Soldier could get life in leak case
FORT MEADE, Md. (AP) — A military judge refused on Thursday to dismiss the most serious charge against an Army private accused in the biggest leak of government secrets in U.S. history.
Col. Denise Lind rejected a defense motion to throw out the charge of “aiding the enemy” during a pretrial hearing for Pfc. Bradley Manning. The charge carries a maximum penalty of life in prison. It was one of several motions seeking to dismiss some or all of the charges, but Lind left all 22 counts against Manning in place.
In seeking dismissal of the most serious offense, defense attorney David Coombs had argued that the charge didn’t properly allege that Manning intended to help al-Qaida when he allegedly sent hundreds of thousands of classified Iraq and Afghanistan war reports and State Department diplomatic cables to the anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks. Manning stated in an online chat with a confidant-turned-informant that he leaked the information because, “I want people to see the truth.”
Prosecutors had argued that Manning knew the enemy would see the material when it appeared on WikiLeaks, regardless of his intentions.
Lind said Thursday that prosecutors must prove during trial that Manning knew he was giving information to the enemy. If they fail to do so, Lind indicated she would consider a defense motion to dismiss the charge.
Lesbian Scout leader is ousted
Associated Press
The first-graders in Ohio Pack 109’s Tiger Scouts didn’t know or care their den mother was a lesbian — at least not until the Boy Scouts of America threw her out over the organization’s ban on gays.
Now, parents who were aware of Jennifer Tyrrell’s sexual orientation well before she took the boys on campouts and other activities in a case that has re-ignited the debate over the Scouts’ policy.
“I teach my children to judge people on their actions,” said Rob Dunn, a father of a Scout. “Whether you agree with their lifestyle or not.”
The Boy Scouts of America, whose oath calls for members to be “morally straight,” maintains that as a private organization it has the right to exclude gays and atheist.
That stance was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2000. Because of the policy, Tyrrell said she only reluctantly allowed her 7-year-old son, Cruz Burns, to join up in Bridgeport, where she lives with her partner. Told, she said, by the local cub master that it didn’t matter that she is a lesbian, she was drafted to lead the pack in September.
Tyrrell said she was removed in April, right after she was asked to take over as treasurer of the local Boy Scout troop and she raised questions about the finances.
Witness: Political cash bought house
GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) — John Edwards’ ex-aide acknowledged Thursday that much of nearly $1 million in campaign supporters’ cash went to build his North Carolina dream house, not to buy the silence of the presidential candidate’s pregnant mistress.
Andrew Young testified for a fourth straight day at Edwards’ campaign finance fraud trial, peppered with questions from Edwards attorney Abbe Lowell about the money from two donors that flowed into personal accounts controlled by Young and his wife.
Young has said he took secret payments from wealthy donors at Edwards’ direction to help conceal the presidential contender’s affair with Rielle Hunter and keep his 2008 presidential campaign viable.
Young said the checks secretly provided by a then-96-year-old heiress were mixed with the couple’s other house funds, much of which went into renovations and construction of their $1.5 million hilltop house on 10 acres near Chapel Hill, N.C.
Cyberbullying victims file suits
ATLANTA (AP) — When a Georgia middle school student reported to police and school officials that she had been bullied on Facebook, they told her there was not much they could do because the harassment occurred off campus.
So the 14-year-old girl, Alex Boston, is using a somewhat novel strategy to fight back: She’s slapping her two classmates with a libel lawsuit.
As states consider or pass cyberbullying laws in reaction to high-profile cases around the country, attorneys and experts say many of the laws aren’t strong enough, and lawsuits such as this one are bound to become more commonplace.
“A lot of prosecutors just don’t have the energy to prosecute 13-year-olds for being mean,” said Parry Aftab, an attorney and child advocate who runs stopcyberbullying.org. “Parents are all feeling very frustrated.”
