Kentucky: Man investigated for additional murders in Ohio
JEFFERSON, Wis. (AP) — A 76-year-old man awaiting trial for the 1980 homicides of teenage sweethearts in Wisconsin is under investigation for the slaying of a couple in Ohio.
Court records obtained by the Jefferson County Daily Union say Edward Edwards’ DNA has been sent to authorities in Ohio who are working to solve the 1977 murders of 21-year-old William Lavaco and 18-year-old Judith Straub.
Court documents say Edwards, of Louisville, Ky., invited the Summit County, Ohio prosecutors to interview him in the 1977 homicides.
Edwards is awaiting trial in Wisconsin for the August 1980 murders of Kelly Drew and Timothy Hack. The 19-year-olds disappeared after a wedding reception and their bodies were found in nearby woods two months later.
A call to Edwards’ attorney was not immediately returned.
Ohio: DNA tests clear man convicted of raping young girl
CLEVELAND (AP) — An Ohio man who spent nearly 30 years in prison is being released after new DNA tests showed he didn’t rape an 11-year-old girl.
Raymond Towler had been serving a life sentence for the rape of a girl in a Cleveland park in 1981. Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Eileen Gallagher choked back tears as she vacated the conviction on Wednesday and left the bench to shake Towler’s hand at the defense table.
Prosecutors had asked the court to act immediately after receiving the test results Monday.
The Ohio Innocence Project, an organization that uses DNA evidence to clear people wrongfully convicted of crimes, says Towler has served the second-longest amount of time among prisoners in the U.S. who were eventually exonerated by DNA.
Oklahoma: Parents of dead woman sue to edit death cert.
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — The parents of a woman found shot to death nearly 10 years ago are suing to have the death certificate changed from suicide to homicide.
The lawsuit filed Tuesday in Oklahoma County District Court by Joe and Donna Turner asks that the state medical examiner’s office be ordered change the death certificate of Chanda Turner. The 23-year-old Turner was found dead in Garvin County with a gunshot wound to the chest in July 2000.
The Turners say the change is needed to help find their daughter’s killer.
The Turners say former chief medical examiner Collie Trant decided the death was a homicide but was fired in February before he could make the change.
Dr. Chai Choi has since decided not to amend the death certificate.
California: City sues over payments to pension fund
SAN DIEGO (AP) — San Diego is suing to force its employees to pay more into their pension fund to make up for $80 million in investment losses.
The suit was filed Monday in Superior Court against the San Diego City Employees Retirement System, which is funded by both city and employee contributions.
The suit asks a judge to order the system to increase worker contributions. City Attorney Jan Goldsmith argues that under the city charter, workers must split the cost of making up the investment losses.
Labor leaders fear about 9,000 union workers would be charged an extra $4,000 each.
A ruling is expected before the city makes its annual pension payment on July 1.
Minnesota: Journalists sue over convention arrests in 2008
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Syndicated journalist Amy Goodman and two of her producers are suing St. Paul, Minneapolis and other defendants over their arrests while covering the 2008 Republican National Convention.
Goodman, host of the radio and TV news program “Democracy Now!” and her producers were among 40 to 50 journalists arrested covering protests at the convention in downtown St. Paul, along with about 800 demonstrators and bystanders.
The lawsuit filed Wednesday in federal court in Minnesota alleges that authorities violated the First Amendment freedoms of Goodman, her producers and other journalists by interfering with their rights to gather news.
They’re seeking court orders to prevent similar actions in the future, plus unspecified monetary damages.
St. Paul’s interim city attorney, Gerald Hendrickson, did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment.
Goodman’s program airs on over 750 stations.
Washington: Anti-war activist wins $169,000 settlement
SEATTLE (AP) — An anti-war activist from The Evergreen State College will receive $169,000 as part of a settlement of lawsuit that accused police of false arrest.
The Seattle Times reports 22-year-old Philip Chinn was arrested in May 2007 on the way to an anti-war protest at the Port of Grays Harbor in Aberdeen.
Court documents say police had broadcast that his car contained known anarchists. Washington State Patrol Troopers arrested Chinn for drunken driving even though he passed a field sobriety test. The charge was dropped after no alcohol or drugs were found in tests.
The Patrol has agreed to pay Chinn $109,000 and the city of Aberdeen and Grays Harbor County $30,000 each. The agencies also will pay legal fees estimated at more than $375,000.
Wisconsin: City symphony loses tax case
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The Wisconsin Supreme Court says the state’s five percent sales tax does apply to the sale of tickets to the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra.
Ruling in a tax dispute that dates back to the mid 1990s, the high court said Wednesday the orchestra’s concerts are entertainment events and therefore are subject to the tax.
The court rejected the symphony’s argument that the 100 to 150 concerts it gives every year are primarily educational and charitable in nature and therefore exempt from the sales tax.
The orchestra had been seeking roughly $720,000 in refunds from the Department of Revenue for taxes paid between 1992 and 1996 on sales of admissions to concerts.
