Judge To Talk To Jurors Tuesday In Araujo Case


(ABC7)(AP) — Jurors who have spent about nine days deliberating the case of three men accused of killing a transgender teen have sent another note out to the judge.

Court officials would not say what was in the note, but said Alameda County Superior Court Judge Harry Sheppard would talk to the panel Tuesday morning.

Last week, jurors indicated they were having problems reaching agreement, telling Sheppard they wanted more explanation on manslaughter and murder and need to rehear some testimony.

The panel heard the testimony and instructions and resumed deliberations.


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Bush pushes marriage plan, raises cash
By PETE YOST
The Associated Press


CINCINNATI (AP) — President Bush raised money for the Republican Party and promoted his agenda of compassionate conservatism Monday as he and his Democratic rival focus on a key state in their battle for the White House.

On his 18th presidential trip to Ohio, Bush promoted his $1.5 billion proposal to offer premarital counseling to parents on welfare.

"I think one of the smartest things we can do is to encourage families" by spending money on grants to states, faith-based organizations and community-based groups that "teach people what it means to be in a successful marriage," Bush told supporters at an alcohol and drug addiction services center.

Bush's Healthy Marriage Initiative is part of welfare reform legislation stalled in the Senate.


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Police: Man Shot Lover to Keep Sex Secret
The Associated Press


NANTICOKE, Pa.- A 25-year-old man was charged Monday with murdering a middle-aged friend who threatened to reveal that the two had been homosexual lovers for nearly a decade.

Police said Wayne Adams confessed to shooting Adam Martin, 46, several times with a pair of rifles after the two argued Saturday at a secluded spot near Nanticoke. Martin's body was found Sunday morning at the base of a steep embankment, not far from his parked Jeep.

Authorities said Adams told investigators that he was 15 when he met Martin, and was still a teenager when the two began a secret sexual relationship that lasted for nearly 10 years.

Police said in court documents that Adams said the two Wilkes-Barre men had broken off the relationship earlier this year, but remained friends and had gone target-shooting and drinking in the woods on Saturday when the argument broke out.


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Lawyer Asks For Anti-Gay Marriage Suit To Be Thrown Out
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff


(Harrisburg, Pennsylvania) A lawyer representing a Pennsylvania gay couple wants a lawsuit thrown out that seeks to have a court declare state's Defense of Marriage Act legal and constitutional.

The suit, by 12 state representatives, is considered a pre-emptive move to stop same-sex couples from challenging the law which bans gay marriage.

''We're convinced the real purpose of their lawsuit is to bully members of the gay and lesbian community,'' said Cynthia Schneider, who is representing Stephen Stahl and Robert Seneca.

The New Hope couple was turned down for the license at the Bucks County Courthouse in New Hope last March. As they began to prepare a legal challenge to the state's DOMA, the conservative legislators filed their case in a bid to prevent the couple from going to court.