SAN DIEGO ( 17 yr old Boy Faces 300 yrs in prison for 21 counts of RAPE )

One of two teenage boys accused of attacking and raping a pair of young girls in Rancho Peñasquitos last year was convicted Friday of 21 counts of rape, kidnapping and other charges.

Leonel Contreras, 17, now faces multiple life sentences that could total more than 300 years in state prison.

Leonel Contreras, 16, pleaded not guilty in San Diego Superior Court to the sexual assault of two teen girls in a Rancho Penasquitos park on Sept. 3. His co-defendant, William Rodriguez, 16, also entered a not guilty plea. — John R. McCutchen

The verdicts for William Steven Rodriguez, 17, who was charged along with Contreras, will be read Monday morning. Rodriguez’s jury reached them last week after deliberating about a day and a half.

San Diego Superior Court Judge Peter Deddeh ordered the verdicts sealed until the Contreras jury had concluded its deliberations.

It was just before 4 p.m. Friday when the Contreras jury reached its verdicts. That did not allow enough time to summon all of the jurors in Rodriguez’s case to downtown San Diego before the courthouse closed.

The boys were tried as adults in front of separate juries.

Several jurors cried as Deddeh read the lengthy verdicts. Outside of court, the girls’ family members embraced the jurors.

Deputy District Attorney Wendy Patrick said the guilty verdicts on all charges were a victory for the girls and their families.

“Cases like this are emotional for everyone involved,” Patrick said outside court.

Contreras showed no visible emotion as the verdicts were read. He sat stoically, occasionally rocking slightly back and forth in his chair.

Patrick argued in trial that the boys, who had such a close friendship that they referred to one another as cousins, were looking for someone to rob on Sept. 3, 2011, when they came across the girls sitting together in a park off Spindletop Road.

The girls, who 15 and 16 at the time, were sitting and talking under a tree when they were attacked from behind. One of the attackers had a knife.

The girls were forced across a street and up a dirt slope into an alcove surrounded by bushes. They were then subjected to a prolonged sexual assault that traumatized the victims physically and emotionally, the prosecutor said.

Eventually, the parents of one of the victims noticed they were missing from a family party and went looking for them, calling their names as they searched the neighborhood.

The girls were let go.

When police were notified of the crime, a helicopter was dispatched to the area, alerting neighbors to the crime and asking for information leading to the suspects. Witnesses described two young Latino males who had been seen together that night riding the same BMX bike.

Authorities were alerted to Rodriguez through graffiti found near the area where the rapes occurred. They later learned of Contreras.

The boys eventually confessed to the crime. DNA evidence also pointed to Rodriguez.

Attorney Michael Begovich, who represented Contreras, argued that there was no DNA evidence that connected his client to the rapes. He said Contreras was a scared boy who was coerced by investigators into making a false confession. He was 16 at the time of his arrest.

Kidnapped Boy and Mom reunite after 5 years ( San Diego)

 

                                                Julio Rocha

Keoni Rocha, 7, shares a laugh with his mother Leilani Masumoto on Thursday at their home in San Diego, California. The two were reunited after 5 years apart. Keoni was allegedly kidnapped by his father and taken to Mexico — Eduardo Contreras

                

SAN DIEGO — It had been five years since Leilani Masumoto had seen her son, who was just a toddler when authorities said his father kidnapped him from San Diego and whisked him to Mexico.

Now, the mother-son reunion that often haunted her dreams was about to come true.

As she waited for him at the Mexico City airport, she worried: “Will he even recognize me? Will I remember him?”

The 7-year-old boy she greeted was taller, but unmistakably her son.

“When I saw him I just broke down in tears,” she said Thursday.

The reunion last week was made possible with help from an enterprising young woman in Mexico and the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office Child Abduction Unit.

Keoni Rocha was abducted by his father, Julio Rocha, in 2007 after the boy’s mother requested full custody, according to the District Attorney’s Office.

The break in the case came recently when a student in Mexico was doing online research for a school project and came across a poster from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children with information about the boy and his father.

She recognized the boy as a neighbor who lived across the street, and she contacted authorities.

BORDER Patrol Shooting ( Report out- FEMALE Agent Shot Nicholas Ivie ) Agent Ivie NEVER fired his Gun

BISBEE - The Cochise County Sheriff's Department released a 39 page report Friday with details in the Ivie investigation. Border Patrol Agent Nicholas Ivie was killed October 2 in a remote desert area northeast of Naco where he was stationed. The 30-year-old was killed by what has been described as friendly fire.
In the report a deputy recalls specifically asking dispatchers if the shooting was an accidental discharge or if the agents took fire. The report says preliminary indications are that the agents were attacked by unknown assailants.
The area is described by agents as Remax, near a trail called Grayface. One deputy described it as a "large bowl in the mountain." Mexican currency is found in the area, as are shoe prints not consistent with those of responders. A deputy also notes an area with fresh smuggling trash such as food wrappers, water and indentations of marijuana bundles.
Authorities initially believed undocumented aliens may have been involved, the Cochise County Sheriff Department deployed its Narcotics Enforcement Team known as NET but no suspects were ever found.
The report says Agent Nicholas Ivie and two other agents, a male and female, responded to an activated sensor, however each drove to area in their own vehicles.
A deputy sat in the on female agent's interview with investigators. She told them she had been with the agency since November 2010 and had never worked in the area where the shooting occurred. The agent told investigators she never saw Ivie but had radio communication with him. She said she and a male agent approached the area from the south and Ivie approached from the north. She told investigators he signaled them with a flashlight.

Agent Ivie

The agent told investigators she heard yelling, observed muzzle flashes and heard rapid gunfire. She drew her weapon, took cover, but could not recall if she fired her weapon but admits conducting a magazine exchange. The agent described seeing a flash from a gun and seeing a reflection of a handgun. She also told investigators at the time of the shooting she thought she saw three to four people and though she heard whispering but could not say if it was in English or Spanish. After the shots were fired she said she tried to remain calm and hid.
The report says there was a trail of blood. It also mentions the autopsy but much of it is redacted leaving out any details. However, one deputy noted Ivie had blood coming out of his ears, nose and mouth. He wrote there were no other injuries. Another deputy wrote "approximately six spent rifle casings (believed to be of the spent casings were clustered approximately five feet to the east of the under belt." There were other casings but it's unclear in the report where they were located.
According to one deputy, Ivie's magazine was seated and the slide was forward, indicating his weapon was loaded and ready to fire.
The names of the two agents involved in the shooting are left out of the report. The FBI nor the Border Patrol would comment on the report saying the investigation remains ongoing.

Navajo Nation ( CODE talker George Smith Died ) U.S Marine

Members of the elite Navajo Code Talkers, the U.S. Marine unit that delivered unbreakable codes during World War …
A member of the famed Navajo Code Talkers, who used their rare and ancient language to outwit the Japanese during World War II, has died.
George Smith died on Oct. 30 at the Gallup Indian Medical Center in New Mexico, said Navajo Nation president Ben Shelly. Smith was 90.
"Our Navajo Code Talkers have been real life heroes to generations of Navajo people," Shelly said in a statement. "They have brought pride to our Navajo people in so many ways."
In honor of Smith, the Navajo Nation flag will be flown at half-staff until sundown on Nov. 4.
Navajo Code Talker George Smith (Paul Natonabah/Navajo Times)
Smith was part of a Marine unit of Native Americans who created a complex and secret code based on the Navajo language. Because Navajo is an unwritten language that was passed through generations, it is difficult for a non-Navajo speaker to translate, according to navajocodetalkers.org.
The words of the code, which were committed to memory by the Code Talkers, were used in communications in key battles, such as Guadalcanal and Iwo Jima, the official site of the Code Talkers notes.

The Japanese never managed to crack the code.

The 2002 movie "Windtalkers" starring Nicolas Cage is based on the Code Talkers' mission.

The identities of the Code Talkers were kept secret, even to friends and family, until 1968. Now only a handful are living, according to navajocodetalkers.org.

Smith enlisted with the Marines in 1943. He achieved the rank of corporal while serving in World War II in the Pacific Theater. He fought in battles at Siapan, Tinian, and the Ryukyu Islands, and served in places such as Hawaii and Japan.

The Code Talkers and the secret code they developed saved countless lives and helped end the war.

After his service, Smith worked as a heavy equipment mechanic with Navajo Engineering Construction Authority.

"Code Talker Smith led an honorable life. He served his country, then provided for his family," Shelly said.

Orange Ca. ( COP shoots himself in leg while drinking at BAR )

An off-duty Orange police officer, honored for making hundreds of DUI arrests, accidentally shot himself in the leg early Sunday at a local sports bar.
In what police are calling an “accidental discharge,” Officer Justin McGowan shot himself just above the right knee about 2 a.m. Sunday inside the O.C. Sports Grill, 450 N. State College Blvd., said Sgt. Fred Lopez. The bullet changed trajectory after hitting McGowan’s knee and rested in his foot, missing all major arteries, Lopez said.
Police are investigating how McGowan, 28, shot himself with his department-issued, .38-caliber back-up weapon, Lopez said. There is no indication of any criminal involvement or altercation, he said.

“We’re conducting our own investigation. Right now, what we’re concerned about is his health,” Lopez said.
A city official close to the investigation said security video taken at the bar showed that McGowan was standing, with the gun in his pocket and his hand in the same pocket, when it went off.
McGowan, an eight-year veteran at the department, had been drinking alcohol at the bar, but a blood test was not administered until hours after the incident, said the city official.
The Orange Police Department has a policy against officers carrying guns while drinking, Lopez acknowledged.
McGowan reported the shooting himself, telephoning his immediate supervisor, Lopez said.
He was driven to a hospital by his wife and friends. He is on medical leave.

7 al Qaeda killed ( DRONE strike or 'lone wolf' hits target )

Lone wolf  ' silent strike' 7 killed.

A drone strike near the southern Yemeni city of Jaar killed at least seven al Qaeda suspects at dawn on Thursday, an official in the restive region told AFP.
“A drone, likely American, fired several rockets at a group of al Qaeda members northwest of Jaar killing all of them,” said the official, adding seven bodies had so far been recovered.
The United States is the only country that operates drones in the region.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said al Qaeda militants have been trying to position themselves near Yemen’s main southern cities to carry out operations against the army and the Popular Resistance Committees, the local militias that fight alongside it.
In May, the army launched an all out offensive against al Qaeda in the southern of province Abyan, forcing them to retreat from major strongholds including Jaar and Abyan’s capital Zinjibar.
The campaign was backed by US drones which in recent months have been deployed in strikes against al Qaeda targets in the south and east of the country.
Thursday’s strike was the second such drone attack this month.
On October 4, a drone blasted two cars carrying suspected al Qaeda gunmen in the southern province of Shabwa, killing five of them.
Al Qaeda took advantage of the weakness of Yemen’s central government in an uprising last year against now ousted president Ali Abdullah Saleh, seizing large swathes of territory across the south.
But after the month-long summer offensive, most militants have fled to the more lawless desert regions of the east.
Though weakened, the militants still launch hit-and-run attacks on government and civilian targets throughout the country.

ARIZONA ( Ghost seen at the Gadsden Hotel ) Call Zak "Ghost adventures"

DOUGLAS, Arizona (Reuters) - Manager Robin Brekhus was skeptical about her Arizona hotel's supernatural history until the day she went to the basement in search of candles during a power outage and glimpsed a figure in a long duster coat and cowboy hat in the beam of her flashlight.

"It was like he wanted me to make eye contact with him and acknowledge that I saw him," she said, recalling how she then sprinted up the steps to the spacious lobby with its Italianate columns and Tiffany & Co. stained glass mural - a new believer.

In its heyday in the early decades of the last century, the lobby of the Gadsden Hotel was known as the "living room" of the remote Arizona ranching town of Douglas, hosting cattle barons, cowboys and executives from the local copper mining industry.

While many hotels in the United States claim ghosts, staff and guests at the Gadsden have recorded scores of supernatural encounters from the top floor right down to the maze-like basement - not just at Halloween, but year round.

This Halloween, the hotel is embracing its haunted history as never before, with a visiting blues band from Tennessee set to play at a bash in the lobby. Guests can come dressed up or not, and ghosts are more than welcome.