National briefs 6/7/02

Singer R. Kelly posts bond out of Bartow jail

BARTOW, Fla. -- R&B star R. Kelly, jailed overnight on child pornography charges, was released Thursday after posting a $750,000 bond and a judge ordered him to have no contact with minors unrelated to him.

The charges stem from a videotape purporting to show a sexual encounter between Kelly and an underage girl, the latest legal trouble for the artist already dogged by allegations of sexual misconduct.

Kelly, 35, was charged with 21 counts of child pornography Wednesday and later arrested near a house he rents in Davenport, about 35 miles southwest of Orlando.

The felony charge carries a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison and a $100,000 fine.

Third day of deliberations marked in Skakel trial

NORWALK, Conn. -- The judge in the murder trial of Kennedy cousin Michael Skakel rejected a request Thursday from jurors who wanted to rehear part of the prosecution's arguments.

Judge John F. Kavanewsky Jr. said he did not believe the request could be granted under state law because closing arguments are not evidence. Skakel's defense lawyer, Michael Sherman, objected to the request on those grounds.

The jury ended their third day of deliberations without reaching a verdict.

Skakel, 41, is accused of beating Martha Moxley to death with a golf club in October 1975, when they were 15-year-old neighbors in a wealthy gated community in Greenwich. He is a nephew of Ethel Kennedy, the widow of former U.S. Sen. Robert Kennedy.

Police find leg bone near site of Levy's remains

WASHINGTON -- Investigators working for Chandra Levy's parents discovered a human leg bone and twisted wire Thursday near the site where her remains were found in a Washington park.

Dr. Jonathan Arden, Washington's medical examiner, has determined it is probably Levy's left shin bone, people familiar with the investigation said. But the bone yielded no clues about how Levy died, they said.

Police spent a week searching the area of Rock Creek Park, employing cadaver dogs, crime scene technicians and cadets to look for bones and other evidence after a man walking his dog discovered Levy's skull and other bones on May 22.

The bone found Thursday was about 25 yards from Levy's remains and showed evidence that an animal could have moved it, said Cmdr. Christopher LoJacono of the Washington police forensics science division.

Judge finds Amish guilty in orange triangle case

EBENSBURG, Pa. -- A judge fined 20 members of an Amish sect Thursday for refusing to put bright orange reflective triangles on their horse-drawn buggies, saying public safety overrides any religious objections.

The plain-dressing Swartzentruber Amish had complained that the garish symbols violate their beliefs.

Twenty members of the sect were hit with 27 fines of $95 each for failing to use slow-moving vehicle symbol.

Their lawyer, Donna Doblick, said she will appeal. The Amish, who live near Nicktown, about 65 miles from Pittsburgh, have said they will leave Pennsylvania if they lose.

Instead of the triangles, the Swartzentruber use a gray reflective tape and a lantern on the rear of their buggies.

--From wire reports