IN BRIEF
60-YEAR-OLD MAN FOUND
NLV police investigate death as homicide
North Las Vegas police are investigating the death of a 60-year-old man found Sunday afternoon in the Judith Villas Apartments, in the 700 block of Nelson Avenue, near Carey Avenue and Donna Street.
The man was discovered about noon by a relative who had gone to the apartment complex to check on his well-being, police said.
The man's death is being investigated as a homicide. An autopsy will determine the cause of death.
"Responding officers observed that the victim had suffered obvious injuries; however, the exact nature of the injuries is unclear at this time," officer Chrissie Coon said.
Police withheld what those injuries were and did not release the man's name.
Anyone with information regarding this case is asked to call investigators at 633-9111 or Crime Stoppers at 385-5555.
DEPUTY SMELLED ALCOHOL
Sheriff's worker faces drunken driving charge
A contract worker for a Nevada sheriff's department is accused of driving drunk to a jail to test a suspect's blood alcohol content.
Kathleen Cherry, 53, told a Carson City sheriff's deputy who smelled alcohol on her breath that she had one margarita before driving Friday night.
She is accused of failing field sobriety tests and registering a blood alcohol content over the state's legal limit of 0.08 percent.
Cherry is a phlebotomist, trained to draw blood for lab tests. She was booked on a misdemeanor drunken driving charge, and her bail was set at more than $1,000. She declined to comment.
COLLECTION RECORD
L.A. residents turn in guns, get gift cards
A program to exchange guns for gifts brought in a record number of weapons this year as residents hit hard by the economy traded in firearms for groceries.
The annual Gifts for Guns program ended Sunday in Compton, a working-class city south of Los Angeles that has long struggled with gang violence. The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department allowed residents to anonymously relinquish firearms in return for $100 gift cards for Ralphs supermarkets, Target department stores or Best Buy electronics stores.
In past years, Target and Best Buy were the cards of choice. This year, most asked for the supermarket cards, said sheriff's Sgt. Byron Woods.
"People just don't have the money to buy the food these days," he said.
Deputies were counting the weapons collected and expected to gather about 1,000. Authorities said 590 guns and two hand grenades were handed in during the last weekend in November, more than the total collected in any year and eclipsing last year's 387 guns.
VIDEOTAPE DISCOVERY
Evidence may affect many sex convictions
The discovery of thousands of videotaped medical examinations recorded during child sex-abuse investigations in Santa Clara County, Calif., could affect the outcome of criminal convictions dating to 1991.
The county district attorney's office said the tapes were found by medical experts hired by two convicted defendants. The experts determined that the tapes contradicted medical findings that sex abuse had ever occurred.
One of the two convictions, that of Agustin Uribe, has already been overturned by a state appeals court because of the tape. The second conviction is now in question.
Prosecutors will review about 3,000 tapes recorded in cases dating to 1991 and determine which cases ended in convictions. Defense attorneys will be notified by prosecutors in any cases where new evidence appears.
