WaPo has the scoop on what lead to an arrest in the George Rawlings murder. Jeffrey Britt, a 17-year-old with no fixed address, has been arrested and charged in the case.

D.C. Police detectives worked quickly to solve the murder which took place last Wednesday as Rawlings was trying to board a Metro bus along H Street NE. According to an affidavit [PDF} filed in D.C. Superior Court, there were several witnesses that came forward.

In reading the affidavit, one thing is clear: Jeffrey Britt will not be the only one charged in this case. Police recovered two different caliber shell casings from the crime scene, and witnesses point to other individuals involved in the killing:

"One such witness...reported that it observed two black males armed with guns shooting into the well of the Metro bus."

The affidavit goes on to describe a murder plot developed in front of witnesses and carried out within minutes.

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Judge Judith Retchin has ruled [PDF] that a referendum on recognizing out-of-state gay marriages may not proceed.

Retchin was widely expected to ignore the substance of the referendum proponents' argument---i.e., that the District's human rights law does not, in fact, prevent the measure from appearing on the ballot, as the Board of Elections and Ethics ruled earlier this month. Instead, she was expected to rule only on whether she could stop the marriage law from taking effect next week---an important question, since that would prevent a referendum and render any other legal arguments moot.

But her ruling is broad.

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Gay-marriage referendum backers have asked a Superior Court judge this morning to order the city elections board to allow a ballot measure.

The move comes two days after the Board of Elections and Ethics ruled that such a referendum, to overturn a recently passed District law recognizing out-of-state gay marriages, would violate the D.C. Human Right Act and thus would be ineligible to appear on the ballot.

The petition [PDF], filed by Bishop Harry Jackson and six other backers, says the BOEE decision "is erroneous because the determination directly contradicts the D.C. Court of Appeals' decision in Dean...holding that the current D.C. law limiting marriage to opposite-sex couples does not violate the DC-HRA."

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The day's proceedings in United States v. Harold Brazil wrapped up shortly before 5 p.m. today, with the trial to continue Monday in Judge Jennifer Anderson's courtroom.

Read up if you missed the earlier coverage. The afternoon's testimony introduced the two women who accompanied Brazil to the rowdy night at the tattoo parlor. First to testify was Elena Mirsayapova, 30, who has served as Brazil's assistant since last July. A native of the Russian republic of Bashkortostan, Mirsayapova first met her boss when she was working at Spezie restaurant downtown, where the former at-large councilmember was a regular. In case you were wondering: No, she denies ever having had a romantic relationship with the married Brazil. They're friends "on a limited basis," she says. The other woman, the person who was actually getting the tattoo, was Petra Nikolow, 53, a Capitol Hill resident and dental assistant who is a friend of Brazil's.

Together, the two filled in details of the fateful evening. "That was a crazy day," Nikolow testified.

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