"I do believe fitness is going to be an issue," Wagner said.

Thompson, 28, of Lombard pleaded not guilty to a five-count indictment charging him with first-degree murder.

He is accused of killing his neighbor, 66-year-old James Malone, by throwing him off a balcony in the building where they lived on March 30. Thompson surrendered to authorities that evening after a nearly seven-hour standoff with police.

Thompson was a standout athlete at a suburban Chicago high school and played defensive end at Michigan State.

The New Orleans Saints signed Thompson in 2000. But he was cut before the start of the season after getting into a dispute with a teammate during a workout.

Thompson’s mother, Maggie Ross, has said doctors diagnosed her son with bipolar disorder and that he had stopped taking medication because the drugs made him feel listless and dizzy.

A 19-year-old man took responsibility Monday for being intoxicated and causing a Dec. 30, 2006, wreck that killed three siblings.

Jurors will return to the 347th District Court on Wednesday to decide the punishment of Scott Ryan Helgerson, who pleaded guilty to three counts of intoxication manslaughter and one count of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

Each charge is punishable by as much as 20 years in prison.

Sahar Mostaghasi, 24, and 12-year-old twins Negin and Sepehr Mostaghasi died in the wreck, which happened at Cimarron Boulevard and Brockhampton Street at about 5 a.m.

The siblings died after their vehicle, a 2006 Toyota Corolla, was struck by a 1998 Dodge Caravan driven by Helgerson, according to police.

Their brother, Morteza, 16, was a front-seat passenger in the vehicle.

He was released from a hospital two days after the accident.

Before Helgerson's plea Monday, his attorney, Richard Rogers, asked 347th District Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos to recuse herself from the trial on the grounds that she inappropriately had a conversation in her chambers with Albert Huerta, the attorney representing the Mostaghasi family in a civil suit against Helgerson.

The Mostaghasi family is seeking an unspecified amount from Helgerson for damages including medical and funeral expenses and pain and suffering, according to a lawsuit filed by Huerta in January.

Huerta said Monday that the conversation was unrelated to the case.

After later speaking with his client, Rogers withdrew the motion.

Jury selection will begin Wednesday.

The statements Friday, during a private interview with investigators from the House and Senate Judiciary committees, make McNulty the latest senior Justice official to assert that he did not identify any of the U.S. attorneys to be fired and that his role was minimal.

Gonzales, former chief of staff D. Kyle Sampson and William E. Moschella, the principal associate deputy attorney general, also told Congress they did not choose who was fired.

"If the top folks at DOJ weren't the key decision-makers, it's less likely that lower-down people at DOJ were, and much more likely that people in the White House were making the major decisions," said Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.).

Moschella was also interviewed last week. He told investigators he was solely responsible for a provision in the USA Patriot Act reauthorization law that gave Gonzales the authority to appoint U.S. attorneys for an indefinite time, a congressional aide said.

Moschella also said that, when the provision was drawn up in November 2005, he was not aware of a dispute over the appointment of a U.S. attorney in South Dakota, the aide said. Justice officials have pointed to that case as a key justification for the provision, which Congress has since repealed.

Democrats criticized Gonzales yesterday for giving Sampson and his White House liaison in March 2006 the authority to hire and fire certain employees. "It is disturbing to learn that the attorney general was granting extraordinary and sweeping authority to the same political operatives who were plotting with the White House to dilute our system of checks and balances in the confirmation of U.S. attorneys," said Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.).

Administration officials said Gonzales's order, published in the Federal Register and first reported yesterday by the National Journal on its Web site, codifies a process that is standard for agencies throughout the government in dealing with political appointees. "The notion that the White House shouldn't be involved in presidential appointments is bizarre," said White House spokesman Tony Fratto.

Legislation to improve enforcement of the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) has been introduced in the House of Representatives the past three terms, but has never become law.

Rather, officers can take measures to stop the car without putting themselves at risk of civil rights lawsuits.

"A police officer's attempt to terminate a dangerous high-speed car chase that threatens the lives of innocent bystanders does not violate the Fourth Amendment, even when it places the fleeing motorist at risk of serious injury or death," Scalia said.

The court sided 8-1 with former Coweta County sheriff's deputy Timothy Scott, who rammed a fleeing black Cadillac on a two-lane, rain-slicked road in March 2001.

Victor Harris (nyse: HRS - news - people ), the 19-year-old driver of the Cadillac, lost control and his car ended up at the bottom of an embankment.

Harris, paralyzed, sued Scott.

Lower federal courts ruled the lawsuit could proceed, but the Supreme Court said Monday that it could not. Justice John Paul Stevens dissented.

In an unusual move, the court posted the dramatic video on its Web site.

The case involved Jose Medellin, who was denied the right to meet with a consular officer from Mexico after his arrest for murder.

The World Court in The Hague in 2004 ordered the United States to review the cases of Medellin and 50 other Mexican death row inmates because U.S. officials failed to tell them of their right under the Vienna Convention to talk to consular officers immediately after their arrests.

Bush in 2005 decided to comply with the World Court's ruling and he directed state courts to review the 51 cases to determine whether the violation of their rights caused the defendants any harm at trial or at sentencing.

Bush's action caused the Supreme Court to dismiss an earlier appeal by Medellin without deciding the merits of the dispute and to send the case back to the Texas courts.

After losing before the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, Medellin's attorneys again appealed to the Supreme Court. They said the Texas court has put the United States in violation of its undisputed treaty obligations.

Bush administration attorneys supported Medellin's appeal. They said Bush acted within his authority and that the Texas court invalidated a presidential action "on a matter of international importance."

Medellin, a gang member, was sentenced to death in state court for the 1993 rape and murder of two teenage girls in Houston. The brutal killings stemmed from a gang initiation.

Lawyers for the state opposed the appeal. They said Bush exceeded his authority and that he cannot pre-empt Texas criminal law.

The Supreme Court will hear arguments and decide the case during its upcoming term that begins in October.