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HOUSTON VOICE www.houston voice.com
JUNE 20, 2003 9
police beat
Accused serial bomber drops effort seeking bond
Birmingham, Ala. — Accused serial bomber
Eric Robert Rudolph waived his right to a scheduled bond hearing Monday when it became
clear he would not be granted bail, his lawyers
told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Rudolph
pleaded innocent June 6 to federal charges in
the 1998 bombing of a Birmingham abortion
clinic and stands accused in a string of Atlanta
bombings, including the February 1997 bombing
of gay bar the Otherside Lounge that injured
five people. Through notes left near the bombing
sites, investigators believe Rudolph was motivated by anti-gay and anti-abortion views. He
was arrested May 31 in Murphy, N.C., after five
years on the lam. Prosecutors later extradited
Rudolph to Birmingham, rather than Atlanta,
because they felt the evidence — including witnesses who identified Rudolph — was strongest
against him in that incident, though Rudolph
may later face trial in Atlanta.
Accused bomber Eric Robert Rudolph
waived his right to a bail hearing June 17
as he awaits trial on federal charges that
he bombed a Birmingham abortion, which
killed one. Rudolph is also suspected in
three bombings in Atlanta, including one at
a lesbian nightclub. (Photo by AP)
Fla. woman gets 25 years
for shooting ex, bystander
PENSACOLA, Fla. (AP) — A 62-year-old
lesbian received two prison sentences of
25 years and one of 20 years for shooting
her estranged partner and a bystander outside a church. Andrea Cobb was sentenced
June 11 for attempted first- and second-
degree murder and aggravated battery for
the April 2002 shootings. The punishment
amounts to a life sentence given her age,
but it is the minimum set by state law.
Assistant Public Defender Michael Van
Cavage argued for a lesser sentence on
grounds Cobb has no prior criminal
record and was overmedicated on prescription drugs when she shot her ex-lover,
Joyce Anderson, in the hand and Nancy
Browning, a church member who tried to
stop the attack. A bullet lodged in
Browing's spine permanently disabled her.
Neither victim attended the sentencing.
Pa. prison to pay for trans
inmate's hormone treatments
PITTSBURGH — As part of an out-of-
court settlement, the state of
Pennsylvania agreed June 13 to pay the
hormone therapy costs of a transgendered prisoner incarcerated in the 1995
rape of an 8-year-old girl, according to the
Pittsburgh Tribune. The Pennsylvania
Department of Corrections is paying for
hormones for Jessica Elaine Wolfe, born
James Elliot Wolfe, 39. Prison spokesperson Susan McNaughton said the inmate
is taking an estrogen replacement drug
that costs about $240 a year. Wolfe told the
paper that she is also receiving shots that
help decrease testosterone levels and can
cost as much as $7,000 a year. "It's basically humanitarian medical considerations," said Shannon Minter, legal director for the National Center for Lesbian
Rights. "They should be punished, and
the punishment is incarceration, but the
punishment is not withholding medically
necessary treatment." Wolfe was taking
female hormones to prepare for sex-
change surgery when she was arrested.
Prison officials stopped the treatment,
causing withdrawal symptoms, according to a lawsuit filed by Wolfe.
Murder case against N.C.
novelist readies for start
DURHAM, N.C. — Jury selection in the
murder trial of war novelist Michael
Peterson, 59, is expected to be completed
next week, paving the way for opening
arguments on June 23, according to the
Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Peterson
stands accused of the December 2001
killing of his wife, Nortel executive
Kathleen Peterson, in a case swirling
with themes of money, status, politics
and bisexuality. After the death,
Peterson's private life underwent public
scrutiny, which heightened after investigators found gay pornography on his
home computer and men who say they
had sex with him. Questions asked of
potential jurors indicated that prosecutors will introduce that evidence at trial.
To add to the intrigue, the body of a
Peterson friend — and mother to his two
adopted children — was exhumed this
spring after prosecutors learned she
died in a 1985 stairway fall similar to the
way Peterson says his wife accidentally
died. The case's twists make it a public
fascination, including plans for live
Court TV coverage and a French documentary. "It doesn't get a lot more compelling than this," Peterson's lawyer,
David Rudolph, told the newspaper.
Iowa man feared reporting
assault outside gay bar
DES MOINES, Iowa — A man waited until
June 11 to report a May 25 assault outside
a gay bar because he feared retaliation
from his attacker, the Des Moines Register
reported. Michael Moon, 32, said the man
broke his leg after forcing him to say that
he would leave town and seek God's forgiveness for being gay "I was afraid he
was going to track me down, track down
my family if I reported it," Moon said. "He
said, 'Faggots need to get out of town.'"
Moon told City Conned member Christine
Hensley about the incident during Gay-
Pride festivities on June 8 and she convinced him to go to police. An arrest warrant is imminent, police said.
From staff and wire reports
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