Hundreds of inmates face resentencing

San Francisco

Hundreds of federal prisoners in nine Western states, including Washington, will have to be resentenced under a ruling yesterday by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco.

The ruling was the first action from the appeals court after a U.S. Supreme Court decision last month that the federal government's sentencing guidelines could not be binding on judges. As a result, federal judges are free in pending cases to give prison terms that are shorter or longer than those called for under the guidelines. But the high-court ruling left it to lower courts to decide how to handle the cases of prisoners who had already been sentenced under the guidelines.

The 9th Circuit in a unanimous decision said it would be only the "truly exceptional case that will not require" resentencing. Three other appeals courts have reached similar conclusions.

Chicago

New doubts as Taser stops boy's heart

A 14-year-old boy went into cardiac arrest after police shot him with a Taser stun gun, raising new questions about a weapon already the subject of scrutiny by federal regulators.

The boy was regaining consciousness yesterday but was not talking, said Cook County Public Guardian Robert Harris.

Police spokesman David Bayless said that the 6-foot-2, 220-pound teen, a ward of the state since 1999, attacked three employees at the group home where he lives Monday, and that an officer used the Taser because the boy lunged at him.

Taser International spokesman Steve Tuttle said the company's stun guns, which deliver 50,000 volts of electricity, "are among the safest alternatives available to law enforcement to subdue violent individuals." The Securities and Exchange Commission recently announced an inquiry into the company's safety claims.

Philadelphia

$1 million settlement in gene-therapy death

The University of Pennsylvania and the Children's National Medical Center have agreed to pay more than $1 million to settle fraud allegations related to the death of a teenager during a gene-therapy experiment.

Jesse Gelsinger, 18, of Tucson, Ariz., died on his fourth day in the study in 1999. He had suffered from an inherited disorder that blocks the body from properly processing nitrogen.

The Food and Drug Administration concluded that the therapy killed him. After his death, Gelsinger's family said the teen had been misled about the experiment's potential risks. Neither institution was required to acknowledge wrongdoing.

Mount Vernon, N.Y.

11 arrested in bust of 24/7 drug ring

A drug ring that had a fleet of vehicles and offered home delivery any hour of the day has been busted with the arrest of 11 people, officials said yesterday.

The ring served up to 80 customers a day, said Mount Vernon Mayor Ernest Davis.

District Attorney Jeanine Pirro said the ring dispensed drugs to customers on the street and at home and had a fleet of vehicles plus dozens of cellphones that were regularly replaced. "They were available 24/7 to deliver drugs," Pirro said.

Also

Jewel heists: Christopher DiMeo and Nicole Pearce, both 23, pleaded not guilty yesterday in a string of jewel heists in which three people were shot dead in New York and Connecticut.