Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions says he doesn't think Sotomayor has the convictions to resist the pull of judicial activism once she becomes a justice.

His decision comes the day before the Judiciary panel is to vote on President Barack Obama's first high court nominee. Sotomayor is virtually certain to be confirmed by a vote of the full Senate by the end of next week, becoming the first Hispanic justice.

Most conservative Republicans are lining up against Sotomayor, but a handful of GOP senators are siding with majority Democrats to back her.

He'll have to listen repeatedly to the horrific details of the crimes against his wife, who was strangled, and two daughters, who were tied to their beds. All three died of smoke inhalation from a fire police say the intruders set as they fled Petit's house after holding the family hostage for hours. Petit, a prominent physician who was beaten during the ordeal, will sit feet away from the defendants as they assert their rights and file appeal after appeal.

Attorneys for defendants Steven Hayes and Joshua Komisarjevsky said this week in court that their offer to plead guilty on exchange for life in prison could have ended it all. But defense attorneys said prosecutors refused because they want to win death sentences.

Sean Mooney broke into tears when jurors determined he was guilty Friday of first degree murder for the 2008 slaying of 77-year-old Robert Deming.

Deming was shot from behind as he sat in the living room of his home.

Prosecutors had argued that Mooney killed his grandfather for financial gain because he was about to lose the free rent he received while living on his grandfather's five-acre property in the community of Schellville.

Mooney is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 19.

Two taxis carrying explosives blew up within minutes of each other Aug. 25, 2003, at the Gateway of India, a popular tourist attraction on the waterfront, and at a busy shopping complex.

The bombings were one of the worst attacks in Mumbai's history. No one else has been charged.

Ashrat Shafiq Mohammed Ansari, Syed Mohammed Haneef Abdul Rahim and his wife Fahmeeda Syed Mohammed Haneef were arrested under India's tough anti-terrorism law shortly after the attacks.

The charges against the three included murder, conspiracy to kill and damaging public property. They had pleaded not guilty.

Judge M.R. Puranic said all three were members of Lashkar-e-Taiba, a banned, Pakistan-based militant group formed in the 1980s — with the alleged blessing of Pakistani intelligence — to sow trouble in the disputed Kashmir region. The three denied involvement with the group.

Richmond, Va.-based Massey said in a statement Friday that the retirement of former Justice Larry Starcher last year prompted it to give up the suit.

Starcher was known for often harsh criticism of Massey chief Don Blankenship. At various times over the years, Starcher called Blankenship "stupid" and a "clown."

Massey filed the suit in U.S. District Court in 2006 after Starcher refused to recuse himself from an appeal involving the company.

A spokeswoman for the Supreme Court had no immediate comment Friday.

Ventura County Superior Court Judge Ken Riley said Wednesday that there was enough evidence to try 15-year-old Brandon McInerney for the February 2008 shooting death of Larry King, also 15. McInerney will be tried as an adult.

Riley says he agrees with prosecutors that the shooting was premeditated and has added the special circumstance allegation that McInerney was lying in wait.

Authorities say McInerney shot Larry twice in the head during a computer lab at E.O. Green Junior High School in Oxnard.

McInerney has pleaded not guilty to murder and a hate crime. He faces 53 years to life in prison if convicted.

The announcement by City Attorney Jan Goldsmith was the latest development in an emotional and yearslong battle over who should have exclusive use of the protected cove — children or seals — in the posh seaside neighborhood of La Jolla.

On Monday, a San Diego Superior Court judge ordered the city to begin chasing away the creatures from the cove, called the Children's Pool, by Thursday or face heavy fines in order to comply with a 2005 ruling in a lawsuit brought by a disgruntled swimmer.

The city said it would blast recordings of barking dogs to scare away the pesky pinnipeds at the cost of $688,000 a year. San Diego cannot use force because the seals are a federally protected marine species.

But just hours later, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a bill that added a marine mammal park to the list of permissible uses for the Children's Pool — giving the city a legal tool that could allow the seals to stay put.