Nation briefs 5/3/06

Judge: Lawmakers should avoid right-to-die cases

PHILADELPHIA -- The Florida judge who presided over the Terri Schiavo case and ruled her feeding tube should be removed told a bioethics symposium that lawmakers are ill-equipped to make right-to-die decisions. Pinellas County Circuit Judge George W. Greer, in brief remarks at the University of Pennsylvania on Monday, said that 30 state and federal judges painstakingly reviewed the many volumes of testimony and evidence submitted in the divisive case. But state lawmakers who passed "Terri's Law" to have the brain-damaged woman's feeding tube reinserted did so with "little to no debate" and with "significant arm-twisting," he said.

Injection problems cause hour delay in execution

LUCASVILLE, Ohio -- Difficulty in setting up the lethal injection caused a delay of more than an hour in Tuesday's execution of a man convicted of killing a gas station clerk during a series of robberies. Joseph Lewis Clark, 57, died at 11:26 a.m. at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility. He was sentenced to die in November 1984 for killing David Manning.The execution was set to begin at 10 a.m., but was delayed as the team worked to find a vein in his right arm to administer the injection. Clark said "they're not working" as the team tried to start the injection. After 25 minutes of trying to find a vein, a curtain was pulled over the window separating witnesses from the area where the execution was to take place. Clark was heard moaning and groaning and when the curtain was reopened he had a shunt in one arm. Prisons director Terry Collins said a vein in Clark's arm had collapsed and that Clark's history of drug use could have been a factor.

Wal-Mart cleared in negligent hiring case

COLUMBIA, S.C. -- A jury on Tuesday cleared Wal-Mart of negligence in hiring a convicted sex offender who fondled a 10-year-old girl while on the job. The girl's mother sued Wal-Mart in 2001, claiming the retail giant should have known Bobby Devon Randall was a convicted sex offender. The family sought damages of up to $5 million in connection with the September 2000 incident. Wal-Mart, based in Bentonville, Ark., said at the time it was not legally required to do background checks and that the employee who fondled the girl lied about his criminal past on his job application. The company decided in August 2004 that it would begin conducting background checks on new hires nationwide.

Moussaoui jury enters sixth day of deliberations

ALEXANDRIA, Va. -- Deliberations went into the sixth day Tuesday in the Zacarias Moussaoui sentencing trial, with lawyers and jury consultants saying they believe the chance that of a death sentence diminishes with each passing day. The jury concluded a fifth day of deliberations Monday without deciding whether to execute Moussaoui or sentence him to life in prison. So far, in more than 28 hours of deliberations spread over five days, the jurors have given few clues into their decision-making process.

-- From wire reports