Arias spectacle grows as trial seat sold for $200

PHOENIX (AP) — Ticket scalping is nothing new in the sports and music world, but for a murder trial?

Dozens of people flock to court each day for a chance to score one of a handful of seats open to the public in Jodi Arias' ongoing murder trial in Arizona. The seats are provided on a first-come, first-serve basis, and nearly four months into the trial, the crowds are growing.

This week, one trial regular sold her spot to another person for $200 — and both got reprimands from the court on Tuesday.

Desiree Lee, a regular attendee, said another woman had traveled from Michigan to see the trial but couldn't get a seat because she was too far back in line.

"She was asking a couple of people ahead of me if they wanted to sell their seats," Lee, who lives in the area, told ABC15 in Phoenix. "I said yes because I can come every day if I wanted to ... I seriously didn't know I was going to get in trouble.

"I'm a little embarrassed more than anything," Lee added.

She says she was told to return the money. The purchaser kept her seat for free.

Court officials confirmed the incident. The court's rules prohibit saving spots in line, and that's why the woman was asked to give the money back, although she doesn't face any sort of charges.

The message played for callers to the judge's courtroom explains that seats are indeed limited.

"This is a public trial, but it's likely you will not get a seat," the message says.

Arias faces a potential death sentence if convicted of first-degree murder in the June 2008 killing of her one-time boyfriend at his suburban Phoenix home. Authorities say she planned the attack onTravis Alexander in a jealous rage. Arias initially denied involvement then later blamed it on masked intruders. Two years after her arrest, she said it was self-defense.

The trial, which has included lurid details of the couple's sex life and other personal information, continued Wednesday afternoon as the prosecution called additional witnesses ahead of closing arguments next week.

While there is no specific law preventing the public from selling their spot in line to get into the trial, Phoenix criminal defense lawyer Julio Laboy called it distasteful and said it undermines the seriousness of the case.

"I think this particular trial has brought out so many salacious facts and sordid details that what happens is people lose sight of how very real this is," Laboy said Wednesday. "Whether you like Jodi Arias or not, whether you side with Travis Alexander or not, for these families, it's very real."

One person is dead and another is on trial for her life, Laboy said.

"It's extremely disheartening, as if people were bartering to get into a Yankees game," he said. "For Jodi Arias, this is her life on the line."

Others said the antics aren't unusual, and even occur at the nation's highest court in Washington.

"As distasteful as it is to most people, it happens at the U.S. Supreme Court each time there's a big case," said San Francisco criminal defense lawyer Michael Cardoza. "It's distasteful, but it's not unusual."

In fact, during the highly publicized Scott Peterson murder trial in 2004 in the San Francisco area, where Peterson was convicted and sentenced to death in the killing of his pregnant wife, Laci, hundreds of trial enthusiasts would show up at the courthouse each day for a chance to score one of just about 28 seats open to the public.

Court officials there operated a lottery system, not first-come first-serve, drawing random numbers and calling them out to the applause of each individual winner. The tickets in that case could not be transferred or sold.

The entire Arias case has devolved into a spectacle unlike many other high-profile trials in recent years.

Arias is profiting from her notoriety by selling drawings from jail on a website operated by a third party, her mother, Sandra Arias, has said. According to the site, some pieces are fetching more than a $1,000, and Sandra Arias said the money is being used to help pay for family expenses while attending the trial. Nothing prevents Arias from profiting from her notoriety given she hasn't been convicted of a crime.

A woman in the gallery who attends the trial regularly also says she is operating a Twitter account on Arias' behalf, gathering comments from the defendant via jail phone calls. Some of the Tweets have consisted of religious quotes, while others attack the prosecutor and TV pundits who expound on the case daily.

The Associated Press cannot confirm, aside from with family and friends, whether the Twitter account or website are actually her words or her artwork.

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Clashes suggest Sunni anger boiling over in Iraq

Mourners chant slogans against Iraq's Shiite-led government as they take bodies of slain protesters for burial in Kirkuk, 180 miles (290 kilometers) north of Baghdad, Iraq, Wednesday, April 24, 2013. Associated Press / Photo by Emad Matti

BAGHDAD (AP) — With Sunni gunmen beginning to confront the Shiite-led government's security forces head-on in northern and western Iraq, fears are growing fast of a return to full-scale sectarian fighting that could plunge the country into a broader battle merged with the Syrian civil war across the border.

With more than 100 people killed over the past two days, it's shaping up to be the most pivotal moment for Iraq since U.S. combat troops withdrew in December 2011.

"Everybody has the feeling that Iraq is becoming a new Syria," Talal Younis, the 55-year-old owner of a currency exchange in the northern city of Mosul, said Wednesday. "We are heading into the unknown. ... I think that civil war is making a comeback."

A crackdown by government forces at a protest site in the northern town of Hawija on Tuesday triggered the latest unrest. It has enraged much of the country's restive Sunni Arab minority, adding fuel to an already smoldering opposition movement and spawning a wave of bold follow-up clashes.

It is too soon to say whether the rage will lead to widespread insurrection in the largely Sunni cities of Mosul and Ramadi or, more significantly, spiral into open sectarian warfare in the streets of Baghdad.

The Iraqi capital is far more tightly controlled by security forces than the remote towns hit by the latest unrest, but insurgents continue to launch regular, well-coordinated waves of attacks insideBaghdad. Outright threats that all but disappeared as the last bout of sectarian fighting waned in 2008 are making a comeback too, like the leaflets signed by a Shiite militant group that began turning up on the doorsteps of Sunni households in Baghdad earlier this year.

The exact circumstances of the Hawija bloodshed remain murky, but there is outrage over the government's handling of the unrest and the fact that most of the 23 killed at the site were among the Sunni demonstrators.

Talal al-Zobaie, a Sunni lawmaker from the opposition Iraqiya bloc, described this week's events as a pivotal moment for the country.

"The crime in Hawija clearly shows that people have lost faith in their armed forces, which have been turned into a tool in the hands of the prime minister," he said. "Some people now think that the only way to protect themselves is to take up arms."

The raid in Hawija sparked clashes and a spate of other attacks, mostly targeting Sunni mosques, that killed at least 56 people on Tuesday. Raids by Sunni gunmen on army checkpoints broke out in the hours following the protest camp raid and continued into Wednesday.

In the most dramatic incident, armed tribesmen sealed off approaches to the Sunni town of Qara Tappah, about 120 kilometers (75 miles) northeast of Baghdad. When Iraqi troops backed by helicopters arrived to try to clear the makeshift roadblocks, fierce clashes erupted. Police say 15 gunmen and seven soldiers were killed.

Sunni tribesmen also battled soldiers throughout Wednesday in the town of Suleiman Beg, about 150 kilometers (95 miles) north of Baghdad. Four soldiers and 12 others, including gunmen, were killed.

The sense that violence could be spreading from a local dispute to other parts of the country is particularly worrying to many Iraqis.

"This could open the door for broader clashes if things are not contained soon," said Mahmoud Othman, a Kurdish lawmaker. "Hawija is a small town and it can be controlled, but the real problem will arise if Mosul or Ramadi decide to enter the armed struggle," he said.

Three gunmen were killed Wednesday when they attacked a security checkpoint near the former al-Qaida stronghold of Mosul, about 360 kilometers (225 miles) northwest of Baghdad.

Later, a car bomb struck a police patrol north of Baghdad, killing a policeman and two civilians. Another car bomb exploded after sunset near a bus stop in Baghdad's mostly Shiite neighborhood of Husseiniyah, killing seven people and wounding 23.

Hospital officials confirmed the casualty figures. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information to reporters.

Human Rights Watch urged Iraqi authorities to ensure that any investigation into the Hawija killings Tuesday take into account allegations that security forces used excessive force. The rights group noted that there have been reports that security forces attacked demonstrators without provocation.

Iraq's Defense Ministry said it entered the protest area to try to make arrests over an attack on a nearby checkpoint several days earlier, and its forces came under heavy fire from several types of weapons, as well as from snipers.

"This is one of those cases where ... a singular spark escalates tensions and mobilizes the population for renewed conflict," said Ramzy Mardini, an analyst at the Beirut-based Iraq Institute for Strategic Studies.

"War fatigue in Iraq is losing its pacifying effects and the rationale to pick up arms and fight again is finding fertile ground in Sunni land(s)."

The increasingly sectarian lines drawn in the Syrian civil war and the rise of Sunni Islamists in the region in the wake of the Arab Spring is also having an effect on the Sunni protest movement playing out in Iraq, he noted.

Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime is fighting against largely Sunni rebels who draw support from Turkey and Sunni Gulf states. Assad's Alawite sect is a branch of Shiite Islam, and his regime is backed by Shiite powerhouse Iran.

"Given what's happening at the regional level, there's a dangerous mixture of Sunni hubris and Shiite fear. These emotions coupled with political volatility and uncertainty renders an environment where miscalculations are most likely to occur," Mardini said.

At the same time, recent local elections — which have not yet been held in two largely Sunni provinces — have put Iraqi politicians of all stripes in campaign mode, and playing up their sectarian credentials is a way to rouse voters.

"You're not going to find Sunnis urging for calm," Mardini said. "Most ... are still in the mode of rabble-rousing and throwing the reddest of meats to a discontent and frustrated electorate."

Tuesday's bloodshed followed four months of largely peaceful protests staged by Iraq's Sunni minority against the government.

Many Sunnis are angered over what they see as an effort by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to sideline members of their sect within the power-sharing government. They say they face discrimination, particularly in the application of a tough anti-terrorism law that they believe unfairly targets them. The government frequently carries out arrests in Sunni areas on charges of ties to al-Qaida or the deposed Baathist regime of Saddam Hussein, a Sunni.

Emma Sky, a key civilian policy advisor for U.S. Army Gen. Ray Odierno when he was the top U.S. military commander in Iraq, said the events in Hawija exacerbate concerns that the conflicts in Syria and Iraq are merging.

"The fear is that the post-World War I settlement is unraveling," she said, referring to the agreement between Britain and France that divided up the heart of the Middle East and drew the modern borders of Syria and Iraq.

"The way to inoculate Iraq against all of this is national unity," she said. "If Iraq had wise politicians who actually came together for the good of the country, it could go in a different direction."

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AP writers Sameer N. Yacoub and Sinan Salaheddin contributed reporting.

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Follow Adam Schreck on Twitter at http://twitter.com/adamschreck

Group: Texas plant blast loss likely exceeds $100M

Insurance trade group: Texas fertilizer plant explosion losses likely exceed $100 million

WEST, Texas (AP) -- The damage to surrounding homes and businesses caused by an explosion at aTexas fertilizer plant was estimated Wednesday to exceed $100 million, as crews continued to sift through a 90-foot-wide crater searching for answers.

The Insurance Council of Texas released its estimate after speaking to numerous adjusters and agents in West, Texas, where officials and displaced residents are working to rebuild after last week's blast. The explosion killed at least 14 people, injured 200 and damaged dozens of buildings.

Investigators have not determined what started the blast or whether it was intentional. At least two lawsuits have been filed against Adair Grain Inc., which operated the West Fertilizer plant.

Mark Hanna, a spokesman for the Insurance Council, said that total figure included estimates on how many homes were destroyed, the property inside and the cost of relocating residents. As many as 140 homes were damaged, he said. With housing limited in West, many families are living in nearby Waco or Hillsboro.

"When you put something together like this, you want to be on the high side," Hanna said. "When you go into a catastrophic situation, the last thing you want to do is lowball estimates like this."

Investigators said Wednesday that the explosion occurred at 7:51 p.m. on April 17 — 18 minutes after first responders, including volunteer firefighters from West, were alerted to a fire at West Fertilizer. Most of the 10 first responders who died in the explosion were found east of the main crater,Assistant State Fire Marshal Kelly Kistner said.

Officials continue to study fire and blast patterns to try to determine what ignited on the site and how, Kistner said.

"Right now, think of that coffee table where all 100 pieces are gathered around," said Brian Hoback, national response team supervisor for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Work crews were spread across the site Wednesday. Some were digging with shovels through the ruins of a building. Others were sifting through the remains of two silos, one that held corn and the other holding milo or sorghum.

A rail car that carried ammonium nitrate remained on site, covered by a tarp. Officials don't believe it was the cause of the blast.

At least two lawsuits have been filed in state district court in McLennan County, where West is located. Andrea Jones Gutierrez, a woman who lived in an apartment building severely damaged in the blast, filed suit Monday, seeking up to $1 million in damages.

Gutierrez had left her apartment after the fire began, just before the explosion, said her attorney, Randy Roberts. Her 14-year-old son was at church when the blast occurred.

"I don't have any special information or detailed information to go into depth about what went wrong, but obviously, something did go wrong, and the mere fact of an explosion of this type is evidence in and of itself of negligence," Roberts said.

Four insurance companies also sued West Fertilizer on behalf of several residents and businesses in West. Their attorney, Paul Grinke, said the lawsuit filed Friday was to ensure that his clients have access to the scene of the blast once the official investigation finishes.

"I'm not on a witch hunt for the West Fertilizer Co.," Grinke said. "We're going to go where the evidence leads us."

A spokesman for West Fertilizer declined comment on the lawsuits, saying, "Our focus remains on the fact finding."

Mississippi men's feud looms over ricin probe

In a 2011 photo Sadie Holland takes the oath of office for Justice Court Judge during the swearing in ceremony at the Lee County Justice Center in Tupelo, Miss. The letter containing ricin sent to Holland was the only one to make into the hands of an intended target. (AP Photo/Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal, C. Todd Sherman)" title="In a 2011 photo Sadie Holland takes the oath of office for Justice Court Judge during the swearing in ceremony at the Lee County Justice Center in Tupelo, Miss. The letter containing ricin sent to Holland was the only one to make into the hands of an intended target. (AP Photo/Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal, C. Todd Sherman)

Everett Dutschke stands in the steet near his home in Tupelo, Miss., and waits for the FBI to arrive and search his home Tuesday April 23, 2013 in connection with the sending of poisoned letters to President Barack Obama and others last week. Paul Kevin Curtis, the man charged with sending the letters, was released from jail Tuesday on bond, while FBI agents returned Dutschke's house where they'd previously searched in connection with the case. (AP Photo/Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal, Thomas Wells) MANDATORY CREDIT" title="Everett Dutschke stands in the steet near his home in Tupelo, Miss., and waits for the FBI to arrive and search his home Tuesday April 23, 2013 in connection with the sending of poisoned letters to President Barack Obama and others last week. Paul Kevin Curtis, the man charged with sending the letters, was released from jail Tuesday on bond, while FBI agents returned Dutschke's house where they'd previously searched in connection with the case. (AP Photo/Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal, Thomas Wells) MANDATORY CREDIT

OXFORD, Miss. (AP) — The investigation into poisoned letters mailed to President Barack Obama and others has shifted from an Elvis impersonator to his longtime foe, and authorities must now figure out if an online feud between the two men might have escalated into something more sinister.

Paul Kevin Curtis, 45, was released from a north Mississippi jail on Tuesday and charges against him were dropped, nearly a week after authorities charged him with sending ricin-laced letters to the president, Republican U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi and an 80-year-old Lee County, Miss., Justice Court judge, Sadie Holland.

Before Curtis left jail, authorities had already descended on the home of 41-year-old Everett Dutschke in Tupelo, a northeast Mississippi town best known as the birthplace of the King himself. On Wednesday, they searched the site of a Tupelo martial arts studio once operated by Dutschke, who hasn't been arrested or charged.

Wednesday evening, hazmat teams packed up and left Dutschke's business. He was at the scene at times during the day. A woman drove off in a green Dodge Caravan parked on the street that had been searched. Daniel McMullen, FBI special agent in charge in Mississippi, declined to speak with reporters afterward.

Dutschke's attorney, Lori Nail Basham, said he is "cooperating fully" with investigators and that no arrest warrant had been issued.

After being released from jail Tuesday, Curtis, who performs as Elvis and other celebrities, described a bizarre, yearslong feud between the two, but Dutschke insisted he had nothing to do with the letters. They contained language identical to that found on Curtis' Facebook page and other websites, making him an early suspect.

Federal authorities have not said what led them to drop the charges against Curtis, and his lawyers say they're not sure what new evidence the FBI has found.

Curtis said he's not sure exactly what led to the bad blood. It involves the men's time working together, a broken promise to help with a book by Curtis and an acrimonious exchange of emails, according to Curtis.

The two worked together at Curtis' brother's insurance office years ago, Curtis said. He said Dutschke told him he owned a newspaper and showed interest in publishing his book called "Missing Pieces," about what Curtis considers an underground market to sell body parts.

But Dutschke decided not to publish the material, Curtis alleged, and later began stalking Curtis on the Internet.

For his part, Dutschke said he didn't even know Curtis that well.

"He almost had my sympathy until I found out that he was trying to blame somebody else," Dutschke said Monday. "I've known he was disturbed for a long time. Last time we had any contact with each other was at some point in 2010 when I threatened to sue him for fraud for posting a Mensa certificate that is a lie. He is not a Mensa member. That certificate is a lie."

Curtis acknowledges posting a fake Mensa certificate on Facebook, but says it was an online trap set up for Dutschke because he believed Dutschke was stalking him online. He knew Dutschke also claimed to be a member of the organization for people with high IQs. Dutschke had a Mensa email address during a legislative campaign he mounted in 2007.

Dutschke started a campaign to prove him a liar, Curtis said, and allegedly harassed him through emails and social networking.

Curtis said the two agreed to meet at one point to face off in person, but Dutschke didn't show up.

"The last email I got from him, was, 'Come back tomorrow at 7 and the results of you being splattered all over the pavement will be public for the world to see what a blank, blank, blank you are.' And then at that point, I knew I was dealing with a coward," Curtis said.

Hal Neilson, one of the attorneys for Curtis, has said the defense gave authorities a list of people who may have had a reason to hurt Curtis, and that Dutschke's name came up. Efforts to reach Curtis, his lawyers and his brother were unsuccessful on Wednesday.

Both men say they have met Wicker, and they each have a connection to Holland.

Authorities say the letters were mailed April 8, but the one sent to Holland was the only one to make it into the hands of an intended target. Her son, Democratic state Rep. Steve Holland of Plantersville, said his mother did a "smell test" of the envelope and a substance in it irritated her nose. The judge was not sickened by what authorities say was a crude form of the poison, which is derived from castor beans.

Judge Holland has declined to comment on the case.

She was presiding judge in a case in which Curtis was accused of assaulting a Tupelo attorney in 2003. Holland sentenced Curtis to six months in the county jail. He served only part of the sentence, according to his brother.

Running as a Republican, Dutschke lost a lopsided election to Steve Holland in 2007, and observers say the judge publicly chastised Dutschke at a political rally that year.

Brandon Presley, Mississippi's northern district public service commissioner and a distant cousin of Elvis Presley, attended the 2007 political rally in Verona. He told The Associated Press on Wednesday that he remembers Dutschke giving a "militant" speech with personal and professional attacks on Steve Holland.

Presley, also a Democrat, said he doesn't recall details of the speech — just the tone of it, and the crowd's reaction.

"I just remember everybody's jaw dropping," Presley said.

Dutschke said his speech included sharp criticism of Steve Holland's record in public office.

Steve Holland said earlier this week that his mother made Dutschke get down on his knees at the 2007 rally and apologize. On Wednesday, he said he was mistaken about her telling Dutschke to kneel.

"She just got up and said 'Sir, you will apologize," Steve Holland said.

Dutschke said Steve Holland exaggerated the incident. Presley said he remembers Judge Holland chastising Dutschke.

Presley said of the judge: "I don't believe the woman has an enemy in the world.... I don't know anybody who doesn't love Ms. Sadie Holland, except whoever this fool is who sent the letter. Whoever it is, they ought to be ashamed of themselves, picking on Ms. Sadie."

Dutschke — who unsuccessfully ran as a Democrat for Lee County election commissioner in 2008 — told AP on Tuesday that he has no problem with Sadie Holland. "Everybody loves Sadie, including me," he said.

On Wednesday, dozens of investigators were searching at a small retail space where neighboring business owners said Dutschke used to operate a martial arts studio. Officers at the scene wouldn't comment on what they were doing.

Investigators in gas masks, gloves and plastic suits emerged from the business carrying five-gallon buckets full of items covered in large plastic bags. Once outside, others started spraying their protective suits with some sort of mist.

Dutschke told the AP on Wednesday morning that he and his wife had gone to a friend's house because they didn't feel safe at their home. He didn't immediately respond to messages Wednesday afternoon.

"They ripped everything out of the house," he said, adding: "I haven't slept at all."

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Wagster Pettus contributed from Jackson, Miss., and Associated Press writers Jeff Amy and Jay Reeves contributed from Tupelo, Miss.

Official: 4 children killed in SC mobile home fire

HARTSVILLE, S.C. (AP) — Firefighters racing to stamp out a mobile home fire Wednesday met with flames shooting from windows as a woman and others looking on pleaded for them to save four young children inside, witnesses told investigators. All four children, including twin girls, perished.

It took firefighters less than 10 minutes to put out the fire once they arrived and after entering the charred, single-wide home, they found the bodies of the twin 1-year-old girls and their brothers ages 3 and 4, authorities said.

The mother was so distraught it took hours to calm her. Investigators still aren't sure where she was when the fire started,Darlington County Sheriff Wayne Byrd said.

"Right now we can't say whether she was inside or not," Byrd said.

Authorities were keeping everyone but investigators far from the home Wednesday evening near Hartsville, a city of some 8,000 people about 60 miles east of the state capital of Columbia.

"Our hearts are heavy for these four young children. God have mercy on their souls. We did everything possible to save them," Hartsville Mayor Mel Pennington said in a statement.

A photograph tweeted by the sheriff showed the outside of the home seemingly relatively undamaged, while the inside looked charred. A tricycle and another children's toy could be seen in the yard. Smoke could still be seen wafting from an open front door, fire hoses snaking inside.

The burned-out home was just outside of Hartsville city limits, but city firefighters fought the blaze.

Arson investigators planned to work through the night trying to figure out what started the fire. TheState Law Enforcement Division was called in, but that is standard in any fatal fire, the sheriff said.

Autopsies are planned Thursday to determine the cause of death and confirm the identities of the children, Darlington County Coroner Todd Hardee said. Their names were not immediately released.

Bernitha McCrea lived a block away from the family and said she knew the mother well. McCrea wasn't home when the fire trucks raced down her street. Hours after the fire, deputies weren't letting her past the crime scene tape.

"She was a good parent. She would have tried to save them. She loved those babies," McCrea said.

Roxie McDonald lived next door to the children and their family. She didn't see the flames over her tall hedges, but knew something was wrong when she heard many sirens.

She didn't know the mother, but she saw the children frequently playing in the yard. Her house was roped inside crime tape afterward, so she asked deputies if she would be able to get back if she left to go to her church. They told her she could.

"I talked to my pastor," McDonald said. "We're not going to have our normal Wednesday night service. We're just going to pray for the family."