Police Find Boy, 4, Wandering Streets Drunk Wearing A Dress

Dreamin' Demon- Early Tuesday morning, 4-year-old Hayden Wright grabbed a 12-ounce beer from his grandfather’s cooler and walked out of his house while his mother slept. He then knocked on a neighbors door with part of the beer consumed.

What was discussed between the boy and the people who opened the door is not known, but what is known is that Hayden then snuck into a neighbor’s house through an unlocked front door, and stole five wrapped Christmas gifts.

One of the gifts contained a little girl’s dress which Hayden then put on. And that’s how police found the little boy wandering the neighborhood at 2 a.m. – drunk and wearing a dress. His mother, 21-year-old April Wright, has an explanation for her boy’s actions.

Wright says Hayden was only out trying to find his dad who is in jail. “He runs away trying to find his father,” she said. “He wants to get in trouble so he can go to jail because that’s where his daddy is.” How fucked up is that? Check out the video.

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News Channel 3 Mugshots -

Anna Clifford was stopped for erratic driving in the early hours after a night out to celebrate her birthday with friends in Memphis, Tennessee.

Victims' Parents Remain Divided Over West Memphis 3 Case

(CNN) -- There was a time that Pamela Hobbs believed justice had been served for her young son's murder.

But 16 years after the mutilations and killings of three 8-year-old Cub Scouts, including her son, she has more doubts than ever.

Tear-stricken and angry, Pamela Hobbs sat though the original trial of the three accused teens -- Damien Echols, 18; Jessie Misskelley Jr., 17, and Jason Baldwin; 16.

They were convicted of murdering her son, Stevie Branch, and two other neighborhood boys, Michael Moore and Christopher Byers. The second-graders' bodies were found bruised and mutilated in a West Memphis, Arkansas ditch; their arms and legs were bound by shoe laces.

The killers became dubbed the West Memphis 3.

When interviewed by media and documentary crews after the trial, Hobbs believed justice had been served. Misskelley and Baldwin had life sentences. Echols was on death row.

But recent developments -- including new eyewitness statements and DNA evidence from the defense -- have uprooted her faith in those prosecutions. Once a staunch believer that the teens were guilty, now she says the teens accused of killing her son in the West Memphis 3 deserve a new trial.

"I wanted to believe in our justice system," said Hobbs, now 45. She moved to Blytheville, Arkansas, shortly after the 1993 trial. "But time heals all wounds, and you start looking at things differently."

Her public change of heart has been supported by new evidence presented by the defense over the past few years. In 2007, DNA and forensic evidence tests revealed no physical evidence at the crime scene that linked the three teens to murders. The evidence was presented to the state.
Furthermore, DNA that might belong to two other men was found in the knot used to tie Christopher.

One of the men is Terry Hobbs, the stepfather of Stevie, the defense says. In 1993, such advanced DNA testing had not been available, attorneys said.

The defense continues to argue the results of the DNA evidence. In September, the Arkansas Supreme Court received an appeal from Echols, requesting a new trial after the lower courts denied his request to submit new DNA evidence. This month, an Arkansas Law Review article stated Echols should be granted a new trial based on the 2007 DNA evidence.

The Arkansas Supreme Court will likely hear oral arguments for a new trial for Echols in February, say officials representing him.

Three eye witnesses, who resided next to one of the victims, filed affidavits in October with the Arkansas Supreme Court. The witnesses said they saw the second-graders with Terry Hobbs the night before the bodies were found by police.

The statement from the witnesses contradicted Hobbs' statements to police and in court that he never saw his stepson, Stevie, on the day of the murder.

"They [authorities] never really did any investigation," said Dennis Riordan, Echols' defense attorney out of San Francisco, California. "They never interviewed Hobbs. The fact that the witnesses saw him, and they realized for the first time, it was very significant."

Pamela Hobbs was divorced from Terry Hobbs in 2004 because of marital problems stemming from the pain that followed her son's death, she said. She declined to comment on whether she thought her ex-husband saw the 8-year-old boys.

Hobbs has adamantly rejected the defense's allegations that he saw his stepson that day. Hobbs, 51, who still lives in West Memphis, said the defense is attempting to make him the target because Echols is on death row. There is no execution date set.

He raises the question many skeptics of the three men's innocence have echoed: Why would the eyewitness evidence surface 16 years later? Why didn't the witnesses come forward sooner?

To this day, Terry Hobbs says he believes the rightful killers are in prison.

The State's Attorneys Office and prosecutors won't comment about the defense's claims. Mike Walden, prosecuting attorney for Craighead County, where the original trial took place, said the affidavits are weak.

"I think most people will tell you these affidavits are insufficient to justify filing charges against someone else," Walden said about the three new eyewitnesses presented by the defense. "They don't contain enough evidence to enable a prosecuting attorney to make a charging position."

Critics of the defense attorneys say there has been too much finger-pointing over the past 16 years. The defense "can't get their story straight," said Tracy Ripple, who started a Web site criticizing supporters of the West Memphis 3.

West Memphis Police Department declined to comment. An officer said they were told by the state's Attorney General's office not to comment on the West Memphis 3 case.

During the original trial in 1993, prosecutors argued the three teens were part of a satanic cult when they murdered the three children. They said punctures and cut marks on the victims were argued to be to be part of a sadistic ritual. After the trial, some forensic examiners argued those marks were animal bite marks.

The prosecution relied on the confession of Misskelley, a 17-year-old with learning disabilities and an IQ of 70. He confessed after an untaped, three-hour interrogation by police without his parents or an attorney present. Misskelley later recanted his confession.

The teens, now men serving time in the Arkansas penitentiary system, have maintained their innocence. They have tried appealing, arguing that they weren't adequately represented in the original trial. Echols remains on death row, and no execution date has been set.

Pamela Hobbs hasn't been the only parent of the victims to shift to the side of the West Memphis 3 supporters.

Mark Byers, the father of Christopher, lives in Millington, Tennessee. He said he began to think the three men might be innocent, particularly after the 2007 DNA tests results were released. His wife, Melissa, passed away in 1996.

After the murders, Byers announced to the media fervently that he believed the West Memphis 3 were guilty. But by 2005, he began to question the original trial. He said parts of Misskelley's confession did not match up with actual crime. For example, the confession talks about committing the crime in the woods, but medical examiners found few traces of blood in the woods.

"The worst part about it is the three real victims that deserve justice, the three 8-year-old children have not been given justice," Byers said. "They got a hack job for a police investigation. It was a rush to find someone who they said did this."

Todd and Diana Moore, parents of Michael, say the West Memphis 3 are guilty. Todd Moore, now divorced from Diana Moore, says he can't believe the eyewitness affidavits because they are based on memories from 16 years ago. His ex-wife declined to comment.

"They [witnesses] may have seen something," said Moore, who now lives in Marion, Arkansas. "But May 5, 1993, wasn't the day."

The murders of the three boys remain etched into the community even years after the trial ended. The case inspired two HBO documentaries, "Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills" and "Paradise Lost 2."

As years passed, the West Memphis 3 continued to live in the media spotlight. The case gained notoriety among celebrities such as the Dixie Chicks and actress Winona Ryder, who have publicly said the three men should have a new trial.

Over the years, the parents of the three boys have watched the headlines return. Some hope for a new trial for the three men, who have languished behind bars for their young adult years behind bars. And other parents pray the men will stay locked up for good.

"I want someone to put a stop to this," said Terry Hobbs. He fondly recalls the memories with his stepson-- the two of them swimming in the backyard pool.

"I'm tired of this stuff. No one understands or cares what this does to us as parents over and over again."

Teen Who Cries Blood Gets Help From Experts

(CNN) -- Calvino Inman had just stepped out of the shower one evening in May when a glimpse of his reflection in the mirror caused him to panic. "I looked up and saw myself, and I thought I was going to die," says the 15-year-old from Rockwood, Tennessee. His eyes were streaming tears of blood.

Inman's mother, Tammy Mynatt, says she immediately rushed him to the emergency room, but by the time they arrived, the bleeding had stopped. Doctors couldn't see what the family was trying to explain. They returned home completely perplexed. When the bloody tears returned a few days later while Inman was on a camping trip, he was rushed back to the hospital.

Mynatt hoped that once doctors finally witnessed the phenomenon, there would be answers. But that wasn't the case. "The people at the hospital said they had never seen anything like it," Mynatt recalls. She says her son underwent an MRI, a CT scan and an ultrasound, but none of the tests had abnormal results. "'We don't know how to stop it,'" Mynatt remembers being told by doctors. "It just has to run its course."

Dr. Barrett G. Haik, director of the University of Tennessee's Hamilton Eye Institute, says there is an answer, sort of. He says "crying blood," a condition called haemolacria, is common in people who have experienced extreme trauma or who have recently had a serious head injury. But a case such as Inman's is still a medical mystery. "What's really rare is to have a child like this," Haik says. "Only once every several years do you see someone with no obvious cause."

Haik and a team of researchers published a 2004 study in the Journal of the American Society of Ophthalmic Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery looking specifically at children who developed unexplained, spontaneous episodes of bloody tears between February 1992 and January 2003. Only four cases were recorded.

Because of the rarity of the condition, experts anticipate Inman will have multiple tests from a variety of specialists, including hematologists (blood specialists), ophthalmologists (eye specialists) and otolaryngologists (ear, nose and throat specialists).

Dr. James C. Flemming, also an ophthalmologist at the Hamilton Eye Institute, has been in touch with Mynatt and her son. He is reviewing Inman's medical records for possible treatment.

Flemming says complications to look for include blood clots, a growth or tumor near the eye, or even a simple infection. He also says the culprit could be something so tiny that none of the standard tests would pick it up. "It's a very hard thing to estimate," Flemming says. "You may have to watch expectedly for other symptoms to show up."

Inman's analysis would also include a psychological evaluation to rule out the possibility that the bloody tears were faked. "When you can't find an origin, you can't eliminate any of the possibilities" Haik explains. He says there have been cases where children seeking attention have found creative ways to simulate haemolacriatic symptoms.

Still, Mynatt and her son are relieved to at least have more guidance. In an interview with CNN affiliate WATE, Mynatt was near tears herself explaining her frustration: "I just truly want somebody to say they've seen this and they can help us."

And that's at least one reassurance Flemming and his team of experts at the Hamilton Eye Institute can offer. "We get more positive talk now than negative. It really feels like there's hope," Mynatt says, relieved.

But still, the possibility remains that after endless tests, the underlying cause may never be found. In all four cases Haik examined previously, the bleeding stopped on its own.

"As physicians, that's disconcerting, because we like to have the answers," Haik admits. Moreover, he says he knows from previous experience that the toll of not knowing is much worse for patients. "I could always see the fear in their faces because no matter what we studied, we couldn't find an answer."

'John Schools' Try to Change Attitudes About Paid Sex

NASHVILLE, Tennessee (CNN) -- The accused came from all walks of life: Retirees, dads and twentysomethings. An engineer, a business owner and an auto worker. A man in a wheelchair. Men in need of Spanish or Farsi translators.

About 40 men somberly entered a classroom on a recent Saturday morning. About half of them wore shiny wedding bands.

All had tried to buy a prostitute's services and were caught by police. It was their first offense, and a county court referred them to a one-day program called the John School. It's a program run by volunteers and city officials in conjunction with Magdalene House, a nonprofit that works to get prostitutes off the streets.

"Prostitution doesn't discriminate," said Kenny Baker, a cognitive behavioral therapist who is the program's director. "Most of these men don't have a prior criminal history, so our goal is to help these folks understand why they put themselves in a bad position, to prevent it from happening again."

Set in a church in Nashville, Tennessee, the John School is led by former prostitutes, health experts, psychologists and law enforcement officers who talk to -- and at times berate -- the men about the risks of hiring a prostitute.

Prostitution is based on the law of supply and demand. The thinking is: Women won't stop selling sex until men stop buying.

So Nashville and a growing number of cities are shifting their focus from locking up suppliers to educating buyers. Across the country, about 50 communities are using John Schools. Atlanta, Georgia, and Baltimore, Maryland, are among dozens more cities that plan to launch similar programs by the end of the year.

"It will make them [offenders] see that this is not a victimless crime, and they are contributing to the exploitation of women," said Stephanie Davis, policy adviser on women's issues at the mayor's office in Atlanta. "It's hurting them, the man, and it's hurting their families and its hurting the community."

No comprehensive effort has been made to track the numbers, but experts estimate 1 million to 2 million prostitutes work in the United States. The FBI's 2007 Uniform Crime Report lists about 78,000 arrests for prostitution and commercialized vice, but experts say those numbers are extremely conservative because many sex workers and johns aren't caught.

Experts add that easy accessibility to prostitutes and pornography on the Internet are feeding the problem.

In most communities, prostitution has been a one-sided battle focused on the women who offer sex. Their customers, when they are arrested, are usually cited for a misdemeanor and fined.

By comparison, prostitutes are often charged with more severe sentences and jailed for months, depending on the offense.

But in Nashville, the johns' faces are shown on a police Web site.

For decades, Nashville battled prostitution by arresting women on the streets and through stings. Still, the problem persisted, irritating business owners and residents.

In the early 1990s, Nashville's mayor helped launch the John School with the help of the Magdalene House, public defenders, prosecutors and police officers. Nashville became one of the first major cities in the U.S. to focus on the customers, predominantly men.

Only first-time offenders who solicit an adult are eligible for John School. Johns who pick up minors are not eligible and face much tougher sentences.

"If you get caught again and you get me, I will guarantee to put you in jail," warned Antoinette Welch, a local prosecutor, in speaking to the men in the class. "I've had men cry to me that they will lose their jobs or their wives, but you're all grown up and you make your own decisions."

The men listened carefully as Welch talked about their records; many had not yet told their wives or significant others about their arrest.

If the john pleads guilty, pays a $250 fee and completes the course without re-offending, the charge can be dismissed after a year. The money paid by the john goes to Magdalene House; the program doesn't cost taxpayers any money. John School models in other communities may differ.

A woman who called herself Alexis, a 35-year-old former prostitute with dark hair and bright blue eyes, spoke to the men as the class came to an end. Four years ago, she left the streets and now works at a factory.

By the age of 10, Alexis had learned to barter with sex with her stepfather. In her 20s, she found herself hooked on drugs and selling her body. She was arrested more than 80 times. She was hospitalized after someone shot her on the job.

As she told her story, the men were silent. A few blushed, while others stared at the floor.

"These gentlemen are no different than I was on the streets," she said. "I think everyone has to look at the void they are trying to fill."

One john, a father of two with salt-and-pepper hair, found himself near tears after Alexis spoke. In July, he tried to pick up a prostitute through Craigslist. He said he was depressed and having problems with his wife.

"I'm so embarrassed," he said. "These girls are somebody's daughters. I have a daughter."

Some evidence suggests that John Schools are working. A study released in 2008 by Abt Associates Inc. for the federal government looked at the John School program in San Francisco, California. It's one of the largest programs in the country; more than 7,000 johns have attended since 1995.

According to the study, the re-arrest rate fell sharply after the school was launched, and stayed more than 30 percent lower for 10 years afterward.

But critics call John School a slap on the wrist. On Saturday, one john abandoned the classroom.

Carol Leigh, a member of the Sex Workers Outreach Project, a group that promotes legalizing prostitution in California, said she doesn't believe the program is an effective deterrent. Last year, she helped advocate on behalf of a law known as Proposition K that would legalize prostitution in San Fransisco. The proposal was rejected by the city.

"John School doesn't do that much," said Leigh, who has worked as a prostitute. "The reality is they aren't spending that much time on the johns and they will just go to other venues. This also doesn't target the violent offenders who are the real problem."

Melissa Farley, head of the nonprofit group Prostitution Research and Education in San Fransisco, believes johns deserve stronger punishment like longer prison sentences.

A recent study she conducted among johns in Chicago, Illinois, found that 41 percent of them said John School would deter them from buying sex, compared with 92 percent who said being placed on a sex offender registry would scare them from re-offending.

Nashville officials said they haven't tracked recidivism rates in their city, but the school's program director said it's probably deterring a third of the offenders in each class.

At least one college educated, 47-year-old john's attitude appeared to change on a recent Saturday.

After class he wrote, "There is no good part. I would rather be with my wife. This was quick but it wasn't worth it."

FBI Puts Brazen Bandit's Face on Billboards

(To me, he kinda looks like that actor from the Dave Chappelle Show, lol)

(CNN) -- He has been captured by bank surveillance cameras in four states, sneering and holding a pistol sideways during heists.

Now authorities hope to catch the serial bank robber by plastering his image on electronic billboards throughout the South.

The FBI is searching for the suspect, who they say has robbed at least 10 banks in Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee.

"This is a unique instance in which the subject in these bank robberies has not used a mask ... or any type of a gimmick," FBI agent Kevin Keithley said Tuesday in Johnson City, Tennessee. "It is really uncommon just to come into a bank and show his face like he has."

The brazen bandit has been captured in surveillance footage sporting the same close-cropped hairstyle and goatee in many of the holdups. He does not seem to make any effort to cover his face and sometimes is seen aiming a handgun sideways, showing his tattoos on both forearms as he gestures at bank employees.

The FBI has mapped the bank robber's path on a map that crisscrosses the southern United States.

The billboard that went up Monday roughly follows the path that bank robber took, the FBI said.

His odyssey has spanned more than 600 miles north, from Charleston, South Carolina, to Louisville, Kentucky, and about 500 miles east, from Knoxville, Tennessee, to Edenton, North Carolina.

The robberies started in May and the most recent one was last week in Tennessee, Keithley said.

The suspect has not yet harmed anybody in the robberies, but the FBI considers him extremely dangerous.

"This guy has made no effort to hide the gun," Keithley said . "He has threatened the use of it in every bank robbery that he has committed. He has put the gun in the faces of tellers, threatened to use the gun against them.... So certainly we need to get this guy in custody before he does harm someone."

The suspect is described as white, about 25 years old, 5 feet 9 to 5 feet 11, 170 to 175 pounds. He has short, reddish-brown hair and an unshaven goatee, the FBI said.

The bureau asks anybody who knows the bank robber to call 423-282-8090.

Mother Charged With Killing Burned Child

(Memphis, TN) A Memphis woman has been charged with killing her 11-month-old son by not caring for him properly.

Karen Kirkwood is charged with First Degree Murder and two counts of Aggravated Child Abuse.

In March, Kirkwood's son, Christopher, was severely burned in what was deemed a suspicious fire.

Investigators say Kirkwood did not immediately report the 2nd and 3rd degree burns that covered 30% of the child's body.

Christopher Kirkwood was released into his mother's care April 16 from Le Bonheur Children's Medical Center where his mother was trained how to care for him.

Hospital administrators taught Kirkwood how to care for her son's wounds as well as his tracheal tube.

Monday, May 25, Christopher Kirkwood was found dead in his mother's home. An autopsy showed the child's tracheal tube was, "...completely clogged, obstructing the child's airway."

Police say Karen Kirkwood left Christopher unattended for long periods of time and that she, "...opted to disregard the care orders of the doctors and the training she received..."

It was also learned Kirkwood never used a monitor given to her to track her son's breathing and heart rate, something that would have alerted her to the blocked tracheal tube.

The child's grandmother said he was burned by a space heater. The woman said the family was in the process of moving so he was placed on a pile of clothes to sleep. Because the home's heater did not work, a space heater was put next to the clothing and a fire started.

'Historical Keepsake Photo'

(click if you wish to enlarge)

(My blog title is the same title as the email; I am NOT trying to be funny..)

(CNN) -- The chairman of Tennessee's Democratic Party wants a Republican legislative aide fired for sending out a "reprehensible" e-mail depicting President Obama as two cartoonish white eyes peering from a black background.

Obama's image is in the last square of a collage containing portraits of the previous 43 U.S. presidents. Copies of the e-mail were posted on the Internet on Monday.

Sherri Goforth, an administrative assistant to state Sen. Diane Black, R-Gallatin, has admitted she sent the e-mail May 28 with the title "Historical Keepsake Photo." She said, without elaborating, that she mistakenly sent it "to the wrong list of people."

According to The Tennessean, a Nashville newspaper, a note on the e-mail said it was paid for by the Tennessee Republican Party, but GOP officials denied that they produced it. Black chairs the Senate Republican Caucus.

"I want people to know that the communication was sent without my knowledge, and that ... this does not reflect my beliefs or my values or my opinions, and I won't tolerate those kind of communications coming from my office," Black told CNN affiliate WKRN-TV in Nashville.

Black rebuked Goforth but didn't dismiss her.

CNN left phone messages Tuesday for Goforth and Black.

"Is this indicative of what Senate Republicans think about our commander in chief?" asked state Democratic Party Chairman Chip Forrester in a statement posted on the party's Web site.

"I am calling on Senator Black to reject this racist smear and fire this staffer who, on state government time, on state government computers, using a state government e-mail account, launched this bigoted attack on our president," Forrester said. "Keeping her on the staff would send the message that this type of behavior is condoned by the Senate Republican Caucus."

"This e-mail is reprehensible, insults the office of the president, and is embarrassing to all Tennesseans regardless of political party," Forrester said.

Goforth told Christian Grantham of the Web site Nashville Is Talking that she had received a letter of reprimand from her superiors but will remain on the job.

Grantham said Goforth told him she felt "very bad about accidentally sending it to the wrong list" of people.

"I went on the wrong e-mail and I inadvertently hit the wrong button," Grantham quoted Goforth as saying. "I'm very sick about it, and it's one of those things I can't change or take back."

Forrester, in his Web posting, said, "Ms. Goforth does not seem to understand what she did wrong. She has apologized for 'sending [the e-mail] to the wrong list of people.' I believe that any list of people would have recognized this e-mail as offensive and hateful."

State Rep. Johnny Shaw, D-Bolivar, a member of the black and Democratic caucuses, told WKRN-TV that Goforth should be fired.

"I don't think a reprimand is enough. I think this lady needs to go. I don't think she should be a part of the people who represent the state of Tennessee," Shaw said.

He told CNN that Goforth and Black, as well as Republican Lt. Gov. and Senate Speaker Ron Ramsey, should make public apologies for the incident.

"I am appalled. It's despicable. It's disgusting. It should not have happened but it does happen," Shaw said. "It is the president of our country that we're talking about."

Forrester added: "Unfortunately, Sherri Goforth's e-mail joins the list of shameful episodes by Tennessee Republicans, from the infamous 'Birds of a Feather' direct-mail piece that featured black crows with the heads of Barack Obama and [African-American] Rep. Nathan Vaughn, to the "Barack the Magic Negro" song that former Tennessee GOP Party Chairman Chip Saltsman sent to RNC members during his failed campaign for RNC chair."

Suspect: 'Rape' Was Victim's Idea

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- A man accused of kidnapping a Georgia woman and raping her in a Smoky Mountain cabin before a pizza deliveryman called 911 claims the entire episode was the woman's idea, according to a court filing Thursday.

David Jansen, 46, of Snellville, Ga., "continues to strongly assert his innocence regarding any and all charges brought or contemplated by any authorities," said his attorney Don Bosch of Knoxville.

"(I) hope that the appropriate authorities will immediately reach the same conclusion that Mr. Jansen has violated no state or federal laws and accordingly dismiss his charges as soon as possible," Bosch said.

Jansen, who is free on an $800,000 cash bond, seeks a bond reduction to $100,000, claiming the smaller amount is "clearly sufficient" to assure his appearance at an initial court hearing July 17 in Sevier County.

Jansen was arrested at a remote rental cabin near Gatlinburg on May 26 on charges of aggravated kidnapping and aggravated rape after a pizza deliveryman spotted a bound woman inside the cabin who mouthed the words, "Please call 911."

The deliveryman made the call and the alleged victim was apparently freed.

The 24-year-old woman told police she was kidnapped from her Atlanta neighborhood that morning while jogging by a man she knew from a club.

Channel 2 Action News does not identify alleged rape victims. The woman has not returned e-mails seeking comment.

Jansen's brief claims he has known the woman since 2008 through an Atlanta strip club where she worked and that she was "sexually aroused by bondage."

The "idea of taking the out-of-state trip originated" with the woman "and she instructed him on what to bring, such as rope, sex toys, massage oil and extra clothing for her," the document said.

According to Jansen, he stopped three times on the drive from Atlanta to Tennessee, twice leaving the woman unattended in the car and she never attempted to flee or call for help.

Jansen claims that surveillance video from a gas station in Sylva, N.C. shows him leaving the woman unattended in the car while he goes into the store for several minutes.

After having sex at the cabin, she told him to order the pizza, Jansen's brief said.

The brief also contains court records of the woman's convictions for lying to police in Georgia about assaults in 2005 and 2006.

"In the event these charges are not dismissed prior to a preliminary hearing, at the preliminary hearing, or when a grand jury returns an indictment, Mr. Jansen intends to demand a speedy trial at arraignment and pursue an immediate trial," the brief said.

District Attorney Jimmy Dunn said Monday he plans to meet with investigators and possibly the woman next week "to see if we have a case to proceed on."

Lawyer: Arkansas Shooter Tortured in Yemen

LITTLE ROCK (CNN) -- The Tennessee man suspected in Monday's attack on a recruitment center in Little Rock, Arkansas, was brainwashed and tortured while imprisoned in Yemen, his lawyer said Thursday.

"My client is a young man, I think, brainwashed," attorney Jim Hensley told CNN. "What else could be explained for a young man who's a true American, plays football, helps his grandmother and mows the lawns of his neighbors? Comes back and then finds himself in this situation? That is not a normal situation in my book."

Abdulhakim Muhammad, formerly known as Carlos Bledsoe, is charged with killing Pvt. William Long, 23, of Conway, Arkansas, and wounding Pvt. Quinton Ezeagwula, 18, of Jacksonville, Arkansas.

The 23-year-old convert to Islam has pleaded not guilty. But, according to court records, he told police that he had "political and religious" motives for the shooting.

In September 2007, Muhammad left Tennessee State University in Nashville, where he was studying business, and traveled to Yemen to teach English to children and to learn Arabic.

There, "he felt at peace with these people," even marrying a Yemeni, Hensley said.

But things began to change when his client was detained for a minor visa violation in Yemen and sent to prison, where he was housed with radical Islamic fundamentalists, Hensley said.

In November 2008, Muhammad was arrested in the port city of Aden for overstaying his visa and deported two months later in cooperation with the U.S. Embassy, a Yemeni official said.

There is disagreement about the time he was incarcerated. The lawyer said Muhammad told him he had served four months in prison.

Hensley said Muhammad told him that, during the last two weeks he was held, he was deprived of sleep and food and "was slapped around a little bit," enduring beatings on the backs of his legs.

During Muhammad's time in the prison, an FBI agent visited him not as an ally but as an interrogator, Hensley said.

However, Mohammed AlBasha, a spokesman for the Yemeni Embassy, rejected Hensley's assertion. "It is understood that the process of radicalization can take a number of years, not a couple of weeks," he said. "So, the statement that his lawyer made, that he was brainwashed and tortured for weeks in Yemen, are baseless."

The FBI agent "believed that Carlos was some kind of hardened terrorist hellbent on doing violence to America," Hensley said.

After he was released in January, Muhammad returned to Nashville, Tennessee, where his parents noticed their son was "fidgety, frustrated, can't sit still," Hensley said.

The same FBI agent approached him and threatened to put him under surveillance, "to do everything we can to cause you trouble," Hensley said.

A federal law enforcement source told CNN that the FBI was investigating Muhammad, but FBI spokesmen would not confirm any contact they might have had.

Hensley added that Muhammad's parents told him that, once he returned to Nashville, "he was a different human," one who blamed the United States for the war wounds suffered by some of the children whom he had taught, children without arms or legs.

He also blamed U.S. immigration policy for his inability to bring his bride back to the United States with him, Hensley said.

"A first-year psychology student would be able to see that this young man needed some help, and that wasn't offered him by anyone," Hensley said.

Muhammad eventually moved to Little Rock to help his father's Memphis tour business expand into Arkansas.

Just before the shooting, he was working out of a Hilton hotel in Little Rock in the family business, driving a sightseeing van.

Hensley said he was speaking to the news media because Muhammad had asked him to. "His agenda is different from mine; he wants to be a martyr," the lawyer said.

The case has attracted high-level attention, with President Obama saying Thursday in a written statement that he was "deeply saddened" by the shootings.

Federal agents said Wednesday that they were looking into whether Internet searches of various locations in several other U.S. cities were a sign that Muhammad was seeking "additional targets." The cities investigators included Atlanta, Georgia; Louisville, Kentucky; New York; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and Memphis, Tennessee, where Muhammad grew up.

Hensley told CNN that his client was not the only person who was using the computer.

Muhammad is being held on a state count of capital murder and 16 counts of engaging in a terrorist act by firing into an occupied building.

Woman Charged After Baby, Car Seat Thrown

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) - Police have charged a Memphis woman who they say used a child car seat with a 2-month-old infant inside to strike a Wal-Mart store employee.

Detective Monique Martin said in a release Monday that Camilla Fields was charged with one felony count of child abuse and neglect and one count of assault.

A police report from the May 20 incident said Fields was carrying the car seat when she was confronted by a loss prevention officer about shoplifting from the store.

Police said Fields threw the seat and ran away and the baby landed face down on the pavement. An emergency medical technician performed treatment until the baby regained consciousness.

The child's mother, Stacey Cleaves, was also charged with false reporting and child neglect.

Pizza Delivery Man Is A Hero!

SEVIERVILLE, Tenn. - Chris Turner normally wouldn't drive 30 miles into the remote Tennessee mountains just to deliver a pizza.

The one time he did, he came upon a scene that drained the color from his face and made him "numb from head to toe" — a woman with her hands tied, silently begging him to call 911.

It was no joke, and Turner, 32, rushed to a nearby house and made that call. Police say the woman was whisked away from the Atlanta neighborhood she was jogging in by a man who frequented her business. Authorities say he raped her and held her captive inside a cabin. The 24-year-old woman was rescued by Sevier County deputies Tuesday evening because of Turner's quick thinking.

Turner told The Associated Press on Friday that he noticed the woman pop up from a couch while her abductor signed the credit card slip.

"While I was standing in the door all you could see was the back of the couch," Turner said. "And then she popped over the back of the couch and showed me that her hands were bound. And she was just mouthing, 'Please call 911.'"

Turner at first thought it was a joke. "When I realized what was going on, I went numb from head to toe and turned pale white," he said.

Turner tried to look calm. "Have a nice day. Enjoy your food," he told the suspect. Then he rushed back to his van, where his wife was waiting behind the wheel. "Go, go, go!" he told her.

The cabin was out of cell phone range. So they drove to a nearby house and called police. They waited to make sure the suspect didn't flee. Then Turner stayed to see the man arrested and the victim taken away in an ambulance. "I wanted to make sure she was OK," he said.

The woman told authorities she was jogging near her home in Atlanta about 11:50 a.m. Tuesday when a frequent customer at a restaurant and bar owned by the woman and her husband asked her to see his new car. She got into the vehicle, which turned out to be a rental, and was immediately tied up.

She told police the suspect drove her more than 200 miles to the cabin in Tennessee and raped her. The Associated Press does not identify alleged sexual assault victims.

Police arrested David J. Jansen, 46, of Snellville, Ga., without a struggle on charges of aggravated kidnapping and rape, Sheriff Ron Seals said in a statement. He was released on $800,000 bond late Thursday. His attorney, Donald Bosch of Knoxville, had no comment Friday.

Capt. Jeff McCarter refused to discuss the case Friday. But he earlier told The Mountain Press newspaper that officials believe the woman was in imminent danger.

The victim and her husband visited Turner at Capelli's Pizza and Subs in Gatlinburg before heading home Wednesday. "She was just thanking me ... for trusting her," Turner said. "She said he was going to kill her ... after he got done with her."

Turner's boss, John Henry, said the cabin was about 30 miles from his pizza shop.

"We usually don't go out that far," he said. "But he said, 'Yeah, I will take it.' It was just luck. For her, it was."

And Around Mother's Day, How Lovely..

A 17-year-old boy accused of killing his mother last week intentionally strangled her to death and sexually abused her corpse before dumping her body in a trash can, according to a juvenile court document released Monday.

Johnson City Juvenile Court Judge Sharon Green ordered Codey Wayne Miller, 17, held at the Upper East Tennessee Juvenile Detention Center pending a June 5 status hearing, when she will hear motions in the case, including prosecutors’ request to transfer the teenager to adult Criminal Court for trial.

Miller is charged with first-degree murder, felony murder and abuse of a corpse in the death of his mother, Sherry R. Cooper, 36, at her Lake Terrace housing development apartment on Thursday.

Assistant Public Defender Ivan Lilly, appointed to represent Miller, waived the teen’s detention hearing after telling Green that details from the homicide had not been released to news media or Miller’s family.

State law allows juvenile judges to grant media access to juvenile hearings on some cases, including murder, and Green granted a request from the Press. She also released documents that are public record in the case due to the charges involved, which allowed Miller's name to become public record. Most juvenile records are sealed by state law.

Christopher A. Johnson, 36, 1355 Breedlove Ave., Memphis, is also charged along with Miller. He’s being held on charges of felony murder and abuse of a corpse. Washington County Sessions Judge Robert Lincoln arraigned Johnson by video Monday morning and appointed attorney Jim Lonon to represent him.

If convicted as an adult, Miller faces life in prison as would Johnson. If his case remains in juvenile court and his case is handled there, Miller could only be held in custody until he is 19 years old.

Johnson is accused of watching Miller kill Cooper sometime on May 7. According to a court affidavit, Johnson did not intervene in the killing or contact authorities after it happened.

Police also wrote in the court document that Johnson retrieved a trash can from outside the residence and “instructed the juvenile to place the victim’s body inside the trash can.”

One or both of them put the can back outside, according to police, but Cooper’s body was not discovered until around 1:30 a.m. May 9.

When police responded to 2472 Mint Hill Road about 1:30 a.m. Saturday on a death investigation, Tony Hyder was sitting over top of Cooper’s body in the side yard of the apartment building crying, according to the police report. Hyder, 58, 446 S. Broadway St., was apparently Cooper’s boyfriend.

Investigators remained silent Monday about details of the killing, including what prompted them to charge Miller and Johnson with felony murder. Felony murder requires that the killing occurred during the commission of one of a list of specific crimes that include acts of terrorism, arson, rape, robbery, burglary, theft, kidnapping, aggravated child abuse, aggravated child neglect, aircraft piracy or discharging a bomb.

“We’re not releasing that until we get the autopsy back,” said Johnson City Police Lt. Steve Sherfey. He did confirm that Cooper suffered no trauma, no knife wounds and no gunshot wounds.

“The autopsy has not been done. They should be doing that (Tuesday),” he said. An investigator in the case will likely be present for that procedure, Sherfey said.

District Attorney General Tony Clark said earlier in the day that he planned to petition Johnson City Juvenile Court to transfer the boy to adult court for trial, and Assistant District Attorney General Kelly McCoy told Green the state will file that motion.

Johnson remains jailed on a $150,000 bond.

"Dumb as a Blog" Is Great!

Five-Alarm Morons- Three men who attempted a home invasion in search of medication were foiled by a 58-year-old woman brandishing a bowl of homemade chili and a broom, according to police in Claiborne County, TN.

The invaders fled but were eventually apprehended in connection with the crime, says cops. One of the men, by the looks of things, seems to have suffered a hot sauce-related injury to his eye. They are (l to r) Fabian Moore, 32, Tommy Wayne Garrett, 24, and Samuel Partin, 30.

Police working on this con carne case say that two of them were associated with a convenience store robbery.

Maybe the victim has a future teaching a self-defense cooking class: Tai Cheese? Te Kwon Donut? Jiu Jit-soup?

Man Who Spent 22 Years On Death Row Is Cleared

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A former death row inmate in Tennessee has been cleared of murder, three years after the Supreme Court raised repeated questions about his conviction.

State prosecutors on Tuesday asked a judge to drop all charges against Paul House, who was convicted of murder and sentenced to die in 1986. Special Judge Jon Blackwood accepted the request.

House had been scheduled to be executed next month for the 1985 murder of Carolyn Muncey. He had been on death row for 22 years but was released on bail last year. He has multiple sclerosis and must use a wheelchair.

The high court ruled in June 2006 that House was entitled to a new hearing.

"Although the issue is closed, we conclude that this is the rare case where -- had the jury heard all the conflicting testimony -- it is more likely than not that no reasonable juror viewing the record as a whole would lack reasonable doubt," wrote Justice Anthony Kennedy for the 5-3 majority.

House's appeal was championed by the Innocence Project, affiliated with the Cardozo School of Law in New York.

"In the three years since the U.S. Supreme Court stepped into this case and sent it back to the trial court, substantial additional DNA testing and further investigation have shown that he is innocent," said Peter Neufeld, the group's co-director. "Each time a layer of this case was peeled away, it revealed more evidence of Paul House's innocence."

Muncey disappeared from her rural Luttrell, Tennessee, home on July 13, 1985. Her body was found a day later, badly beaten and showing signs of a struggle. She had been raped.

House, who was on parole at the time as a sex offender, was questioned by police. He denied any involvement in the crime. He was a friend of Muncey's husband, but claimed he was in his own house several miles away the evening of the murder. But prosecutors found a hole in his alibi, discovering that he had left his home the night of the murder and returned about an hour later with unexplained cuts and bruises.

Forensic evidence found Muncey's blood on House's jeans, but questions were later raised whether the samples were contaminated en route to an FBI lab for analysis.

Subsequent state-of-the art DNA testing conducted after the conviction showed that semen on the victim belonged to her husband, not House. Blood under her fingernails and cigarette butts discovered near the wooded crime scene also did not match the accused.

But prosecutors maintain that other evidence points to his guilt. Muncey's family has also continued to believe that House was involved in the crime.

In 2005, House told CNN he did not rape or kill Muncey, and he wondered why he was still on death row.

"I guess that's the million-dollar question," he said.

While maintaining his innocence, he said that lying to police about his whereabouts that night was a big mistake.

Kennedy, in his 2006 high court ruling, offered an extensive summary of the facts of the investigation, especially the DNA evidence, which he said might point to "a different suspect." Kennedy said jurors might conclude that Muncey's blood found on House's pants may have inadvertently spilled there during the autopsy or through mishandling by police at the crime scene.

District Attorney Paul Phillips wrote in his petition this week that he still believes House could have been convicted again in a new trial, "but the new evidence (including the forensic examinations) raises a reasonable doubt that he acted alone and the possibility that others were involved in the crime."

But Phillips noted the "substantial sentence" House has served as another reason for the charges being dropped now.