Virginia: 9-11 suspect wins trial delay

The trial of alleged Sept. 11 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui was postponed Friday after a federal judge in Alexandria ruled that Moussaoui and his lawyers were entitled to more time to sift through the large amount of audio, video and written evidence.

Jury selection was to have begun Sept. 30 before U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema. Now, initial jury selection will begin Dec. 9, and final selection and opening statements will start Jan. 6, Brinkema ruled.

Moussaoui, who is representing himself, filed a hand-written motion on July 31 titled, “Motion to postponed the Leonie Brinkema travesty of justice trial,” and lawyers appointed by Brinkema as standby counsel supported the motion a week later. The government opposed the request, saying the public had a right to a speedy trial.

Missouri: Judge acquits trucker in crash that killed five

A truck driver accused of causing a crash that killed five people is innocent of criminal manslaughter, a judge ruled.

Saline County Circuit Judge Dennis Rolf choked back tears Friday as he ruled the circumstances of the crash last August failed to meet the state’s guidelines for criminal manslaughter.

The trucker, John Kendrix, hugged weeping family members after the verdict ended the three-day trial.

Kendrix, 44, of Moultrie, Ga., was found guilty of misdemeanor failure to keep a proper motor carrier driver’s record. He was ordered to pay a $400 fine plus court costs.

Rolf, while expressing sympathy for the families of those killed in the crash, said Kendrix did not intend to cross the median when his eastbound tractor-trailer slammed into a westbound pickup towing a horse trailer about 70 miles east of Kansas City.

Killed were Debra Sprouse, 45, and her children, Ashley Sprouse, 14, and Zachary Corn, 7, all of Lee’s Summit, as well as Ashley Curl, 15, of Overland Park, Kan., and Scott Schrier, 45, of Lee’s Summit.

Prosecutors contended Kendrix fell asleep after ingesting a mixture of cold medication and caffeine.

Washington: Wind downs power lines, sparking more wildfires

Crews battling wildfires across northern Washington found their workload increased Friday when wind gusting to 55 mph knocked down power lines and sparked at least 27 new blazes, authorities said.

Most of the new fires were small, said Chuck Gulick, a spokesman for the state Department of Natural Resources.

A wildfire that started Thursday, meanwhile, had burned between 1,200 and 1,500 acres near Chelan and forced the evacuation of about two dozen homes and cabins. Other fires had destroyed two houses.

Across the West, 20 large active fires had burned across about 1.1 million acres in eight states.

Nearly 6,900 firefighters battling the nation’s largest active wildfire hoped to take advantage of favorable wind to light more backfires to deprive the blaze of fuel.

Temperatures as high as 102 in recent days helped the month-old, lightning-caused fire in southwestern Oregon and northern California grow to 405,661 acres. It was 30 percent contained Friday.