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||| MEXICO. He was killed on Monday and replaced by his second-in-command, army Lt. Col. Leyzaola

Police chief fired

||| Alberto Capella’s appointment in December 2007 was a surprise because he had no previous police experience.
||| His tenure was always tough; just before he took office, 20 men dressed in black fired about 250 shots at his house.
  

Mariana Martínez | AP Writer

TIJUANA – Tijuana's anti-corruption police chief was fired and replaced with an army officer Monday, following three days of violence that left 37 people dead in this border city plagued by warring drug gangs.
Mayor Jorge Ramos' office said in a statement that putting army officers in charge will help "regain security" in Tijuana, where weekend attacks included nine beheadings and the death of four children caught in shootouts.
The city's police chief, Public Safety Secretary Alberto Capella, was replaced by his second-in-command, army Lt. Col. Julián Leyzaola. Another army officer, Capt. Gustavo Huerta, has been appointed the new No. 2.
Mexican President Felipe Calderón has relied heavily on the military in his fight against drug cartels and police in Tijuana are so mistrusted that the army once asked citizens to report crimes to soldiers.
For a time last year, federal authorities took guns away from the police in this city across the border from San Diego.
Capella's appointment in December 2007 had been a surprise because he had no previous police experience. He had been a corporate lawyer and leader of a prominent anti-crime civic group, leading marches to demand improved security.
Capella told The Associated Press he respected the mayor's decision but was proud of his efforts to root out corruption within police ranks. He acknowledged making "many enemies" during his time in office, noting that 100 police officers had been fired for suspected ties to drug cartels and another 62 resigned because they "felt the pressure" of his anti-corruption drive.
Capella said he hoped his tenure showed that "humanity, honesty and courage" could drive public service in Tijuana.
The city government called Capella "an honest man" who "gave his best effort for Tijuana."
More than 200 people have been killed in the past month in Tijuana, where officials say rival cells of the Arellano-Félix drug cartel have been waging a bloody battle. Capella's tenure in Tijuana was difficult before it even began. Just before he took office, 20 men dressed in black fired about 250 shots at his house one night.
He ran alone from room to room with his rifle, firing from different windows until the assailants retreated.
The soft-spoken attorney kept a memento of the shootout in his windowless downtown office at police headquarters: a bullet-pocked copy of Hillary Clinton's "It Takes a Village." In an interview with AP in June, Capella said he sent his family "far away" to keep them safe.
His dismissal followed a particularly bloody weekend in Tijuana.
Among the nine men found decapitated Sunday were three police officers whose credentials were found stuffed in their mouths.
Police were investigating whether some of the 37 deaths between Saturday and Monday were part of a retaliatory spree sparked by the killing of a 25-year-old woman believed to be a drug trafficker's girlfriend, said Baja California state Attorney General Rommel Moreno. |||

||| PR. Judge tosses accusations against governor

Several charges dismissed

Mike Melia | AP Writer

SAN JUAN – A U.S. judge has thrown out most of the federal corruption charges against Puerto Rico's governor, who faces trial in February for alleged campaign finance violations.
The judge on Monday dismissed 15 of the 24 charges against Gov. Aníbal Acevedo Vila. All but two were dismissed with prejudice and cannot be filed again. Defense attorney Thomas Green described the ruling as a blow to prosecutors.
"There's no common thread that weaves all the charges together, but it certainly cuts out a big part of the case," Green said by telephone from his office in Washington.
A federal indictment handed down in March accuses Acevedo of conspiracy to violate federal campaign laws and defraud the Internal Revenue Service, and giving false testimony to the FBI.
The governor, who has denied any wrongdoing, faces trial Feb. 9.
Most of the dropped charges were related to an alleged scheme to illegally obtain $7 million in public financing for his 2004 gubernatorial campaign.
Judge Paul Barbadoro found the fraud charges were based on a faulty interpretation of Puerto Rican election law. The U.S. attorney's office in San Juan said prosecutors are considering their options and evaluating "several alternatives." They did not disclose specifics.
"The dismissal of the charges of electronic fraud was not based on insufficiency of the evidence ... but on a strictly legal interpretation of the electoral law of Puerto Rico," a statement from the U.S. attorney's office said. The judge left intact charges related to Acevedo's earlier campaigns for the island's nonvoting seat in Congress and an alleged conspiracy to hide donations from the IRS.
Acevedo lost a bid for a second term last month and is due to leave office in January. Green said he was traveling on Monday and unavailable for comment. |||