Delaware
Child thinks heroin is candy,
SELBYVILLE, Del. (AP) - Authorities say a 4-year-old girl in Delaware passed out packets of heroin she found in her mother's backpack to her day care mates, thinking they contained candy.
The Delaware State Police said in a news release that the girl found the bags Monday in a backpack her mom gave her to use after hers was ruined by a family pet. The pack contained 249 bags of heroin weighing 3.7 grams.
Day care providers at the Hickory Tree Child Care Center in Selbyville called police when they noticed some children with the bags.
The girl's mother is 30-year-old Ashley Tull of Selbyville. She faces charges of maintaining a drug property and endangering the welfare of a child. A woman who answered a telephone number listed to Tull said she wasn't in and hung up.
Nevada
Poker star says he didn't cheat to win $22 million
LAS VEGAS (AP) - Phil Ivey, a 10-time World Series of Poker winner, said he did not cheat when he won nearly $22 million playing baccarat at casinos in New Jersey and London.
Ivey told "60 Minutes Sports" for an interview to be broadcast Tuesday that there is a difference between increasing one's odds and cheating. The Associated Press obtained a copy of the interview.
"I'm viewing the casino as my opponent," he said. "It's my job to try to exploit weaknesses in the house and try to give myself the best opportunity to win."
The Borgata in Atlantic City and Crockfords in London say Ivey cheated them out of millions of dollars when he played baccarat there in 2012. They say he essentially kept track of card values by watching for design imperfections on the backsides of the cards.
The Borgata is suing Ivey to recoup $9.6 million it paid him in winnings, while Ivey is suing Crockfords for nearly $12 million after it refused to pay.
The poker star said the casinos agreed to certain conditions that gave him an advantage before he agreed to gamble with a few million dollars.
He asked for a specific brand of playing cards, a shuffling machine, an Asian dealer and that the same card decks be used. The casinos granted all of those requests. Ivey said each of those conditions was used to get an edge, including bringing a companion with him who spoke Mandarin who could communicate with the dealer. The shuffling machine, for example, would keep the cards in a certain order, he said.
But casino officials said in court filings that they were under the impression Ivey's conditions were based on superstition and not to gain an advantage.
Officials with The Borgata and Crockfords didn't participate in the television interview because the companies don't comment on pending litigation.
"Some people believe that it was cheating," Ivey said. "I know it wasn't. The professional gamblers know it's not. I wouldn't do anything close to cheating. I mean, my reputation is everything in gambling."
Colorado
Psychological problems cited in El Jebel slayings
EAGLE, Colo. (AP) - The lawyer for a man accused of killing his aunt and uncle in El Jebel is suggesting that mental health problems contributed to the slayings.
During a court hearing Monday in Eagle, public defender Thea Reiff pointed to Williams Anderson Amaya's interrogation, in which he said he was related to John McCain and Hillary Rodham Clinton and claimed his aunt and uncle, Mayra and Eliseo Lopez, were "witches." Lt. Daniel Loya, who questioned Amaya, testified that he found paperwork in Amaya's car showing that he had been admitted to a psychological facility.
The Aspen Times reported that Loya testified that Amaya made a "conscious decision" to buy a handgun and ammunition the day of the slayings.
District Judge Paul Dunkelman ruled there was enough evidence for him to stand trial.
Alabama
No trial for man in threatening president case
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) - A judge has ruled that an Alabama man charged with threatening the president is not mentally competent to stand trial.
U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson ordered Deryke Matthew Pfeifer of Ozark committed to the custody of the attorney general for up to four months to determine whether he might attain the capacity to stand trial.
The judge made the ruling Monday after a psychologist said Pfeifer has a severe mental disorder, including bipolar disorder and a paranoid delusional system.
A federal grand jury indicted Pfeifer in July on charges of making threats on social media to harm the president.
The court records in the case include a note that Pfeifer wrote to the judge saying, "I'm not crazy."
Texas
Death penalty sought for postal worker slaying
HOUSTON (AP) - Prosecutors say they'll seek the death penalty against a Southeast Texas man charged with fatally shooting his neighborhood postal carrier last year.
James Wayne Ham of Coldspring is accused of the May 2013 slaying of Marie Youngblood. Ham was arrested three days after her body was found in her burned SUV in San Jacinto County, about 50 miles northeast of Houston. She had been shot multiple times at close range with a rifle after delivering mail to Ham's home.
Ham's indictment says she was on the phone talking with her son when he heard two noises. His mother told her she was shot, then her phone was disconnected. Court documents say investigators were led to Ham because he had complained previously about not getting mail properly delivered.
Delaware
Speed-trap tipoff tickets lead to ACLU lawsuit
SMYRNA, Del. (AP) - A town police department is facing a lawsuit over its ticket-writing policies after the Delaware American Civil Liberties Union said police wrongly ticketed a driver who flashed his headlights to warn fellow motorists of a speed trap.
The Delaware ACLU says the flashing-headlights ticket is one among several violations by the Smyrna Police Department, including an allegation that Smyrna police improperly arrested a man for cursing at an officer.
The News Journal of Wilmington reports that the ACLU filed a federal civil rights complaint on Monday. The group says that flashing lights to communicate to other drivers is a protected form of speech. The driver was ticketed with improper use of a turn signal.
Town officials declined comment to The News Journal.
Published: Wed, Oct 08, 2014
