In brief: Beavers return to wild after rehabilitation

Salt Lake City – Five beavers that were rescued from a March diesel fuel spill in Utah were released back into the wild on Tuesday after being treated for respiratory and other problems.

“I’m sad to see them go, but it is for the best,” said 18-year-old volunteer Brayden Child of Roy. “I’ll miss them.”

Wildlife officials recovered the animals after a Chevron pipeline leaked about 20,000 gallons of diesel fuel. A beaver dam is credited with holding back much of the fuel from drifting into Willard Bay in Box Elder County.

“They were in pretty rough shape when we took them into the center, but they are very good at rehabilitating wildlife and we expected that they would survive,” said Phil Douglass, a conservation outreach officer with the Division of Wildlife Resources.

The animals were released in the Uinta Mountains by staff members with the state Division of Wildlife Resources and Wildlife Rehabilitation Center.

Non-English speakers subject of court ruling

Albuquerque, N.M. – The New Mexico Supreme Court is cautioning trial courts and lawyers in the heavily Hispanic state that citizens who don’t speak English have the right to serve on juries – a right enshrined in the state constitution even if people are non-English speakers.

The court issued the admonition Monday in a unanimous ruling that upholds an Albuquerque man’s convictions for murder and other crimes in the 2004 bludgeoning death of his girlfriend and a subsequent armed robbery and stabbing.

Michael Anthony Samora’s appeal argued that his convictions should be reversed because a Bernalillo County judge excused a Spanish-speaking prospective juror who had trouble understanding English.

The Supreme Court said it agrees with that argument but also said Samora’s defense needed to object during the trial but didn’t.

The ruling told trial judges and lawyers that they “have a shared responsibility to make every reasonable effort to protect the right of our non-English speaking citizens to serve on New Mexico juries.”