Lawmakers express wiretap concerns

Governor Deval Patrick has nominated three lawyers to superior court judgeships. Patrick announced Wednesday he nominated Mitchell Kaplan, Janet Kenton-Walker, and Thomas McGuire to fill posts left by retiring judges. Kaplan has directed his firm's pro bono program for 15 years and serves as a director of Greater Boston Legal Services. Kenton-Walker is with the Boston Law Collaborative and was a secretary and vice president of the Massachusetts Bar Association. McGuire is a 25-year veteran Bristol County lawyer who helped establish Hope House, a facility for AIDS patients. (AP)

A Dorchester man accused of fatally stabbing his girlfriend in the early morning hours following Valentine's Day was indicted yesterday by a Suffolk County grand jury, according to the district attorney's office. Mario Gonzalez, 29, was charged with first-degree murder in the Feb. 15 stabbing of Luz Forty, 38, in their Ridgewood Street apartment. The two had been in a relationship for six months, according to police and family of the victim. Gonzalez had allegedly threatened to kill Forty before, police and family members said at the time of the fatal stabbing. About 3 a.m. on Feb. 15, Gonzalez allegedly called 911 to report that someone had broken into his apartment and stabbed his girlfriend. Boston Police officers and Emergency Medical Technicians found Forty suffering from multiple stab wounds.

A federal appeals court refused yesterday to reconsider its recent ruling that a former salesman at Staples can sue the company for libel after a vice president sent an e-mail to about 1,500 employees saying he had been fired for violations of company procedures concerning expense reimbursements. The US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in Boston ruled that Staples had waived an opportunity to challenge the constitutionality of a 1902 state law that the fired salesman, Alan S. Noonan, has relied upon to preserve his suit. The appeals court also refused to accept a friend-of-the-court brief filed by 51 news organizations that said the earlier ruling could chill news reporting.

A Needham native celebrating his 25th birthday in Miami Beach Monday night was shot and killed by a Palm Beach County sheriff's deputy who said the Massachusetts man tried to rob him with a knife. Nicholas Burdett, a Springfield College alumni who grew up in Needham, was killed by the deputy on a lifeguard chair at South Beach at about 10 p.m., his mother, Noreen Burdett, confirmed early this morning. Burdett, who is director of music for Milton public schools, said she knew little about the shooting and did not want to comment further. According to police reports, the Palm Beach deputy, who was not in uniform, fired at Burdett after he approached with a knife.

A Fitchburg teenager who found his friend dead the day after they and two others were in a high-speed rollover accident may face criminal charges. Sergeant Glenn Fossa said yesterday Jonathan Diaz will be summoned to court on three counts of assault and battery. Police said the 18-year-old punched a woman who stopped to help after the crash. Police said the four teenagers fled after the accident Friday. Diaz returned and found 17-year-old Daniel Meier's body the next day, about 300 yards from the site. Police believe Meier was the driver. (AP)