Federal judge upholds Colorado gun laws, dismisses lawsuit

DENVER Thu Jun 26, 2014 7:01pm EDT

DENVER (Reuters) - A federal judge upheld gun laws on Thursday introduced by Colorado in the wake of deadly shooting rampages there and in Connecticut, dismissing a lawsuit filed by sheriffs, gun shops, outfitters and shooting ranges.

U.S. District Chief Judge Marcia Krieger issued her ruling after a two-week civil trial in Denver. The measures signed into law by Governor John Hickenlooper in 2013 included banning ammunition magazines with more than 15 rounds.

The bills were introduced in response to a shooting spree in 2012 that killed 12 people at a suburban Denver movie theater and the slaying the same year of 20 children and six adults at an elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut.

They immediately met resistance from critics, including most of the state's elected sheriffs, who said they severely restricted citizens' constitutional right to own and bear arms.

The measures, passed by Colorado's Democratic-controlled legislature with scant Republican support, also required background checks for all private gun sales and transfers. The sheriffs said they had insufficient resources to police them.

Colorado's Republican Attorney General John Suthers said in a statement his office never claimed the laws were "good, wise or sound policy," but that it had fulfilled its responsibility to defend the constitutionality of the state law in question.

(Reporting by Daniel Wallis; Editing by Sandra Maler)

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New York man convicted of murder after rap lyrics used as evidence

By Ellen Wulfhorst

NEW YORK Thu Jun 26, 2014 6:54pm EDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - An accused New York City gang member was found guilty of a slew of violent crimes, including three murders, on Thursday after a trial in which his boastful, graphic rap lyrics were used as evidence against him.

A Brooklyn federal jury convicted Ronald "Ra Diggs" Herron, 32, of all 23 charges against him, from racketeering to drug trafficking to gang-related killings between 2001 and 2009, following the month-long trial.

Prosecutors used Herron's "gangsta rap" videos - in which he boasts about belonging to the infamous Bloods street gang, firing weapons and dealing drugs - to argue the lyrics documented his crimes.

Herron's lawyers argued that the lyrics were not autobiographical, but were commentary on crime, violence and drug wars in the inner city.

Following the verdict, U.S. Attorney Loretta Lynch said Herron used the lyrics to glorify his "criminal lifestyle."

“He styled himself a rap artist, but the jury’s verdict makes clear who Herron really is, a drug dealer and murderer who sought power through fear and intimidation," she said in a statement.

The American Civil Liberties Union has said there are about 18 cases nationwide in which rap lyrics have been introduced to help convict defendants.

(Editing by Andre Grenon)

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California Supreme Court rules for migrant who used other's ID

LOS ANGELES Thu Jun 26, 2014 8:33pm EDT

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A California law that protects workers from discrimination regardless of immigration status could be used by a migrant to sue his employer even though he used another man's Social Security number, the state Supreme Court ruled on Thursday.

The 5-2 decision by the court came in the case of a man who sued his former employer, Sierra Chemical Co., contending he was not brought back for seasonal work in retaliation for filing a worker's compensation claim.

Justice Joyce Kennard, writing for the majority, cited a 2002 California law intended to grant unauthorized immigrants the same protections as other workers.

"Nothing in the statute states or implies that its central directive would not apply to any unauthorized alien who used false documentation to obtain employment," wrote Kennard, who has recently retired from the court.

The plaintiff, Vincente Salas, sued his former employer in San Joaquin County in 2007. The company filed a motion for summary judgment to dismiss the case on the grounds that Salas fraudulently used another person's Social Security number to get hired by the firm when he first joined it.

The trial court rejected that request from Sierra Chemical, but an appeals court decided in favor of the company.

In its opinion, the San Francisco-based Supreme Court sent the case back to the trial court and found Salas could seek lost wages for the period between when he was not re-hired for seasonal work and when the employer learned he had used a false Social Security Number.

It ruled he could not make a claim related to the time period after the employer discovered his use of another person's social security number.

(Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis; Editing by Eric Beech and Sandra Maler)

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Florida Supreme Court tosses death row conviction on DNA evidence

By Letitia Stein

TAMPA Fla. Thu Jun 26, 2014 6:59pm EDT

TAMPA Fla. (Reuters) - Florida's Supreme Court threw out the death sentence of a man who spent almost 30 years in jail for the 1985 rape and murder of a woman found in a car trunk in the woods after new DNA evidence cast doubt on his guilt.

Convicted for killing Vronzettie Cox from forensic evidence found at the time, Paul Hildwin was on Death Row for nearly three decades. But new DNA tests proved the semen found on her underwear at the crime scene did not belong to him, the court said.

"This is huge," said Martin McClain, his longtime attorney. "Of course, for Mr. Hildwin, there is nothing that can give him back those 30 years."

McClain said he had not been able to tell Hildwin about the decision, but was scheduled to speak with him on Friday. Hildwin was also represented by attorneys from the Innocence Project, which uses DNA testing to exonerate wrongly convicted people.

Although DNA testing proved in 2003 that Hildwin's semen was not at the scene, McClain said he had to fight for years to get Florida officials to run the crime scene evidence through a national DNA database that ultimately matched it to the victim's boyfriend.

Hildwin had told investigators that he had hitched a ride with the pair several days before the body was found, but said he left them by the roadside after the two got into an argument. Hildwin said the boyfriend should have been the suspect.

"When you discover you made a mistake, you don't want to sweep it under the rug, you want to acknowledge it and fix it," McClain said.

The court has ordered his case sent back for a new trial. Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi is reviewing the Hildwin ruling, a spokeswoman said.

This is the second Death Row case recently overturned by the Florida Supreme Court. Earlier this month, the court found there was insufficient DNA evidence in the murder conviction of Carl Dausch, who has been on death row since 2012.

(Editing by Sandra Maler)

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Emboldened by Utah ruling, Colorado clerk issues gay marriage licenses

By Keith Coffman and Daniel Wallis

DENVER Thu Jun 26, 2014 6:42pm EDT

A woman puts a ring on the hand of another woman in a civil union ceremony after Colorado's civil union law went into effect in Denver May 1, 2013.

Credit: Reuters/Rick Wilking

DENVER (Reuters) - A left-leaning Colorado county defiantly issued marriage licenses to gay couples on Thursday, emboldened by a landmark decision by a regional appeals court that found in favor of same-sex marriage in neighboring Utah.

The move appeared to set up a showdown between the elected clerk of Boulder County and Colorado's Republican attorney general, who warned that such nuptials would be invalid in the absence of a final judicial resolution.

A panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit in Denver ruled on Wednesday that Utah cannot ban same-sex couples from marrying, pushing the issue of gay marriage a step nearer the U.S. Supreme Court.

The appeals court, whose decisions apply to six states including Colorado, put its ruling on hold anticipating an appeal. Yet within hours of the decision, the Boulder County clerk's office began issuing marriage licenses to gay couples.

County Clerk Hillary Hall said she acted immediately because gay couples across the state had waited a long time to have civil authorities recognize their right to marry, and said she would not stop unless ordered by a court.

"Given the 10th Circuit's recent decision and the numerous other cases on this issue, I would be surprised if a judge in Colorado were willing to invalidate a marriage license simply because the parties to the marriage were the same sex," she said in a statement.

A clerk's office spokeswoman said two licenses were issued on Wednesday, a further 15 by midday Thursday, and that more would likely be given out during the day.

No other clerk's office within the jurisdiction of the 10th Circuit has announced plans to follow Boulder's move, although a clerk in Missouri issued four licenses on Wednesday in violation of a state ban, prompting a lawsuit from the state attorney general.

VALIDITY QUESTIONED

Colorado Attorney General John Suthers said a state constitutional bar on same-sex marriages remained in force.

"(The) decision by the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals was stayed by the Court and has not gone into effect even in Utah, let alone in Colorado," he said. "Any marriage licenses issued to same-sex couples in Colorado before a final court resolution of the issue are invalid."

Boulder, home to the University of Colorado at the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, has acted in favor of gay marriage before. In 1975, its county clerk issued marriage licenses to several gay couples before being ordered to stop by the then-attorney general, who ruled such unions were illegal.

Wednesday's 10th Circuit ruling followed a series of decisions by federal district judges across the nation striking down state gay marriage bans as unconstitutional in rulings that could substantially expand U.S. gay marriage rights if upheld.

The 2-1 decision also marked the first time a regional appeals court has ruled on gay marriage since the Supreme Court made the federal government extend benefits to legally married same-sex couples a year ago.

At issue now in Boulder is whether the stay of the 10th Circuit's ruling applies to all the region's states, or only Utah.

Should the state attorney general take action to halt the marriages, he could be in for a tough fight, according to Jennifer Hendricks, a family and constitutional law expert at the University of Colorado.

She said it was hard to know if a judge could be found who would rule against a decision of the 10th Circuit that is likely headed to the Supreme Court, even with that decision stayed.

"There'd certainly be lots of questions about Colorado state law in terms of who has authority to do things like issue marriage licenses," she said.

(Reporting by Keith Coffman and Daniel Wallis; Editing by Cynthia Johnston, Jim Loney and Eric Beech)

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Legal pot backers in Oregon submit signatures to put issue before voters

By Shelby Sebens

PORTLAND Ore. Thu Jun 26, 2014 8:38pm EDT

PORTLAND Ore. (Reuters) - Supporters of a voter initiative to legalize marijuana for recreational use in Oregon said they submitted more than enough signatures to state election officials on Thursday to qualify the measure for the November ballot.

Only two U.S. states, Washington and Colorado, currently allow recreational marijuana, which remains illegal under federal law, while voters in Alaska are slated to vote on legalization in November.

In heavily Democratic Oregon, where voters rejected legalization two years ago, New Approach Oregon said it turned in 145,710 signatures to the Secretary of State's Office on Thursday afternoon, well above the 87,213 needed to qualify.

"We've verified many of the signatures ourselves and we will indeed qualify for the ballot," New Approach Oregon spokesman Anthony Johnson told reporters in Portland shortly before the signatures were submitted in Salem, the state capital.

The Oregon proposal is similar to measures approved by voters in Colorado and Washington state in 2012 to legalize the drug and create regulated retail markets that could reap tax revenue for the states.

The Oregon measure, if passed, would legalize recreational marijuana for those 21 and older and authorize the state Liquor Control Commission to regulate growers, processors and retailers of the drug.

Although marijuana remains illegal under federal law, the U.S. Department of Justice has said it will give states space to regulate and tax the drug if they meet certain core benchmarks, such as keeping it away from minors and preventing it from crossing state lines.

Oregon decriminalized pot possession in the 1970s. In 1998, it became one of the first U.S. states to sanction medical marijuana, although its estimated 200 dispensaries operated in a legal gray zone until state lawmakers passed a law last year to regulate them.

Oregonians rejected a legal marijuana ballot measure in 2012, and lawmakers during the last session declined to put the issue to a vote.

Kevin Sabet, co-founder of the national anti-marijuana group Smart Approaches to Marijuana, criticized the Oregon campaign for being propped up by big money.

New Approach has pulled in hundreds of thousands of dollars in out-of-state contributions, according to the Secretary of State’s Office, far surpassing the fundraising for the 2012 Oregon ballot measure.

"What this is about in Oregon is money," Sabet said.

Tony Green, a spokesman for the Oregon Secretary of State's Office, said the state had until August to validate the signatures.

(Reporting by Shelby Sebens; Editing by Alex Dobuzinskis)

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Nearly 40 injured in Houston-area building collapse

AUSTIN Texas Thu Jun 26, 2014 5:29pm EDT

AUSTIN Texas (Reuters) - Nearly 40 people were injured on Thursday when the ceiling of a garage apartment crashed down on Thursday onto about 100 people who had gathered for a religious event at a Houston-area residence, fire officials said.

Three people were seriously hurt but most of the other injuries were scrapes and bruises caused when the floor of the apartment above gave way and broke in Katy, west of Houston, they said.

Rescue crews set up a triage area on the front lawn of the house on a cul-de-sac where numerous emergency vehicles were ferrying victims to local hospitals.

"The floor gave way," Houston Fire Department Senior Captain Ruy Lozano told the Houston Chronicle. "It looked like it bowed."

(Reporting by Jon Herskovitz; Editing by Sandra Maler)

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