OAKLAND, California (AP) – A California girl declared brain dead after tonsil surgery will remain on life support for at least another week after a state judge on Monday extended a deadline.
Jahi McMath’s mother, Nailah Winkfield, hailed the decision as an answer to her prayers and a sign that she has been right to keep fighting for the teen, who doctors have said will never recover.
With television cameras clustered outside the hospital, the family maintained a vigil as the deadline approached.
When Winkfield heard of the judge’s decision to push back the deadline, she wept and hugged relatives outside the hospital.
“Who wants to know the date and the time their child would die?” Winkfield said. “I don’t care what anyone has to say about what I’m doing. … I have to do what is right for me and for Jahi.”
She said she does not believe her daughter is dead because her heart is still beating.
Doctors at Children’s Hospital Oakland want to take her off the machines that are keeping her body functioning. Her family wants to continue life support, saying they have hope she will still pull through.
Shortly before a previous ruling would have allowed doctors to end life support at 5 p.m. Monday, Alameda County Superior Court Judge Evelio Grillo ordered the hospital to keep Jahi on a ventilator until Jan. 7 to give the family time to file a petition in state appellate court.
Grillo’s ruling Monday is the latest twist in a harrowing legal and medical fight that has reignited a heated debate about when life support should end for a severely brain-damaged person.
Also on Monday, the family’s lawyer filed suit in federal court, requesting that the hospital be compelled to perform a tracheotomy for breathing and to insert a feeding tube — procedures that would allow Jahi to be transferred to a facility willing to care for her. The hospital has said it’s unethical to perform surgery on a person who is legally dead.
Sam Singer, a hospital spokesman, said it would comply with the judge’s new order but would oppose any efforts by Jahi’s family to convince a court that she is still alive and entitled to the same rights as a living person.
“We are hopeful we will be successful so this tragedy can end,” Singer said.
He also dismissed claims by Jahi’s relatives that she has shown signs of life, saying any muscle activity was an involuntary muscle reflex.
The family’s lawyer, Christopher Dolan, said when he called Jahi’s mother at the hospital about the extension of the deadline, she said hospital staff had cleared family members out of a waiting room as doctors prepared to remove Jahi from the ventilator.
“He’s giving us a meaningful opportunity to seek relief and what I consider a stay of execution,” Dolan said of the judge’s ruling. “I feel like I’m a death row lawyer, and it does not feel good.”
The attorney said he knows he has been widely criticized by some for giving the girl’s family a false sense of hope. But he said, “I am fighting for the right of parents to direct the health care of their child and for them to make the choice.”
Doctors at Children’s Hospital and an independent pediatric neurologist from Stanford University have concluded Jahi is brain dead.
She underwent a tonsillectomy at the hospital Dec. 9 to treat sleep apnea and other issues. After she awoke from the operation, her family said, she started bleeding heavily and went into cardiac arrest. Then she was declared brain dead three days later.
In a declaration filed with the federal action by Jahi’s family, Dr. Paul Byrne, a pediatrician who has questioned the definition of brain death, said he visited Jahi’s bedside and observed her responding to her grandmother’s voice and touch with a squirming movement.
“In my professional opinion, she is not a cadaver,” Byrne said. “Her heart beats thousands of times a day.”
The family’s court filings said the New Beginnings Community Center in Medford, N.Y., is willing to take Jahi and provide 24-hour medical care. The facility’s management could not be reached for comment Monday night.
Arrangements also have been made, according to the documents, with an air ambulance company for a doctor to accompany Jahi on a private jet from Oakland to Long Island for $27,950.
By Monday night, the family’s fundraising website had raised more than $29,000 for a possible transfer.
Dolan said in a phone interview that he has also been in talks with a facility in Arizona because the family would like to keep Jahi as close as possible.
Earlier, Singer, the hospital spokesman, reiterated the position of its doctors.
“This is one of the most tragic situations imaginable,” Singer said. “A family has lost their young daughter. But unfortunately, Jahi is deceased. No amount of hope, prayer or medical procedures will bring her back.”
Hospital spokeswoman Cynthia Chiarappa has said officials would have to understand the capabilities of the New York facility before allowing a transfer. The hospital also said it would need to confirm there is lawful transportation included in any transfer plan and there is written permission from the coroner.

 NEW YORK –Time Warner Cable was selected as a 2013 Top Company for People of Color by the National Association for Multi-Ethnicity in Communications (NAMIC), an organization that educates, advocates and empowers for multi-ethnic diversity in the communications industry. The company was named to this list based on the results from a joint NAMIC and Women in Cable Telecommunications (WICT) Workforce Diversity Survey. This is NAMIC’s first “Top Companies for People of Color” list.
“The 52,000 people of Time Warner Cable are honored to receive this recognition from NAMIC,” said Peter Stern, Time Warner Cable’s Chief Strategy, People and Corporate Development Officer. “We believe passionately that our commitment to diverse voices makes us a great place to work, helps us better serve our communities, and enhances our relevance to our 15 million customers.”
“Time Warner Cable shares NAMIC’s goal of advancing diversity and inclusion within the evolving marketplace,” said Alicin Williamson, interim head of NAMIC and principal of The Raben Group. “Their support of members at the national and chapter levels and our Executive Leadership Development Program and Leadership Seminar programs continues to demonstrate their commitment to the career development of professionals of color throughout all levels of their organization.”
NAMIC named Time Warner Cable to its “Top Company” list based on several categories, including the hiring and promotion of people of color to its management and workforce, as well as the alignment of diversity with its business goals and objectives. Other criteria included the company’s demonstration to support diversity and inclusion, and strategies to guarantee diversity of vendors and suppliers. NAMIC and WICT engaged Mercer, an independent research partner and global human capital consultants, to conduct the survey.
Time Warner Cable is a longstanding partner of NAMIC. As part of this partnership, Time Warner Cable employees have participated in events, conferences, mentorship and leadership development programs.
In addition, Time Warner Cable actively supports several employee resource groups that provide professional development and leverage the diversity of people and experiences. Employee resource groups available to Time Warner Cable employees include the Black Business Employee Network, OUT@twc, VetNet and !Hola TWC!.

By Joe Sterling and Josh Levs, CNN

(CNN) – A man charged with a federal hate crime in connection with a “knockout” assault against an elderly Black man appears in court Friday afternoon for a detention hearing.
Authorities say the assault was racially motivated.
Conrad Alvin Barrett, 27, of Katy, Texas, has been charged with one count of violating the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, the U.S. Justice Department said Thursday.
According to the federal complaint, Barrett attacked the 79-year-old man “because of the man’s race and color.”
The suspect made a video of the attack November 24, the complaint said. In the video, he allegedly commented that “the plan is to see if I were to hit a Black person, would this be nationally televised?”
He then allegedly “hit the man with such force that the man immediately fell to the ground. Barrett then laughed and said ‘knockout,’ as he ran to his vehicle and fled.”
The victim suffered two jaw fractures and was hospitalized for several days, the complaint said.
Barrett’s attorney, George Parnham, told CNN the affidavit does not “pull back the layers of mental health.”
His client has bipolar disorder and takes medication, Parnham said in an earlier call.
Parnham said he could not state whether his client carried out the attack, but, “mental health issues definitely played a part in anything that occurred.”
Barrett “is very sorry for this person,” Parnham said, adding that he and his client haven’t had much opportunity to discuss the facts of the case.
‘Knockout game’ a national problem
The “knockout game” is an assault in which an assailant aims to knock out an unsuspecting victim with one punch.
According to the Justice Department complaint, there have been “knockout game” incidents, some of which have been called other names, as long ago as 1992.
New York police previously charged suspect Marajh Amrit with a hate crime in the alleged attack of a white Jewish man as part of a “knockout” game.
Similar cases have been reported recently in several states, including Illinois, Missouri and Washington.
“Hate crimes tear at the fabric of entire communities,” U.S. Acting Assistant Attorney General Jocelyn Samuels said Thursday in a Justice Department statement announcing the charge against Barrett. “As always, the Civil Rights Division will work with our federal and state law enforcement partners to ensure that hate crimes are identified and prosecuted, and that justice is done.”
Barrett, who is white, allegedly recorded himself on his cell phone attacking the man and showed the video to others, the department said. “The complaint alleges Barrett made several videos, one in which he identifies himself and another in which he makes a racial slur. In addition, Barrett had allegedly been working up the ‘courage’ to play the ‘knockout game’ for approximately a week.”
The victim’s face was swollen on one side, and he has had to use a straw to drink, a nephew, Joseph Lewis, told CNN affiliate KTRK-TV in Houston.
The station reported that Barrett faces up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine if convicted.
Barrett told an off-duty police officer what happened and shared a video, saying he felt bad, the affidavit said.
In other videos on his phone that police confiscated, Barrett used the N-word and said that African-Americans “haven’t fully experienced the blessing of evolution,” according to the criminal complaint.
“It is unimaginable in this day and age that one could be drawn to violently attack another based on the color of their skin,” said Special Agent in Charge Stephen Morris of the FBI’s Houston office. “We remind all citizens that we are protected under the law from such racially motivated attacks, and encourage everyone to report such crimes to the FBI.”
New York case
In a separate case, New York City police on Wednesday searched for a man who allegedly punched a 33-year-old woman in the back of the head in Brooklyn in what may be a “knockout” assault.
Despite that and other cases, New York Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said last month that city officials haven’t seen evidence of a trend, though they are not ruling out the idea.
“The press has named it the so-called knockout game. We don’t discount that that exists. It’s a possibility. We’ve investigated and will continue to investigate,” Kelly told reporters in late November.
CNN’s Morgan Winsor, Poppy Harlow and Shimon Prokupecz contributed to this report.