■UNITED STATES
ebay joke not so funny
A college student claimed it was all a joke when he put his vote in November’s presidential election up for sale on the eBay Web site, but prosecutors didn’t see the humor. University of Minnesota student Max Sanders, 19, was charged with a felony on Thursday after allegedly asking for a minimum of US$10 in exchange for voting for the bidder’s preferred candidate. Sanders was charged with one count of bribery, treating and soliciting under an 1893 state law that makes it a crime to offer to buy or sell a vote. Investigators sent a subpoena to eBay and got information that led to Sanders. The charge carries up to five years’ imprisonment and a US$10,000 fine.
■UNITED STATES
DNA testing frees US man
A district court judge has recommended overturning the conviction of a Dallas man sent to prison more than 15 years ago. Patrick Waller walked out of court a free man on Thursday. He has been behind bars since late 1992 on convictions for aggravated robbery and aggravated kidnapping stemming from the abduction of a Dallas couple. But DNA testing conducted late last year proved Waller was innocent. Prosecutors say the DNA profile matched another man, who is free on parole. Waller is the 19th man in Dallas County since 2001 shown by DNA evidence to be innocent of the crime for which he was convicted. The Innocence Project in New York says that’s a national high.
■UNITED STATES
Bozo the Clown passes on
Larry Harmon, the man who turned Bozo the Clown into one the most enduring characters in US media, died on Thursday aged 83 from heart failure, a press release from his publicist said. Larry Harmon bought the rights to the clown icon in 1956 from its originator and trained hundreds of others to appear as Bozo in shows throughout the US. Harmon portrayed the popular clown in countless appearances. In the 1980s and 1990s shows featuring the character were a staple of kids entertainment countrywide. Harmon once estimated that the icon had been associated with more than 5,000 commercial products and generated over 10,000 hours of TV shows.
■UNITED STATES
Pregnant man gives birth
A transsexual who became known as the “pregnant man” has given birth to a baby girl, US broadcaster ABC News reported on Thursday. The natural birth took place at a hospital in Bend, Oregon, on Sunday, the broadcaster said quoting an unnamed source. Thomas Beatie, 34, was born female, but underwent a hormonal sex change and had his breasts removed several years ago. He had been living as a man with his wife, Nancy. The couple decided that Beatie should give birth to their child because Nancy was unable to conceive and he had retained his female sexual organs. “She’s really cute, really pretty,” the source told ABC News of the newborn.
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