The 9th Circuit panel considering the gaymarriage dispute indicated in a hearing last December that it was leaning toward overturning Proposition 8 if the standing question could be resolved. Chief District Judge Vaughn R. Walker, who has since retired, overturned the marriage ban after a twoweek trial that focused on the nature of sexual orientation and the history of marriage..RAE CARRUTH: A wide receiver for the Carolina Panthers from 19971999, was accused in the 1999 shooting death of his pregnant girlfriend. Two men pleaded guilty to seconddegree murder in exchange for their testimony that Carruth paid one of them $6,000 to kill Cherica Adams while she sat in her car, with Carruth blocking its path using his vehicle. Carruth was acquitted of firstdegree murder but was convicted of conspiracy to commit murder, discharging a firearm into occupied property and using an instrument with intent to destroy an unborn child.

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