An out-of-town jury will hear the murder trial of a central Missouri teenager accused of slaying a 9-year-old neighbor girl because she wanted to know what it felt like to kill someone.

A judge decided Tuesday to select a jury from outside of Cole County as an alternative to a request by Alyssa Bustamante's attorneys to move the trial elsewhere.

Bustamante, who was 15 at the time of the crime, is charged as an adult with first-degree murder and armed criminal action in the Oct. 21 slaying of Elizabeth Olten. She has pleaded not guilty.

Authorities say Bustamante plotted Elizabeth's death — digging two holes several days in advance — then strangled her without provocation, cut the girl's throat and stabbed her. They say Bustamante confessed in a police interview to slaying Elizabeth because she wanted to know what it felt like to kill someone.

Hundreds of volunteers helped during a two-day search for the missing fourth-grader. Authorities say Bustamante ultimately led them to Elizabeth's body, which was concealed in a wooded area near the girls' homes just west of Jefferson City.

Commercial law firm Carson McDowell has promoted four associates to partners of the firm, reflecting the growth of the business.

The firm, which has over 100 people working in its Belfast office, made Emma Cooper a partner in its property practice, Stuart Murphy a partner in construction, Dawn McKnight a partner in corporate and commerical and Leigh Linton a partner in litigation.

Senior partner Alan Reilly said “These promotions reflect the growth which we are still experiencing within the firm.

About 25 law firms seeking class action status for lawsuits filed against Toyota Motor Corp. in more than 20 states have formed a consortium, an attorney coordinating the group said Thursday.

Approximately 20 other lawsuits seeking class action status on behalf of consumers also have been filed against the automaker because of accelerator problems that have led to the recall of more than 8 million automobiles.

Those 40 suits do not include individual personal injury claims that consumers have filed against Toyota.

Tim Howard, coordinator of the Attorneys Toyota Action Consortium, said a court hearing on whether all the class action cases will be consolidated is expected March 25 before a multidistrict panel in U.S. District Court in San Diego.

Mr. Howard is a professor of law and policy at Northeastern University and an attorney at Howard Associates P.A. in Tallahassee, Fla.

The lawsuits seeking class action status share common allegations that consumers lost value in and the use of their cars because of defective parts that sparked the recall.

Coral Gables law firm Colson Hicks Edison is expanding to Washington, D.C.

The firm's new office is headed by Ron Kleinman, former managing shareholder of Greenberg Traurig's Washington office, and Colson Hicks Edison partner Joseph Matthews. Kleinman and Matthews will focus on litigation and arbitration.

Kleinman is recognized as an expert on international and treaty law who has been successful in securing compensation for victims of international terrorism.

Matthews, a partner at Colson Hicks Edison since l989, will be splitting his time between D.C. and South Florida. Prior to joining Colson Hicks Edison, he served as special counsel to U. S. Sen. Bob Graham in Washington.

Congressional Democrats outlined legislation Thursday aimed at undoing a recent Supreme Court decision that allows corporations and interest groups to spend freely on political advertising.

To accomplish that goal, the legislation would impose a patchwork of spending restrictions and disclosure requirements — many based in current laws.

The measure would greatly expand the scope of an existing ban on political commercials paid for by foreign corporations, ban political commercials paid for by government contractors or recipients of bailout money, and force corporations and unions to make public details of what they spend directly or through advocacy groups.

The legislation’s sponsors, Senator Charles E. Schumer of New York and Representative Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, said they wanted the measure enacted in time to limit the impact of the court’s decision in the case, Citizens United vs. the Federal Election Commission, before the fall campaigns. “Otherwise the court will have predetermined the winner of the midterm elections,” Mr. Schumer said. “It won’t be the Republicans or the Democrats. It will be corporate America.”

Many of the proposals, like restrictions on foreign companies or government contractors, have populist appeal, but passage would require the vote of at least one Republican senator. Five current Republican senators — led at the time by Senator John McCain of Arizona — voted for the spending rules that the court chipped away, but not one has yet embraced the Democrats’ proposals.

The sponsors said they had developed the legislation to comply with the court’s opinion in Citizens United.

A grand jury has indicted a Salisbury woman for embezzling more than $140,000 from a local attorney.

The Rowan County grand jury meeting Monday indicted Kimberly "Kim" Osborne on the charge of felony embezzlement.

The indictment charges that she took $142,414 from James T. Oxendine between Jan. 1, 2007, and Jan. 1, 2008.

She was an employee of Oxendine's during that time.

Osborne was at the time married to Terry Osborne, currently manager of the Rowan-Kannapolis ABC system.

Kim Osborne previously worked for the Clerk of Court's office when Terry Osborne was Rowan County Clerk of Superior Court.

Terry Osborne petitioned for a divorce, which was granted in August 2009.

Salisbury Police investigated the case, with assistance from the SBI.