News briefs
April 13, 1996
Web posted at: 12:45 a.m. EDT
Five with ties to Naval Academy charged with car theft
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The scandal-plagued Naval Academy suffered another blow to its tarnished image when the FBI arrested and charged two current and three former midshipmen with running an interstate car theft ring.
The five are charged with stealing eight cars in New York and selling them in Maryland.
One of the five, Midshipman Arthur Sherrod, was arrested by the FBI Thursday morning in his dormitory at the Naval Academy. He was the only one of the five still attending the Academy. A 1995 graduate, Ensign Arthur Brown was arrested at the Naval facility at Pensacola, Florida, where he was preparing to begin flight training.
Two former midshipmen were arrested in April 1995 by the Maryland State Police for receiving stolen cars, according to Annapolis spokesman Capt. Tom Jurkowsky.
The Naval Academy has suffered a number of scandals in recent years, including ones involving the purchase of LSD, cheating by midshipmen, and an incident in which a female midshipman was chained to a urinal by classmates. There are about 4,000 midshipmen at the school.
Menendez attorney urges jury to spare client's life
LOS ANGELES (CNN) - An attorney for Erik Menendez, who with his brother has been convicted of killing his parents, urged jurors to spare his client's life.
Barry Levin told the jury to use their feelings of compassion and justice and not make a decision out of spite, revenge, hatred or retribution. "The prosecution has it's conviction. Justice has been done. Enough is enough," he said during the penalty phase of the double murder re-trial.
Prosecutor David Conn completed his closing argument Thursday after going through the testimony of each witness called by the defense in the penalty phase.
Conn told the jurors that the brothers "earned the death penalty" and called the murders a "cold, calculated decision."
Montana spill area still off-limits
ALBERTON, Montana (CNN) -- More than 400 residents of Alberton, Montana, and the surrounding area remained out of their homes Friday morning as cleanup continued on a train derailment that spilled highly toxic chlorine gas Thursday morning. The high level of contamination means that it won't be before Monday that people will be allowed to return to their homes and investigators will be able to determine the cause of the crash.
An 80-mile stretch of Interstate 90 is closed through Monday pending the cleanup effort, inconveniencing truckers and motorists who are forced to use time-consuming detours.
Eighteen cars derailed Thursday, including five with tankers containing chlorine gas.
Pilot error reportedly blamed for F-14 crash
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Pentagon sources said Friday that a Navy investigation into the crash of an F-14 in Nashville, Tennessee, January 29, concluded that "pilot error" was the cause of the crash, and the plane did not malfunction.
The Navy grounded F-14s earlier this year after a series of crashes led to questions about the planes' safety.
Sources said the investigation concluded the pilot, Lt. Comdr. John Bates, became "disoriented in the clouds" after taking off from Nashville airport and mistakenly flew the plane toward the ground. When he emerged from the clouds and recovered his bearings, he did not have time to recover, the sources said.
The F-14 Tomcat crashed into a house, killing the two crew members and three people on the ground.
In 1995, Bates had been involved in another F-14 accident, losing his plane in the Pacific. At that time investigators said Bates was "in need of further training," which he subsequently received.
CNN Military Affairs Correspondent Jamie McIntyre and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
FeedbackSend us your comments.Selected responses are posted daily. |
|
![[Imagemap]](/US/images/9601/navbar.gif){kind=small}
Copyright © 1996 Cable News Network, Inc.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.