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Forensic scientist Henry Lee defends work after being found liable for falsifying evidence

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:18:10 GMT

Famed forensic scientist Henry Lee defended his work and reputation Wednesday after a federal judge found him liable last week in a lawsuit for fabricating evidence in a murder trial that sent two innocent men to prison for decades. Ralph “Ricky” Birch and Shawn Henning were convicted in the Dec. 1, 1985, slaying of Everett Carr, based in part on testimony about what Lee said were bloodstains on a towel found in the 65-year-old victim’s home in New Milford, 55 miles (88 kilometers) southwest of Hartford.A judge vacated the felony murder convictions in 2020, and the men filed a federal wrongful conviction lawsuit naming Lee, eight police investigators and the town of New Milford.U.S. District Court Judge Victor Bolden ruled last Friday that there was no evidence Lee ever conducted any blood tests on the towel. After Bolden granted a motion for summary judgement against Lee, the only outstanding issue for a jury in his case will be the amount of damages.Tests done after the tri...

Judge rejects a defense request to exhume the body of the Pittsburgh synagogue shooter’s father

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:18:10 GMT

PITTSBURGH (AP) — A federal judge Wednesday rejected a request by lawyers for the Pittsburgh synagogue gunman to exhume the body of the defendant’s father to prove paternity.Robert Bowers’ lawyers had wanted the body disinterred for a DNA test after prosecutors raised questions about paternity during Bowers’ trial for the 2018 massacre at the Tree of Life synagogue. Bowers, a 50-year-old truck driver from suburban Baldwin, faces a possible death sentence after being convicted in June of killing 11 people who had gathered for Sabbath worship and study.Trying to persuade jurors to spare his life, the defense said Bowers has a family history of mental illness and has introduced evidence that his father, Randall Bowers, was diagnosed with schizophrenia. The defense asserts that Robert Bowers also has schizophrenia and opened fire at the synagogue out of a delusional belief that Jews were helping to commit a genocide against white people.Randall Bowers died by suicide in 1979 on th...

Israel’s top court will hear challenges to a law that weakens its power, escalating political crisis

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:18:10 GMT

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel’s highest court said Wednesday it will hear legal challenges to a divisive new law that weakens its power, putting the country’s top justices in the position of defending their own independence and escalating a political crisis that has unleashed the country’s biggest protests in history. Israeli civil society groups and others filed petitions asking the Supreme Court to strike down the law enacted Monday — the first major piece of legislation in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s broader plan to overhaul Israel’s judiciary. The opposition’s legal challenges are pushing Israel toward a showdown over the foundations of its system of government. The court faces massive public pressure to strike down the law and has an inherent interest in preserving its powers and independence. But if it does so, Netanyahu’s government could ignore the ruling, setting the stage for a crisis over who has ultimate authority.“If there is ...

British man who served 17 years in prison for rape has conviction quashed thanks to new DNA evidence

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:18:10 GMT

LONDON (AP) — A British man who served 17 years for rape had his conviction quashed Wednesday by the country’s Court of Appeal after recently obtained DNA evidence linked another suspect to the crime.Andrew Malkinson, 57, was found guilty of the brutal 2003 attack on a 33-year-old woman in Greater Manchester who had picked him out from a police line-up. At the time of his trial, there was no DNA evidence linking Malkinson to the crime.He was sentenced to life in prison the following year, with a minimum term of seven years, but he always maintained his innocence and served an additional 10 years. He was eventually released from prison in 2020, but his name was on Britain’s sex offenders register.In an impassioned statement outside the Royal Courts of Justice in central London after the verdict, Malkinson recounted how many times he had not been believed by police or the legal system since he was first linked to the crime in 2003.“Today we told this court I was innocent and, finally,...

Biden's son Hunter pleads not guilty to 2 tax crimes after agreement with prosecutors falls through

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:18:10 GMT

WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — President Joe Biden’s son Hunter pleaded not guilty Wednesday to two tax crimes after a deal with federal prosecutors unraveled during a court hearing following the judge's concerns over the agreement. Hunter Biden was charged last month with two misdemeanor tax crimes of failure to pay more than $100,000 in taxes from over $1.5 million in income in both 2017 and 2018, and he was expected to plead guilty after he made an agreement with prosecutors, who were planning to recommend two years of probation. That deal is now on hold. But during the hearing Wednesday, there was a dispute in court over whether the initial agreement gave him protection against any future charges. U.S. District Court Judge Maryellen Noreika, who was appointed by President Donald Trump, raised concerns about the language of the deal. Biden had also been charged with possession of a firearm by a person who is a known drug user, a felony. He had a Colt Cobra .38 Special for 11 days in Oct...

Bears TE Cole Kmet is getting a contract extension

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:18:10 GMT

LAKE FOREST, Ill. — It looks like a native of the Chicago area is going to play for his hometown team for a few more years.The Bears have signed Cole Kmet to a contract extension on the first day of training camp practice at Halas Hall. Per Adam Schefter and Field Yates of ESPN, the extension is four years for $50 million.This comes as the Lake Barrington native and former St. Viator High School standout was approaching the final year of his rookie contract he signed in 2020, when the Bears selected him in the second round out of Notre Dame. This represents the first contract extension that has been given out by new general manager Ryan Poles. "Just amazing. This whole thing, just from the beginning, has been a dream come true, getting drafted here first and being able to get an extension done and agree to terms on that, is amazing," said Kmet on Wednesday. "Looking forward to it and looking forward to things to come with it, many playoff appearances and Super Bowls to come."Kmet ha...

Palos Park police officer saves drowning man while vacationing in Arizona

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:18:10 GMT

PALOS PARK, Ill. — A Palos Park police officer is being hailed a hero for his life-saving actions thousands of miles away. Palos Park Officer Ryan Franczak. (Photo courtesy of Palos Park PD)Palos Park Police Officer Ryan Franczak was water tubing on the Gila and Salt River in Avondale, Arizona in early July, when he observed what appeared to be a man falling off his tube and into the river.SEE ALSO: CPD officer jumps into Lake Michigan, rescues drowning womanWhen the man did not resurface, Officer Franczak jumped off his tube, dived into the water, and began his search. Officer Franczak eventually located the drowning man, pulling him up from the water to the shoreline.Palos Park Police Commissioner Dan Polk commended Officer Franczak's brave act, saying, “Officer Ryan Franczak’s heroic actions truly represent the mission and values of the Palos Park Police Department and the mantra shared among all police officers that we are never truly off duty.”READ MORE: Chicago-area native bei...

UFO hearing: Lawmakers hear testimony on alleged secret program

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:18:10 GMT

WASHINGTON, D.C. (NewsNation) — The U.S. House Oversight Committee heard from three witnesses Wednesday morning after a whistleblower filed a complaint claiming the U.S. has been concealing evidence of non-human aircraft. David Grusch, an Air Force veteran and former member of the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency, first brought his claims in a complaint to Congress and detailed his accusations exclusively to NewsNation last month. During the hearing, Grusch claimed people had been harmed in government coverups of UFO technology. “Do you have any personal knowledge of people who have been harmed or injured in efforts to cover or conceal these extraterrestrial technology?” Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Ky., asked Grusch“Yes, personally,” replied Grusch.When Burchett followed up the question with another about whether Grusch believed people had been "murdered," the witness was more evasive and said he wanted "to be careful" with that question and that he had "directed people with that kn...

Atlantic Ocean currents system could collapse this century from climate change: study

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:18:10 GMT

(The Hill) – A major Atlantic current could collapse by the middle of the century as a result of climate change, prompting extreme cold in Europe and sea level rise along the eastern coast of the U.S., according to a study published Tuesday in the journal Nature Communications.Researchers from the University of Copenhagen’s Niels Bohr Institute used statistical modeling and over a century of ocean temperature data to predict that, under current greenhouse gas emissions, the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) will collapse between 2025 and 2095.The AMOC is essential to moving warmer water from the tropics through the Gulf Stream and into the North Atlantic Ocean, both delivering cold water off North America and warming the coast of northern Europe. In addition to causing an Ice Age in Europe, its collapse could also significantly cut precipitation in the central and western U.S., the latter of which has already suffered from a once-in-a-millennium drought.  Cli...

Naked woman fires gun at cars on California bridge: CHP

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:18:10 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) – A naked woman armed with a gun and knife on the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge created traffic gridlock for evening rush-hour commuters on Tuesday.The incident began at 4:38 p.m., officials said. Bay Bridge drivers called 911 to report that a woman, who was "completely naked," had fired a gun into the air, and at several cars. She also threatened random victims with a knife, and attempted to get into cars on the bridge, investigators told Nexstar's KRON. Video shows carjacking suspects careen down stairs during attempted getaway The incident prompted the California Highway Patrol to close eastbound lanes on Interstate 80 near the toll plaza, as well as the I-80 connector ramp to I-880 in Oakland. Officers ultimately found the woman walking on the bridge just before 6 p.m. and ordered her to drop her weapons. She was apprehended and taken by ambulance to a local hospital for medical and psychiatric evaluations, according to the CHP. No injuries were reporte...