Libby’s trial set for January ‘07
The perjury trial of Vice President Dick Cheney’s former chief of staff won’t begin until January 2007, after the midterm congressional elections, in timing that Democrats consider favorable to Republicans.
U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton on Friday set Jan. 8 for jury selection in the trial of I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby, the former top White House aide charged with lying to investigators and a grand jury in the CIA leak inquiry.
Walton, appointed to the court by President Bush, said he had wanted to start the trial in September but agreed to push the date back when one of Libby’s lawyers had a scheduling conflict.
Democrats had hoped Libby’s trial would be held before the November elections to help bolster their attacks on Republican congressional candidates.
Washington
SUV crash deaths can be reduced
Design changes in sport utility vehicles and pickups have reduced deaths in cars struck by the large vehicles, a study says.
The number of deaths of drivers in cars caught in side-impact crashes with SUVs dropped nearly 50 percent when automakers lowered the height of SUVs or added impact-absorbing bars below the front bumpers, said the report by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
Automakers agreed in 2003 to improve the compatibility of vehicles amid concerns that SUVs or pickups dangerously ride up atop cars in crashes and threaten passenger compartments. The study was the first to examine death rates in cars involved in crashes with SUVs and pickups that comply with the agreement versus vehicles that do not yet meet the guidelines.
The study found the greatest benefit in design changes when a SUV strikes the side of a car. In such a case, the risk of a fatality dropped by 47 percent to 48 percent. For side crashes involving pickups and cars, the death rate dropped by 1 percent to 9 percent.
Topeka, Kan.
Court limits access to abortion records
Kansas’ attorney general cannot have unfettered access to the records of 90 patients who had abortions at two clinics, the state Supreme Court ruled Friday, ending a case that had sparked a national outcry over patient privacy.
Attorney General Phill Kline, who is an outspoken abortion foe, subpoenaed the records last February as part of an investigation into possible violations of Kansas law, which forbids abortions after 22 weeks unless the mother’s life is at risk. Kline also was investigating whether minors who had abortions were victims of child abuse.
The two clinics – a Planned Parenthood facility in the Kansas City suburbs and one in Wichita operated by Dr. George Tiller, known for performing late-term abortions – fought the subpoenas, arguing they would violate their patients’ privacy. On Friday, the Kansas Supreme Court agreed and ordered the trial judge to ensure that Kline needed the information and then to redact names and other confidential information before handing over files.
Centreville, Ala.
Arsonists target Baptist churches
Five small Baptist churches were burned to the ground or otherwise damaged in a string of fires that investigators said were apparently set one after another by arsonists making their way down the highway.
The fires broke out late Thursday or early Friday in Bibb County, about 25 miles south of Birmingham. Chief Deputy Sheriff Kenneth Weems said the blazes were set “as fast as they could drive from one location to the next.”
There were no immediate arrests and no injuries were reported. Authorities were uncertain of a motive.