Florida
Autopsy photos kept closed with new law
Standing beside Dale Earnhardt's widow, Gov. Jeb Bush signed a bill Thursday to keep autopsy photos closed to the public unless a judge approves their release.
The law sprang from an outcry over the Orlando Sentinel's request to see Earnhardt's autopsy photos. Teresa Earnhardt led the protests, saying she wanted to protect her family's privacy.
The measure, passed unanimously Thursday in the Senate, makes it a felony to improperly release the records, with a maximum sentence of five years in jail and a $5,000 fine.
The new law is certain to be tested in the courts because such photos had been open as part of Florida's Sunshine Law, the most liberal public-records rule in the country.
Colorado
Jury selection begins in girl's therapy death
The therapy session was meant to bring Candace Newmaker closer to her adoptive mother by having the 10-year-old girl push her way out of a blanket to simulate birth.
But a videotape shows Candace begging for her life as she tries to escape the blanket meant to represent a womb. She died of asphyxiation on April 19, 2000, one day after the so-called rebirthing therapy. The tape, prosecutors say, is the key evidence against two psychotherapists charged in her death.
Jury selection began Thursday in Golden for the trial of Connell Watkins, 54, known for her work with children with reactive attachment disorder, and her colleague Julie Ponder, 40. Both are charged with child abuse resulting in death. If convicted, they each could face up to 48 years in prison.
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