IN BRIEF
CARSON CITY
Justices reject another Sandy Murphy appeal
The Nevada Supreme Court has rejected another appeal from Sandy Murphy, who has a burglary conviction even though she was acquitted of murdering Las Vegas casino executive Ted Binion.
Murphy was found guilty for her role in stealing Binion's silver collection, buried in a vault in the desert near Pahrump. She has since been released and has moved to California.
Murphy and Rick Tabish were initially convicted of murder in Binion's death. But the state Supreme Court overturned that conviction. They were acquitted at a subsequent trial but found guilty of burglary and larceny.
In March 2008, the state high court upheld Murphy's latest convictions. She sought a rehearing, which was denied; after that she tried for a new trial based on new evidence. That motion was denied Wednesday by the Supreme Court.
HUALAPAI INDIAN RESERVATION
Tour helicopter forced to land in Arizona
Federal authorities say they are investigating the forced landing of a tour helicopter with seven people aboard on the Hualapai Indian Reservation.
Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor in Los Angeles says the craft operated by Papillion Helicopters lost engine power Tuesday morning as it approached the floor of the west end of the Grand Canyon.
Gregor says the pilot successfully landed the helicopter, which sustained minor damage, and there were no reported injuries to the pilot or six passengers.
SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif.
Attack draws federal civil rights indictment
A federal grand jury in Sacramento has indicted a couple on civil rights charges in the 2007 beating of an Indian-American couple at Lake Tahoe.
Joseph and Georgia Silva of Fairfield pleaded no contest to misdemeanor state assault charges in July. The husband, who is 55, was sentenced to six months in El Dorado County jail, and his 51-year-old wife was sentenced to a year.
The federal charges carry maximum sentences of 10 years in prison.
The U.S. attorney's office in Sacramento says federal charges can be filed when civil rights violations are not pursued through state prosecutions. A county judge dismissed hate crime allegations against the Silvas.
The couple's attorney did not return messages Thursday.
