BRIEFS

Local & VCU National & International

With new DNA evidence, Charles City man asked name to be cleared

A Charles City County man convicted of a 1978 rape in Williamsburg is asking the Virginia Supreme Court for exoneration in light of new DNA evidence.

In 2010, testing failed to identify Bennett S. Barbour's DNA in seminal fluid found on the victim's underwear – but there was a "cold hit" on a convicted sex offender who has yet to be named by authorities.

"This is an egregious miscarriage of justice," Barbour's lawyers with the Innocence Project Clinic at the University of Virginia School of Law wrote in a petition for a writ of actual innocence filed Tuesday.

Barbour, 56, under treatment for cancer, always has maintained his innocence. He was arrested when he was 22 in the Feb. 7, 1978, rape of a 19-year-old College of William and Mary student.

Barbour was convicted April 14, 1978, and wound up serving 4 and a half years of his 10-year sentence, making parole his first time up for consideration.

Brief by the Richmond Times-Dispatch

Budget offers Richmond schools no additional money

Richmond Mayor Dwight C. Jones has proposed a $780.9 million operating budget for fiscal 2012-13, but no additional money for a school system with a $23.8 million hole in its budget.

The operating budget includes $70.9 million the mayor has proposed to use to increase the city's reserve funds, pay down outstanding debts and fund one-time projects made possible by a $62.1 million refund of a loan to the Richmond Metropolitan Authority more than 45 years ago.

Jones has made transformation of public schools and public housing the top priorities in the final year of his first term as mayor, but the budget he introduced Tuesday would provide $123.8 million in city funds for the schools, the same as in the current budget.

Jones' proposal leaves the final school budget in flux after the School Board decided not to recommend any cuts to fill the projected shortfall.

Brief by the Richmond Times-Dispatch

At trial, attorney criticizes Va. Tech response to shootings

Attorneys representing the families of two victims of the 2007 Virginia Tech shootings on Tuesday described campus police as bumbling and slow to react, while attorneys representing the state of Virginia defended university officials who believed a domestic incident led to the initial deaths instead of a campus-wide threat.

The families of Julia K. Pryde and Erin N. Peterson are seeking a judgment of $100,000 for each family in the wrongful-death claim. They have said their primary interest is to get a full accounting of the events of that day, plus an apology.

Attorneys for the victim's parents have said that if the university responded immediately after the dormitory shootings of two students just after 7 a.m. April 16, 2007, those students and others on campus might have survived the killing rampage of Seung-Hui Cho.

The lawsuits originally sought $10 million for the wrongful deaths of Pryde and Peterson, but the damages are now capped at $100,000 for each of their parents. The state is the lone defendant in the case, which has been scaled back from the lawsuit originally filed two years after the deadly shootings on Virginia Tech's campus.

Brief by the Associated Press

AP says Newt Gingrich getting Secret Service protection

Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich was set to receive Secret Service protection starting today, two people with knowledge of the security plan confirmed to The Associated Press.

They spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive security matters.

The former House speaker is the third GOP hopeful to get a Secret Service detail. Mitt Romney has had Secret Service protection since Feb. 1, and Rick Santorum received Secret Service protection last week.

Ron Paul is the only Republican candidate without a Secret Service detail.

Gingrich requested Secret Service protection last month. He was scheduled to campaign Wednesday in Alabama following his win in neighboring Georgia, Gingrich's home state. Alabama's primary is March 13.

Secret Service protection is given to each major party's presidential nominee but can be provided earlier if the Homeland Security Department approves a campaign's request. Federal law allows candidates to seek protection if they meet a series of standards, including public prominence as measured by polls and fundraising.

Brief by the Associated Press

Iran sets up group to control Internet

Iran's supreme leader has ordered the creation of an Internet oversight agency that includes top military and political figures in the country's boldest attempt to control the web.

Today's announcement on the state media follows a series of high-profile crackdowns on cyberspace including efforts to block opposition sites and setting up special teams for what Iran calls its “soft war” against the West and allies.

Iran has blamed Israel for a computer virus discovered in 2010 that targeted uranium enrichment equipment.

The order by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei gave no specifics on the new group.

Brief by the Associated Press

China says immolators are criminals, outcasts, mentally ill

Chinese officials sought today to discredit Tibetans who have set themselves on fire to protest China's rule over their region, calling them outcasts, criminals and mentally ill people manipulated by the exiled Dalai Lama.

The Tibetan Buddhist spiritual leader has said he does not encourage the self-immolations. However, Chinese officials have sought to portray the past year's wave of about two dozen immolations – including three since Saturday – as the result of outside orchestration rather than what activists say is local unrest over the government's suppression of Tibetan religion and culture.

Wu Zegang, an ethnic Tibetan who is the government's top administrator in Aba told reporters in Beijing that the selfimmolations were “orchestrated and supported” by the Dalai Lama and Tibetan independence forces. He said that before setting themselves on fire, the immolators shouted “independence for Tibet and other slogans that aim to divide the nation.”

The Dalai Lama has praised the courage of those who engage in self-immolation and has attributed the protests to what he calls China's “cultural genocide” in Tibet. But he also says he does not encourage the protests, noting that they could invite an even harsher crackdown.

ADAM STERN Executive Editor editor@commonwealthtimes.org 703-965-9811

MEL KOBRAN Managing Editor managing@commonwealthtimes.org

MECHELLE HANKERSON News Editor news@commonwealthtimes.org

JIM SWING Sports Editor sports@commonwealthtimes.org

NICK BONADIES Spectrum Editor spectrum@commonwealthtimes.org

SHANE WADE Opinion Editor opinion@commonwealthtimes.org

CHRIS CONWAY Photography Editor conwayc@vcu.edu

EMMA BREEDEN Copy Editor breedenep@vcu.edu

MARLEIGH CULVER Graphic Designer commonwealthtimesgraphics@gmail.com

YING CHENG Graphic Designer commonwealthtimesgraphics@gmail.com

HUNTER NYE Graphic Designer commonwealthtimesgraphics@gmail.com

HANNAH SWANN Graphic Designer commonwealthtimesgraphics@gmail.com

SHANNON LINFORD Webmaster ctonline@commonwealthtimes.org

ANDY KARSTETTER Multimedia Editor karstetterma@vcu.edu

JACOB MCFADDEN Advertising Manager ctadvertising@gmail.com 804-828-6629

NELSON W. JOHNSON Associate Advertising Representative ctadvertising@gmail.com 804-828-6629

PETER PAGAN and JOHN MCWHORTER Advertising Graphics Specialists ctadvertising@gmail.com 804-828-6629

SMC STAFF

GREG WEATHERFORD Student Media Director goweatherfor@vcu.edu, 827-1975

LAUREN KATCHUK Business Manager 827-1642

MARK JEFFRIES Production Manager mjeffriesVCU@gmail.com the cover: 817 W. Broad St., P.O. Box 842010 Richmond, VA 23284-2010

The Commonwealth Times strives to be accurate in gathering news. If you think we have made an error, please call Executive Editor Adam Stern at 828-6516 or e-mail him at editor@commonwealthtimes.org. Corrections will appear on the Opinion page.

Limit one CT per person. Additional copies may be purchased through the Student Media Center for $1 a copy.

Brief by the Associated Press

In this section:

House Bill 49 fails in committee • 4

Senate OKs ignition interlock bills • 5 Crime log • 5