Ex-San Diego mayor gambled away charity funds

SAN DIEGO Former San Diego Mayor Maureen O'Connor acknowledged Thursday in federal court that she misappropriated $2 million from her late husband's charitable foundation due to a gambling addiction in which she won more than $1 billion but lost even more over nearly a decade.

O'Connor made the acknowledgement in an agreement with the government to defer prosecution for two years while she attempts to repay the debt.

O'Connor was the Democratic leader of California's second-largest city from 1986 to 1992. The two-term mayor was elected San Diego's first female leader after eight years on the City Council. She was married to Robert O. Peterson, founder of the Jack-In-The-Box restaurant chain.

Prosecutors said her gambling winnings amounted to more than $1 billion from 2000 to 2009 but she lost more than that.

Her defense attorney estimated the debt at $13 million.

O'Connor gambled in Las Vegas, Atlantic City, N.J., and San Diego.

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Cruise Passengers Celebrate as They Near Land












The 4,000 passengers and crew aboard the stricken Carnival Triumph cruise ship will disembark after dark tonight from the fetid cruiser dubbed "the poop deck" on social media, according to officials.


"It will come in. It will not stop," Alabama State Port Authority Director Jimmy Lyons said at a news conference today. "We're going to do everything we can from our standpoint to ensure that this is as smooth as possible."


He estimated the ship would arrive between 7 p.m. and 10 p.m. tonight.


Delighted passengers waved at media helicopters that flew out to film the ship and passenger Rob Mowlam told ABCNews.com by phone today that most of the passengers on board were "really upbeat and positive."


Nevertheless, when he gets off Mowlam said, "I will probably flush the toilet 10 times just because I can."


Mowlam, 37, got married on board the Triumph Friday and said he and his wife, Stephanie Stevenson, 27, haven't yet thought of redoing the honeymoon other than to say, "It won't be a cruise."


Lyons said that with powerless "dead ships" like the Triumph, it is usually safer to bring them in during daylight hours, but, "Once they make the initial effort to come into the channel, there's no turning back."


Click here for photos of the stranded ship at sea.






Lt. Cmdr. Paul McConnell/U.S. Coast Guard/AP Photo











Stranded Carnival Cruise Ship On Its Way to Port Watch Video









Carnival Cancels All Scheduled Voyages Aboard the Triumph Watch Video









Carnival Cruise Ship Making Its Way to Port Watch Video





"There are issues regarding coming into the ship channel and docking at night because the ship has no power and there's safety issues there," Richard Tillman of the Mobile Bay Convention and Visitors Bureau told ABCNews.com.


When asked if the ship could be disembarked in the dark of night, Tillman said, "It is not advised. It would be very unusual."


Carnival Cruise Senior Vice President of Marketing Terri Thornton, however, insisted during a news conference at the port of Mobile today, "Our understanding is it will be alongside this evening."


Thornton denied the rumors that there was a fatality on the ship. He said that there was one illness early on, a dialysis patient, but that passenger was removed from the vessel and transferred to a medical facility.


The U.S. Coast Guard is assisting now and there are multiple generators on board. And customs officials will board the ship while it is being piloted to port to accelerate the embarkation, officials said.


After eight miserable days at sea, the ship's owners have increased the compensation for what some on board are calling the vacation from hell.


All 3,143 passengers aboard the 900 foot colossus, which stalled in the Gulf of Mexico after an engine room fire early Sunday, were already being given a full refund for the cruise, transportation expenses and vouchers for a another cruise. Carnival Cruise Lines is now boosting that offer to include another $500 per person. Gerry Cahill, president and CEO of Carnival Cruise Lines, announced the additional compensation Wednesday.


"We know it has been a longer journey back than we anticipated at the beginning of the week under very challenging circumstances," he said in a statement. "We are very sorry for what our guests have had to endure. Therefore, in addition to the full refund and future cruise credit already offered, we have decided to provide this additional compensation."


Carnival also said that it has canceled a dozen planned voyages for the Triumph and acknowledged that the crippled ship had been plagued by other mechanical problems in the weeks before an engine-room fire left it powerless in the Gulf of Mexico.






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Obama speech 'relied on amnesia'






STORY HIGHLIGHTS


  • Matt Welch: State of the Union featured content-free calls to action for action's sake

  • He says governed might want to know what they've gotten in return for ballooning debt

  • Didn't we try repairing infrastructure with the stimulus package? he asks

  • Welch: Rand Paul spoke to those who think government should get out of way




Editor's note: Matt Welch is editor in chief of Reason and co-author of "The Declaration of Independents: How Libertarian Politics Can Fix What's Wrong With America" (Public Affairs).


(CNN) -- The two most memorable lines of President Barack Obama's fourth State of the Union address were the ad-libbed: "Get it done" (which doesn't appear in the remarks as prepared), and the emotional "They deserve a vote," concerning victims of gun violence.


As exasperated appeals for an obstructionist Congress to get off its duff, the exhortations provided emotional catnip for Democrats. For the rest of us, however, they were sobering reminders of what governing liberalism has deteriorated into: content-free calls to take action for action's sake.


Consumers of national governance are within their rights to ask just what we've gotten in return for ballooning the cost of the stuff since 2000. The answer may lie in not just what the president said, but what he has assumed we've already forgotten.



Matt Welch

Matt Welch



"Let's cut in half the energy wasted by our homes and businesses over the next 20 years," said the president, who promised a "Recovery Through Retrofit" three years ago. "The American people deserve a tax code that ... lowers tax rates for businesses and manufacturers that create jobs right here in America," said the man who before he took office vowed to, uh, give "tax breaks to companies that are investing here in the United States."


That "aging infrastructure badly in need of repair"? Well, what happened to the $50 billion from the stimulus package dedicated to precisely that task, or the $50 billion plan 18 months later? Making college "more affordable"? That has been the motivation for continuous ratcheting of government involvement in higher education, which has -- surprise! -- coincided with a several-decade increase in tuition costs and student loan debt.


Greene: In 2013, democracy talks back



Do-something politics works when Americans have amnesia, or are reacting to headline-making tragedies, or when they just want free stuff. But this irresistible force is butting up against the immovable object of a have-nothing U.S. Treasury. Debt service costs will soon overtake defense spending, and baby boomer entitlements are about to transform the federal government into a check-writing program for senior citizens.


Americans know by now that Obama can't possibly believe his own promises that his policies won't "increase our deficit by a single dime," not only because of his poor track record with that particular vow, but because he spends the rest of his time talking about all the various things the government needs to "invest" to create "broad-based growth." It's a conflict at the basic level of vision with those of us who think prosperity is mostly a private-sector affair that is on balance imperiled, not improved, by the exertions of a deficit-spending government.


Opinion: Obama dares Congress to get the job done








Thankfully, and quite unlike during the 2012 presidential campaign, the competing vision was voiced Tuesday night. Not necessarily by a dehydrated but game Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Florida, who delivered the Republican response to the State of the Union address, but by Sen. Rand Paul, R-Kentucky, who did the honors online for the tea party.


"The path we are on is not sustainable," Paul said, directly. "All that we are, all that we wish to be, is now threatened by the notion that you can have something for nothing, that you can have your cake and eat it, too, that you can spend a trillion dollars every year that you don't have."


Paul dinged Republicans as well as Democrats, targeted military spending as well as entitlements, and spent a good 30 seconds giving a more full-throated defense of wartime civil liberties than the allegedly anti-war candidate Obama ever did.


Most importantly, he laid out a truly alternative vision that speaks directly to the growing number of Americans who feel like the federal government has failed as the engine of economic growth, and needs urgently to take a back seat before it does more harm.


Rothkopf: This time, a president in full


"What America needs," Paul said, "is not Robin Hood, but Adam Smith." As Obamanomics continues underperforming through a second term, it will be fascinating to see whether Ron Paul's kid can get more people to agree.


Follow us on Twitter: @CNNOpinion.


Join us at Facebook/CNNOpinion.


The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Matt Welch.






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Tennis: Azarenka rides Gulf breeze past Oprandi in opener






DOHA: Victoria Azarenka's bid to hold on to her Qatar Open title, and the world number one ranking, began with victory over herself, a treacherous wind, world number 62 and Romina Oprandi on Wednesday.

Azarenka's 6-2, 6-3 success was encouraging both in the way she responded to being within a point of losing the first three games in irritating conditions and for her maturing sense of adaptability.

There were moments when the 23-year-old resorted to cursing and racket swishing, but Azarenka's frustration never got out of control and her grip on the match increased as her mind imposed its focus.

With Serena Williams' fitness still the subject of speculation, and with Maria Sharapova needing both Williams and Azarenka to falter if she is to regain the pinnacle, the top-seeded Belarussian could yet hang on to the top spot.

"It was a little bit of a slow start, and I had to adjust," Azarenka said.

"I couldn't go for my shots, and I had to be a bit more patient. She (Oprandi) is tricky and plays so many different balls that you don't know what to expect. I had to focus more and move my feet more."

The title-holder also took satisfaction from her ratio of successful moves to the net, winning 15 of her 20 attempts in what is not an area of special strength for her.

"It's something I want to improve. I am solid from the baseline, so I tried to change it up a bit," she said. "I had a lot of opportunities to do that today."

It was Azarenka's first match since retaining her Australian Open title in Melbourne three weeks ago, and underlined her better physical condition than Williams.

The Wimbledon and US Open champion's strapped up ankle will be tested again on Thursday by a last-16 clash against Urszula Radwanska, the younger of the two Polish sisters.

Azarenka's last-16 match is against Christina McHale, the world number 44 from the United States.

A repeat on Saturday of her semi-final last year with Agnieszka Radwanska, the world number four, looks very possible, though she cannot hold on to the top ranking if Williams is still surviving at that stage.

Radwanska, whose intelligent, well-controlled game seems well suited to the conditions, earlier reached the last 16 with comfortable win, by 6-3, 6-2 over Anastasia Rodionova, a qualifier from Australia.

She next plays Ana Ivanovic, the former world number one from Serbia.

At least Williams can be sure that her conqueror at the Australian Open will not be troubling her again in this tournament.

Sloane Stephens, playing her first event as a top 20 player, led by a set and 5-3 but could not get past Klara Zakopalova, the world number 24 from the Czech Republic, losing 4-6, 7-6 (7/5), 7-6 (7/5).

The American also served for the match at 6-5 in the final set, and then fought back from 1-5 down in the tie-break to 5-5, but still narrowly missed her chance of tackling another big name.

Zakopalova will instead take on Sharapova.

Two other seeds were beaten, Marion Bartoli, the number nine from France, and Roberta Vinci, the number 15 from Italy, bringing the total of casualties to five so far.

An ailing Bartoli lost 6-4, 6-4 to Svetlana Kuznetsova, the former French and US Open champion who is looking livelier than last year.

Another former world number one, Caroline Wozniacki, also reached the last 16.

The athletic Dane also made a tenacious escape from 3-6 down in a first set tie-break, saving four set points altogether before beating Sorana Cirstea, the world number 31 from Romania by 7-6 (9/7), 6-0.

Wozniacki next plays Mona Barthel, the German who on Tuesday upset her fifth-seeded compatriot, Angelique Kerber.

- AFP/jc



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Video: Syria's youngest talk about life in war zone

The impact of war on Syria's youngest residents is depicted in a striking video released Wednesday by Global Post. A correspondent, identified only as " Maya," spoke with kids in a Syrian children's shelter about their experiences growing up in a war zone.


The sound of explosions can be heard in the background as the footage opens to a room filled with young people.

"When the shelling starts we don't hear the explosions as much, so we feel safer," says 14-year-old Mariam. "But when the shelling is heavy we feel only God can protect us."

Between images of the children playing--with hula hoops, computer games and, in one case, a bullet--the young subjects give their personal accounts of war. They speak candidly, and without tears, about witnessing brutal massacres, the deaths of classmates and dreaming about bombs.

Turkieh, an 8-year-old with bouncy curls and a bright pink sweater, is calm as she recounts the loss of her mother.

"My mum went to buy bread and was coming back when the sniper shot her," she says.

The United Nations say close to 70,000 people have been killed in Syria since the conflict started.


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Dorner Hid Just Steps From Command Center













Christopher Dorner, the fugitive ex-cop who authorities believe died in a fiery standoff with police Tuesday night, was apparently holed up in a snow-covered cabin in the California mountains just steps from where police had set up a command post and held press conferences during a five-day manhunt.


The charred remains of a body believed to be Dorner was removed from another cabin, high in the San Bernadino Mountains near Big Bear, Calif., the site of Dorner's last stand. Cornered inside the mountain cabin, the suspect shot at cops, killing one deputy and wounding another, before the building was consumed by flames.


Police are working to officially identify the body, but "have reason to believe that it is him," said San Bernardino County sheriff's spokeswoman Cynthia Bachman.


The manhunt for Dorner, 33, one of the biggest in recent memory, led police to follow clues across the West and into Mexico, but it ended just miles from where Dorner's trail went cold last week.


Residents of the area were relieved today that after a week of heightened police presence and fear that Dorner was likely dead.


"I'm glad no one else can get hurt and they caught him. I'm happy they caught the bad guy," said Ashley King, a waitress in the nearby town of Angelus Oaks, Calif.


Hundreds of cops scoured the mountains near Big Bear, a resort area in Southern California, since last Thursday using bloodhounds and thermal-imaging technology mounted to helicopters, in the search for Dorner. The former police officer and Navy marksman was being hunted as the suspect who had killed a cop and cop's daughter and had issued a "manifesto" declaring he was bent on revenge and pledged to kill dozens of LAPD cops and their family members.








Carjacking Victim Says Christopher Dorner Was Dressed for Damage Watch Video









Christopher Dorner Manhunt: Inside the Shootout Watch Video









Chris Dorner Manhunt: Fugitive Ex-Cop in Shootout With Police Watch Video





But it now appears that Dorner never left the area, and may have hid out in an unoccupied cabin just steps from where cops had set up a command center.


It was at the cabin Tuesday morning where two women arrived to find a man matching Dorner's description inside. He took the women hostage, tying them up and stealing their car. At 12:20 p.m. PT, one of the woman broke free and called police.


Dorner crashed that car and hijacked a pickup truck as officials from the state Fish and Game Department pursued him.


"I saw some movement in the trees and it was Christopher Dorner and he came out onto the road, out of the snow, and he was dressed in all camouflage and had a big assault, sniper-type rifle and he had a vest on, like a ballistics vest," Rick Heltebrake, the pickup's driver, told ABC News.


"He was dressed up to do some damage it looked like. He said, 'I don't want to hurt you. Just get out and start walking up the road and take your dog with you,'" Heltebrake said.


Dorner then took off into the woods on foot, where sheriff's deputies pursued him to a rental cabin in which he barricaded himself and began firing.


Two deputies were wounded in the firefight and airlifted to a nearby hospital, where one died, police said. The second deputy received non-life threatening injuries, police said.


Some local television stations broadcast police scanner traffic of the firefight, punctuated by the sound of automatic gunfire.


"It was horrifying to listen to that firefight and to hear those words. 'Officer down' is the most gut-wrenching experience that you can have as a police officer," said LAPD spokesman Lt. Andrew Neiman.


Over the course of the next five hours, heavily armed SWAT teams with tank-like vehicles surrounded the cabin, even firing tear gas inside, but never entered the building.


Cops said they heard a single gunshot go off from inside the cabin just as they began to see smoke and fire. Later they heard the sound of more gunshots, the sound of ammunition being ignited by the heat of the blaze, law enforcement officials said.


Dorner is accused of killing four people, including the deputy shot on Tuesday. Last Thursday he allegedly gunned down Riverside police officer Michael Crain, who was laid to rest today.


Crain's shooting and the discovery of an online manifesto pledging to kill dozens of cops launched the dragnet.






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Was euro ever 'about to collapse'?








By Ramy Inocencio, for CNN


February 12, 2013 -- Updated 0948 GMT (1748 HKT)









STORY HIGHLIGHTS


  • Former European Central Bank chief says euro was never going to collapse

  • In 2012, critics predicted at least partial breakup of 17-member eurozone

  • Euro plunged to 25-month low against U.S. dollar in July 2012

  • Currency war fears prevail in run-up to G20 finance ministers meeting this week




Hong Kong (CNN) -- Less than six months ago, eurozone watchers had been predicting the breakup of the 17-member bloc of nations as the euro plunged to a 25-month low against the U.S. dollar last July.


Even as recently as November, Warren Buffett, the famed CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, said of the eurozone's future that "it's hard to tell exactly how it comes out."


But since then, the euro has appreciated nearly 11% as its member countries battled to contain sovereign debt crises, rising unemployment and social unrest. The euro now stands at a 13-month high against the greenback.


And flying in the face of last year's critics, former European Central Bank chief Jean-Claude Trichet told CNN's Nina dos Santos that the euro "was never about to collapse" and that its viability as a currency is solid.








"The euro as a currency has never been put in question," asserted Trichet, while at the same time admitting the euro area's financial stability and credit worthiness had been tested.


As for the euro, he said it "is certainly reliable and credible."


Yet, the euro's gains over the past seven months is a mixed blessing. Arguments have long-existed for and against a stronger currency. Appreciation means investors are more confident in the euro but eurozone exports become more expensive when sold overseas; devaluation makes the bloc's exports more competitive globally, which many eurozone officials would prefer.


But if the world's major economies devalued their currencies to make exports more competitive and to spur their economies to growth again, it would be chaos, says Trichet.


"If the reasoning is the same in all constituencies you have nothing but...a 'beggar-thy-neighbor' policy which is a recipe for catastrophe."


That catastrophe could take the form of an all-out currency war. And this week, the world's leading banks called on the G20 group of richest nations to avoid such an outcome.


"We believe major central banks should focus on enhancing their cooperation...to guide market expectations and thus help avoid a disorderly interest rate adjustment process and undue exchange rate volatility," the Institute of International Finance wrote in a letter to Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov, who is chairing the G20 finance minister's meeting later this week.


But with the eurozone in recession for the second time in four years, the desire to devalue the euro may be strong. The European Central Bank in December cut its 2013 growth forecast, with a best-case growth rate scenario of only 0.3%.


"It is no time for complacency," warned Trichet who added that the central banks of the United States, Japan and Europe as well as their private sectors should get their "house(s) in order."












Part of complete coverage on







January 21, 2013 -- Updated 1357 GMT (2157 HKT)



This month, the world's political and business elite will converge on Europe's highest-altitude town for the annual talk-shop that is the World Economic Forum.







January 11, 2013 -- Updated 1326 GMT (2126 HKT)



It started with one man peddling lavender and rosemary oil at local markets -- now it's a business valued at $4.8 billion.







January 10, 2013 -- Updated 1904 GMT (0304 HKT)



For the 19th year in a row, the Heritage Foundation, a conservative American think tank, has ranked the city of Hong Kong the freest economy in the world.







December 18, 2012 -- Updated 1951 GMT (0351 HKT)



So Brand Beckham now moves to the next generation. One of the Beckham juniors, 10-year-old Romeo, is appearing in the Burberry Spring 2013 campaign.







January 8, 2013 -- Updated 1535 GMT (2335 HKT)



All indications are that sanctions against Iran are really starting to bite and this time it is coming from the oil ministry in Tehran, which for months has denied that oil production was suffering due to international pressure.







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Flicking through her photos on her living room couch, Julia Quinn recounts the array of plastic surgery procedures she has undergone.







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If you want to reach the top at work, it's better to be feared than liked, according to a new study.







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While China has become the world's second largest economy, doing business in China is now perceived to be more corrupt, according to Transparency International.







January 8, 2013 -- Updated 1501 GMT (2301 HKT)



You had better be logical and forceful when writing your resume. Your expertise and practical experience should stand out, if you want to get back resume filters.

















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Convicted French rogue trader seeks to reverse fine in court






PARIS: French rogue trader Jerome Kerviel said on Tuesday he was trying to render meaningless the 4.9 billion euros in damages he owes to Societe Generale by seeking the same amount from the bank in a labour court.

Kerviel, convicted to three years in jail, said on RTL radio that he had filed a case in the Paris labour court seeking 4.9 billion euros ($6.6 billion) in damages from Societe Generale.

He said the bank firing him in 2008 for gross misconduct had "implied that there was the intention on my part to destroy the company, which was never the case and which was proven" during his trial.

Kerviel was convicted of forgery and breach of trust for circumventing trading limits to amass 50 billion euros in open deals, which had threatened to bring down one of Europe's largest banks.

Kerviel had insisted that his managers knew what he was doing and turned a blind eye as long profits flowed in.

The bank incurred the loss of nearly five billion euros when it quickly unwound Kerviel's trades before the market became aware.

Kerviel conceded the amount of damages he is seeking "is a bit ironic", saying he hopes a court analysis will show that he wasn't responsible for the losses the bank incurred.

"I want that figure verified because I believe that it is not a Kerviel loss," said the ex-trader.

Kerviel added he wasn't seeking to be reinstated at the bank.

An appeals court rejected last October Kerviel's attempt to overturn his conviction. He remains out of prison while waiting for his case to be reviewed by the Court of Cassation, France's top appeals court.

- AFP/de



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Fugitive ex-cop Dorner eluding manhunt






STORY HIGHLIGHTS


  • NEW: Search of the Big Bear Lake area will continue, police say

  • NEW: Pace of public tips rose 400% since $1 million reward offer

  • Dorner is accused of killing an officer and the daughter and future son-in-law of another cop

  • The fugitive said he believed he was unfairly terminated




Los Angeles (CNN) -- The massive search for a renegade ex-cop bent on carrying out "unconventional and asymmetrical warfare" focused on a mountainous resort area near Los Angeles for a sixth day Tuesday, but to no avail, authorities said.


Christopher Jordan Dorner is accused of killing one police officer and wounding two others, as well as killing the daughter of his police union representative and her fiancé.


The violent spree, authorities say, is part of Dorner's campaign of vigilante justice for what he believes was his unfair termination.


Los Angeles police spokesman Lt. Andy Neiman said Tuesday that the department had received more than 1,000 tips on Dorner's whereabouts. Some of the calls have come from Dorner's past acquaintances or people who think they have spotted the fugitive.


"It's frustrating," Neiman said. "But we are hoping that something will break loose from the public."


The pace of tips being given to investigators increased by 400% since the city of Los Angeles put up $1 million in reward money Sunday for information leading to Dorner's arrest and conviction, Neiman said.


The search for the 270-pound, 6-foot Dorner has focused on the Big Bear Lake area, where authorities say his burning truck was discovered last week after he allegedly started carrying out his threats to kill police and their family members.


Talk Back: Why do some see Chistopher Dorner as a vigilante hero?


Over the past two weeks, the search -- considered one of the largest in the history of Southern California -- has taken authorities from Orange County to the border of Mexico and from Los Angeles to Big Bear Lake.


"Big Bear's still where we're looking right now," Neiman said Tuesday. The search area surrounds where Dorner's burning truck was discovered last Thursday .


"Until we can confirm that he's either there or he's not there, this investigation has to stick with what we know and what we know is that we found evidence that he was there," Neiman said.


While the LAPD spokesman told reporters he was "not ready to confirm" that a man seen in security camera video from a southern California sporting goods store was Dorner, the Los Angeles Times quoted unnamed law enforcement sources saying it was him.


The video, published Monday by the celebrity news website TMZ.com, shows the man carrying what appears to be scuba equipment at the Sports Chalet store in Torrance, California, on February 1, two days before the killings of Monica Quan, the daughter of the police union rep, and her fiancé, Keith Lawrence.









Ex-cop at center of California manhunt











HIDE CAPTION

















A "no bail" arrest warrant was issued for Dorner after the Riverside County district attorney filed a murder charge Monday against him in the killing of Riverside Police Officer Michael Crain.


"That allows him to be apprehended anywhere within California, out of state or out of the country," District Attorney Paul Zellerbach told reporters Monday.


The murder charge is accompanied by two "special circumstances," including killing a police officer on duty and firing a weapon from a vehicle.


Dorner was also charged with the attempted murder of three other police officers, including another Riverside officer who was wounded when Crain was killed. That officer, whose name has not been released, is in a lot of pain and faces "many surgeries," Riverside Police Chief Sergio Diaz said.


Dorner is also accused of opening fire on two LAPD police officers, wounding one, in the suburb of Corona.


There has been speculation, based in part on an arrest warrant affidavit filed last week, that Dorner could have crossed state lines into Nevada or made his way to Mexico.


Federal authorities, meanwhile, were asking anyone across the country with information about Dorner or his whereabouts to contact their local FBI or U.S. Marshals Service.


LAPD reopens case that led to Dorner's dismissal


Over the weekend, LAPD said it was reopening the case that resulted in his termination.


Dorner accused his training officer of kicking a mentally ill man during an arrest in 2007. The LAPD ruled the complaint unfounded and kicked Dorner off the force for filing a false complaint.


Dorner challenged his firing in court and lost.


Suspect's grudge dates back to 2007 complaint


In a manifesto released last week, Dorner blamed racism and corruption in the LAPD for his termination and vowed to wage "unconventional and asymmetrical warfare" against LAPD officers and their families. He called it a "last resort" to clear his name and strike back at a department he says mistreated him.


LAPD Chief Charlie Beck had a different term for it Sunday.


"This is an act -- and make no mistake about it -- of domestic terrorism," he told reporters Sunday. "This is a man who has targeted those that we entrust to protect the public. His actions cannot go unanswered."


Timeline in manhunt


Targeting police


Authorities say Dorner began making good on his threats on February 3 when he allegedly killed Quan, 27, and Lawrence in an Irvine parking lot, south of Los Angeles.


According to the manifesto, Randal Quan, Monica Quan's father, bungled Dorner's LAPD termination appeal.


Randal Quan represented Dorner during the disciplinary hearing that resulted in his firing. The officer was among dozens named in the manifesto.


The retired officer told investigators he received a call from someone identifying himself as Dorner who told him he "should have done a better job of protecting his daughter," according to a federal arrest warrant affidavit.


Investigators traced the call to Vancouver, Washington, but based on the timing of other sightings, they don't believe Dorner was in Vancouver at the time, the affidavit states.


Days later, early Thursday morning, Dorner allegedly opened fire on two LAPD police officers, wounding one, in the suburban city of Corona.


Roughly 20 minutes later, Dorner allegedly fired on two officers in the nearby city of Riverside, killing Crain and wounding another.


Since then, the LAPD has provided security and surveillance details for more than 50 police officers and their families -- many of whom were named in the manifesto.


Additionally, the LAPD is no longer releasing the police chief's schedule to the public or the media.


'Ghosts' of the LAPD's past


It was Dorner's allegations of racism at the LAPD that led Beck over the weekend to reopen the investigation into his claims.


Beck said he was not doing it to "appease a murderer" but out of concern that Dorner's allegations will resurrect a painful part of the department's history.


LAPD haunted by past


For years, the LAPD was dogged by complaints of racism and corruption. In 1965 and 1992, the city was rocked by racial riots that were sparked, in part, by claims of police racism and brutality.


"I hear the same things you hear: The ghosts of the past of the Los Angeles Police Department," Beck said Sunday. "I hear that people think maybe there is something to what he says, and I want to put that to rest."


Despite numerous reviews of Dorner's case, he said it has "never been reviewed by me."


"If there is anything new, we will deal with it, and we will deal with it in a public way," Beck said.


CNN's Alan Duke, Matt Smith, Chelsea J. Carter and Holly Yan contributed to this report.






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Prosecutor: Fugitive ex-cop still looking for revenge

LOS ANGELES A prosecutor who filed a murder charge against a fugitive former Los Angeles police officer that could result in the death penalty said he believes the man hasn't finished carrying out his vendetta.

"Just read his manifesto and look at his actions," Riverside County District Attorney Paul Zellerbach said. "He's trying to send a message, and it would be my belief that his message is not completed yet."

Zellerbach filed charges Monday against Christopher Dorner for the murder of Riverside police Officer Michael Crain and the attempted murder of three other officers.

The manhunt for Dorner, 33, began last Wednesday when he was named the suspect in the Orange County killings of a former Los Angeles police captain's daughter and her fiance the previous weekend. Hours after police announced they were looking for him, Dorner allegedly fired at two LAPD officers then ambushed the Riverside officers.

"By both his words and conduct, he has made very clear to us that every law enforcement officer in Southern California is in danger of being shot and killed," Zellerbach said at a news conference guarded by four officers armed with rifles.




21 Photos


Manhunt for suspected LAPD cop killer






Play Video


Fugitive officer goes from hunter to hunted






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Miller on Dorner manhunt: "They got a lot of tips"



Police said Dorner wrote a lengthy manifesto that was posted to Facebook after the double killing. The manifesto vowed deadly revenge on those in the LAPD responsible for his firing years earlier, and their families. Police now are providing protection for some 50 families thought to be targets.

The search for Dorner remained focused in the mountains near Big Bear Lake about 80 miles east of Los Angeles after his burned-out truck was found there last Thursday. Authorities are searching more than 30 square miles day and night in the ski resort area and checking on roughly 600 cabins.

Police urged area residents with security cameras to review images to see if Dorner was recorded.

Police and other officials believe a $1 million reward, raised from public and private sources, will encourage residents to stay vigilant. More than 1,000 tips had come in since the reward was announced, Lt. Andrew Neiman, an LAPD spokesman, said Tuesday. CBS Los Angeles affiliate KCAL reports that the city council is considering raising the reward by $100,000.

"Now it's like the game show `Who Wants to be a Millionaire,"' said Anthony Burke, supervisory inspector for the U.S. Marshals regional fugitive taskforce. "Instead of one contestant, we've got 100,000, and there's only one question you have to answer. All they have to answer is where he's at, and we can take it from there."

Neiman also said investigators obtained new security video from a Sport Chalet sporting goods store in suburban Torrance but had not determined whether it shows Dorner. The video posted earlier on TMZ.com recorded a man resembling Dorner arrive with two small scuba tanks then leave with both those tanks and a larger one.

The wide-ranging search has created unusually heavy traffic backups at California border crossings into Mexico, as agents more closely inspect each car. State police in Mexico's Baja California were given photographs of Dorner and warned to consider him armed and extremely dangerous.

A U.S. Marshals Service affidavit used to obtain a federal arrest warrant on Feb. 7 cited probable cause to believe Dorner went to Mexico, but Neiman said Tuesday that it "in no way indicates one way or the other" whether Dorner is in that country.

Authorities have obtained a no-bail arrest warrant, which allows Dorner to be apprehended anywhere, Zellerbach said.

Dorner was fired from the LAPD five years ago, when a department board determined that he falsely claimed another officer had kicked a suspect. Randal Quan represented him during the proceeding.

Quan's daughter, Monica, and her fiance, Keith Lawrence, were found shot dead Feb. 3 in a car in the parking structure of their Irvine condominium. Last Wednesday, after discovery of the manifesto, Irvine police announced they were searching for Dorner.

Early Thursday in the Riverside County city of Corona, Dorner shot at two LAPD officers who had been dispatched to protect a possible target of Dorner, police said. One officer's head was grazed by a bullet; the other was unharmed.

Minutes later, Dorner used a rifle to ambush two Riverside officers, killing one and seriously wounding another, authorities said. The slain officer was identified as the 34-year-old Crain. The other officer's identity was not released to protect his family.

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