NATION IN BRIEF : KENTUCKY : Intoxication Denied in Crash Fatal to 27

A man charged with 27 counts of murder as a result of a bus crash last year had not been drinking heavily the day of the accident, relatives and a friend testified as the defense opened its case in Carrollton, Ky. The defendant, Larry Mahoney, 36, of Worthville, admits drinking the day of the crash, driving on the wrong side of Interstate 71 and striking the loaded church bus. But the defense maintains that the 27 victims were killed because the bus was unsafe. The fuel tank of the bus owned by the Radcliff First Assembly of God church exploded, sending flames throughout the bus carrying 67 people home from an outing.