California

Murder charges stand in Laci Peterson case

A judge refused to dismiss murder charges Wednesday against Scott Peterson in the deaths of his pregnant wife and unborn son, rejecting defense arguments that prosecutors failed to show that a crime even took place.

Judge Marie Silveira said the charges would stand.

Peterson, 31, is charged with two counts of murder that could bring the death penalty. Laci Peterson was eight months pregnant when she vanished from her Modesto home on Christmas Eve 2002.

Her remains and those of the fetus washed ashore along San Francisco Bay in April two miles from where Scott Peterson said he was fishing when she disappeared.

The defense argued that prosecutors did not present enough evidence of a crime during a preliminary hearing late last year. Defense attorney Mark Geragos also said the evidence showed that Laci Peterson was abducted and that her husband could not have killed her.

Prosecutors ridiculed that claim.

New York City

Ferry crash claims exceed $3 billion

At least 175 claims totaling more than $3 billion have been filed against the city for the Staten Island ferry crash that killed 11 people, the city comptroller’s office said Wednesday.

About a dozen of the claims did not specify the amount of damages being sought, and the number of claims could rise further, said Jeff Simmons, a spokesman for the city comptroller.

The state deadline for filing notices of claims was Tuesday, but claims needed only to be postmarked by that date, Simmons said. The deadline for claims in federal court in Brooklyn, which is handling the criminal case, is March 10.

Relatives of 10 of the people killed in the crash have filed notices they intend to sue. Dozens of people were injured in the crash.

North Carolina

Pit bull kills 3-year-old

A pit bull killed a 3-year-old boy who wandered into his neighbor’s back yard where the dog was chained, authorities said Wednesday.

A deputy had to shoot the dog to reach the body of Nathan Roy Hill after it was discovered about 8 p.m. Tuesday. The boy was last seen around 4:30 p.m. by his mother, Christy Gambill, who called 911 to report him missing about two hours later, Sheriff Larry Rollins said.

Nathan had at least two bite marks, and a medical examiner determined that the mixed-breed dog was responsible.

Rollins said Nathan’s stepfather was deployed in Iraq. Red Cross officials contacted the stepfather, who was coming home. The boy’s father lives in Texas.

Pennsylvania

Driver must carry photo of victim in coffin

A woman who prosecutors say was drunk when she killed a man in a head-on collision must carry a photograph of the teacher in his coffin as part of her five years of probation, a judge ruled.

Jennifer Langston pleaded guilty in September to vehicular homicide, reckless endangerment and reckless driving.

Prosecutors said Langston was drunk and talking on a cell phone in 2002 when she crossed the center line and hit a pickup truck carrying Glenn Clark and his pregnant wife, Annette. He died, his wife remains in a coma, and their son, born by Caesarean section five months after the crash, is being raised by relatives.

A judge sentenced Langston to 30 days in jail, plus house arrest and probation, and ordered her to carry a picture of Glenn Clark.

Langston, 27, objected when Clark’s mother provided the photo of Clark in a coffin.

Clark’s mother, Rosellen Moller, was unapologetic.

“That’s where she put him — in a casket. That’s what she did for him. I’d just shut my mouth if I was her,” Moller said.