Cosby’s defense lawyer wants out before November retrial

Compiled from news services

PHILADELPHIA— Bill Cosby’s defense attorney in his sex assault trial that ended with a deadlocked jury wants off the case before a retrial that’s scheduled to begin in November.

Lead defense lawyer Brian McMonagle of Philadelphia filed documents Tuesday seeking to withdraw as Mr. Cosby’s counsel. He says Mr. Cosby is taking steps to secure new lawyers.

Montgomery County Judge Steven O’Neill will consider the request at a pre-trial conference Aug. 22.

Mr. Cosby is being retried on charges he drugged and molested Andrea Constand over a decade ago.

Prosecutors found themselves back at square one June 17 after a judge declared a mistrial. The jury failed to reach a verdict in more than 52 hours of deliberations.

Zika virus sexually passed

ORLANDO, Fla. — Florida health officials have confirmed a case of sexually transmitted Zika in Pinellas County, a first for the state in 2017.

The infected individual had no history of travel but the person’s sexual partner had recently traveled to Cuba and was sick with symptoms of Zika, health officials said. Both individuals tested positive for Zika.

Mosquito control has taken appropriate actions to reduce the mosquito population in that area, according to the state.

Health officials said that there have been no locally acquired Zika cases in Florida via infected mosquitoes so far this year.

In 2016, Florida was the first state in the country to confirm a locally acquired Zika case.

Google program protests

A prominent privacy rights watchdog is asking the Federal Trade Commission to investigate a new Google advertising program that ties consumers’ online behavior to their purchases in bricks-andmortar stores.

The legal complaint from the Electronic Privacy Information Center, which was to be filed with the FTC on Monday, alleges that Google is newly gaining access to a trove of highly sensitive information — the credit and debit card purchases records of the majority of US consumers — without revealing how they got the information or giving consumers’ meaningful ways to opt out. Moreover, the group claims that the search giant is relying on a secretive technical method to protect the data — a method that should be audited by outsiders and is likely vulnerable to hacks or other data breaches.

Delta fingerprint boarding

Where’s your boarding pass? Forget it. Delta Air Lines is letting some passengers board planes with just their fingerprints.

Delta announced recently that travelers who are members of its SkyMiles loyalty program and enrolled in Clear, a third-party biometric screening program, can choose to use their fingerprints as proof of identity at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.

Later this summer, Delta plans to let members also use their fingerprints to check bags at that airport.