Georgia's top court has ruled in favor of a former Atlanta police officer who sought immunity after being charged with murder in a shooting of a 19-year-old who was killed while the officer was investigating a report of a vehicle break-in.

The state Supreme Court on Monday upheld by a 6-1 decision a lower court ruling in favor of former officer Raymond Bunn, who claimed he was acting in self-defense when he shot 19-year-old Corey Ward in a parking lot in 2002.

Bunn contended that Ward was driving the SUV straight at him when Bunn shot at the window, hitting Ward twice in the left side of his head.

Prosecutors said Bunn was not directly in front of the vehicle, which belonged to Ward's mother, when he fired.

The Supreme Court majority ruled that the preponderance of evidence favored Bunn's story, despite conflicting evidence.

Toyota Motor Corp. has settled a lawsuit brought by relatives of four family members killed in a high-speed crash near San Diego that galvanized attention around safety flaws of Toyotas and led to the recalls of millions of cars.

A Toyota spokesman confirmed the settlement Saturday in a statement e-mailed to The Associated Press. It was first reported on the Los Angeles Times' Web site Friday night. The company would not specify the settlement's terms.

The Times said Toyota is expected to file motions with the judge disclosing the settlement on Monday. Court filings indicate the two parties reached a settlement in June.

Tim Pestotnik, an attorney for the plaintiffs including the parents of the three adult victims, declined comment when reached by the Times.

The settlement left out one co-defendant -- Bob Baker Lexus, the dealer that loaned the family the car.

Regulators on Friday shut down three Georgia banks and one each in New Jersey, Ohio and Wisconsin, boosting to 125 the number of U.S. bank failures this year amid the tough economic climate and growing loan defaults.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. on Friday took over the Georgia banks: Bank of Ellijay, in Ellijay, with $168.8 million in assets; First Commerce Community Bank of Douglasville, with $248.2 million in assets; and Peoples Bank, based in Winder, with $447.2 million in assets.

The FDIC also seized ISN Bank in Cherry Hill, N.J., with $81.6 million in assets; Bramble Savings Bank of Milford, Ohio, with $47.5 million in assets; and Maritime Savings Bank, based in West Allis, Wis., with assets of $350.5 million.

Community & Southern Bank, based in Carrollton, Ga., agreed to assume the assets and deposits of Bank of Ellijay, First Commerce Community Bank and Peoples Bank. In addition, the FDIC and Community & Southern Bank agreed to share losses on $602.5 million of the three failed banks' loans and other assets.

Georgia, where the meltdown in the real estate market brought an avalanche of soured mortgage loans, has been one of the hardest hit states for bank collapses. The failures of the three banks Friday brought to 14 the number of Georgia banks that have fallen this year. Also high on the list of failure-heavy states are California, Florida and Illinois.

A San Francisco man upset with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's support of health care reform pleaded guilty Thursday to threatening the Democratic congresswoman and her family.

Gregory Lee Giusti, 49, admitted making more than 30 abusive and harassing phone calls to the homes and offices of Pelosi. He spoke to Pelosi directly on March 25 and threatened to destroy her Northern California home if she voted for the health care legislation.

Under a deal with prosecutors, he'll be sentenced Dec. 2 to 21 months in prison and ordered to stay at least 100 yards away from Pelosi, her family and her staff when he's released.

Joseph Cotchett, a prominent Silicon Valley attorney and Democratic donor, represented Pelosi during the hour-long federal court hearing in San Francisco. Cotchett told U.S. District Court Judge Jeffrey White that the speaker approved of the plea bargain and said Pelosi would not demand Giusti pay victim restitution typically required in such cases.

A disheveled and weepy Giusti told the judge he made the phone calls because "I was upset with her passing the health care law."

Prosecutors said Giusti used a device that allows users to make calls over the Internet and choose the area code where the calls originate.

The government is asking an appeals court to throw out a judge's order to release a Guantanamo Bay prisoner accused of recruiting Sept. 11 hijackers.

The 9/11 commission report described Mohamedou Ould Salahi as a significant al-Qaida operative who instructed hijackers how to reach Afghanistan to train for jihad. Salahi says he falsely admitted under abusive interrogation to arranging travel for some of the hijackers.

Salahi has been held without charge for eight years at the Navy-run prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and remains there as lawyers prepare to argue over his release before a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington on Friday.

U.S. District Judge James Robertson ruled this spring that the evidence against Salahi was "tainted by coercion and mistreatment" and based on classified material that could not support a criminal prosecution.

"The government's case relies heavily on statements made by Salahi himself, but the reliability of those statements — most of them now retracted by Salahi — is open to question," the judge wrote in his order.

An Indiana teenager who pleaded guilty to murder has broken down while watching video of himself telling police how he strangled his 10-year-old brother.

Ohio Circuit Court Judge James D. Humphrey recessed court twice for a total of nearly an hour Thursday morning as 18-year-old Andrew Conley tried to control his emotions.

Defense attorney Gary Sorge said Conley wanted to be excused from the courtroom because he couldn't "bear to hear any more." Humphrey denied the request and said it was important that Conley be present to exercise his rights.

Conley pleaded guilty Monday as his trial was about to begin in the Nov. 28 murder of his brother, Conner Conley, at their home in the Ohio River town of Rising Sun. He could face 45 years to life in prison.