Nation Digest
Britney Spears voids quickie Vegas vows

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LOS ANGELES — Britney Spears was granted an annulment yesterday to end her surprise two-day marriage to a childhood friend, after the pop star told a Las Vegas judge in court papers that she and her new husband were "incompatible."

The Las Vegas judge signed the petition just hours after it was filed, Spears attorney David Chesnoff told reporters. He said the couple sought the annulment after realizing that they had not worked out the "serious issues" involved in marriage.

The court papers were filed under the name Britney Jean Spears just 12 minutes after Clark County District Court opened yesterday. They assert that the singer is "not currently pregnant" and ask that neither she nor Jason Allen Alexander get spousal support.

Representatives for Spears said in a statement that the nuptials, which took place at a chapel on the Las Vegas strip, were a "joke" gone too far.

Calif. driver, 87, charged in 10 deaths at market

LOS ANGELES — An 87-year-old man was charged with manslaughter yesterday in the deaths of 10 people who were killed when his car barreled through a farmers market last summer, authorities said.

George Weller faces 10 felony counts of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence stemming from the July crash, which also injured 63 people, prosecutors said. He faces up to 18 years in prison if convicted on all counts.

Police had asked prosecutors to bring a manslaughter case after a five-month investigation concluded that the tragedy was the result of unsafe speed and other violations.

U.S. court to review ban on taking inmates' DNA

SAN FRANCISCO — A federal appeals court decided yesterday to reconsider a ruling that barred DNA testing for thousands of federal convicts.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals set aside a three-judge panel's ruling in October to stop such testing for federal inmates and parolees because it is an illegal invasion of privacy. The DNA tests are forwarded to a database maintained by the FBI to solve other crimes.

The panel's original ruling threatened hundreds of criminal cases, in addition to state laws demanding DNA samples. Blood samples taken from federal prisoners and those on supervised release have been used to convict hundreds of people of crimes such as murder and rape.

Kinks' front man Ray Davies hurt in New Orleans shooting

NEW ORLEANS — Singer-songwriter Ray Davies of the celebrated British rock band the Kinks was shot in the leg while chasing thieves who snatched a purse from a woman he was with, police said yesterday. He was not seriously injured.

Police said Davies, 59, and the woman were walking near the edge of the French Quarter at 8:30 p.m. Sunday when a passing car stopped and a gunman jumped out and demanded the purse.

The woman handed it to him, and the thief ran back to the car. When Davies ran after him, the thief shot Davies in the leg, said Capt. Marlon Defillo, a police spokesman.

Davies was treated at a hospital and released, Defillo said.

Police later arrested Jerome Barra, 25, who was charged with armed robbery and aggravated battery.

800 use Calif. law to sue church over sex scandal

LOS ANGELES — About 800 Californians took advantage of a one-year window in 2003 to sue the Roman Catholic Church over alleged sexual molestation by clergy members, the plaintiffs' attorneys said yesterday.

The flood of litigation is the result of a California law that took effect Jan. 1, 2003, lifting for one year the statute of limitations for molestation lawsuits. Previously, alleged victims could sue only until their 26th birthday or three years after discovering they had emotional problems linked to molestation.

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