Testify

The head of Toyota Motor Corp. skirted a transpacific row Thursday by agreeing to testify before a congressional committee probing a series of massive recalls by the Japanese automaker. After first indicating he would not testify -- a move that raised the ire of congressional leaders -- Akio Toyoda, president of the company and grandson of its founder, said he now planned to appear at next week's hearing before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. "I look forward to speaking directly with Congress and the American people," Toyoda said in a statement.

WASHINGTON — JPMorgan Chase & Co. Chief Executive Jamie Dimon has agreed to testify at a hearing about the bank's $2-billion trading loss. The Senate Banking Committee has scheduled hearings with regulators for Tuesday and June 6 to discuss implementation of the 2010 financial reform law. Panel Chairman Tim Johnson (D-S.D.) said this week that JPMorgan's huge trading loss would be looked at during those hearings. But after aides of Johnson and the committee's top Republican, Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama, were briefed by regulators and JPMorgan about the trading loss over the last week, Johnson said he decided to invite Dimon to testify.

Los Angeles police will not pursue through the courts scores of motorists with unpaid tickets from the city's defunct red-light camera program. The city Police Commission voted this week to end its contract with the company that operated L.A.'s cameras until they were shut off last summer. And authorities are now planning to reassign a small group of officers who regularly appeared in court to testify in contested photo enforcement cases. With the cancellation of the contract, officers will no longer have easy access to the photo and video evidence that courts require.

WASHINGTON - Brian McNamee, the chief accuser of former pitching star Roger Clemens, was left with his credibility hanging in the balance Friday after the latest of four grueling sessions of cross-examination by the defense at Clemens' perjury trial. McNamee, a former trainer, claims he repeatedly injected Clemens with steroids and human growth hormone between 1998 and 2001. In testimony to Congress in 2008 Clemens denied using the drugs, which prosecutors argue was a lie. Clemens lawyer Rusty Hardin worked carefully through the physical evidence of Clemens' alleged drug use that McNamee provided.

Re "Justice Dept. probing prosecutor hirings," May 3 Come on, Karl Rove, testify already. All you have to say is, "I don't recall." PHYLLIS LANDIS Los Angeles

Former White House advisor Karl Rove defied a congressional subpoena and refused to testify about allegations of political pressure at the Justice Department, including whether he influenced the prosecution of a former Democratic governor of Alabama. Rep. Linda T. Sanchez (D-Lakewood), chairwoman of a House Judiciary subcommittee, ruled that Rove was breaking the law -- perhaps the first step toward holding him in contempt of Congress. The White House has cited executive privilege as a reason Rove and others who serve or served in the administration should not testify.

A Marine combat veteran from Iraq has been jailed after refusing to testify against his former squad leader before a federal grand jury. Although granted immunity, Sgt. Jermaine A. Nelson, 26, refused to testify against former Marine Sgt. Jose Luis Nazario in a case involving the alleged killing of prisoners during the battle for Fallouja in late 2004. Nelson's lawyer, Joseph Low, said Friday that his client will not testify against Nazario because Nazario saved his life numerous times.

Re "Bush Joins the Fray in L.A. Visit," March 4: President Bush has made another trip to this state to fill his money sacks. He has spent a large amount of time during his presidency raising funds and, at nearly a year before election time, had the biggest campaign war chest of any president. This is the same man who can spare only one hour to testify before the 9/11 commission regarding the worst attack made on American soil. Even then, he will only testify (a) in private; (b)

The widow of Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme failed to testify in court today against the man accused of assassinating her husband, risking a fine and bringing a rebuke from one of the trial judges. The Stockholm district court had agreed to Lisbet Palme's request to testify without the defendant, Christer Pettersson, being present and to ban tape recordings, broadcasts and drawings. But it turned down her last-minute demand to exclude spectators and journalists. One of the two judges in the case, Mikael af Geijerstam, accused Lisbet Palme, a 58-year-old child psychologist, of violating her duty by not appearing in court on the day she was summoned.

The owner of a Buena Park company that specializes in baseball memorabilia shows has been subpoenaed to testify before a federal grand jury in Cincinnati that is investigating Reds Manager Pete Rose for possible tax evasion. Randy Thyberg, owner of Thyberg Sports Marketing Co., has been subpoenaed, Kevin Mann, Thyberg Sports' director of promotions, told the Associated Press Wednesday. Mann said Thyberg did not testify Wednesday. A source, who asked not to be identified, said the grand jury is looking into whether Rose reported sales of his sports memorabilia on his tax returns, and whether he correctly reported earnings from gambling.

WASHINGTON — Brian McNamee, the key prosecution witness in the Roger Clemens perjury trial, said he had never made up details about the pitcher's drug use, but that some of his memories of it had become clearer over time. During cross-examination Wednesday, McNamee, a former strength trainer, described a conversation with Clemens in early 2004 in which the pitcher asked whether McNamee still had a source to obtain steroids. According to McNamee, Clemens told him, "I want to get really huge, I want to get strong.

WASHINGTON — An anxious wife drove Brian McNamee to hold on to evidence of Roger Clemens' steroid use for self-protection, the former trainer testified at the former pitcher's federal perjury trial. "She kept saying in the midst of a battle royale, 'You're going to go down if something ever happens,' " McNamee said. So as a measure of insurance, McNamee said, he held on to a beer can filled with a used needle, a syringe and a glass steroid ampule he had fished out of Clemens' recycling bin in 2001.

Two retired Los Angeles County sheriff's supervisors painted a violent picture of life inside Men's Central Jail on Monday, recounting tales of deputies beating prisoners, ignoring bosses, forming cliques and engaging in off-duty misconduct. The former sergeant and lieutenant, who both retired in 2007, told a county jail commission that they felt their efforts to discipline wayward deputies were undermined by a top manager they accused of ordering supervisors to "coddle" young deputies in the jail.

GREENSBORO, N.C. - After weeks of riveting and often salacious testimony about an extramarital affair and the elaborate lies that once kept it hidden, testimony in the John Edwards trial turned Monday to a more prosaic topic: campaign finance law. As Edwards' legal team opened his defense, the finance director for his failed 2008 presidential run testified that more than $900,000 from two wealthy benefactors was not reported as campaign contributions...

WASHINGTON — New York Yankees pitcher Andy Pettitte threw the perjury prosecution of his friend Roger Clemens into disarray Wednesday when he testified that he could have misunderstood a conversation with Clemens about human growth hormone. Pettitte said he thought Clemens told him sometime in 1999 or 2000 that he used HGH, but he admitted under cross-examination that he was hazy on the details. Is it possible, asked Clemens lawyer Mike Attanasio, that Pettitte misunderstood the critical conversation?

A Hollywood casting director charged with failing to comply with sex offender registry laws testified Tuesday that his use of a professional alias was not an attempt to hide his criminal past. "I've spent so long trying to become a productive member of society there's nothing I want to do to go back to jail," Jason James Murphy told a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge during a hearing in Beverly Hills to determine whether prosecutors have enough evidence to proceed to trial.

Ventura County prosecutors plan to bring in about 25 witnesses from around the country to testify against a Camarillo tour operator accused of embezzling more than $200,000 from customers. Sukh Dev "Dave" Sharma, 55, pleaded not guilty last month to 19 counts of grand theft and 18 counts of travel code violations. He is free on $120,000 bail while he awaits his March trial. Prosecutors allege that Sharma, who operated Mandala Tours in Camarillo, accepted money from clients for planning trips to the Far East that never materialized.

California lawmakers and advocates for children with autism assailed the state Department of Developmental Services during a hearing Monday over the deep racial and ethnic disparities in how it spends money on the disorder. "Families that are already the most disadvantaged get the least," Martha Matthews, an attorney for the advocacy group Public Counsel, testified before a panel of legislators in Sacramento. "This is exactly the opposite of what it should be. " State Sen. Darrell Steinberg, who heads a committee on autism, called for legislation to provide greater accountability in the $4-billion-a-year entitlement program for people with developmental disabilities.

Andy Pettitte and Roger Clemens sat some 20 feet apart, Pettitte on the witness stand and Clemens at the defense table trying to avoid going to jail. The topic: a remark about human growth hormone Pettitte recalled hearing from his longtime teammate, mentor and workout partner a dozen years ago. "Roger had mentioned to me that he had taken HGH," Pettitte testified. "And that it could help with recovery, and that's really all I remember about the conversation. " The rest of the details are fuzzy.