February 24, 1996
Web posted at: 12:15 a.m. EST
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Navy will restrict supersonic flights of some newer F-14 jet fighters, sources told CNN Friday.
Pentagon sources said the Navy restriction comes after a newer F-14D crashed Sunday in the Pacific Ocean when an engine appeared to have exploded during low-level flight. The jet's two crew members were killed.
The Navy will attempt to recover the plane, which is in relatively shallow water off the coast of San Diego, California.
On Thursday, the Navy had ordered a halt to all F-14 flight operations for three days after another of the jets crashed in the Persian Gulf. Thursday's crash involved an older F-14A. Both crew members on that flight ejected and were not hurt.
MIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- Federal prosecutors said two federal grand jury indictments were unsealed Friday charging 24 people with drug trafficking in connection with the Colombian Cali cartel.
Federal and local law enforcement officers arrested 19 of the defendants named in the indictments. Their names and residences have not been released.
Officials said the arrests were the culmination of an investigation which began in September 1995 by the Drug Enforcement Agency and local police in Miami, New York, and Los Angeles.
LOS ANGELES (CNN) -- For the second day, the father of murder victim Ron Goldman made a public plea Friday to anyone who had ever seen O.J. Simpson slap or hit Nicole Brown Simpson.
Fred Goldman asked anyone with such information to contact his lawyers. Goldman said Simpson denied hitting his wife in his deposition in the wrongful death suit against him.
Goldman said a few people had already come forward since Simpson's deposition began last month. He would not reveal what information those people contributed.
Simpson, who arrived 45 minutes late for his deposition Friday, was questioned by lawyers for a second consecutive day in the wrongful death civil suit brought against him by Nicole Brown Simpson's family and the Goldmans.
LUMBERTON, North Carolina (CNN) -- The trial of the man accused of killing basketball star Michael Jordan's father concluded Friday without the defendant testifying.
Defense lawyers declined to let their client, Daniel Green, 21, take the witness stand as the trial ended its evidence phase. Closing arguments begin Tuesday.
Green told presiding Superior Court Judge Gregory Weeks that it was his own decision not to testify. Prosecutor Johnson Britt said the defense had nothing to lose by putting Green on the stand.
Authorities charge that Green shot James Jordan, 56, in the chest during a botched armed robbery attempt. Alleged accomplice Larry Demery pleaded guilty last spring and testified that he helped dump Jordan's body in a swamp after Green shot him.
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Recent train accidents have prompted the country's largest freight railroaders to add new safety features to their trains a year ahead of schedule.
All trains operating in mountainous terrain will be equipped with a new braking system -- one that allows braking action from the rear of the train -- by December 15, and all other trains by June 30, 1997.
Federal Railroad Administrator Jolene Molitoris made the announcement Thursday, and said that the new systems would "greatly reduce the likelihood of brake failure that could lead to a runaway train."
Braking problems are suspected in a freight train accident on February 1 in a mountainous area of southern California.
MILWAUKEE, Wisconsin (CNN) -- A Milwaukee medical lab, which pleaded no contest late last year to charges that it misread the pap smears of two women, has been fined $20,000 for reckless homicide.
Dolores Geary and Karin Smith died of cervical cancer after Chem-Bio Corp. reported their pap smears as normal.
Judge David Hansher ordered Chem-Bio to pay "$10,000 per life" -- the maximum allowed by law -- and urged lawmakers to increase the top penalty. Hansher gave Chem-Bio 60 days to decide whether to pay the $20,000 to the court or to a cancer organization in the names of the two women.
In court Thursday, Chem-Bio attorney Martin Kohler apologized to the families of the two women.
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The semi-annual report of President Clinton's presidential legal expense trust -- established to help with mounting bills from the Paula Jones and Whitewater investigations -- shows that expenses still outdistance income.
More than 7,000 contributors donated just over $990,000 in the last six months of 1995, but the Clintons still owed over $1.1 million to attorneys.
The bills would be even higher, trustees for the fund said, if the Clintons' liability insurance were not paying costs of the president's defense against Jones' charges of sexual harassment.
"Presumably if there are additional Paula Jones legal expense, they would be covered by the policies," said Bernard Aidinoff, attorney for the defense fund.
Clinton has said that the Whitewater and Jones legal battles have left him technically broke.
LOS ANGELES (CNN) -- Prosecutor David Conn is expected to conclude his closing argument Friday in California's case against the Menendez brothers, accused of killing their parents in 1989.
On Thursday, Conn called the testimony of Erik Menendez "an absolute lie, saying that he played "dumb when it suits his purpose."
Attorneys for Erik and Lyle Menendez argued that the brothers killed Jose and Kitty Menendez because they feared for their lives after years of abuse. Their first trial on murder charges -- with separate juries -- ended in mistrials in January 1994.
Friday's session will be Conn's fourth day presenting the closing argument; defense attorney Leslie Abramson is expected to begin her closing argument on Monday.
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Federal Aviation Administration will hire 600 air traffic controllers over the next couple of years, and some of those hires will come from the ranks of controllers fired by then-President Ronald Reagan in 1981.
Reagan ordered the firing of 11,000 members of the Air Traffic Controllers Organization when the went on strike, and prohibited the FAA from rehiring them. But President Clinton lifted that ban in 1993.
The FAA has been given approval to hire 100 new controllers, and Clinton will request funding from Congress for an additional 500 for 1997.
Last year, the FAA hired about 40 controllers fired in 1981.
NEW YORK (CNN) -- Two New York City police officers have been dismissed for engaging in rowdy behavior at a Washington hotel last year while attending a police memorial.
Officers Wayne Hagmaier and James Morrow were among 942 New York police officers attending the annual Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Day last May.
Hagmaier was charged with public nudity and wrongfully discharging a fire extinguisher and failure to notify the police department of misconduct by another officer. Morrow was cited for public nudity, overindulgence of alcohol and being unfit for duty.
The ceremonies, held at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Washington May 14-15, were marred by lewd behavior.
![[Imagemap]](/US/images/9601/navbar.gif){kind=small}
Associated Press text, photos, graphics, audio and/or video materials shall not directly or indirectly be published, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed in any medium. Neither these AP materials nor any portion thereof may be stored in a computer except for personal and non-commercial use. Subscriber does not hold the AP liable for any delays, inaccuracies, errors or omissions therefrom or in the transmission or delivery of all or any part thereof or for any damage arising from any of the foregoing.
Copyright 1996 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Copyright © 1996 Cable News Network, Inc.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.