MIAMI
(AP)
—
A
Christian
fundamentalist
who
was
trained
as
an
Army
Ranger
pleaded
innocent
last
week
to
bomb
and
weapons
charges
in
an
alleged
plot
to
blow
up
abortion
clinics,
gay
bars
and
churches
he
deemed
disloyal.
Prosecutors
said
35-year-old
Stephen
John
Jordi
described
himself
as
a
terrorist
and
planned
a
bombing
spree
across
the
eastern
United
States.
He
allegedly
was
on
the
brink
of
carrying
out
the
plan
when
he
was
arrested
Nov.
11.
Authorities
said
that
on
the
day
of
his
arrest,
Jordi
and
a
government
informant
bought
gasoline
cans,
flares,
starter
fluid
and
propane
tanks,
and
the
informant
sold
Jordi
a
pistol
and
silencer.
Marc
Seitles,
Jordi’s
attorney,
argues
that
Jordi
repeatedly
said
he
did
not
want
to
do
anything
illegal
and
that
the
informant
offered
money
to
Jordi’s
family
and
a
plane
ticket
to
Jordi
so
he
could
protest
outside
the
Florida
prison
where
abortion-provider
killer
Paul
Hill
was
executed.
NEW
BRUNSWICK,
Canada
—
Gay
leaders
in
this
city
held
a
vigil
Nov.
29
as
the
alleged
attacker
of
a
federal
lawmaker
appeared
in
court,
the
Globe
&
Mail
reported.
The
accused
assailant
previously
was
vocal
in
denouncing
same-sex
marriage,
and
activists
are
calling
the
beating
of
federal
MP
Andy
Scott
a
gay
bashing.
“You’ve
got
a
straight
man
that
stands
up
for
our
rights
and
he
gets
[attacked],”
Art
Vautour-Toole
told
the
Globe
&
Mail.
Vautour-Toole
himself
faces
charges
from
a
protest
that
erupted
when
he
tried
to
insist
on
taking
his
husband’s
name.
“But
that
happens
once
a
week
here
in
the
city
of
Moncton,
gay-bashing
happens
but
they
turn
a
blind
eye
to
it,”
he
told
the
Globe
&
Mail.
Scott
is
married
and
has
two
sons.
He
recently
helped
defeat
a
motion
in
the
House
of
Commons
that
would
have
reserved
marriage
for
opposite-sex
couples,
the
Globe
&
Mail
reported.
He
was
attacked
Nov.
22
and
left
bruised
and
battered.
Terry
Curtis,
48,
was
arrested
and
charged
with
assault,
theft,
mischief
and
uttering
death
threats,
the
newspaper
reported.
STATESVILLE,
N.C.
(AP)
—
Andrew
Reyes,
an
accountant
and
former
chair
of
Mecklenburg
County’s
Democratic
Party,
was
sentenced
Monday
to
almost
five
years
in
federal
prison
for
bank
fraud
and
tax
evasion.
Reyes
made
a
rapid
rise
in
Charlotte
in
the
late
1990s,
progressing
from
gay
activist
to
major
party
donor
to
local
Democratic
leader
before
disappearing
mysteriously
in
May
2001.
Reyes
said
little
other
than
brief
responses
to
questions
from
U.S.
District
Court
Judge
Lacy
Thornburg.
Reyes
pleaded
guilty
early
this
year
to
15
counts
of
bank
fraud,
three
counts
of
income
tax
evasion
and
a
single
count
of
conspiracy
to
commit
income
tax
evasion.
Federal
prosecutors
agreed
to
the
four-year,
nine-month
sentence,
saying
he
had
provided
substantial
assistance
that
could
lead
to
more
criminal
prosecutions.
The
charges
stemmed
from
Reyes’
handling
of
the
financial
affairs
of
the
late
Douglas
King
of
New
Hampshire.
In
his
guilty
plea,
Reyes
admitted
diverting
$3.6
million
to
himself
between
1998
and
2000.
PIERRE,
S.D.
(AP)
—
The
felon
considered
first
in
line
for
execution
in
South
Dakota
has
appeals
pending
in
both
state
and
federal
courts,
but
those
efforts
are
in
neutral.
Charles
Russell
Rhines
has
filed
habeas
corpus
petitions
in
state
and
federal
courts,
alleging
violations
of
his
constitutional
right
to
a
fair
trial
and
that
he
illegally
received
the
death
penalty.
Among
several
issues
Rhines
raises
in
the
pending
habeas
corpus
claims,
he
said
the
defense
team
should
have
objected
to
evidence
that
showed
he
is
gay
because
that
may
have
inflamed
jurors.
But
state
Deputy
Attorney
General
Craig
Eichstadt
said
a
recent
8th
U.S.
Circuit
Court
of
Appeals
ruling
may
force
Rhines
to
abandon
his
state
habeas
suit.
Because
of
a
1996
federal
law
that
streamlines
the
appellate
process
in
death-penalty
cases
by
limiting
repeated
appeals,
Rhines
risks
losing
his
federal
appeal
if
he
does
not
drop
the
state
habeas
corpus,
Eichstadt
says.
Rhines
was
convicted
for
the
1992
slaying
of
Donnivan
Schaeffer,
22,
during
a
doughnut
shop
burglary.
TARPON
SPRINGS,
Fla.
(AP)
—
A
third
man
was
charged
in
the
beating
of
a
gay
couple
at
a
Greek
restaurant
in
what
police
are
calling
a
hate
crime.
Michael
Kitsos,
21,
of
Tarpon
Springs
turned
himself
in
to
police.
Kitsos,
along
with
John
A.
Himonetos,
21,
and
Stamatios
N.
Kannis,
22,
punched
and
kicked
two
men
as
they
tried
to
leave
Zorba’s
Restaurant
&
Lounge
with
friends,
police
said.
Peter
Malamoutsis,
22,
and
R.
Gregory
Hall,
31,
both
of
Bartow,
were
with
a
group
of
about
10
friends
early
Nov.
22
when
Malamoutsis
was
approached
by
Himonetos,
whom
he
knew.
When
the
group
started
to
leave,
they
were
attacked
in
the
parking
lot,
where
they
were
called
a
derogatory
name
and
told
not
to
come
back
to
Tarpon
Springs,
police
said.
Mary
Klimis
Coburn,
attorney
for
Kitsos
and
Kannis,
wrote
in
a
statement
that
the
two
men
did
“not
hate
anyone.
This
case
has
been
overcharged
and
now
sensationalized
by
the
media,”
she
said.
