Quotes of the Week: 'I Followed What I Thought Was the Law.'
O.J. Simpson appeared in court for the first time in four years.
May 18, 2013— -- intro: From O.J. Simpson's first court appearance in four years to the Powerball frenzy, click through to see the stories that made headlines over the past week.
quicklist: 1title: 'I Followed What I Thought Was the Law.'text: More than four years after he choked back tears at his sentencing, O.J. Simpson addressed a Las Vegas court on Wednesday sounding cheerful and confident in his bid to a win a new trial.
He bantered with bailiffs during breaks, making them laugh, and chuckled at himself at times during testimony when discussing his drinking at the time.
Simpson, 65, was called to the stand on the third day of the hearing, much of which has focused on claims his former attorney, Yale Galanter, gave him bad legal advice in the 2008 armed robbery and kidnapping trial that led to his conviction.
The once-strapping athlete was weighed down by shackles as he talked about the hours leading up to the Sept. 13, 2007 sports memorabilia robbery that sent him to prison for nine-to-33 years. Simpson did not testify at his 2008 trial.
When asked about the memorabilia he went to retrieve that day, Simpson said he wanted it back because it belonged to him and his children.
"It was my stuff," Simpson said. "I followed what I thought was the law. I didn't break into the room. I didn't beat up anyone. I didn't try to muscle anyone."
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quicklist: 2title: 'We Are Filled With Many Emotions as We Look to the Future, But the Most Important One Is Hope.'text: Nearly eight months after two of their children were stabbed to death allegedly by their nanny, Marina and Kevin Krim announced they are expecting another child.
The couple made the announcement on the Facebook page for the Leo and Lulu Fund, a fund for arts education dedicated to the memory of their children. The Krim family also have a third child, 4-year-old Nessie, who was unharmed.
"We are very happy to let you know that Marina is expecting a baby in the fall," the family wrote in the post. "Nessie can't wait to welcome her new baby brother. We are filled with many emotions as we look to the future, but the most important one is hope."
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quicklist: 3title: 'You've Got All These Players, Maybe Some for the First Time Because of the Extreme Nature of the Jackpot.'text: While the estimated jackpot for Saturday's Powerball drawing swelled to a record $600 million for the popular lottery game, but one official estimated that if it goes unclaimed the prize would zoom to nearly $1 billion.
The biggest lottery jackpot ever was $656 million for the Mega Millions drawing on March 30, 2012. The previous record for a Powerball jackpot was $587.5 million on Nov. 28, 2012.
Carolyn Hapeman, spokeswoman for the New York lottery said as of mid-day on Friday, the Empire State was selling more than 600,000 tickets an hour.
Part of the boost in ticket sales is the addition of California in April to the list of states that participate in the Powerball game. The lottery game is now played in 43 states, Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
"Now you have another 11 million people with the addition of California. You've got all these players, maybe some for the first time because of the extreme nature of the jackpot, the largest ever for this particular game," Hapeman said.
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quicklist: 4title: 'I Earn a Lot of Money But the Money Is Not What Motivates Me.'text: The highest-paid U.S. athlete is not endorsed by Nike, nor does he own a clothing line.
Boxing champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. was named the highest-paid U.S. athlete for the second year in a row, but it shouldn't be a huge surprise, said Stephen Greyser, professor emeritus at the Harvard Business School and an expert in the business of sports.
Mayweather, 36, was paid $90 million in the last year, none of it coming from endorsements, according to Sports Illustrated.
"I earn a lot of money but the money is not what motivates me," Mayweather said in a statement. "I work very hard at my craft and appreciate all the fans that support my efforts by buying my fights. Being at the top of my sport for over a decade validates my willingness to train hard, fight hard and give everyone something to enjoy. It is a honor to be the highest paid athlete again this year but it is just a part of my love for the sport of boxing and what it has done for myself and my family."
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quicklist: 5title: 'It Was Just Business as Usual With Him.'text: Jurors who found Philadelphia abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell guilty of first-degree murder for killing three new born infants said that his "greed" was a major element in their verdict.
The jurors spoke after Gosnell, 72, was sentenced to a third life sentence. They are to be served consecutively, ensuring that he will spend the rest of his life in prison.
The doctor was accused of routinely carrying out late term abortions, but was convicted of "snipping" the spinal cords of three babies who were born alive.
Jury foreman David Misko explained Wednesday outside the courthouse what made the jury decide on first degree murder.
"The premeditation of it," he said. "It was just business as usual with him, he snipped the necks no matter what happened, so it seems that was what it was the premeditation of the babies."
Juror Joseph Carroll emerged from the courthouse to explain the jury's deliberations.
"Most of us felt it came down to a greed factor. The services ... it was like a machine. They came in, he gave them a service, and bam, the women were gone," Carroll said.
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quicklist: 6title: 'I Just Cannot Believe My Daughter Would Ever Do Anything Like That to Me.'text: A 91-year-old man wants to stop his daughter from evicting him from the home he built 56 years ago in Zaleski, Ohio, a small community south of Columbus.
In 2004, John Potter and his wife, who has since died, gave the general power of attorney to his daughter for future matters if they declined in health, including to take care of her autistic adult brother, now 63.
But unbeknownst to Potter, his daughter Janice Cottrill eventually used that power to convey the deed to the one-story home to herself. In 2010, Potter said he learned of the deed transfer and switched power of attorney to his granddaughter, Jaclyn Fraley, now 35.
Potter, a World War II veteran and retired train dispatcher for the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, sued to get the home back, arguing that his daughter had transferred the deed to herself illegally because those with the power of attorney are not permitted to transfer assets to themselves from the estate they oversee.
Potter won in Vinton County Court, but an appeals court ruled last year that the statute of limitations of four years had passed on the accusation of breach of fiduciary duty and thus the deed could not be handed back to Potter.
Early this year, his daughter and her husband sent Potter an eviction notice, saying they had terminated his "existing lease." An eviction hearing will take place on June 12, during which the judge will have no choice but to evict Potter, Fraley told ABC News.
When asked how he feels about being evicted by his daughter and son-in-law, Potter was at a loss for words.
"I just cannot believe my daughter would ever do anything like that to me," he said.
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quicklist: 7title: 'This Is Not Only Unconstitutional, It Is Illegal.'text: Tea party activists descended on Washington this week, promising to sue the Internal Revenue Service and claiming vindication in their long-held complaints about perceived government overreach.
At a news conference on Capitol Hill on Thursday, activists joined Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., to lambaste the federal government for targeting them with extra scrutiny as they applied for tax-exempt status as public-advocacy groups.
Tea partiers say the lengthy questionnaires, some of them 30 questions long, cost them hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars as they sent stacks of paperwork to the IRS and were held in legal limbo for years, uncertain of what activities they could pursue, and cut off from skeptical donors scared away by their pending status.
"This is not only unconstitutional, it is illegal," said Jay Sekulow, chief counsel for the American Center for Law and Justice, a conservative civil-rights group that says it is suing the IRS on behalf of 17 clients who were targeted for extra scrutiny because of their groups' leanings
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