California
Supreme Court rejects inmate crowding appeal
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — The Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected California’s appeal of a lower-court order that could force the state to release thousands of California prison inmates before they complete their sentences.
The justices did not comment on their order, which leaves in place the earlier ruling by a panel of three federal judges requiring California to reduce its prison population by an additional 9,600 inmates to improve conditions.
California Gov. Jerry Brown has argued that the state cannot meet that goal without releasing dangerous felons and jeopardizing public safety.
In 2011, the justices ruled that the three judges on the lower court had the authority to order California to reduce inmate overcrowding as the key condition for improving prison medical care.
The decision comes as state officials are in settlement talks with attorneys representing inmates.
At the heart of the case is a 2001 lawsuit filed on behalf of inmates who claimed medical treatment in the prisons was so poor it was leading to a death a week through neglect or malpractice.
The federal courts agreed, saying conditions were so bad that they violated inmates’ constitutional rights against cruel and unusual punishment.
Ohio
Teen boy pleads guilty in killings of 2 brothers
OTTAWA, Ohio (AP) — An 18-year-old admitted Tuesday that he killed two teenage brothers inside a mobile home they shared with their mothers in northwest Ohio.
Michael Fay pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated murder in a Putnam County court and faces up to life in prison when he’s sentenced next month.
Fay didn’t make a statement during the brief hearing.
Fay and the brothers had gotten into an argument and Fay drove to a storage unit owned by his mother and retrieved a gun, said Todd Schroeder, an assistant county prosecutor.
Fay shot 14-year-old Blaine Romes while he was sleeping on a couch and then shot Blake Romes, 17, in his bedroom, Schroeder said.
He and the teens were named in an Amber Alert in May after the Romes’ mother discovered a gun and blood inside a trailer home where all three boys lived with their mothers.
Authorities at first believed that all three teens had been kidnapped after finding a bloody trail throughout the mobile home to the back door and tire tracks leading away from the trailer.
But only the Romes brothers were found dead.
Police found Fay later that afternoon at a gas station in Columbus, about 120 miles southeast of the trailer park in Ottawa.
He told officers that the Romes brothers were dead and pointed authorities to their bodies, the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office said.
Florida
2 arrests made in suicide of girl bullied online
WINTER HAVEN, Fla. (AP) — Two girls have been arrested in the death of a 12-year-old central Florida girl who authorities say committed suicide after being bullied online by several girls for nearly a year, a sheriff said Tuesday.
The girls are 12 and 14, and they have been charged with felony aggravated stalking, according to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office.
Authorities have said Rebecca Sedwick was “terrorized” by as many as 15 girls who ganged up on her and picked on her for months through online message boards and texts. Some of the girls’ computers and cellphones were seized in the investigation.
On Sept. 9, authorities say, Rebecca climbed a tower at an abandoned concrete plant and hurled herself to her death.
The bullying began over a “boyfriend issue,” and Rebecca had become depressed, Judd has said.
After the suicide, police looked at the girl’s computer and found search queries for topics including “what is overweight for a 13-year-old girl,” “how to get blades out of razors” and “how many over-the-counter drugs do you take to die.” One of her screensavers also showed Rebecca with her head resting on a railroad track.
Utah
Jury selection begins in murder trial of doctor
PROVO, Utah (AP) — Jury selection began Tuesday in the case of a once-prominent Utah doctor accused of giving his wife a fatal cocktail of drugs six years ago so he could continue an affair.
Prosecutors have portrayed 57-year-old Martin MacNeill as a lying adulterer who pestered his 50-year-old wife to get a face-lift and persuaded her plastic surgeon to prescribe a mix of potentially lethal pills for her recovery.
Days after the 2007 procedure, the couple’s then-6-year-old daughter found Michele MacNeill’s body in a bathtub at the couple’s home in Pleasant Grove, about 35 miles south of Salt Lake City.
Medical examiners haven’t determined the cause of her death and have never ruled it a homicide.
But investigators and family members claim Martin MacNeill killed his wife to continue an affair with a woman he later moved into his home.
His attorney, Randy Spencer, has said the doctor denies having anything to do with his wife’s death.
The sordid case is certain to draw television coverage, which a Utah judge authorized last month.
Martin MacNeill was a doctor who also held a law degree. His wife was a former beauty queen whose life revolved around her eight children, family members said.
The couple’s daughters have said they believe their father killed their mother. They’ve even sat in his court hearings holding up photographs of Michele MacNeill.
Martin MacNeill was long under suspicion by Utah County authorities for his wife’s death. But he wasn’t charged until about five years later, shortly after he was released from federal prison in Texas for fraud.
Both Martin MacNeill and the woman he allegedly had an affair with served prison time for fraud. The allegations included forging a document that said they were married on April 14, 2007 — the day of Michele MacNeill’s funeral.
Utah County Authorities have portrayed Martin MacNeill as a man with a history of lying. In 1997, he was convicted of felony check forgery, but the case eventually was dismissed. Investigators said he used falsified records to get into medical schools in Mexico and California, and later into Brigham Young University Law School.
In 2009, Martin MacNeill pleaded guilty to three felonies for lying to investigators.
Another case, in which he’s charged with felony forcible sexual abuse, is pending in state court.
Opening arguments and testimony are expected to begin Thursday.
