Connecticut
2 charged with conspiring to steal trade secrets
BRIDGEPORT, Conn. (AP) - Two former employees of a Connecticut-based defense contractor have been indicted on charges connected to the theft of company trade secrets.
Federal prosecutors said Monday that 45-year-old Jay Williams, of Griswold, and 33-year-old Jared Dylan Sparks, of Ardmore, Oklahoma, are charged with conspiracy to steal, upload, transmit and possess stolen trade secrets. Sparks is also charged with theft of trade secrets.
Authorities say in 2010 and 2011 they worked at LBI Inc., a Groton-based contractor that designs and builds unmanned underwater vehicles for the Navy.
Prosecutors allege the men uploaded proprietary information from LBI into Dropbox accounts before they began working for another company that had developed software for LBI's vehicles.
Williams' lawyer did not return messages seeking comment. Court records do not list a lawyer for Sparks.
Vermont
Death penalty inmate in general prison population
MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) - The Vermont man facing a second death penalty trial for the 2000 abduction and murder of a North Clarendon woman is now living among the general inmate population in a New York City prison.
Court documents say Donald Fell has been transferred to the general inmate population at the federal Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn.
Fell's attorneys had asked the judge to order the transfer, but withdrew the motion after learning he had been moved.
Fell is scheduled to face a second death penalty trial early next year for the killing of Terry King, who was abducted when she arrived for work at a Rutland supermarket and later killed.
Fell was convicted and sentenced to death in 2005, but his conviction was overturned because of juror misconduct.
Pennsylvania
School wants suit over bathroom policy dismissed
PITTSBURGH (AP) - A western Pennsylvania school district wants a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit by three transgender students challenging a rule requiring students to use either unisex restrooms or those corresponding to their biological sex.
The Pine-Richland High School students, two who now identify as female and one who identifies as male, sued in October.
They contend the district let students use restrooms based on their gender identities until the school board changed the practice in September until it can adopt a formal policy.
The district contends the Title IX federal discrimination law defines sex solely in terms of biology - not a person's stated gender identity - so the lawsuit should be dismissed.
Attorneys for the students say the district's "hard-line stance" strays from its mission to serve all students.
Ohio
Lawyer blames non-existent black man for crash, gets 10 days jail
ELYRIA, Ohio (AP) - An Ohio attorney who blamed a non-existent black man for a car accident to avoid facing drunken driving charges has been sentenced to 10 days in jail.
Twenty-seven-year-old Heather Wilsey, of Elyria, was sentenced in municipal court there after pleading no contest to obstruction of official business and failure to control.
The Chronicle-Telegram reports Wilsey apologized during sentencing.
Wilsey, who is white, had told investigators that a black man she'd met in a bar was driving her car when it crashed into a utility pole in June and he fled. Police found surveillance video showing Wilsey driving away from the bar before the accident.
Another attorney who was in her car that night also received 10 days in jail.
Alabama
Defending champ wins after State Supreme Court allows game
ELBA, Ala. (AP) - Defending Class 2A state football champion Elba won a playoff game that was played only after the Alabama Supreme Court cleared the way for kickoff.
The Tigers defeated Samson 48-20 in a second-round game on Monday night.
The teams played hours after the justices upheld a decision to disqualify a third school from the playoffs. The state association removed Washington County after ruling it used an ineligible running back in an earlier game.
The game was supposed to be played last Friday, but it was delayed until the Supreme Court could rule.
Washington County claimed it was wrongly removed and went to court to dispute the decision. The school boards overseeing Elba and Samson also went to court to let their game go forward and won.
Ohio
Mom accused of decapitating baby rejects plea deal
CINCINNATI (AP) - A woman accused of stabbing and decapitating her 3-month-old daughter has rejected a plea deal as she pursues an insanity defense ahead of trial in Cincinnati.
Twenty-one-year-old Deasia Watkins previously pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity in the March 2015 death of Jayniah Watkins.
WCPO-TV reports that if the court finds Watkins not guilty by reason of insanity, she'd be under the court's jurisdiction for life without parole.
Court records show Watkins was diagnosed with post-partum psychosis and had been prescribed anti-psychotic medication.
Prosecutor Joe Deters has said Watkins looked zombie-like when she was hospitalized in the days after her arrest.
Watkins was ordered to have psychiatric treatment and evaluation last year and has since been found competent to stand trial.
Mississippi
Hearing set in lawsuit filed by fired professor
HATTIESBURG, Miss. (AP) - A hearing has been set in the lawsuit brought by fired professor Daniel Browning against William Carey University, President Tommy King and the board of trustees.
The Hattiesburg American reports a hearing on the defendants' motion to dismiss King and the board of trustees will be Dec. 16 in Forrest County Circuit Court.
Browning filed a complaint Sept. 8 against the defendants for breach of contract and intentional infliction of emotional harm over his April termination. Browning alleged he was given no reason for his firing in violation of the tenure provisions in the faculty handbook.
The defendants' attorney filed motions and memorandum briefs saying King was not a party to Browning's employment contract, only the university was, and King was merely acting as the university's agent when he fired Browning.
Published: Wed, Nov 16, 2016
