LOS ANGELES

Officers who fatally shot unarmed man not charged

Prosecutors have declined to file charges against Los Angeles police officers who fatally shot an unarmed, disabled man on live television after a car chase.

In a letter dated Jan. 29 that was obtained by The Associated Press, prosecutors wrote that there’s insufficient evidence to prove Officers Armando Corral, Leonardo Ortiz and Michael Ayala didn’t act in self-defense or the defense of others when they killed 51-year-old Brian Beaird on Dec. 13, 2013.

Chief Charlie Beck determined two months ago that the officers violated department rules for deadly force and their actions weren’t reasonable.

The officers have been assigned home pending discipline without pay, said spokesman Cmdr. Andrew Smith.

LAS VEGAS

Attorney says murder of mom not tied to road rage

A defense attorney representing a 19-year-old man accused of killing a Las Vegas mother of four says the case has been mischaracterized as road rage.

Attorney Conrad Claus declined to say Monday outside Erich Milton Nowsch Jr.’s initial court appearance what his defense will be.

Nowsch stood silently in shackles and wasn’t asked to enter a plea. A judge scheduled a March 10 preliminary hearing.

Nowsch remains jailed following his arrest Friday on murder, attempted murder and other charges in the Feb. 12 shooting that fatally wounded 44-year-old Tammy Meyers.

WASHINGTON

Gay groups ask military to allow transgender members

Gay rights groups on Monday called on the military to lift its ban on transgender service members, after new Defense Secretary Ashton Carter suggested over the weekend that being transgender should not alone preclude a person from serving.

“I don’t think anything but their suitability for service should preclude them,” Carter said on Sunday during a question-and-answer session with troops in Kandahar, Afghanistan, according to a transcript posted on the Pentagon’s website.

—From news service reports

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