Former priest loses bid for new trial

A court has rejected a new trial for a dismissed priest who was one of the central figures in Boston's clergy sex abuse scandal. Paul R. Shanley is serving a 12- to 15-year prison sentence after being convicted in 2005 of repeatedly raping and fondling a boy at a Newton parish in the 1980s. In his bid for a new trial, Shanley argued that his trial lawyer did not properly challenge the theory of repressed memory. The victim testified that he did not remember the sexual abuse until 2002, when memories came rushing back amid news coverage of the scandal. However, Judge Stephen Neel, who presided at Shanley's trial and heard his motion for a new trial, rejected that argument yesterday. (AP)

A Boston judge has denied California authorities investigating the disappearance of a married couple access to the divorce record of the man who calls himself Clark Rockefeller. Jeffrey Denner, a lawyer for Rockefeller, said Family and Probate Court Judge E. Chouteau Merrill made the decision yesterday during a closed hearing in Boston. The German native, who authorities say is Christian Karl Gerhartsreiter, is being held on charges that he kidnapped his 7-year-old daughter last summer. He has also been named a "person of interest" in the 1985 disappearance of a California couple. A lawyer for California authorities refused to comment after the hearing. (AP)

The teenage victim of a Roslindale shooting early Tuesday has been identified as Sergio Escofet of Boston, police said yesterday. At around 1 a.m. on Tuesday, officers found the 18-year-old and another man with gunshot wounds in a car parked on Fawndale Road. Escofet was transported to Brigham and Women's Hospital, where he later died. The other victim, a 27-year-old whose name police have not released, survived the shooting. The police homicide unit is investigating, and urged anyone with information to call 617-343-4470.

Senator Mark C. Montigny, cochairman of the legislative committee that oversees state debt, said yesterday that he hopes to organize a series of public hearings to untangle Massachusetts's thicket of debt agreements. In a phone interview, Montigny said he would like to begin by having Secretary of State William F. Galvin and Attorney General Martha Coakley delve into the history of the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority's debt arrangements. Montigny said future hearings could cover potential privatization of portions of the turnpike and transparency at the Massachusetts Port Authority, which could take over much of the Turnpike Authority's debt under an outline of Governor Deval Patrick's goal of dismantling the turnpike agency.

A Massachusetts man has been charged with pretending to be an armed federal agent so he could bypass airport security. Stephen Grant, 48, of Rockland was flying from Boston to San Diego on Jan. 1, 2007, when he approached an American Airlines ticket counter at Logan International Airport and flashed a badge he carries as a part-time assistant harbor master in Chatham, federal prosecutors said. Grant, a medical supplies salesman, filled out a "flying-while-armed" form and wrote that he worked for the Department of Homeland Security, prosecutors said Tuesday. He allegedly did the same on his return trip to Boston. Grant told WHDH-TV that he volunteered for a subcommittee for the Coast Guard, which is a division of Homeland Security. Grant is charged with impersonating a federal agent and making false statements. He is due back in court next month. (AP)

New Hampshire is looking to Wal-Mart to help boost its lottery revenue. Rick Wisler, Lottery director, says lottery machines in Wal-Mart stores could boost sales. Wal-Mart has resisted requests to sell lottery products. But next year, Arkansas, where Wal-Mart is based, is starting its own lottery and that has lottery officials thinking that the giant retailer might now consider the role. Last week, Governor John Lynch asked the lottery to find ways to increase revenue. (AP)