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BySamHananel The Associated Press WASHINGTON The Su- preme Court opened its new term Monday ponder- ing whether a police offi- cer's misunderstanding of the law can justify a traffic stop that led to the seizure of illegal drugs. Several of the justices questioned whether it was reasonable for the North Carolina officer to pull over a car because one of its two brake lights was burned out, even though a quirky state law requires only one light to be functional. The stop led to a search and the discovery of co- caine in the trunk, but the high court's ultimate deci- sion could lead to that evi- dence being excluded. Arguments in the case took place shortly after the court announced its sur- prising decision to turn away appeals from five states seeking to prohibit same-sex marriages, paving the way for an immediate expansion of gay marriage. This group of justices be- gan its fifth year together, and Chief Justice John Rob- erts is at the start of his 10th year at the head of the high court. On tap for the term is an array of cases involving: • Religious, employment and housing discrimination; • The drawing of polit- ical districts in Alabama and Arizona; • A dispute between Con- gress and the president over passports that is heavy with Middle East politics; • The use of a law to pre- vent document shredding against a fisherman accused of throwing undersized red grouper overboard; and • The prosecution of a self-styled rapper whose Facebook postings threat- ened his estranged wife, an FBI agent and area schools. Monday's argument on the police action involves an appeal by Nicholas Heien, whose Ford Escort was pulled over when an of- ficer saw that the right rear brake light wasn't working. The officer found cocaine during an ensuing search, and Heien was later con- victed of drug trafficking. The case tests whether the officer's mistaken un- derstanding of the law makes the traffic stop un- reasonable and the search a violation of Heien's con- stitutional rights. A divided state Supreme Court said the mistake was reason- able enough to justify the routine traffic stop and re- fused to toss out the drug evidence. Heien's lawyer, Stanford Law School Professor Jef- frey Fisher, told the justices that "in a country dedicated to the rule of law, govern- mental officers should be presumed to know the law at least as well as the cit- izens." Roberts asked him why not take reasonableness into account since the Fourth Amendment only protects against "unrea- sonable" searches and sei- zures. Fisher responded that criminal law "is presumed to be definite and knowable." Robert Montgomery, North Carolina's senior dep- uty attorney general, argued that the Fourth Amendment does not require police offi- cers to be perfect. "All that is required is that a police officer have a reasonable view of the facts and apply those facts to a reasonable understanding of the law." Montgomery said. Justice Elena Kagan sug- gested officers should en- force the law as written and not push every law "to the furthest, furthest, furthest it could go." SCOTUS Highcourt begins term with police actions case By Michael Kunzelman The Associated Press BATON ROUGE, LA. Doug Wortham used a Defense Department giveaway pro- gram for law enforcement to stock his office with an assault rifle, a handgun and a Humvee — even though the people in his custody are in no condition to put up a fight. They're dead. Wortham is the Sharp County, Arkansas, coroner. He says the Humvee helps him navigate the rugged terrain of the Ozarks foot- hills, but he struggled to explain why he needs the surplus military weapons he acquired more than two years ago. "I just wanted to protect myself," he said. His office isn't the only government agency with limited policing powers and a questionable need for high-powered weap- onry to take advantage of the program. While most of the surplus weapons go to municipal police de- partments and county sheriffs, an Associated Press review shows that a diverse array of other state and local agencies also have been scooping up guns and other tacti- cal equipment no longer needed by the military. Military-grade weap- ons have gone to govern- ment agencies that enforce gaming laws at Kansas tribal casinos and weigh 18-wheelers in Mississippi, to the Wyoming Livestock Board and the Cumberland County Alcoholic Beverage Control Board in Fayette- ville, North Carolina. Other military surplus items have been bestowed on an ani- mal control department in Cullman County, Alabama; a harbormaster in Dart- mouth, Massachusetts; and the California Assem- bly's Sergeant-at-Arms. The Pentagon's 1033 Program has been contro- versial; the White House ordered a review of it and similar programs in Au- gust after a deadly police shooting in Ferguson, Mis- souri, led to clashes be- tween protesters and of- ficers decked out in com- bat gear. Under the 1033 Pro- gram, thousands of law- enforcement agencies have acquired hundreds of mil- lions of dollars in weapons and other military castoffs. Among them were dozens of fire departments, district attorneys, prisons, parks departments and wildlife agencies that were eligi- ble to join the program be- cause they have officers or investigators with arrest powers. Guns, armored vehicles and aircraft only account for a fraction of the equip- ment up for grabs. Several agencies surveyed by the AP said they never asked for any weapons and only enrolled in the program to get free office equipment and other common items that wouldn't be deployed on any battlefield. The agencies receiv- ing firearms are difficult to pinpoint because the federal agency overseeing the program only releases county-level data on weap- ons transfers, citing secu- rity concerns. But some participating agencies — or state officials who coor- dinate the program — were willing to disclose their in- ventories. Wortham was qualified to enroll in the 1033 Pro- gram because Arkansas coroners have arrest pow- ers. Elected to his first term as coroner in 2010, he ob- tained a .45-caliber pistol and an M-16 rifle in 2012 after getting a Humvee the previous year. He said he is trying to arrange for a local police department to take the two weapons. State program officials said they couldn't find Wortham's written justi- fication for requesting the weapons. An official from the federal office that over- sees the program approved both transactions. "What does a coroner need a big gun for?" asked Marshall County, Illinois, coroner Davey Lenz, who used the program to obtain body bags. "I have never carried a weapon in my 20 years on the job." Steve Melo, the harbor- master in Dartmouth, Mas- sachusetts, said he hasn't received any weapons but acquired a Humvee for driving in marshy areas and a night-vision scope to spot boaters in the dark. The Humvee was stripped of weapon holders and the scope isn't attached to a gun, he said. "We have looked at it as saving this town big money," he said. "We're not out there in tanks. We're not dressing in battle uni- form-type stuff." The Arkansas Tobacco Control agency obtained five 12-gauge shotguns for its agents, who help regu- late tobacco retailers and wholesalers. "A lot of the convenience store owners who are in- volved in (tobacco) smug- gling are also on the terror- ist watch list, have connec- tions to organized crime, etc.," said Roland Darrow, an agency attorney. Dar- row said his agency's law- enforcement officers have arrested at least one per- son whose name was on Homeland Security's ter- rorist watch list, but he de- clined to provide details, saying the information was classified. The Wyoming Live- stock Board's law-enforce- ment unit issues Glock- made handguns to its offi- cers, who investigate cattle thefts and other industry- related crimes. But the board also obtained seven .45-caliber handguns from the military surplus pro- gram roughly three years ago. "I guess primarily be- cause I can't stand Glocks," said senior investigator Kim Clark. Similarly, Kansas State Gaming Agency enforce- ment director Jamie Nick- oley said its 10 surplus M-16 rifles are "just another tool" for its law-enforce- ment agents, who also have agency-issued handguns. The Mississippi Depart- ment of Transportation, which has an office that en- forces laws governing com- mercial vehicles, obtained seven M-14 rifles through the program. "We don't actually shoot them or anything. They're basically used as props dur- ing our ceremonies," said department spokesman Kenny Foote. The 1033 Program isn't the only source of sur- plus property for law-en- forcement agencies. They also can purchase equip- ment at discounted prices through the separate 1122 Program, which is overseen by the Army. State and lo- cal government agencies of all stripes can acquire other types of non-military surplus property through a program overseen by the U.S. General Services Ad- ministration. MILITARY Ev en a n Oz ar ks c or on er g et s su rp lu s gu ns GEORGEFREY—THEASSOCIATEDPRESS Kim Clark, senior investigator for the Wyoming Livestock Board, gets his horse ready to load onto a trailer with his Colt .45semi-automatic pistol strapped to his side at his home on in Cokeville, Wyo. Clark's law enforcement unit, which investigates cattle the s and other industry related crimes, was given seven .45-caliber handguns from a military surplus program roughly three years ago. GEORGE FREY — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Clark shows off his Colt .45semi-automatic pistol on in Cokeville, Wyo. The Associated Press NEW YORK Hewlett-Pack- ard is splitting itself into two companies, one fo- cused on its personal com- puter and printing busi- ness and another on tech- nology services such as data storage, servers and software, betting that it can drive faster sales growth with more-focused operations. Hewlett-Packard, like other PC makers, has strug- gled as customers shifted toward smartphones and tablets and away from desktops and laptops. It also has been shifting its services business toward cloud computing oppor- tunities as fewer custom- ers opt for traditional data storage. The company has posted revenue declines in 11 of the past 12 quarters and laid off tens of thou- sands of people in recent years as it attempts to cut costs. HP hopes that the two units will be worth more separately and be able to grow more quickly apart than they can together. The planned breakup follows other big compa- nies that have spun off business units in order to drive growth. EBay Inc. last week said it would spin off its fastest-growing seg- ment, payment service Pay- Pal, into a separate publicly traded company. HP first considered breaking off its PC unit back in 2011, but decided against it. CEO Meg Whit- man, who has been leading the company's turnaround for the past three years, said Monday that HP has now shored up its business enough to support the split. "The best tactic to con- tinue the turnaround jour- ney is to position HP as two great new companies," she said in an interview with CNBC. "Before a few months ago we were not in the right position to do this." Whitman said the split will give the two compa- nies "the independence, focus, financial resources, and flexibility they need to adapt quickly to market and customer dynamics." There are numerous rea- sons why HP would want to divide the businesses, including the slowdown of the PC market since the iPad debuted in April 2010, says Cantor Fitzgerald ana- lyst Brian White. While the PC market has shown some improving trends this year, separating into two compa- nies gives HP the option to sell off one or both busi- nesses if an attractive offer is made, he wrote in a note to clients. HP's announcement may be coming now partly be- cause the stock market has been supportive of spinoffs of late, says Jim Suva of Citi Investment Research. Also, the company's stronger bal- ance sheet, stable PC mar- gins, improving services profits, better financials and completion of the more difficult parts of its restruc- turing efforts played a role in its decision to act now, he said. During its most recent quarter HP reported reve- nue of $27.6 billion, a 1 per- cent annual gain. It marked HP's first year-over-year in- crease in quarterly revenue since late 2011. Printers and computers contributed 51 percent of the company's quarterly revenue, with the rest coming from technol- ogy services like consult- ing, software and financial programs. The PC and printer busi- ness will use the name HP Inc. and retain the blue and white logo. The ser- vices business will be called Hewlett-Packard Enterprise. Whitman will lead the Enterprise busi- ness and serve as non-ex- ecutive chairman of HP Inc. Current PC and printer chief Dion Weisler will be CEO of HP Inc. HP is expected to com- plete its latest round of layoffs, between 11,000 to 16,000 people, this month. Total job cuts will now stand at 55,000, up from a planned 50,000. In her in- terview with CNBC, Whit- man left open the possibil- ity for further layoffs as the separate businesses deter- mine their cost structure going forward. The split, if approved by the company's board, is ex- pected to close by the end of fiscal 2015. Once com- plete, HP stockholders will own shares of both compa- nies. Shares of Hewlett-Pack- ard Co., based in Palo Alto, California, rose $1.67, or 4.6 percent, to $36.82 in morn- ing trading. The stock is up 32 percent since the begin- ning of the year. BUSINESS Hewlett-Packard splits off its PC, printer businesses 530-366-3166 www.redbluffdodge.com 545 Adobe Rd., Red Bluff, CA Alloffersforalimitedtime.Notallbuyerswillqualifyforindividualprograms.SeeRedBluffChrysler/Jeep/Dodge/Ramforcompletedetailsandvehiclequalificationsforallcurrentlyrunningprograms. 0% and 1.9% APR financing are not applicable on these new selected models. 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