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Georgia County expands video depositions to elderly victim DECATUR, Ga. (AP) -- A court is allowing the DeKalb County District Attorney's Office to use live two-way video conferencing for the deposition of an elderly victim. DeKalb County District Attorney Robert James said it's the first time the state has allowed the use of the technology for an elderly victim. Prosecutors have used similar technology for years to take testimony from child victims of sexual abuse so they can avoid testifying in court about sexual acts. James and other prosecutors displayed the technology for the public at the county courthouse. He said the purpose of the deposition was to the preserve the testimony of the 90-year-old victim, and the deposition testimony would be played for the jury at trial if the victim is unable to testify due to illness, death or other complications. "This is a big win for our office and groundbreaking for the State of Georgia," said James, who called it an "essential use of technology to preserve the testimony of ill and elderly victims." The district attorney's office used Gmail Chat as the two-way video conferencing platform. James said prosecutors had to first prove to a judge that emotions, reactions and body language would be preserved through the format. He praised the judge's decision, calling it a "huge, progressive-thinking step in a bold new direction." Florida Convicted agent seeks rehearing in mob hit case MIAMI (AP) -- A former Boston FBI agent convicted in a 1982 mob-related murder in Florida is asking an appeals court for a new hearing. The attorney for 70-year-old John Connolly asked the Third District Court of Appeal on Wednesday to reconsider a March 2 decision by a three-judge panel upholding the conviction. Connolly is facing 40 years in prison for second-degree murder. Prosecutors said Connolly tipped Boston mobsters that gambling executive John Callahan was likely to finger them for another murder, leading to Callahan's slaying in South Florida. Connolly contends he never touched the gun used to kill Callahan, so he could not be convicted decades later of second-degree murder. That crime in 1982 had a four-year statute of limitations. Connolly is currently imprisoned on a federal corruption conviction. Missouri Man found guilty of drugging and filming 13 girls KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- A 61-year-old man has pleaded no contest to 21 charges that he drugged and molested 13 young girls in the basement of his south Kansas City home, with some of the episodes recorded on video. James Phillip Edwards was found guilty on all charges Wednesday after his plea was entered in U.S. District Court in Kansas City. Prosecutors say Edwards admitted giving the girls sleeping pills, including Ambien, in ice cream and soft drinks. Those crimes occurred between July 2001 and June 23, 2005. He could face life in prison when he is sentenced on 12 counts of producing child pornography, one count of attempting to produce child porn and five counts of giving the victims a controlled substance without their knowledge to facilitate a crime. A sentencing hearing has not been scheduled. Minnesota State legislator wants Jesus out of Senate prayers ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) -- A Jewish Minnesota lawmaker is asking Senate leaders to allow only nondenominational prayers to open sessions, after feeling "highly uncomfortable" when a Baptist pastor repeatedly mentioned Jesus Christ and Christianity in one of the invocations. Democratic Sen. Terri Bonoff says she wants Republican Senate Majority Leader Amy Koch to change the letter submitted to all visiting chaplains to say they are "required," rather than "requested," to make prayers nondenominational. "I'm a very religious woman and believe deeply in God," said Bonoff, of the Minneapolis suburb of Minnetonka. "We honor God in public and our political discourse, and that's proper. But in doing a nondenominational prayer we are honoring him without violating the separation of church and state." Koch said Wednesday she wouldn't support such a requirement. She said the Senate invites leaders from numerous Christian and non-Christian faith traditions to pray, and notifies them that senators come from a diverse background. "I'm not going to get into the process of sort of editing prayer," Koch said. Several Jewish senators, all Democrats, are backing Bonoff's request but she's also meeting resistance from other Republicans. The GOP gained control of the Senate after November's election. "I believe we don't have a right to censor their prayers," Sen. David Brown, R-Becker, said of visiting chaplains. The prayer that prompted Bonoff's request was delivered Monday by the Rev. Dennis Campbell of Granite City Baptist Church in St. Cloud, who mentioned Jesus Christ by name three times and made other overt references to Christianity. Campbell later defended the content of his prayer. "There's nobody that loves the Jews any more than the Christians, so that was not meant as an insult or disrespect," Campbell said. "Rather, it was a show of respect to Jesus Christ -- just like our founders showed respect to Jesus Christ and the word of God when they built our Constitution." It's not the first time Jewish legislators have taken issue with how prayers are conducted in state Capitol sessions. A decade ago, a handful of state representatives unsuccessfully fought for House guidelines similar to what Bonoff is proposing for the Senate. Rep. Michael Paymar, DFL-St. Paul, said he has spent several years outside the House chamber during opening prayers. He said he spoke to Speaker Kurt Zellers after a pastor opened a February session with a Christian prayer that made several Jewish members uncomfortable. Paymar said he'd likely push for further steps if it happens again. "It makes anyone who doesn't pray through Jesus Christ, or believe in Jesus Christ -- it makes them feel like they don't belong," said Sen. Ron Latz, DFL-St. Louis Park, who is Jewish. "It makes me feel like I don't belong on the Senate floor to which I was duly elected by my constituents. In a government chamber, I and others should not be made to feel that way." The Hawaii State Senate in January ended opening prayers altogether out of concern over possible lawsuits on First Amendment grounds. Published: Fri, Mar 18, 2011