CA Inmate's Death Sentence Overturned: The California Supreme Court overturned the death sentence of a man convicted of gunning down three people in a home invasion robbery over two decades ago. Tommy Wright of the Monterey Herald reports that Daniel Sanchez Covarrubias' death sentence was overturned on an automatic appeal filed Thursday due to a error made by the court during his 1998 trial, in which a prospective juror was excluded on the basis of the juror's questionnaire responses. An automatic reversal of Covarrubias' death sentence was required because, under the U.S. Supreme Court precedent set in Lockhard v. McCree, prospective jurors with opposition to the death penalty are not subject to automatic excusal if "they state clearly that they are willing to temporarily set aside their own beliefs in deference to the rule of law." The juror in this case did not say he would always vote against capital punishment. In November 1994, Covarrubias, two of his cousins and his nephew stormed a Salinas home to rob it, gunning down a woman, who was holding her 11-month-old daughter, her husband and her brother. The baby sustained multiple gunshot wounds but survived. Covarrubias' case will return to the Monterey County court for a new penalty.
Video Shows Car Running Down AZ Officers in Targeted Attack: Three Phoenix police officers were run down by a vehicle and injured early Tuesday in a convenience store parking lot in what authorities are describing as an intentional act that was captured on a security video. CBS reports that Marc LaQuon Payne, 44, was arrested by one of the three officers he targeted, who had managed to jump out of the way of the oncoming vehicle. One of the officers, an 18-year veteran, suffered a broken leg while another, who was on his first day of training, suffered a head injury. The third officer sustained minor injuries during a struggle while arresting Payne. Payne, who was impaired at the time of the crash, is facing three counts of attempted first-degree murder and two counts of aggravated assault.
Border Patrol Agents Assaults in the Thousands: Thousands of Border Patrol agents have been assaulted in the past decade, the chief of the U.S. Border Patrol told Congress on Tuesday. Susan Jones of CNS News reports that Mark Morgan, head of the Border Patrol, described his agents as "among the most assaulted law enforcement personnel in the country," revealing to Congress that 7,542 agents have been assaulted since 2006 and 30 have died in the line of duty since 2003. What's more, Morgan said, is that this happens to Border Patrol agents while constantly putting themselves in harm's way to provide assistance and medical care to those who need it, including people attempting to illegally enter the U.S. In this fiscal year alone, agents have rescued over 3,700 people along the border. There are 21,370 total Border Patrol agents.
Video Shows Car Running Down AZ Officers in Targeted Attack: Three Phoenix police officers were run down by a vehicle and injured early Tuesday in a convenience store parking lot in what authorities are describing as an intentional act that was captured on a security video. CBS reports that Marc LaQuon Payne, 44, was arrested by one of the three officers he targeted, who had managed to jump out of the way of the oncoming vehicle. One of the officers, an 18-year veteran, suffered a broken leg while another, who was on his first day of training, suffered a head injury. The third officer sustained minor injuries during a struggle while arresting Payne. Payne, who was impaired at the time of the crash, is facing three counts of attempted first-degree murder and two counts of aggravated assault.
Border Patrol Agents Assaults in the Thousands: Thousands of Border Patrol agents have been assaulted in the past decade, the chief of the U.S. Border Patrol told Congress on Tuesday. Susan Jones of CNS News reports that Mark Morgan, head of the Border Patrol, described his agents as "among the most assaulted law enforcement personnel in the country," revealing to Congress that 7,542 agents have been assaulted since 2006 and 30 have died in the line of duty since 2003. What's more, Morgan said, is that this happens to Border Patrol agents while constantly putting themselves in harm's way to provide assistance and medical care to those who need it, including people attempting to illegally enter the U.S. In this fiscal year alone, agents have rescued over 3,700 people along the border. There are 21,370 total Border Patrol agents.
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