NEWS OF THE DAY
From Across the Nation
1 Leak conviction: A federal appeals court on Thursday upheld a 3½ year prison sentence for a former CIA officer found guilty of leaking government secrets to a reporter. A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va., affirmed all but one of Jeffrey Sterling’s convictions and said there was no need for the man to be resentenced. Sterling was convicted under the Espionage Act in 2015 after being accused of divulging details to New York Times journalist James Risen of a CIA mission aimed at stalling Iranian ambitions to build a nuclear weapon. The operation involved the delivery of flawed nuclear blueprints to Iran in the hopes that they would spend years trying to develop a product that would never work.
2 Ricochet fatality: Deputies in Palmdale (Los Angeles County) opened fire at a charging pit bull. and one bullet apparently ricocheted off the ground and killed a 17-year-old boy who had been helping restrain the dog, authorities said Thursday. The dog, which belonged to the boy’s neighbor, had bitten one of the deputies and the teen had restrained it behind the apartment complex when it broke loose and charged again, Los Angeles County sheriff ’s officials said. Deputies said they wounded the dog, but the boy, who was about 40 feet away, was hit by a bullet that had ricocheted off the pavement. He died at a hospital about an hour later.
3 John Oliver sued: Coal company Murray Energy has sued HBO and comedian John Oliver for what it says was a “false and malicious broadcast” on Sunday. It’s seeking financial damages and a court order barring rebroadcasts of the segment’s “defamatory statements.” Oliver’s “Last Week Tonight” coal segment criticized the Trump administration’s effort to revive the industry, saying coal jobs have dropped for decades and other energy alternatives are driving the industry’s decline. He ribbed Murray Energy’s CEO Robert Murray, who blames regulatory efforts by the Obama administration for damaging the coal industry. He said the 77-year-old looked like a “geriatric Dr. Evil” and noted that the company had fought against coal safety regulations. The Ohio company filed the lawsuit in West Virginia.
4 Inmate set free: A 67-year-old man who was imprisoned for 36 years walked free Thursday after a federal judge threw out his murder conviction and life sentence for a newspaper editor’s stabbing in the French Quarter of New Orleans. U.S. District Judge Sarah Vance released John Floyd, after ruling that no reasonable juror would find Floyd guilty of murder based on all the evidence in the 1980 stabbing death of William Hines, a Times-Picayune copy editor.
5 Manson follower: Parole has been denied for convicted killer Patricia Krenwinkel, a follower of cult leader Charles Manson, after officials investigated whether battered women’s syndrome affected her at the time of the notorious murders. Krenwinkel,69, was previously denied parole 13 times for the 1969 slayings of pregnant actress Sharon Tate and four other people.