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Chula Vista Officer Faces Battery Charges

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A Chula Vista police officer faces four misdemeanor battery charges in connection to an altercation last month involving his girlfriend’s 16-year-old son.

Roman Granados, a 14-year member of the Chula Vista Police Department, had been placed on administrative leave following the incident June 5 in the parking lot of the Chula Vista Hills Elementary School.

Police said they had responded to a disturbance during a graduation ceremony and discovered that Granados had been involved in a physical altercation with his girlfriend’s son, according to a news release from the police department.

Reports were forwarded to the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office for review. Prosecutors filed charges against Granados on Tuesday.

He is set to appear in San Diego Superior Court, South Bay Division, on Aug. 25.

Granados remains on administrative leave pending the outcome of the criminal complaint and administrative investigation.



Photo Credit: NBC 7

LA Water Main Break Floods Twitter

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UCLA students took to social media to share their horror, amazement and even humor as a massive water main break left their campus underwater Tuesday.

"Damn it, L.A. Don't you know California is in a drought?" Kristen Shilton tweeted.

"At least UCLA has a waterfront view?" Mike Roe joked.

"Not worried about the water still flooding out of the sinkhole. I'm worried about what everything's gonna look like after the water clears," Twitter user UCLA_Nation wrote.

"We're practically underwater right now. You can hardly even recognize parts of Campus," they added.

One athlete tweeted that the flood had provided a welcome break from a workout, tweeting, "UCLA flooding saved us from doing 300s."

Scroll down to see more of the tweets, and some of the amazing images users shared.

 

 

 

Live Blog Sunset Blvd. Water Main Break
 

UCLA Students Deal With "Knee-Deep" Water on Campus

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A carnivalesque atmosphere took place at UCLA on Tuesday afternoon as a 30-inch water main busted a 15-foot hole in a street, sending millions of gallons of water rushing onto campus and nearby roads.

Photos on social media showed students sitting in chest-high water in a flooded stairwell as if it was a hot tub, playing in ankle-deep water and walking with their pants rolled up as crews worked to cap the 93-year-old water pipe.

"It was crazy, cars are flooded, people are stuck here," said one student, who left a campus book store to go skimboarding on a flooded field.

The rising water prevented some students from getting to their dorms, cars and classes. Firefighters provided escorts in some of the more heavily flooded areas.

"I was knee-deep in water, I had to take my shoes off even though they still got soaked," said another student, Aaliyah Ricks."I almost slipped a couple of times."

Firefighters performed five rescue operations, the Los Angeles Fire Department said. No injuries were reported.

"Trying to get the cars out was very hectic, it took a long time," said Doug Waters, a third-year economics student. "It was not like a flash flood and it rose immediately, it was more...slowly rising."

The ruptured water main released 9 million gallons of fresh water in the first two hours, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power said.

The water main was expected to be shut down slowly and gradually to prevent shock to the system and further damage.

The surrounding neighborhood was also affected.

"I have no water, and nor do my neighbors. I called a few of them to see what's going on," said Barbara Dobkin, who lives in a neighborhood just west of UCLA.

Details about what caused the water main break were not immediately clear.

Panda Cub "Mr. Wu" Turns 2

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"Mr. Wu" is no longer a cub.

Xiao Liwu, the San Diego Zoo's youngest giant panda, celebrated his second birthday Tuesday.

When he entered the exhibit just before 9 a.m., Mr. Wu (as he's called by zoo staff) found a custom cake of apples, carrots, sweet potatoes and honey.

He also posed for lots of pictures taken by his adoring fans who visited the San Diego Zoo's panda exhibit.

The day marked a special milestone for the cub whose name means "Little Gift."

Senior Mammal Keeper Jennifer Becerra said the newest member of the panda family is now considered an adult.

Historically, cubs born in San Diego are also transferred back to China after they reach the age of two.

Xiao Liwu was born on July 29, 2012, to Bai Yun and Gao Gao.

The zoo touts the largest number of cubs born in the United States. Bai Yun, who has given birth to six cubs, is the oldest actively breeding female in captivity.

Her previous cubs Hua Mei, Mei Sheng, Su Lin, Zhen Zhen and Yun Zi are part of the China Conservation and Research Centre for Giant Pandas.

 



Photo Credit: NBC 7

Mars Rover Opportunity Sets Distance Record

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When it comes to out-of-this-world mileage figures, no vehicle can compete with Mars rover Opportunity.

The rover's odometer has reached 25.01 miles after a decade on Mars, marking an off-Earth distance record. The rover traveled about 160 feet over the weekend, enough to break the old record held by the Soviet Union's Lunokhod 2 rover.

Lunokhod 2 rover landed on Earth's moon in 1973 and drove 24.2 miles. That journey took just about five months.

Opportunity wasn't designed to cover great distances -- its original three-month mission required it to cover about 1 kilometer. That mission was completed in April 2004, but Opportunity  has continued to travel and examine ancient Martian environments over that past decade.

"This is so remarkable considering Opportunity was intended to drive about one kilometer and was never designed for distance," said Mars Exploration Rover Project Manager John Callas, of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. "But what is really important is not how many miles the rover has racked up, but how much exploration and discovery we have accomplished over that distance."

The next major landmark on Opportunity's Martian road trip is "Marathon Valley." The investigation site was so-named because if the rover makes it to the location, it will have traveled 26.2 miles -- the distance of a marathon.

In recognition of the Lunokhod 2 mission, the Opportunity rover team selected the name Lunokhod 2 for a crater near the site where Opportunity has been used to conduct research.

"The Lunokhod missions still stand as two signature accomplishments of what I think of as the first golden age of planetary exploration, the 1960s and '70s," said Steve Squyres of Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, and principal investigator for NASA's twin Mars rovers, Opportunity and Spirit. "We're in a second golden age now, and what we've tried to do on Mars with Spirit and Opportunity has been very much inspired by the accomplishments of the Lunokhod team on the moon so many years ago. It has been a real honor to follow in their historical wheel tracks."

Spirit landed at about the same time as Opportunity, but it became stuck in soft soil in May 2009 and has not been heard from since early 2010 -- long after it completed its 90-day mission.

Opportunity, Spirit and the larger rover Curiosity  -- which landed on Mars in August 2012 -- are essentially remote-controlled geology research vehicles that receive instructions from mission managers on Earth. Their missions involve exploring Mars' surface and collecting samples for researchers to study as they look for signs of past life.
 



Photo Credit: NASA

Teen's Body Found in Middle of Fallbrook Street

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What killed a Fallbrook teenager found dead in the middle of the road? That’s the question facing investigators with the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department.

Deputies were called to East Fallbrook St. near Potter St. around 12:30 a.m. Tuesday.

A man told deputies that he was traveling westbound along East Fallbrook when he struck a body in the middle of the lane.

The driver called 911 immediately and stayed until deputies finished their investigation.

The victim has been identified only as a 17-year-old.

Investigators said they don’t know why the teenager was in the roadway prior to the collision or how he got there.

Deputies said they’re not sure if another vehicle may have struck the teenager and fled the scene.

The section of road is dark and runs through a residential area with one lane in either direction.

There is a sidewalk along the road, but people who walk along this section of roadway say that in the dark and without a crosswalk it can be dangerous.

“My heart goes out to the child that got hurt or killed,” said Tom Zielinski. I travel with a flashlight and every time I see lights behind me or in front of me, I move to the side.”

Anyone with information about this collision is asked to call the Oceanside CHP office at (760) 757-1675.
 



Photo Credit: NBC 7

Cal Fire Fights Wildfires Near Barona Casino

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Several spot fires broke out along along Wildcat Canyon Road Tuesday, threatening some structures and promoting a quick response from Cal Fire crews.

Firefighters had the Wildcat Fire, the largest of the spot fires, fully contained by 9 p.m. Tuesday. It scorched 25 acres total, according to Cal Fire.

Helicopters and ground crews jumped on the wildfires just after noon along the winding road that leads to Barona Casino in San Diego's East County.

The Wildcat Fire burned in the area just northeast of the main gate to the casino. Inside, a spokesperson said it was business as usual.

Outside, fire crews requested Wildcat Canyon Road be closed from Founders Way to San Vicente Road to keep traffic out of the area while they knocked down the small fires.

No evacuations were issued. No structures were damaged and there were no injuries.

At the command post, officials said the fires started almost simultaneously. No cause has been determined.

Weather in the area at the time the fires sparked was nearing 90 degrees but with calm winds recorded at less than 4 mph.

At the same time, an explosion and fire were reported at Brown Field near the U.S.-Mexico border. The structure fire on Continental Street sent thick, black smoke into the air over the South Bay.

With the statewide drought, fire conditions are more dangerous than in previous years.

Cal Fire crews have fought 600 more wildfires in the state of California than at this time in 2013.



Photo Credit: NBC 7

Witness Heard "Multiple Explosions" Before Brown Field Fire

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An explosion inside a hangar -- filled with dangerous chemicals and million-dollar aircraft -- sent people running for safety at Brown Field.

The three-alarm fire caused extensive damage to several buildings at the airport, but one witness said it could have been much worse.

“There’s a lot of airplanes with a lot of fuel in there. The whole thing could have gone up pretty badly,” said Jeffrey Schuster, who owns a hangar near where the fire started.

Schuster said he was driving through the security gate when he heard explosions.

“Flames were coming off the roof, about 500 feet with black smoke. There were multiple explosions. I counted at least six. Blew out my windows (of my hangar,)” he said.

San Diego and Chula Vista firefighters arrived at Brown Field around noon Tuesday. A HAZMAT team was also requested.

“There’s jet fuel, there’s nav gas, there’s profane, there’s nitrogen, everything in those hangars,” Schuster said.

The fire was extinguished by 1:30 p.m. The cause of the fire is under investigation.

At last check, no injuries had been reported, which Schuster sees are a miracle.

“If the fire trucks hadn’t gotten here in time, everything here would have gone up,” he said. “There’s a lot of airplanes in it, and it could have been a real, real nightmare.”

Brown Field, located about one mile north of the U.S.-Mexico border, accommodates private and cargo planes.



Photo Credit: NBC 7

Adult, Underage Criminals Shown Corpses at ME's Office

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A new program in San Diego County hopes a hard dose of reality will help criminals change their ways.

Participants look at real pictures of brains destroyed by drugs and mangled DUI victims. Then, they tour a room full of covered corpses.

The Medical Examiner’s chaplain and “Beyond the Caution Tape” founder Joe Davis started these courses a few months ago. Judges and parents often sign up adult criminals and at-risk youth for the program.

Davis hopes it will be used more as alternative sentencing. The program isn’t meant to torture the participants, but rather educate them.

“We get to educate them about the reality of the potential road they’re going down,” Davis said.

The program is modeled after one at the Los Angeles Coroner’s Office. Ed Winter, the Assistant Chief Coroner there, says in 11 years and nearly 30,000 participants, less than 5 percent re-offended. He could only remember two people who died for reasons that got them into the program.

Patrick Williams and Monica Hartman were among a group of participants in July. Hartman is a wife and a mother of two children – not someone you’d think was recently in jail.

“I had some challenges in my past with drugs and alcohol,” Hartman said. “It was my own doing. I did that. Nobody else did that. This is an opportunity.”

The program started with a room full of strangers for the most part. Davis showed picture after picture, far to gory to even describe. He also showed videos and public service announcements. Just when the group felt like they couldn’t take anymore, he took them on a walk they’ll never forget.

They started by walking down the halls of the Medical Examiner’s office. Davis showed them where bodies are brought in, where organs are stored and where homicide detectives view bodies. Then he brought them to the “refrigerator room.”

Aside from the dozens of covered corpses all around, the smell hit everyone like a brick wall. It was an awful smell that stays with you for hours. Davis said it’s not in your nose, but in your mind.

Davis knew no one wants to be on this tour. He said the feeling is mutual; he doesn’t want to see them again either.

“Chances are if I see you again, you may very well come through this office, and I don't want that happen,” he said.

By the end of the two-hour class, Hartman said she felt like she never wanted to do drugs again. She said, “I'm here for my husband and my two children. I just want to honor them with my sobriety and my life.”

Click here to learn more about the program.



Photo Credit: Getty Images

Petco Goes to the Dogs

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The Friars' best friends took over Petco Park before Tuesday's game against the St. Louis Cardinals as part of the annual Dog Days of Summer promotion.

Photo Credit: Matthew Wood/NBC7

Are Polling Places a Thing of the Past?

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San Diego County's registrar of voters is on a mission to get more of us to cast ballots.

He says voting by mail is really the way to go – saving taxpayer money and boosting participation.

About 55 percent of the county's voters regularly cast mail ballots, up from just under 30 percent in 2000.

Their turnout rate far exceeds that of people who vote at polling places, and more voters are requesting mail ballots in every new election cycle.

"This is an ongoing trend that's happened throughout our county,” Registrar Michael Vu said.  “And we've been highly attuned to the behavior of our voters, how they would like to vote. What they're saying is they’d like to vote conveniently in the comforts of their home."

As a result, they avoid election-day lines and help the county cut 30 to 40 percent off the costs of what precinct polling places have incurred.

Also,  their promptness returning ballots after they're mailed shortens lines at the precinct polls on Election Day and  expedites reporting of outcomes after the polls have closed.
           
The registrar’s charts and graphs, which will be presented Wednesday to the San Diego City Councils’ Economic Development & Intergovernmental Relations Committee, show that mail-ballot voters have cast the dominant number of votes in recent election cycles.
           
And those voters tend to send their ballots back sooner, rather than later in the cycles.

"Once I get the mail-in ballot I'll starting going through it -- look for things online that I can see and compare what they're trying to do," said Poway resident Kevin Martin. “Once I feel comfortable with what I'm reading, I'll send it in."
           
So as those ballots pile up,  campaign strategists can narrow their outreach to voters yet to cast ballots -- and get a quicker jump on what have been end-game strategies.

"Typically the negative stuff comes in the final week to 10 days of the campaigns,” said Jason Roe, a veteran political consultant. “Now I think you're going to see campaign professionals pushing to do that stuff a little bit earlier because they don't want people to cast a vote without knowing what's wrong with their opponent."

Also, Roe pointed out Tuesday: "As people vote, we take those voters out of our targeted universe of people we're mailing and calling and reach out to with door-to-door programs … so I think it really allows us to get more scientific about executing the campaign."

It seems, however, that there will always be a segment of the electorate that has a fondness for old-school voting.

"We're a very convenience-oriented society,” said Escondido resident Rhonda Telfer. “But I also think you miss a chance to interact with the people who are volunteering -- have that 'American experience.'"

Vu favors maintaining a number of "voting centers" for walk-in balloting, while conducting more and more elections primarily by mail ballot.
           
He said fewer than a dozen cases of suspected voter fraud have arisen from several million mail ballots since 2008.
           
Today, Oregon and Washington are the only states with all-mail ballot elections.

His counterparts in those states, according to Vu, “only have glowing remarks about their vote-by-mail program ... they love it, they’ve seen the savings, they’ve seen the participation statistics rise.”

Lawsuit: Students Being Cheated Out of P.E. Time

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Four San Diego County school districts are named in a lawsuit, accused of not giving their students enough exercise.

Students in grades K through 6 must get 200 minutes of exercise for every ten days of class, according to the state education code. That's on top of lunch and recess.

The suit alleges students in 37 school districts in the state are not getting enough exercise. These include the Del Mar Union, Chula Vista Elementary, Oceanside Unified and Solana Beach Elementary.

Doctor Holly McClurg, Superintendent of Del Mar Union School District, says she is “perplexed” her district is among those named. She points to Del Mar Heights Elementary School as one example of how much attention the district pays to physical education. The school was recently recognized by the California Department of Education for its P.E. and nutrition program.

“We're really proud of our complete program, our exceptional physical education program, and our children are healthy. They do very well on physical education tests, and quite honestly, I'm perplexed as to why we are part of the lawsuit,” McClurg said.

Donald Driscoll is the lawyer for the plaintiffs in the case. Marc Babin is a parent from northern California and head of Cal200, a group that advocates for physical education in schools.

“School districts have been too focused on preparing kids for standardized tests and not focused enough on doing things they need to do,” Driscoll said.

The Chula Vista Elementary School District released the following statement:

Our district and 36 other school districts across the state of California were named in this lawsuit. The irony is that we were named San Diego County’s first Live Well, San Diego! School District. This is a distinction which was awarded to CVESD by the county health and human services agency (HHSA) in recognizing our commitment to improve the health and well-being of our students. Since childhood obesity came to the forefront many years ago, we have made great gains in improving student health and wellness in our physical education program.

UCLA Flooded After Water Main Break

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Crews were expected to work through the night to repair a massive water main break that sent up to 10 million gallons of water gushing over nearly four hours onto Sunset Boulevard and the University of California, Los Angeles, campus Tuesday afternoon.

A 93-year-old, 30-inch diameter water main ruptured and blew open a 15-foot sinkhole about 3:30 p.m. in the 10600 block of West Sunset Boulevard, officials said. The cause of the break was being investigated.

The gusher stranded cars, a bus and drivers in several feet of swiftly rising water and mud. While there were no injuries, a Los Angeles Fire Department swift-water team rescued five people who were stranded in the flooding.

"Unfortunately, UCLA was the sink for this water source," said UCLA Chancellor Gene Block.

Officials expected to keep Sunset Boulevard near the campus closed through much of the day Wednesday.

"There's almost no chance that any portion of Sunset Boulevard around UCLA will be open," said Los Angeles City Councilman Paul Koretz, during an evening news conference Tuesday. "Do what you can to avoid it. Find some other route."

Officials said 10 million gallons of water was lost in the gusher, equivalent to about 200,000 baths, according to the US Geological Survey. The utility serves more than 500 million gallons a day to its customers throughout LA.

Water flow through the pipe when it was in proper working order was about 75,000 gallons per minute, LADWP officials said.

The riveted-steel water main carries water to the area from the Upper Stone Canyon Reservoir.

Most of the damages Tuesday occurred at UCLA.

Two parking structures and two buildings were damaged, including UCLA's recently renovated Pauley Pavilion, the site for UCLA men's and women's basketball, volleyball and women's gymnastics. Water covered the basketball court. The John Wooden recreation center was also damaged.

Mud and water also covered the university's Drake Stadium -- a track-and-field facility -- along with the nearby intramural athletic field.

UCLA officials were expected to assess the total damages after they finish pumping water out of the buildings, Block said.

Even as firefighters urged people to stay away from the area on Tuesday, the spectacle drew students, attending fall orientation, to the water. Some skimboarded and swam in it. Two students sat in water up to their chests on a stairwell as if it was a hot tub.

Water cascaded down steps into an underground parking structure and pooled as high as five feet.

Students trudged through knee-deep water as they walked across campus.

Mayor Eric Garcetti, who is out of state on vacation, said he was "closely monitoring the situation" and in contact with DWP, police and fire officials, along with UCLA, "to make sure we are leading a closely coordinated response."

Water service was briefly interupted for some residents near the break, but it was restored quickly, DWP officials said.

The flood comes in the wake of a statewide ban on public water waste as California officials approved fines of up to $500 a day for violators earlier this month.

"Unfortunately we lost a lot of water, around 35,000 gallons a minute, which is not ideal in the worst drought in the city's history," Koretz said.



Photo Credit: Gadi Schwartz

2 Suspects Rob Escondido Jewelry Store: Police

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Police are searching for two suspects who robbed a Royal Maui Jewelers store in Escondido last week.

The suspects, armed with handguns, robbed the store just before 8:30 p.m. on July 22 and fled in separate light-colored cars, according to a news release from the Escondido Police Department.

One suspect is described as black, wearing glasses with round frames, 6 feet tall, in his late 20s and wearing a long-sleeve Pendleton-style jacket and a baseball cap. He had an earring in his left ear and possibly a tattoo of a music note on the left side of his neck.

The second suspect is described as black, 6 feet tall, in his early 30s, having a muscular build, wearing diamond stud earrings and black square-framed glasses. He also was wearing black combat style boots and also was wearing a long-sleeve beige Pendleton shirt and a light green camouflage Marines hat.

The above composite sketches were released of the suspects. A reward up to $1,000 is being offered as well as a $5,000 reward from Royal Maui Jewelers for information leading to the arrest of the suspects.

Anyone with information should call San Diego Crime Stoppers at 888-580-TIPS.

Limb-Lengthening Surgery Creates Controversy

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Walking in Balboa Park, 20-year-old Chandler Crews, who stands just under 5-foot tall, hardly draws a second glance from passersby. And that has long been her wish.

That is far different than might have been the case just a few years ago when the young college student born with Achondroplasia, the most common form of dwarfism, was only 3-foot 10-inches tall. It’s a time Crews associates with many challenges, including physical.

“I was having hip problems, knee problems and back problems because of how bowed my legs were. I was going to have surgery down the road anyway so I decided to lengthen my legs and arms," she said.

This was accomplished with a series of three controversial bone-lengthening procedures using technology developed in Southern California. A patient’s bones in the arm and leg are surgically broken, then increasingly separated over a period of months with the body generating new bone to fill the gap, thus making the bone longer.

Chandler’s mom Cathe said the operation was crucial for Chandler, who was about to start school on a large university campus which she wanted to navigate like an average height student.

“I know she wanted to be treated differently and that she wanted to drive when she went to college. I had no idea how she was going to walk across a college campus with 14 inch legs,” her mother said.

Chandler documented her four-year journey and rigorous healing process as she became 13 inches taller with the procedures, which can cost up to $100,000. Insurance covered costs for Chandler, as is the case for many with dwarfism, because there are medical benefits associated with limb lengthening. At Baltimore's Sinai Hospital where Chandler was treated, doctors are quick to point out that while limb lengthening has cosmetic benefits, that is not the primary reason for the surgery.

But it is that cosmetic benefit , even if indirect, which has caused controversy and even anger in the community of little people. Critics say the procedure is often used as a vanity attempt to shed the appearance of dwarfism. A petition was started asking to little people advocacy groups to denounce the procedure as painful and largely cosmetic.

Recently, at the Little People of America convention in San Diego, Rebecca Cokley and a friend wore t-shirts that read, “ Short by birth, staying that way by choice." For Cokley, who has served as a national policy adviser on disabilities for the White House, it' s a matter of pride.

"I would say to you that dwarfism is beautiful. Feel pride in who you are. Disability is part of life’s infinite diversity," she said.

Cokley also stresses that the Americans with Disability Act now mandates better access and accommodation for people with disabilities and that radical physical change isn’t necessary.

But Chandler Crews says she is happy with her decision and not out to proselytize. She has publicized her journey to being more than a foot taller to simply let others with dwarfism know there are options.

"I was just tired of having my height define me," she said.



Photo Credit: facebook.com/ChandlerInBaltimore

Teen Accused of Stabbing Classmate Hours Before Prom Due in Court

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A Connecticut teen accused of stabbing his classmate to death at a Milford high school hours before the prom appeared briefly in court on Wednesday.

Christopher Plaskon, 17, is accused of stabbing and killing Maren Sanchez, also 16, inside Jonathan Law High School in April in an attack some students said might have been motivated by anger that she would not go to the prom with him. He pleaded not guilty in June.

Plaskon, who has been charged as an adult with murder, waived a trial by jury and his case will instead go before a three-judge panel.

Members of his defense team said has they're considering a mental health defense and believe that a three-judge panel might handle that better.

Plaskon is being held at Manson Youth Training Institute, a correctional facility in Cheshire for boys and young men between the ages of 12 and 19.

Police have said Plaskon was spotted just moments after the April 25 stabbing with blood on his hands and clothing.

"I did it. Just arrest me," he told authorities, according to police paperwork released. Police said they recovered a knife in the hallway, not far from where Sanchez was attacked.

The medical examiner concluded that Sanchez died of stab wounds to the torso and neck. Her death was ruled a homicide.

"You can imagine, when a father loses a daughter, especially under such egregious circumstances, it's extremely difficult," said attorney Anthony Bonadies, who is representing Sanchez's father in court.

Defense attorney Richard Meehan said in an e-mail that Plaskon would appear in court with his uncle, who has been appointed his guardian. He said did not offer further comment on the defense efforts.

"They're doing everything they can to try to keep it together," Meehan said, of Plaskon's family, "but it's a very difficult process."

The state's attorney is still in the process of turning over evidence to the defense. Plaskon's attorneys said they have not yet decided what kind of defense to present and may not know for some time.

"Normally these cases take at least a year, if not two," said State's Attorney Kevin Lawlor, of Milford.

Plaskon is expected back in court Oct. 16.

Kennedy Cousin to Return to Court

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Kennedy cousin Michael Skakel appeared in Stamford Superior Court on Wednesday to face the state's appeal of a ruling nearly a year ago that allowed his release from prison, pending a new trial in the case of the 1975 murder of Greenwich neighbor Martha Moxley.

Skakel said he's been spending as much time with his family as he can. Asked if he was enjoying his time out of prison, he said, "I wouldn't say enjoying."

Last October, after serving more than 11 years in jail for his 2002 conviction in Moxley's murder, a judge ruled that Skakel's former trial attorney failed to adequately represent him in 2002 and granted him a new trial. After posting bail, he walked free from prison last November.

The state is hoping a judge will reverse that decision. If the judge doesn't rule in their favor, Skakel will be granted a new trial. His attorneys are fighting to keep him a free man.

The Greenwich Time reported that Skakel's defense is also filing motions to bar audio tapes Skakel made for a memoir from being used in future court proceedings. The audio tapes were meant as a resource for ghost writer Richard Hoffman to pen Skakel's book, "Dead Man Talking: A Kennedy Cousin Comes Clean," the newspaper reported.

Skakel's attorneys told NBC's Today Show they plan to argue that the tapes, used as evidence in the previous trial, should be inadmissible this time, claiming police illegally seized the tapes from Skakel's ghostwriter and that the audio files have been selectively edited out of context.

Gary Galanis, a family friend of Skakel's, told NBC News that "the implication is that Michael was there confessing to to the crime on this tape. That's not the case at all." The tapes do contain an admission by Skakel to engaging in sexual activity in a tree outside of Moxley's home the night she was murdered. Skakel was 15 years old at the time of the murder.

Skakel's criminal defense attorney, Stephan Seeger told NBC's Ron Mott that he's ready to prove his client is innocent.

"And that's something that the public needs to know. And I think that if the public learns more about the evidence we have especially more approximate evidence that people will start to change their mind about what happened in this case," he said.

During a 10-minute court proceeding Wednesday, the judge ordered the prosecution and defense to compile a list of Skakel's belongings to be returned and ordered all evidence preserved.

Skakel declined to comment on his way out of court.

Moxley's family released the following statement ahead of Skakel's appearance on Wednesday:

"With regard to the hearing, we don't see how a judge could possibly hear the argument when no one knows what the status of the case will be. The state's appeal is just going in at the end of the week. It's our hope that the judge's decision will be overturned and the conviction will be reinstated and that Michael Skakel will go back to jail where he belongs."

Maryland Woman to Become U.S. Citizen on Her 100th Birthday

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Four generations of family joined Donatila Leticia Munoz Orantes at the Baltimore office of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Wednesday, celebrating not only her citizenship, but also her 100th birthday.

“I can’t have a better blessing than having my mother live a hundred years,” her daughter Maria Ward told News4's Kristin Wright Tuesday.

Munoz became the oldest Maryland resident to naturalize since the former Immigration and Naturalization’s immigration services were placed with USCIS in 2003. Why now, after almost three decades in the United States? Munoz told Wright she wants to vote.

The seamstress was born in Nicaragua in 1914 and spent most of her life in El Salvador before joining her daughter in the U.S. in 1987, Wright reported. She helped care for the grandchildren and made clothes for family, including for occasions like first communion, weddings and graduations.

In 1987, naturalization wasn’t an option for Munoz because she doesn’t speak English, a requirement that drops at age 80.

Now, the Germantown resident looks forward to casting her first ballot in November.

Shootout Cop to Leave Hospital

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The NYPD detective who went into a Greenwich Village smoke shop on a tip that an accused child molester on the run for two years was working there and was shot, along with two U.S. Marshals, when gunfire erupted as the officers tried to apprehend the suspect, was released from the hospital Wednesday.

Flanked by uniformed officers, detective Mario Muniz left Bellevue Hospital in a wheelchair around noon, about a day after the two marshals injured in the gunfight were released.

Muniz had the most severe injuries of the three agents: one bullet hit his stomach, crossing from the left side to the right side of the abdomen, according to doctors. A second and a third bullet fired toward his chest were stopped by a vest. 

"No question that vest was life-saving gear," said Dr. Spiros Frangos. 

Michael Palladino, president of the Detectives Endowment Association, speaking outside Bellevue, said that once Muniz goes home to recuperate, "The reality of what could have happened will set in."

Palladino added, "I'm going to renew my message to all the criminals in this city: It's not open season on these detectives ... because our mission is to get the job done."

The fugitive suspect, Charles Mozdir, was killed in the Monday afternoon shootout in Smoking Culture on West Fourth Street. Muniz went in to visually confirm the suspect was there and alone, and when he returned with the marshals to make an arrest, Mozdir opened fire with a .32-caliber revolver, police say.  

Muniz was shot twice in the stomach below his bulletproof vest. One marshal was shot in the leg and the other was hit in the elbow.

Police Commissioner Bill Bratton said Muniz's vest may have saved his life.

Mozdir had been accused of sexually assaulting a boy he babysat in Coronado, California, near San Diego. The 32-year-old was recently profiled on "The Hunt with John Walsh," a CNN show similar to "America's Most Wanted."

Mozdir was wanted on a $1 million warrant. He was charged with multiple counts of committing forcible lewd acts on a child and attempting to dissuade a witness. He skipped an April court appearance in California and his car was found in Georgia two months later.

The trail went cold after that until officers got a phone call from a woman in Florida who is part owner of Mozdir's black Labrador retriever, law enforcement sources told NBC 4 New York. 

His weapon was recovered at the scene. Mozdir had 20 more rounds in his pockets, police said.

A neighbor in the Alphabet City area where Mozdir resided said she sometimes ran into him while walking her dogs with her daughter.

He "never made eye contact," said Natasha Callapally, and was "really creepy, really weird."

-- Marc Santia contributed to this report



Photo Credit: NYPD/Facebook

Comatose Md. Man Dies in Liberia

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The family of a comatose Maryland man who passed away in Liberia during the ongoing Ebola quarantine is now trying to get his body back to the U.S. for a proper burial.

Nathaniel Dennis, 24, was visiting family in Monrovia, Liberia this month when he suffered multiple seizures July 24. He was hospitalized and had been comatose until his death Wednesday, despite the efforts of his family to bring him to home for treatment.

In an effort to control the spread of the deadly Ebola virus, Liberia's president has closed the majority of the country's borders, meaning Dennis' family was unable to transport him to a hospital in Ghana via medical evacuation -- although he had tested negative for Ebola, his family said. 

"At the same time, I'm relieved because I know my brother is no longer suffering," Dennis' brother Norwood Dennis said.

According to a GoFundMe site his family set up, Dennis grew sicker and began to need dialysis and a ventilator -- but the equipment wasn't available at the facility where he was.

"We're all devastated," Dennis' cousin Vannette Tolbert said. "We don't feel like we've been defeated because we tried as hard as we could."

A fundraiser was held in Dennis' honor Wednesday night at Lima Lounge on K Street NW in D.C. His family hopes to raise enough money to help transport his body back to the U.S. for a proper burial -- as of Wednesday night, the family had raised nearly $11,000.

Dennis' mother had traveled to Liberia to be with her son, but was unable to see him due to the quarantine. A medical examiner in Liberia will conduct an autopsy which should shed light on what exactly led to his death.

Dennis graduated from Howard High School and studied at Howard Community College.

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