indict him.

The man, named Jun Young Su, has been held since November last year, the North's official Korean Central News Agency said. He is the latest U.S. citizen to be detained in the reclusive communist state in recent years.

North Korea informed Washington about the situation and Jun is being given necessary humanitarian conveniences including consular contact with Swedish Embassy officials in Pyongyang, the news agency said.

Earlier this week, the U.S. State Department called for North Korea to release one of its citizens and said Swedish officials had visited the American. But it gave no further details. The U.S. — which fought on South Korea's side during the 1950-53 Korean War — doesn't have diplomatic staff inside North Korea and Sweden handles Washington's interests there.

South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported Thursday that a Korean-American with business interests in North Korea was being detained for alleged Christian proselytizing. Yonhap, citing the Korean Christian community in the United States, said the man is in his 60s, attends a Korean church in Orange County, California, and has a North Korean visa.

New York Times

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Aerial imaging to be used in search for more Long Island remains

(Videos on site)

New York (CNN) -- High-resolution photos will soon be shot by aircraft of a Long Island, New York, beach area where the search for a missing woman has led to the remains of at least eight people.

Airplanes and helicopters will begin circling the barrier island beach later this week as federal, state and local search efforts continue, Suffolk County Police Commissioner Richard Dormer told reporters on Wednesday.

"The high-resolution technology should be able to provide a detailed representation of the area and will extend through Nassau County," Dormer said. "We're hoping the technology will help identify skeletal remains that may still be out there."

The aerial imagery will supplement police-dog search units, which expected to resume searching later this week. Meanwhile, diver teams are already scouring the waterways on the north side of the barrier island.

CNN

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Two New Orleans Police Officers Convicted on Civil Rights and Obstruction of Justice Charges in Connection with the Beating Death of a Civilian

WASHINGTON – Two officers with the New Orleans Police Department (NOPD) have been convicted of civil rights and obstruction of justice crimes in connection with the beating death of civilian Raymond Robair in July 2005, and a subsequent cover-up.

Officer Melvin Williams was convicted of violating Robair's constitutional rights by beating him on July 30, 2005. Evidence at trial established that Williams approached Robair on the street in Robair's neighborhood. Several neighbors testified that they saw Williams kick Robair in the side and beat him repeatedly with a baton. After the beating, Williams and Moore placed Robair, who was unconscious, into their police car and drove him to Charity Hospital, where, according to witnesses at trial, they falsely informed the hospital staff that they had found Robair under a bridge in this condition, and that all they knew was that Robair was a drug user. Based upon that information, the hospital treated Robair for a drug overdose rather than for blunt force trauma. Robair, who suffered fractured ribs and a ruptured spleen as a result of the beating, was pronounced dead within a few hours.

Williams was also convicted, along with Officer Matthew Dean Moore, of obstructing justice by writing and submitting a false and inaccurate incident report regarding their interactions with Robair. Moore was also convicted of one additional felony count for making false statements regarding the incident to FBI agents in March 2010.

“Every community relies upon their police officers to protect and serve, but these officers abused their power, violating the law and the public trust,” said Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division. “I am hopeful that today's verdict brings a measure of justice to the victim's family and the entire community.”

Dept of Justice

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April 13, 2011

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Death toll in mass graves in Mexico reaches 116

As authorities unearth 28 more bodies in Tamaulipas state while investigating bus kidnappings, the federal government sends in more troops to monitor highways. Officials have arrested 17 people in the case.

Mexican authorities Tuesday reported the discovery of 28 more bodies in a northeastern state, bringing to 116 the number of dead unearthed since officials began investigating mass kidnappings of bus passengers.

As horror mounts over the savagery in Tamaulipas, federal officials said they had sent in more troops and would carry out "constant monitoring" of highways in the violence-ravaged border state.

The government of President Felipe Calderon has poured troops into Tamaulipas after previous episodes of grisly violence. But nothing has quelled bloodletting by drug-trafficking gangs that are essentially in control of big swaths of the state.

Mexico's interior minister, Jose Francisco Blake Mora, said criminal gangs were acting out of "desperation." Officials have arrested 17 people in connection with the bodies.

"Organized crime, in its desperation, resorts to committing extraordinary atrocities that we cannot and should not tolerate," Blake said after meeting with Tamaulipas Gov. Egidio Torre Cantu in Mexico City.

Before Tuesday, a series of mass graves found within a week in rural San Fernando had yielded 88 bodies, amid reports that gunmen were stopping buses and seizing passengers.

Los Angeles Times

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Man recruited fake army in immigration scam, prosecutors say

David Deng is accused of running a fraudulent military recruitment center in Temple City, where he charged Chinese nationals a fee to join a "special forces reserve" unit that he said would help their chances of becoming U.S. citizens.

He called himself the "supreme commander."

From a storefront in Temple City decorated to look like a military recruiting center, David Deng raised an army of more than 100 Chinese nationals and claimed they were members of an elite U.S. special forces unit, authorities said.

Together, they marched in local Chinese New Year parades and even received a special military tour in uniform at the USS Midway museum in San Diego. Chinese-language newspapers ran photos of the troops with prominent community leaders.

But prosecutors on Tuesday charged that Deng's "U.S. Army/Military Special Forces Reserve" was actually a huge immigration scam that preyed on Chinese immigrants in the San Gabriel Valley desperate to become citizens.

Authorities allege that Deng charged members of his "army" $300 to $450 to join plus an annual $120 renewal fee. He told them that joining the group would increase their chances of becoming U.S. citizens, according to court papers. The more money they donated to the organization, he allegedly told them, the better their chances of becoming citizens.

Los Angeles Times

Woman who withheld son's cancer drugs found guilty

LAWRENCE — Taking less than seven hours to deliberate, an Essex Superior Court jury delivered a sweeping verdict yesterday against a mother who withheld life-saving cancer treatment for her young son, finding her guilty of attempted murder and assault and battery on the child.

LaBrie, now 38, was convicted on charges of attempted murder, assault and battery on a disabled person with injury, assault and battery on a child with substantial injury, and reckless endangerment of a child, for withholding medication from her son, Jeremy Fraser.

Authorities said Jeremy was diagnosed with a treatable case of non-Hodgkin's lym phoma in October 2006, just after he turned 7, but that LaBrie failed to administer chemotherapy treatments. By the time his doctors realized the boy was not taking his medication, his condition progressed to leukemia.

LaBrie, who lived in Beverly and Salem, lost custody of the boy to his father, Eric Fraser. Jeremy died in hospice care in March 2009, at age 9. His father died in a motorcycle accident in 2010.

Boston.com

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Body count now at 10 as police confirm more remains found on NY beach highway are human

GARDEN CITY, N.Y. — The latest two sets of remains found along a New York beach highway are human, authorities said, bringing to 10 the number of bodies found in a search for victims of a suspected serial killer.

Authorities have not definitively linked all the remains found in the past five months to the same suspect, but they have said four escorts who advertised on the website Craigslist who were found in December were likely victims of a serial killer.

Police happened upon the first set of four remains while searching for a missing New Jersey prostitute last seen in a nearby community nearly a year ago. That woman has yet to be found.

Police searching late last month along Ocean Parkway discovered a fifth body, which prompted authorities to commence a widespread search involving dozens of officers, dogs, helicopters, mounted units and volunteer firefighters. That effort led to the discovery April 4 of three more sets of remains and two more on Monday near Jones Beach State Park.

Police investigating the deaths have kept many details of the killings to themselves, but the revelations have shaken some veteran officers.

Associated Press

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Statement of Deputy Assistant Attorney General Jason Weinstein Before the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Terrorism

Good afternoon, Chairman Whitehouse, Ranking Member Kyl, and Members of the Subcommittee. It is a pleasure to appear before you to testify about ensuring our nation's cybersecurity. I am pleased to share with the Subcommittee an overview of the Department of Justice's role in the U.S. Government's overall cybersecurity strategy and enforcement efforts. In light of the FBI's participation on the panel, I will limit my remarks primarily to the ways in which other components of the Justice Department address cybersecurity issues.

Our society's reliance on digital infrastructure requires that not only the information infrastructure itself, but also all of the data it carries and activity that it supports be protected. The Administration is committed to integrating and organizing the government's cybersecurity efforts to better ensure that we have a comprehensive framework in place that will allow us to bring all appropriate tools to bear against cyber criminals, terrorists, and other malicious actors. The Department of Justice plays a key role in that fight.

As the Administration's 60-Day Cyber Policy Review recognized, t he Department, through its prosecutorial and law enforcement components, and in partnership with other agencies, plays a critical role in cybersecurity by identifying the offenders, seizing their hardware and assets, and deterring their conduct through arrest and appropriately severe punishment. Its role in threat reduction and attribution works in concert with the roles of other agencies and private sector entities that focus on hardening targets and reducing vulnerabilities. Stated another way, we need to develop better locks, but when those locks are broken—as they inevitably will be—the Department responds to bring the offenders to justice.

Dept of Justice

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April 12, 2011

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Suspect in Border Patrol agent's 2009 slaying arrested in Tijuana

Mexican authorities in Tijuana said Monday they have arrested a man wanted on suspicion of killing a U.S. Border Patrol agent in July 2009. Marcos Manuel Rodriguez Perez, nicknamed “El Virus,” was arrested Monday evening by Tijuana municipal police officers in the eastern part of the city, an agency spokesman said.

Rodriguez, 26, is one of three men suspected of trying to rob Border Patrol Agent Robert W. Rosas while he was on patrol in a remote area east of San Diego. The 30-year-old father of two was shot multiple times after putting up a struggle. Another suspect, Christian Daniel Castro Alvarez, turned himself in and was sentenced to 40 years in prison last year.

Castro, a teenager at the time of the incident, said the group crossed the border intending to steal the night vision gear and other equipment from Rosas' vehicle. The men allegedly lured Rosas out of his car by making noises as he drove just north of the border fence near Campo, about 60 miles east of San Diego.

The FBI had been working closely with Mexican authorities to find Rodriguez and a third suspect, who remains at large. A Mexican police source said Rodriguez has already been turned over to U.S. authorities. An FBI spokesman declined to comment on the arrest, citing the “highly sensitive” nature of the investigation.

Los Angeles Times

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Suspect in Santa Monica synagogue blast held in Ohio

Ron Hirsch, suspected in a synagogue bombing and believed to have been fleeing across the country, was arrested in Cleveland Heights, authorities say.

A man suspected in the explosion last week at a Santa Monica synagogue has been arrested in Ohio, police said Monday night.Ron Hirsch, 60, who was wanted in connection with Thursday's explosion at Chabad House, was apprehended in Cleveland Heights, the Santa Monica Police Department said.

He was taken into custody by local law enforcement officers who had received a tip from someone who had come into contact with Hirsch, according to authorities.

The FBI said Hirsch fled Los Angeles on Thursday on a Greyhound bus after the explosion at Chabad House. He was believed headed to New York, where he has relatives. But authorities said Hirsch may have gotten off the bus elsewhere. On Monday afternoon, the FBI released images from a surveillance camera at a Greyhound station in Denver, which showed Hirsch walking through the building and standing at a counter.

Los Angeles Times

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Court upholds judge's ban on Arizona immigration law

A federal appellate panel agrees that parts of SB 1070 intrude on immigration and foreign policy, which should be left to the federal government. A showdown before the U.S. Supreme Court may be next.

A federal appellate court Monday upheld a judge's ban on the most controversial parts of a tough new Arizona immigration law, setting the stage for a showdown before the Supreme Court on how far a state can go in trying to expel illegal immigrants.

A three-judge panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with a federal judge in Arizona who found that provisions of the law, known as SB 1070, were an unconstitutional intrusion into immigration and foreign policy, which is the prerogative of the federal government. The law was signed last year by Gov. Jan Brewer, who argued that her state was overrun by dangerous illegal immigrants. Critics contended it would lead to racial profiling.

In a partial dissent, one judge argued that a key provision, which requires police to determine the status of people involved in traffic stops whom they suspect are in the country illegally, was constitutional. But that stance did not sway the majority, making the ruling a victory for the Obama administration, which challenged Arizona's law in court last year.

The administration "couldn't have asked for more in the results of the ruling or the reasoning of the ruling," said Peter Spiro, a law professor at Temple University who has closely followed the case.

Los Angeles Times

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9th body on LI beach

Cops scouring a Long Island beach-turned-graveyard found another set of grisly remains yesterday -- a human skull and torso that were at least a mile apart and might belong to the same body.

"It could be number nine, or it could be number 10, we don't know yet," a source told The Post, in regard to the increasing body count, which could be the work of a serial killer.

A State Police officer with a cadaver dog found the torso at 11:30 a.m. in Nassau County, five to six miles west of where eight other decomposed bodies have been found in Suffolk County since December, said State Police Capt. James Dewar.

Four hours later, a Nassau cop found bones in the JFK Bird and Wildlife Sanctuary at least a mile east of the torso.

"It appears to be a skull," Nassau Detective Lt. Kevin Smith said of the second find. "It's all been very startling. We have a lot of work to do."

The bones were taken to the Nassau County Medical Examiner's Office.

The latest grim discoveries came as roughly 125 Nassau and state cops teamed up to widen the search for missing New Jersey call girl Shannan Gilbert, 24, last seen screaming for help as she ran from the gated community at Oak Beach after meeting a john for sex.

New York Post

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Virginia: 23-Year Sentence for Subway Bomb Plot

An Ashburn man pleaded guilty Monday to joining what he thought was a plot by Al Qaeda to bomb the Washington region's Metrorail system and was sentenced to 23 years in prison.

The authorities say Farooque Ahmed, a naturalized citizen from Pakistan, plotted with people who turned out to be part of a government sting.

New York Times

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Aviation security

Many terrorist suspects kept off flights

U.S. security officials learned something after a Nigerian terrorist attempted to blow up a plane over Detroit on Christmas Day, 2009.

The Nigerian "passenger" was an al-Qaida operative who was on a large watch list that includes al-Qaida financiers and people who have trained with the group but for some reason were not considered a threat to aircraft.

The government had been checking this watch list, but only after flights were airborne. If checkers found a passenger on the list, the person would be questioned upon arrival at his destination and most likely not allowed in the country, the Associated Press reported.

That provided little security for the people in the plane, as the Detroit incident illustrated.

Since then, security officials have been checking at least two documents before flights take off — no-fly lists but also the larger watch list that includes al-Qaida associates. The result is that more than 350 people suspected of terrorist ties have been barred from boarding U.S.-bound commercial flights, AP reports.

Watertown Daily Times.com

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Texas: Personal Data Posted Accidentally

Social Security numbers, birthdates and other information of about 3.5 million residents have been accidentally posted on computer servers, the state comptroller, Susan Combs, said Monday.

Most of the information, including some driver's license numbers, was available for more than a year.

Ms. Combs said the information included data transferred by the Teacher Retirement System of Texas, the Texas Workforce Commission and the Employees Retirement System of Texas.

She said that there was no indication any information was misused.

New York Times

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Announcing HumanRights.gov

Last week, in conjunction with the release of its annual Human Rights Report, the State Department officially launched HumanRights.gov , a new central portal for international human rights-related information generated by the United States Government. HumanRights.gov was designed in the letter and spirit of President Obama's Open Government Directive issued in January 2009, requiring Federal agencies to take specific steps to achieve key milestones in transparency, participation, and collaboration.

HumanRights.gov is primarily aimed at increasing the American public's access to human rights-related information and understanding of our global engagement on these critical issues. We hope that it proves equally valuable to citizens of other nations seeking to promote accountability and change in their own societies.

HumanRights.gov currently features content that largely comes from the U.S. Department of State. The content will grow to include additional information from partnering Federal agencies including the U.S. Agency for International Development, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the U.S. Department of Justice, and the U.S. Department of Labor. The website is easily searchable with a comprehensive archive of reports, press releases, statements, articles, and briefings generated on international human rights concerns. We hope you find it useful and welcome your feedback, which should be sent to HumanRightsWebsite@state.gov .

The Whote House

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April 11, 2011

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CIA has slashed its terrorism interrogation role

The agency has stopped trying to detain or interrogate suspects caught abroad, except those captured in Iraq and Afghanistan.

He's considered one of world's most dangerous terrorism suspects, and the U.S. offered a $1-million reward for his capture in 2005. Intelligence experts say he's a master bomb maker and extremist leader who possesses a wealth of information about Al Qaeda-linked groups in Southeast Asia.

Yet the U.S. has made no move to interrogate or seek custody of Indonesian militant Umar Patek since he was apprehended this year by officials in Pakistan with the help of a CIA tip, U.S. and Pakistani officials say.

The little-known case highlights a sharp difference between President Obama's counter-terrorism policy and that of his predecessor, George W. Bush. Under Obama, the CIA has killed more people than it has captured, mainly through drone missile strikes in Pakistan's tribal areas. At the same time, it has stopped trying to detain or interrogate suspects caught abroad, except those captured in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"The CIA is out of the detention and interrogation business," said a U.S. official who is familiar with intelligence operations but was not authorized to speak publicly.

Los Angeles Times

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Prisons seek ally in crackdown on cellphones

Bidders on the upcoming contract for inmates' pay phone service will be asked to include equipment to block cellphone calls. Civil libertarians say cellphones help inmates' positive behavior.

Frustrated by the state's inability to prevent thousands of illicit cellphone calls made by inmates from its prisons, California's corrections chief is seeking help from an industry that has a big financial interest in his cause.

Prisons Secretary Matthew Cate said he will offer a deal to companies that bid for the next contract to provide phone service for state inmates: Install costly equipment that will block cellphone calls and see profits surge as prisoners use authorized services to connect with the outside world.

"If cellphones are inoperable, the company will make more money," Cate said in a recent interview.

Prisoners are supposed to use pay phones mounted on the walls of their housing units to call people outside. They are charged collect call rates, and the conversations are recorded and monitored by prison staff. But the proliferation of smuggled cellphones in recent years has reduced use of the authorized phones and the ability to monitor them, and officials say they cannot afford the technology to block cellular signals.

Los Angeles Times

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Jim Newton: Public has a right to know names of police officers involved in shootings

California's police unions are waging fruitless and self-defeating campaigns to protect their members from legitimate public accountability in shootings.

In this season of discontent with public employee unions, California's police officer associations are waging costly, fruitless and self-defeating campaigns to protect their members from legitimate public accountability. Police unions have recently inserted themselves in battles in Pasadena, Long Beach and the county of Los Angeles, all to prevent the release of names of officers involved in shootings.

That's awful public policy. A police officer on duty performs a consummately public responsibility. Officers are identifiable to the public — they wear their names on their uniforms — because it's crucial that people in the community know their identities. Police are armed and allowed to use force, but they must do so in the service of the public, and under its scrutiny.

And yet, in a spate of cases, police unions are fighting that premise. Last December, for instance, Long Beach officers shot a man carrying a garden hose nozzle. When reporters asked for the names of the officers involved, the Long Beach union intervened, saying the release of that information would violate the officers' privacy. Similarly, in two shootings involving Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies — one late at night on Sept. 14, 2009, the other on a summer afternoon in Compton — their union is making the same argument.

CNN

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AP Exclusive: US blocks 350 suspected terrorists

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. government has prevented more than 350 people suspected of ties to al-Qaida and other terrorist groups from boarding U.S.-bound commercial flights since the end of 2009, The Associated Press has learned.

The tighter security rules — imposed after the attempted bombing of an airliner on Christmas 2009 — reveal a security threat that persisted for more than seven years after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Until then, even as commercial passengers were forced to remove their shoes, limit the amount of shampoo in their carry-on luggage and endure pat downs, hundreds of foreigners with known or suspected ties to terrorism passed through security and successfully flew to the United States each year, U.S. officials told the AP. The government said these foreigners typically told Customs officers they were flying to the U.S. for legitimate reasons such as vacations or business.

Security practices changed after an admitted al-Qaida operative from Nigeria was accused of trying to blow himself up on a flight to Detroit on Christmas 2009. Until then, airlines only kept passengers off U.S.-bound planes if they were on the no-fly list, a list of people considered a threat to aviation.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

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