In brief: Parachute fails during NASA test
HONOLULU – A parachute failed during a NASA test of new technology for landing larger spacecraft – and eventually astronauts – on Mars, the agency said Monday.
The parachute deployed but failed to inflate, Kimberly Newton, a spokeswoman for NASA, said in an email. The agency plans to provide more details during a news conference today, she said. The parachute appeared to disintegrate in a video of the test.
The test off the Hawaiian island of Kauai was investigating technology designed to slow down a large landing vehicle falling through the atmosphere at supersonic speeds.
Another giant parachute also failed to inflate during a similar NASA test of new Mars spacecraft technology last year. One of the main goals this year was to test the redesigned parachute.
NASA may decide not to use the technology if it keeps failing the test.
Jury backs decision to charge officer
CHARLESTON, S.C. – A grand jury affirmed the state of South Carolina’s murder charge on Monday against a white former North Charleston police officer who fatally shot an unarmed black man trying to run from a traffic stop.
The shooting April 4 was captured on video by a bystander, showing officer Michael Slager firing eight times as 50-year-old Walter Scott ran away, inflaming a national debate about how black people are treated by white police officers.
Slager was charged with murder by state law enforcement agents and fired from the police force immediately after the video surfaced.
Prosecutor Scarlett Wilson announced the indictment, which represents at least the fourth time in less than six months that a sitting grand jury in South Carolina has agreed that white officers should stand trial in the shootings of black men.
The 33-year-old Slager, who has been jailed since his arrest, faces 30 years to life in prison if convicted.
Slager’s lawyer didn’t want to comment on the indictment.
Conviction upheld for boy who shot dad
RIVERSIDE, Calif. – A Southern California boy who shot and killed his neo-Nazi father in 2011 lost a bid to have his case tossed when a state appellate court on Monday rejected his argument that a judge wrongly considered statements he made to authorities in violation of his Miranda rights.
There was substantial evidence to support the court’s finding that the boy understood what he had done was wrong, and the court considered all of the relevant evidence before sending him to juvenile lockup as opposed to a less restrictive residential treatment center, the appeals court said.
Authorities say the boy, then 10, shot and killed his father, 32-year-old Jeffrey Hall, at point-blank range as he slept in their home on May 1, 2011, after a night of drinking. The boy told officers his father had repeatedly abused him, according to the appeals court.
Semi carrying 2,200 pigs overturns
XENIA, Ohio – A semitruck carrying 2,200 pigs overturned Monday night on an Ohio highway.
Numerous agencies worked to corral the animals after the crash on U.S. Route 35 near Dayton. It was unclear how many were loose, but some pigs were killed in the crash.
Authorities say the driver of the truck lost control and slammed into a guardrail. Two people were inside the truck at the time of the collision. One sustained minor injuries.
The live pigs were taken to the Greene County Fairgrounds to be cared for.