Verdicts

In a trial watched closely by activists on both sides of the abortion debate, Dr. George Tiller, the Kansas physician accused of performing illegal late-term abortions, was found not guilty Friday. The jury of three men and three women deliberated for less than an hour. Tiller has been targeted by antiabortion politicians, legal officials and activists for years, but this was the first time he faced a jury.

A U.S. Army soldier was convicted Wednesday of murder in the execution-style slayings of four bound and blindfolded Iraqis. The prosecution said Master Sgt. John Hatley acted as "judge, jury and executioner" to carry out the killings in the spring of 2007. Hatley and two other soldiers took the detainees to a canal in Baghdad's West Rasheed neighborhood, where they shot them in the back of the head with 9-millimeter pistols, prosecutors said.

George Torres, a feisty entrepreneur who built a multimillion-dollar grocery store chain by catering to some of Los Angeles' poorest communities, was convicted of racketeering, solicitation of murder, bribery and other crimes Monday by a federal court jury. Torres, who faces potential life imprisonment as a result of the verdict, showed no emotion when it was read. Friends and family, however, burst into tears and embraced one another outside the courtroom of U.S. District Judge Stephen V.

A Philippine court overturned the rape conviction of a U.S. Marine whose case became a rallying point for activists demanding that American forces leave the country. Protesters said the decision underscored their government's subservience to an old colonial master. Three years ago, Lance Cpl. Daniel Smith was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison for raping a Philippine woman after a night of drinking.

One of Kenya's most famous white aristocrats was convicted of manslaughter Thursday in the shooting of a black poacher, a case that underlined sharp divisions here over land, race and privilege. Tom Cholmondeley (CHUM-lee), 40, was originally charged with murder in the 2006 shooting of Robert Njoya, 37, a poacher.

A federal jury on Friday acquitted W.R. Grace & Co. and three of its former officials of charges that they knowingly exposed residents of Libby, Mont., to asbestos poisoning associated with a mining operation and conspired to hide it. The verdict brings to an ignominious end one of the most significant criminal prosecutions the government had ever filed against a corporate polluter.

After five years on the run and a movie based on his high-profile case, Jesse James Hollywood was convicted of first-degree murder Wednesday in the 2000 slaying of a West Hills teenager. Hollywood, 29, could be sentenced to death. He also was convicted of kidnapping, a conviction that carries a maximum prison term of eight years. His father, Jack Hollywood, was stunned after the verdict, which took the jury four days to reach.

A New York man who shot and killed a transgender woman last year was convicted Friday of first-degree manslaughter and a hate crime -- a conviction hailed by advocates seeking greater protections for transgender people. Dwight DeLee, 20, of Syracuse, faces 10 to 25 years in prison for killing Lateisha "Teish" Green, 22, outside a house party in November.

A Beverly Hills real estate agent to the stars and an appraiser were convicted Monday on federal charges of conspiracy and bank fraud for their roles in a multimillion-dollar Westside real estate fraud ring, but jurors couldn't reach a verdict on another prominent agent accused of being part of the scheme. Real estate agent Kyle Grasso, 38, and licensed appraiser Lila Rizk, 42, were found guilty of multiple counts of conspiracy, bank fraud and loan fraud for their participation in a scheme in which banks lost more than $40 million on loans totaling $142 million.

An Atlanta jury on Wednesday found a 23-year-old man guilty of aiding terrorist groups after a trial that explored a subculture of youthful extremists who used the Internet to plot attacks and form a loose network connecting North America, Europe and South Asia. Ehsanul Sadequee, the U.S.-born son of Bangladeshi immigrants, faces up to 60 years in prison after being convicted of conspiracy to materially support terrorists. The jury found that he had discussed attacks with accused militants in Toronto and Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina.