Millions of viewers have been transfixed by the parade of forensic experts presented by the prosecution over the last few weeks in the trial of Casey Anthony, a 25 year-old mother who stands accused of killing her two year-old daughter Caylee and dumping the child's body near their Orange County, Florida home in 2008. The ubiquitous broadcasts of the trial are as compelling as anything that fans of the fictional forensics drama, CSI: Miami, might encounter. But ...

There has rarely been a starker juxtaposition of evil and innocence than the moment President George W. Bush received the news about 9/11 while reading The Pet Goat with second-graders in Sarasota, Florida. Seven-year-olds can't understand what Islamic terrorism is all about. But they know when an adult's face is telling them something is very wrong — and none of the students sitting in Sandra Kay Daniels' class at Emma E. Booker Elementary School that morning can ...

When the University of Connecticut beat Butler on Monday night to win the NCAA championship, they brought down the curtain on an unusually exciting men's college basketball tournament. But one aspect of the tournament was entirely predictable: The handwringing about the low-graduation rates for many basketball programs. While graduation rates for student athletes are improving, poor outcomes remain a serious problem. In this year's tournament, only 42 of the 68 teams graduated at least 60 percent of their players, according to the Institute ...

THE LAW HAS ALWAYS MADE ROOM FOR KILLERS. SOLDIERS KILL THE nation's enemies, executioners kill its killers, police officers under fire may fire back. Even a murder is measured in degrees, depending on the mind of the criminal and the character of the crime. And sometime this spring, in a triumph of pity over punishment, the law may just find room for Rita Collins. "They all cried, didn't they? But not me," she starts out, to distinguish herself from her ...

The man who caused a mistrial in John Travolta's extortion trial is expected to appear before a judge Friday morning. A Bahamian judge wants Picewell Forbes to explain why he publicly announced a not guilty verdict in Travolta's trial before a jury announced its verdict. Forbes, who made the announcement at a political rally, could be held in contempt of court. On Wednesday, the judge called for a mistrial and ordered a new trial upon learning about Forbes' announcement. Jurors ...

Police looking for a missing 7-year-old Florida girl said Wednesday they have found the body of a child in a landfill in south Georgia, about an hour from the girl's home. Investigators haven't identified the body. The landfill is about 55 miles north of where Somer Thompson became separated from her schoolmates Monday on her way home from school in Orange Park, Florida, authorities said. "We hope and pray that it's not the body of Somer, but the garbage that ...

Cornerback Jasper Howard called his mom Saturday night after Connecticut beat Louisville, and he was given the game-winning ball. He was thrilled. Just hours later, the phone rang again. This time it was UConn football coach Randy Edsall notifying her that her son had been stabbed. He was pronounced dead early Sunday. "He was a good child, a wonderful, sweet, loving child," Joangela Howard told CNN affiliate WSVN. "I just hope whoever did it turns himself in. [Jasper] didn't deserve ...

The prosecution cannot argue that sex was a motivation for doctors to give Anna Nicole Smith the drugs that may have led to her death, a judge ruled Thursday. "I'm just not buying that," Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Robert Perry said. The ruling came on the third day of a preliminary hearing for Howard K. Stern -- Smith's lawyer and companion -- and co-defendants Dr. Khristine Eroshevich and Dr. Sandeep Kapoor, on charges stemming from the Playboy model and ...

Five juveniles were in custody Tuesday after a 15-year-old was intentionally set on fire at a Deerfield Beach, Florida, apartment complex, police said. Michael Brewer suffered second-degree burns over 80 percent of his body. "He's in for a long, long recovery," Broward County Sheriff Al Lamberti told reporters. Three juveniles were arrested Monday night, hours after the incident, and two others were arrested Tuesday, sheriff's Sgt. Steve Feeley said. "A couple of them last night were laughing about it," he ...

One person was in custody Monday following a report of an armed intruder on the University of South Florida campus in Tampa, Florida, police said. USF police have asked the Tampa police's bomb team to respond to the campus regarding the belongings of the person in custody, said USF police Lt. Meg Ross. No one was hurt and no shots were fired, she said. "We have someone we think may have been involved, but we have to investigate fully," Ross ...