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RICHMOND, Virginia (AP) -- A man was convicted Thursday of the random mutilation killings of a musician and his family, a verdict that took just 30 minutes to reach and could bring the death penalty. Lawyers for Ricky Jovan Gray, 29, presented no witnesses and acknowledged he confessed to the New Year's Day slayings of musician Bryan Harvey, 49, his wife, Kathryn, 39, and daughters Stella, 9, and Ruby, 4. Seeing photographs and hearing details of how they died -- bound, beaten and stabbed, wit ...

PETALUMA, California (AP) -- John Mark Karr displayed a deep fascination with JonBenet Ramsey for years before he was arrested in her death on Thursday in Thailand. Karr, who told reporters Thursday that he was "with JonBenet when she died" but that "her death was an accident," began teaching children in Georgia and Alabama before he became a substitute in Petaluma, a wine country town where he lived until 2001 with his wife and three sons. The Denver Post reported that Kar ...

(CNN) -- A federal judge on Thursday ruled that the U.S. government's domestic eavesdropping program is unconstitutional and ordered it ended immediately. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said the Bush Administration disagreed with the ruling and has appealed. "We believe that the program is lawful," he said in Washington. (Watch Bush administration reaction to ruling -- 1:49) The administration secretly instituted the program after the September 11, 2001, attacks on New York and  ...

(CNN) -- A decade after John and Patsy Ramsey began a grueling battle to prove their innocence in the death of their daughter JonBenet, a relative said Thursday that family members "were just waiting for this day," when an arrest would be made. The arrest of John Mark Karr and his stunning confession pushed the family under the media microscope again, and fueled speculation on the Ramseys' possible vindication. Patsy Ramsey's sister Pamela Paugh told CNN on Thursday that she wasn't  ...

MALIBU, California (AP) -- Mel Gibson pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor drunken-driving charge Thursday and was sentenced to three years' probation, the district attorney's office said. Gibson did not appear but entered the plea through his attorney before Superior Court Judge Lawrence Mira, Deputy District Attorney Gina Satriano said in a statement. Two counts in the original three-count complaint were dismissed, and Gibson volunteered to do public-service announcements on the hazards of d ...

ROCKVILLE, Maryland (AP) -- Drunken drivers beware: Police say they are starting a crackdown this month and the government is promising arrests for those who drink and drive. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Wednesday it hoped new advertising would help lower alcohol-involved fatalities, which have barely budged in a decade. The government said 39 percent of all traffic deaths last year involved alcohol. "We do mean business. If they don't get off the streets volunt ...

BOULDER, Colorado (AP) -- Patsy Ramsey knew before she died of cancer in June that police were looking into a potential suspect in the gruesome death of her 6-year-old daughter JonBenet nearly 10 years ago. She didn't live to see what her husband and attorney call complete vindication: The arrest of a suspect in the little girl's slaying, and his confession to reporters Thursday that he was "with JonBenet when she died." Former schoolteacher John Mark Karr, 41, was arrested Wednesday ...

LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- A dispute between Jennifer Lopez and her ex-husband over his proposed tell-all book about their relationship does not need to go to court, their attorneys said Wednesday. The attorneys told Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Victor H. Person that the issues between Lopez and Ojani Noa could be settled through arbitration. Another pretrial hearing was set for October 17. Lopez filed suit April 10 and obtained a temporary restraining order barring Noa from publishi ...

(The Christian Science Monitor) -- Exhausted, Jim Carroll walked the streets of Washington, headed back to his hotel. He'd hardly eaten all day, so he ducked into a bar for dinner. He hadn't been there long when his cell phone rang. It was the FBI. They wanted to know the family's decision -- a 72-hour deadline issued by the kidnappers was nearing. This wasn't going to be pleasant. "We're not going your way," Jim told his FBI contact. "We're going to go with the sympathy statemen ...

DETROIT, Michigan (AP) -- A federal judge ruled Thursday that the government's warrantless wiretapping program is unconstitutional and ordered an immediate halt to it. U.S. District Judge Anna Diggs Taylor in Detroit became the first judge to strike down the National Security Agency's program, which she says violates the rights to free speech and privacy. The American Civil Liberties Union file ...