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Mexico nabs suspect in killing of border agent Mexican authorities said Wednesday they have arrested a man for the killing of a U.S. Border Patrol agent who was run over by a suspected smuggler's vehicle. Agent Luis Aguilar, 32, was placing spike strips in the path of two vehicles believed to have illegally entered the United States from Mexico on Saturday when one of the vehicles struck and killed him, authorities in Arizona said. Mexican federal and state police arrested Jesus Navarro Montes on Tuesday in the northern state of Sonora for the killing, according to a joint statement distributed Wednesday by Mexico's federal Attorney General's office and Public Safety Department. Authorities believe Navarro left Mexicali in Baja California and was headed for the U.S. in a Hummer carrying drugs on Saturday, the statement said....
Judge rejects Patriot Act challenge A federal judge rejected a former sailor's claim Thursday that the government illegally intercepted phone calls and obtained e-mails it is using against him in a terrorism-support case. Hassan Abu-Jihaad's attorneys had claimed elements of the USA Patriot Act used to obtain the evidence were unconstitutional, and cited a ruling by a federal judge in Oregon striking down key portions of the law. U.S. District Court Judge Mark Kravitz, however, said he disagreed with that ruling, and noted that other courts have found that the law does not infringe on constitutional rights. The 31-year-old Phoenix man's attorneys argued that the Patriot Act allows authorities to conduct searches and electronic surveillance under relaxed standards and secret procedures even if the primary purpose is to gather evidence of domestic criminal activity. Kravitz, however, wrote that the balance the Patriot Act strikes "between an individual's important interest in privacy and the government's legitimate need to obtain foreign intelligence information remains reasonable and one that complies with the Fourth Amendment," which prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures. Kravitz said the law remains focused on foreign intelligence gathering, but defines a foreign power to include groups engaged in international terrorism. He said the law still has numerous safeguards, including the need for an independent judicial officer to approve surveillance....
Woman falsely convicted in drug case tries to rebuild life A woman wrongly convicted by the federal government with help from a drug informant who lied served 16 months in prison before she was released with no home to return to and a 3-year-old daughter who didn't recognize her. Defense attorneys say a street-smart but dishonest informant and a federal agent working without oversight manipulated the system to convict Geneva France and dozens of others. ``They stole the truth,'' France said. ``I don't think I'll ever trust people again. It's too hard. I don't know how a human being with a heart could stand up there and lie about another person. They stole part of my life.'' France, 25, was convicted of being a drug courier — a conviction that prosecutors now acknowledge was built on lies. A judge released her in May. Her case was part of an extensive operation to stem the flow of drugs in Mansfield. Federal prosecutors in Cleveland charged her and 25 others from Mansfield in 2005, based on the work of informant Jerrell Bray and Drug Enforcement Administration agent Lee Lucas. Twenty-one people were convicted. U.S. Attorney Greg White has admitted that there are major problems with the case. Federal prosecutors were expected to ask a judge Tuesday or Wednesday to throw out the convictions of 15 men imprisoned in the same tainted investigation, including the case against a man serving 30 years in prison....