National Roundup

Missouri
Judge soon to decide lawsuit involving Busch
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. (AP) — A southeast Missouri judge says he’ll resolve next month a wrongful-death lawsuit against the former Anheuser Busch chief executive over the 2010 drug overdose death of that beer magnate’s girlfriend.
Cape Girardeau County Circuit Judge William Syler told both sides during a hearing Tuesday that he’ll decide the civil lawsuit involving August Busch IV on Nov. 14.
Syler says he will determine whether to accept or reject Busch’s offer of $1.55 million to end the lawsuit filed on behalf of Adrienne Martin’s son and mother.
Martin was 27 when she died in 2010 of what authorities said was an accidental overdose at Busch’s St. Louis-area home. An autopsy revealed prolonged cocaine use and found that Martin had suffered an overdose of the prescription painkiller oxycodone.

Pennsylvania
Court nixes 20-yr sentence in MySpace sex case
ERIE, Pa. (AP) — A 35-year-old northwestern Pennsylvania man serving 20 years in federal prison for trying to seduce a 14-year-old girl he met on the MySpace social networking site must be resentenced.
The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals says a federal judge didn’t consider arguments from Michael Begin’s defense attorney that the sentence might be unduly harsh.
Begin has pleaded guilty to attempting to seduce the girl and attempting to transfer obscene material to her.
What Begin didn’t know is that the girl’s mother saw messages he had sent in late 2009 and contacted the FBI, who then used the girl’s cell phone and MySpace account to keep in touch with Begin.
The Bradford man was carrying handcuffs and a condom when he was arrested at a restaurant where he arranged to meet the girl in February 2010.

Arizona
Man charged in PV killings can’t defend himself
PHOENIX (AP) — A Maricopa County judge says a man charged with killing a Paradise Valley couple and a Phoenix man can’t act as his own attorney.
The Arizona Republic reports that 32-year-old Michael Crane repeatedly told Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Warren Granville at a hearing that he intended to represent himself regardless of what Granville decided.
Granville’s ruling cited case law that allowed him to deny the request if a defendant “deliberately engages in serious and obstructionist misconduct.” Tuesday’s ruling noted Crane’s repeated refusal to accept the court’s power.
Crane is facing first-degree murder and arson charges for the deaths of Lawrence and Glenna Shapiro. Crane is also facing murder charges for the death of cigar shop owner Bruce Gaudet.

Mississippi
Oncologist in murder case denied bail again
GREENWOOD, Miss. (AP) — A Greenwood doctor indicted in a murder-for-hire plot that prosecutors say unsuccessfully targeted a local attorney has been denied bond again.
The Greenwood Commonwealth reports that Circuit Judge Breland Hilburn on Tuesday rejected Dr. Arnold Smith’s argument that he was being illegally detained on a charge of capital murder.
Prosecutors said Smith hired people to kill attorney Lee Abraham, who represented Smith’s ex-wife in the couple’s divorce years ago. Authorities say one of the suspected hit men was killed by law-enforcement officers in an April 28 shootout at Abraham’s law office in downtown Greenwood. Abraham was not injured.
Smith. 70, was indicted on one count of capital murder and two counts of conspiracy to commit murder.
Two other men — Derrick Lacy and Cordarious Robinson — are charged in the case. Lacy was indicted on one count each of capital murder and conspiracy. Robinson was indicted on one count of conspiracy. He also was indicted on one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm.
Smith and Lacy, 25, are being held without bond at the Leflore County Jail. Robinson, 22, is out on bond.
Smith’s attorneys contended there is no legal justification for charging Smith with the death of a man he allegedly hired to kill attorney Lee Abraham. Breland said the issue had already been settled by the Mississippi Supreme Court, which upheld an earlier denial of bond for Smith.
According to the police investigation, the conspiracy began with Smith offering to pay $20,000 to Keaira Byrd to kill Abraham, toward whom Smith has had a long-running animosity. Prosecutors say Byrd and Lacy contacted Abraham and told him of the plot, offering to sell Abraham an automatic weapon they said had been provided by Smith for the slaying.
Abraham made arrangements to meet the pair at his law office, across from the Leflore County Courthouse. He contacted the state attorney general’s office to request that investigators to be present, according to authorities. Three were sent.
When Byrd and Lacy arrived, Byrd was wearing a ski mask and holding an assault weapon, investigators say. Gunfire was exchanged. Byrd, 23, was killed, and Lacy was severely injured. One of the attorney general’s agents suffered a minor wound.
Smith and Lacy have been charged with causing Byrd’s death by conspiring with him in the assassination plot. The slaying was upgraded to a capital offense because, according to the indictment, it occurred in connection with another felony being committed. The indictment says Lacy and Byrd committed burglary in gaining access to Abraham’s office “by the use or subterfuge or trick.”
Robinson’s charges result from a separate alleged conspiracy with Smith to kill Abraham.

Arkansas
Judge sets
hearing in case over evidence
WEST MEMPHIS, Ark. (AP) — A judge has scheduled a hearing in a lawsuit filed by the mother of one of three Cub Scouts killed in 1993 in West Memphis.
Pam Hicks filed the civil suit in hopes of viewing evidence in the slaying of her son, 8-year-old Stevie Branch, and his friends, Michael Moore and Christopher Byers.
Hicks argues that police and prosecutors are violating the state’s Freedom of Information Act by not allowing her to examine items from the case, including her son’s bicycle and clothing. The Jonesboro Sun reports that Circuit Court Judge Victor Hill will consider Hicks’ request at 10 a.m. on Oct. 24.
Prosecutor Scott Ellington has said he’s willing to let Hicks view the bicycle and clothing but that he won’t release all investigative materials.