Saturday, February 16, 2008

Crime Scene Explanation

Crime novelist Patricia Cornwell sent a pricey letter to law enforcement yesterday, taking out full-page ads in The Washington Post, New York Times and USA Today to counter flak she took over a quote in an Associated Press article last week.

"I have been a devoted supporter of law enforcement for almost thirty years. . . . This is why I was so dismayed by recent news accounts concerning my substantial grant to John Jay College of Criminal Justice," the ads read in part, referring to Cornwell's announcement last Friday that she will donate $1 million to establish a crime-scene investigation academy at the New York City college.

While speaking about the purpose of her donation in an interview with the AP last Friday, Cornwell said she had "seen cops walk through blood. I've seen them leave their own fingerprints on a window. I've seen bloody clothing put in a plastic bag, instead of a paper bag, so it decomposes."

In a phone interview yesterday, Cornwell said she has never been a critic of police and was dismayed at how the quote came across.

"The misunderstanding began when I stated I was appalled with what I've seen at crime scenes, what I've seen citizens do at crime scenes to tamper with evidence. Everybody's an expert now because they watch television. People are grabbing evidence and bagging it and handing it to cops," Cornwell said. "Obviously if you don't get good training you'll make mistakes at crime scenes. . . . I really saw no other alternative than having to take this head on and set the record straight and say we have got to support police."

In August 2005, the BBC reported that Cornwell had taken out full-page ads in two British national newspapers to deny that she was obsessed with Jack the Ripper. In a 2002 book, Cornwell asserted that she had discovered the 19th-century serial killer's identity; Ripper experts rejected her theory.

Vice President Dick Cheney's yellow lab, Dave, has died, the vice presidential press office confirmed yesterday. Dave had been a Cheney family companion since long before they took office in 2001; he made the news on Halloween when the Cheneys dressed him up as Superman. On Feb. 6, the VP and his motorcade whisked Dave to Friendship Hospital for Animals in Tenleytown for a checkup.

The Cheneys also have a black lab, Jackson.

Britney Spears's family tightened its grasp on her personal life Thursday, when a court extended her father James Spears's conservatorship until March 10 and named her brother, Bryan Spears, co-trustee of her $100 million fortune.

Bryan Spears, 30, and a law firm will share access to the singer's trust, People.com reports. According to court documents, they have the power to pay for Britney's "security, medicine, food, other day-to-day expenses and for psychiatric and other medical services."

Also in court, James Spears's attorney said investigators have spent more than 200 hours trying to locate Britney Spears's friend Sam Lutfi to serve him with a temporary restraining order, issued in response to claims that he had taken control of her life and even drugged her.

James Spears has been his daughter's conservator since Feb. 1, a day after she was hospitalized at UCLA Medical Center for a mental evaluation. She was released Feb. 6.

Married: Oasis singer Liam Gallagher, 35, and girlfriend of eight years Nicole Appleton, 33, have tied the knot, People magazine reports. The pair have a 6-year-old son, Gene; Gallagher has one son, Lennon, from his previous marriage to Patsy Kensit.

Quoted: "Of course I am a Spice Girls fan. I love everything that teenage girls love. I am the oldest teenage girl." -- Fashion designer Michael Kors to Women's Wear Daily, after being spotted at a Spice Girls reunion concert in East Rutherford, N.J., on Wednesday.

-- Marissa Newhall, from staff and wire reports