Briefly

New York

Firefighters speak out against 9-11 book

Clergy, firefighters and others protested at a publishing company Wednesday, outraged by a book they claim includes lies about looting and disrespect toward human remains at ground zero.

“American Ground: Unbuilding the World Trade Center” by William Langewiesche has infuriated firefighters and others because it includes a passage relating the discovery of dozens of new jeans from The Gap — still tagged, folded and stacked — inside the cab of a fire truck pulled from the rubble.

The protesters, including many who spent time at the recovery operation, denied any looting of The Gap had taken place.

“We are looking to getting the historical record cleared,” said Rhonda Roland Shearer, director of the WTC Living History Project.

Washington

Former Guard officer accused of espionage

FBI agents have arrested a former Washington Army National Guard officer and his ex-wife on espionage charges alleging they attempted to sell national security secrets.

Officials would not give details Wednesday. The indictment includes a reference to a North Carolina lawyer who has represented the Ku Klux Klan and militant anti-tax leaders.

Rafael Davila, 51, and Deborah Davila, 46, were arrested Tuesday and ordered held without bail.

Representatives of the Justice Department in Washington, D.C., the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Spokane and the FBI refused to elaborate on the charges.

Col. Rick Patterson of the Washington Army National Guard said Davila joined the Guard in 1990 and switched in 1997 from infantry to military intelligence, where he could have had access to classified information. Davila left honorably in January 1999.

North Carolina

Court reverses sentence for jury selection’s race

A federal appeals court Wednesday overturned the death sentence of a black man convicted of killing a white trooper, saying prosecutors tried to keep blacks off the jury.

The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sent the case of Timothy Allen back to district court, which could either hear the race claim or order a new trial.

Allen was convicted by a jury of six whites and six blacks in the 1985 shooting death of Trooper Raymond Worley during a traffic stop on Interstate 95 near Enfield in northeastern North Carolina.

The appeals court, based in Richmond, Va., said statistical and circumstantial evidence showed prosecutors used peremptory challenges to reject 11 of 13 prospective black jurors. A peremptory challenge is a legal objection that allows lawyers to dismiss a prospective juror without having to give a reason.

Washington, D.C.

No compensation slows smallpox vaccine plan

State health officials said Wednesday that concerns over compensation for people injured by the smallpox vaccine are hampering the inoculation program, which has vaccinated just a few hundred people so far.

Federal authorities acknowledge the problem but still have no solution.

Based on historic data, a small number of people vaccinated will face serious injuries, and federal officials acknowledge they need a way to offer compensation for lost wages and medical expenses.

The only way people now can get reimbursed for expenses is through the workers’ compensation system, which federal officials say has many holes.

“We’re stepping up to the front lines to protect the public health. We expect the federal government to come in there and support us,” said Dr. Leah Devlin, state medical director in North Carolina.