Judge postpones lawsuit to aid anthrax investigators

Judge postpones lawsuit to aid anthrax investigators

Posted by admin on Tuesday, March 30, 2004 - 12:43 PM

WASHINGTON — A federal judge said yesterday confidential information provided to him by the Justice Department shows the investigation into the 2001 anthrax attacks is now at a "critical" and "sensitive" stage and could unearth significant leads by early July.
U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton said the FBI investigation should be allowed to proceed "in an unfettered way," and he granted the government's request to postpone for six months the defamation lawsuit filed by former Army scientist Steven Hatfill against the department and Attorney General John Ashcroft. The judge said that, for now, the complex search for the person who sent the anthrax-laced letters, which killed five people, outweighs Hatfill's contention that Ashcroft and other federal authorities ruined his life by calling him a "person of interest" in the case. Authorities said they expect to get results in June from a sophisticated battery of tests, which the FBI hopes will identify the laboratory that produced the anthrax used in mailings. In his lawsuit, Hatfill contends that Ashcroft and his subordinates conducted a "coordinated smear campaign" and that they labeled him the likely culprit to avoid criticism that the investigation had stalled. Hatfill has denied any role in the mailings. Bush eases restrictions on school testing WASHINGTON — For the fourth time in as many months, the Bush administration is easing the restrictions of its education law, this time in the area of testing. The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 requires schools to test at least 95 percent of students in math and reading. Schools also must have 95 percent participation from all major subgroups, such as minority or disabled youngsters. Under the new policy, schools will comply with the law as long as they average a 95 percent participation rate among students over two or three years. No Child Left Behind is the centerpiece of President Bush's education agenda. Aimed at improving minority achievement, it won strong bipartisan support but has since faced opposition over key provisions and funding. Previous changes gave rural teachers extra time to prove they are qualified in all their subjects, eased regulations governing the testing of special-education students and eased testing for students who speak limited English. Slave descendants sue U.S., British corporations NEW YORK — Descendants of slaves filed a $1 billion lawsuit yesterday against U.S. and British corporations, accusing them of profiting by committing genocide against their ancestors. The suit filed in federal court in Manhattan accuses Lloyd's of London, FleetBoston and R.J. Reynolds of "aiding and abetting the commission of genocide" by allegedly financing and insuring the ships that delivered slaves to U.S. tobacco plantations. DNA testing has linked the eight plaintiffs to tribes in Sierra Leone, Niger and Gambia, whose people "were kidnapped, tortured and shipped in chains to the United States," the suit says. Ellen Matthews, a spokeswoman for R.J. Reynolds, said the company had not received a copy of the suit. Calls to the other defendants were not immediately returned. DNA evidence helps convict man in 1975 rape, murder SYRACUSE, N.Y. — A man was convicted yesterday in the 1975 rape and murder of a college student after prosecutors linked him to DNA evidence from a discarded drinking straw. Donald Sigsbee, 68, a retired cabinetmaker from Madison, N.Y., faces up to life in prison when he is sentenced April 19. Sigsbee was a principal suspect in the death of Regina Marie Reynolds, 19, after police found his business cards near her body, but there wasn't enough evidence to charge him. Police, however, preserved a semen sample taken from Reynolds' body and continued to track Sigsbee. He was arrested in March 2003 after police matched the semen to the DNA in a saliva sample from a straw he had used. Barge owners plead guilty, are fined in 2003 oil spill NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — The owners of a barge that leaked tens of thousands of gallons of oil along the Massachusetts coast will plead guilty to two criminal charges and pay a $10 million fine under a plea agreement announced yesterday. The settlement is believed to be the largest environmental penalty in the state's history. The April 2003 spill shut down thousands of acres of shellfish beds. Bouchard Transportation of Hicksville, N.Y., reached the agreement last week. The company had accepted responsibility for cleanup and paid more than $38 million for the effort.

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