Abu Ghraib officer faces Army charges

The Army filed 12 charges Friday against the former head of the interrogation center at Iraq’s notorious Abu Ghraib prison, making him the highest-ranking officer to face criminal prosecution in the abuse scandal.

Only one of the charges accuse Lt. Col. Steven L. Jordan with direct involvement in the abusing of Iraqi prisoners, alleging he subjected detainees “to forced nudity and intimidation by military working dogs.”

The other charges largely mirror findings of an initial 2003 Army investigation into the prison by Maj. Gen. Antonio M. Taguba, who found that Jordan misled investigators and was lax in his training and supervision of soldiers under his command. Those failures “resulted in the abuse of Iraqi detainees,” Friday’s charges state.

Fresno, Calif.

Woman spanked at work wins case

A jury awarded $1.7 million Friday to a woman who was spanked in front of her colleagues in what her employer called a camaraderie-building exercise.

The jury of six men and six women found that Janet Orlando, 53, was subjected to sexual harassment and sexual battery when she was paddled on the rear end two years ago at Alarm One Inc., a home security company in Fresno. The jury said Orlando did not suffer from sexual assault, as she had alleged.

Jurors awarded Orlando $10,000 for economic loss, $40,000 for future medical costs and $450,000 for emotional distress, pain and suffering. They awarded her an additional $1.2 million in punitive damages.

Chicago

Hit-and-run kills exonerated man

A man who spent 12 years in prison for murder before new DNA testing exonerated him last year was killed by a hit-and-run driver as he walked on the city’s South Side.

The vehicle sped away after hitting Dan Young Jr., 45, Wednesday night, police said. Young was pronounced dead Thursday, the Cook County medical examiner’s office said.

Chicago police said Young’s death was under investigation.