Oklahoma: Court vacates woman’s drug conviction
TULSA, Okla. (AP) — Court records indicate a Tulsa woman’s drug conviction has been vacated, increasing to 19 the number of people either freed from prison or no longer facing charges because of an ongoing police corruption investigation.
Tulsa County District Judge William Kellough vacated the eight-year suspended sentence for 48-year-old Paula M. Reeves earlier this month. She pleaded no contest in March 2005 to unlawful possession of a controlled drug with intent to distribute.
The Tulsa World reports the attorney for 56-year-old Bobby Wayne Haley Sr. says Reeves’ case is connected with that of his client. Records indicate Haley was freed from federal prison in May after an informant said she had lied during court testimony about drugs being sold at Haley’s business.
Court records indicate the informant said she gave the false testimony at the request of two Tulsa police officers.
Georgia: Top court rules for cop in Atlanta shooting of teen
ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia’s top court has ruled in favor of a former Atlanta police officer who sought immunity after being charged with murder in a shooting of a 19-year-old who was killed while the officer was investigating a report of a vehicle break-in.
The state Supreme Court on Monday upheld a lower court ruling in favor of former officer Raymond Bunn, who claimed he was acting in self-defense when he shot 19-year-old Corey Ward in the head in a parking lot in 2002.
Bunn contended that Ward was driving the SUV straight at him. Prosecutors said Bunn was not directly in front of the vehicle, which belonged to Ward’s mother, when he fired.
The Supreme Court ruled that the preponderance of evidence favored Bunn’s story, despite conflicting evidence.
Kentucky: Review finds investigation of detective poor
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — A Courier-Journal review of a Louisville police investigation that cleared a detective found it full of errors and attempts to shift blame.
Detective Crystal Marlowe has been under investigation for about a year since an assistant Jefferson County public defender questioned several of her arrests. She was suspected of making false statements and perjuring herself in court.
The newspaper asked eight criminal-justice authorities to examine documents from the 1,300-page police investigative file on Marlowe.
Victor Kappeler, head of the Department of Criminal Justice and Police Studies at Eastern Kentucky University, called the work “shoddy” and said it needed to be entirely redone.
David Harris, a University of Pittsburgh law professor who writes and teaches about police behavior, said the documents suggested investigators were “looking for explanations to justify the detective’s conduct.”
Tennessee: Nashville jury being selected for Memphis trial
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Jury selection for the Memphis trial of a man accused of killing four adults and two children is under way in Nashville.
The selection of the 16 jurors is expected to last several days. They will be bused to Shelby County for the trial, scheduled to begin Sept. 27.
The Commercial Appeal reports Shelby County Criminal Court Judge James Beasley Jr.’s decision to bring a Nashville jury to Memphis is a first for the Shelby County courts. Beasley made the decision after defense attorneys said the March 2008 case had generated more than 1,200 television news broadcasts and 50 newspaper articles in the Memphis area.
Jessie Dotson is charged with six counts of first-degree murder, three counts of attempted first-degree murder and being a felon in possession of a handgun. He faces a possible death sentence.
Illinois: General Growth to pay Hughes heirs $230M
CHICAGO (AP) — General Growth Properties Inc. will pay $230 million to some of the heirs of moviemaker and aviation mogul Howard Hughes to settle a dispute over a Las Vegas development.
The nation’s second-largest shopping mall operator, which is trying to emerge from under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, said Monday that it will pay at least $10 million in cash, with the remainder to be paid in either cash or stock. All amounts will be paid after General Growth leaves bankruptcy protection, anticipated for sometime later this year.
The dispute centered on the Summerlin community, which houses almost 100,000 residents near downtown Las Vegas. Summerlin contains hundreds of neighborhoods and dozens of villages, nine golf courses, 26 public and private schools, business parks and shopping centers.
General Growth owns The Howard Hughes Corp., developers of Summerlin. It also owns Howard Hughes Properties Inc. General Growth has previously argued that because of its bankruptcy it could cancel final payments to Hughes heirs from its subsidiaries.
General Growth, a Chicago company, filed the largest real estate bankruptcy case in U.S. history in April 2009 under the burden of nearly $28 billion in liabilities. It has since restructured billions in debt and put together a plan to emerge from bankruptcy and pay off creditors in full.
When General Growth leaves bankruptcy protection, shareholders will own stock in two separate companies — General Growth and a newly formed company, initially called Spinco, which will manage a diverse group of properties with little debt that have development potential.
“With this agreement, General Growth settles one of the last remaining material issues impacting the capital structure of the new General Growth and Spinco as we continue our steady march toward emergence from bankruptcy,” President and Chief Operating Officer Thomas H. Nolan Jr. said in a statement.
The settlement is subject to bankruptcy court approval.
