Trials Mexico

A man accused of killing four people in Baldwin Park before fleeing to Mexico will stand trial there for only two of the slayings because those victims were Mexican nationals, authorities said. David "Spooky" Alvarez, 30, will face murder charges in Mexico for the deaths of Joe Rojas, 32, a gardener who lived in South Whittier, and Roberto Diaz, 32, of Baldwin Park, sheriff's officials said. Rojas and Diaz were killed Sept.

David "Spooky" Alvarez, wanted by Los Angeles authorities for killing four people and wounding another three in Baldwin Park, has been sentenced by a Mexico City judge to 50 years in prison for two of the 1996 killings, a Mexican official said. Jorge Ricardo Villalobos-Haddad of the Office of the Attorney General of Mexico said in Los Angeles that Alvarez, 30, was sentenced by a federal criminal judge for first-degree murder in the deaths of Robert Diaz Banuelos and Jose Manuel Rojas Heredia.

David "Spooky" Alvarez, wanted by Los Angeles authorities for killing four people and wounding another three in Baldwin Park, has been sentenced by a Mexico City judge to 50 years in prison for two of the 1996 killings, a Mexican official said. Jorge Ricardo Villalobos-Haddad of the Office of the Attorney General of Mexico said in Los Angeles that Alvarez, 30, was sentenced by a federal criminal judge for first-degree murder in the deaths of Robert Diaz Banuelos and Jose Manuel Rojas Heredia.

The rains fell and the winds hissed during a harrowing February storm in Newport Beach. Tooling along MacArthur Boulevard in his Chevrolet Blazer, ship captain Scott McClung saw motorist after helpless motorist trapped in pounding, racing flash floods. Yielding to his urge to help, the Newport Beach resident spent the day hitching a big hook from his winch to the vehicles of stranded motorists to pull them free. "He's always been a rescuer.

A federal court on Monday acquitted Carlos Peralta, a powerful Mexican tycoon who was among the most prominent targets in a yearlong crackdown on alleged tax evaders. The government, however, protested the ruling, charging "procedural irregularities." Promising an appeal, it said it appeared the judge acquitted Peralta without reviewing evidence from prosecutors. Peralta, reportedly one of Mexico's wealthiest men, was accused of underreporting his income from 1992 to 1995.

Last November, delegates from Canadian and Los Angeles-based PEN, the writer's association, presented a resolution on Mexico at the group's 56th International Congress in Vienna. The document, part of PEN's worldwide campaign in behalf of imprisoned writers and freedom of expression, condemned the Mexican government for an array of human-rights abuses--including murder--committed against journalists in Mexico since 1983. The PEN delegates passed the resolution in good faith without discussion.

The rains fell and the winds hissed during a harrowing February storm in Newport Beach. Tooling along MacArthur Boulevard in his Chevrolet Blazer, ship captain Scott McClung saw motorist after helpless motorist trapped in pounding, racing flash floods. Yielding to his urge to help, the Newport Beach resident spent the day hitching a big hook from his winch to the vehicles of stranded motorists to pull them free. "He's always been a rescuer.

A judge ruled Wednesday night that a ship captain from Orange County must face trial on charges of bringing guns illegally into Mexico, but he dropped charges against the captain's 71-year-old father and the first mate. Judge Fidel Villanueva said probable cause existed that as captain of the ship, Scott McClung, 35, had tried to bring weapons into Mexico clandestinely when he sailed his father's new 150-foot yacht into the harbor of the Cozumel island resort on Aug.

My aunt Marion is in the hospital dying of liver and kidney failure, the result of her 20-year struggle with heroin use. I was told of her imminent death the same day news broke about a vaccine against the drug. "Breakthrough heroin vaccine could render drug 'useless' in addicts," one headline read. "Scientists create vaccine against heroin high," proclaimed another. Meanwhile, my aunt finds temporary relief in the ever more frequent administration of opiate pain medication - the very kind of drugs she used illegally.

The Long Beach Wilson boys' swim team and the Huntington Beach Marina girls' team could have a hard time trying to defend their titles in the 45th Long Beach Wilson Invitational, which begins at 5 tonight at Belmont Plaza in Long Beach. The meet's 12-school field includes Goleta Dos Pueblos, whose boys' team is ranked No. 1 in the Southland by The Times.

A judge ruled Wednesday night that a ship captain from Orange County must face trial on charges of bringing guns illegally into Mexico, but he dropped charges against the captain's 71-year-old father and the first mate. Judge Fidel Villanueva said probable cause existed that as captain of the ship, Scott McClung, 35, had tried to bring weapons into Mexico clandestinely when he sailed his father's new 150-foot yacht into the harbor of the Cozumel island resort on Aug.

A man accused of killing four people in Baldwin Park before fleeing to Mexico will stand trial there for only two of the slayings because those victims were Mexican nationals, authorities said. David "Spooky" Alvarez, 30, will face murder charges in Mexico for the deaths of Joe Rojas, 32, a gardener who lived in South Whittier, and Roberto Diaz, 32, of Baldwin Park, sheriff's officials said. Rojas and Diaz were killed Sept.

A federal court on Monday acquitted Carlos Peralta, a powerful Mexican tycoon who was among the most prominent targets in a yearlong crackdown on alleged tax evaders. The government, however, protested the ruling, charging "procedural irregularities." Promising an appeal, it said it appeared the judge acquitted Peralta without reviewing evidence from prosecutors. Peralta, reportedly one of Mexico's wealthiest men, was accused of underreporting his income from 1992 to 1995.

Last November, delegates from Canadian and Los Angeles-based PEN, the writer's association, presented a resolution on Mexico at the group's 56th International Congress in Vienna. The document, part of PEN's worldwide campaign in behalf of imprisoned writers and freedom of expression, condemned the Mexican government for an array of human-rights abuses--including murder--committed against journalists in Mexico since 1983. The PEN delegates passed the resolution in good faith without discussion.

Beginning in the 1970s, there was agreement among most observers of Mexico's public life that the country urgently needed reform in three basic fields--the economy, elections and the rule of law. In the 1990s, remarkable advances have come in the economy and in elections. The privatization of hundreds of government-owned companies, the total elimination of the administration's budget deficit and the lifting of trade barriers have made Mexico's economy increasingly competitive.

Remember your first bicycle? It probably arrived under the Christmas tree with a red bow on the handle bars. Right? Mine did. It took me about a year to get the training wheels off, but then I was only in the fourth grade. After that, I customized it to my own taste. It had a headlight. It had a bell. It had little streamers coming off the grips. And it had saddle bags for carrying frogs, turtles and, infrequently, textbooks.