- Posted April 12, 2012
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National Roundup
Texas
Judge considers delaying Fort Hood shooting trial
FORT HOOD, Texas (AP) -- A military judge on Tuesday said he would consider postponing until October the trial of the Army psychiatrist charged in the deadly Fort Hood shooting rampage.
Maj. Nidal Hasan's attorneys asked that the trial be delayed from June until October, saying they needed more time to review the large volumes of evidence in the case. The judge, Col. Gregory Gross, previously delayed the court-martial from March until June. It's unclear when he will decide on the defense's second request for a postponement.
Hasan is charged with 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted premeditated murder. He faces the death penalty if convicted in the November 2009 shootings on the Texas Army post.
Gross on Tuesday denied a defense motion seeking a Defense Initiated Victim Outreach specialist, Fort Hood officials said. The new program aims to help the defense respond to the needs of survivors and victims' families and possibly change their attitudes if they support the death penalty.
Gross also denied a defense request to force prosecutors to provide notes from meetings and conversations with President Barack Obama, the defense secretary and other high-ranking government officials after the Nov. 5, 2009, shootings. Defense attorneys have said they want to determine if anything was discussed that may have unlawfully influenced Hasan's chain of command to prosecute him.
Prosecutors have insisted no Army officers involved in the case have been influenced by higher ranking officials.
Last week, Gross denied a defense request to remove the death penalty as a punishment option if Hasan is convicted.
The 41-year-old Hasan remains jailed. He is paralyzed from the waist down, the result of being shot by police to end the rampage.
Alabama
Judge orders man to jail for sagging pants
PRATTVILLE, Ala. (AP) -- Authorities in central Alabama say a man has been given a three-day jail sentence for contempt of court for wearing so-called saggy pants.
The Montgomery Advertiser reports that 20-year-old LaMarcus D. Ramsey was in Autauga County Circuit Court on Tuesday to enter a plea on a charge of receiving stolen property.
Circuit Judge John Bush told Ramsey his blue jeans were sagging too low and gave him the three-day stint, which will be served in the Autauga Metro jail. The judge told Ramsey to buy pants that fit or a belt when he gets out of jail.
It wasn't known Wednesday morning whether Ramsey has an attorney.
Maine
Ex-Syracuse coach's accuser sentenced for abuse
AUBURN, Maine (AP) -- A Lewiston man who accused former Syracuse University assistant basketball coach Bernie Fine of molesting him was sentenced Wednesday to three years and three months in prison for sexually abusing a boy in Maine.
Zach Tomaselli, 23, pleaded guilty in December to gross sexual assault, unlawful sexual contact and two other sex-related counts, while seven other counts were dropped. The plea bargain called for a 12-year sentence, but the amount of time served was capped at three years and three months.
At Wednesday's hearing in Androscoggin County Superior Court, Tomaselli accepted responsibility and apologized to the victim, who attended a camp where Tomaselli was a counselor. The boy was 13 and 14 at the time at the time of the sexual abuse.
Tomaselli is one of three men to accuse Fine of molesting them as boys, but his is the only case that falls within the statute of limitations. The U.S. attorney's office is investigating his claim that Fine molested him in 2002 in Pittsburgh. Fine, who was fired, has denied the accusations.
Tomaselli grew up outside of Watertown, N.Y, before moving to Maine to live with his grandmother in Lewiston. After counseling, Tomaselli said he understands that he'd groomed the boy for a sexual relationship, and he has said he intends to get additional help.
Oklahoma
Pharmacy tech charged with murder
ADA, Okla. (AP) -- Prosecutors in Pontotoc County have charged a 20-year-old pharmacy technician with first-degree murder after he allegedly sold anti-anxiety and pain medications to a man who didn't have a prescription and later died of an overdose.
Zebakiah Nemecek is charged in the December death of 20-year-old Kase Harris of Ada. The Ada News reports that an autopsy shows Harris died of a hydrocodone overdose.
A police affidavit claims that Harris paid $100 to Nemecek in exchange for Xanax and Lortab -- which includes hydrocodone.
Police say Harris later went to a party and that he was found unresponsive the next morning by another partygoer. He was pronounced dead at a hospital.
Court records list Nemecek's attorney as Irven Box, who could not be reached for comment Wednesday morning.
California
Supreme Court won't hear school "God banner" case
POWAY, Calif. (AP) -- A San Diego County schoolteacher has lost his battle to display banners referring to God in his classroom.
The U.S. Supreme Court declined to review the case last month without comment.
Westview High School math teacher Bradley Johnson kept large banners in his classroom with slogans such as "In God We Trust," "One Nation Under God," and "God Bless America."
He took them down in 2007 after the Poway Unified School District said they violated the school's secular education mission.
Johnson challenged the order on First Amendment grounds but lost in federal appeals court.
Virginia
3rd lawsuit filed over coaster crash at Salem Fair
ROANOKE, Va. (AP) -- A Florida ride company faces another lawsuit over a roller coaster crash at the Salem Fair last summer.
The Roanoke Times reports that the mother of Samantha Goad filed the $1 million lawsuit on her behalf against Deggeller Attractions this week in federal court in Roanoke.
The lawsuit says Goad suffered serious injuries when the car she was riding in stopped and was rear-ended by a second car.
George Roseberry and Brittney Simms filed similar $1 million lawsuits in January.
Stuart, Fla.-based Deggeller has filed a counterclaim against Roseberry.
The company says Roseberry wore a hat despite being told not to by ride operators. The hat flew off and got stuck in the wheels of the car Roseberry was riding in, causing it to stop.
Published: Thu, Apr 12, 2012
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