Ricin Letters Suspect: Hearing To Focus On Paul Kevin Curtis' Mental State

OXFORD, Miss. — Officials have cancelled the third day of a hearing for the Mississippi man accused of mailing poisoned letters to President Barack Obama, a U.S. senator and a local judge.

Christi McCoy, defense attorney for Paul Kevin Curtis, says that federal authorities and defense attorneys will speak to reporters at 5 p.m. CDT about the case.

The announcement came 90 minutes after the hearing was supposed to start in federal court. Lawyers spent that time conferring with the judge. Later, Curtis and family members were escorted into a meeting room with his lawyers, followed by a probation officer.

On Monday, an FBI agent said federal authorities didn't find any ricin in Curtis' Corinth, Miss., home or vehicle.

McCoy says the search results bolster Curtis' claims of innocence.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

The third day of a hearing for the Mississippi man accused of mailing poisoned letters to President Barack Obama, a U.S. senator and a local judge was expected to include testimony on his mental state after authorities acknowledged they have found little physical evidence so far.

Christi McCoy, defense attorney for Paul Kevin Curtis, said Tuesday's hearing was expected to include testimony from David Daniels, a Tupelo, Miss., attorney who says Curtis threatened him after a rehearsal for an Elvis impersonators' show Daniels helped organize in 2002. Also, a law enforcement official was expected to testify about Curtis' suicide attempt in Chicago in 1991.

On Monday, FBI Agent Brandon Grant testified that Friday searches of Curtis' vehicle and house in Corinth, Miss., found no ricin, ingredients for the poison, or devices used to make it. A search of Curtis' computers found no evidence he researched making ricin.

"There was no apparent ricin, castor beans or any material there that could be used for the manufacturing, like a blender or something," Grant testified. He speculated that Curtis could have thrown away the processor. Grant said technicians are now doing a "deep dive" on the suspect's computers after initially finding no "dirty words" indicating Curtis had searched for information on ricin.

McCoy has insisted there is no physical evidence connecting Curtis to the mailings and that he may have been framed.

Through McCoy, Curtis has denied involvement in letters sent to Obama, Mississippi Republican Sen. Roger Wicker, and a Lee County, Miss., judge. The first of the letters was found April 15.

"The searches are concluded, not one single shred of evidence was found to indicate Kevin could have done this," McCoy told reporters after the hearing.

U.S. Magistrate Judge J. Allan Alexander ended the hearing after lunch Monday, citing a personal schedule conflict. After the hearing concluded, McCoy questioned why Curtis would have signed the letters "I am KC and I approve this message," a phrase he had used on his Facebook page.

McCoy said in court that someone may have framed Curtis, suggesting that a former business associate of Curtis' brother, a man with whom Curtis had an extended exchange of angry emails, may have set him up.

Still, Grant testified that authorities believe they have the right suspect.

"Given the right mindset and the Internet and the acquisition of material, other people could be involved. However, given information right now, we believe we have the right individual," he said.

Grant said lab analysis shows the poison in the letters was in a crude form that could have been created by grinding castor beans in a food processor or coffee grinder.

The detention and preliminary hearing began Friday in U.S. District Court in Oxford, Miss. More witnesses besides Grant were expected Tuesday.

Federal investigators believe the letters were mailed by Curtis, an Elvis impersonator who family members say suffers from bipolar disorder.

Grant testified Monday that processing codes printed on the letter indicated they had been mailed from Tupelo, Miss., and that investigators were still trying to figure out from the codes exactly where they had been mailed from.

Grant testified Friday that authorities tried to track down the sender of the letters by using a list of Wicker's constituents with the initials KC, the same initials in the letters. Grant said the list was whittled from thousands to about 100 when investigators isolated the ones who lived in an area that would have a Memphis, Tenn., postmark, which includes many places in north Mississippi. He said Wicker's staff recognized Curtis as someone who had written the senator before.

All the envelopes and stamps were self-adhesive, Grant said Monday, meaning they won't yield DNA evidence. He said thus far the envelopes and letters haven't yielded any fingerprints.

McCoy said the evidence linking the 45-year-old to the crime has hinged on his writings posted online, which were accessible to anyone.

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Prosecutor Gerrie Nel Continues Arguments Against Bail As Oscar Pistorius Hearing Continues

Oscar Pistorius stands during his bail hearing at the magistrate court in Pretoria, South Africa, Thursday, Feb. 21, 2013.

PRETORIA, South Africa -- The fourth and likely final day of Oscar Pistorius' bail hearing opened on Friday, with the magistrate then to rule if the double-amputee athlete can be freed before trial or if he has to remain in custody over the shooting death of his girlfriend.

The prosecution is expected to complete its arguments opposing bail. The defense rested on Thursday, and Chief Magistrate Desmond Nair can issue a ruling on bail at any time after arguments finish.

Pistorius is charged with one count of premediated murder over the Feb. 14 killing of Reeva Steenkamp. He says the shooting was accidental because he thought she was a dangerous intruder inside his home.

Steenkamp's Valentine's Day killing has seized the world's attention and there was intense focus Friday on if Pistorius would be released, and if so, with what conditions.

Pistorius' hands trembled as he said "good morning, your worship" as the court session began in Pretoria Magistrate's Court, in South Africa's capital.

Pistorius' longtime coach Ampie Louw said before proceedings began that he is considering putting his runner back in training if he is granted bail to allow him to "get his mind kind of clear."

Louw said he realizes that the Olympic athlete might not be emotionally ready to give any thought to running.

"The change is that he is heartbroken, that is all," Louw said in the courtroom, surrounded by reporters and television cameras. "For me it is tough to see that. Not to be able to reach out and sit next to him and say `sorry, man, it was a terrible accident.' But I cannot do it, I must just sit here in court and that's all.

"The sooner he can start working the better." said Louw, who was the person who convinced the double amputee to take up track as a teenager a decade ago.

Nair will decide if Pistorius is freed with conditions or if he is held until trial. Pistorius faces the sternest bail conditions in South Africa because of the seriousness of the charge, meaning his defense lawyers have to prove there is an "exceptional" reason for him to be freed.

He has been held at a police station in Pretoria since last week, but suspects who are denied bail are typically held in a prison.

Defense lawyer Barry Roux argued on Thursday that the evidence backs up Pistorius' statement that he shot through a toilet door at his home because he mistook Steenkamp for an intruder, killing her by accident.

"I think there will be a level of shock in this country if he is not released (on bail)," Roux said in court.

Opposing bail, prosecutor Gerrie Nel argued Pistorius was too willing to shoot. The prosecution says Pistorius planned to kill his 29-year-old girlfriend, a model and budding reality TV star, after an argument in the early hours of Valentine's Day.

"The reason you fire four shots is to kill," Nel said.

Louw said he might put Pistorius – who overcame the amputation of his lower legs as a baby to compete at last year's London Olympics – back on a morning and afternoon training routine if he is freed, believing it might help him to be able to run track again.

"You must give him space," the coach said.

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AP Sports Writer Gerald Imray contributed to this report from Johannesburg.

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Jack Lew Faces Benghazi Grilling At Treasury Secretary Confirmation Hearing

WASHINGTON -- Congressional Republicans went hunting for controversy over last year's terrorist attack in Benghazi, Libya, in an unlikely place on Wednesday: the Senate confirmation hearing for Treasury secretary nominee Jack Lew.

Lew, President Barack Obama's chief of staff since January 2012, was grilled by Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) about who briefed the president during the hours the attack on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi was taking place. Four Americans were killed in the Sept. 11 assault, including Christopher Stevens, the U.S. ambassador to Libya.

The question of President Barack Obama's whereabouts during the seven-hour siege resurfaced as a focal point of Republican concern during a hearing last week when outgoing Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said he did not brief the president after an early evening meeting about the attack.

One recurring conspiracy theory holds that Obama signed off for the night while the assault raged, motivated in part by a desire to sleep well before a fundraiser the next day in Las Vegas.

Panetta last week insisted that even if he did not personally speak with the president, the White House was in regular contact with national security officials throughout the attack. "The president is well-informed about what is going on, make no mistake about it," Panetta said amid contentious questioning from Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.).

Burr, questioning Lew before the Senate Finance Committee on Wednesday, suggested no one knows who kept Obama informed -- if anyone did -- as the attacked progressed.

Ticking off a list of officials who had previously said they did not brief the president, Burr said, "Now, we’ve eliminated a lot of people who had contacts within the intelligence community that knew firsthand what was going on in Benghazi. Let me ask you again: Who briefed the president on actually what was happening throughout this seven-hour period?"

Lew responded that while he was one of several people who met with Obama about the attacks, "intelligence community was in close touch with the White House, with the national security team on a near-constant basis."

In fact, White House officials have previously said that Obama was informed of the attack by National Security Advisor Tom Donilon, and was "kept apprised throughout the evening and then again Wednesday morning."

In her own Benghazi testimony before a Senate committee last month, outgoing Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said she spoke with the president late in the evening, and that she and her staff "kept talking with everyone during the night."

Another clue to the seemingly straightforward question of who actually spoke to the president may be found on the White House official Flickr feed, which includes a photograph from the night of the attack showing Obama being briefed by his deputy national security adviser, Denis McDonough, while Lew, Donilon, and Vice President Joe Biden look on.

The caption says the officials are giving Obama updates on "the situation in the Middle East and North Africa."

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Air Force Sex Scandal Prompts House Committee Hearing On Sexual Assault In Military

By Jim Forsyth

SAN ANTONIO, Jan 23 (Reuters) - The U.S. House Armed Services Committee will hold a public hearing on Wednesday into sexual assault in the military, prompted by outrage over a sex-with-recruits scandal at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas.

The Washington hearing comes after nearly 60 current and former personnel, including two men, came forward with what the Air Force considered credible reports that they were sexually abused by their drill sergeants at the base in San Antonio.

Six drill sergeants have been convicted and six more Lackland Military Training Instructors are awaiting court martial in the case. The probe also recently expanded to a recruiting sergeant who was charged with sexually assaulting women who were discussing joining the Air Force.

More than 70 members of Congress signed a petition calling for an open hearing into the case and a similar public petition drew more than 10,000 signatures.

Air Force Chief of Staff General Mark Welsh and General Edward Rice, commander of the Air Education and Training Command are both expected to testify on Wednesday.

They are likely to address the completed Air Force internal investigation of Lackland, the Air Force's center for basic training, and the alleged incidents dating back to 2009. The Air Force has extended its inquiry back 10 years.

The House committee chairman, California Republican Howard "Buck" McKeon, told Reuters military commanders were expected to provide an environment of security and respect and "without question" had violated that trust.

"I expect them to tell this committee and the American people what went wrong and what they are doing to rebuild the good faith that the Lackland scandal has erased," he said.

Committee member Jackie Speier, a California Democrat, said the Air Force did not appear willing to get to the root of the problem.

"I intend to ask whether General (Margaret) Woodward, who conducted a formal review of the culture at Lackland without speaking to a single victim, amended her report and recommendations to include interviews with any of the young women who were raped, sexually assaulted, or sexually harassed by thirty military training instructors," Speier said.

Nancy Parrish, who leads an advocacy group for victims of sexual asault in the military called Protect Our Defenders, said there was an epidemic of sexual assault in the military and a culture that punishes the victim. She said it was time for President Barack Obama to act.

"We look to the Commander in Chief to make this a top priority in 2013," Parrish said, adding that she hoped the hearings would be a first step.

Paula Coughlin, a former Navy helicopter pilot who exposed the "Tailhook Scandal," in which female pilots were sexually assaulted and harassed during a Las Vegas convention in 1991, believes authority to investigate and prosecute sexual assault cases should be given to an independent civilian panel.

"It has to come out of the chain of command, because the chain of command has really become impotent," Coughlin said. "The chain of command is vested in protecting itself, and so often, the perpetrator of the assault is in the chain of command."

Retired Army Lieutenant Colonel Jeff Addicott, a long time Judge Advocate General for the Army Special Forces, argued that the Air Force investigation headed by General Woodward had led to realistic solutions.

The Air Force has increased the number of female Military Training Instructors in basic training, and now requires two squadrons of recruits be trained by four instructors, at least one of whom is a woman.

He said that in many cases the demands of Congress for quick and full integration of women into all military branches had led to the current problem.

"The problem lies not just with the military, but with the people who want to engage in social engineering to create this utopian idea of what men and women should or shouldn't do," he said.

Parrish said a 2010 Pentagon report estimated that there were 19,000 military rapes and sexual assaults each year, but only 3,200 victims reported attacks and only 191 cases resulted in court martial convictions.

"It is yet to be determined whether these hearings will be another footnote in this tragic American story, or whether Congress will take on its responsibility of oversight to fix this problem," Parrish said. (Editing by David Bailey and David Brunnstrom)

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