LOS ANGELES
Suburban cops seen dumping off homeless
At least four suburban law- enforcement departments have been spotted dropping off people who appeared to be homeless on downtown Los Angeles streets, authorities said.
Los Angeles Police Department Capt. Andrew Smith said he and his partner saw sheriff’s deputies drop off a man Tuesday in a downtown neighborhood where many homeless shelters are located.
Police and downtown officials have long suspected that law- enforcement agencies from outside the city were using the downtown neighborhood as a dumping ground for homeless people.
Earlier this year, the LAPD ordered officers to stop out-of- area police cars they spotted dropping people off.
Officials from three of the departments – El Monte, El Segundo and Pasadena – said dumping was common years ago but is now banned.
ADA, Okla.
Teenager, abduction suspect found dead
A teenage cheerleader who was abducted after school was found shot to death Saturday along with the body of a man who authorities said called the girl’s family and threatened to harm her.
Caitlin Elizabeth Wooten, 16, and Jerry Don Savage, 47, were found by troopers in an Oklahoma Highway Patrol helicopter, said Ada, Okla., city spokesman Mark Bratcher. Both died of gunshot wounds, but it wasn’t clear when, he said.
Wooten was last seen Friday getting into a dark-green pickup after classes ended at Ada High School. Bratcher said the pickup was found on a street in Ada, about 80 miles southeast of Oklahoma City.
Savage reportedly called the girl’s grandmother after she was abducted and threatened to harm her, Bratcher said.
CHICAGO
Mayor’s order sought to protect employees
A federal monitor reviewing hiring practices at City Hall wants an executive order from Chicago Mayor Richard Daley that protects city employees who cooperate with her investigation.
The executive order is necessary because it sends a message “that people who have provided information or may want to do that in the future aren’t going to be retaliated against,” said Noelle Brennan, the court-appointed attorney.
The mayor, who has not been accused of any wrongdoing, has not decided whether he will issue the order.
Brennan also wants about 300 city employees and the people who hired them to swear under penalty of perjury that politics played no role in the hiring process.
The employees all were hired between April and August after the city initiated a partial hiring freeze. Affidavits requiring the employees’ signatures were mailed Friday.
ROCKVILLE, Md.
Judge grants delay
for D.C. sniper’s trial
A judge has granted a delay for the trial of John Allen Muhammad in the six Maryland deaths linked to the 2002 Washington- area sniper spree.
Defendants are usually entitled to a trial within 180 days of arrest in Maryland or within 120 days of transfer to the state, but attorneys can ask for delays in complicated cases.
After fighting extradition from Virginia, Muhammad arrived in Maryland on Aug. 22, and his trial had been set for May 1.
Despite objections from Muhammad, Montgomery County Judge John W. Debelius III on Friday granted the delay requested by his attorneys, citing “the very complicated logistics involved in the trial of this case and the length of trial.”
MIDDLETOWN, Conn.
Justices are learning to perform gay unions
Connecticut’s new law allowing same-sex civil unions takes effect this weekend, and justices of the peace are still learning how to handle the new ceremonies.
“On Oct. 1, civil unions become law in Connecticut, but there is not a JP in that room who knows what to do with it,” said Saul Haffner, president of Justices of the Peace of Connecticut, which held a conference Saturday on the law. “It’s going to be a mess.”
Connecticut is the first state to pass a civil-union law, which will confer the same rights as marriage, without court pressure. Vermont is the only other state that allows civil unions, and Massachusetts is the only state that allows same-sex marriages.
The Connecticut law does not require justices and clergy to perform civil unions, and some said they won’t because of their religious beliefs.
