Florida
Circumcision spurs lengthy legal battle
BOYNTON BEACH, Fla. (AP) - An estranged Florida couple's fight over whether to circumcise their son has become a rallying cry for those who denounce the procedure as barbaric.
The dispute between the one-time Palm Beach County couple has sparked a prolonged court battle, protests and the rapt attention of a movement of self-proclaimed "intactivists."
The mother initially agreed to the circumcision, but later decided she opposed it. The father favors the procedure.
Judges have ruled in favor of the father, meaning the surgery is likely, but anti-circumcision advocates have made the case their cause celebre and organized a series of protests.
Circumcision rates have fallen in the U.S., but a majority of boys still undergo the removal of their foreskin.
California
'Eco-terrorist' says informant ensnared him
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - A Northern California man who was convicted of masterminding a plot to blow up two federal facilities and had his 20-year sentence cut short because prosecutors failed to turn over all their evidence to defense lawyers says he was entrapped by a female FBI informant for whom he harbored romantic feelings.
Eric McDavid spent nine years in federal custody for what FBI agents alleged was as an eco-terrorist plot in the name of the Earth Liberation Front. In his first interview since his Jan. 8 release from prison, the 37-year-old Placer County resident told The Sacramento Bee that he is even more distrustful of the government now than he was before his 2006 arrest.
"Nobody could ever get me my nine years back," McDavid said in the interview. "What was taken in those nine years, you can't get that back."
The same judge who presided at his trial ordered McDavid released based on the government's failure to turn over the evidence, which included emails and a love letter from McDavid to the undercover informant, who has been identified in court papers only as Anna.
Defense attorneys say the communications would have bolstered their argument that McDavid was induced by sex and that the alleged conspiracy was hatched only at the prodding of the informant, who supplied money for bleach and other bomb-making supplies. Prosecutors have said the emails and letter were withheld inadvertently and would not have changed the outcome of his jury trial.
McDavid pleaded guilty to a lesser charge this month as part of a plea deal in which he was sentenced to time served and also agreed not to sue the government. McDavid, however, insists he and two co-defendants who testified against him never planned to destroy a hydroelectric dam and a U.S. Forest Service genetics lab, as federal officials claimed.
"No, we were not going to blow anything up," McDavid told The Bee. "The Nimbus Dam stuff, that was her idea. That was Anna's idea."
He recounted the day he and the two co-defendants were arrested in a Kmart parking lot. He said he was loading parcels in the trunk of a car when he heard the door locks click closed and wondered why Anna was talking on a cellphone inside.
"And right then, there must have been around nine vehicles pull up screeching, doors opening before vehicles even stop. I got a Suburban about 15 yards off to my right, Ninja turtles jumping out, AR15s, everything," he said. "And I just go, 'Oh, that's what that was.' "
McDavid said he is trying to figure out what his next steps will be. He is thinking about teaching yoga, a practice he learned in prison.
"I can bake," he said. "If you need bread for a thousand guys, or cakes or cookies or turnovers or doughnuts."
Utah
Confederate soldiers statue returned to maker
ST. GEORGE, Utah (AP) - A bronze statue of two Confederate soldiers removed from a southern Utah college campus two years ago has been returned to its creator.
Under a settlement announced this week, Dixie State University in St. George returned "The Rebels" statue to Leeds artist Jerry Anderson in exchange for Anderson's donation of other artwork for permanent display on campus.
At issue was his statue depicting a Confederate soldier on horseback helping an injured comrade, with a Confederate flag in hand.
"What it (settlement) means is that we can officially put the Confederate identity behind us," university spokesman Steve Johnson told The Salt Lake Tribune. "Now the university can move forward."
The statue's fate had been in limbo since Dixie State College officials removed it in December 2012 in an effort to "rebrand" the school ahead of attaining university status.
Critics said it symbolized racism and slavery, but others said the name "Dixie" is a part of local history that should remain. St. George was called "Dixie" by Mormon settlers who tried to turn the mild region into a cotton-growing mecca.
Anderson sold the statue to the school for $35,000 in the 1980s, and the school was considered its legal owner. The statue was placed in storage after its removal.
Dixie State included in the agreement a stipulation that the statue would not end up "within a certain distance of the university," Anderson said.
"I would personally like to see it in the heart of Dixie. . But if it's going to cause controversy, I don't want to fight that," he told The Spectrum of St. George.
The 80-year-old Anderson criticized the statue's removal from campus, saying the problem with the "world today is everybody is too politically correct."
Dixie State President Richard Williams, in a statement, praised the artist.
"We are very appreciative of Mr. Anderson's generous artistic contributions, not only to Dixie State University, but to the entire region," he said. "We are grateful to Jerry for working with us and we look forward to displaying his work on this campus for everyone to view and enjoy in the years to come."
Illinois
Judge wants stay in teen's trial over mom's death
CHICAGO (AP) - A Cook County judge is asking an Indonesian court to delay a trial for a Chicago-area teen accused of killing her mother on the resort island of Bali.
Judge Neil Cohen signed an order Friday requesting a short stay of 19-year-old Heather Mack's trial so she can find a new defense attorney.
Cohen had ruled earlier Friday that Mack can use some of her trust fund money for her defense.
Separate trials began in Indonesia on Wednesday for Mack and her boyfriend, 21-year-old Tommy Schaefer.
They're charged with premeditated murder for the death of 62-year-old Sheila von Wiese-Mack, whose badly beaten body was found in a suitcase inside the trunk of a taxi at a Bali resort in August.
Published: Tue, Jan 20, 2015
