Subscribe | UPI Odd Newsletter Subscribe Suspect allegedly tries to strangle attorney BOSTON, May 25 (UPI) -- A murder suspect about to go on trial in Boston used his handcuffs in a failed attempt to strangle his defense attorney, a report said Wednesday. Advertisement It took half a dozen Suffolk County, Mass., Superior Court and Boston police officers Tuesday to break John Gomes' choke hold on lawyer Bruce Carroll. "It all happened pretty quickly," Carroll told the Boston Herald. "I ended up on the floor next to the jury box." Carroll, 59, said he was sore after the attack. "I had moved to withdraw (as Gomes' attorney) last week and that was denied. There was a breakdown in the relationship. I certainly didn't anticipate anything like this," Carroll said. District Attorney Daniel Conley said Gomes threatened to cause trouble last week. "This may have been a premeditated attempt to stop the trial from going forward," Conley said. Advertisement Instead of returning to jail to await trial in the 2002 shooting death of Ildebrando Correia, Gomes was taken to Boston and charged with armed assault with intent to murder. 2/3rds of Italian villagers run for office ROME, May 25 (UPI) -- An election landslide is unlikely in local voting in a medieval Italian village after 40 of the 63 registered voters signed up as candidates, a report said. The hamlet of Bergolo is in Italy's Piedmont region, and it's not entirely clear why there is such interest in the mayor's job and nine seats on the village council, a correspondent for London's Telegraph reported from Rome. Former mayor of 30 years, Romano Vola, 64, said changes in Italy's electoral laws in the 1990s could be behind the rush to run. Candidates used to need 20 signatures to declare their candidacy. Now, candidates only have to declare themselves at the town hall, the report said. Voters in Sunday's local elections also will decide the mayors of Rome, Milan, Naples and Turin as well as the regional president of Sicily, the Telegraph said. Transgender student's dress banned at prom GARY, Ind., May 25 (UPI) -- Banning a transgender gay student from a Gary, Ind., high school prom violates his First Amendment rights, the Indiana Civil Liberties Union contends. Advertisement The parents of 18-year-old senior Kevin Logan, a self-described gay "drag queen," said they were weighing legal action against Gary West High School Principal Diane Rouse for her order barring Logan from last Friday's prom. "When I tried to walk in, she asked me where am I going. She said, 'You're not walking in here today,'" Logan told the Gary Post-Tribune. "Ms. Rouse said I wasn't allowed to have on a dress," said Logan, who noted he wore female garb the entire school year. In a 1999 Indianapolis case, a court ruled males can wear dresses to high school proms as a First Amendment right, the ICLU's Ken Falk told the newspaper. Rouse refused comment. "I'm not surprised by this ignorance," said Logan's mother, Donnetta. "I tell Kevin that in society there will be those who accept him and those who won't." Gator poses Florida Turnpike hazard WEST PALM BEACH, Fla., May 25 (UPI) -- Rush-hour traffic on a Florida Turnpike exit ramp north of West Palm Beach came to a screeching halt Wednesday morning to allow an alligator to cross. The Florida Highway Patrol received several calls from motorists about the reptile, but troopers couldn't immediately spot it as it laying low in a grassy area along the shoulder of the road, the Palm Beach Post reported. Advertisement Soon after, Trooper D.A. Sims spotted the gator moving, and he began waving down cars to halt. As the critter leisurely ambled across the pavement, many drivers were seen snapping photographs of it with their camera-cell phones, the newspaper said. The alligator made it safely across and eased itself into a canal, and troopers called a trapper to monitor its movements, the Post said.
