Jury rules for dead man's family
A federal jury on Tuesday found five Denver sheriff's deputies used excessive force against a homeless street preacher who died in the city's downtown jail and awarded his family $4.65 million in damages, a verdict that family attorney Darold Killmer said should send a message to law enforcement everywhere. Marvin Booker died in 2010 after deputies shocked him with a Taser while he was handcuffed, put him in a sleeper hold and lay on top of him, apparently in an effort to control him. His family's attorneys said that was an overreaction to the 56-year-old, who was frail and had a heart condition. The city had said the deputies' actions were in line with department policies for subduing a combative inmate.
Bug in Windows aided spying
Russian hackers used a bug in Microsoft Windows to spy on several Western governments, NATO and the Ukrainian government, according to a report released Tuesday by iSight Partners, a computer security firm in Dallas. The targets also included European energy and telecommunications companies and an undisclosed academic organization in the United States. While it is unclear what information may have been retrieved, iSight said the targets were often linked to the standoff in Ukraine between Russia and the West. The bug affected versions from Windows Vista to the company's latest software, Windows 8.1. Microsoft was expected to release an update Tuesday to resolve the potential vulnerability.
Castro quotes from N.Y. Times
Fidel Castro has reprinted a New York Times editorial calling for the end of the U.S. embargo on Cuba. In an unusual move, the Cuban leader quotes the article almost word-for-word in his own editorial printed in state media Tuesday, omitting only one sentence about his government's release of political prisoners and another about U.S.-Cuban cooperation. He says the newspaper appears to be "laying out the most suitable political position for its country's interests."
Justices dismiss foie gras appeal
A challenge to a California law that bans the sale and production of foie gras, the fatty liver of force-fed ducks, was dismissed by the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday. Canadian Farmers, Hudson Valley Foie Gras and the Hot's Restaurant Group, based in California, had appealed a lower court decision upholding the law in a filing with the Supreme Court.
By the Numbers
$34.1M Recreational marijuana sales in Colorado in August, according to the the state.
$33.4M Medical marijuana sales in Colorado in August.
$45M Total tax revenues taken in by Colorado from medical and recreational marijuana sales so far this year.
Times wires