National Roundup

Pennsylvania
Panel finds judge guilty of violating ethics
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A Pennsylvania disciplinary panel has ruled that a Philadelphia municipal judge violated judicial ethics through her role in a case-fixing scandal.

The Philadelphia Inquirer reports the Court of Judicial Discipline in a ruling last week found 56-year-old Dawn Segal guilty of seven violations, including bringing the courts into disrepute.

The panel is expected to rule shortly on Segal’s punishment. She hasn’t been criminally charged and remains on unpaid suspension.

The judicial charges are related to the FBI’s investigation of Philadelphia Judge Joseph Waters Jr., who is serving a prison term for fraud. The case cited recorded conversations in which Waters asked Segal to help friends and associates appearing before her.
Segal’s attorney has said Segal pretended to go along with Waters’ requests. He couldn’t be reached for comment.


Tennessee
Inmates sue over lack of Hepatitis C treatment
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tennessee inmates infected with hepatitis C have filed a federal lawsuit against state prison officials, seeking treatment for all inmates who have the potentially deadly disease.

The American Civil Liberties Union and other advocates are alleging in U.S. District Court in Nashville that Tennessee Department of Correction officials are knowingly denying inmates care for their hepatitis C.

The Tennessean reports the lawsuit alleges the department is denying care because the best available medication is too expensive.

Tennessee Department of Cor­rec­tion spokeswoman Neysa Taylor said in an email the department “is currently unaware of the referenced court filing but is confident the department is providing adequate medical care as determined by medical protocol.”

The suit was brought by inmates Charles Graham and Russell L. Davis.

Illinois
Prosecutors: Rod Blagojevich isn’t ‘deserving of leniency’
CHICAGO (AP) — Federal prosecutors say statements by imprisoned former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich prove he isn’t “deserving of leniency.”

A resentencing hearing is scheduled next month for Blagojevich, who is hoping a federal judge will give him a five-year sentence instead of his original 14 years. Blagojevich has been in a Colorado federal prison since 2012 after jurors convicted him of 18 corruption counts, including attempting to sell the vacant U.S. Senate seat once occupied by President Barack Obama.

The Chicago Sun-Times reports that prosecutors argue in a Monday court filing that Blagojevich has shown a “complete lack of acceptance of responsibility.”

Blagojevich’s lawyers said in their own late Monday court filing that they think prosecutors will change their minds after reading letters of support from Blagojevich’s fellow inmates.

Ohio
Prosecutor: Metroparks rangers justified in shooting man
CLEVELAND (AP) — A prosecutor has cleared two Cleveland Metroparks rangers who fatally shot a man at the city’s Justice Center Complex in December.

Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Timothy McGinty said Monday that rangers Chelsea McLellan and Kyle Schultz were justified in shooting 33-year-old Derek Stokes.

Investigators say McLellan was taking Stokes in for booking when the gunfire broke out in an underground garage. An investigative report says Stokes managed to conceal a gun inside his boot before he was arrested and put in a police cruiser.

During the ride, authorities say Stokes aimed the gun at McLellan’s head but she slammed the brakes, throwing off his aim. She was shot in her bulletproof vest. Schultz was following behind.
Authorities say the rangers fired 47 shots at Stokes, hitting him three times.

Pennsylvania
Man who said fall killed infant charged, jailed
NEW CUMBERLAND, Pa. (AP) — A central Pennsylvania man who told police his infant daughter was injured falling out of her baby swing has been charged with inflicting those injuries instead, which killed her.

The public defender for 23-year-old Deven Kohr declined comment on criminal homicide and other charges filed against the New Cumberland man.

Police say emergency crews were called to home on May 14 when the 6-month-old girl went into cardiac arrest. Doctors later determined that the girl’s injuries were called by having been squeezed within 15 minutes and she died at a hospital later that day.
A coroner found injuries consistent with traumatic asphyxia and “numerous brain bleeds” that had occurred in the past. There were hemorrhages in both the girl’s eyes which would have left her blind, too.

Kohr is jailed without bond.

New Jersey
Nurse accused of stabbing boy with needle 6 times
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — A registered nurse caught on video stabbing an autistic boy with a hypodermic needle to control his behavior has agreed to surrender her license during an investigation, officials said.

Naomi Derrick agreed to the temporary suspension after she was accused of gross negligence, professional misconduct and incompetence in her treatment of the 10-year-old, who is an inpatient at AtlantiCare Regional Health Care’s psychiatric unit in Atlantic City, officials said.

“A developmentally disabled child, confined to a psychiatric ward under the supervision of nurses, is as vulnerable a patient as you can find,” said Christopher Porrino, acting attorney general.

According to documents filed with the New Jersey Board of Nursing, the assaults were captured by a video camera or witnessed by another hospital employee May 15.

The nurse brandished the syringe in a menacing manner and threatened the boy that she would “give him the needle” if he did not behave, according to the filed documents. On at least six occasions, Derrick stabbed the boy with the unsheathed hypodermic needle, sometimes repeatedly, in his upper arm, thigh, kneecaps, foot and hand, according to the documents.

Authorities said the nurse also tried to force the boy to comply by stepping on his bare foot with her shoe and bending his pinky finger back until a crack was heard.

“Her alleged actions demonstrate a shocking departure from the most basic standards of care, let alone the standard of care one would expect for a child with special needs,” said Steve Lee, director of the Division of Consumer Affairs.

Derrick couldn’t be reached for comment. The Associated Press called a phone number that apparently belongs to her, and its voicemail box was full.