09/14/2006

Associated Press

A woman has pleaded innocent in the death of an officer killed when a speeding sport-utility vehicle slammed into his patrol car.

During her second scheduled arraignment, Mary Jane Rivas pleaded not guilty Tuesday in King County Superior Court to vehicular homicide and cocaine possession.

King County Prosecutor Norm Maleng has said he'll seek an exceptional sentence because the standard-range penalty of 10 to 14 years would not reflect the "outrageous recklessness" of the act. He hasn't specified how long a sentence he'll seek if Rivas is convicted.

Rivas, 31, appeared in court Tuesday on crutches, her leg in a cast. She said she understood the charges against her. Judge Ronald Kessler ordered that she undergo a mental-health evaluation.

Rivas had declined to attend a hearing last month over concerns about her mental competency because of medications she was taking for a leg injury suffered in the Aug. 13 crash that killed Joselito Barber.

Rivas was released from prison 10 days before the accident after serving time for a cocaine conviction in Snohomish County.

She was high on cocaine, charging papers said, when she drove through a red light at about 80 mph and barreled into Barber's car.

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BLAINE, Wash. — A man driving into the United States from Canada is being held on charges that he bit a U.S. border guard's finger.

Magistrate Judge Monica Benton on Monday ordered Michel Labadie held pending a detention hearing later this week in U.S. District Court.

Labadie was driving into the United States on Saturday morning when he was told he had been selected for secondary inspection, according to a complaint filed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

While he was being questioned, a computer check found he had been involved in a previous incident at the border, involving an assault on officers during an inspection, said Senior Special Agent Eric Lehmann of ICE.

Customs and Border Protection Officer Edward Escobar, who witnessed the first incident, was called in. Then Escobar and Labadie had a heated discussion about the Canadian's travel plans and Escobar said Labadie threatened him. When the officers tried to restrain Labadie, Escobar was bitten on his left pinky finger and also sustained an injury to his left elbow.

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BREMERTON, Wash. (AP) — A 20-year-old was taken into custody for investigation in the death of a man shot in a parking lot in East Bremerton.

Kitsap County sheriff's deputies arrested Zachary James Santos at his Everett apartment Tuesday night. He was being held Wednesday on $500,000 bail for investigation of second-degree murder in the death of John Falani Taueli, 23, of East Bremerton.

A hearing was scheduled for Thursday in Kitsap County Superior Court.

Taueli was shot outside a retail center early Aug. 5. He died later that day at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.

Investigators believe the two men were strangers who engaged in a verbal argument that escalated into a physical fight, resulting in Santos' getting a handgun from his car and shooting at Taueli.

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SEATTLE (AP) — A new mid-size concert hall will be built at the Qwest Field Event Center under a deal between Paul Allen and AEG LIVE, a concert promoter in Los Angeles.

AEG LIVE and Allen's First & Goal company plan to invest in sound, lighting and comfortable seating to create the new theater at the south end of the football stadium. The event center traditionally has been used for boat, RV, car and home shows.

Under a 10-year deal with Washington Mutual, the hall is to be called WaMu Theater. It's scheduled to open this fall with Seal playing a Nov. 3 concert.

The venue will have flexible seating for 3,300 to 7,000.

Major concerts in Seattle usually are held at the 17,000-seat KeyArena, which stands to lose revenue if the Seattle SuperSonics leave after the team was sold to Oklahoma investors.