QUOTE OF THE DAY “We do have the stick if people don’t get it.” Kim Loeb, natural-resource conservation manager in Visalia, Calif., a city of 120,000 people that has hired a part-time worker for night patrols to find people using too much water Article, 3AMom stabs, kills infant son in California
LIVERMORE, Calif. - A young mother admitted to investigators that she stabbed her 7-month-old son to death in a popular Northern California park, police said Sunday.
Ashley Newton, 23, of San Jose was arrested Saturday, the East Bay Regional Parks District Police Department said in a statement.
Police said they have no clear motive, but Chief Timothy Anderson of the park’s Police Department said Newton had a history of depression and appeared to have self-inflicted knife wounds on her wrist.
Police were called at 10:30 a.m. Saturday on reports of a damaged Honda sedan in the Del Valle Regional Park east of San Francisco. They found the car abandoned with the engine running and an empty child’s seat.
Officers were about to tow the car by 12:30 p.m., thinking it was involved in a hit-and-run, when Newton approached them holding her lifeless baby, Anderson said.
Officers attempted to resuscitate the baby, but they were unsuccessful, Anderson said. Investigators found a knife in the area that was used in the slaying, he said.
Newton remains in jail in lieu of bond, police said. She is due in court today.
Judicial breaches cast doubt on 26 cases
WASHINGTON - More than a dozen federal appeals court judges have violated federal conflict-of-interest laws during the past three years, throwing into doubt decisions in 26 cases, according to a watchdog group.
The Center for Public Integrity, in a report to be released today, found 24 cases in which judges ruled despite owning stock in a company appearing before them. In two other cases, the judges had financial ties to law firms representing one of the parties.
When informed of the conflicts, all 16 judges sent letters to the parties involved in the cases, disclosing the violations. Several judges said their failure to withdraw from the cases was an oversight, the report said. Some of the judges had conflicts in more than one case.
The conflicts occurred despite a policy adopted by the Judicial Conference of the United States in 2006 that requires all federal courts to conduct automated screenings to help avoid potential conflicts of interest. Judges must disclose a list of their financial holdings, and each court is required to screen for conflicts on a regular basis.
More than half of all appellate judges own corporate stock, according to the report.
Autopsy: Teen died of neck, torso wounds
HARTFORD, Conn. - A 16-year-old girl stabbed at her high school on the day of her junior prom died of wounds in her torso and neck, Connecticut’s chief medical examiner said Sunday.
The medical examiner’s office ruled that Maren Sanchez’s death was a homicide.
A 16-year-old male classmate was charged with murder as a juvenile in the stabbing at Jonathan Law High School in Milford. The attack occurred Friday morning, hours before the school’s prom, and authorities are investigating whether Sanchez was stabbed after turning down the youth’s invitation to the dance.
The youth’s attorney, Richard Meehan, said his client is being held in a hospital under psychiatric evaluation. He will not appear at an arraignment today in New Haven, the attorney said.
Meehan has said he expects the youth to eventually be charged as an adult.
Milford Alderman Greta Stanford said the school would remain closed today. A memorial service will be held tonight on the school’s football field.
Officials search for plane after 2 collide
RICHMOND, Calif. - Two small planes collided over the northern part of San Francisco Bay on Sunday, leading searchers to comb the water for a pilot after only one aircraft landed safely, authorities said.
Debris was spotted in San Pablo Bay after the 4:05 p.m.
collision near the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge, Coast Guard Petty Officer Loumania Stewart said.
The collision involved a single-engine Cessna 210 and a single-engine Hawker Sea Fury TMK 20, Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor said.
The Cessna crashed into the water, and the Sea Fury’s pilot was able to land 40 minutes later at Eagle’s Nest Airport in the small, Northern California city of Ione, Gregor said.
Amador County firefighters and medics sent to the Ione airport were not needed because the pilot and passenger in the Sea Fury - a husband and wife - were not injured, county Undersheriff Jim Wegner said.
Front Section, Pages 7 on 04/28/2014