Appeals court ducks gay marriage question

SAN FRANCISCO -- A federal appeals court on Friday sidestepped whether it was unconstitutional under federal and state law to deny gays and lesbians the right to marry, leaving the issue to state courts to decide. The case, brought by two gay Orange County men who were denied a marriage license, leaves Massachusetts as the only state allowing same-sex marriage. A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the couple should await the outcome of California litigation challenging the state's law banning gay nuptials.

Teen gets life in prison for murder of bus driver

DOVER, Tenn. -- A 16-year-old boy was convicted of murder Friday and sentenced to life in prison for shooting his school bus driver after she reported him for using smokeless tobacco on the bus. Jason Clinard was 14 when he killed Joyce Gregory in front of his home in March 2005, but prosecutors tried him as an adult. He will have to serve at least 51 years in prison before being eligible for parole. Clinard did not testify during the trial, which started Monday in this small town about 65 miles northwest of Nashville. Defense attorney Worth Lovett said he would seek a new trial. Clinard's parents did not speak to reporters as they left the courthouse escorted by officers.

Autopsy finds boy at boot camp suffocated

TAMPA, Fla. -- A 14-year-old boy kicked and punched by guards at a juvenile boot camp died because the sheriff's officials suffocated him, a medical examiner said Friday, contradicting a colleague who blamed the death on a usually benign blood disorder. "Martin Anderson's death was caused by suffocation due to actions of the guards at the boot camp," said Dr. Vernard Adams, who conducted the second autopsy. Adams said the suffocation was caused by hands blocking the boy's mouth, as well as the "forced inhalation of ammonia fumes" that caused his vocal cords to spasm, blocking his upper airway. The autopsy report draws no conclusions about whether Anderson's death was a homicide or an accident.

Sniper asks whether witnesses saw gunman

ROCKVILLE, Md. -- Convicted sniper John Allen Muhammad, representing himself in his second trial stemming from the October 2002 Washington-area shootings, questioned witnesses Friday on the point that no one actually saw the gunman. Prosecutors began their case by asking witnesses to describe the loud, echoing bang of a gunshot and the collapse of the sniper's first victim. Muhammad, who is acting as his own attorney, asked if any of the witnesses saw the person who fired the shot. Muhammad is on trial for the six murders that occurred in Montgomery County, where the shooting spree that killed 10 people and wounded three began and ended. He has been sentenced to death for a Virginia killing.

-- From wire reports