Identification

Many days, Jamal King stands at South Vermont Avenue and West 46th Street in South Los Angeles, his muscled arms covered with tattoos flaunting his membership in the Rolling 40s, a drug-running criminal gang. His former foster father often drives past slowly, wagging his finger. "I know people look at me and just see a gangbanger," King said. "It's not really who I am. It's just temporary." But King's hope for a better life is hobbled by more than poverty and his surroundings -- he lacks a birth certificate.

The Los Angeles County coroner's office Wednesday identified Upland resident James Ortega, 52, as the seventh of nine people killed during a Christmas Eve rampage. Coroner's officials already had identified six of the victims, including Ortega's wife, Teresa Ortega, 51, who was shot in the leg but died from smoke inhalation and burns. Also killed were Alicia Ortiz, 46; Charles Ortega, 50, of West Covina and his wife, Cheri Ortega, 45; Joseph Ortega, 80, and his wife, Alicia Ortega, 70. Police said Bruce Pardo dressed up as Santa Claus and attacked his former wife's family at their Covina home.

Would-be robbers take note: Don't use your debit card during a holdup. A Charleston, W.Va., man who police say attempted to rob a convenience store ended up buying a soft drink with his debit card instead -- ultimately leading to his arrest. Shawn Thomas Lester, 33, told the store clerk Monday that he had a gun and wanted all the money in the register, police said. But the suspect got flustered when a customer walked in, and the clerk told him to pay for the soft drink. Lester handed over his debit card, signed the receipt "John Doe" and left without any cash.

The driver of a sport utility vehicle who was shot and killed by Los Angeles police after leading officers on a chase that ended when he rammed into police cruisers was identified Friday by the Los Angeles County coroner's office. Sammie Lee Richardson, 59, of Los Angeles was killed Thursday shortly before 6 a.m. at 4th and San Pedro streets, where the chase ended after he continued to use his SUV to push one of the police cruisers sideways with an officer trapped inside. The Los Angeles Police Department also identified the officers involved in the shooting as Sgt. Alcenda Neal, a 15-year veteran of the department, and officers Jose Galvez, Hector Tejada and William Johnson, each of whom has two years with the department.

A U.S. man found dead on a Tijuana street last week has been identified as 19-year-old Shane Pennington, according to the U.S. Consulate in Tijuana. The Baja California attorney general's office, which has not confirmed Pennington's identity, said the body had suffered stab wounds and was left on a street near a beach-side bullring. Mexican authorities have not determined a motive and did not know why Pennington was in Mexico. Pennington worked at a restaurant in Orange County and was born in North Carolina.

Natalie Cole: A Quick Takes item in the May 21 Calendar section about Natalie Cole receiving a new kidney quoted a person named O'Connor saying the donor was no one Cole knew, without providing a first name or identification. The comments came from Maureen O'Connor, Cole's spokeswoman.

Just as the 2008 election is shifting into high gear, the Supreme Court will take up a voting rights case Wednesday that could affect the outcome in some close contests this year and well into the future. At issue is whether states may require voters to show a driver's license or a passport at their polling places. Voting rights advocates are calling it the most important election-law case since Bush vs. Gore in 2000, and the partisan divide is nearly as sharp.

A director of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department's Multicultural Advisory Council has been stripped of his reserve deputy status after Glendale police complained that he showed up at the scene of a suicide last week, flashing his badge and demanding access to a restricted area. The Glendale incident marks the latest in a string of cases in which reserve deputies or volunteers working for sheriff's departments around Southern California have been accused of overstepping their authority.

A man died Sunday night after his car plunged 50 feet off the Long Beach Freeway onto a street in East Los Angeles. The driver did not have identification with him, said California Highway Patrol Officer Francisco Villalobos. Officials Monday night said the car had caught fire, delaying identification of the body. The man was driving south when he attempted to turn onto a Pomona Freeway onramp about 10:40 p.m., Villalobos said. The car struck a concrete divider, then drove off the freeway, landing on East First Street near North Ford Boulevard.

Military officials on Monday identified a Marine found dead in his barracks as Lance Cpl. Johnathon Goffred. Goffred, 22, was discovered early Saturday morning, according to the Marines. A Camp Pendleton spokesman declined to comment on the circumstances of Goffred's death, which is under investigation by the Navy. Goffred, a native of Johnson County, Ind., returned from Iraq last year and was scheduled to redeploy later this year. He joined the Marines in June 2005.