NATIONAL BRIEFS

FLORIDA: U.S. to probe teen's shooting

An unarmed black teenager shot to death by a neighborhood watch captain told his girlfriend moments before he was killed he was being followed, a lawyer said Tuesday as federal and state prosecutors announced they would investigate. " 'Oh he's right behind me, he's right behind me again,' " Trayvon Martin, 17, told his girlfriend on his cellphone, the Martin family's attorney said. Later, the girl heard Martin say, "Why are you following me?" Another man asked, "What are you doing around here?" attorney Benjamin Crump said. The phone call that recorded Martin's final moments was disclosed as the U.S. Justice Department opened a federal civil rights probe into the Feb. 26 shooting and Seminole County State Attorney Norm Wolfinger convened a grand jury. George Zimmerman, who has not been charged, said he shot in self-defense after Martin attacked him.

CALIFORNIA: Sheriff refuses to resign

San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee said Tuesday he will file an official misconduct charge against the sheriff over a domestic violence case. A defiant Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi had said he has no plans to resign, despite being sentenced Monday to three years' probation and a year of counseling after pleading guilty to misdemeanor false imprisonment. Mirkarimi said his New Year's Eve actions that left his wife's arm bruised did not constitute official misconduct. Lee told him to resign or he would start the process of removing him from office.

PENNSYLVANIA: Carbon monoxide blamed

State police say they now believe carbon monoxide poisoning killed three cousins in a mountain cabin in 2006 after new tests were conducted following an Associated Press story that raised questions about suspicions it might have been a triple homicide. The tests confirmed results about the deaths of David Grasch, Tony DiMartino and Pat Mahoney.