A man who sneaked a bag of his feces into a San Diego courtroom during his home-invasion robbery trial, smeared it on his lawyer and threw it at jurors has been sentenced to 31 years in prison.

Superior Court Judge Frank Brown on Monday sentenced Weusi McGowan for robbery, burglary and two assault charges stemming from the feces-flinging incident during his January trial.

McGowan, who attorneys say suffers from mental illness, had asked for a mistrial because he believed jurors had seen him in restraints when he entered the courtroom.

Several days after his request was denied, McGowan pulled out a bag of excrement he had hidden in his clothing, rubbed it on his lawyer and tossed it at the jury, hitting one juror's computer case.

The parents of a southern Minnesota teenager who once fled the state to avoid chemotherapy went before a judge Monday and asked for the court's role in the case to end, saying they are following the advice of doctors and making sure their son gets the best medical care.

Daniel Hauser, 13, is undergoing radiation treatments for childhood Hodgkin's lymphoma. He finished chemotherapy in early September, and his father said there is no sign of cancer.

"In all reality, he's been in remission for quite some time already," Anthony Hauser said in a telephone interview Monday. "I hope he stays in remission — that's No. 1. And hopefully we can live our lives normally again."

During a hearing in Brown County District Court, Judge John Rodenberg said that as long as no new issues arise, he would close the case after Daniel completes his 12 recommended sessions of radiation — which are expected to end Nov. 6, according to Joseph Rymanowski, an attorney for the parents.

Ohio is struggling to find medical professionals willing to advise the state on the best way to put condemned inmates to death.

Attorney General Richard Cordray says in a court filing that ethical and professional considerations are deterring doctors and others from offering advice about lethal injection.

Executions are on hold in Ohio while the state develops new injection policies following a Sept. 15 execution that was stopped because the inmate had no usable veins.

Cordray's concerns came in a filing in U.S. District Court Friday.

He says his office has reached out to judges, police and lawmakers for help trying to find medical professionals willing to talk to the state.

He also says five lawmakers he didn't identify have agreed to try to find medical staff to help.

The years-long scandal of Hwang Woo-suk, a former Seoul National University professor charged with fraudulent stem cell research, reached the end of its first chapter yesterday as the court handed down a suspended sentence of two years.

"Though Hwang fabricated the DNA photographs in his 2004 paper and the stem cell charts in his 2005 paper, he cannot be seen as having thus defrauded his sponsors or the public," said the ruling judge of the Seoul Central Court yesterday. The scientist received 2 billion won ($1.7 million) in research funds from corporations by displaying his seemingly successful research papers.

"The money was voluntarily donated by the corporations, regardless of the contents of Hwang's papers," ruled the court.

The prosecution and the court, however, decided that the scientific authenticity of Hwang's papers was to be judged by scientific circles and not by the court.

The scientist was also declared guilty of embezzling part of the money for personal use and illegal egg cell-trading by using borrowed name accounts, said the court.

Court records show a former government scientist accused of attempted espionage last week pleaded guilty earlier this year to overbilling NASA and the Department of Defense more than $265,000 for contracting work.

The January plea by 52-year-old Stewart Nozette of Chevy Chase, Md., was detailed in court records unsealed Friday. The records state the documents were sealed because Nozette was cooperating in unrelated government corruption investigations.

Nozette was arrested last week and accused of selling sensitive government secrets to an FBI agent posing as an Israeli intelligence operative.

The unsealed court documents say Nozette pleaded guilty in January to overbilling the government between 2000 and 2006 and spending the money on personal bills and maintaining his swimming pool.

Two U.S. Supreme Court justices are taking theatrics out of the courtroom — and into to a more suitable venue.

Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Antonin Scalia will have nonspeaking roles Saturday night in a production by the Washington National Opera. They'll be dressed in black-tie attire and remain on stage for nearly 90 minutes during the opening performance of "Ariadne auf Naxos" (are-EE-AHD-nay off NACKS-ohs).

The opera depicts a serious opera company and a comedic troupe performing at the same time during a dinner party. The justices will play party guests.

Event organizers say Ginsburg and Scalia are opera lovers and have appeared in previous productions.