Autopsy On Man Shot By Phoenix Police Completed

People protest during a rally near Phoenix Police headquarters to protest the police killing of Rumain Brisbon, an unarmed black man. The mother and girlfriend of Brisbon, an unarmed drug suspect fatally shot by a Phoenix police officer who mistook a pill bottle for a gun, do not want the incident to become about race. The deadly shooting Tuesday, Dec. 2, of Brisbon, 34, demonstrates the challenges law enforcement agencies face at a time of unrest over police tactics. Phoenix police say the officer, who is white, feared the suspect was armed during their struggle, but some critics say the officer went too far. Despite the department's efforts to be transparent with information, protesters marched Thursday night.

PHOENIX (AP) — The family of an unarmed drug suspect fatally shot by a Phoenix police officer expressed frustration Friday that an independent investigator was not present at an autopsy and accused authorities of not being transparent.

Attorney Marci Kratter said an autopsy on Rumain Brisbon, 34, took place Friday as soon as a request for injunction to halt it was denied in Maricopa County Superior Court. Kritter said the family was "devastated and frustrated" that the medical examiner's office would not wait until Saturday, when their expert would have been available. Brisbon's mother, Nora Brisbon, wanted an independent expert present for the examination of her son's body, according to court documents.

Maricopa County spokeswoman Cari Gerchick said the office does not postpone autopsies unless ordered to do so by a court. "It's a case-management issue," she said. "We don't have the flexibility, the ability to be flexible and change the scheduling."

Kratter said they will wait for the autopsy results and any police reports before making any judgments. "We won't know about a lawsuit until all the evidence is in," she said. The deadly shooting Tuesday of Brisbon, 34, demonstrates the challenges law enforcement agencies face at a time of unrest over police tactics.

Phoenix police say the officer, who is white, feared the suspect was armed during their struggle, but some critics say the officer went too far. Nora Brisbon said she doesn't want people to focus on the fact her son was black.

"This had nothing to do with race," Nora Brisbon told The Arizona Republic. "This is about Rumain and the wrong that was done to him, and I want people to focus on that. If they want to rally, let's support him positively."

Despite the department's efforts to be transparent with information, protesters marched Thursday night. About 150 marched through the streets of downtown Phoenix to police headquarters, while calling for an end to what they say is a nationwide epidemic of police brutality.

Brisbon's mother also criticized media and police for highlighting his prior criminal record. Court records show Brisbon had convictions dating back to 1999 that included aggravated DUI, burglary and marijuana.

"Of course he did a few bad things here and there, but they've been taken care of," Nora Brisbon said. "He was not just some raggedy thug out there on the street. He made a difference in everybody's life that he touched."

The police chief and top prosecutor in metro Phoenix met with the president of the NAACP's Maricopa County Branch and other civil rights leaders in the hours after the incident, which came as emotions are running high in New York, Missouri and elsewhere over what protesters call heavy-handed law enforcement efforts.

The NAACP official, the Rev. Oscar Tillman, said he cautioned Brisbon's family and friends about channeling their anger as the investigation into the shooting unfolds. "I told them not to be openly explosive or whatever because the fact is ... as you can see what happened to Michael Brown's (stepfather) now. They're talking about going after him. I said, 'Just be very careful,' " Tillman said.
Sgt. Trent Crump said the shooting in Phoenix happened after an officer responded Tuesday to reports of someone selling drugs out of a Cadillac SUV. The officer ordered Brisbon, the sole occupant, to show his hands.

Authorities say Brisbon ran inside an apartment building and then got into a struggle with the officer. Brisbon put his hand in his pocket, and when the officer grabbed the hand, he thought he felt the handle of a gun through Brisbon's pants, police said.

Police say the officer repeatedly told Brisbon to keep his hand in his pocket, then shot him twice when he didn't do so. Brisbon was hit in the torso and later pronounced dead at the scene. Investigators recovered a semi-automatic handgun and a jar of marijuana from his SUV.

An internal investigation is underway, Crump said Thursday. Prosecutors will determine whether the officer will face criminal charges. Police did not identify the 30-year-old officer but said he is a seven-year veteran of the department.

Days after the shooting, police in a Phoenix suburb postponed a "Run From the Cops 5K" fun run scheduled for Saturday. Tempe Police Chief Tom Ryff said the annual event is intended to bring police and the community together, but the event's name could be misinterpreted to mean the opposite.

The Phoenix shooting occurred the day before a grand jury in New York City decided not to indict Officer Daniel Pantaleo, who is white, in the chokehold death of Eric Garner, an unarmed black man. Dozens of protesters were arrested on New York streets Wednesday, police said.

It followed a grand jury decision Nov. 24 not to indict Ferguson Officer Darren Wilson in the shooting death of Brown, an unarmed 18-year-old. The decision sparked violent protests, lootings and the destruction of several businesses.

Tillman said he would like to see the Phoenix mayor and other officials start a dialogue with black community members. "That's what needs to be done, because the fact is, as we can see across this country, if we don't deal with it, we're going to keep dealing with it," he said.

Ferguson Marchers Arrive At Missouri Capitol

Protesters march past the governor's mansion in a steady drizzle on the final day of a 7-day march Friday, Dec. 5, 2014, in Jefferson City, Mo.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Chants of "Hands Up. Don't Shoot!" echoed through the Missouri Capitol on Friday as hundreds of people protesting Michael Brown's death rallied after the culmination of a weeklong, 130-mile march from the site of the police shooting in Ferguson.

The demonstrators were joined at the Capitol by Brown's mother, who denounced the grand jury decision not to indict Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson for the Aug. 9 death of her son. She called upon Gov. Jay Nixon to hold the local prosecutor accountable for not taking the case to trial.

The rally was held within earshot of Nixon's office, but he wasn't there. Nixon, who had met with NAACP organizers of the march two days earlier, traveled Friday to an economic development luncheon in Kansas City and a state university in Joplin.

The shooting of the unarmed black 18-year-old who had physically struggled with the white officer has prompted rioting and repeated clashes between protesters and police in the St. Louis suburb of Ferguson. It's also sparked demonstrations around the nation from people who believe that minorities are too often the targets of overzealous police.

The chant about raised hands has become symbolic of the movement, although there was conflicting witness testimony about whether Brown actually had his hands raised in surrender — or was charging at the officer — when he was fatally shot.

Speaking at the Capitol rally, NAACP President Cornell William Brooks denounced the grand jury process, calling it "completely, morally and legally bankrupt." "We're seeking justice for the family of Michael Brown and nothing less than fundamental, systematic reform of policing in this country," said Brooks, who participated in the march.

The trek began Saturday and remained peaceful, though at times tense. Earlier this week in the rural town of Rosebud, some people opposing the march yelled obscenities at the demonstrators and displayed a Confederate flag.

The number of marchers dwindled at times to a few dozen but swelled to about 100 as they walked in the drizzling rain past the Missouri Governor's Mansion — escorted by police both in the front and rear — and then climbed the state Capitol steps to join others already waiting inside.

Charles Pannell, of Jefferson City, walked the route carrying a cardboard cross with the words "Right 2 Life." Others held "Black Lives Matter" and "We Are Mike Brown" signs. Most of the marchers, but not all, were black and some came from other states to participate.

As their march brought them closer to the Capitol, they chanted, "We are the justice warriors!" Many held their hands up above their heads. Brown's mother, Lesley McSpadden, thanked the marchers and the NAACP for their support and said they all had watched the legal process "play out unfairly and nontransparent."

"I want him to be held accountable for what he did," McSpadden said, referring to Wilson. As her voice broke with emotion, she added: "Our lives matter." Missouri NAACP President Mary Ratliff said the march was not only meant to protest the grand jury decision but to draw attention to broader racial inequalities.

"We are marching because we feel that injustices are done to African-Americans — the judicial system is biased and unfair, racial profiling is rampant and our young men are dying at an alarming rate," Ratliff told The Associated Press.

Nixon met with Ratliff, Brooks and other NAACP leaders for nearly two hours Wednesday at his office. Maida Coleman, director of Nixon's Office of Community Engagement, said Brooks told Nixon during the meeting that he should promote legislation providing jobs, education and fairness for all people.

The governor did not commit to any particular action, said Coleman, who also attended the meeting. The NAACP leaders met later Friday with Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster. He issued a written statement afterward saying there's common ground "to bring progress" regarding police body cameras, municipal court reforms and minority police officer hires in urban areas.

Follow David A. Lieb at: https://twitter.com/DavidALieb

Chicago, NY, Hawaii Compete To Host Obama Library

One possible location in the Kakaako district of Honolulu to be considered for the Barack Obama Presidential Library. Four universities in Chicago, New York and Honolulu are trying to outdo one another as they compete to host Barack Obama's future presidential library. Each is offering primo real estate, major financial backing and a grand vision for what the library should look like, and next week, a handful of Obama's oldest friends will start picking the winner. A look at what each school is proposing.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Three U.S. cities that President Barack Obama once called home are trying to outdo one another as the competition to host his future presidential library comes to a close.

Next week, a handful of Obama's oldest friends and associates will start judging proposals from two universities in Chicago and one each in New York and Honolulu, and by the end of March, Obama and the first lady will announce the winner. Knowing the future library will be a prominent tourist attraction and historical site, each community is offering Obama prime real estate, financial backing and grand visions for what his library could look like.

The Barack Obama Foundation has requested specifics on a host of items, including local zoning and transportation, architectural design and management plans. But the foundation's board, which includes Obama's sister and his former campaign manager, has made clear that a university's ability to help pay for the project will also be a factor.

All three cities' mayors are actively encouraging Obama to pick their communities. But the proposals, due next week, are confidential, and the competitors have been wary of tipping their hand by disclosing all the details.

Likewise, Obama has been careful to say no city has an advantage. But Chicago, where Obama rose to prominence and had his children, is believed to have an inside track. Chicagoans make up half of the foundation's board, and Michelle Obama's former chief of staff is running the bid by the University of Chicago, where Obama taught law before becoming president.

Only one city will host Obama's actual library, where government archivists will preserve his documents and artifacts. However, Obama could follow President Bill Clinton's model and house his library in one place and a presidential institute or foundation elsewhere.

That prospect has led all four universities to discuss possible collaborations, although each school is still expected to submit an independent bid for the entire project. A look at what each school is proposing:

UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO

 

The private school on Chicago's South Side is proposing to build in one of the poor neighborhoods bordering its campus in Hyde Park, near Obama's home. At least three proposed sites include Chicago park land, the park district's board chairman has said.

The university commissioned a study estimating the project would create 1,900 permanent jobs, with $220 million in annual economic impact and 800,000 annual visitors. Under Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Obama's former chief of staff, the city has worked with both of the competing Chicago universities to explore possible transportation and infrastructure upgrades at the winning site.

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT CHICAGO

 

The public university has proposed two sites on its Chicago campus, plus a third in North Lawndale, a heavily black neighborhood on the city's West side. That site would be in partnership with a community organization and would include a 23-acre park. The school's head librarian said a dozen university officials and volunteers worked on the proposal.

The school has sought to show how each location is intimately tied to Chicago's rich history on civil rights and community activism, hoping to tap into themes in Obama's life that the library would aim to highlight. Appealing to Obama's economic ideals, North Lawndale leaders are billing the site as a chance for Obama to help drive growth in an impoverished area.

COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY

 

The Ivy League school where Obama attended college has said almost nothing about its proposal, and the university declined to answer questions. But in a statement, the university said it wants to put the library in Manhattanville, also known as West Harlem, where Columbia is currently expanding with a satellite campus.

People familiar with Columbia's proposal, who weren't authorized to comment publicly and demanded anonymity, said Columbia is also considering hosting just a part of the broader library project. New York Mayor Bill de Blasio seemed to suggest his city could be satisfied under that scenario when he told reporters at the White House this week, "We would obviously love to host a piece of it."

UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII

 

The showpiece of Honolulu's proposal to build the library in Obama's birthplace is a 7-acre plot of undeveloped, oceanfront property in a gritty corner of Honolulu called Kakaako, not far from downtown and the hopping Waikiki tourist zone. Visitors would have panoramic views stretching from Diamond Head, Honolulu's iconic volcanic crater, to the island's lush, fog-tipped mountains.

Drawing on Obama's foreign policy emphasis on Asia, the university is pitching Hawaii as the ideal place for Obama to engage on global issues after the presidency, and wants to build a think tank and a young leadership academy into the project. The school has already raised money from Hawaii's legislature, residents and local companies.

Lester reported from Chicago.

Nobel Prize For DNA Discovery Fetches $4.7 M In NYC

James Watson’s 1962 Nobel Prize medal for his role in the discovery of the structure of DNA. On Thursday, Dec. 4, 2014, the medal sold at auction by Christie's for $4.7 million - a world auction record for any Nobel Prize.

NEW YORK (AP) — A 1962 Nobel prize for the discovery of the structure of DNA has sold at auction for $4.7 million, a world auction record for any Nobel prize.

Christie's says the gold medal won by James Watson was purchased Thursday by a buyer who wished to remain anonymous. The New York City auction house says it's the first Nobel medal to be offered at auction by a living recipient.

Watson made the 1953 discovery with Francis Crick and Maurice Wilkins. He says part of the proceeds will go to the University of Chicago, Clare College Cambridge, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Long Island Land Trust and other charities.

Crick's Nobel prize sold last year at Heritage Auctions for $2.2 million. He died in 2004.

Police Cases Converge To Stir National Debate

Protesters rally against a grand jury's decision not to indict the police officer involved in the death of Eric Garner in Foley Square, Thursday, Dec. 4, 2014, in New York.

NEW YORK (AP) — From the White House to the streets of some of America's biggest cities, the New York chokehold case converged with the Ferguson shooting and investigations out of South Carolina and Cleveland to stir a national conversation Thursday about racial justice and police use of force.

A day after a grand jury cleared a white New York City officer in the death of a black man, civil rights leaders pinned their hopes on a promised federal investigation. Demonstrators protested for a second night in New York, carrying replicas of coffins across the Brooklyn Bridge, and turned out in such cities as Denver, Detroit and Minneapolis. And politicians and others talked about the need for better police training, body cameras and changes in the grand jury process to restore faith in the legal system.

"A whole generation of officers will be trained in a new way," New York Mayor Bill de Blasio vowed as he and his police commissioner outlined previously announced plans to teach officers how to communicate better with people on the street.

President Barack Obama weighed in, saying one of the chief issues at stake is "making sure that people have confidence that police and law enforcement and prosecutors are serving everybody equally." Even before the decision in the Eric Garner case came down, racial tensions were running high because of last week's grand jury decision not to charge a white officer in the shooting death of black 18-year-old Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri.

Other cases were added to the mix on Thursday: — In the tiny South Carolina town of Eutawville, a white former police chief was charged with murder in the 2011 shooting of an unarmed black man. Richards Combs' lawyer accused prosecutors of taking advantage of national outrage toward police to obtain the indictment more than three years after the killing.

 In Cleveland, the U.S. Justice Department and the city reached an agreement to overhaul the police department after federal investigators found that officers use excessive force far too often, causing deep mistrust, especially among blacks. The investigation was prompted chiefly by a 2012 police ar chase that ended in the deaths of two unarmed people in a hail of 137 bullets.

Just last week, protesters took to the streets of Cleveland after a white police officer shot and killed a black 12-year-old boy carrying what turned out to be pellet gun. At a news conference in New York after a night of protests led to 83 arrests, the Rev. Al Sharpton called the state-level grand jury system "broken" when it comes to police brutality cases and urged federal authorities to fix it.

"The federal government must do in the 21st century what it did in the mid-20th century," he said. "Federal intervention must come now and protect people from state grand juries." Still, federal civil rights cases against police officers are exceedingly rare.

In the past two decades, only a few such cases have reached trial in New York — most notably the one involving Abner Louima, who was sodomized with a broom handle in a police station in 1997. Several other high-profile cases didn't come together.

That's largely because federal prosecutors must meet a high standard of proof in showing that police deliberately deprived victims of their civil rights through excessive force, said Alan Vinegrad, who as a federal prosecutor handled the Louima case.

Federal intervention "doesn't happen often and it shouldn't happen often," said James Jacobs, a constitutional law professor at New York University Law School. "They should only step in when the local prosecution was a sham."

Activists have claimed that the grand jury investigation of Garner's death was indeed a sham. An amateur video showed Officer Daniel Pantaleo putting Garner in an apparent chokehold, and the medical examiner said the maneuver contributed to the death.

But Pantaleo's attorney, Stuart London, expressed confidence Thursday that his client won't face federal prosecution. "There's very specific guidelines that are not met in this case," London said. "This is a regular street encounter. It doesn't fall into the parameters."

Acting at the Staten Island district attorney's request, a judge released a few details Thursday from the grand jury proceedings — among other things, it watched four videos and heard from 50 witnesses, 22 of them civilians. District Attorney Daniel Donovan didn't ask for testimony, transcripts or exhibits to be made public.

But London offered some details, saying the officer's testimony focused on "his remorse and the fact that he never meant to harm Mr. Garner that day." Pantaleo admitted he heard Garner say, "I can't breathe," but believed that once he got him down on the ground and put him on his side, he would be revived by paramedics, London said. The officer also testified that he "used a takedown move and any contact to the neck was incidental," the lawyer added.

London said the grand jury also heard from other officers who described how Pantaleo had tried in vain to talk Garner into complying with them — something not seen on video. "Let's make this easy. You've been through this before," the officer said he told Garner.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo said the Garner case and others like it around the country have a "corrosive" effect and cause many to lose faith in the criminal justice system.

Associated Press writers Karen Matthews and Jonathan Lemire in New York and Eric Tucker in Washington contributed to this report.

Uber Raises $1.2 Billion, Valued At $40 Billion

Uber CEO Travis Kalanick arrives at the 2014 TIME 100 Gala in New York.

NEW YORK (AP) — Uber raised $1.2 billion in its latest round of funding from venture capitalists, a sign investors were little fazed by the ride-hailing app's recent spate of bad publicity over privacy violations and its corporate culture.

The latest investment put a value on Uber at $40 billion. That's bigger than the stock market values of companies such as American Airlines and Twitter, or the combined value of car-rental veterans Hertz and Avis Budget Group. At the same time, it is not a guarantee that Uber would receive the same valuation as a publicly traded company that it does as a venture-backed business.

San Francisco-based Uber triggered a wave of online criticism recently after a top executive suggested spending $1 million to dig up dirt on a journalist critical of the driver-on-demand company. It was not the first time Uber has been called out for actions by its drivers or its corporate culture. It is investigating one of its employees for tracking another journalist's ride, which has raised fears that Uber is misusing customers' private location information.

In a blog post Thursday, CEO Travis Kalanick acknowledged the company's "significant growing pains." "The events of the recent weeks have shown us that we also need to invest in internal growth and change," he wrote. "Acknowledging mistakes and learning from them are the first steps."

He said the latest financing round will help the company make "substantial investments," particularly in Asia. Uber's previous funding round also raised $1.2 billion. The company operates in more than 250 cities in 50 countries, although it faces regulatory hurdles and pushback from traditional taxis in many cities.

Also on Thursday, smaller rival Lyft, which has a decidedly more friendly corporate image — complete with pink moustaches on its cars — announced that it has hired a chief financial officer, Brian Roberts, and a chief marketing officer, Kira Wampler. Roberts, who joined the company in October, was previously at Walmart.

Civil Rights Leaders Decry Decision In Chokehold Case

People participate in a protest in response to the grand jury's decision in the Eric Garner case in Times Square in New York, Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2014.

NEW YORK (AP) — Civil rights leaders Thursday decried the grand jury decision not to charge a white police officer in the chokehold death of a black man and announced plans for a march and a summit on racial justice in Washington later this month.

National Urban League President Marc Morial said the lack of an indictment in the death of Eric Garner was "a travesty of justice." He said he and other civil rights leaders are calling for 2015 to be "a year for justice and jobs."

The decision Wednesday not to bring charges against Officer Daniel Pantaleo triggered protests around the country and sent thousands into New York's streets, where they marched, chanted and blocked traffic. Police said 83 people were arrested, mostly on disorderly conduct charges.

Pataleo's lawyer and police union officials argued that the grand jury got it right, saying that the officer used an authorized takedown move — not a banned chokehold — against a man who was resisting arrest. And they said Garner's poor health was the main cause of his death.

To find Pantaleo criminally negligent, the grand jury would have had to determine he knew there was a "substantial risk" that Garner would die. About 20 civil rights leaders met behind closed doors Thursday at the Rev. Al Sharpton's National Action Network headquarters. Sharpton said a civil rights summit will be held following a Dec. 13 march in Washington. He said the topics will include education and boycotts.

The Garner case — combined with the decision by a grand jury last week not to charge the white officer who shot and killed unarmed black 18-year-old Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri — stirred a national conversation about race, police training and the grand jury process.

On Thursday morning, yet another case was added to the mix: A white former police chief in Eutawville, South Carolina, was charged with murder in the shooting death of an unarmed black man after an argument at a town hall meeting.

Garner, 43, died after a scuffle that broke out July 17 as officers tried to arrest him for selling untaxed cigarettes on the street. The last moments of his life were caught on video that showed Pantaleo holding the unarmed Garner in a chokehold as he repeatedly gasped, "I can't breathe." The medical examiner ruled that the chokehold contributed to the death.

Staten Island District Attorney Daniel Donovan said the grand jury found "no reasonable cause" to bring charges. But New York law forbids him to give details on how the grand jury arrived at its decision. The district attorney said he is asking for a court order allowing some information to be released.

Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., defended the grand jury decision, saying the outcome would have been the same if Garner had been white. He said Garner's death was largely the result of his health problems, which included obesity, diabetes and heart trouble.

And he said police were right to ignore Garner's pleas that he couldn't breathe. "The fact that he was able to say it meant he could breathe," said King, the son of a police officer. "And if you've ever seen anyone locked up, anyone resisting arrest, they're always saying, 'You're breaking my arm, you're killing me, you're breaking my neck.' So if the cops had eased up or let him go at that stage, the whole struggle would have started in again."

Some legal experts said the Garner case, like the one in Ferguson, again raised concerns about the influence local prosecutors have over the process of charging the police officers they work with on a daily basis.

Ekow N. Yankah, a professor at Cardozo School of Law, said: "It is hard to understand how a jury doesn't see any probable cause that a crime has been committed or is being committed when looking at that video, especially."

Garner's widow, Esaw, said she had no faith in the local prosecutors. "As far as the police and the DA, there was no sincerity from Day One," she said on the "Today" show. Attorney General Eric Holder said federal prosecutors will conduct their own investigation of Garner's death. The New York Police Department is doing an internal investigation that could lead to administrative charges against Pantaleo, who remains on desk duty.

Associated Press writers Jennifer Peltz, Steve Peoples, Jake Pearson, Deepti Hajela and Bernard Vaughan contributed to this report.

US: Iran Launches Airstrikes In Iraq Against IS

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry listens to questions during a media conference after a meeting of the global coalition to counter the Islamic State militant group at NATO headquarters in Brussels on Wednesday, December 3, 2014

WASHINGTON (AP) — Iranian jets have carried out airstrikes against Islamic State militants in Iraq in recent days, Pentagon officials and independent analysts say, underscoring the strange alliances generated by the war against the extremist group that has beheaded Americans and killed and terrorized Iraqi civilians.

Washington and Tehran are locked in tough negotiations over Iran's nuclear program. But the two adversaries have been fighting parallel campaigns on the same side in Iraq to defend the Shiite-dominated government — and the region's Kurds — from IS militants who seized a large section of the country.

It has long been known that Iranian troops and advisers have been fighting alongside Iraqi forces, but until this week there had been no confirmation of Iranian air activity. The timing and nature of the strikes are not clear, but a senior U.S. official said they occurred in Diyala province, which extends from northeast Baghdad to the Iranian border. The official spoke only on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to disclose that information.

The Qatari-based broadcaster Al-Jazeera filmed a jet flying over Iraq on Nov. 30 that was identified by Jane's Defence Weekly as an American-made F-4 Phantom. The Phantom, a twin-engine fighter bomber that was sold to Iran's U.S.-backed shah in the 1970s, was last produced by McDonnell Aircraft Corp. in 1981.

Iran in the 1980s fought a brutal, ultimately stalemated war with Iraq when that country was led by Saddam Hussein and his Sunni-controlled Baath Party. But the U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam left an Iraqi government closely aligned with Iran. A majority of Iraqis are Shiite, as are most Iranians. The Islamic State group, which also controls parts of Syria, is led by Sunni extremists and has attracted many Sunnis who felt disenfranchised by Baghdad.

In public, U.S. officials have walked a careful line over the strikes, while Iranian officials have flatly denied them. Neither side has an interest in appearing to cooperate with the other. America's Arab allies in the fight against the Islamic State, including Sunni-led Saudi Arabia and Qatar, would not want to be seen as fighting alongside Shiite Iran against a group of Sunni militants.

Rear Adm. John Kirby, the Pentagon's chief spokesman, said Tuesday he had seen "nothing that would dispute" that Iran has carried out airstrikes in eastern Iraq. The U.S. was "not taking a position" on the strikes, he said.

Speaking in Brussels on Wednesday, Secretary of State John Kerry said that Iranian attacks on IS militants would represent a positive development. "I think it's self-evident that if Iran is taking on ISIL in some particular place, and it's confined to taking on ISIL, and it has an impact, its net effect is positive," Kerry told reporters. "But that's not something we're coordinating."

In Iran, a spokeswoman for the foreign ministry, Marzieh Afkham, denied that Iran has cooperated with the U.S.-led coalition, but she neither confirmed nor denied Iranian airstrikes against IS in Iraq.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, also sensitive to the US-Arab coalition that has been carrying out airstrikes against IS and training the Iraqi military to take IS on itself, told reporters Wednesday, "I'm not aware there were Iranian airstrikes."

Hakim al-Zamili, a Shiite Iraqi lawmaker who heads the Security and Defense Committee in Parliament, said Iran "is serious in fighting Daesh," using the Arabic acronym for the Islamic State group. "It has advisers in country. It provides Iraq with weapons and ammunition," al-Zamili said, adding that he had no knowledge of whether Iranian airstrikes had been carried out.

"If Iran has carried out airstrikes against Daesh, in coordination with the Iraqi government, it is a welcomed step," he said. It is unlikely to be welcomed, however, by Republicans in Congress who accuse the Obama administration of not being tough enough on Iran, which the U.S. calls a state sponsor of terrorism.

Iran supports the Syrian government of Bashar Assad, which the U.S. wants to remove. American officials have expressed hope that Iran could play a role in negotiating an exit for Assad and help bring an end to a Syrian civil war that fueled the growth of the Islamic State group.

While most of the territory controlled by the group in Iraq lies along the western border with Syria, Diyala province along the Iraq-Iran border has been the scene of fierce fighting between security forces and the militants.

Last month, Iraqi troops backed by Shiite militiamen and Kurdish security forces recaptured Jalula and Saadiya, seized by the militants in August. Heavy clashes continue in Diyala, with some pockets of resistance outside the two towns.

Salama reported from Baghdad. John Thor-Dahlburg, Lori Hinnant and Lara Jakes in Brussels, Sinan Salaheddin in Baghdad and Ali Akbar Dareini in Tehran contributed to this story.

Follow Ken Dilanian on Twitter at https://twitter.com/KenDilanianAP

New Lawsuit Brings Cosby Abuse Case Into Court

 Entertainer Bill Cosby gestures during an interview about the upcoming exhibit, "Conversations: African and African-American Artworks in Dialogue, " at the Smithsonian's National Museum of African Art.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A lawsuit by a woman who claims Bill Cosby molested her when she was 15 years old has moved allegations of sexual misconduct against the comedian from the court of public opinion into the courthouse.

Judy Huth's lawsuit filed Tuesday in Los Angeles accuses Cosby of forcing her to perform a sex act on him in a bedroom of the Playboy Mansion around 1974. She is the latest woman to accuse the comedian of sex abuse, and is the first one since 2005 to file a lawsuit.

Cosby has been beset for weeks by allegations by more than a dozen women that he drugged and sexually assaulted them in incidents spanning several decades. The comedian has not been criminally charged and many of the claims are so old, they are barred by statutes of limitations.

Huth's lawsuit, however, contends that she became aware of the serious effect the abuse had on her within the past three years. California law allows victims of sex abuse when they were minors to bring a claim after adulthood if they discover later in life that they suffered psychological injuries as a result of the abuse.

Cosby has not been criminally charged, but Netflix and NBC have scuttled projects featuring the comedian and several shows on his comedy tour have also been canceled. His attorney Martin Singer did not return an email message seeking comment Tuesday night.

Huth's sexual battery and infliction of emotional distress lawsuit states that she and a 16-year-old friend first met Cosby at a Los Angeles-area film shoot and the comedian gave the girls drinks a week later at a tennis club.

The lawsuit states that Cosby took them to the Playboy Mansion after several drinks, and told the teenagers to lie and say they were 19 years old if asked. Her lawsuit states Cosby forced her to perform a sex act on him with her hand.

"This traumatic incident, at such a tender age, has caused psychological damage and mental anguish for (Huth) that has caused significant problems throughout her life," the lawsuit states. Huth's lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court is the first time a woman has gone public claiming Cosby abused her when she was underage. A second woman told Pittsburgh television station KDKA last month that Cosby drugged her to the point of unconsciousness in the 1980s when she was 15.

The suit does not specify how much Huth is seeking from Cosby. Singer has denied previous accusations or said the women raising the claims in interviews had been discredited. Singer's statement does not apply to a lawsuit brought in 2005 by Andrea Constand, who claimed Cosby drugged and molested her at his suburban Philadelphia mansion in 2004. Constand, who worked for the women's basketball team at Temple University, and Cosby settled the case before trial.

Cosby resigned from the university's board of trustees on Monday. He had been the school's public face, appearing in advertisements, fundraising campaigns and delivering commencement speeches.

Anthony McCartney can be reached at http://twitter.com/mccartneyAP

Supreme Court To Consider Facebook Threats Case

The U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, as seen from the roof of the U.S. Capitol

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court is weighing the free-speech rights of people who use violent or threatening language on Facebook and other social media.

The justices will hear arguments Monday in the case of a man who was sentenced to nearly four years in prison for posting graphically violent rap lyrics on Facebook about killing his estranged wife, shooting up a kindergarten class and attacking an FBI agent.

Anthony Elonis of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, says he was just venting his anger over a broken marriage and never meant to threaten anyone. But his wife didn't see it that way, and neither did federal prosecutors. A jury convicted Elonis of violating a federal law that makes it a crime to threaten another person. A federal appeals court rejected his claim that his comments were protected by the First Amendment.

Lawyers for Elonis argue that the government must prove he actually intended his comments to threaten others. The government says it doesn't matter what Elonis intended; the true test of a threat is whether his words make a reasonable person feel threatened.

One post about his wife said, "There's one way to love you but a thousand ways to kill you. I'm not going to rest until your body is a mess, soaked in blood and dying from all the little cuts." The case has drawn widespread attention from free-speech advocates who say comments on Facebook, Twitter and other social media can be hasty, impulsive and easily misinterpreted. They point out that a message on Facebook intended for a small group could be taken out of context when viewed by a wider audience.

"A statute that proscribes speech without regard to the speaker's intended meaning runs the risk of punishing protected First Amendment expression simply because it is crudely or zealously expressed," said a brief from the American Civil Liberties Union and other groups.

So far, most lower courts have rejected that view, ruling that a "true threat" depends on how an objective person perceives the message. For more than four decades, the Supreme Court has said that "true threats" to harm another person are not protected speech under the First Amendment. But the court has been careful to distinguish threats from protected speech such as "political hyperbole" or "unpleasantly sharp attacks."

Elonis argues that his online posts under the pseudonym "Tone Dougie" were simply a crude and spontaneous form of expression that should not be considered threatening if he didn't really mean it. His lawyers say the posts were heavily influenced by rap star Eminem, who has also fantasized in songs about killing his ex-wife.

But Elonis' wife testified that the comments made her fear for her life. After his wife obtained a protective order against him, Elonis wrote a lengthy post mocking court proceedings: "Did you know that it's illegal for me to say I want to kill my wife?"

A female FBI agent later visited Elonis at home to ask him about the postings. Elonis took to Facebook again: "Little agent lady stood so close, took all the strength I had not to turn the bitch ghost. Pull my knife, flick my wrist and slit her throat."

The Obama administration says requiring proof that a speaker intended to be threatening would undermine the law's protective purpose. In its brief to the court, the Justice Department argues that no matter what someone believes about his comments, it doesn't lessen the fear and anxiety they might cause for other people.

The case is Elonis v. United States, 13-983.

Egypt Court Drops Murder Charges Against Mubarak

Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, 86, greets medics, army personnel and his supporters, as he leaves a helicopter ambulance after it landed at Maadi Military Hospital following his verdict in Cairo, Egypt.

CAIRO, EGYPT (ASSOCIATED PRESS) — An Egyptian court on Saturday dismissed murder charges against former president Hosni Mubarak in connection with the killing of protesters in the 2011 uprising that ended his nearly three-decade reign.

The ruling marks another major setback for the young activists who spearheaded the Arab Spring-inspired uprising nearly four years ago -- many of whom are now in jail or have withdrawn from politics -- and will reinforce the perception that Mubarak's autocratic state remains in place, albeit led by a new president, former military chief Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi.

Saturday's verdict concludes Mubarak's retrial along with his two sons, his security chief and six top security commanders, who were all acquitted. Also on trial was businessman Hussein Salem, a longtime Mubarak friend tried in absentia. He too was acquitted.

Mubarak, 86, was also acquitted of corruption charges that he faced along with his sons Alaa and Gamal. It was not immediately clear whether Mubarak would now walk free since he is serving a three-year jail term for corruption charges he was convicted of in May. He has been in detention since April 2011, but it is unclear if the past 3 1/2 years will be considered as time served.

Mubarak was convicted and sentenced to life in prison in 2012 on charges related to the killing of protesters, but the verdict was overturned on appeal the following year. Mubarak has spent virtually all the time since he was detained in hospitals due to his poor health. On Saturday, he was brought to the defendants' cage on a gurney. He wore dark glasses, a navy blue tie and a matching cardigan.

Nearly 900 protesters were killed in the 18-day uprising that ended when Mubarak stepped down, handing over power to the military. The trial, however, was concerned only with the killing of 239 protesters, whose names were cited in the charges sheet.

Presiding judge Mahmoud al-Rashidi made clear that the dismissal of the charges did not absolve Mubarak of the corruption and "feebleness" of the latter years of his 29-year rule and praised the January 2011 uprising, saying that its goals — freedom, bread and social justice — were legitimate.

However, al-Rashidi said Mubarak, like any other human, erred at times and suggested that his old age should have spared him a criminal trial. "To rule for or against him after he has become old will be left to history and the Judge of Judges, the Righteous and the Justice (God) who will question him about his rule," said the judge, who threatened to jail anyone attending Saturday's 45-minute hearing if they reacted in any way to the ruling before he adjourned the session.

Mubarak's successor, the Islamist President Mohammed Morsi, is also jailed and faces a slew of charges, including some related to the killing of protesters, which could see him sentenced to death. Morsi was elected in Egypt's first democratic presidential election in 2012 but was overthrown by el-Sissi a year later amid massive protests calling for his resignation.

Since then the government has launched a sweeping crackdown on Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood group and other supporters. It has also jailed scores of secular activists, including some of the leaders of the 2011 uprising, for violating a draconian law regulating street protests that was adopted a year ago.