National Roundup

Nevada New trial date set for band frontman in battery case LAS VEGAS (AP) - Motley Crue frontman Vince Neil's trial has been postponed in a misdemeanor case alleging he grabbed a woman and pulled her to the ground in April outside a Las Vegas Strip resort. The 55-year-old rocker didn't appear in court Monday while his lawyer, Richard Schonfeld, told a judge that a key defense witness wasn't available this week. The judge reset trial for Oct. 20. Schonfeld wouldn't say outside court whether the witness is actor Nicolas Cage. Cage was seen in bystander video physically restraining Neil last April 7 outside the Aria casino-hotel. Neil could face up to six months in jail if he's convicted of misdemeanor battery. Motley Crue is known best for hard partying, famous girlfriends and 1980s-era hits like "Girls, Girls, Girls" and "Dr. Feelgood." Massachusetts Man charged in restaurant crash pleads not guilty WOBURN, Mass. (AP) - The driver of an SUV that crashed through the front of a Massachusetts pizza restaurant, killing two customers, has multiple sclerosis, but the condition did not play a role, prosecutors said Monday. Bradford Casler, 55, of Newton, was released on personal recognizance after pleading not guilty Monday in Middlesex Superior Court to two counts of motor vehicle homicide and operating a motor vehicle to endanger. Prosecutors had asked for $10,000 bail. Casler was speeding and did not apply his brakes when he went through an intersection and crashed into Sweet Tomatoes restaurant in Newton on March 1, prosecutor Chris Tarrant said. Gregory Morin, 32, of Newton, and Eleanor Miele, 57, of Watertown, were killed. Seven other people were injured. The restaurant remains closed. David Meier, Casler's attorney, previously said that his client's "health and physical condition could not have prevented such a tragic accident." Meier said Monday that he will review the information prosecutors used to say his medical condition did not cause the crash. Multiple sclerosis is a disease of the central nervous system that can cause pain, fatigue, limb numbness, dizziness and weakness. Casler feels "sorrow and grief" about the crash, has not driven since and likely never will again, Meier said. Nevada Prison for woman in neglect death of grandmother MINDEN, Nev. (AP) - A Nevada woman has been sentenced to up to six years in prison for neglect causing the death of her 93-year-old grandmother, whose feet were gnawed by rodents before she died in her trash-filled, urine-stained home. A Douglas County district judge sentenced Jamie Dawn Lummus last week to 28 to 72 months for the death of Nola Moder. Lummus had cared for Moder for eight years before she was arrested in June and charged with felony neglect of an elderly person resulting in death. Sheriff's deputies say Lummus blamed the neglect on memory loss caused by her pain medication. The (Gardnerville) Record-Courier reports that an autopsy showed rodents had been chewing on Moder's feet while she was still alive, and had started eating her arms, hands and face after she died. Deputies responding to the home where the two lived said the smell of urine was overwhelming. They found food boxes and trash piled in the corners, urine- and blood-stained carpet, rodent feces on almost every surface of every room, and a dead rodent in the closet, according to a police report. Moder's body was covered in bed sores. Her sheets were soiled, with blood and rodent feces. An autopsy report listed her death as complications of elder neglect, severe dehydration and malnutrition. Lummus' attorney, Jamie Henry, said that Moder loved her granddaughter and Lummus stepped up to help when no one else would. He said Lummus would take her grandmother to appointments and help clean her up as needed. "Jamie being the considerate person she was said that she wanted to move in with her grandma," Henry said. "Whatever it was that her grandma needed, Jamie provided for her." During the final weeks of Moder's life, Lummus said that she was in pain so she upped her dosage of hydrocodone and Xanax and it created a lapse in her memory. "I loved my grandma. I'll live with that for the rest of my life," Lummus said. "All I want is to get through my recovery and move on." Both of Lummus' parents testified at the sentencing hearing on Sept. 12. "It's not my intent to minimize what happened, I simply did not pay attention to what was happening," said Raymond Lummus, her father. "My mother would not want her punished anymore." District Court Judge Tom Gregory said the case was one of the most extreme he'd ever seen. New Mexico Lawsuit against U.S. Indian Health Service delayed GALLUP, N.M. (AP) - The trial in a lawsuit between a Gallup hospital and the U.S. Indian Health Service has been postponed and now will extend into 2017. The Gallup Independent reports that Sage Memorial Hospital and the federal agency were set to go to trial Oct. 17. Both parties are trying to discredit each other's expert witnesses, and Sage is pressing to receive more money for contract costs. Sage operates a 25-bed hospital in Ganado. In 2007 it contracted with IHS under the Indian Self-Determination and Education Act. Following reports of financial irregularities, IHS conducted a performance review and contracted for a forensic audit. After the audit the agency did not renew its contract. The hospital sued HIS and a judge ordered the agency to approve an annual funding agreement unless the issue is resolved in court. Utah Man charged in leaving fake bomb outside school SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - A 22-year-old Kearns man is behind bars after police say he left a fake bomb outside an elementary school last year. Prosecutors say in charges that as a prank, Parris wrote the words "bomb" "boom" and "touch sensitive" in black marker on a box and left the box outside Oquirrh Hills Elementary School in August 2015. Students were evacuated from the school and a bomb squad was called. The Salt Lake Tribune reports Cody Lynn Parris was charged last week with using a hoax weapon of mass destruction after police linked his fingerprints to the box. Parris does not yet have an attorney but court documents say he confessed to police. Granite School District spokesman Ben Horsley says a 17-year-old boy who was also involved faces a similar charge in juvenile court. Published: Tue, Sep 20, 2016