Defense

A teenage girl charged with murdering her mother and stepfather suffered years of sexual, physical and emotional abuse at the hands of the couple, a defense attorney told a Compton jury on Tuesday. Cynthia Alvarez, then 15, took no part in the October 2011 killings other than to strike her stepfather on the legs with a baseball bat at the insistence of her boyfriend, who actually carried out the attacks, Los Angeles County Deputy Public Defender Carole Telfer said in court. Telfer said her client was molested as a young girl and later raped by her stepfather, Jose Lara.

Ducks defenseman Sheldon Souray was exploring the beauty of the unknown, the pristine hockey slate on the eve of opening night in the Stanley Cup playoffs. At this stage, no one can be wrong in the timeless playoff prediction game. "I think I've played in four playoffs," Souray said Monday. "I've been the first seed a couple of times and lost out in the first round and been the eighth seed and went to the second round and lost to the eventual Cup champion both times.

ST. LOUIS - Can a playoff matchup be familiar but strikingly different at the same time? The Kings will start their defense of the Stanley Cup on Tuesday against the Blues, the team they swept out of the second round of the playoffs last spring. Like last season, the Blues have the better seeding and home-ice advantage at the Scottrade Center. The core of both teams is essentially the same too. The differences, though, are significant. This time, the Kings will begin with a championship to their credit and the knowledge of what it takes to win probably the most grueling postseason tournament in professional sports.

Edward A. Frieman, a leading figure in American science for decades as a researcher with wide-ranging interests, a top-level governmental advisor on defense and energy issues, and director of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego, has died. He was 87. Frieman died April 11 at UCSD's Thornton Hospital in La Jolla of a respiratory illness, the university announced. His legacy extends to leadership posts in academia, government and private industry. There are "not many like him, and he will be sorely missed," said John Deutch, professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and former CIA director and deputy secretary of Defense.

Many of the nation's 440 military bases were established in what were once sparsely populated hinterlands where soldiers trained without complaints from neighbors about the roar of warplanes and the sound of gunfire and explosions. Now, with urban sprawl pushing up against perimeter fences, the U.S. Department of Defense has quietly become a major protector of wilderness and ranch lands. Working with conservation organizations and local governments, its Readiness and Environmental Protection Initiative has helped buy nearly $1 billion worth of land to create buffer zones around 64 military bases where development threatened to encroach on combat training.

Memphis Grizzlies center Marc Gasol won his first NBA defensive player of the year award after anchoring the league's stingiest defense. Gasol received 212 points and 30 first-place votes to beat the Miami Heat's LeBron James , who had 149 points and 18 first-place votes, the NBA announced Wednesday. The 7-foot-1 Spaniard averaged 1.7 blocks and 1.0 steals for a Memphis defense that gave up a league-best 88.7 points per game. The five-year veteran ranked 12th in the league in blocks.

SAN ANTONIO -- The Lakers didn't have a great regular season. They're also lagging in awards attention. Dwight Howard was 14th in the voting for NBA defensive player of the year, receiving one first-place vote and four third-place votes. Memphis center Marc Gasol won the award, which was announced Wednesday. [Updated at 10:49 a.m.: Howard seemed surprised, if not mildly irritated to finish that far behind the leaders. "That's funny," he said. "That's OK. We've got next year and I've got a long time.

SAN ANTONIO - The Lakers didn't have a great regular season. They're also lagging in awards attention. Dwight Howard was 14th in the voting for defensive player of the year, receiving one first-place vote and four third-place votes. Howard seemed surprised, if not mildly irritated, to finish that far behind. Memphis center Marc Gasol won the award, which was announced Wednesday by the league. "That's funny," Howard said of his distant finish. "That's OK. We've got next year and I've got a long time.

Galaxy VS. SPORTING KANSAS CITY When: 7:30. Where: Home Depot Center. On the air: TV: NBC Sports; Radio: 1150, 1330. Records: Galaxy 2-1-2; Sporting KC 4-1-2. Record vs. Sporting KC (2012): 0-1-0. Update: The Galaxy has its work cut out for it against Sporting Kansas City, which sits atop Major League Soccer's Eastern Conference, because Sporting Kansas City's tough defense has not allowed a goal in its last five games. In addition, several Galaxy players are dealing with moderate injuries, and it remains to be seen whether they can play the full 90 minutes.