DRUG SUSPECT INADVERTENTLY FREED FROM JAIL

An alleged drug kingpin held in Los Angeles after the seizure of a
half-ton of cocaine was inadvertently freed from jail and probably
fled the country, authorities said.

Salvador Gomez, 28, of Paramount, who allegedly dealt with financial
matters for a drug trafficking family, and five others were arrested
Feb. 12 and were each ordered held in lieu of $20 million bail. But
Gomez was released from county jail last Thursday, a day after his
video arraignment court appearance, Deputy Steve Sciacca said Wednesday.

Gomez was identified for release by the Los Angeles Police Department,
and he was freed by the sheriff's department based on information
provided by the police, Sciacca said. The sheriff operates the jail.

"There was a flaw in the system, or a mistake was made. He wasn't
supposed to get out," said Special Agent Andy Alonso, a state
Department of Justice investigator on the staff of a consortium of
local police agencies known as the L.A. Impact Task Force.

Simpson faces trial for custody of kids

O.J. Simpson lost a state Supreme Court appeal in San Francisco on
Wednesday in a suit for custody of his two children, and faces a new
custody trial that would include evidence on whether he killed their
mother.

The court unanimously denied review of a lower-court ruling that set
aside a judge's order giving Simpson legal custody of his daughter,
Sydney, 13, and son, Justin, 10.

The former football star has had custody of both children since his
release from jail after he was acquitted in 1995 on charges of
murdering Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend, Ronald Goldman, who
were stabbed to death in June 1994.

"If they want to go back to court, we'll end up back in court,"
Simpson said. "My kids have been through enough. Why would anybody
want to do this?"

Natasha Roit, a lawyer for Juditha and Louis Brown, said the
children's desire to stay with their father "should be a
consideration" but not the only consideration. "It's their well-being
that's really at issue," she said.

Vineyards warned of possible sabotage

Grape growers in Sonoma, Napa and Santa Barbara counties were warned
this week to increase security after reports that members of Earth
First! had threatened to sabotage vineyards to retaliate for cutting
down oak trees.

The Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Department confirmed patrols have
been increased at vineyards belonging to Kendall-Jackson and other
"targets" in response to the reported threat.

The California Farm Bureau reportedly got the first word via an e-mail
claiming to be from Earth First! warning that vineyards in the three
counties were targeted, said Sgt. Mike Burridge, a sheriff's
spokesman. Kendall-Jackson, which owns about 8,000 acres of California
vineyards, was specifically named. The Santa Rosa-based winemaker cut
down oaks on 800 acres to develop vineyards in Santa Barbara County.

"Santa Barbara is the hot spot," said Jim Caudill, a spokesman for
Kendall-Jackson. He said there is continued heated debate in Santa
Barbara County because of increased vineyard development on the
county's oak woodlands.