Death-row inmate gets guardian

LOS ANGELES — A death-row inmate who claims there is a computer in his head and a telephone in his shoulder is so mentally ill that the California Supreme Court has appointed a legal guardian for him.

The appointment, quietly made in a closed conference, is unprecedented in California and may affect whether the inmate can be executed. The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled it is unconstitutional to execute the insane.

The court appointed a guardian for Jon Scott Dunkle, 41, on the advice of a Superior Court judge whom it had asked to determine Dunkle's current mental state.

That judge, who found Dunkle mentally incompetent, had presided over Dunkle's 1989 murder trial and sentenced him to death — despite the defendant's repeated commitments to a mental hospital and defense attorneys' contentions that he frequently lost touch with reality.

The appointment raises questions about whether Dunkle, diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, was sane enough to stand trial for the murders of three boys and whether he ever will be stable enough to be executed.

"We think we have the craziest client on the row," said Michael Dashjian, one of Dunkle's lawyers.

Judge reduces award in secondhand-smoke suit

MIAMI — A judge cut a flight attendant's award in a secondhand-smoke lawsuit from $5.5 million to $500,000, saying the jury's award was not justified.

TWA attendant Lynn French had argued that her sinus disease was caused by exposure to secondhand smoke in airliners. French, 56, of Calabasas, Calif., worked for 14 years before smoking was banned on domestic flights in 1990.

She won her case against four major tobacco companies — Philip Morris, R.J. Reynolds, Brown & Williamson and Lorillard — and was awarded $5.5 million in June.

Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Fredricka Smith reduced French's award Friday.

Anti-war protester surrenders to former VP candidate

MINNEAPOLIS — A wanted anti-war protester drove 1,500 miles to an American Indian reservation in northwestern Minnesota to turn himself in to former vice presidential candidate Winona LaDuke.

Niklan Jones-Lezama of Blacksburg, Va., had been ordered to report to federal prison on Tuesday for a six-month prison term for participating in a protest at Fort Benning, Ga.

Instead, Jones-Lezama, 38, drove to the White Earth Indian Reservation. He turned himself in to LaDuke, an American Indian activist who was Ralph Nader's running mate on the Green Party ticket in 2000.

LaDuke, who has no legal authority to accept surrenders, drove Jones-Lezama to Minneapolis on Thursday so he could surrender to authorities.

200 homes evacuated as wind fans California fire

AGUA DULCE, Calif. — A wildfire spread quickly in wind and 100-degree heat yesterday, briefly threatening dozens of homes and power lines.

A voluntary evacuation for about 250 homes was in effect, but the homes weren't in immediate danger as erratic winds that had fanned the flames diminished last night.

The 1,250-acre blaze in north Los Angeles County was 40 percent contained by evening, fire Capt. Brian Jordan. The cause wasn't known.

West Nile virus' U.S. toll reaches 64 this year

ATLANTA — Ten more people have died from the West Nile virus, bringing the total to 64 this year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported yesterday.

Four of the most recently reported deaths were in Michigan and three were in Illinois. Mississippi, Missouri and Nebraska had one death each.

Those figures don't include two deaths in Massachusetts and one in Pennsylvania reported by state health officials Friday.