Extortion

Four suspects in an alleged extortion attempt against a Glendale merchant, which turned into a bloody shootout and left two dead, were charged with murder Friday. The suspects, who were arrested shortly after the shooting late Tuesday at the Mirage Clothing & Shoes store on Glendale Avenue, also face charges of attempted murder, robbery and conspiracy to commit robbery.

Four suspects in the alleged attempted extortion of a Glendale merchant that turned into a bloody shootout and left two dead were charged with murder Friday. The suspects, who were arrested shortly after the shooting late Tuesday at the Mirage Clothing & Shoes store on Glendale Avenue, also face charges of attempted murder, robbery and conspiracy to commit robbery.

Five figurines adorn the base of the 1996 John R. Wooden Award that now belongs to Marcus Camby. The figurines are meant to represent the fundamentals of college basketball--rebounding, passing, defense, ballhandling and shooting. That's the ideal, but what about reality? When did blackmail, bribery, solicitation, debauchery and depravity elbow their way into the starting lineup? Thursday, a Hartford, Conn.

From the police beating of Rodney G. King to a Korean grocer's killing of a black teenager to the Los Angeles riots, Compton City Councilwoman Patricia Moore found her way into the national spotlight of one racially charged episode after another. Through it all, her message was the same: "There is no justice for African Americans in this country."

Prosecutors asked a federal judge Thursday to prevent former Compton City Councilwoman Patricia Moore from raising the issues of racism or selective prosecution during her upcoming extortion trial. Moore, indicted during a lengthy FBI probe of official corruption in Compton, contends that she is a victim of government entrapment aimed at black politicians across the country.

A federal jury impaneled Tuesday to decide extortion charges against former Compton City Councilwoman Patricia Moore got an early taste of the bitter slugging match that awaits them. In opening remarks to the jurors, Assistant U.S. Atty. John M. Potter denounced Moore as a corrupt politician who betrayed her constituents and lined her pockets with thousands of dollars in illegal payoffs.

A federal jury composed of eight whites, two Asians and two Latinos was picked Monday to try former Compton City Councilwoman Patricia A. Moore on charges of extortion and income tax fraud. Two African Americans and two whites were tentatively selected as alternates, but that could change if either side exercises its peremptory challenges when court resumes today. Moore, an African American, has complained about a dearth of blacks in the pool of more than 90 prospective jurors. U.S.

The chief defense lawyer for former Compton City Councilwoman Patricia Moore complained bitterly Friday that it has become "statistically impossible" to seat a black person on the jury being chosen to decide Moore's extortion case. As the third day of jury selection drew to an end, defense attorney Thomas Mesereau Jr. told U.S. District Court Judge Consuelo B. Marshall he was "outraged and saddened" by the prospect of no African Americans on the jury.

The Supreme Court rejected the appeal of former California legislator Frank Hill, convicted of political corruption for taking $2,500 from an undercover FBI agent. The court, without comment Monday, let stand Hill's 1994 conviction for extortion and money laundering. His appeal said federal prosecutors had failed to prove an "explicit" criminal agreement because "the alleged agreement is proved only by circumstantial evidence . . . consistent with innocence as well as guilt."