The Los Angeles Times from Los Angeles, California • Page 13

B4 TUESDAY, JANUARY 12, 2016 os Angeles (Times LATIMES.COM Court tosses 'stolen valor' verdict Death penalty for O.C. killer Jury takes little over an hour to sentence Daniel Wozniak for 2 murders and cover-up. By Jeremiah Dobruck The appeals panel says wearing an unearned military medal is protected by the 1st Amendment. Photographs by MlSAEL VlRGEN San Diego Union-Tribune LISA PETRONIS and Simon Akoch John hug at the Lost Boys and Girls Foundation 5K in Poway on Saturday. Petronis, a clinical psychologist, says survivors now wrestle with mental health, job and other issues.

Lost Boys' long journey Sudanese men race in Poway 5K and reflect on hard road ahead DANIEL UKANG, foundation president, and his daughter Nyapuot Yamun, 3, greet the racers. By Michele Parente POWAY The Lost Boys of Sudan are men now. A decade or so after arriving as refugees having survived a harrowing trek through war-torn Africa on foot they have found a new life. Many have jobs, others are going to school, and some are married with children of their own. But their journey continues.

As they gathered Saturday for the second annual California Sudanese Lost Boys and Girls Foundation 5K runwalkathon, many of the approximately 80 young men spoke of their continuing challenges. "With what I experienced, I'm still in between my old life and my new life," said Venson Deng, 36, who came to the U.S. in 2001. "I'm trying to adjust, I'mtryingto settle in I'm still not there yet." Deng, who lives in San Diego, said the event was an opportunity to reconnect with the only people who can truly understand what he's gone through. And to meet friends and neighbors who showed their support.

"What makes this special After a little over an hour of deliberations, an Orange County jury recommended Monday that convicted murderer Daniel Wozniak be put to death for two killings and a cover-up that included beheading one victim's body and staging the other to look as if she had been sexually assaulted. June Kibuishi, the mother of Juri "Julie" Kibuishi, sobbed against her husband's shoulder as the verdict was read in Superior Court in Santa Ana. In May 2010, the body of Julie Kibuishi, 23, was discovered in a Costa Mesa apartment, shot twice in the head. Her jeans had been ripped away as if someone had tried to rape her. She still wore a tiara that her brother had given her hours before she was killed.

"Now it's over," June Kibuishi said. Wozniak, 31, a community theater actor from Costa Mesa, was convicted Dec. 16 of killing Julie Kibuishi and her friend, 26-year-old Army veteran Sam Herr. The victims' families said Monday that they were relieved at the jury's swift decision on the sentence. "One hour, that tells you something," said Heir's father, Steve.

After the verdict, jurors hugged the Heirs and Ki-buishis in the hallway. Jury forewoman Jenny Wong said the verdict was reached so quickly because of an "utter lack" of mitigating factors in the killings. According to prosecutors, Wozniak was desperate for money to cover his rent and fund his upcoming wedding and honeymoon. So he killed Herr, his neighbor, to steal $62,000 that Herr had saved from his military service. Wozniak then used Heir's phone to send messages to Kibuishi to lure her to Herr's apartment, where he shot her to death.

Wozniak's lawyers did little to contest his guilt, but in the penalty phase public defender Scott Sanders made a case that Wozniak's fiancee, Rachel Buffett, bears some responsibility for the slayings. Buffett, Sanders said, perpetuated a lie before the murders that Wozniak owed money to loan sharks who would harm him if he didn't repay them. And Sanders highlighted police officers' testimony that they believed Buffett had a role in planning the cover-up, including Ki-buishi's murder, though detectives have said they cannot prove it. Buffett has not been charged with either killing but is facing trial on charges of accessory after the fact for lying to police. Wong said jurors rejected the idea that any involvement by Buffett could somehow minimize Wozniak's conduct: "We felt that was just smoke and mirrors." is it allows us to see the goodness in humanity," Deng said.

Walking together on the sprawling St. Michael's Catholic Church property were friends Val Spooner and Kathy Dunlay. Spooner had been moved by a speech that foundation President Daniel Ukang gave to the St. Michael's congregation, and he decided to join the 5K. Dunlay, who has followed the story of the Lost Boys, was interested in what had become of them.

"The books always end when they get here," she said. "The end." To which Spooner added, "But it's not the end, is it?" Not even close, said Lisa Petronis, a San Diego clinical psychologist who conducted a five-year study of the Lost Boys for her doctoral dissertation. Petronis started the foundation in 2008 with Ukang, 36, and other Lost Boys. It helps pay for education, career counseling, dental care, mental health services and more. The biggest hurdles the group faced initially, Petronis said, were learning about U.S.

laws and customs, along with modern conveniences By Maura Dolan SAN FRANCISCO A military veteran persuaded a federal appeals court Monday to overturn his conviction for wearing a medal he didn't earn. An 11-judge panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals said a portion of a federal law that made it a crime to wear an unearned military medal violated freedom of speech rights. The panel found that wearing a medal conveys a message, which is protected by the 1st Amendment. The decision overturned the conviction of Elven Joe Swisher, an Idaho man and former Marine who wore a military medal when he testified on the stand in a criminal case.

Investigators later determined Swisher had not earned the medal and violated the Stolen Valor Act. In 2012, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned another portion of the act that made it a crime to lie about having been awarded a military medal. Since Swisher's conviction, the law no longer penalizes people for wearing unearned medals. maura.dolanlatimes.com Twitter: mauradolan 4 killed in crash; seat belts not worn By Lyndsay Winkley A collection of candles, flowers and photographs has been placed at a Palm City intersection near Chula Vista where four young people died in a violent crash early Sunday morning.

Police said Monday that none of the victims was wearing a seat belt. Witnesses told officers an Acura was speeding south on Industrial Boulevard when it ran a red light at Main Street about 2 a.m. The car smashed into a westbound van, continued into a traffic pole and was sheared in half, police said. Three passengers in the back seat, two teen girls and a man in his 2 0 were thrown from the vehicle and killed. The driver, a man also in his 20s, died as well, San Diego police Sgt.

Timothy Underwood said. The front-seat passenger, another man in his 20s, survived but was critically injured. He was the only one in the car wearing a seat belt, police said. Five people were in the van that was struck; two suffered minor injuries. The makeshift memorial sits feet from the traffic pole that severed the car in two.

One of the girls was identified on a poster as 18-year-old Karla Chavez. "You will be missed dearly," it read. Her best friend, Karina Guerrero, was also killed, according to social media posts from friends. Police are still investigating whether the driver of the Acura had alcohol or drugs in his system. lyndsay.winkley sandiegounion tribune.com Winkley writes for the San Diego Union-Tribune.

206,000 seek UC admission such as electricity and indoor plumbing. Today, it's navigating life: translating education into a career, working multiple jobs, trying to build a prosperous life for their children. Within their community, there is post -traumatic stress disorder and other mental health problems, unemployment, poverty, health issues and cultural isolation. "They have so far to travel to even get to the starting line, to where the rest of us started," Petronis said. Ukang's wife, Mary, who met her husband when they were at the Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya, was one of the few Lost Girls to be resettled in the U.S.

The couple work different shifts at the Barona Resort Casino and trade off caring for their two boys and two girls, ages 3 to 11. "I tell my kids, there is much opportunity in America, there is no excuse for failing," the 33-year-old said. "I sleep three or four hours a night. I'm so tired and I work so hard. And I love it." michele.parente (gsduniontribune.com Parente writes for the San Diego Union-Tribune.

gest jump, with 13.5 more applicants; UC Berkeley saw the smallest increase, at 5.8. Latino students made up the largest group of applicants, accounting for 34.1 of all students seeking admission as freshmen or transfer students. That's up from 32.5 a year ago. Asian Americans were the second-largest group of applicants, accounting for 29 of students seeking UC admission. That's a drop from 30.1 last year.

The proportion of applications from white students fell slightly, to 26.6 this year from 27. Meanwhile, applications from African Americans rose to 6.3 in this admissions cycle from 6 of the applicant pool last year. The number of out-of-state applicants grew by nearly 11, and applications from international students increased nearly the same percentage. Four campuses Irvine, Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz and Davis saw applications from international students rise more than 20. UC schools have been accepting more nonresident students who pay higher tuition as a way of dealing with budget cuts.

But system leaders are seeking to boost in-state enrollment by 10,000 by 2018. jason.songlatimes.com Twitter: (gbyjsong UCLA HAD the largest number of applicants for this fall with about 119,000. Above, the Westwood campus. UC applications A look at the number of applications per campus in the UC system: The record number of applicants is 6.4 higher than last year. UCLA is the top draw.

By Jason Song More than 206,000 people applied for admission to at least one University of California campus for the 2016 fall semester, setting a new record for the 12th year in a row, officials announced Monday. The number of potential first -year and transfer students was 6.4 higher than it was a year ago, when almost 194,000 people sought admission to at least one of the nine campuses that serve undergraduates. Nearly 58 of last year's applicants were admitted, although acceptance rates differed drastically among campuses, according to UC statistics. Once again, UCLA had the largest number of applicants for this fall with about 119,000. The Westwood campus was followed by UC San Diego and UC Berkeley with nearly 103,000 and 102,000, respectively.

It was the first time in five years that the San Diego campus drew more applicants than the flagship campus in Berkeley. Many hopefuls applied to multiple campuses, though UC officials did not give de- KENT NlSHIMURA Los Angeles Times of the President, Student Affairs, Applications were up at every undergraduate campus, officials said. UC Merced saw the big- Percent Campus 2015 2016 increase Berkeley 96,082 101,655 5.8 Davis 79,930 86,041 7.6 Irvine 88,792 97,759 10.1 Los Angeles 112,744 119,326 5.8 Merced 19,932 22,632 13.5 Riverside 47,669 52,467 10.1 San Diego 94,280 102,692 8.9 Santa Barbara 85,208 94,015 10.3 Santa Cruz 54,333 59,102 8.8 Total (unduplicated) 193,873 206,339 6.4 jeremiah.dobruck latimes.com Dobruck writes for Times Community News. JOSHUA SUDOCK O.C. Register DANIEL WOZNIAK killed Juri "Julie" Kibuishi and her friend, Army veteran Sam Herr.

Source: University of California Office Undergraduate Admissions files tails about this. A year ago, California residents applied to an average of four UC schools..