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Another drug tunnel found

Thu, 12 Jul 2012 17:15:00 +0000

SAN DIEGO (AP) — U.S. authorities say an incomplete tunnel designed to smuggle drugs into the United States has been found in Tijuana, Mexico.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman Lauren Mack told The Associated Press on Thursday that the approximately 220-yard passage was lit and ventilated. It began under a bathroom sink inside a warehouse and did not cross the border into San Diego.

Mack says the Mexican army entered the tunnel Wednesday. No drugs were found and there are no arrests reported.

It is the second major tunnel discovered in less than a week along the U.S.-Mexico border. A 240-yard completed passage was discovered near Yuma, Ariz. U.S. authorities say the Arizona tunnel was operational.

“Unabomber” lawyer to represent Jared Lee Loughner

Tue, 11 Jan 2011 12:23:00 +0000

The attorney for a 22-year-old loner accused of trying to assassinate Rep. Gabrielle Giffords has a low-key style and a record of saving high-profile clients from the death penalty.

Judy Clarke worked on plea agreements that spared "Unabomber" Ted Kaczynski and Eric Rudolph, who bombed abortion clinics in the late 1990s and Atlanta's Olympic park in 1996. She was on a team that negotiated a plea that avoided death for white supremacist Buford Furrow Jr., who shot up a Jewish center in Los Angeles in 1999.

She also helped persuade a jury to spare the life of Susan Smith, who strapped her sons in their car seats and let her car roll into a South Carolina lake in 1994, carrying the boys to their deaths.

Colleagues describe Clarke, 58, as a tireless advocate for her clients and a staunch opponent of the death penalty who shuns the spotlight.

Her lack of ego is "so uncharacteristic among criminal defense lawyers that it's almost freakish," said David Bruck, a close friend since they attended law school at the University of South Carolina and her co-counsel for Smith.

Earthquake aftershocks shake Southern California

Mon, 05 Apr 2010 17:30:00 +0000

Police patrolled streets littered with shattered glass Monday morning as aftershocks continued to rock the U.S-Mexico border area in the wake of a deadly Easter Sunday earthquake.

No injuries were reported in Calexico, the U.S. area hardest hit in the United States by the 7.3-magnitude quake. A 3-block-by-4-block area containing prewar buildings housing businesses was closed because of damage.

"There's broken windows, some cracked masonry buildings" and some buildings had falling bricks, although none was in immediate danger of collapse, police Lt. Jesus (hay-SOOS') Serrano said.

Damage was still being assessed, he said.

Sunday's quake centered just south of the U.S. border near Mexicali killed two people in Mexico and injured at least 100, including someone who was hit in the head by a sign at a carwash in the California town of El Centro.

At least a half-dozen aftershocks with magnitudes between 5.0 and 5.4 were reported, including a 5.1-magnitude shaker at 4:14 a.m. that was centered near El Centro.

Scientists measured about 100 aftershocks early Monday morning, said seismologist Kate Hutton at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.

Chelsea King suspect found through DNA

Thu, 04 Mar 2010 01:01:00 +0000

California law enforcement officials say a convicted sex offender was linked to the death of Chelsea King through DNA matching of semen found in the victim's clothing.

State Department of Justice spokeswoman Christine Gasparac told The Associated Press Wednesday that John Albert Gardner III was identified after his DNA was run through a national database.

San Diego County prosecutors have declined to comment on the evidence.

The 30-year-old Gardner was charged with murdering and raping or attempting to rape the 17-year-old King, who disappeared last week after heading out for a run in a park.

He faces another count of assault with intent to rape another woman last December.

His attorney entered pleas of not guilty in the potential death penalty case.

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Associated Press writer Don Thompson in Sacramento contributed to this report.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

SAN DIEGO (AP) -- A 30-year-old convicted sex offender was charged Wednesday with murdering and raping or attempting to rape 17-year-old Chelsea King, who disappeared last week after heading out for a run in a park.

Quake near Mexican border shakes San Diego area

Wed, 30 Dec 2009 19:34:00 +0000

A magnitude-5.8 earthquake in northern Baja California rocked the U.S.-Mexico border region Wednesday, causing buildings to sway more than 100 miles to the west in downtown San Diego.

The main quake was centered about 20 miles southeast of the Mexican border city of Mexicali, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. It was followed quickly by a 4.9 quake and other aftershocks.

San Diego County sheriff's Lt. Anthony Ray said there were no immediate reports of damage or injury.

There was no immediate information from Mexicali or authorities on the U.S. side of the border in Imperial County. Phone circuits were busy just after the quake.

Two smaller quakes preceded the main shock, which was initially reported at magnitude-5.9 before being downgraded slightly.

Julie Dutton, a geophysicist with the USGS, said the area is seismically active.

"It's definitely nothing that's unusual," she said.

The quake occurred 4.3 miles deep and is considered shallow. Shallower quakes have the potential to cause more damage than deeper ones, Dutton said.