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Obama to name attorney general after elections

 
Associated Press
Associated Press
Published Oct. 15, 2014

Washington

Obama to name attorney general after elections

President Barack Obama does not plan to announce his choice for attorney general before the November elections, shielding the nomination from the midterm election politics while setting up a potential year-end showdown with the lame duck Senate.

Senate Democrats have asked Obama to wait so controversy doesn't arise over whether they will support a specific nominee, and the delay gives Obama more time to consider his options.

A White House official told the Associated Press Tuesday that the president has not yet decided who he wants to replace outgoing Attorney General Eric Holder, a longtime friend who has led the Justice Department the entire six years Obama has been in office. Obama aides did not begin seriously considering candidates until Holder announced on Sept. 25 that he will resign when his replacement is confirmed.

Washington

New U.S. policy on ineffective lawyers

The Justice Department said Tuesday that it will no longer ask criminal defendants who plead guilty to waive their right to claim that their attorney was ineffective and deprived them of their constitutional right to a competent counsel.

Attorney General Eric Holder said the new policy, his latest effort to reform the criminal justice system, is an attempt to ensure that all individuals who face criminal charges are ably represented.

The new policy is one of several initiatives Holder wanted to put in place before he steps down as attorney general.

Tyler Hill, Pa.

Prosecutors say boy fatally beat woman

A 10-year-old boy apparently angry that a 90-year-old woman had yelled at him held a cane against her throat and repeatedly punched her, killing her, prosecutors said.

The boy was being held without bail Tuesday, charged as an adult with criminal homicide in the death of Helen Novak, a woman who was being cared for by his grandfather.

State police said the beating occurred Saturday when the boy was visiting his grandfather's home in northeastern Pennsylvania.

Washington

New charges in 2012 Benghazi attacks

A Libyan militant already behind bars was indicted Tuesday on new charges arising from the 2012 Benghazi attacks, including crimes punishable by the death penalty, the Justice Department said.

The 18-count grand jury indictment, which includes multiple counts of murder, had been expected since Ahmed Abu Khattala, 43, was captured in June by U.S. special forces and brought to the United States to face trial. He is the first militant to be prosecuted for the Benghazi violence.

Federal prosecutors have long accused Abu Khattala of being a ringleader of the Sept. 11-12, 2012, attacks that killed Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans.

Elsewhere

Hong Kong: Hundreds of Hong Kong police officers drove protesters from a tunnel today in the worst violence since the street demonstrations for greater democracy began over two weeks ago.

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Charlotte, N.C.: Former Charlotte Mayor Patrick Cannon was sentenced Tuesday to 44 months in federal prison for taking bribes from undercover federal agents he thought were developers seeking to fast-track projects.

Washington: Marines and their family members who were poisoned by toxic water at Camp Lejeune apparently lost their chance to sue the government when a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday that a North Carolina statute doesn't give them the time they needed to make their cases.

Gaza Strip: U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon visited Gaza on Tuesday to give a push to international reconstruction efforts following a devastating summer war, saying the territory's destruction was "beyond description."

Times wires

Supporters greet former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, center left, and his son George P. Bush as they visit Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene, Texas, on Tuesday. The former governor was campaigning in West Texas for his son, who is on the ballot in November as a candidate for state land commissioner. The campaign swing, a bus tour that started in Fort Worth and headed toward the oil town of Midland, was designed to inject some of Jeb Bush's political celebrity into his son's campaign for an office with a sleepy title that's a stepping stone to bigger things in Texas politics. The son is expected to win handily.