Nation briefs 2/24/16

Woman guilty of cutting out fetus

BOULDER, Colo. -- A Colorado woman who prosecutors said was obsessed with having a baby and concocted elaborate lies to convince those close to her she was pregnant was convicted Tuesday of cutting a nearly 8-month-old fetus from a stranger's womb. The case against Dynel Lane, 36, who lured Michelle Wilkins to her home with a Craigslist ad for maternity clothes, attracted international attention and reignited a national debate over the legal rights of fetuses. Jurors convicted Lane of attempted first-degree murder, assault and unlawful termination of a pregnancy in the March attack on Michelle Wilkins. Prosecutors said they were not able to charge her with murder in the death of the unborn girl, named Aurora, because a coroner found no evidence the fetus lived outside the womb. Wilkins, 27, said she verdict "felt like a triumph for justice, for Aurora, for myself and the community."

Scalia suffered from several health issues

DALLAS -- A letter from the Supreme Court's doctor said Antonin Scalia suffered from coronary artery disease, obesity and diabetes, among other ailments that probably contributed to the justice's sudden death. Presidio County District Attorney Rod Ponton cited the letter Tuesday, when he said there was nothing suspicious about the Feb. 13 death of the 79-year-old jurist. He said the long list of health problems made an autopsy unnecessary. Ponton had a copy of a letter from Rear Adm. Brian P. Monahan, the attending physician for members of Congress and the Supreme Court. The letter was to county Judge Cinderela Guevara, who conducted a death inquiry by phone and certified Scalia's death.

Utah mulls ban on death penalty

SALT LAKE CITY -- A long-shot proposal for conservative Utah to join 19 states and the District of Columbia in abolishing the death penalty had its first hearing Tuesday. The Republican lawmaker sponsoring the bill acknowledges it's an uphill battle but said it's important legislators discuss whether the government should be in the business of killing people. There's strong support for capital punishment with Utah's GOP-controlled Legislature and Republican governor, but Sen. Steve Urquhart of St. George hopes arguments about the cost of capital punishment and chance of wrongful convictions may sway his colleagues. Lawmakers in at least eight other states have introduced similar measures over the last year.

Carson questions Obama's blackness

WASHINGTON -- GOP presidential candidate Ben Carson is trying to reinvigorate his political fortunes by questioning President Barack Obama's blackness before key votes in the presidential race. Carson said Obama was "raised white," and his life as the son of a white mother and black father doesn't represent the "black experience." Carson's comments are the latest in a line of racially tinged remarks that have defined the retired neurosurgeon's political rise. He's competing for the votes of conservatives against frontrunner Donald Trump and key rivals who finished better than Carson in recent contests.

-- From wire reports