VIRGINIA
Fatal Beating An apparently homeless man was fatally beaten Saturday in Fredericksburg on a popular walking path, and two homeless men have been arrested and charged in the death, authorities said.
Michael S. Berry, 31, and Bryan Cross, 18, have been charged with murder in the attack that occurred on the Rappahanock Canal path after an argument, police spokesman Jim Shelhorse said. He said the two are to appear in court today. The victim has not been identified.
The suspects were also charged with assault on an officer, Shelhorse said. He said a struggle started after police tried to pull the victim's assailants off of him. The victim was already dead at the time, Shelhorse said.
Moussaoui Case The long-delayed case of accused Sept. 11 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui will proceed toward trial after a federal judge yesterday lifted a stay she had imposed on pretrial proceedings.
U.S. District Judge Leonie M. Brinkema in Alexandria had halted virtually all activity in the case while higher courts decided whether Moussaoui could interview top al Qaeda witnesses. A federal appeals court concluded that he could not, and the U.S. Supreme Court last week declined to intervene.
Moussaoui is the only person charged in the United States in the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon. In her order yesterday, Brinkema said she would set a trial date "in the near future."
MARYLAND
Sexual Assault Two women said they were sexually assaulted in a Silver Spring apartment Friday night by a man with a handgun.
One of the women, who lives in the apartment, told police that she allowed two men inside because she thought she knew one of them. That man remained in a different room during the assault, the women said. Police said they are trying to determine if he was involved.
THE DISTRICT
Mercury Spill Trial The three teenagers charged with spilling mercury last month at Cardozo Senior High School will go on trial June 10 in D.C. Superior Court.
Judge Fern Flanagan Saddler set the trial date yesterday during a brief court hearing for the students from the Northwest Washington school.
All three will remain in their parents' custody, at least until the trial.
They are charged as juveniles with dumping a hazardous material and other related offenses.
Compiled from reports by staff writers.
