North Carolina
Prosecutor clears Charlotte police officers in death
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — An investigation has concluded two Charlotte police officers did nothing wrong when they shot and killed a teen during an undercover drug deal earlier this year.
Mecklenburg District Attorney Andrew Murray has told Police Chief Rodney Monroe that a State Bureau of Investigation review found no wrongdoing by the officers, The Charlotte Observer reported.
“Consequently, this office will not pursue criminal charges against either officer in this matter,” Murray said.
Jaquaz Walker, 17, died June 18 after he was shot as he tried to rob a police informant during a drug buy.
Walker’s family had requested an investigation by the State Bureau of Investigation.
During a vigil after Walker’s death, his aunt, Deborah Walker, said police had gone too far. “Everyone deserves a second chance, and my nephew will never get that,” she said.
Police had targeted what they said were two gang members for a drug buy but the targets of the investigation tried to rob the informant when the shooting occurred.
Louisiana
Judge postpones PI’s trial in DWI bribery scheme
LAFAYETTE, La. (AP) — A federal judge postponed the scheduled Dec. 16 trial of a Lafayette private investigator accused of helping organize a scheme to bribe employees of the 15th Judicial District Attorney’s Office for favorable treatment in DWI cases.
The Advocate reports U.S. District Judge Elizabeth Foote pushed back Robert Williamson’s trial in the federal investigation to March 10, citing concerns about Williamson’s health and the need for his defense attorney to have more time to prepare.
Williamson’s attorney, Thomas Damico, requested the trial delay earlier this month.
The attorney wrote in court filings that Williamson, 64, needs immediate medical care and will not be available to help prepare for his defense.
Damico did not elaborate on the nature of Williamson’s health problems, but he has a history of mental issues and strokes, according to court filings in an unrelated civil case in which his family members temporarily sought in 2012 to take control of his financial and medical affairs.
A federal grand jury indicted Williamson in February on charges of conspiracy, bribery and making a false statement to a federal agent.
He is accused of plying employees of the District Attorney’s Office with cash and gifts in return for favorable treatment of criminal defendants, mainly in DWI cases.
Five others have pleaded guilty in the investigation, including three former employees of the District Attorney’s Office who helped arrange special plea deals that allowed for the quick resolution of the criminal cases and the immediate reinstatement of driving privileges.
The scheme operated from 2008 to 2012, and employees of the District Attorney’s Office received more than $70,000 in cash plus gifts.
North Dakota
Doctor acquitted of raping wife returns to work
FARGO, N.D. (AP) — A Fargo surgeon who was acquitted last year of drugging and raping his wife has resumed practicing medicine at Sanford Health.
Jon Norberg returned to Sanford Orthopedics & Sports Medicine this month, according to Sanford Orthopedics Clinic Vice President Darla Dobberstein.
“He is a highly skilled, excellent hand surgeon who provides quality care to his patients,” Dobberstein said in a statement.
A home telephone listing for Norberg could not be found. Officials at his office referred calls to Sanford’s media relations department. Norberg did not immediately respond to an Associated Press request for comment left with that department.
Jurors acquitted Norberg on charges of gross sexual imposition and reckless endangerment, following a nearly three-week trial. He could have faced up to life in prison if convicted.
The North Dakota Board of Medical Examiners in August reinstated Norberg’s medical license. The board had suspended his license in December 2011 after Administrative Law Judge Allen Hoberg ruled that Norberg frequently gave his wife the powerful sedative propofol — the anesthetic that pop star Michael Jackson fatally overdosed on in 2009. Norberg lacked the proper credentials to give the drug and did not have necessary monitoring equipment at his home to ensure it could be administered safely, the judge concluded.
Prosecutors argued that Norberg gave his wife, a doctor, a drug she knew nothing about so he could have sex with her. Defense attorneys rejected the claim, saying the couple agreed on propofol to help Alonna Norberg with chronic pain, and that she made up the rape allegations to help her in a divorce and child custody case.
The Associated Press typically doesn’t identify the alleged victims in cases that might be sexual assaults, but Alonna Norberg has spoken publically about the case several times.
Illinois
New alderman accused of trying to escape jail
MURPHYSBORO, Ill. (AP) — A southern Illinois alderman facing charges of aggravated criminal sexual abuse, kidnapping and unlawful restraint now is accused of trying to escape from jail last month.
Jackson County prosecutors charged 46-year-old Ronald Nolan of Murphysboro with attempted escape, aggravated battery and resisting a peace officer.
Nolan was being held in the lockup on $100,000 bond related to charges he drove around Jackson and Union counties in September with a 20-year-old Carbondale woman against her will.
The latest charges allege Nolan broke a guard’s finger and struck another’s genitals while trying to escape. The Associated Press left a message with his attorney.
Nolan was elected in April to a four-year term as a Murphysboro alderman. Murphysboro’s mayor says there’s no attempt to remove Nolan from the council since he’s awaiting trial.
Oregon
Woman awarded $101K for false imprisonment
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Jurors awarded more than $101,000 to a Happy Valley woman who was a victim of identity theft and wrongly arrested by Clackamas County sheriff’s deputies.
The Oregonian reports jurors deliberated less than two hours before reaching a verdict upholding Kimberly Fossen’s claims of negligence and false imprisonment against Clackamas County.
Fossen was arrested in 2009 and spent a night in jail and was arraigned in shackles before she was released.
An arrest warrant had been issued in New York accusing her of theft. The woman police were looking for had assumed Fossen’s identity. Fossen told deputies about the identity theft when they arrested her and asked them to check her fingerprints.
