Domestic violence

No Charges In Stabbing Death

18-year-old Was Defending Mom 

Victim's Family Upset

March 11, 1999|By KELLI CAPLAN Daily Press

HAMPTON — An 18-year-old Buckroe woman who used a steak knife to kill a man abusing her mother last month will not be charged in his death.

Linda Curtis, Hampton commonwealth's attorney, made the decision this week after reviewing the case. The evidence, she said, shows the teen-ager was trying to defend her mother against the "imminent threat" of bodily harm. By state law, that is what must be proven to justify the use of such deadly force.

"This was a violent confrontation going on between the mother and the victim," Curtis said. "She was entitled to use deadly force."

The family of the victim, Jesse Alphonzo Hogan, 44, is upset at Curtis' conclusion. They say someone should pay for Hogan's death.

"I don't think it's right," said Mary Washington, Hogan's mother. "That is cold-blooded murder. I don't understand what they are doing.

"I don't accept that," she said. "It's an injustice that they won't charge her. That's my child. Anyone who has had feelings for a child would be feeling the same way I do."

The 18-year-old, whose name has not been released, stabbed Hogan once in the chest on Feb. 27 at a home in the 100 block of North Fourth Street. She had grabbed the knife after seeing Hogan punch, slap and try to choke her mother before throwing her headfirst into a headboard in the bedroom, Curtis said. Hogan and the woman's mother had a long-standing intimate relationship.

Police found Hogan lying on the floor of an upstairs bedroom. The teen-ager admitted to the slaying, and police quickly located the knife. She could not be reached for comment.

It was the not the first time the teen-ager had witnessed domestic violence in the home. Since July 1996, there had been 22 911 calls made from the home, many of them domestic related, Curtis said. In 1997, the 18-year-old intervened in a dispute between Hogan and her mother and was assaulted herself, Curtis said.

Hogan's family does not dispute there were domestic problems between the couple. But, they said, that is no excuse for the lack of charges.

"What is Virginia trying to say?" said Reginald Morris, Hogan's brother. "They are saying that as long as a person has a history of domestic violence, they can kill him or her and get away with it. Virginia talks so much about domestic violence and its major plans to buck it. Yet when a homicide happens in a domestic-violence case, they say 'OK, he has a domestic-violence record, there is not reason to charge anyone.'"

Curtis said that is not true. She said she analyzed the evidence before rendering a decision. Bruises on the mother and signs of a serious struggle show the woman's mother was in danger, she said. "There is no evidence to suggest anything other than this happened," said Curtis.

The family's anger, she said, is understandable.

"This a tragic situation. There's no doubt about that," Curtis said. "I can certainly understand it from their perspective. My heart goes out to them. Their loss and grief are very real."

Hopefully, Curtis and domestic violence officials said, this case will highlight the need for the community to take domestic violence seriously.

"So many lives have been hurt and it just underscores how problems can build up," said Marcy Wright, associate director of programs at the Virginia Peninsula Council on Domestic Violence. "No one has to live in violence. No one deserves that."

Wright said she did not believe "it would be helpful to second guess the commonwealth's attorney." But she did say the case shows what the effect of abuse can be on children in the home.

It is not uncommon, Wright said, for children of abuse victims to take matters into their own hands.

"Often times they feel they have to protect the parent," she said. "She took the ultimate step in doing that."

Video

Summary

The news tell us an other sad case of domestic violence. The newspaper tell us about the non-stop maltreatment who suffered a woman by her partner. This tragic story ended with the abuser death when the daughter of the woman, who had been witness of several attacks from domestic violence, decided to stick a knife with such to defend his mother in one of these attacks.
Synonims

Attorney: lawyerEvidence: proof, testimony
Threat: manace, intimidation, intent to hurt
State law: legal system Harm: injure, damage of a State
Confrontation: hostile meeting, conflict, combat
Entitle: give right to (autorizar)
Upset: emotionally disturbed
Cold-blooded murder: emotionless killing
Charge: ask for money (cobrar)
To stab: gash, attack with a knife
Chest: bosom (pecho)
Grabbed: snatch, take hold of 
Punch: strike, hit
Slap: hit with open hand (bofetada)
To choke: strangulate
Headfirst: recklessly
To slay: murder, kill
Reached: get to
Assaulted:Charge
Lack: shortage
Buck it: resist
Homicide: manslaughter
Rendering:execute
Struggle: difficult endeavour
Grief:sorrow
Underscores: emphasize
Build up: develop, reinforce
Deserves:merit
Guess:speculate

Núria Gibernau Mitjana and Elisa Alcaide Stumpf 2 bach. C

Lance Armstrong's Doping Case

When Lance Armstrong chose Oprah Winfrey to hear his confession in January, he – and we – knew what to expect: a hug not the scalpel; understanding not evisceration; a bleeding heart not a bloody dissection.

Winfrey has always been more psychotherapist than surgeon. Yet the opening moments of their prime-time interview were as mesmerising and taut as any sporting exchange in 2013, as Armstrong, lips pursed and Texan swagger gone south, ended 13 years of denials in five syllables.

"Yes or no, did you ever take banned substances to enhance your cycling performance?" Yes.

"Yes or no, was one of those banned substances EPO?" Yes.

"Did you ever dope or use blood transfusions to enhance your cycling performance?" Yes.

"Did you ever use any other banned substances like testosterone, cortisone or human growth hormone?" Yes.

"Yes or no, in all seven of your Tour de France victories, did you ever take banned substances or blood dope?" Yes.

This was one of America's greatest sporting icons final admitting the truth: he was a cheat, a liar, a fraudster. His first book, written after surviving stage-four cancer and soaring to the first of seven Tour de France victories, was called It's Not About The Bike. How appropriate that title turned out to be.

Those initial exchanges carried the electricity of the best courtroom drama. Shortly afterwards Armstrong admitted that he was "arrogant", a "bully" and that his successes were "one big lie". But those hoping that Winfrey, the queen of the soft-cushioned celebrity tell-all, would pin Armstrong down on specifics were disappointed. She got the headline but not the details. Frost v Nixon this was not.

Armstrong's accomplices were barely discussed, despite the darkening clouds of suspicion over their heads. Not Johan Bruyneel, his sporting director during all of his Tour de France victories, or his long-time coach, Chris Carmichael, or his former doctor Michele Ferrari, who received a lifetime sports ban from the United States Anti-Doping Agency last year. Instead Armstrong wriggled clear by claiming: "I'm not comfortable talking about other people. It's all out there."

He also denied doping during the 2009 and 2010 Tours de France, even though a Usada report last year claimed there was "less than one in a million chance" that Armstrong's blood values could occur naturally.

While Armstrong admitted he owed apologies to several people – including Emma O'Reilly, his former soigneur at US Postal, whom he called an "alcoholic whore" and sued after she revealed he had taken banned substances – he rejected the chance to say sorry to Betsy and Frankie Andreu, who testified that Armstrong had admitted to cancer doctors, in their presence, that he had taken EPO. Towards the end of 2013 he made good on some of his promises, meeting up with O'Reilly and the former rider Christophe Bassons, who had spoken out about doping in the peloton, yet many still doubt his motives. They suspect a change of language not a change of heart.

During the interview, Armstrong conceded that he tried to control the narrative of his career, helped by the peloton's code of omertà and an army of sharp-suited lawyers. Here, slightly greyer and softer and perhaps humbler, he was still doing so. In his view, almost everyone involved in cycling during the late 90s and early noughties had doped, so was he really that different? "I deserve to be punished," he claimed. "I'm not sure that I deserve a death penalty."

Towards the end of their time together, Winfrey told him: "I hope the truth will set you free." But, as Armstrong knows, his truth – however smudged and incomplete – is likely to prove expensive given that the US government, two insurance companies and others have filed suits against him, saying he defrauded them. Confession might have been good for the soul, but it has done nothing for his bank balance. Or, indeed, as of yet, his chances of being allowed to compete in sport again.

Video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31DTsritZEg

Synonyms:

Select: choose

Specialist in surgery: surgeon

Negations: denials

Forbid: ban

Increase: enhance

Such: like

Graphics symbols: icons

Then: afterwards

Scarcely: barely

Excuses: apologies

Declared: testified

Regulation: code

Nothing: nought

Administration: government

Summary:
Oprah Winfrey interviewed Lance Armstrong and then he admitted that he had doped himself. This interview was difficult  for him. He started to admit all questions on doping that Winfrey asked him. Lance recognized that he had taken banned substances such as EPO, testosterone, cortisone or human growth hormone during his 7 Tours de France. He admitted he was a liar, so his 7 Tours of France were confiscated. During the interview he explains to Oprah what he and his team did in order not to be discovered. It was a too complex  mechanism and he needed to be helped by his team colleagues . Finally, the "Union Cycliste International"  want to remove dopingfrom cycling and they took away his 7 Tours de France.

Montse García, Sergi Sánchez 2ºC

Crime_Oscar Pistorius

In a case that has transfixed many in the sporting world and beyond, Oscar Pistorius, the double amputee who became an international track star, was indicted Monday in a South African court on a charge of premeditated murder in the shooting death of his girlfriend.

Mr. Pistorius, who has been out on bail since February, will remain free until his trial, which was set for March 3.

At the hearing Monday, the state prosecution released a copy of its lengthy indictment of Mr. Pistorius, outlining its case that he intentionally shot his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, while she was behind a locked bathroom door on the morning of Feb. 14.

Prosecutors listed more than 100 witnesses to be called during the trial.

Mr. Pistorius has admitted opening fire in his upscale home in the South African capital, Pretoria, but he says he believed that he was shooting an intruder. The prosecution contends that Mr. Pistorius planned to kill whoever was behind the door, and that even if he mistakenly killed Ms. Steenkamp, he is still guilty of murder.

There is no death penalty in South Africa, where the mandatory sentence for premeditated murder is life, with a minimum of 25 years in prison.

As he waited for the brief court hearing to begin on Monday, Mr. Pistorius prayed with his family and wept openly. Close friends of Ms. Steenkamp’s sat on court benches a few feet away. Ms. Steenkamp, a model and a reality television star, would have turned 30 on Monday.

Defense lawyers have depicted the shooting as a tragic accident in which Mr. Pistorius, 26, believed that an intruder had entered his home, where Ms. Steenkamp, a law school graduate, was spending the night. According to defense testimony, Mr. Pistorius opened fire through a locked bathroom door, not realizing that Ms. Steenkamp was on the other side. She was hit by at least three bullets.

Before the shooting, Mr. Pistorius and Ms. Steenkamp were depicted as a gilded couple, featured in celebrity news coverage.

News reports in South Africa over the weekend said Mr. Pistorius might also face new charges of recklessly firing a weapon in public, related to accusations that he discharged a weapon in a restaurant in January and fired a gun from a car while driving home from vacation. Those reports have not been confirmed by the defense or the prosecution.

Mr. Pistorius, nicknamed Blade Runner for the prosthetics he uses to compete, has a reputation for outsize triumphs, not only against other disabled athletes but also against able-bodied competitors.

He won two gold medals and a silver at the Paralympic Games in London last September. In the Olympics the month before, he reached a 400-meter semifinal and competed in the 4x400-meter relay. 

Summary: 

Oscar Pistorius has been indicted on a charge of premeditated murder of his girlfriend, Reesva Steenkamp, who was shot on the 14 February while she was behind a door in his house. According to Pistoruis he shot because he thought that she was an intruder. If he is guilty, he will be in prison for  a minimum of 25 years. Pistorius has been very sad these days and he's been crying openly. Family and friends of Ms. Steenkamp’s, who was a  TV star, have been away from the athlete after the incident. Defense lawyers said that it was an accident, in which Pistorius shot through the door because he thought that behind it there was a thief. Some news reports said Mr. Pistorius might also face new charges because of having fired a weapon in public, but these haven't been confirmed by the defense or the prosecution. Mr. Pistorius has a reputation for outsize triumphs because he has won some competitions against able-bodied competitors even though he had his legs amputed.

Vocabulary: 

En libertad bajo fianza = out on bail

Stay, keep...= remain

Accustaion = indictement

Luxury = upscale

In the wrong way = mistakenly

Cry = weep
Represent = depict
Burglar = intruder
Dangerously  = recklessly
Arm = weapon

Ismael Derhali and Alfonso Hernández 2C

Medicus: Five guilty in Kosovo human organ trade case.

An EU-led court in Kosovo has found five people guilty in connection with a human organ-trafficking ring. The five are accused of carrying out dozens of illegal transplants at the Medicus Clinic in the capital, Pristina. Meanwhile two former government officials also charged in the case have been cleared of involvement. The trade was discovered when a Turkish man collapsed after having one of his kidneys removed at the clinic. The case is being tried by Eulex, the European Union's law and order mission set up in Kosovo to handle sensitive cases.
The clinic's director, urologist Lutfi Dervishi was sentenced to eight years in prison for organised crime and human trafficking. His son, Arban, was sentenced to seven years and three months, while three other defendants received between one and three years' imprisonment.
Meanwhile Kosovo's former health secretary, Ilir Rrecaj, was acquitted on the charge for abusing official position or authority.

The special court heard that the Medicus Clinic recruited poor people from across eastern Europe and central Asia, promising them 15,000 euro (£12,600) for their organs.Donors came from Moldova, Kazakhstan, Russia and Turkey and lived in "extreme poverty or acute financial distress", the indictment said.

"They were alone, did not speak the local language, were uncertain of what they were doing and had no one to protect their interests," Judge Dean Pineles told the court on Monday.
Organ recipients, alleged to have been mainly from Israel, paid between 80,000 and 100,000 euro to receive a transplant.
Prosecutors alleged that at least 30 illegal kidney removals and transplants were carried out at the Medicus clinic in 2008.

The scandal broke when a Turkish organ donor was stopped by officers at Pristina airport, because he looked visibly in pain after having one of his kidneys removed at the clinic. The centre was closed down shortly after Kosovan and UN police officers launched their investigation.
The international trafficking case was tried by Eulex because of the involvement of two government ministers, reports BBC Balkans correspondent Guy de Launey.
Five years on from its unilateral declaration of independence from Serbia, Kosovo's own judiciary is still weak and vulnerable to external influence, our correspondent says.
Kosovo has been haunted by another alleged case of organ-trafficking dating back to the war in 1999.

In that case, which has never been proven, Kosovo Liberation Army(KLA) militants allegedly trafficked the organs of Serb captives they later killed.









www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Di8j8FCeg0  (click on the link to watch the video)

SYNONYMS:
EU-led court: "juicio dirigido por la Unión Europea"
carrying out: execute
charged: accused
trade: business
collapsed: breakdown
kidney: "riñón"
sentenced: punishment
imprisonment.: being put in prison
acquitted: pronounce not guilty
recruited: inducted
financial distress: they need money
indictment: accusation
broke: begin
launched: to involve
haunted: plagued
  
SUMMARY:
A few years ago, in Kosovo, the police arrested five people who were trafficking with human organs. The police found them after stopping a man at an airport, because he looked in pain after having his kidney removed. This organization recruited poor people from different countries promising them a lot of money for their organs. 

After the trial, some members were sentenced to some years in prison and others were acquitted and also, they closed the centre where this band made the transplants.

By Maria Lopez and Monica Mascaro.

Jury finds José Bretón guilty of murdering son and daughter

A jury unanimously found José Bretón guilty of murdering his two small children and burning their bodies to cover up the crime.

The seven women and two men who delivered the verdict had been deliberating since Monday on the facts surrounding the disappearance of Ruth, six, and José, two, from a park where they had gone with their father on October 8, 2013.

The father was always the main suspect in a high-profile case that had the police searching for the bodies for months with ground-penetrating radar and trained dogs. Although the children were never found either dead or alive, investigators discovered the remains of a large bonfire on an estate owned by Bretón’s parents outside Córdoba. Teeth found in the ashes were identified by forensic experts as belonging to children aged around two and six years.

Bretón always claimed that he simply lost his children, but the prosecution held that he killed them as revenge against his wife, who had recently asked him for a divorce. Bretón has been described by psychologists as extremely cold and detached, while police officers who interrogated him underscored his apparent lack of concern about his own children and his visceral verbal attacks against his wife Ruth Ortiz.

On Friday, Bretón listened impassively while the jury said they considered it a 

proven fact, after hearing the 144 expert witnesses at the trial, that he purchased the sedatives Orfidal and Motiván to put his children to sleep.

It also considered it proven that he bought large amounts of diesel fuel to incinerate their bodies in Las Quemadillas, the estate where he made one last call to his wife – who did not pick up - before going ahead with his criminal plan.

Finally, the court of Andalucía confirmed the 40-year sentence for José Bretón.  The cort has also rejected the appeals that the prosecution lawyer, Reposo Carretero, filed for them to return the skeletal remains of the children.

SYNONYMS:

unanimously: with one voice

guilty: responsible

burning: to destroy by fire

cover up: camouflage, eclipse

suspect: speculate, suppose

high-profile:

ground-penetrating:

bonfire: large outdoor fire

ashes: remains, human body remains after cremation

prosecution: accusation

revenge: vengeance

detached: indifferent, desinterested

underscored: to be emphasize

visceral: emotional

witnesses: spectator

trial: case, prosecution

incinerate: cremate

40-year sentence: penal of 40 years

SUMARY:

Jose Bretón, Ruth and Jose's father killed his children in Córdoba last year (2013) for revenge against his wife who had recently asked him for a divorce. The crime succeed at the suburbs of Córdoba where the family used to spend their holidays. Bretón drugged their children and then he burned them in a bonfire. The defendant always said he wasn't guilty because he just lost his children in the park but the police found six and two children's teeth in the ashes of the bonfire which could be of Ruth and José. That's why Jose Bretón is the only suspect in this case and it's accused of murdering. After a long trial, the jury confirmed the 40-year-sentence for Bretón. 

By Paula Polo and Gemma Barca 2D

CRIME_DOPING

Alberto Contador handed two-year ban for doping and is stripped of 2010 Tour de France title by the CAS 


Alberto Contador has been stripped of his 2010 Tour de France title and given a two-year ban for testing positive of the performance enhancing drug clenbuterol during the Tour.


Contador becomes the second Tour de France winner to subsequently have the title taken from him – 2006 winner Floyd Landis suffered a similar fate the same year when he tested positive for testosterone.

The extraordinarily protracted Contador saga started in Pau on July 21 when the 2010 Tour was enjoying its second and final rest day ahead of what was expected to be the decisive stage of the Tour, a mano a mano clash between Contador and Schleck up the iconic Tourmalet climb.

On that rest day there is no doubt that Contador ate a beef steak that had been bought just over the border in Spain by the Astana Team chef. A random blood test that day subsequently revealed a minute dose – 50 picograms per millilitre – of the controversial performance enhancing drug clenbuterol an amount which was 40 times below the minimum requirement of detection capability required by WADA.

Contador was suspended without prejudice by the UCI and, as is the norm, they handed the case over to the National Federation with the Spanish Federation initially invoking a one-year ban. Contador immediately appealed and the Spanish Federation appeal committee re-examined the case before deciding there was no case to answer and quashed the ban.

The case, much delayed, was eventually held in November last year with the decision delayed until today on a number of technical details one of which was strong objections to their being an Israeli chairman of the committee, Efriam Barak, at a time when Contador's team was taking place in a winter training camp in Israel.

Barak also appeared to antagonise some WADA and UCI lawyers for ruling that a number of their designated scientific and medical experts could not appear before the court to give "admissible" evidence.

Clenbuterol does not occur naturally in the human body but has become the most controversial performance enhancing drug of them all. It does appear with some regularity in the food chain in contaminated meat because farmers feed it to their livestock to promote high protein and commercially more valuable meat. As a result it can be ingested innocently and unknowingly and amid the general confusion various sports have been treating it differently.

SUMMARY

Alberto Contador has been accused for drug enhanced while he was competing on the Tour de France. He ate a beef steak that contained clenbuterol which was 40 times below the minimum requirement of detection capability required by WADA. Was suspended without by the UCI and He appealed the decision to the Spanish Federation prejudice. The case was delayed until november last year with the decision of remove the titles of Tour de France 2010 and del Giro 2011 Also, he wasn’t able to compete on Olympic games of London.

VOCABULARY

Test: A method, practice, or examination designed to test a person or thing. (prueba)

Drug: A chemical substance, esp a narcotic, taken for the pleasant effects it produces. (droga)

Testosterone: A potent steroid hormone secreted mainly by the testes. (testosterona)

WADA: World Anti-Doping Agency. (Agencia mundial anti dopaje)

Prejudice: An opinion formed beforehand, esp an unfavourable one based on inadequate facts. (prejuicio)

Ban: An official prohibition or interdiction. (prohibición)

Case: An instance of disease, injury, hardship, etc. (caso)

Delayed: To put off to a later time; defer. (retrasado)

Evidence: Mark or sign that makes evident; indication. (Evidencia)

Farmers: A person who operates or manages a farm. (granjero)

Innocently: Not guilty of a particular crime; blameless. (inocente)

Unknowingly: Ignorant.  (ignorante)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SALqyEcLkXA


Iker Letamendia, Nacho López and Victor Casals.

The most famous kidnapping

COLUMBUS, Ohio — The man who held three women captive in his home for nearly a decade before one escaped and alerted authorities has been found dead and is believed to have committed suicide, a prison official said.

Ariel Castro, 53, was found hanging in his cell around 9:20 p.m. Tuesday at the Correctional Reception Center in Orient, located south of Columbus in central Ohio, JoEllen Smith, Department of Rehabilitation and Correction spokeswoman, said early Wednesday.

Prison medical staff performed CPR before Castro was transported to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead around 10:50 p.m.

He was in protective custody because of the notoriety of his case, meaning he was checked every 30 minutes, but was not on suicide watch, Smith said. She said suicide watch entails constant observation.

Castro was also watched closely in Cuyahoga County Jail in the several weeks after his arrest and before his case was resolved by a guilty plea, with logs noting his activity every 10 minutes. He was taken off county jail suicide watch in early June after authorities determined he was not a suicide risk.

At least one of the survivors, Gina DeJesus, has been informed. Her aunt, Peggy Arida, spoke with WWLTV.Castro's family learned about the death from the warden about 1 a.m., according to brother-in-law Juan Alicea, who spoke to CNT.

Some of the convict's relatives were distraught about the news. Castro's attorneys tried unsuccessfully to have a psychological examination of Castro done at the Cuyahoga County Jail, where Castro was housed before he was turned over to state authorities following his conviction, his attorney, Jaye Schlachet, told The Associated Press early Wednesday. Schlachet said he could not immediately comment further.

In an interview last month after Castro's conviction, Schlachet and attorney Craig Weintraub said their client clearly fit the profile of sociopathic disorder and that they hoped researchers would study him for clues that could be used to stop other predators.

The three women disappeared separately between 2002 and 2004, when they were 14, 16 and 20 years old. They escaped from Castro's Cleveland home May 6, when Amanda Berry, one of the women, broke part of a door and yelled to neighbors for help.

Castro was arrested that evening. He had also fathered a child with Berry while she was in captivity; that girl was 6 years old when freed. A judge rejected Castro's request to have visiting rights with his daughter.

Castro was sentenced Aug. 1 to life in prison plus 1,000 years on his guilty plea to 937 counts including kidnapping and rape.In a rambling statement, he told the judge he was not a monster but a man suffering from a pornography addiction.

Sumary




The Abduction of Cleveland was called a criminal act that took place in Cleveland , Ohio in the United States between 2002 and 2013. Georgina " Gina " DeJesus , Amanda Berry and Michelle Knight had been kidnapping for ten years.They were realeased in 2013.

Knight went missing in 2002 at 21, Berry in 2003 at 16, and DeJesus in 2004 at 14. During the captivity, the women had multiple pregnancies, at least one live birth (Berry's daughter), and multiple spontaneous abortions. Women were sometimes tied with chains and ropes.

The May 6, 2013, the three women were rescued when Berry escaped and called the police. They were in a house owned by Ariel Castro, the suspect of his kidnapping. A six-year-old daughter of Berry, born in captivity, was also rescued.

Ariel Castro was arrested on May 6th of 2013 shortly after they were released women. On May 8th, Castro was charged with four charges of kidnapping and three charges of rape.  The incident received front page news coverage worldwide. Ariel Castro was found dead on Wednesday, September 4th, in his cell.





Synomyms

captive-held as prisioner,prisioner                    arrest- take into custody

commited- do, be guilty of                               case- insatnce

hanging- capital punishment                             suicide- deliberate killing of self

count- district                                                 attorney- lawyer

jail-prision                                                      further- greatre extend

convict- person in prision                                predator- hunting animal

freed- not restrained                                       judge- fort a trial

rejected- refuse                                              sentenced- pronunce sentence

kidnapping- abduction of person                     rape-sexual assault

By Marta Catchot and Aitana Hontecillas