World/Nation Briefs May 15, 2013
Boston suspect's widow to keep cooperating
PROVIDENCE, R.I. - A new lawyer for the widow of Boston Marathon bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev says his client will continue to cooperate with investigators.
New York criminal defense lawyer Joshua Dratel has represented several terrorism suspects. Last week he joined the legal team for Katherine Russell, who lived with Tsarnaev in Cambridge, Mass., but has been staying with her family in North Kingstown, R.I.
Dratel said Russell is in a fluid situation that's not yet at an end.
Russell hasn't been charged with any wrongdoing. Her lawyers have said she had no reason to suspect her husband. But they haven't spoken publicly about what she saw in the days surrounding the deadly April 15 bombing.
Dratel said Tuesday it would be counterproductive to speak about the details while the investigation continues.
Sexual assault prevention leader accused of abuse
WASHINGTON - A soldier assigned to coordinate a sexual assault prevention program in Texas is under investigation for "abusive sexual contact" and other alleged misconduct and has been suspended from his duties, the Army announced Tuesday.
Just last week an Air Force officer who headed a sexual assault prevention office was himself arrested on charges of groping a woman in a parking lot.
The Army said a sergeant first class, whose name was not released, is accused of pandering, abusive sexual contact, assault and maltreatment of subordinates. He is being investigated by the Army Criminal Investigation Command. No charges have been filed.
He had been assigned as an equal opportunity adviser and coordinator of a sexual harassment-assault prevention program at the Army's 3rd Corps headquarters at Fort Hood, Texas, when the allegation arose, the Army said.
"To protect the integrity of the investigative process and the rights of all persons involved, no more information will be released at this time," an Army statement said.
U.S. diplomat accused ofspying in Russia
MOSCOW - A U.S. diplomat was ordered Tuesday to leave the country after the Kremlin's security services said he tried to recruit a Russian agent, and they displayed tradecraft tools that seemed straight from a cheap spy thriller: wigs, packets of cash, a knife, map and compass, and a letter promising millions for "long-term cooperation."
The FSB, the successor agency to the Soviet-era KGB, identified the diplomat as Ryan Fogle, a third secretary at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, detaining him briefly overnight.
It alleged that Fogle was a CIA officer trying to recruit a Russian counterterrorism officer who specializes in the volatile Caucasus region in southern Russia, where the two Boston Marathon bombing suspects had their ethnic roots.
Fogle was handed over to U.S. Embassy officials, declared persona non grata and ordered to leave Russia immediately. He has diplomatic immunity, which protects him from arrest.
The State Department would only confirm that Fogle worked as an embassy employee, but wouldn't give any details about his employment record or responsibilities in Russia. Some officials also referred inquiries to the CIA, which declined comment.
Abortion doctor dodges possible death sentence
PHILADELPHIA - An abortion doctor convicted of killing three babies born alive at his rogue clinic dodged a possible death sentence on Tuesday in a hasty post-verdict deal with prosecutors.
Dr. Kermit Gosnell waived his right to appeal in exchange for a sentence of life without parole. Gosnell, 72, was convicted Monday of first-degree murder in a case that became a flashpoint in the nation's abortion debate.
Former clinic employees testified that Gosnell routinely performed illegal abortions past Pennsylvania's 24-week limit, that he delivered babies who were still moving, whimpering or breathing, and that he and his assistants dispatched the newborns by "snipping" their spines, as he referred to it.
Prosecutors had been seeking the death penalty because Gosnell killed more than one person and his victims were especially vulnerable given their age. But Gosnell's own advanced age had made it unlikely he would ever be executed before his appeals ran out.
Minnesota governor signs gay marriage bill
ST. PAUL, Minn. - As a crowd of thousands roared from the lawn of the state Capitol, Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton signed the bill Tuesday that makes gay marriage legal here come Aug. 1.
"What a day for Minnesota!" the Democratic governor declared, as American and rainbow flags flapped in a sweltering hot wind. The Minnesota State Patrol estimated about 6,000 people made up the massive crowd, and many headed to downtown St. Paul afterward for a street party celebrating the bill's passage.
Dayton's signature on the bill ended an intense two years for gay marriage supporters and opponents in this Midwestern state, which swung from a failed push to constitutionally ban same-sex weddings into a successful bid to becoming the 12th state to affirm them.
- The Associated Press