The California Supreme Court has upheld the death penalty sentence for the killer of two Riverside County deputies in 1997.
Timothy Russell was sentenced 11 years ago for the ambush killings of 41-year-old James Lehmann Jr. and 33-year-old Michael Haugen. The deputies had responded to a domestic violence call in a remote desert area east of Cabazon when Russell opened fire with an M-1 carbine.

The Riverside Press-Enterprise says attorney's for Russell, who is now 50, claimed his death sentence should be overturned because the amount of time he was hiding, waiting for the deputies, was not enough duration to indicate he was trying to ambush them.

But the justices any time period of lying in wait was sufficient to warrant a death sentence.

The man who halted the morning commute on the Bay Bridge for two hours last week and claimed to have pipebombs in his vehicle, is set to make his first court appearance today.

Authorities say the Antioch man stopped his SUV on the upper deck last Thursday morning, dialed 911 and threatened to blow up the span. Police say he also waived a pellet gun and threatened to kill himself.

His 16-year-old daughter, who was in the SUV, managed to escape during the standoff.

Carlos-Valentino ultimately surrendered. He told officers he was angry and suicidal because of marital problems.

A medical examiner says two Detroit-area toddlers probably drowned before their bodies were scalded with hot water.

Dr. Carl Schmidt says the deaths of 13-month-old Johnathan Sanderlin and 15-month-old Ella Stafford were not an accident. He testified Monday at a court hearing to determine if their father, Steven Nicholson of Allen Park, will go to trial on murder charges.

Police say Nicholson drowned them on Oct. 19. Defense attorney William Winters III claims it was a "horrible accident," not a crime.

Schmidt says Johnathan had burns on 80 percent of his body while Ella had burns on 25 percent.

Friends and family told Nicholson they love him as he entered court. The judge immediately warned against any additional outbursts.

A federal appeal court is reconsidering a decision that reversed former Florida Senate President W.D. Childers' bribery conviction.

In a rare move, the full 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeal vacated the 2-1 ruling by a three-judge panel Wednesday. The full 11-judge panel now will rehear Childers' appeal.

Childers had already completed a 3 1/2-year prison term before the appeal court ruled in June.

The conviction stemmed from Childers' actions as an Escambia County commissioner after the Pensacola Republican left the Senate due to term limits in 2000.

A state court jury found him guilty of bribing a fellow commission to vote for a county land purchase.

A Las Vegas court has ordered boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. to stay away from his former girlfriend and their two sons after prosecutors say he hit her and threatened to beat his children if they called 911.

The 33-year-old Mayweather was not required to appear at a hearing Tuesday before Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Diana Sullivan on eight misdemeanor and felony charges. Sullivan gave Mayweather a week to pay $31,000 in bail.

Authorities allege Mayweather also took mobile phones belonging to Josie Harris and his sons following the Sept. 9 dispute.

Mayweather faces charges of felony coercion, grand larceny and robbery, and misdemeanor domestic battery and harassment.

He could face up to 34 years in prison if convicted on all charges. He is due back in court Jan. 24.

Jurors have begun deliberations in the trial of a New Hampshire teenager charged with wielding a machete during a deadly home invasion last year.

Superior Court Judge Gillian Abramson told jurors to voice their individual opinions when they consider the case against 18-year-old Steven Spader.

Spader is charged with first-degree murder and other felonies in the knife and machete attacks that killed Kimberly Cates and maimed her 11-year-old daughter, Jaimie, in their Mont Vernon home. He has pleaded not guilty.

A prosecutor told jurors that Spader's detailed written accounts of the killing amount to a confession. His lawyers dismissed them as the writings of a teen known for bragging and lying.

Spader will be sentenced to life in prison if convicted of murder.