Indiana
Diocese asks judge to toss jury's verdict
FORT WAYNE, Ind. (AP) - A Roman Catholic diocese wants a federal judge to throw out a jury's verdict that it discriminated against a former teacher fired for trying to get pregnant through in vitro fertilization.
The Journal Gazette reports the Fort Wayne-South Bend Catholic Diocese's recent court filing argues that insufficient evidence was presented during trial showing that the church discriminated against Emily Herx.
A federal judge ruled last month in Herx's favor and awarded her $1.9 million in damages. That award was later reduced to about $544,000.
Diocese officials declined to renew Herx's contract in 2011 because she had undergone the medical procedure that involves mixing eggs and sperm in a laboratory dish and transferring the resulting embryo into the womb.
Diocese attorneys say church teachings call in vitro fertilization gravely evil.
Ohio
Hearing set in fired band director lawsuit
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - A federal judge has scheduled a hearing to weigh Ohio State University's request that the school's ex-band director's wrongful firing lawsuit be tossed out.
Former director Jonathan Waters sued for reinstatement last year, accusing the university, President Michael Drake and a provost of discriminating against him by disciplining him differently than a female employee and denying him due process.
The university seeks dismissal of the suit, saying Waters was an at-will employee who could be fired for any reason and Waters can't validly argue gender discrimination as a member of the male majority.
The university, which dismissed Waters last summer, alleges he repeatedly concealed a "sexualized" band culture from outsiders and misled university officials.
Judge James Graham will hear arguments March 5 in Columbus.
Wisconsin
Man convicted of killing sons wants to change plea
DARLINGTON, Wis. (AP) - A Wisconsin man convicted of killing his three young sons by setting fire to their house in 2012 wants to withdraw his guilty plea.
A post-conviction motion filed in Lafayette County Circuit Court claims Armin Wand was tricked into confessing to crimes he didn't commit. If a judge decides to grant the motion, Wand would have the chance to change his plea and request a new trial. If the motion is denied, defense attorney Patricia Fitzgerald tells the State Journal (http://bit.ly/1us33DH ) she will ask the state Court of Appeals to overturn it.
Wand was convicted of setting the fire that killed his sons, ages 3, 5 and 7. Wand's pregnant wife, Sharon, suffered critical burns and lost the child she was carrying. The couple's 2-year-old daughter survived the fire.
New York
Student accused of setting girl's clothing on fire
NEW YORK (AP) - Authorities say a New York college student is accused of setting a classmate on fire in his dorm, then singing and recording her putting out the flames.
Jaime Castano was arraigned Tuesday on assault and reckless endangerment charges.
The incident occurred at his NYU dorm in August. Prosecutors say the victim reported it to school officials, but NYU didn't report it to police until October.
The Daily News says NYU declined to comment on the delay. It says Castano was expelled in September.
Castano's attorney couldn't be reached for comment.
Court papers say Castano's cellphone video showed the 19-year-old victim asleep on his bed with flames on her clothing.
The 20-year-old Castano was ordered held on $50,000 bond or $25,000 cash bail.
The victim suffered burns to her torso.
Pennsylvania
Trial to begin for man whose yard had many bodies
WILKES-BARRE, Pa. (AP) - A notorious Pennsylvania inmate found with at least five sets of human remains buried in his yard nearly a dozen years ago will stand trial on charges he strangled two of the victims, including a pharmacist who had called the defendant his best friend.
Prosecutors allege Hugo Selenski killed Michael Kerkowski and Kerkowski's girlfriend, Tammy Lynn Fassett, then stole tens of thousands of dollars that Kerkowski had given to his father for safekeeping.
Opening statements are scheduled for Wednesday. The trial is expected to last several weeks. Selenski, 41, has pleaded innocent to homicide, robbery and related counts. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.
Selenski has been a household name in northeastern Pennsylvania since 2003, when an informant led authorities to his property north of Wilkes-Barre. There, they found the corpses of Kerkowski and Fassett in a shallow grave, plastic ties around their necks.
Investigators searched the rest of the yard and found additional bodies - at least five and as many as 12 in all.
Prosecutors took an initial crack at Selenski in 2006, when he stood trial in the slayings of two of the victims found in the yard. Prosecutors contended Selenski shot the men - both of them suspected drug dealers - then burned the remains with the help of another man who pleaded guilty to third-degree murder and testified against Selenski.
After a jury acquitted Selenski of one homicide and deadlocked on another, prosecutors immediately charged him in the deaths of Kerkowski and Fassett.
Kerkowski, who once called Selenski his best friend, had pleaded guilty to selling more than 330,000 doses of painkillers without prescriptions and was awaiting sentencing when he and Fassett disappeared.
A few months after his 2003 arrest, Selenski escaped from prison using a rope fashioned from bed sheets and remained on the loose for three days before turning himself in.
He has been serving a sentence of 32 1/2 to 65 years on a conviction in a Monroe County home invasion and robbery.
Published: Thu, Jan 22, 2015
