The Alabama chief justice who was suspended because he refused to move a courthouse monument of the Ten Commandments will speak in Lexington today.

Roy Moore was suspended because he refused a federal judge’s order to remove the nearly 5,300-ton monument he requisitioned for the courthouse. The judge ruled it violated the constitutional ban on government endorsement of a religion.

In late September, more than 100 people gathered at the State House in Columbia to support displaying the Ten Commandments in courthouses and other public buildings nationwide.

Moore will speak at 2 p.m. today at Willow Ridge Church in Lexington. He’ll speak about the moral climate of America and the Foundation for Moral Law, said James Rizzuti, media coordinator for the event.

According to http://www.morallaw.org/, part of the Foundation for Moral Law’s purpose is to promote, adopt and encourage laws consistent with good morals and values as set forth in the Bible.

• Spoleto Festival has money left in the bank (This article contains several news items)

CHARLESTON — Spoleto Festival U.S.A. ended 2003 with $10,007 left in the bank.

The unaudited results for the fiscal year that ended Aug. 31 shows that the festival sold a record $2.5 million in tickets, according to a statement by the festival’s board.

The two-week arts and music festival held each spring in Charleston has a budget of $6.5 million. Next year’s festival is scheduled for May 28 to June 13.

The lineup will be announced in November.

• Hawaiian plant could endanger S.C. turtles (This article contains several news items)

HILTON HEAD ISLAND — Turtle experts say they are worried about potential dangers from a plant from Hawaii that is covering South Carolina dunes.

The plant is commonly called a round-leaf chastetree or a round-leaf Vitex. It is a low-lying shrub with blue and lavender flowers.

Betsy Brabson, a South Carolina United Turtle Enthusiasts volunteer from Georgetown Cou-nty, said some local landscapers had recommended the plant as a ground cover and dune protector. The plant can choke out native plants that local animals need to live and doesn’t provide any protection for dunes.

“While it’s a pretty plant, it’s not meant for near the beach or on the beach,” Brabson said. “It’s like kudzu.”

Sally Murphy, turtle projects coordinator for the state Department of Natural Resources, said the plant could cause trouble for nesting turtles.

“It could interfere with turtles trying to dig an egg chamber,” she said. The plant also could invade the chamber and kill the eggs while they are incubating.

• Jury deliberating in death penalty trial (This article contains several news items)

BEAUFORT — The jury began deliberations Sunday in the death penalty trial of a man accused of killing two police officers who were responding to a domestic dispute call.

Abdiyyah ben Alkebulanyahh, 41, had told the jury in testimony Saturday that he did not kill the officers. “I did not shoot or kill any officers,” Alkebulanyahh said. “I did not possess a weapon.”

Acting as his own attorney, Alkebulanyahh took the stand Saturday for an hour of loud, animated testimony.

Prosecutor Randolph Murdaugh challenged the defendant’s assertion, holding up the assault rifle identified by forensic experts from the State Law Enforcement Division as the weapon used to shoot Cpl. Dyke “A.J.” Coursen, 35, and Lance Cpl. Dana Lyle Tate, 44 in January 2002.

“I have never seen it before in my life,” said Alkebulanyahh, formerly known as Tyree Roberts.

Alkebulanyahh was arrested less than an hour after the deputies were shot inside the mobile home where he had been living.

In nine days of testimony, several residents who live between the two locations have testified they saw Alkebulanyahh run through their neighborhood between about 4:30 and 5 p.m. that day.

“Each and every one of them looked you in the eye and said you are the one they saw, didn’t they?” Murdaugh asked him.

Alkebulanyahh replied: “They didn’t see me.”

In his testimony, Alkebulanyahh argued that much of the evidence was planted. “I know that some officers have gone out of their way to villainize me,” he said.

According to Alkebulanyahh’s testimony, he was in the bathroom when the officers arrived at his home and one pointed a gun to his head and walked him into the bedroom.

Alkebulanyahh said there were two other people in the bedroom, neither of whom have been mentioned in any other testimony.

Alkebulanyahh said the shooting started when one of the officers fired at the other. He said he was hit in the shoulder and ran out the door. He said he did not see who killed the officers.

Alkebulanyahh is facing two counts of murder. If convicted, the trial will go to a penalty phase to decide whether he should be sentenced to death or life in prison without parole.

Typically, there is a 24-hour waiting period between the guilt and sentencing phases of a death penalty trial.

From Staff and Wire reports.