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State seeks death penalty in serial killings of women

JACKSONVILLE - A cabdriver was indicted Thursday on five counts of first-degree murder, and a prosecutor said the state will seek the death penalty in the serial killings of the young women.

A 21-member Duval County grand jury returned an indictment against Paul Durousseau, 32, in the slayings of the women, whose bodies were found in ditches and apartments in December, January and February.

State Attorney Harry Shorstein said his office decided to seek the death penalty after weighing the circumstances, the primary factor being the number of victims. "I think that is the most significant in this case," he said.

MIAMI - A group of people who alleged that their constitutional rights were violated during the raid to seize Elian Gonzalez cannot sue former Attorney General Janet Reno, a federal appellate court ruled Thursday.

A three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Reno has immunity from damages because the 52 plaintiffs failed to show that Reno knew agents would violate the protesters' rights during the raid at the home of Elian's Miami family.

The Atlanta-based court reversed a lower court decision.

Armed federal agents removed Elian, then 6, from the home before dawn on April 22, 2000. Reno said she ordered the raid because the family refused to turn over the boy after the government decided he should join his father back in Cuba, ending a five-month custody battle. Elian survived a shipwreck in November 1999 that killed his mother and others fleeing Cuba.

The plaintiffs claimed agents used excessive force. They said they were kicked, punched, thrown down, gassed, held at gunpoint and otherwise restrained.

Antismoking research programs at state universities and hospitals gained new life Wednesday with the passage of a bill that allows them to use $3.5-million to continue research programs.

In approving the state's $53.5-billion budget last month, lawmakers failed to include 14 research programs that use money from the Lawton Chiles Endowment.

House Speaker Johnnie Byrd introduced a bill during this week's special session that restores the programs and names them after James and Esther King, the parents of Senate President Jim King.

The bill (HB 85B), approved by the Senate on Wednesday, now awaits Gov. Jeb Bush's signature.

The research programs are all entering their third and final year, and many would have lost the work of the first two years if they were unable to continue.

GAINESVILLE - Undergraduate applicants at the University of Florida will be required to take a standardized writing test that will be used for admission and placement decisions starting in spring 2005, the school announced.

The applicants will be required to submit results of the writing portion of the SAT standardized test, taken nationwide by high school seniors seeking college admission. UF will also accept results of the ACT, a similar exam, provided that students take the optional writing test the ACT will begin offering in spring 2005.

"We want students to know that writing skills are important for success at UF," Provost David Colburn said.

TALLAHASSEE - Two former staff members for Gov. Jeb Bush have joined the public relations firm of a third former Bush aide.

Sally Bradshaw, former chief of staff for the governor, and Liz Hirst, his former press secretary, have joined Core Message Inc., a firm run by Cory Tilley, Bush's former communications director.

The firm specializes in shaping public opinion for commercial and political clients.

Tilley and Bradshaw have worked together since Bush's first campaign for governor in 1994. Hirst has prior experience at the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and in television news.

Bradshaw left the governor's office two years ago to spend more time with her children. She'll be a senior adviser for Tilley. Hirst is managing director of public affairs.