For 16 years, Loretta Zilinger loathed Dean Cage for what she believed he did to her when she was 15 years old.

Dressed in her immaculate Catholic school uniform, she was on her way to class in October 1994. She heard footsteps coming up behind her. By then, it was too late.

A tall man attacked her, hauled her into an empty building and threatened to kill her. She kept her eyes open as he performed sex acts on her. She used her hands to touch his face; her fingers traced his nose, his eyes and his lips. She wanted to remember him.

Several days later, Chicago police brought her into the meat market where Dean Cage, a tall black man, worked. A police officer instructed her to identify her attacker by gently tapping the officer's arm.

Instead, she wailed frantically. She pointed at Dean Cage. 'I'm innocent'

Cage, then 26, was shocked when the police arrested him.

"I'm innocent," he insisted.

That didn't matter. Two years later in 1996, Zilinger's testimony would convict Cage, sending him to prison for 40 years. Zilinger was absolutely sure. Even his voice sounded like her attacker's, she said.

After four appeals and 14 years in prison, Cage won his freedom. A sample of the assailant's saliva, retrieved from the victim's body in 1994, was the proof he needed. A DNA test, which was not available at the time of the trial, was performed on the saliva and excluded him.

He was determined to start a new life with his family. He hadn't been able to be the husband, father and son he wanted to be during his years in prison. He had postponed wedding his fiance and missed his sons' graduations. When his elderly mother fell ill, he couldn't care for her.

"I thought, 'How could this person say these terrible things about me?' " Cage said. "The people I hung around knew what kind of a person I was, that I wasn't a rapist."

All her fault

Cage was freed from a state prison in Canton, Illinois. Several hundred miles away in Hobart, Indiana, Loretta Zilinger learned the news of his release. She was petrified.

"The first thing I asked [the prosecutor] was to ensure my family would be safe," she recalled.

She cried at work when she learned about the news. She cried in the car ride home. She locked herself in her room and cried some more.

She was convinced the DNA test was all wrong. She was told by the assailant to rub dirt on her naked body, which could have skewed the DNA results, she reasoned.

Meanwhile, Cage's exoneration made the local news. She read comments on news Web sites that called her a terrible person for putting an innocent man with a family behind bars. She ran into people who knew about her ordeal and told her, "It's your fault."

She was angry at her attacker. She spent years in counseling sessions that ate away at her family's savings. She managed to graduate from high school, and then college, despite the nightmares that disturbed her sleep.

The sexual assault affected her relationships with her stepfather and her husband. It was hard to trust men, even her four little boys.

Now that Cage was free, she prayed he would stay away from her.

An unexpected reunion

In November 2009, Zilinger, 31, packed her bags and headed for Los Angeles, California. It was her first visit.

She was going to share her ordeal with the world on the syndicated "Dr. Phil" show. She agreed to appear on behalf of rape victims like herself, who were too scared to speak up.

But Zilinger had no idea the show would offer her the chance to face the man she thought attacked her. During the taping, host Phil McGraw, a psychologist, explained the DNA tests to her.

Then, the show offered to let her meet Cage the next day.

Filled with anger and grief, Zilinger said she would have to think about it. She was still confident Cage's DNA results were incorrect.

Later that night, after talking to her husband of 10 years, she changed her mind. Zilinger's husband had worked as a police officer in Indiana for almost eight years. He knew witnesses made mistakes and that DNA tests were highly accurate.

That conversation was the first time the couple had really discussed the rape. For all those years, Zilinger had kept the attack to herself.

"I eventually knew I had to face him," she said. "I felt guilty that I was responsible for all the years he spent in jail."

It was Cage's first time in Los Angeles, too. The 43-year-old thought he was doing another interview about his exoneration. He didn't expect to see his accuser there.

His two years of freedom with his family had changed Cage. The resentment he held toward Zilinger had faded. He had goals, like finding a job and raising his 3-year-old granddaughter.

The attacker, who has not been found, had ruined both their lives, he concluded. They were both made victims.

On the show's stage, Zilinger and Cage embraced

"I hope you get the closure, and I hope you can find the person who did this," he said to her.

"Can you help me?" she asked.

"Can we help each other?" Cage responded.

Making a difference

Zilinger and Cage are sharing their story to help exonerated people and victims who have misidentified their assailants. Most victims truly believe the exonerated person is guilty despite DNA evidence, according to experts who study wrongful convictions.

They plan to start an organization to educate groups about wrongful convictions and spread their message of forgiveness.

"She was sincere in her apology," Cage said. "I knew it was the right thing to do."

For the first time since the attack, Zilinger no longer lives in fear. She feels at peace, like she has closure, and she wants to help other women reach that point.

"I realized I can't always call myself a victim," she said. "I have to start calling myself a survivor."

She has asked the Chicago Police Department to reopen her case. She wants the DNA evidence that freed Cage to find her attacker.

Since the original taping in November, the two have had lunch together. Cage has met with Zilinger's brother, who is helping him find a better-paying job. Since his release, re-integration into society has been harder than Cage expected. He works a minimum wage job at a barbeque joint to earn rent money for his family.

Things are looking up, though. His wedding has been delayed for 16 years, first by his wrongful arrest in 1994 and recently by the rocky economy.

But Cage plans to marry his fianceé in May -- and he has already invited Zilinger.

Dr. Conrad Murray, personal physician to Michael Jackson, was charged Monday with involuntary manslaughter in connection with the pop star's death last summer.

A criminal complaint filed earlier in the day alleged that Murray "did unlawfully, and without malice, kill Michael Joseph Jackson."

Murray turned himself in shortly before 4 p.m. at a branch courthouse near Los Angeles International Airport. He pleaded not guilty during a brief hearing before Judge Keith L. Schwartz.

The judge set bail at $75,000, despite arguments from prosecutor David Walgren that Murray is a flight risk.

The judge refused to suspend Murray's medical license as a term of his bond, but he did order him not to use any anesthesia on patients.

"I don't want you sedating people," Schwartz told Murray.

Michael Jackson's family -- including his parents, three of his brothers and one sister -- filled the first two rows of the small courtroom.

The involuntary manslaughter charge means that Murray caused Jackson's death by acting "without due caution and circumspection."

If convicted, Murray would face a maximum four-year prison sentence, according to prosecutors.

More on involuntary manslaughter

Murray traveled to Los Angeles at the end of January from his home in Houston, Texas, in expectation of possible charges, his lawyer said.

He used part of his time last week to visit the pop star's resting place in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California.

Murray, a cardiologist, was hired as Jackson's personal physician last spring as the singer prepared for comeback concerts in London, England.

The doctor told Los Angeles police that he was with Jackson at his $100,000-a-month rented Holmby Hills mansion through the early morning hours of June 25, 2009, in an effort to help the pop star fall asleep, according to a police affidavit.

He administered sleep aids, and after Jackson finally began sleeping in the late morning hours, Murray said, he left the bedroom for "about two minutes maximum," the affidavit says.

"Upon his return, Murray noticed that Jackson was no longer breathing," it says.

The doctor stayed with Jackson as an ambulance rushed him to UCLA Medical Center.

Efforts at CPR proved fruitless, and Jackson was pronounced dead at 2:26 p.m.

The Los Angeles County coroner ruled Jackson's death a homicide, resulting from a combination of drugs, primarily propofol and lorazepam.

The coroner's statement said Jackson died from "acute propofol intoxication," but there were "other conditions contributing to death: benzodiazepine effect." Lorazepam and two other drugs Murray said he used are benzodiazepines.

The doctor told investigators he had given Jackson three anti-anxiety drugs to help him sleep in the hours before he stopped breathing, a police affidavit said.

Murray had been treating Jackson for insomnia for six weeks at the time of the singer's death. The doctor told investigators he gave Jackson 50 milligrams of propofol, the generic name for Diprivan, diluted with the anesthetic lidocaine every night via an intravenous drip.

The doctor told police he was worried that Jackson was becoming addicted to the drug and tried to wean him off it.

During the two nights before Jackson's death, Murray said, he put together combinations of other drugs that succeeded in helping Jackson sleep.

Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon has received probation before judgment under a plea deal that required her to step down from office.

Dixon declined to address the court as she was sentenced Thursday morning. She resigned. City Council President Stephanie Rawlings-Blake was sworn in as mayor at a noon ceremony.

Dixon was convicted of embezzling gift cards donated to the city for needy families and lying about gifts from her former boyfriend, a prominent developer.

Judge Dennis Sweeney says Dixon is receiving "a heavy penalty -- a badge of dishonor that she will live with for the rest of her life." But Sweeney also says Dixon was fortunate to get the plea deal because the cases against her "were strong if not indeed overwhelming."

A Houston mother who was arrested Sunday is accused of starving her 8-year-old daughter to death inside an empty apartment.

Halle Smith weighed 15 pounds when she died, and the only photos available of her -- taken at the time of her death -- are disturbing, said Estella Olguin, a Child Protective Services spokeswoman.

“[They are] probably the worst pictures I have ever seen,” Olguin said. “It’s upsetting to look at them.”

Halle was limp and unresponsive when her mother brought her to a hospital emergency room in January 2009. Because Halle was a special-needs child who had to be hooked up to a feeding tube, the investigation took time, as did determining her cause of death, investigators said.

“The officers had to get an autopsy report, complete sets of medical records, and then conduct a thorough investigation to determine if this was, in fact, a deliberate injury,” said Donna Hawkins with the district attorney's office.

Prosecutors said they now believe Halle's mother, Almita Nicole Lockhart, 34, isolated her in an empty secluded apartment off Northborough and did not feed her.

“The medical examiner said her death was a homicide and said it was due to malnutrition and dehydration,” Hawkins said.

CPS said Lockhart is the mother of nine other children. However, when CPS looked into her situation after Halle's death, they said they found none of the children, who are between the ages of 2 to 18, were living at home. Some of them hadn't been in school, CPS said. CPS said it is in the process of terminating Lockhart's parental rights.

“We had concerns because, once we found those children, they were being taken care of by adults who had drugs and weapons in the home,” Olguin said.

CPS said it had visited Halle and Lockhart's home back in 2006 after Lockhart was convicted and served time for illegal drugs.

“When we saw her she appeared healthy. The house was furnished. There was food in the home. The children appeared healthy,” Olguin said. “So something happened in the last two-and-a-half years.”

According to court documents, Lockhart was offered free nursing care for Halley 24-7, but she told them to stay away.

Medical documents show when Halley was 2 she weighed 35 pounds, but that on her last visit to the doctor in 2006 she weighed just 27 pounds. That is the same year CPS visited her home.

At the time of her death, the medical examiner said Halle had lost 40 percent of her body weight and it was clear the mother was "failing to properly nourish" the child.

CPS said it is reviewing what it could have done differently.

“We don’t have the right to just go check up on people, unless we have a new report,” Olguin explained.

She said the agency had not heard anything about Halle’s family for more than two years.

An anti-abortion group targeting African-American women has begun putting up dozens of billboards around metro Atlanta, declaring black children to be “an endangered species.”

Ryan Bomberger, co-founder of the Radiance Foundation, said 35 should be up by Feb. 15. “We’re aiming for a lot more, but that’s where we’re at,” Bomberger said.

The billboards were announced at a state Capitol news conference at which another group, Georgia Right to Life, announced that it would back legislation this session that would make it a crime to “solicit a woman to have an abortion based on the race or sex of the unborn child.”

The two groups are citing what they say are federal statistics that indicate 56 percent of abortions in Georgia are performed on African-American women, though black make up 30 percent of the general population.

Did a former Detroit City Councilwoman dine and dash? The owner of a couple of Greektown restaurants testified in U.S. District Court Tuesday that Monica Conyers often walked out without paying her bill.

Greektown Businessman Jim Pappas says Conyers probably owes about $3,000 to the Mosaic restaurant.

Those accusations came Thursday as Pappas testified about his dealings with Conyers and her former chief of staff Sam Riddle, who is on trial in federal court facing extortion and bribery charges.

Pappas said he paid Riddle, former Detroit political consultant, a $10,000 bribe as a favor to Conyers, because she persuaded her husband, Congressman John Conyer, s to support a controversial hazardous waste injection well in Romulus, operated by Pappas.

Conyers pleaded guilty last year to accepting money for her vote on a sludge contract in 2007. The charges against Riddle include that deal.

The government is expected to wrap up its case against Riddle this week.

Riddle stands accused of conspiracy, interfering with commerce by extortion, bribery and making false statements. The government claims he took money from people doing business with the city council or Detroit's pension board.

Riddle says he's not guilty.

Chief stays, but wrongful-termination suit looms for black group

A judge dismissed a lawsuit to oust the leadership of the nation's oldest black Greek-letter sorority, including its president, former Chicago Housing Authority financial executive Barbara A. McKinzie.

But the Chicago-based organization is headed for trial in a wrongful-termination lawsuit filed by a former staffer who said she was fired for questioning spending and alerting state authorities.

Eight members of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc. sued in June to remove McKinzie, claiming she misappropriated millions of dollars in AKA money, using some of it to pay for a wax statue of herself in a Baltimore museum. They also claimed she arranged for a $4,000 monthly stipend to be paid to her after she leaves the traditionally unpaid office. Her four-year term ends this year.

In her ruling Monday in Washington, D.C., Superior Court Judge Natalia M. Combs Greene criticized the plaintiffs for making "hyperbolic allegations riddled with buzzwords."

"Throughout her tenure, Barbara McKinzie has led Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc. with the utmost integrity and professionalism, and this ruling reaffirms that very fact," said Dale Cooter, attorney for McKinzie.

Plaintiffs' attorney Edward W. Gray Jr. said his clients are reviewing their options.

Meanwhile, the case is still on for a Chicago woman who said she lost her job as meetings director at AKA's Stony Island Avenue headquarters in June for refusing to sign off on McKinzie's expenditures, then complaining to the state's attorney general's office.

Cook County Judge Ronald Bartkowicz recently denied the sorority's request that the wrongful-termination suit be dismissed.

AKA, which has 60,000 paid members, has until Feb. 22 to answer allegations that it fired Kenitra Shackelford-Johnson within a week of her e-mailing a complaint to the attorney general's office last June. In August, the sorority denied any wrongdoing, saying Shackelford-Johnson resigned.

"We have every intention of going forward with this case and don't see any reason why it won't go to trial," said Ruth Major, the lawyer representing Shackelford-Johnson.

McKinzie -- former chief financial officer of the Cook County Forest Preserve District -- hasn't shied away from the spotlight, appearing at the National Urban League 2009 conference in Chicago and addressing a packed Regal Theater to tout a partnership with Coca-Cola Co. during a Sprite Step Off competition last month.

Ten members of a U.S. missionary group who said they were trying to rescue 33 child victims of Haiti’s devastating earthquake were charged with child kidnapping and criminal association on Thursday, their lawyer said.

Edwin Coq said after a court hearing that a judge found sufficient evidence to charge the Americans, who were arrested Friday at Haiti’s border with the Dominican Republic. Coq attended Thursday’s hearing and represents the entire group in Haiti.

Group leader Laura Silsby has said they were trying to take orphans and abandoned children to an orphanage in the neighboring Dominican Republic. She acknowledged they had not sought permission from Haitian officials, but said they just meant to help victims of the quake.

Nelson Mandela, fellow veterans of South Africa’s anti-apartheid struggle and family have raised glasses of bubbly to celebrate the 20th anniversary of his release from prison.

Mandela was released Feb. 11, 1990 after 27 years in prison, most of it spent on Cape Town’s Robben Island. In video released from a celebration at his Johannesburg home Thursday, Cyril Ramaphosa, an ANC leader who helped organize Mandela’s welcome two decades ago, proposes a toast in which he says that Mandela remains an inspiration and that the sacrifices he made would never be forgotten.

Mandela’s former wife, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, and some of their children and grandchildren joined the celebration.
Mandela, who turns 92 on July 18, had largely retired from public life.

Criminal charges against Michael Jackson's personal physician will be filed "in the near future," in connection with the pop star's death, law enforcement sources said, but there is confusion over when he will be booked.

Negotiations between prosecutors and Murray's lawyers broke down Thursday evening, law enforcement sources with detailed knowledge of the talks told Beth Karas of "In Session," of CNN sister network truTV.

"I don't know what part of negotiations could have broken down, in light of the fact that we've placed ourselves in the hands of law enforcement to surrender at any time," said Ed Chernoff, Murray's lawyer.

Murray, who was Jackson's doctor when the pop star died last summer, will nonetheless show up at the Los Angeles courthouse airport location to surrender at 1:30 p.m. PST Friday, as previously planned, a spokesman for his legal team told Karas.

If authorities refuse to take him into custody for a court arraignment, then Murray and his lawyers will meet with reporters outside the courthouse, Miranda Sevcik said.

Prosecutors could file charges at any time, however, setting up a scenario for Los Angeles police to find Murray on their own, arrest him and take him to jail.

A surrender -- in which a defendant turns himself at a police station for booking -- would allow the doctor to avoid being seen in public handcuffed and escorted by police.

The chances of a surrender appear dead, a law enforcement source told Karas.

Chernoff said earlier Thursday that he and Los Angeles Deputy District Attorney David Walgren "share the goal of the efficient administration of this process."

"An arrest of Dr. Murray would be a waste of money, time and resources," he said. "We've always made it clear: You tell us where; we'll be there. I'm sure something can be arranged."

The doctor traveled to Los Angeles last week from his home in Houston, Texas, in anticipation of possible charges.

Murray was hired as Jackson's personal physician last spring as the entertainer prepared for his comeback concerts in London, England.

The doctor told Los Angeles police investigators that he was with Jackson through the early morning hours of June 25 in an effort to help the pop star fall asleep, according to a police affidavit.

He administered sleep aids, and after Jackson finally began sleeping in the late morning hours, Murray said, he left the bedroom for "about two minutes maximum," the affidavit said.

"Upon his return, Murray noticed that Jackson was no longer breathing," it said.

The doctor stayed with Jackson as an ambulance rushed him from his $100,000-a-month rented mansion in Holmby Hills to UCLA Medical Center.

Efforts at CPR proved fruitless, and Jackson was pronounced dead at 2:26 p.m.

The Los Angeles County coroner ruled Jackson's death a homicide resulting from a combination of drugs, primarily propofol and lorazepam.

The coroner's statement said Jackson died from "acute propofol intoxication," but there were "other conditions contributing to death: benzodiazepine effect." Lorazepam and two other drugs Murray said he used are benzodiazepines.

The doctor told investigators he had given Jackson three anti-anxiety drugs to help him sleep in the hours before he stopped breathing, a police affidavit said.

Murray had been treating Jackson for insomnia for six weeks at the time of the singer's death. The doctor told investigators he gave Jackson 50 milligrams of propofol, the generic name for Diprivan, diluted with the anesthetic lidocaine every night via an intravenous drip.

The doctor told police he was worried that Jackson was becoming addicted to the drug and tried to wean him off it.

During the two nights before Jackson's death, Murray said, he put together combinations of other drugs that succeeded in helping Jackson sleep.

Looking for a fresh start, the former top aide and mistress of ex-Detroit mayor Kwame Kilpatrick is reportedly moving to Atlanta, according to various media outlets.

Christine Beatty and Kilpatrick both lied under oath about their extra-marital affair, which included thousands of explicit text messages.

Beatty is still on probation following her perjury conviction and she will be reporting to Georgia authorities, Judge Timothy Kenny told USA Today. Kenny is the presiding judge of the criminal division of the Wayne County Circuit Court.

Beatty served 70 days in prison and owes the city of Detroit $100,000 in restitution. She served as Kilpatrick's chief of staff from 2002 to 2008.

Beatty, 39, reportedly has a new consulting job in Atlanta, where she will live with her two daughters, according to Detroit newspapers. Beatty attended Howard University during the time Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed was a student there.

- The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Former Cowboys receiver Michael Irvin is back in Florida this week as part of the pre-Super Bowl festivities. He's broadcasting his ESPN Radio Dallas show from the Media Center in Fort Lauderdale, and like many of the former players milling about Radio Row he looks like he could still suit up and go right now.

But any sense of celebration has been tempered by the news that a civil suit alleging sexual assault has been filed against Irvin. According to the Miami Herald, Irvin allegedly raped a woman at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino.

A decision on whether criminal charges will be pursued is pending.

The alleged incident occurred in July 2007, a month before he gave a stirring speech upon entry into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Irvin, through his lawyer, denies the allegations, calling them "totally untrue."

The action comes after negotiations on a financial settlement stalled. The woman reportedly wanted $1 million, then dropped her demand to $800,000.

"This complaint is tantamount to criminal extortion,'' attorney Larry Friedman told the Herald. "There is no merit to the complaint.''

Though it's rare for anyone to admit to engaging in criminal conduct, Irvin is entitled to the presumption of innocence in a court of law.

In the court of public opinion, Irvin's history might work against him. But he seems to have changed his ways, so he merits in our view the benefit of the doubt.

Washington, Smith often play roles that don’t require racial consciousness.

They are three of the biggest stars in Hollywood. They are also black.

Denzel Washington, Will Smith and Tyler Perry are money machines, although each is unique in operation. As bankable entertainers, there are few who can match them for consistent box-office clout. That probably isn’t something that could have been said 20 years ago — or even 10 years ago.

Has Hollywood become more tolerant, more accepting, more open-minded? Or is it simply that its obsession with green makes it color-blind when it comes to backing a project? And do Washington, Smith and Perry represent a breakthrough, or are they isolated cases who have defied the odds?

As Black History Month unfolds, the film industry sees the aforementioned titans standing tall on top of a pile of dough. Washington’s recent “The Book of Eli” grossed more than $32 million in its opening weekend ending Jan. 17 and has since amassed more than $63 million. Smith is the only actor in history to have eight consecutive films released that grossed more than $100 million each. Perry, a writer-producer-director and playwright, has raked in more than $400 million with his works and is a one-man cottage industry.

“I think they’d be the first to tell you that African-American actors have made strides in terms of movies and Hollywood,” said Glenn Whipp, a film critic for the Los Angeles Times, Variety, MSN and others. “I think it’s much like when Obama was elected president, people don’t pay attention to color and are able to see past it.”

Racial consciousness
Yet Kara Keeling, assistant professor of critical studies at the University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts, said that, as far as Washington and Smith are concerned, some of their acceptance has to do with their parts.

“It’s important to look at the kinds of roles they’re playing and the fact that — with the exception of Tyler Perry — they’re playing roles that don’t require any sort of racial consciousness,” she said. “They don’t bring a racial consciousness to bear on the story in a way that disturbs the audience.

“On the one hand it is surprising that now we can all sort of identify with the black leading character whereas before the assumption was that it was only the white character that audiences could identify with. That transformation is an important one. But at the same time the kinds of films that cause us to reflect and look more deeply at race relations, we’ve seen less of those.”

Washington and Smith have carved out extraordinary careers by playing roles that usually aren’t race specific, that could conceivably have been played by stars such as Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, Bruce Willis, Johnny Depp or any number of others.

For every picture like “American Gangster,” “Antwone Fisher” or “The Hurricane,” in which being black is essential to the story, Washington does two or three others like “Inside Man,” “The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3,” “The Bone Collector” or “Man on Fire.” Smith does even fewer films in which a black character is integral. “The Pursuit of Happyness” and “Ali” represent two of the exceptions.

Perry’s approach is different. He has aimed his work at a predominately black audience and has become hugely successful by tapping into that niche market with such works as the “Madea” series of films and “Why Did I Get Married?” He also finances his own projects.

Hodge, 69, now a convicted felon, is dropping her re-election plans, and will resign her position as District 100 representative in the Texas House when she is sentenced. At Wednesday's hearing, U.S. District Judge Barbara Lynn said she wanted sentencing to occur as soon as possible.

"Ms. Hodge will have pleaded guilty today to a felony and will still be representing her district," Lynn said. "I'm not real keen on that notion."

Attorney Jeff Kearney said Hodge needed about 90 days to close down her legislative offices. "There are thousands of files" in her offices, he said, dealing with district and constituent business amassed during seven terms in office. "She can't throw those in a Dumpster."

Lynn did not immediately set a date for Hodge's sentencing. The charge she pleaded guilty to carries a maximum of three years in prison.

As part of her plea agreement, prosecutors agree to drop all other tax and bribery charges against her when she is sentenced.

Hodge pleaded guilty one count of fraud related to not reporting about $27,000 in income on her 2002 taxes.

That money came from Brian and Cheryl Potashnik, who paid her rent, utilities and bought her some carpet for a house she owned on Abrams Road in Dallas. In exchange, prosecutors alleged, Hodge wrote letters endorsing the Potashnik's efforts to get lucrative tax credits for their low-income housing development projects.

Hodge choked up several times during her re-arraignment hearing, which began about 7:40 a.m. At one point, Kearney handed her a handkerchief.

After the approximately half hour hearing, Hodge emerged from the courtroom but did not make any public statements.

Her campaign manager, Cliff Walker, who accompanied her in court, handed out a statement.

"I freely admit that I violated the federal income tax laws in this regard, and I am prepared and willing to accept the consequences of my actions," the statement read. "As a result of my guilty plea to a criminal tax violation, I will not be able to continue to serve in the Texas House of Representatives. Therefore, I cannot in good conscience continue to seek re-election and I believe that the only appropriate action for me to take is to immediately terminate all of my campaign activities."

She said she will close her district office in an orderly manner and will resign at the time she is sentenced.

"I want to take this opportunity to express my remorse to my colleagues in the legislature, my friends, and my family for my actions," she said in the statement. "Most of all, I want to apologize to all the citizens of District 100 for letting them down.

"My prayer is that my successor will stand up and fight for the people of our district in the future," she said.

With Hodge suspending her campaign, it appears to pave the way for challenger Eric Johnson to win the March 2 Democratic primary. Hodge's name, however, will remain on the ballot.

A Florida woman has been arrested in connection with the death of a lottery millionaire, whose body was found buried under recently added concrete at a home, authorities said.

Dorice Donegan Moore, 37, was arrested Tuesday evening on charges of accessory after the fact regarding a first-degree murder in the death of Abraham Shakespeare, 43, said Hillsborough County Sheriff David Gee.

Moore befriended Shakespeare after he won a $31 million Florida lottery prize in 2006 and was named a person of interest in the case after Shakespeare went missing, authorities said.

Before her arrest, Moore proclaimed her innocence during a tearful, impromptu news conference outside her home. She said was planning to help Shakespeare write a book about the challenges of winning millions and that she was helping him manage the money.

"Abraham had a life of drama because of the money," she told CNN affiliate WTSP. "The money was like a curse to him. And now it has become a curse to me."

Moore might have committed fraud to obtain parts of Shakespeare's fortune, and she bought lime to deal with his body and was trying to find someone to move the corpse to another location, Gee said.

The money was like a curse to him. And now it has become a curse to me.

Shakespeare was killed on April 6 or April 7, and Moore has admitted trying to convince Shakespeare's family members that he was still alive, Gee said.

"In December 2009, Dorice Moore wrote a letter to the victim's mother, claiming to be the victim and to be all right," Gee said. "Dorice Moore also used the victim's cell phone and sent text messages to the victim's family."

Deputies found Shakespeare's body outside a home in Plant City late January after receiving a tip from an associate of Moore, Gee said.

Moore could face more charges, and authorities are looking for other suspects, Gee said.

Reporters were at the scene during Moore's arrest Tuesday and she again denied having anything to do with Shakespeare's death as she was led to a police cruiser in handcuffs, WTSP reported.

"I'm deeply saddened for his family," Moore said.

A judge has sealed a potentially explosive videotape taken in the aftermath of a racially charged incident in this small central Louisiana town two years ago.

On January 17, 2008, an unarmed man -- wanted on what police said was an outstanding arrest warrant -- was struck by a 50,000-volt Taser nine times within the space of 14 minutes.

The suspect, Baron "Scooter" Pikes, was handcuffed during each separate Taser incident, according to the Winnfield Police Department. The officer who fired the Taser, Scott Nugent, is white. Pikes, who was pronounced dead on arrival at a hospital, was black.

CNN's account of the incident in the summer of 2008 relied on interviews at the time with the local parish coroner, the police and an attorney for the family of the victim.

Winn Parish Coroner Dr. Randy Williams told CNN that in his opinion, Nugent had violated every police procedure for using a Taser on a suspect. Moreover, contrary to initial police reports, Williams told CNN that there was no trace of drugs in Pikes' system. The coroner ruled the death a homicide. Subsequently, the officer was fired following a long civil service hearing and is now on trial for manslaughter in Winnfield.

At the time, a lawyer for Nugent, Phillip Terrell, told CNN that his client had, in fact, followed proper procedure and that Pikes was resisting arrest and had fought with Nugent before being struck by the Taser.

The video sealed Monday by the judge shows the aftermath of Nugent's Taser use, according to sources who have seen the tape. They told CNN that it runs about 17 minutes and was shot by Nugent himself.

The tape begins with Pikes handcuffed to a chair in the Winnfield Police Department, the sources said. He had already been hit by a so-called "direct" stun -- a Taser fired directly into his chest rather than from a distance -- and eight other Taser shots.

Off camera, voices can be heard taunting him, shouting the "N" word and demanding to know if he was high on drugs, the sources said. The tape also shows Pikes foaming at the mouth and struggling to breathe. He later slumps to the floor and is ultimately taken to an emergency room with shackles around both of his ankles. CNN has seen still photographs of the lifeless body, still in leg shackles at the hospital.

At a motion hearing Monday in Winn Parish District Court, both the prosecutor, R. Chris Nevils, and the lead defense attorney, George Higgins, said in open court that the tape existed and asked Judge John Joyce to seal it until it was put into evidence at trial, now set for June 14. Both lawyers said release of the tape would taint the local jury pool and set the grounds for a change of venue. Joyce agreed and ordered that the tape not be disseminated under threat of contempt of court until it is played in open court.

Reporters approached Nugent after the hearing and asked him for comment on the tape but his attorneys advised him not to answer. The attorney also had no comment.

Attorneys for Pikes' family have filed a wrongful death suit in a federal court in Louisiana, seeking unspecified damages from the town of Winnfield and each officer involved.

The lead attorney for the family, Carol Powell-Lexing, told reporters she believes Pikes' death has been subject to a police cover up from the beginning. A spokesman for the Winnfield Police Department said there was no cover-up.

Conrad Murray expects to surrender to Los Angeles authorities this week on charges relating to the death of Michael Jackson, his lawyer said Tuesday.

"Dr. Murray is more than ready to surrender and answer to any charges," attorney Ed Chernoff said.

Prosecutors have not announced any charges, however, and Murray has not been told how or where he should surrender, according to Miranda Sevcik, spokeswoman for Murray's legal team.

Murray traveled to Los Angeles from his home in Houston, Texas, last week in anticipation of possible charges, which he expects to be announced within 24 to 48 hours, Sevick said.

Murray was hired to be Jackson's personal physician last spring as the entertainer prepared for his comeback concerts set for London, England, starting in July.

The doctor told Los Angeles Police investigators that he was with Jackson through the early morning hours of June 25 in an effort to help the pop star fall asleep, according to a police affidavit.

He administered various sleep aids, and after Jackson finally began sleeping in the late morning hours, Murray said, he left the bedroom for "about two minutes maximum," the affidavit said.

"Upon his return, Murray noticed that Jackson was no longer breathing," it said.

Murray stayed with Jackson as an ambulance rushed him from his $100,000-a-month rented mansion in Holmby Hills to UCLA Medical Center.

Efforts at CPR proved fruitless, and Jackson was pronounced dead at 2:26 p.m.

The Los Angeles County coroner ruled Jackson's death a homicide resulting from a combination of drugs, primarily propofol and lorazepam.

The coroner's statement said Jackson died from "acute propofol intoxication," but there were "other conditions contributing to death: benzodiazepine effect." Lorazepam and two other drugs Murray said he used are benzodiazepines.

Murray told investigators he had given Jackson three anti-anxiety drugs to help him sleep in the hours before he stopped breathing, a police affidavit said.

Murray had been treating Jackson for insomnia for six weeks at the time of the singer's death. He told investigators he gave Jackson 50 milligrams of propofol, the generic name for Diprivan, diluted with the anesthetic lidocaine every night via an intravenous drip.

Murray told police he was worried that Jackson was becoming addicted to the drug and tried to wean him off it.

During the two nights before Jackson's death, Murray said, he put together combinations of other drugs that succeeded in helping Jackson sleep.

Nevada Sen. Harry Reid, who last month apologized for privately praising President Barack Obama's lack of a "Negro dialect," posted a Black History Month essay on his Web site Monday in which he takes credit for racial integration in Las Vegas.

One problem: Some local black leaders and historians don't remember him having had a significant role in that effort and the senator himself made no reference to it in his 2008 memoir.

Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., recently wrote that he "worked hard" to integrate the gaming industry in Nevada, but his 2008 memoir doesn't mention that he played a role in integration.
In the essay, which was also published as an opinion piece for the black-issues Web site The Grio under Harry Reid's byline, the Senate majority leader wrote: "I worked hard during my time in local politics in Nevada to integrate the Las Vegas strip [sic] and the gaming industry."

Yet Joe Neal, a former Democratic state senator who was a key figure in the civil rights movement in Nevada, was baffled by the claim. For one thing, Reid was only 20 when a famous 1960 meeting between casino owners, progressive government officials and NAACP leaders resulted in an accord to integrate Las Vegas casinos for customers.

The Nevada Legislature passed a civil rights act in 1965, but Reid did not become a member of that body until his 1966 election as an assemblyman. And a federal court decree in 1971 that set quotas for the hiring of minority casino workers was negotiated by the U.S. Department of Justice and handed down just months after he was sworn in as lieutenant governor.

Reid spokesman Jon Summers responded to questions about the claim with a one-sentence e-mail: "He and Mike O'Callaghan worked together as governor and lieutenant governor to apply pressure on business leaders to integrate the industry." Reid served as lieutenant governor under O'Callaghan for one term, from 1971 to 1974, before leaving the post for his first, unsuccessful bid for the U.S. Senate.

When pressed for specifics, Summers pointed to a Politico piece from June 2008 in which Reid told a journalist he helped negotiate the 1971 settlement that required casinos to begin hiring blacks in hotel casino jobs other than as maids and porters.

"I don't recall him being involved in any of that," said Neal, the first black state senator and first black gubernatorial nominee from a major party when the Democrat lost in 2002. He attended several meetings related to the federal settlement and was heavily involved as the state's top elected black official. "I don't think he would have an involvement" in the federal court decree.

Historians who have studied the era were similarly uncertain to what Reid referred. A 2004 doctoral dissertation [pdf] by sociologist Jeffrey J. Sallaz specifically examined the outcome of that federal decree and didn't reference either O'Callaghan or Reid. Instead, Sallaz laid out the history as a tussle between federal authorities and casino executives.

Eugene Moehring, whose chapter on racial integration in his 2000 book "Resort City in the Sunbelt" makes no mention of Reid, said he's willing to assume Reid, as an O'Callaghan protégé, may have been involved in some capacity because O'Callaghan was a staunch advocate of equal rights. Yet of Reid, Moehring said, "No, he was not a big official doing big things."

Rainier Spencer, who founded the Afro-American Studies program and the University of Nevada at Las Vegas, went further: "It's sort of like Al Gore inventing the Internet. Politicians say strange things."

Reid's 2008 memoir, "The Good Fight," does not mention his possible involvement in the civil rights struggle of that era. The words "integration" and "African-American" do not appear anywhere in the book and the only reference to black people is a recollection of Jackie Robinson breaking the baseball color barrier and an instance where he defended a black man accused in a robbery-homicide whose case no other attorney would take. Others, including Neal, credited Reid for doing pro bono work for black clients as a young lawyer, but Reid's office did not mention that in explaining the claim in the Black History Month essay.

Reid, who is trailing badly in polls assessing his chances for re-election to a fifth term this year, is under scrutiny on racial issues after confirming an account in the political tome "Game Change" that he privately described then-Sen. Barack Obama as "light skinned" and having "no Negro dialect, unless he wanted to have one" in 2008. The senator apologized for the remark and the White House issued a statement reaffirming its support for its top ally in the Senate.

That recent flap makes Las Vegas CityLife editor and liberal political pundit Steve Sebelius wonder how Reid's staff could open the vulnerable senator up to this questionable claim.

"To have something like this come up in that context is, for him, pretty dicey, because this is something people are paying attention to now," Sebelius said. "Joe Neal was there. He was a pioneer in those struggles. I would trust people who were involved in that."

Republicans vying to unseat Reid were only too eager to make hay out of the situation. Businessman Danny Tarkanian, ahead by eight points against Reid in a Review-Journal poll taken last month, said the Black History Month essay was a ham-fisted effort to try to make up for the "Negro dialect" remark.

"He's making these comments because he understands that he has offended those in the African-American race, so he wants to give himself more credit than he deserves," said Tarkanian, son of legendary college basketball coach Jerry Tarkanian. "He's making one outlandish statement after the other and I don't think he feels it'll ever catch up with him."

Neal was quick to note that as a U.S. senator, Reid's record on diversity is impressive. This may explain why the state's black leadership quickly accepted his apology for the "Negro dialect" comment and why his latest remarks are unlikely to dampen enthusiasm for him, said NAACP Las Vegas president Frank Hawkings.

Yet Hawkings said Reid does need to sell himself to the black business community, which is feeling slighted as it pursues building contracts from local governmental entities and credit from banks.

"They ask, 'What has Sen. Reid or anybody else done for us?' " Hawkings said. "That's what the people want to ask. It's not what did he do back then, it's going to be what has Sen. Reid done for minority business folks."

History of blacks unique in America: Rev. Jackson

Created in 1926 by black historian, scholar, educator and publisher Carter G. Woodson, it began as "Negro History Week."

By 1976, it morphed into Black History Month -- a celebration of the contributions of blacks to America and their struggles to overcome.

From Africa to slavery. The Civil War. Jim Crow and lynchings. Sit-ins and marches. Brown vs. Board of Education and the Civil Rights Act. Assassinations. A historic presidency.

With history yet to have its full say regarding President Obama, we interviewed a broad spectrum of his fellow Chicagoans and prominent visitors on what the month means to them and whether it's still relevant in 2010.

We'll bring you their thoughts throughout the month, beginning today with Operation PUSH's founder, the Rev. Jesse Jackson, a protege of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., a two-time presidential candidate and arguably Chicago's most prominent civil rights leader.

Jackson said:

"There's no history quite like black history, and it's always an error when people confuse that history with any other group who came here from some distant shore. No one else came here as slaves, and it distinguishes African Americans from immigrants.

"We did not come here as immigrants. We came here as the commodity, and for many years, African Americans as commodities were more valuable than insurance or banking or land. No one else was designated three-fifths human in the U.S. Constitution. No other group required legal appropriation to obtain legal rights. No other group had to have anti-lynching laws passed, or the military take them to school, in Little Rock or Montgomery, or wherever.

"So, blacks have been steadily overcoming barriers for nearly 400 years, with varying degrees of break-throughs and overcoming. We've seen the most advancement, frankly, in the arts and in athletics, and now in politics.

"But while we have achieved against these odds, we remain number one in poverty, infant mortality, home foreclosures. We lack access to quality education, health care, technology, capital and credit. The national unemployment rate for white males is 9.5 percent, for black males, 19 percent. Of the 2.3 million Americans in prison, about 1.1 million are black, 500,000 are Latinos. So one sees evidence that patterns of institutional discrimination persist, that race remains a critical factor in the fabric of our nation's culture.

"Black History Month is more relevant now than ever before. Black history is the journey that made it possible for Barack Obama. He is the result of our struggles."

For the second time in two years, a Chicago alderman has issued a mea culpa in federal court, admitting to taking tens of thousands of dollars worth of bribes while holding public office.

In pleading guilty to corruption charges Monday, Ald. Isaac "Ike" Carothers (29th) joined 30 other aldermen since the 1970s who have been convicted. Before Carothers' plea, the most recent alderman convicted was Arenda Troutman, who admitted to misconduct in 2008.

Carothers, a longtime Mayor Daley ally who submitted a letter of resignation to Daley on Monday, does notch one distinction: He's the first son of a convicted Chicago alderman to also get convicted as an alderman.

Former Ald. William Carothers (28th) went to prison in 1983 for extorting more than $30,000 in remodeling work for his ward office from the builders of Bethany Hospital.

Ike Carothers, the longtime chairman of the City Council's Police and Fire committee, pleaded guilty to bribery, mail fraud and tax fraud for taking $40,000 in home improvements from a developer seeking zoning changes. He also admitted to pocketing bribes from others.

Carothers' deal calls for more than two years in prison. His father was sentenced to three years in 1983.

Ike Carothers' lawyer, Jeffrey Steinback, said Carothers "deeply regrets" his mistakes.

"I haven't yet met a perfect human being," Steinback said. "People engage in activities that they regret. I know this is something that Ike regrets deeply. That's why he's come in and pled and agreed to cooperate with the government in an attempt to make things right.

"From his heart, from the bottom of his heart, he deeply regrets what he's done here."

To some of his colleagues, Ike Carothers was a blowhard and a bully, an alderman who at times berated them as "cowards" and, as a freshman, leapfrogged over senior Council members for a top committee post.

He wasn't shy during the eight-month period between his indictment and conviction. Carothers continued to show up regularly at City Hall, chairing Police and Fire Committee meetings and rising on the City Council floor to participate in debates.

Carothers, physically large himself, coined the phrase "heavy-lifters" to describe aldermen with the guts to support the $276.5 million tax package tied to Daley's 2008 budget.

He'll be doing his lifting for the feds now, agreeing to testify against the politically connected developer Calvin Boender, who's scheduled to go to trial March 8.

Authorities say Boender, who has pleaded not guilty, pocketed millions of dollars as a result of the zoning changes. His lawyer could not be reached Monday.

At the same time Boender sought zoning changes to convert the 50-acre Galewood Yards from industrial to residential use, he paid to "take care of" Carothers, according to the plea deal. Boender arranged and paid for work done at Carothers' home, including painting it. When workers reported that the windows were rotted, Boender allegedly paid for their replacement. He then paid to install air conditioning at Carothers' home, the plea says.

Carothers declined when Boender offered him a break on a spruced-up home inside the development, the plea says.

In court papers, Carothers also admits pocketing $20,000 in bribes from an unnamed businessman who asked for his help to host carnivals in his ward. He also admitted to taking $15,500 in cash from a "cooperating witness" who sought redevelopment in the alderman's ward. Feeling uncomfortable about it, Carothers later cut a check from his campaign fund to reimburse the person, according to the plea.

Starting in early 2008, Carothers wore a wire and worked undercover with the FBI for more than a year. His cooperation resulted in charges against Naperville businessman Wafeek "Wally" Aiyash, who is accused of offering Carothers a $100,000 bribe if the alderman would secure concessions contracts for him. Carothers wore a mini-video camera to record part of the alleged payoff, according to charges.

Sources say, however, that it is unlikely that any other additional cases will emerge from his cooperation.

Carothers' replacement on the City Council will be appointed by Daley. One group of community leaders on Monday pushed for West Side minister Marshall Hatch to fill the spot.