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Child killer asks to be his own lawyer

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Convicted child killer Joseph Edward Duncan III told a federal judge Friday that he wants to represent himself at his sentencing hearing.

A jury is being chosen to decide whether Duncan should be put to death for the abduction and slaying of 9-year-old Dylan Groene in 2005.

I don’t have an issue with counsel personally, Duncan said in court. It’s ideological. I don’t believe that they can ethically represent my ideologies.

Duncan did not elaborate on what those ideologies are. But authorities have examined an Internet blog that he kept for months before the slayings which documented his internal struggle against right and wrong, railed against the ostracizing of convicted sex offenders, and offered religious views.

U.S. District Judge Edward Lodge said he needed to make certain that Duncan was competent to waive his right to professional representation. He ordered attorneys on both sides to recommend area psychiatrists or psychologists who can evaluate him.

Duncan pleaded guilty in December to 10 federal crimes stemming from the 2005 kidnapping of Dylan and his then 8-year-old sister, Shasta Groene. Both were taken from their Coeur d’Alene home in May 2005 and sexually abused before Duncan shot and killed Dylan at a campsite in western Montana.

Duncan previously pleaded guilty in Idaho state court to killing the children’s mother, Brenda Groene; her boyfriend, Mark McKenzie, and 13-year-old Slade Groene at the family home.

Jury selection for the federal sentencing phase began Monday, but Duncan told Lodge he wouldn’t expect a switch to delay the trial.

If Duncan represents himself, it could put him in the position to cross-examine Shasta Groene, the sole survivor of the murders and abduction.

It is not yet clear if either side expects to call Shasta as a witness.
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Mk vs dc

Euro VC Gets Phantasy Star III [Vc Update]

a nifty little update for the european wii effective console comes in the form of sega’s phantasy diva iii: generations of doom after the genesis. considered by myriad to be the weakest in the source phantasy star series, the game spans three generations of characters, with the Thespian getting to decide how each plays out by making marriage decisions on the side of the function members in each unbroken generation. criticized for urbane action and a storyline that conflicts with phantasy star ii, phantasy star iii is the game most probable to movement knock over d make quick-down, drag out fights among phantasy star fans, as those who love it turtle-dove it to extirpation and those who dislike it hate it with a passion. me? i enjoyed the hell out of it myself, despite its many problems, and consider it a fine summation to the euro vc at 800 points. hopefully this choose make a run for it it to north america shortly.

Da brat

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Pope in New York to address United Nations

NEW YORK (CNN) — Pope Benedict XVI arrived Friday morning in New York, to address the United Nations, visit ground zero and celebrate Sunday morning Mass at Yankee Stadium.

His plane touched down at John F. Kennedy International Airport around 9:30 a.m. ET, slightly earlier than it had been scheduled.

The three-day visit to New York is the second leg of the pope’s six-day trip to the United States — his first since he was elected to the papacy.

He began addressing the U.N. General Assembly Friday morning, linking the visit to the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which the United Nations adopted on December 10, 1948.

It is the fourth time a pope has visited the United Nations; Paul VI visited in 1965, and Pope John Paul II visited in 1979 and 1995. Watch Benedict’s arrival in New York

Later Friday, he will visit Park East Synagogue, one of the leading Orthodox Jewish congregations in the country.

He scheduled to celebrate Mass Saturday at St. Patrick’s Cathedral on Fifth Avenue and visit the former site of the World Trade Center ahead of celebrating Mass at Yankee Stadium.

While in Washington, Benedict spoke and prayed with a small group of people who had been sexually abused by clergy members.

They prayed with the Holy Father, who afterwards listened to their personal accounts and offered them words of encouragement and hope, said the Rev. Federico Lombardi, a papal spokesman.

The Thursday exchanges in a Washington chapel were honest and unscripted, according to some of the victims.

I told him that he has a cancer growing in his ministry and needs to do something about it, Bernie McDaid, one of the victims, told CNN.

Another victim said his hope was restored after meeting Benedict. He first apologized, Olan Horne said. He seemed to intrinsically understand what we were talking about.

I gave him pictures of me as a child — the innocent child — and said, ‘I want you to leave these on your desk. When you come to a point — or a decision that you have to make — don’t protect me; protect the 9-year-old child in that photo,’ Horne said.

Horne said the victims were allowed the time necessary to say what needed to be said, which impressed him.

The intimacy of Thursday’s meetings contrasted greatly with his Mass from earlier in the day, at Washington’s new ballpark, where as many as 46,000 worshippers listened to his 20-minute homily.

There, under clear skies, he urged hope, repentance, unity and reconciliation among the nation’s 70 million Catholics.

It is in the context of this hope, born of God’s love and fidelity, that I acknowledge the pain which the church in America has experienced as the result of sexual abuse of minors, Benedict said. No words of mine could describe the pain and harm inflicted by such abuse. It is important that those who have suffered be given loving pastoral attention.
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Assault charge swimmer kicked off Olympic team

SYDNEY, Australia (AP) — An Olympic swimmer charged with assaulting a man in a nightclub incident after the Australian trials was kicked off the Beijing-bound team Friday for bringing the sport into disrepute.

Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) president John Coates said 20-year-old Nick D’Arcy would not be allowed to remain on the team.

He won the 200-meter butterfly at the trials held in Sydney at the end of March.

D’Arcy had been the subject of an AOC investigation after being involved in an altercation with former Commonwealth swim champion Simon Cowley, which left Cowley with multiple facial fractures.

D’Arcy is facing charges of assault and causing grievous bodily harm from the March 30 incident in a Sydney bar.

This is obviously a difficult decision to make but the question is whether his conduct has brought, or is likely to bring himself, the sport of swimming, the team and the AOC into disrepute and censure, Coates said Friday.

It’s clear that being charged with criminal offenses of such a serious nature is sufficient to bring Nicholas and the sport of swimming into disrepute and is likely to bring the team and the AOC into disrepute if he continues to be a member of the team.

Coates said D’Arcy has the option of appealing against his exclusion from the Olympic team to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

Coates said he was expressing no view on the outcome of upcoming criminal proceedings against D’Arcy, expect to say that the swimmer was entitled to the presumption of innocence and that the charges must be proved beyond reasonable doubt. E-mail to a friend

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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Average Manhattan home: $1.6M

NEW YORK (AP) — The average price of Manhattan homes defied the slowing U.S. economy and soared 41 percent in a year, to $1.6 million (1 million euros) in the first three months of 2008, an industry group said Thursday.

Manhattan’s surging real estate prices drove a citywide increase of 28 percent, while prices in the boroughs Queens, Staten Island and the Bronx began to slip, according to a report by ResidentialNYC.com, a Web site managed by The Real Estate Board of New York.

The report shows that Manhattan’s luxury market for high-end properties continues to remain untouched by the slowing economy, said board president Steven Spinola. Manhattan condominiums in particular continue to sell for record high prices.

The study looked at prices in the first quarter of the year and compared them to the same period in 2007. In Manhattan, the average price for a home in the first quarter of last year was $1.1 million (690,000 euros).

In Brooklyn, prices rose an average of only 3 percent, to $582,000 (366,683 euros). Average prices in Queens and Staten Island were both down by 5 percent, at $458,000 (288,558 euros) and $427,000 (269,027 euros) respectively. Average prices in the Bronx slipped by 1 percent to $396,000 (249,496 euros).

The report — using city data for recorded real estate transactions — tracks the sale of all residential property, including private houses that could be one to three-family dwellings, condominiums and cooperatives.

Strong sales in new luxury developments in these locations drove the increases, feeding what Spinola called a pent-up demand for housing in a city with limited space and a recent spate of construction. The falling dollar has also made New York real estate appealing to foreign investors.

The neighborhoods with the highest average housing prices were in Soho and Tribeca, reflecting the areas’ generally larger properties.

The Real Estate Board of New York is a trade association with 12,000 members. It represents property owners, builders, brokers, managers, banks and financial service companies. E-mail to a friend

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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