In brief: Oklahoma death penalty unconstitutional, judge rules

Oklahoma’s law governing executions is unconstitutional because privacy provisions prevent anyone from learning about the drugs used to kill the condemned, a state judge ruled Wednesday in the latest case in the growing area of death-penalty litigation.

Oklahoma County District Judge Patricia Parrish ruled that the state’s secrecy laws prevent the courts and inmates from getting information about the drugs that would be used in executions, thus preventing them from exercising their rights under the Constitution.

Gay marriages won’t be recognized in Michigan

LANSING, Mich. – Gov. Rick Snyder said Michigan won’t recognize more than 300 same-sex marriages performed last weekend.

The marriages were performed Saturday before a federal appeals court suspended a decision that overturned the state’s ban on gay marriage.

Snyder’s announcement Wednesday closes the door to certain benefits granted to Michigan married couples. The move comes a day after an appeals court indefinitely stopped any additional same-sex marriages.

The court is reviewing a decision by Detroit federal Judge Bernard Friedman, who struck down a 2004 constitutional amendment that says marriage is between a man and a woman.

NTSB: Operator slept while driving train before

CHICAGO – The operator of the Chicago Transit Authority train that jumped the platform and climbed an escalator at the O’Hare airport station has admitted dozing off at the controls, and had been admonished last month when she also fell asleep and missed a stop, officials said Wednesday.

The new details of the investigation were disclosed Wednesday by Ted Turpin, the lead investigator of the crash for the National Transportation Safety Board, after officials interviewed the operator.

“She did admit that she dozed off prior to entering the station, and she did not awake again until the train hit close to the end of the bumper,” Turpin said.

Coast Guard: Up to 18 barrels of oil entered lake

INDIANAPOLIS – An initial assessment of a Lake Michigan oil spill shows that between nine and 18 barrels of crude oil entered the lake following a malfunction at oil giant BP’s sprawling northwestern Indiana refinery, the U.S. Coast Guard said Wednesday.

Coast Guard spokesman Chief Petty Officer Alan Haraf said the estimate comes from the Coast Guard’s initial visual assessment Tuesday of the spill scene at BP’s Whiting refinery, 20 miles southeast of downtown Chicago.

One barrel of oil contains about 42 gallons, meaning the estimate indicates between about 378 and 756 gallons of crude oil were released into the lake.

Haraf said a more accurate figure likely will be released later this week on how much oil entered the lake, where crews for BP continued their cleanup work Wednesday. Those crews deployed absorbent booms following the spill, which affected a half-mile of private shoreline owned by BP and not accessible to the general public.

Terrorism charge levied by feds on California man

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – A federal grand jury in Sacramento has indicted a California man on a single charge of attempting to provide support to a foreign terrorist organization.

Nicholas Teausant had previously been held on a criminal complaint since his arrest last week near the Canadian border.

The indictment handed down Wednesday alleges that Teausant, an American citizen, attempted to join al-Qaida in Iraq. The indictment said the group changed its name last year to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.

Teausant agreed last week to be returned to Sacramento to face the charge.

Jay Stansill, the assistant federal public defender who represented Teausant at the Seattle court hearing, did not return a telephone message.

The charge carries a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Police serve warrants in airport bag thefts

LOS ANGELES – Police are serving more than two dozen search warrants and making multiple arrests as part of a monthslong investigation into baggage theft at Los Angeles International Airport.

Assistant Chief Michael Hyams of the airport police said search warrants were being served Wednesday night at 25 locations, including the airport itself and in Los Angeles-area cities.

Hyams said those being arrested are employees of contracting companies and not the airport itself.