Crime

Maurice Simmons, a linebacker who signed a letter of intent with USC, was arraigned Friday in Compton Superior Court and charged with felony robbery and assault with a firearm in connection with an incident that allegedly took place this week. Simmons, an 18-year-old senior at Compton Dominguez High, and codefendant Lamont Lee Hall, 19, both pleaded not guilty before Judge Judith Meyer, said Sandi Gibbons, spokesperson for the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office.

Authorities in Ciudad Juarez said Friday that they had uncovered the remains of 33 people buried in the yard of an abandoned property, a mass grave believed to be linked to the city's violent drug trade. The grisly discovery surfaced as part of a recent government crackdown on narcotics traffickers in this city across the border from El Paso that has been gripped by a spasm of drug-related killing unseen in years. Authorities said the Juarez drug cartel might be involved in the deaths.

The sun splashed onto the roof of a church, filling the faces of two golden statues of angels who opened their arms to the sky. It was the first light of the morning, which made everything look pretty, even the hardened heart of South Los Angeles. Don't be fooled, said 50-year-old Darrell Pruitt, waving a crooked cautionary finger. He walked down Central Avenue, carrying a dripping cup of coffee back to his one-room apartment, as he does each morning before work.

For years Compton has struggled against a lousy reputation. Its name has been invoked by rappers as a euphemism for violence, rebellion and poverty. "It's the home of the jackers and the crack. (Compton!) Yeah, that's the name of my hometown," sang the rapper The Game. But these days, Compton is starting to look almost suburban. Since last year, Staples, Target, Best Buy and Starbucks, among other national retail chains, have opened stores in the city.

U.S. State Department officials have issued a travel alert prompted by drug violence in the north of Mexico, warning that victims have included foreign visitors and residents. American visitors are advised to be especially alert about their safety in the border region, and to avoid areas where there are high levels of drug dealing and prostitution.

Police found the naked body of Diana Sylvester near her Christmas tree. The 22-year-old San Francisco nurse had been sexually assaulted and stabbed in the heart. She lay on her back, her neck laced with scratches and her mouth open as if frozen in a scream. For more than three decades, Sylvester's slaying went unsolved.

True to a Capitol tradition of legislating by anecdote, lawmakers this year have found inspiration in a grandmother arrested for running a $50 betting pool, a man who called 911 dispatchers 31,000 times and another man who put photos of high school athletes on a pornography website. Legislators have long responded to tragic, offensive or annoying events by trying to change the law -- especially crime laws -- and often succeeding.

A Pomona man who once boasted of being awarded the Medal of Honor pleaded guilty in federal court Monday to lying about receiving the award, the nation's top military honor. A subdued Xavier Alvarez, 50, who sits on the board of directors for the Three Valleys Municipal Water District in Claremont, admitted to violating the Stolen Valor Act, a recently enacted federal law that makes it a crime for a person to falsely claim he or she was awarded medals for service in the U.S. armed forces.

Before they fell victim to violence, students who were slain or shot had poor school attendance, according to data released Thursday by the Baltimore school system and health department. Between 2003 and 2007, 115 youths in Baltimore were killed and 405 were victims of nonfatal shootings, health department figures show. The school system was able to retrieve attendance data going back to 1999 for 391 of the 520 victims. The health department pooled the data from the two agencies.

Ruling in a "cold hit" murder case, the California Supreme Court decided Monday that prosecutors may tell juries in all cases of the rarity of finding a defendant's DNA "match" in the general population even when a database search has increased the likelihood. The decision, written by Justice Ming W.