21-year-old guilty in arson spree

Patrick Walsh was found guilty yesterday of masterminding Maryland's largest residential arson: a cluster of fires last December that caused $10 million damage at a subdivision under construction.

Walsh, 21, was found guilty in federal court of conspiracy and 34 arson counts for planning and helping set fires at the Hunters Brooke development in Indian Head. No one was hurt, but 10 homes were destroyed and 16 severely damaged. Each count carries a possible prison term of up to 20 years and a $250,000 fine. Judge Roger Titus set a Dec. 5 sentencing date.

Two other men pleaded guilty and face sentencing Oct. 18; two more are scheduled to go on trial next year.

Witnesses lined up for Roberts hearing

A lawmaker who played a prominent role in the civil-rights movement, a woman who sued the government to get handicapped access to courthouses and Richard Nixon's former White House lawyer will testify at Supreme Court nominee John Roberts' confirmation hearing, Democrats said yesterday.

Roberts, President Bush's choice to replace retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, begins his confirmation proceedings Tuesday before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Thirty witnesses have been scheduled to speak at the hearings: 15 chosen by Republicans and 15 by Democrats. The GOP list includes former Attorney General Dick Thornburgh and Peter Kirsanow from the U.S. Civil Rights Commission. Democrats will counter with U.S. Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., who participated in the struggles that helped secure passage of the civil-rights law in 1965; Beverly Jones, a court reporter who successfully sued because she could not get into at least 25 courthouses in Tennessee because she uses a wheelchair; and John Dean, Nixon's former White House counsel.

Satellite tracking for sex offenders

Hundreds of paroled sex offenders in Tennessee will be tracked by a satellite under a $2.5 million program said to be the largest of its kind in the United States, officials said yesterday.

Next week, Tennessee's State Probation and Parole Board will fit up to 650 sex offenders with ankle bracelets and special rechargeable belts to monitor their location. The parolees are told to stay away from certain zones around schools, day-care centers and former victims, said the board's executive director, Bo Irvin.

Also

Sniper trials: John Allen Muhammad is to stand trial May 1 in the six Maryland deaths linked to the 2002 Washington, D.C.-area sniper spree, a judge ruled yesterday. His alleged accomplice, John Lee Malvo, 20, will be tried beginning Oct. 10, 2006.

Free on bail: Marine Sgt. Daniel Cotnoir, 33, facing attempted-murder charges for firing into a crowd from his Lawrence, Mass., apartment, was released yesterday on $5,000 cash bail. He pleaded not guilty last month.

Compiled from The Associated Press and Reuters