RICHMOND, Va. – A Navy lawyer has been charged with copying and transmitting secret information about Guantanamo Bay detainees to an unauthorized person.
Lt. Cmdr. Matthew M. Diaz, who was stationed at the U.S. base in Guantanamo Bay for six months, could face more than 36 years in prison if convicted at a military trial of the three charges he faces, Navy Mid-Atlantic Region spokeswoman Beth Baker said.
A charge sheet released Tuesday says Diaz, 40, printed out secret information related to national defense “with intent or reason to believe that the said information was to be used to the injury of the United States or to the advantage of a foreign nation.”
Oklahoma: New execution method
A man condemned for the 1994 death of a woman during a burglary was executed Tuesday under a new state procedure that delivers a larger dose of anesthesia before the fatal drugs are administered. Eric Allen Patton, 49, had sued to stop the execution, arguing that inmates may be subjected to pain during lethal injections in Oklahoma. A federal judge rejected that argument, although the Department of Corrections revised its procedures. In South Dakota, Gov. Mike Rounds halted the state’s first execution in 59 years just hours before it was scheduled Tuesday, saying the 1984 state law detailing how to administer lethal drugs is obsolete.
Pennsylvania: Professor sex charges
An Ivy League professor has been arrested for the third time in 11 years on child sex charges, in this case over video that allegedly shows him engaging in sex acts with boys. Because of the charges, L. Scott Ward, a professor emeritus at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business, was being stripped of his teaching assignments, a university spokeswoman said.
Lawmaker’s son missing, family shot
The adult son of a Pennsylvania lawmaker was missing Tuesday after reportedly being abducted on a street at gunpoint in the hours before his mother and sister were shot and wounded in their home. State Rep. John Myers, a Philadelphia Democrat who has advocated gun control, issued a statement asking the public’s help in locating his 26-year-old son, Shamari Taylor.
California: Hit-and-run attacks
The driver of a sport utility vehicle plowed across sidewalks and crosswalks throughout San Francisco on Tuesday, killing one man and injuring at least 13 people in a series of attacks on pedestrians and motorists, police said. The man struck people in 12 locations until police surrounded him with squad cars, authorities said.
Fire burns home, forces evacuation
A wildfire erupted quickly in the southern San Bernardino National Forest on Tuesday, burning a home and prompting the evacuation of a tiny mountain community. Several fires have started in Southern California this week as hot weather dried out brush and increased fire danger. The fire started about 3 p.m. and burned about 2,000 acres by dusk, authorities said. The cause was under investigation.
D.C.: Skin-bleaching cream ban
The Food and Drug Administration proposed a ban Tuesday on over-the-counter sales of skin-lightening products, saying possible health risks cannot justify their being sold without a prescription. The creams typically contain a drug called hydroquinone, a possible carcinogen also linked to a skin-disfiguring condition, the FDA said. While the actual risk of the drug is unknown, the agency said the products should be restricted to prescription use under medical supervision.
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