Grand jury decides not to indict McKinney

WASHINGTON, D.C.

A grand jury declined to indict Representative Cynthia McKinney yesterday in connection with a confrontation in which she admitted that she hit a Capitol Police officer who tried to stop her from entering a House office building. The incident occurred March 29 when McKinney, a Georgia Democrat , tried to enter a building without walking through a metal detector or wearing the lapel pin that identifies members of Congress. The guard did not recognize her as a member of Congress and asked her three times to stop. When she ignored him, he tried to stop her. McKinney then hit him. The next morning, she appeared on the House floor to apologize. (AP)

Police, firefighters, emergency medical technicians, and hospital workers failed to follow proper procedures in responding to a fatal attack on a New York Times journalist in January, city investigators said in a report issued yesterday. The District of Columbia inspector general's office found ``an unacceptable chain of failure in the provision of emergency medical and other services" in the Jan. 6 death of David Rosenbaum in northwest Washington. Two men pleaded not guilty yesterday to charges of conspiracy in the attack and two other robberies. Rosenbaum, 63, was struck from behind with a lead pipe as he went for an evening walk not far from his home. Rosenbaum died two days later . Once an EMT who arrived smelled alcohol on Rosenbaum's breath, no effort was made to determine whether he suffered a stroke, head trauma, or other injury, the report said. In addition, an ambulance bypassed the closest hospital and took Rosenbaum to one nearly 2 miles farther away. Nurses there incorrectly classified him as intoxicated and failed to check his vital signs regularly, the report said. (AP)

PENNSYLVANIA

PHILADELPHIA -- Thirteen people who say they were abused by Roman Catholic priests several years ago have filed a federal racketeering lawsuit against the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. The plaintiffs accuse the archdiocese and retired Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua, Philadelphia's archbishop from 1988 to 2003, as well as his predecessor and successor, of covering up abuse. Lawyer C. Clark Hodgson Jr., who represents the archdiocese, said Thursday that he had not seen the lawsuit and had no comment. (AP)

TEXAS

HOUSTON -- A judge yesterday ordered Andrea Yates to leave a state psychiatric hospital and report to jail for the start of her second capital murder trial in the bathtub drownings of her five children. Yates, 41, again is pleading not guilty by reason of insanity, and if convicted, she could be imprisoned for life. (AP)