Former Oakland Raiders defensive end charged in four slayings - Reuters
LOS ANGELES |
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Former Oakland Raiders defensive end Anthony Wayne Smith, whose murder trial stemming from a 2008 shooting death ended in a hung jury, was charged this week with three more Los Angeles County slayings from several years earlier.
The new criminal complaint, filed on Monday, charges Smith, 43, with a total of four counts of first-degree murder, incorporating the original case against him and the kidnap-killings of three other men - one in 1999 and two in 2001.
Special allegations listed in the complaint say the three earlier victims were tortured before being killed.
An arraignment has been set for July 17 on the new charges, and Smith remains held without bond, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office, Sandi Gibbons, said on Thursday.
Smith's lawyer, Michael Evans, said his client would plead not guilty to all the charges and that the new criminal complaint came as a "surprise to all of us."
Smith, a first-round 1990 draft pick of the Raiders, then based in Los Angeles, and an 11th pick overall for the National Football League that year, played all seven seasons of his NFL career for the Raiders, first in Los Angeles and then in Oakland.
Evans said he was informed of the new charges just 45 minutes before jury selection was set to begin on Monday in the retrial of the original case charging Smith with murder in the October 2008 slaying of an associate named Maurilio Ponce.
The first jury deadlocked 8-to-4 in favor of a guilty verdict, leading to a mistrial.
The latest felony complaint charges Smith with three additional counts of first-degree murder in connection with the November 1999 slayings of brothers Kevin and Ricky Nettles, and the June 2001 killing of Dennis Henderson.
According to Gibbons, the Nettles brothers were abducted from a car wash in Los Angeles by two individuals posing as police officers and were found shot to death the next day.
About 19 months later, Henderson and another man, Terry Ware, were kidnapped in Los Angeles by several armed suspects, placed in separate cars and driven away. Ware was freed but Henderson's body was found in the back of a rental car the next day. He had been beaten and stabbed to death, Gibbons said.
Gibbons said she had no further information about a possible motive or circumstances behind the killings. She said prosecutors would decide later whether to seek the death penalty against Smith. Homicide detectives assigned to the case were not immediately available for comment.
Smith was charged in February 2011 along with two other men in connection with the slaying of Ponce, who was found shot to death on a remote roadside in Lancaster, California, north of Los Angeles, on October 7, 2008.
The defense has acknowledged that Smith and Ponce were once involved together in a cargo theft, and that Smith was seen driving Ponce's car a month after he was slain.
But Evans has insisted that his client had nothing to do with Ponce's murder and argued during the trial that police lacked any physical evidence, such as DNA, fingerprints or gunpowder residue, linking him to the crime.
He said Ponce had given Smith his car when Ponce stopped being able to make payments on it.
Evans said he could not comment in detail about the three additional slayings because he had not yet seen evidence that prosecutors will be required to share with him.
(Editing by Peter Cooney)
Injured Bolt out of Monaco Diamond League meeting - ESPN.co.uk
Usain Bolt has sparked fears over his fitness ahead of London 2012 by pulling out of the Monaco Diamond League meeting.
Bolt was twice beaten by compatriot Yohan Blake at the recent Jamaican Trials, creating doubts over his form heading into the Olympics. Pictures of the world 100m and 200m record holder lying on the track wincing in pain due to cramp hardly suggested he was entering his peak in time for the summer Games.
Those fears will only grow further after Thursday's news that Bolt will not compete in Monaco. A minor injury will keep him from racing, although it is not expected to sideline him from London 2012.
"Arising from Usain's participation at the national trials in Kingston last weekend where he had a slight problem ... I've had to withdraw him from the Diamond League meeting in Monaco on July 20 to give him sufficient time for treatment and time to train and prepare for the Olympics in London," coach Glen Mills said in a statement.
No further explanation was given as to the nature of Bolt's "problem", but the globally recognised sprinter did assure fans he does intend to defend his Olympic titles over the coming weeks.
"I am happy to have earned my spot on the Jamaican Olympic team despite the challenge," Bolt said.
"I will be in London to defend my titles in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m. I want to congratulate my fellow Racers Track Club Members along with the other athletes who made the team. I thank everyone for their support."
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Serena books latest Wimbledon final appearance - ESPN.co.uk
Semi-final: Radwanska too good for Kerber
Gallery: Women's semi-final day
What They Said: Finalists both relieved
Plays of the Day: Youth versus experience
Serena Williams will bid to claim her fifth Wimbledon crown after she defeated Victoria Azarenka in their semi-final on Centre Court on Thursday.
Sixth seed Williams will face world No. 3 Agnieszka Radwanska in Saturday's final, as she aims to become All England Club champion for the fifth time in her seventh final appearance.
She will also have the chance to equal the number of titles won in SW19 won by her sister, Venus.
Williams was forced to dig deep in order to defeat Azarenka, the second seed this week at the All England Club. In the end she needed a tiebreak to clinch a fraught encounter, running out a 6-3 7-6(6) winner in a little over 90 minutes.
It was Williams' serve that ultimately carried her through to victory - with her ace down the middle that ultimately gave her victory also serving to break her own record for aces in a women's singles match, 24.
"I've been working so hard, I really wanted it," Williams told the BBC. "She was playing well and I got a little tight in the second set. I was looking too far in the future. I was so close, but I can't do that.
"I was happy to get through that second set tie-break."
Azarenka can otherwise feel frustrated to have been defeated, as one crucial mistake ultimately cost her the first set before she was edged out in the second stanza. Serving at break point down at 3-4, Azarenka opted for a less-than perfect drop shot that Williams feasted on with glee - burying it down the line to make the first real move of the match.
That was enough for her to claim the first set - with her booming serve keeping her out of real danger - before she kicked off the second set with a confidence-boosting save against Azarenka, having fallen into a 15-40 hole.
Azarenka was clearly deflated at throwing away a great opportunity to break and that disappointment cost her - as Serena sprung into life in the next game to break clear and leave her just needing to hold serve to confirm her spot in the final.
Azarenka, however, was not going to go quietly - and soon broke back at the second time of asking after forcing Williams, suddenly uncertain with her groundstrokes, into knocking a forehand wide.
Both players served out to 6-6 from that point, setting up a decisive tiebreak. And it was Williams who would take it to claim the match, spurning one great match point opportunity on Azarenka's serve before firing an ace down the middle that left nothing in doubt.
Williams will now face Radwanska, after the Pole defeated Angelique Kerber in the first match of the day.
"She's doing unbelievable," Williams said of her opponent. "She's playing so great. Wow, she's going to get every ball back."
© ESPN EMEA Ltd
South Korean activist arrested for unapproved trip to North - eTaiwan News
Turning around to face crowds of cheering North Koreans before stepping over the line, No Su-hui raised his arms and shouted "Long live reunification," a white unified Korea flag in his right hand and a bouquet of flowers in his left. Behind him on the South Korean side, South Korean soldiers stood in taekwondo poses, their eyes concealed behind dark sunglasses.
Associated Press photos showed South Korean officials in suits grabbing a resistant No just after he stepped over the demarcation line inside the Demilitarized Zone as South Korean soldiers snapped photographs at a close distance. From the North Korean side, soldiers and officials stood watching the melee as crowds of North Koreans waved "unified Korea" flags.
The stunt by No, 68, was designed to draw attention to the division of the Korean Peninsula. He had gone to Pyongyang from China in March even though South Koreans are prohibited from traveling to North Korea without government approval.
"The conservative forces are saying they will put me on trial, but I will judge them," No said. "Please watch and see what will happen."
No, who is vice chairman of South Korea's Pan-Alliance for Korea's Reunification, was dressed in a gray suit and white tie, a pin of unified Korea — a symbol of reunification — on his jacket. His pointed decision to cross back through the truce village of Panmunjom was a highly symbolic move to draw attention to his cause. Most tourists must enter and exit North Korea via China.
The Korean Peninsula has remained in a state of war since a truce ended three years of fighting in 1953. After a decade of warming ties, relations have soured since a new conservative administration took office in Seoul in 2008. Following the sinking of a South Korean warship in 2010 that killed 46 sailors, which South Korea blames on the North, Seoul has severed nearly all ties with Pyongyang.
Only a handful of South Koreans have been granted permission to visit Pyongyang in recent years, including two delegations that went to pay their respects to late leader Kim Jong Il after his December death. Last year, a Christian minister was sentenced to prison for making a similar, unauthorized trip, and Seoul officials have said No will face punishment.
According to South Korea's National Security Law, sneaking into North Korea without government permission is punishable by up to 10 years in prison, while praising the country could draw seven years. No remained under questioning in the South Korean border city of Paju on Friday and police planned to seek a warrant later in the day to formally arrest him, an official at the National Police Agency in Seoul said, declining to be named citing office policy.
North Korea has accused South Korean President Lee Myung-bak of being a traitor to the cause of reunification.
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