Skeptical that wrongful convictions ever take place? Then watch Mississippi Innocence.

John Grisham

The documentary can be seen at 6:50 p.m. today (Friday, April 1) at the Crossroads Film Festival at the Malco Grandview in Madison, Miss.

John Grisham recently gave his opinion on the case.

“Every story of a wrongful conviction and exoneration, from a storytelling point of view, is incredible,” said Grisham, whose nonfiction book, The Innocent Man, details a man’s wrongful conviction in Oklahoma. “They’re great stories. They’re tragic. They’re sad. If we’re lucky, there’s a happy ending; the guy gets out of prison. They’re all fanta

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Birmingham city councillor Salma Yaqoob has welcomed an apology from fellow councillor Martin Mullaney after he accused her of being a Muslim extremist, even if it only came after the involvement of the Standards Board.

Coun Mullaney, Liberal Democrat councillor for Moseley and Kings Heath, said he apologised unreservedly for stating that the Respect councillor for Sparkbrook supported stoning people to death and wanted to see Britain become an Islamic republic.The back-down came after a stormy council meeting which saw Coun Yaqoob refuse to join a standing ovation for war hero Lance Corporal Matt Croucher, who won the George Cross for bravery in Afghanistan.The snub led Coun Mullaney, the city’s Cabinet Member for Leisure Sport and Culture, to suggest Coun Yaqoob would have stood to applaud a suicide bomber.

He wrote on a website: I can only assume that if one of the failed 21/7 London suicide bombers had been in the council chamber, Coun Yaqoob would have been demanding the council applaud the failed suicide bomber for their past heroic actions.

If Coun Yaqoob had her way, she would be implementing Hadood Law, with hands cut off and stonings.

Coun Mullaneys comments were described at the time as malicious and extremely damaging by Coun Yaqoob, who demanded an apology.

At least two councillors reported Coun Mullaney over the incident to the citys Standards Committee, which could suspend him from the council.

His conduct was also criticised by Birmingham Lib Dem leader Paul Tilsley, although the party is not taking disciplinary action against him.

Coun Mullaney published the following apology to Coun Yaqoob: I have been made aware of a couple of formal complaints to the city councils Standards Committee about comments that I recently made relating to you which could potentially have been damaging to you.

I recognise that my comments were unfounded, insensitive and overstepped the mark in terms of the code of conduct for members.

As such, I apologise, unreservedly, to you, the complainants and the members of the Standards Committee for those remarks and the hurt that they, undoubtedly, caused.

I hope this draws a line under the matter.

Coun Yaqoob said: I accept the apology, but it is a shame that it has come in grudging manner after the Standards Board became involved.

“It proves that I do not have the views attributed to me in the statements by Councillor Mullaney.

“People may ask why he remains a Cabinet member after this episode.

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Police were investigating two unrelated shootings in South Los Angeles on Saturday, one of them fatal. The first occurred shortly before 5 a.m. at 106th Street and Wadsworth Avenue. A 35-year-old man driving near the intersection was shot and his car then crashed against the curb, Los Angeles Police Department Officer Gregory Baek said. Paramedics pronounced him dead at the scene. His name was not released, pending notification of next of kin. Baek said detectives had no information on how or why the shooting occurred.About five hours later, a 28-year-old man was shot in the leg near the corner of Vermont Avenue and 46th Street. He was taken to a local hospital, where was listed in stable condition late Saturday, said LAPD Lt.

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By Gitte Laasby of the Journal Sentinel

Police are investigating a shooting on Milwaukee’s north side that left a 17-year-old with several gunshot wounds.

Police said the victim quarreled with a 15-year-old suspect that he knew in front of the suspect’s residence in the 2000 block of N. 25th St. around 7:45 p.m.

The suspect pulled a handgun and shot the victim, who ran into the house and collapsed. He was transported to a hospital.

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(AP) – The Supreme Court made it easier to haul businesses into court on Tuesday, ruling that investors can sue them for purposefully withholding damaging information about a product and that employees can sue them for retaliation without having to make a written complaint.

The court ruled unanimously to let a lawsuit by a group of investors against Matrixx Initiatives Inc., the makers of the now-discontinued Zicam nasal cold remedies, go forward, while ruling in a separate case on a 6-2 vote to let Kevin Kasten’s retaliation lawsuit against Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics Corp. proceed.

In the Matrixx case, the high court unanimously affirmed a decision by the 9th U.S.

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Each year, hundreds of high school students take a Sojourn to the Past and learn a little more about themselves and their country.

Sojourn to the Past students visit the Civil Rights Memorial in Montgomery, Ala.

NBC Learn (the education arm of NBC News) is capturing their 10-day journey through the South where the students meet some of those who played key roles in the civil rights movement, such as Minnijean Trickey, one of the Little Rock Nine who helped desegregate Central High School in 1957.

On Thursday morning, students spent the morning in Hattiesburg, Miss., with members of the family of Vernon Dahmer, who was killed by the Ku Klux Klan in 1966.

On Thursday afternoon, they traveled to Jackson, Miss., and spoke by telephone with Myrlie Evers-Williams, singing, “Happy Birthday” to her. (It

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