“California Student in Relationship With Teacher Moves Out After Sexual Assault Arrest”

Taken from: http://gma.yahoo.com/california-student-relationship-teacher-moves-sexual-assault-arrest-131605656–abc-news-topstories.html

April 7, 2012

A California student who left school, her family and her friends to live with her teacher boyfriend has ended the relationship after the teacher was arrested on charges of sexually assaulting another girl 14 years ago. ”He called me from jail and yes, I told him that we’re done,” Jordan Powers, 18, told ABC News in an exclusive interview. “I lost everything for this guy. I lost my senior year. I gave up all my friends at high school because they didn’t agree with me.”

James Hooker, 41, was arrested in Modesto, Calif., on Friday after police discovered he had an an alleged sexual relationship with a 17-year-old student in 1998. Hooker has been under investigation for his involvement with Powers, his former business class student, with whom he appeared on national TV programs earlier this year to profess his love.

Hooker was charged with one count of oral copulation with a minor and is in jail, according to a statement from Modesto police. ”He told me that he met her online and he hung out with her just as friends and then he went to her house and she came out of the bathroom naked and he only touched her boobs and her legs,” Powers said. “He was freaked out so he left and went home. He said nothing else happened, but all of that was a lie.”

Despite the charges, Powers said nothing happened romantically between her and Hooker prior to her 18th birthday.

The teen said she believed the woman came forward now to help her see the truth about Hooker and rescue her from the relationship. ”My heart dropped. I felt betrayed. I just have a gut feeling there are other girls,” Jordan Powers said.

Her mother, Tammie Powers, has publicly tried to end the romance from the beginning and expressed relief at Hooker’s arrest. ”It’s my contention all along that he used authority and that he’s a predator,” she said. But a reconciliation between mother and daughter isn’t happening just yet. Jordan Powers said she is staying with a family friend in another state while she recovers from her heartbreak.

“How could he lie to me for all these months and look me in the eye and tell me he loves me?” she said. “I don’t know how someone could have such a cold heart.”

“Trayvon Martin’s Girlfriend Recalls Final Call, Justice Dept Steps In”

Taken from: http://colorlines.com/archives/2012/03/trayvon_martins_girlfriend_was_on_phone_with_him_she_recalls_his_final_moments.html

March 20, 2012

On Monday morning ABC News published an interview with a 16-year old girl who is believed to have been on the phone with Trayvon Martin moments before neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman shot him dead.

“He said this man was watching him, so he put his hoodie on. He said he lost the man,” Martin’s friend said told ABC News, in an interview with lawyers asking the questions because the girl is underage. “I asked Trayvon to run, and he said he was going to walk fast. I told him to run but he said he was not going to run.”

ABC News verified phone records and the girl’s statements are believed to be accurate.

“Trayvon said, ‘What, are you following me for,’ and the man said, ‘What are you doing here.’ Next thing I hear is somebody pushing, and somebody pushed Trayvon because the head set just fell. I called him again and he didn’t answer the phone,” the girl went on to say.

But at the moment Martin’s call ended, several 911 call recordings pickup right as someone is heard screaming for help in the background. And this is where some say local police have shielded Zimmerman.

The Miami Herald provides more details:

Several witnesses said they heard cries that sounded like a boy wailing — howling silenced by the crack of gunfire — and were shocked to hear police later portray the cries as Zimmerman’s. One witness said police ignored her repeated phone calls.

The police chief was accused of telling lies big and small in ways that shielded Zimmerman. The family hired attorneys who helped devise a national campaign to demand a federal investigation.

According to a statement by the Justice Department, “The department will conduct a thorough and independent review of all of the evidence and take appropriate action and the conclusion of the investigation. … The government must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that a person acted intentionally and with the specific intent to do something which the law forbids. Negligence, recklessness, mistakes and accidents are not prosecutable under the federal criminal civil rights laws.”

Close to 550,000 people have signed an online petition on Change.org urging law enforcement officials to step in and arrest Zimmerman. ColorOfChange.org has also launched a petition that calls for the local police department be made accountable for mishandling Martin’s case.

A grand jury will also look into the shooting death of Martin, Brevard County State Attorney Norm Wolfinger announced on Tuesday.

“Ex-Guatemala General Sent to Prison for Genocide Case”

Taken from: http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/news/2011/10/14/ex-guatemala-general-sent-to-prison-for-genocide-case/#ixzz1apXN6IF0

October 14, 2011

Guatemalan prosecutors have arrested another former army general who was allegedly involved in dozens of massacres of indigenous people during the Central American nation’s civil war.

According to Siglo21, judge Patricia Flores, ordered prison to former Gen. Mauricio Rodriguez for genocide charges and crimes against humanity. Rodriguez headed the feared G-2 military intelligence force in 1982 and 1983. A truth commission found the G-2 may have participated in as many as 71 operations against civilians.

General Hector Mario Lopez Fuentes, the first former military arrested in this case, could stand trial on genocide charges involving alleged massacres. Lopez was arrested in June and is the first person in Guatemala to face genocide charges.