vic lee is in the news room. >> this is the ruling. it was a huge blow to death penalty advocates, in layman's terms, it said california's system doesn't work, it's broken and now when people are sentenced to death, he says it just means life in prison. >> u.s. district judge carney said in his order that delays of two decades or more in resolving appeals and carrying out only a few executions have created an irrational system and said it violates the eighth amendment which bans cruel and unusual punchment. jones sued the state after he was sentenced to death 19 years ago. the judge wroet, the death sentence has been transformed into one nobody could ever impose, life in prison with a remote possibility of death.

the federal judge's ruling is something death penalty opponents have been waiting for and they say the system has been broken for some time. and matt jerry is with a group that has fought executions. >> we have 747 people alive on death row, but there have been no executions for the past eight years, and in fact since the death penalty was reinstituted in the 1970s, there have only been 13 executions in california. >> the state temporarily stopped executing prisoners in 2006 when another federal judge ruled that flaws in the lethal injection protocol created a risk for painful and failed executions, and the last time the death penalty was struck down was in 1972 when the state supreme court ruled it violated the constitution, and the voters

overturned that on a ballot initiative. >> the people in the state have spoken time and time again on this issue and i believe the peoples' voice should be heard. >> martin is head of the police officers association, and he is afraid the decision will encourage other prisoners to file expensive and frivolous lawsuits and he also asks, this question. >> is the judge concerned about the victim and the victim's family going through the nightmare all over again? >> judge carney only ruled on earnest duane jones' death sentence and reduced that to life in prison without they are reviewing the division now. vic lee, nbc 7 news. rough end of the day for some people at a walnut creek office complex. the tree fell on the suvs today.

the crews are surveying how to remove the very large pine tree. the wind came in at around 15 miles per hour when the call came in. the alleged high-priced call girl charge is pleading not guilty to multiple charges including manslaughter. the 26-year-old is a prostitute who was hired by the 51-year-old hayes. she is accused of giving him a fatal dose of heroin on his yacht and leaving him to die. and her attorney says they were consenting adults. >> she is like a wounded bird. she is not as demonized and bad as the media made her out to be. she is a sensitive kid with an addiction problem to heroin. >> in court today the judge denied her request to reduce her bail. it remains at $1.5 million.

the uc board of regents tackling hot button issues in san francisco today and among them the number of sexual assaults on college campuses. and a meeting is still going on. i know you spoke with a sexual assault survivor who is helping to create a task force. >> that's right. she tells me it's about time. she and other victim advocates are pushing the university system to improve investigation and response procedures. students lined up to address the university of california president, janet napolitano who attended today's uc board of regents meeting in san francisco, and some for harsh words for the way sexual assaults on campus have been handled. >> they did not give me the sa support i needed to heal. >> if an allegation is made, it will be investigated. >> the university is taking

other steps, including better training for staff and protocols for working with law enforcement. but these are not open and shut cases. >> are we going to ruin, let's say the lives of some young men who might have been falsely accused? no, we are not going to do that. we want to get to the facts. >> megan warner, a uc berkeley student that was assaulted at a fraternity is now giving recommendations to the task force. she says it's crucial to educate students about consent. >> i do believe i would have not been assaulted had my perpetrators had the right training. if you have one person or even two people who are supposed to be in charge of sexual harassment and discrimination and sexual assault, that's not going to work. they don't have the time they need to be helping survivors or not helping survivors but investigating their cases properly. >> the officials say money has been set aside and many of those

involved will donate their time to meet student's needs. >> thank you very much. we want to go back to the lead storstory, the bank robby shooting in stockton. >> reporter: we are in north stockton. as i step out of the way you will see where and how this situation came to an end. it was at about 2:30 this afternoon that a bank in north stockton was robbed. there were three suspects and somebody obviously went terribly wrong doing the robbery because they left the bank and took three hostages with them. we are told all hostages were adult females and in the vehicle of one of the females and a chase occurred an hour after that was remarkable and reached speeds of up to 100 miles per hour on highways 5 and 99 on the eastbound sides of stockton, and

up one freeway and down the other way and through town and we are hearing the suspects are firing weapons, an ak-47 out of the back of the vehicle we were in. more than once i heard officers say i am taking gunfire, not personally but his vehicle, and there were homes throughout this area that were also hit by gunfire. this is where it all started. as we understand it, and some of the pieces of the story are still coming together, three suspects, three hostages, and all three suspects have been shot at least one is dead and there are reports that a second may have been killed as well, and we are told that a hostage was shot early on in this situation, and tossed from the car, and a second hostage may have been grazed with gunfire towards the end of the chase and dumped out of the car, and there is preliminary word that the other person that may be dead here at the scene may be,

unfortunately, one of those hostages. it's unbelievable more people were not hurt in this considering the amount of gunfire that was fired at stockton cops this afternoon after obviously a bank robbery that went terribly wrong. >> thank you very much. >> reporter: back to you guys. >> thank you, tim. san francisco supervisor admits he had an affair with an office aide. he came in second to mayor edly in 2011 has been a supervisor since 2008. he tells the ""san francisco chronicle,"" he let a lot of people down and he is saury. the aide went on unpaid leave from her $95,000 a year job in may but has not officially quit. he did not say when the relationship began or how long it lasted. in a statement he said it's a hard time for my family and i am grateful for all the people who have been actively supporting us through this difficult time with love and counsel.

>> there is a possible soda tax in san francisco. the budget and finance committee passed a measure to the full board and the proposal would place a tax on 2 cents an ounce on sugary beverages. a key vote in oakland tonight could determine the future of a's baseball. >> why some city leaders worry what happens in a meeting set to begin in 20 minutes, and might have possibly drive the a's out of town. i was going to call and somebody was going to rescue me. >> a three-day trip turned into a week-long ordeal. find out why a boeing dreamliner is performing vertical climbs and heart-stopping turns like a fighter

a controversy deal to keep the oakland a's in oakland is hanging in the balance tonight as the city council takes up the discussion again. abc 7 news reporter wayne freedman joins us live with more. is there any sense of certainty as to what is going to happen at this vote tonight? >> no, no there is no sense of certainty. wasn't it two weeks ago that we seemed to have a ten-year lease deal between oakland and the a's? not so fast. even as late as this afternoon, the city was negotiating with the a's trying to sweeten the deal. the city council, a division and a vote and a showdown between the a's and the nays about

keeping the oakland a's. for tonight at least this will be the arena that matters to oakland a's fans. the council chambers in oakland city hall. >> how does this make the city of oakland look? >> absolutely ridiculous that we continually conflict black eyes on ourselves. >> reporter: hence the state of discussions between oakland and its baseball team for a new coliseum lease. two weeks ago after 14 months of negotiations between the a's and the city county coliseum joints powers authority there appears to be a deal granting security and latitude to both sides, but the city council now wants more. >> it has been frustrating to have a deal brought to me just a few weeks ago, but learned that there is such an urgency because the a's feel like they have been at the negotiating table for 14 months. >> the city council member would not say this afternoon if she will vote to approve the deal

tonight, and she thinks the council should have been in on the negotiations sooner, but the a's want no more delays or changes and they have a big stick. two weeks ago the baseball commissioner gave the team owner permission to leave town if he feels he must. vice mayor serves on the jpa and city council, and this late maneuvering has him worried. >> if he wanted to leave, is this his perfect excuse? >> i believe so. i think major league baseball is frustrated with the city of oakland and they authorized lou permission if he wanted to seek a temporary place for the a's to play as they look for a permanent home that he has the blessings of major league baseball to do so. >> in the meantime it's the baseball stadium that has become a political football. in oakland, wayne freedman, abc 7 news. the first bird tested positive for west nile virus and it was found in the city of

napa. people get west nile virus from infected mosquitos. mosquito fogging is about to get under way in costa contra county. it is to control the adult mosquitos. they targeted martinez and discovery bay after more birds tested positive for west nile virus. an experienced hiker is recovering after spending a week in the wilderness with a badly broken leg and no food and drinking only the water he could find. >> put snow in the hood of my poncho, and then let the sun melt the snow and just drink out of the hood of my poncho. >> pretty smart. the 33-year-old heinze says he was determined to live. he was hiking down the mountain in the kings national park and dislodged a boulder accidentally

and the rock hit his leg and smashed it in two different places, and he built a splint and dragged himself to a safer place until help arrived. >> what a story. >> yeah. >> glad he is okay. a defective air bag used by many different auto makers has prompted a recall today. >> this time the mw is putting out a recall. >> yeah, and bmw says there's a potential defect in air bags manufactured in japan, they may rupture and could cause injury. there have been no reports of injuries, however other auto makers using the same air bags did report problems. so this recall is precautionary for these cars. owners of a series of cars made between 2000 and 2006 will have their air bags replaced for free. and then a record $31 billion in fees last year.

that's 11 times more than they collected six years ago. they forked over the money for checking bags. you will see another increase in fees starting next week, and this one imposed by uncle sam, the tsa security fee. it will more than double each way, and if a layover is more than four hours, you will get charged again for that leg of your trip. that starts on monday. and then insurance institute for highway safety says parents sticking to a budget may be putting their kids in older and smaller unsafer cars. they don't offer the highest protection. car crashes is the leading cause of death among teens. today the institute released its own list of the safest used cars for young drivers. >> we don't believe that a teen should be driving a vehicle with

high horsepower, and we believe it's essential that the vehicle have electronic stability control, and the vehicle needs good crash protection. so it should be mid size or larger. >> the institute recommends cars with the highest safety rating in features like side air bags, and includes later models of the saub, and toyota prius and keya sportage. for the full list go to our website. another important point they made a. small engine for the kid. >> so they can't go too fast? >> exactly. >> great tips, michael. thank you. we are hearing from an army sergeant freed by the taliban. and if we look ahead to tonight's edition of "world news." coming up on the breaking news about the pow rescued from

the taliban, bowe bergdahl, his message to the american people. his lawyer asking people to withhold judgment until you hear the whole story. and then the girl suck into the a storm drain and carried nearly a mile. how she survived. >> david, you are also revealing secrets about the summer speed traps? >> yes, this is incredible. millions of families on vacation right now and what you are going to learn about the speed traps will surprise you. it surprised us. it's all coming up. >> "world news" is coming up here right after the news at 5:30 here on abc 7. and we have the accuweather forecast. >> hi, cheryl and larry. i am gauging the humidity here and there are subtle differences in the air mass here. the dew points have come down just a little bit compared to 24 hours ago. clouds continue on all levels. we have low, mid and high level cloudiness. still a little sticky for a

summertime pattern here in the bay area. we will talk about what is going on from that perspective. we did see measurable rain this morning around some parts of the bay area, and san francisco the same, and about 400th of an inch in the guadalupe watershed in the south bay and as we look at live doppler 7 hd, we have clouds back at the coast, and action in sierra, nevada, over 1,200 lightning strikes so far, so once again thunderstorms are firing up, but most of those have been south of the lake tahoe area, and flash flood watch in effect until friday at 5:00 p.m., and then rock and mudslides, so if you have travel plans keep that in mined. here are your dew point temperatures, mostly in the 50s. remember, we had 60s yesterday, so that's a little bit muggier than what we are used to, but we will trend with less humidity

for tomorrow. take a look at the ocean temperatures. right now extremely mild, in the low 60s in san francisco towards monterey bay. and the average testimony running higher. we are looking at mild nights. some drizzle with a little more moisture to work with. you can see the winds right now. fairfield gusting to 37 out of the southwest and 28 in livermore, and it's getting breezy out there. beautiful view from the lake tahoe camera. they are not seeing thunderstorms but they have a possibility of that tonight, and scatters thunderstorms in the next few days. it's 77 in san jose, and 78 in gilroy. today's high temperatures are down in most areas, and emeriville showing you a few clouds. here are your numbers. 69 in santa rosa, and 70s from

napa to concord, and antioch is the warm side at 85, and that was a 10-degree drop from yesterday's 95-degree reading. and then the camera showing you low clouds. spotty drizzle overnight tonight and cooler tomorrow and less humid, and a warmer pattern on friday, but not a major warmup. we continue to seat moisture tap, but it's easing a bit and shifting northward and that trend continues tomorrow. what we are going to see is the sprinkles replaced by spotty drizzle as we go with the marine layer between 7:00 and 9:00 a.m. a little more sun breaking through. tomorrow morning, upper 50s to low 60s, and very mild. foggy along the coast. watch out for the drizzle. slow going possibly for the commute. tomorrow afternoon, cooling continues with low 60s to the low 80s. low clouds and fog linger at the coast. a few high clouds filter the

sun, and for the rest of you, a little warmer friday and saturday. humidity continues to lower, so by friday it's even lower, and saturday, sunday, back to normal. mid-80s inland. about where we should be this time of year. upper 80s on saturday. hopefully a lot more people will be happy with the lowering humidity. i know, larry, you are. >> i am always happy. thank you. >> all right. just ahead, every bunny needs a home. what one local humane society is doing to make it easier than ever. >> a bay area teenager whose dream is to become an investment banker, and we w

okay. got to work with a little wet and wild for commuters in boulder, colorado yesterday. it was part of the 7th annual tube to workday. people in suits.

>> yeah. >> and dresses floating down boulder creek. the annual event is considered to be an alternative to bike to workday. >> i like it. but what about my makeup if i do that? apple agreed to pay up to $4 million over pricing on its e books. apple was sued over conspiring with five book publishers to drive up the prices. apple denies any wrong doing. meanwhile, amazon testing a new service that would give kendall users unlimited access to books for $10 a month. there are similar services doing this, but they don't have the number of users that amazon does. the hue minute society says it has so many rabbits that adoption fees for the animals will be waived.

it's caring for 58 rabbits right now. the humane society says they are from families that bought them for easter and changed their minds about having a pet. you can adopt one for free. they are looking for volunteers to help care for the bunnies. boeing showing off the new edition of the dreamliner. the company released video of the jet, and look at the maneuvers, the steep climb. performing a touch and go with a 7-ton aircraft designed to hall 280 passengers, and boeing trying to impress airline executives at the air show, and they stay ahead of the airbus, that company's answer to the dreamliner. just ahead tonight, something new for san francisco's waterfront. >> the 40-foot feast for the eyes coming to the

tonight at 6:00, we will following up on the bank robbery and shoot-out in stockton that left at least two people dead. alan wang will report from the scene. and how a simple kitchen repair turned into a remodeling nightmare for a bay area company. we will take you to a clinic at stanford attempting to solve medical mysteries by treating diseases that have fallen from the family tree. that's coming up at 6:00. a new hole in san francisco. >> yeah, pier 14. it's called soma. it sounds colicated. it's made of stainless steel and interactive lights by an art group, flaming lotus girls, and originally displayed a burning man in 2009. >> it's 28 feet high and 40 feet

long. >> i saw that and i was like, whoa, what is that? >> t welcome to "world news." tonight, the children caught in the crossfire. the video of the boys on the beach running for their lives caught in a huge explosion. the fighting between israel and hamas, our team right there hearing the explosion, and the president just weighing in. the breaking new details, an american p.o.w. rescued from the taliban, sergeant bowe bergdahl, his first message to the president tonight and to the american people. severe weather hitting tonight, the little girl wiped away, carried nearly a mile through a storm drain, how she survived. and the flash flood. this was the scene within minutes. ginger zee on where this hits next. and the mid-air emergency, the turbulence, the cracked ceiling where their heads hit. tonight the passengers on what happened in the air.