Florida

Pilot’s second crash in two day proves fatal

A pilot killed in the crash of a small plane near Tampa also was at the controls of a helicopter that rammed into a house the day before, authorities said Wednesday.

Michael Antinori, 30, was released Tuesday morning from a hospital just hours before the fatal crash of his single-engine Cessna. He had been treated for injuries from the crash of his helicopter Monday night, the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Department said.

It was not immediately known what caused the plane to crash. Investigators would not comment on whether the crashes were intentional or accidents.

Baltimore

Cardinal may seek ouster of priest

Cardinal William Keeler said he was considering asking the Vatican to defrock a priest who was shot by a man who claimed the priest had abused him years earlier.

The announcement came as Keeler publicly urged the U.S. Conference of Bishops to adopt a zero-tolerance policy for priests who face substantiated claims of child sexual abuse.

Dontee Stokes, 26, told police he shot the Rev. Maurice J. Blackwell three times on May 13 because he had been abused by the priest years earlier. Blackwell was removed from the pulpit in 1998, when another alleged victim came forward, but he remains a priest.

Defrocking would formally push Blackwell out of the priesthood.

The Conference of Bishops will vote next week on a proposed policy under which priests accused once of past sex abuse could return to their ministry if approved by a review board comprised mostly of lay people.

Connecticut

Skakel jury rehears witness testimony

Jurors in the trial of Kennedy cousin Michael Skakel asked to rehear testimony Wednesday from several prosecution witnesses, most of whom talked about Skakel’s alibi or his movements the night his teen-age neighbor was killed.

Among the witnesses they asked to rehear were Skakel’s only sister, Julie; her friend Andrea Shakespeare Renna; and renowned forensics expert Henry Lee.

Jurors ended their second day of deliberations Wednesday in Norwalk without reaching a verdict.

Skakel, 41, is accused of beating Martha Moxley to death with a golf club in October 1975. If convicted, he faces a sentence of between 10 years and life in prison.

Skakel’s older brother Thomas, an early suspect in the slaying, appeared Wednesday at the courthouse to support his brother. It was the first time he attended the trial.

Florida

Defendant’s request to be castrated denied

Accused child molester Ricardo Jose Garcia lost his bid Wednesday to be surgically castrated instead of facing a jury and risking a mandatory life sentence if convicted of sexually assaulting an 11-year-old boy.

In denying Garcia’s request, Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Roberto Pineiro called forcing a defendant to make a choice between “life in prison or life as a castrati” cruel and unusual punishment.

He called surgical castration a form of mutilation.

“Mutilation is anathema to justice,” said Pineiro in a two-page ruling he read from the bench. “Allowing a defendant such a choice is barbarous and cannot be condoned in a civilized society.”