Jury deliberates in Jackson case
Santa Maria, Calif. The jury in the Michael Jackson molestation trial ended its third day of deliberations Tuesday without reaching a verdict.
There were no indications the eight women and four men had communicated with Superior Court Judge Rodney S. Melville during the six hours the group met.
About 150 fans milled outside the building, down from the about 200 at one point on Monday.
Jackson, 46, is charged with molesting a 13-year-old boy in 2003. He is accused of giving the boy alcohol to aid the molestation and conspiring with aides to control the family to participate in a favorable interview.
If convicted of all charges, the pop star could be sentenced to more than 18 years in prison.
Armed man arrested after chase, standoff
Alhambra, Calif. An armed man suspected of attempted kidnapping was captured Tuesday after a freeway chase and standoff that ended after deputies tossed tear gas into his minivan, shot him and sent a dog to drag him out.
Authorities said the man was armed with two guns and a knife.
During the final minutes of the standoff, deputies used a rubber bullet to smash a rear window and a pole to shove tear gas inside the minivan after negotiations failed.
A deputy shot and wounded the man when he appeared to be pointing a gun at deputies, authorities said.
State lab tests show samples weren’t ricin
Phoenix A substance thought to be ricin after it was confiscated from a man’s apartment has been found not to be the toxin, officials said.
All 15 samples came back negative for ricin, an official said.
Widely available and easy to produce, a small amount of ricin can kill a person within 36 hours.
The new tests were done after lab staff noted outdated chemicals were used in the initial tests.
Casey Cutler, 25, was charged Sunday with producing and possessing a deadly toxin for use as a weapon. Cutler told investi- gators he carried the ricin in vials around his neck for self-defense after being assaulted last year.
Firm facing charges over Osprey material
Philadelphia A military supplier and two of the company’s workers were charged Tuesday with falsely certifying material for the V-22 Osprey aircraft.
But federal prosecutors said the material wasn’t to blame for two deadly crashes involving the helicopter-airplane hybrid.
Anco-Tech Inc. of Dearborn Heights, Mich., manufactured titanium tubing for use in the tilt-rotor aircraft. The company certified the tubing met the military’s standards even though it never was tested or incompletely tested, prosecutors said Tuesday.
The Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft program has been threatened since 23 Marines died in a pair of crashes during testing in 2000.
Man apparently tried to fly in jet wheel well
Floral Park, N.Y. A man’s leg and part of his torso dropped out of the wheel well of a jetliner near Kennedy Airport and plunged into a suburban neighborhood Tuesday, coming to rest in a home’s backyard, authorities said.
The flying body parts made for a ghastly discovery for Pam Hearne, who heard “a loud crash” and later was stunned to see a foot clad in an Adidas sneaker and a sock in the middle of her lawn, police said. Police suspect the remains are from a stowaway who may have been crushed as the South African Airways jet lowered its landing gear.
A Federal Aviation Administration spokesman said the pilot of flight 203 would have probably started lowering the plane’s landing gear in the sky over the home in Floral Park, about 5 miles from the airport.