Testimony

Cardinal Roger Mahony is expected to testify in a clergy sexual abuse lawsuit in Fresno today, marking only the second time he has taken the witness stand to answer questions before jurors about alleged molestation by priests. The Fresno lawsuit was brought by two brothers who say they were molested by a priest for 14 years at a church in Wasco, a small town north of Bakersfield.

Cardinal Roger M. Mahony made a rare courtroom appearance Tuesday, telling jurors in a clergy sex-abuse civil trial that accusations of molestation at a Central Valley church were never brought to his attention during his time as an official in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Fresno. "I don't recall any case while I was here of allegations of sexual abuse of a child," Mahony testified. "I don't know how it would be handled, because I don't recall it."

Dr. George Tiller, the Kansas doctor who has become a national symbol of the struggle over legalized abortion, unexpectedly testified in his defense Wednesday during the criminal trial that abortion opponents are following with passionate interest. Tiller, one of the few doctors in the country who perform abortions in the last trimester of pregnancy, has been targeted for years by abortion foes who would like to see him in prison and his clinic shut down.

A transit officer said Tuesday that an unarmed man who was fatally shot by another officer at an Oakland train station failed to obey her commands before his death. Bay Area Rapid Transit Officer Marysol Domenici testified during the fourth day of a hearing to determine whether former BART Officer Johannes Mehserle will stand trial for murder in the death of Oscar Grant.

Jesse James Hollywood was pacing and chain-smoking. He had just told a family friend, attorney Stephen Hogg, that his pals had kidnapped the brother of a tough guy who had smashed windows at his home, threatened him and poisoned his dog. Hogg, a soft-spoken 65-year-old with a ponytail, described his meeting with Hollywood during testimony Tuesday at Hollywood's trial for the 2000 kidnapping and murder of 15-year-old Nicholas Markowitz.

Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor parried tough questions Tuesday from the Senate Judiciary Committee about how race and gender affect a judge's views on the law. Republicans focused on a single ruling from her 17 years on the federal bench involving a group of white firefighters claiming reverse discrimination. Legal experts said the exhaustive discussion of the New Haven, Conn.

Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor proclaimed Tuesday that she would not let ethnic or gender biases influence her decisions on the court, during a grueling round of questioning from skeptical Republicans who vowed to pursue their tough examination of her record today. After watching Sotomayor fend off their best questions, opposing senators on the Judiciary Committee all but conceded that her confirmation was certain.

Frank Ricci -- the named plaintiff in a lawsuit that Republicans have made Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor's albatross -- said at her confirmation hearing Thursday that "Americans have the right to go into our federal courts to have their cases judged based on the Constitution and our laws, not on politics or personal feelings." The white firefighter and 19 of his colleagues sued the city of New Haven, Conn.

Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor maneuvered through three days of an often-antagonistic confirmation hearing by portraying herself as a legal mechanic who would stick to precedent and never "make law." But in doing so she revealed almost nothing about the philosophy that would guide her on the high court.

Two months ago, Sonia Sotomayor's Latino heritage was viewed as an overwhelming asset. And though history will be made if she becomes the Supreme Court's newest justice, there wasn't much talk about that during three days of grueling testimony last week. For some, her confirmation hearings left a bitter taste.