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Mar 26, 2012

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Landmark Catholic priest abuse trial begins in Philadelphia
Mar 26th 2012, 20:55

By msnbc.com staff and news services

PHILADELPHIA -- The Archdiocese of Philadelphia protected sexual predators in its ranks for more than 70 years, putting the church's reputation over the safety of children, a prosecutor said Monday at the start of a landmark priest abuse case that's shaken the Roman Catholic establishment.

The church kept secret files dating back to 1948 that show a long-standing conspiracy to doubt sex abuse victims, protect priests and avoid scandal, Assistant District Attorney Jacqueline Coelho said in opening statements.

"You can't protect the church without keeping the allegations in the dark," Coelho told jurors, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported. "He kept the parishioners in the dark and he kept the faithful in the dark."


Coelho called the case "a battle between right and wrong within the archdiocese and the office of secretary for clergy."

Coelho outlined the decades-old sexual abuse complaints found buried in secret archives to build a case against Monsignor William Lynn, who supervised priests as secretary for clergy from 1992 through 2004. Lynn is the first U.S. church official charged for his administrative role in the sex abuse crisis.

He is on trial with the Rev. James Brennan, who is charged with the attempted rape of a 14-year-old boy in 1996. Both men entered not guilty pleas before the jury Monday.

Co-defendant Edward Avery, a defrocked priest, entered a surprise guilty plea Thursday to a sexual assault charge and will serve 2½ to five years in prison. Avery also acknowledged that the archdiocese kept him in parish work despite knowing of an earlier complaint lodged against him, a point that could bolster the conspiracy charge against Lynn.

Coelho said the archdiocese did little or nothing about sex abuse complaints until the church's sex abuse scandal exploded in Boston in 2002.

"Victims are met with skepticism and priests are believed ... at all costs," Coelho said, speaking softly to the jury.

The defense is expected to begin its opening statements Monday afternoon. Court proceedings had been delayed for about 90 minutes, according to media reports.

'Warning signs or red flags'
Attorneys for Lynn and Brennan plan to attack the credibility of the priests' troubled adult accusers, though that strategy took a hit last week when Avery pleaded guilty, confirming one accuser's account of a brutal 1999 sexual assault inside a church sacristy. All three priests were to be tried together before Avery admitted that he abused a 10-year-old altar boy.

Prosecutors say the 61-year-old Lynn transferred priests to new parishes when a problem arose or told parishioners that their priest was taking a "health leave" when he was going for therapy or to a "safe" assignment at an old-age home. Before long, problem priests were back in parish work, with unsupervised access to children.

"By ignoring warning signs or red flags, Fr. Lynn kept Brennan and Avery in ministry, where they were able to hurt children," Coelho said.

Lynn remains the focal point of the trial. He could get up to 28 years in prison if convicted of two counts each of conspiracy and child endangerment.

He has argued that he prepared a list of 37 accused priests in 1994 and sent it up the chain to Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua — only to have Bevilacqua have it shredded. The cardinal died this year, but his videotaped deposition could be played at trial.

The trial will be closely followed by Catholics across the country, including some who say their lives were destroyed.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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thumbnail Bodies in Detroit woods are those of missing women
Mar 26th 2012, 20:51

Elizabeth Conley / AP

Relatives of Abreeya Brown and Ashley Conaway leave the scene where their bodies were found Sunday.

By msnbc.com staff and news services

DETROIT -- The bodies of two women found over the weekend in a wooded area in Detroit are those of two best friends reported abducted nearly a month ago, according to the medical examiner’s office.

Wayne County medical examiner's spokeswoman Brooke Blackwell said the bodies of Abreeya Brown and Ashley Conaway were found gagged and bound with duct tape in a shallow grave. Both women had been shot in the head, Blackwell said.


Brown, 18, and Conaway, 21, were abducted Feb. 28 by two armed men outside their home in the nearby enclave of Hamtramck, according to Brown's stepfather, Charles McGinnis. He told police he exchanged gunfire with the captors before they drove away. Relatives said one woman was able to send text messages for a short time from inside the trunk, but that neither had been heard from since.

Police earlier arrested Brandon Cain, 26, and Brian Lee, 24. Both men are scheduled together for a preliminary hearing on Friday on charges of assault with intent to murder.

Family members of the slain women spoke with local media on Monday.

“We should not lose our children, our daughters to such a travesty; we shouldn’t lose our children to evil and rotten men," Latrina Conaway, sister of Ashley Conaway, told the Detroit Free Press. "We’re just going to stand strong. We’re going to walk the judicial system down to the wire. We know justice shall prevail. But for me, this is just the beginning.”

Lois Brown, mother of Abreeya Brown, said she was heartbroken.

"She's in the kingdom of heaven," Brown told the Detroit News. "I am very glad we have the suspects in custody; now we don't have to chase them down. Now I am in mourning."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Census: 8 of 10 Americans now urbanites
Mar 26th 2012, 17:22

By msnbc.com staff

Move over New York City. Nine of the 10 most densely populated areas in the U.S. are out West, and eight out of 10 Americans is now an urbanite, a U.S. Census Bureau report released Monday shows.

The Charlotte, N.C., area is growing at the fastest rate, increasing by 64.6 percent, followed by Austin, Texas, at 51.1 percent, according to census figures.

“It’s one of those things we’re seeing -- the South and West are definitely growing, and growing more than other regions in the country,” Stacy Gimbel Vidal, spokeswoman for the U.S. Census Bureau told msnbc.com. “It is hard for us to speculate the 'why' people are flocking to and congregating in those areas.”


The nation’s urban population grew by 12.1 percent from 2000 to 2010, outpacing the nation’s overall growth rate of 9.7 percent for the same period, according to census figures.

Of the 10 most densely populated urbanized areas nationwide, nine are in the West, with seven of those in California.

The nation’s most densely populated urbanized area is Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, with nearly 7,000 people
per square mile. The San Francisco-Oakland area is the second most densely populated at 6,266 people per square mile, followed by San Jose (5,820 people per square mile), and in the Central Valley -- Delano, with 5,483 people per square mile, ranks fourth, according to census figures.

The New York-Newark area is fifth, with an overall density of 5,319 people per square mile.

“Urban areas — defined as densely developed residential, commercial and other nonresidential areas — now account for 80.7 percent of the U.S. population, up from 79.0 percent in 2000,” the bureau said in a release. “Although the rural population — the population in any areas outside of those classified as ‘urban’ — grew by a modest amount from 2000 to 2010, it continued to decline as a percentage of the national population.”

The census data identifies two types of urban areas: “urbanized areas” of 50,000 or more people and “urban clusters” of at least 2,500 and less than 50,000 people. There are 486 urbanized areas and 3,087 urban clusters nationwide.

Other notable census finds:

  • The New York-Newark area continues to be the nation’s most populous urbanized area, with 18,351,295 residents. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim is the second most populous (12,150,996), followed by the Chicago area (8,608,208).
  • Maine tops the nation as the most rural state, beating out Vermont. According to the new data, 61.3 percent of Maine’s population lives in rural areas, compared to Vermont’s 61.1 percent.
  • States with the largest rural populations were Texas (3,847,522), North Carolina (3,233,727) and Pennsylvania (2,711,092).

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thumbnail Thousands march in protest to Florida hearing on Trayvon Martin slaying
Mar 26th 2012, 15:11

By NBC News and msnbc.com staff

Updated at 5:26 p.m. ET: Thousands of people streamed through the streets of Sanford, Fla., on Monday to demand that authorities prosecute the man who shot and killed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin one month ago.

The protesters were on their way to a special meeting of the City Commission at the town's Civic Center that began at 5 p.m. ET, where members were to hold a hearing on the killing of Martin, who was unarmed, by George Zimmerman, 28, a neighborhood watch volunteer. (Among the marchers and the speakers was the Rev. Al Sharpton, host of MSNBC-TV's "PoliticNation.")

The shooting of Martin, who was black, by Zimmerman, who is Hispanic, has led to similar rallies across the country. Martin's family, meantime, has made multiple media appearances pushing for Zimmerman's arrest.

But for the first time on Monday, Zimmerman's account of the shooting, corroborated by witnesses, were reported — details that make winning a conviction "more difficult than a normal criminal case," according to the special prosecutor reviewing the case for Florida Gov. Rick Scott.

The Orlando Sentinel, quoting unidentified "law enforcement authorities, reported that Zimmerman told police that Martin knocked him down with a single punch and slammed his head into the sidewalk several times before the shooting — an account that police said witnesses have corroborated.

Zimmerman said he was walking back to his SUV when Martin approached him from behind, according to the Sentinel's report, which Sanford police confirmed Monday afternoon.


The two exchanged words before Martin decked him with a punch to the nose and began beating him, Zimmerman told police. He said he then shot Martin in self-defense.

Witnesses said they heard someone cry out in distress, some of them telling NBC News and other news organizations that it was Martin. But police sources told the Sentinel their evidence indicated it was Zimmerman.

Dateline NBC interviews woman who saw aftermath

One witness told police he saw Martin pounding Zimmerman on the ground. This witness was certain it was Zimmerman who was crying for help, the Sentinel reported.

When police arrived less than two minutes later, Zimmerman was bleeding from the nose and had a swollen lip and bloody lacerations to the back of his head, the newspaper reported. Police said Zimmerman wasn't badly injured and didn't seek treatment until the next day.

ABC News reported separately that Zimmerman told police that Martin also tried to take his gun.

In a statement, Sanford police said the Sentinel's report was "consistent with the information provided to the State Attorney's office by the police department." It didn't address the ABC report.

Zimmerman's attorney, Craig Sonner, has said he could invoke Florida's "stand-your-ground" law, which provides significant leeway for people to use deadly force if they feel their lives are in danger. 

Meanwhile, Angela Corey, the special prosecutor, told ABC News that means "the state must go forward and be able to prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt. ... So it makes the case in general more difficult than a normal criminal case."

Other new information that emerged Monday also appeared to complicate the case. Although toxicology tests on Martin's body were still pending, a spokesman for his family confirmed to NBC News that Martin was suspended for 10 days from Dr. Michael M. Krop Senior High School in Miami for possession of an empty marijuana baggie.

The disclosures added up an attempt to assassinate Martin's character, said Ben Crump, an attorney for Martin's family.

At a news conference, Crump alleged that police were "attempting to demonize and blame the victim by releasing bits and pieces of an ongoing investigation to build Zimmerman's claim up."

"Very clearly, whatever Trayvon Martin was suspended for had absolutely no bearing on what happened on the night of February 26," he said, adding that Martin "wasn't suspended for anything violent or criminal."

"If he and his friends experimented with marijuana, it's still completely irrelevant," Crump said.

As the City Commission hearing approached, there were these other developments:

  • The Smoking Gun, a website that tracks criminal cases and document filings, reported Monday afternoon that Martin's mother, Sabrina Fulton, filed two applications last week for trademarks on her late son's name.

Fulton is seeking marks for the phrases "I Am Trayvon" and "Justice for Trayvon," according to filings with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. In both instances, Fulton is seeking the trademarks for use on "Digital materials," namely, CDs and DVDs featuring Trayvon Martin," and other products.

  • Sanford City Manager Norton Bonaparte announced that Capt. Darren Scott would serve as interim police chief during the investigation, NBC station WESH of Orlando, Fla., reported. Police Chief Bill Lee stepped aside last week as criticism over the lack of an arrest mounted across the country. 

Following is the full text of the statement Monday confirming The Orlando Sentinel's report by the Sanford, Fla., Police Department:

In response to the recent article in the Orlando Sentinel, the information was not provided to the media through an authorized source at the Sanford Police Department, but possibly by a leak from within the department. The information in the article is consistent with the information provided to the State Attorney's office by the police department. 

"We do not condone these unauthorized leaks of information," said City Manager, Norton Bonaparte, Jr. "Acting Chief Scott will be doing an internal investigation within the Sanford Police Department as this type of action compromises the integrity of the law enforcement agency which has pledged to uphold the law".

Mr. Bonaparte stated that disciplinary action including possible termination will be taken against anyone found to have leaked the information.

Roxanne Garcia and Tom Winter of NBC News and Miguel Llanos of msnbc.com contributed to this report by M. Alex Johnson of msnbc.com. 

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thumbnail Protesters take sides as Supreme Court hears health care arguments
Mar 26th 2012, 14:04

Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images

Demonstrators for and against the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act march and chant in outside the U.S. Supreme Court Building on March 26, in Washington.

Jim Lo Scalzo / EPA

Anti-abortion advocates with Justice House of Prayer gather outside the Supreme Court as the justices hear oral arguments on cases related to health care reform law in Washington. Passing a major reform of the US health insurance system was President Barack Obama's signature legislative achievement.

Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images

Demonstrators for and against the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act march and chant in outside the U.S. Supreme Court Building on March 26, in Washington, DC. Today the high court, which has set aside six hours over three days, will hear arguments over the constitutionality of the act.

Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images

Police officers keep a close watch on people demonstrating in support of and against the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act outside the U.S. Supreme Court Building on March 26, in Washington, DC. The high court, which has set aside six hours over three days, will hear arguments over the constitutionality of th act.

Mark Wilson / Getty Images

Linda Door protests against President Obama's health care plan in front of the U.S. Supreme Court Building on March 26, in Washington, DC. Today the high court, which has set aside six hours over three days, will hear arguments over the constitutionality President Barack Obama's Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

Charles Dharapak / AP

Members of the public line up as the Supreme Court begins three days of arguments on the health care reform law signed by President Obama.

Jonathan Ernst / Reuters

A line of people hoping to be allowed in to watch legal arguments over the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act at the Supreme Court stretches around the corner in Washington March 26. Two years after President Barack Obama signed into law the healthcare overhaul, the Supreme Court on Monday takes up a historic test of whether it is valid under the country's Constitution.

 

By NBC's Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, Domenico Montanaro, and Brooke Brower

*** Day One at the Supreme Court: For the first time in several months, the top political story won’t be taking place on the Republican campaign trail, or at the White House, or on Capitol Hill. Instead, today’s top story occurs over at the U.S. Supreme Court on the issue that took up much of 2009 and 2010: health care. There will be three days of oral arguments, and today’s topic is over whether the Supreme Court can even hear the case at this particular time. “The justices will hear 90 minutes of argument about whether an obscure 19th-century law — the Anti-Injunction Act — means that the court cannot pass judgment on the law until its key provisions go into effect in 2014,” the Washington Post notes. “It is the rare issue on which both sides agree: the Obama administration lawyers and those representing the states and private organization challenging the new law argue that the Supreme Court should decide the constitutional question now.”

Click here to continue reading how the Supreme Court's decision could shape the legacy of President Obama.

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