QUEEN TO SCOTS: THINK CAREFULLY ABOUT FUTURE

Queen Elizabeth II has made her first comments about this week's Scottish independence vote, urging Scots to "think very carefully about the future."

But the popular monarch didn't indicate a preference on how Scots should vote, carefully maintaining the neutrality that is her constitutional obligation.

Still, some may interpret her comments as a suggestion that Scots looking to embrace independence should be cautious about severing Scotland's long ties to the United Kingdom, which date back more than 300 years.

The queen spoke after a Sunday church service near her Balmoral estate in Scotland. She made the comment to a well-wisher in the crowd.

Buckingham Palace recently issued a statement indicating her plan to remain neutral before Thursday's vote.

AP

OSCAR PISTORIUS CONVICTED OF CULPABLE HOMICIDE

 A judge convicted Oscar Pistorius of culpable homicide Friday in the death of his girlfriend, ruling that the former track star was negligent when he opened fire in his home after hearing what he said sounded like an intruder in a bathroom in the middle of the night.

The judge acquitted Pistorius of a more serious murder charge, a day after saying that the onetime Olympian could have called security guards or screamed for help on the balcony instead of grabbing his handgun and blasting multiple rounds through the door of a toilet stall.

Under South African law, culpable homicide is the illegal killing of someone through irresponsible behavior. The charge is comparable to reckless homicide or manslaughter.

"The conduct of the accused after the incident is inconsistent" with someone who had just committed murder, Judge Thokozile Masipa said, referring to Pistorius' telephone calls for help after he shot Reeva Steenkamp and his apparent distress as he cried and prayed over her body.

The runner's conviction on the lesser charge troubled some people who said the law goes too easy on deep-pocketed defendants such as Pistorius, who hired a high-powered legal team.

"People think he got away with murder," said Veronica Nyathi, a Johannesburg resident. "Most people want to see him go to jail. If he was poor, he would definitely be in jail. But if you are rich, your life can go on as normal."

Pistorius showed no emotion as he stood in a dark suit with his hands crossed in front of him for the judgment. After the verdict, the double-amputee who rose to fame running on carbon-fiber blades, was hugged by relatives. The judge then ordered a recess and extended his bail.

The verdict capped months of testimony in a trial that was followed around the world and had been seen as a showcase for the justice system in South Africa a generation after the end of white racist rule.

The next step in the sensational case comes at an Oct. 13 sentencing hearing, when the defense and the prosecution call witnesses to try to influence the judge's decision on whether, or for how long, Pistorius should go to prison.

The sentence for a culpable homicide conviction is at the judge's discretion and can range from a suspended sentence and a fine to as much as 15 years in prison. Legal experts have cited five years as a guideline.

South Africa does not have a jury system. Masipa, 66, reached the verdict with the help of two assistants. One of South Africa's first black female judges, she is regarded by some as a symbol of the country's transformation since 1994, deciding a case in which the accused, as well as the chief defense lawyer and prosecutor, are all white men.

Masipa said Pistorius could not be convicted of premeditated murder or a lesser murder charge because prosecutors did not prove that he knew Steenkamp was behind the locked toilet door when he shot through it in the predawn hours of Valentine's Day last year.

Pistorius said he mistook Steenkamp for an intruder. The prosecution said he killed her intentionally after an argument. The 29-year-old model had been seeing him for only a few months.

Some legal analysts agreed there was a strong case for conviction on the lesser charge because Pistorius knew that someone — in his version, an intruder — was behind the toilet door when he fired.

"The verdict is shocking to say the least," said Leonard Gray in Port Elizabeth, Steenkamp's hometown. "I feel sorry for Reeva Steenkamp's family because they're not going to get any closure."

However, Shrina Padayachy, also in Port Elizabeth, called the judge's verdict "fair and just because it's the prosecution that must prove beyond a reasonable doubt."

Pistorius' uncle, Arnold Pistorius, said there were no winners in the case, but his family was relieved.

"It's a big burden off us, off our shoulders," he said. "We always knew the facts of the matter, and we never had any doubt in Oscar's version of this tragic incident."

Disappointed prosecutors said they would decide whether to appeal only after sentencing.

The judge convicted the 27-year-old athlete of illegally firing a gun in a public place when a friend's pistol he was handling went off in a Johannesburg restaurant in early 2013, weeks before Steenkamp's killing.

Pistorius was acquitted on two other weapons charges, including another count of firing a gun in public and a count of illegal possession of ammunition in the Pretoria home where he killed Steenkamp.

Steenkamp's mother, June, said she doesn't care what happens to Pistorius because nothing can change the fact that her daughter is gone.

Still, she said, the athlete's story is hard to believe.

"She died a horrible death, a horrible, painful, terrible death, and she suffered," she told NBC News. "He shot through the door, and I can't believe that they believe that it was an accident."

___

Associated Press writers Andy Meldrum in Johannesburg and Fazlur Philips in Port Elizabeth contributed to this report. 

AP

MAN'S FAMILY DISPUTES POLICE VERSION OF SHOOTING

The family of a 22-year-old black man who was fatally shot by police in Utah is disputing investigators' statements that he was shot after he lunged at officers with a sword and that race played no role in the shooting.

Randall Edwards, an attorney for the family of Darrien Hunt, said an independent autopsy requested by the family shows Hunt was shot "numerous times, all from the rear" in Saratoga Springs, about 35 miles south of Salt Lake City.

"This is consistent with statements made by witnesses on the scene, who report that Darrien was shot to death while running away from police," Edwards said in a statement released Saturday night. "It would appear difficult, if not impossible, to reconcile these facts with a story that Darrien was lunging toward the officers when he was shot."

Police say they were called Wednesday morning to investigate a "suspicious" man walking near businesses while carrying a "samurai-type sword."

Utah County Chief Deputy Attorney Tim Taylor did not immediately return phone calls Sunday.

But Taylor, in a brief statement issued Saturday, said: "When the officers made contact with Mr. Hunt, he brandished the sword and lunged toward the officers with the sword, at which time Mr. Hunt was shot. There is currently no indication that race played any role in the confrontation between Mr. Hunt and the police officers."

Hunt's mother, Susan Hunt, told the Deseret News she believes her son would not have been shot had he been white. She is white and his father is black.

She said her son was carrying a 3-foot souvenir sword bought at an Asian gift store that has a rounded edge, not a blade. Family members considered it a "toy" sword.

"No white boy with a little sword would they shoot while he's running away," she said.

Cindy Moss, Darrien Hunt's aunt, said she has tended not to believe stories by her sister's family about mistreatment of blacks in today's world. But her view has changed as the family has tried to figure out what led up to the shooting, she said.

"It's difficult to make any sense out of the situation any other way (than race)," Moss, who is white, told The Salt Lake Tribune. "The police make it sound like it was a big sword he was wielding. I'm offended that they even say he was armed with a weapon."

Saratoga Springs police, in a brief statement Friday, said claims that its officers' actions were a result of Hunt's race are "completely unfounded and speculative. Our officers responded to a call for service and addressed the situation that was presented to them."

The shooting remains under investigation by authorities.

A candlelight vigil was set for Sunday night at the spot where Hunt died.

Saratoga Springs is home to Mia Love, who is vying to become the first black Republican woman ever elected to Congress. She served as mayor of the city of 27,000 people from 2010 to early this year.

AP

Liberal Vermont Senator Sanders may seek U.S. presidency in 2016

 Bernie Sanders, one of the Senate's leading liberals, said on Sunday he is thinking about running for U.S. president in 2016 as either a Democrat or an independent in a move that could complicate Hillary Clinton's path to the White House.

Sanders, an independent from Vermont, could pose a challenge from the left to Clinton, widely seen as the front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination. She has not officially said she is a candidate but has acted very much like one.

"I think anybody who speaks to the needs of the working class and the middle class of this country and shows the courage to take on the billionaire class, I think that candidate will do pretty well," Sanders told the NBC program "Meet the Press," giving a possible preview of his message in the 2016 campaign.

Sanders is serving his second six-year term in the Senate. He has cultivated a following among some American liberals, especially on economic issues like the growing income disparity between rich and poor and corporate greed. He is a self-described socialist who caucuses with Democrats in the Senate.

"I am thinking about running for president," Sanders said, adding that he must decide whether to run as an independent or wade into the fight for the Democratic nomination.

Sanders is testing the waters in Iowa, a state that holds an important early contest in the nomination process.

"One of the reasons I'm going to Iowa is to get a sense of how people feel about it," he said of his candidacy. "Look, the truth is (there is) profound anger at both political parties, more and more people are becoming independent. The negative is: how do you set up a 50-state infrastructure as an independent?"

Sanders said he has "a lot of respect" for Clinton, but said, "The issue is not Hillary."

With Clinton mindful of the need to appeal to moderates in any general election battle against a Republican in 2016, a Sanders candidacy could force her to the left in the Democratic primaries to head off his challenge.

Conversely, if he runs in the general election as an independent, he could siphon away from her votes from liberals that she could need to beat any Republican nominee.

American liberals have expressed disappointment with President Barack Obama on a range of issues, most recently on his decision to postpone any executive action on immigration even as Republican leaders in the House of Representatives block action on a bipartisan Senate-passed plan.

Sanders said that he has "a lot of disagreements" with Obama, adding: "I think he has not tapped the anger and the frustration that the American people feel on many, many issues."

Carolina Panthers sidelines Hardy as pressure builds on NFL

The NFL's Carolina Panthers deactivated defensive end Greg Hardy for Sunday's game against the Detroit Lions, according to the team's website, in a reversal of an earlier decision to let him play while he appeals a domestic violence conviction.

The move comes after a week of fierce criticism over the National Football League's handling of a domestic violence case involving three-time Pro Bowler Ray Rice. The episode has raised questions about the league's credibility and prompted calls for NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell to step down, while rekindling a national discussion about the abuse of women.

The Panthers listed Hardy as inactive about two hours before the team's home opener against the Lions. It offered no reason, and officials of the team could not be reached immediately for comment. As late as Friday, the team indicated Hardy, who was found guilty by a judge of assaulting his former girlfriend, would continue to play while he was appealing.

Adding to the league's embarrassment, Minnesota Vikings' star running back Adrian Peterson was arrested on Saturday and charged with injuring a child after using a switch to spank his son, his lawyer said. The Vikings deactivated Peterson on Friday immediately after the allegations surfaced.

"We started the week with players beating up women. We ended the week with players beating up children," retired NFL player Tom Jackson said on Sunday during ESPN’s "Sunday NFL Countdown." "We are in a very serious state in the National Football League."

Before the Vikings' home game against the New England Patriots, some fans at TCF Bank Stadium in Minneapolis wearing Peterson jerseys in a show of support for the star running back.

Hardy's deactivation renewed questions over whether the San Francisco 49rs would still allow defensive end Ray McDonald to play in a Sunday night game against Chicago.

McDonald was arrested Aug. 31 on suspicion of causing physical injuries to his fiance at his home. The team said early last week he would play on Sunday while authorities investigate his case and decide whether to charge him.

Before Sunday's action began, the issue of domestic violence by NFL players and the league's policies for dealing with it largely overshadowed the typical pre-game banter about the afternoon's matchups.

In discussing the incident, NFL analyst Ray Lewis, a former Baltimore teammate of Rice, sounded a personal note about the pain of domestic abuse.

“What Ray Rice did was inexcusable," Lewis said on ESPN. "If I was to close my eyes, one thing I remember vividly was my mom being beaten. But the one thing I also remember is not one of the men who beat my mom was in the National Football League."

Lewis said he was concerned that NFL players were being branded unfairly, because domestic violence was widespread.

"This is not a football problem. This is a world problem. Every nine seconds a woman is being brutally beaten. It bothers me a little bit when we're the focus of this attention."

A women's rights group called UltraViolet said it planned to fly banners over four pro football stadiums on Sunday and on Monday night calling on Goodell to resign over his handling of Rice's case.

Fans at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, said they saw the banner reading #GoodellMustGo being dragged overhead by a small plane as the New York Giants hosted the Phoenix Cardinals, according to tweets. At least one fan tweeted a photo of the banner in the sky near the stadium.

"It is time for Roger Goodell to resign, and for the NFL to get serious about its commitment to ending violence against women within the league," UltraViolet co-founder Nita Chaudhary said in a written statement.

Goodell, the NFL commissioner since 2006, admitted he "didn't get it right" when initially punishing Rice with a two-game suspension. He suspended Rice indefinitely on Monday after a video surfaced showing the player knocking out his girlfriend in an elevator in a New Jersey casino.

Goodell has said the league had not seen the graphic video previously but his denial has not quieted critics who have questioned what the league knew about the video and when it first viewed it.

(Reuters)