Florida
Defense lawyer's pants catch fire during arson trial
MIAMI (AP) - A Miami defense attorney is feeling the heat after his pants caught fire as he delivered closing arguments in an arson case.
Witnesses told the Miami Herald 28-year-old Stephen Gutierrez was fiddling in his pocket Wednesday while addressing jurors when smoke started billowing from his pants. At the time, he was arguing that his client's car spontaneously combusted and wasn't intentionally set on fire.
Gutierrez quickly left the courtroom. Jurors also were escorted out.
When Gutierrez returned unharmed, he insisted it wasn't a staged defense gone wrong. The Herald reports he blamed a faulty e-cigarette battery.
Miami-Dade police and prosecutors are investigating the incident. Investigators seized frayed e-cigarette batteries as evidence.
Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Michael Hanzman could decide to hold Gutierrez in contempt of court.
Gutierrez represented 48-year-old Claudy Charles who was eventually convicted of second-degree arson.
Australia
Man allegedly posing as Bieber charged with 900 child sex offenses
BRISBANE, Australia (AP) - A 42-year-old Australian man who allegedly posed as Justin Bieber online to solicit explicit images from children has been charged with more than 900 child sex offenses, police said Thursday.
Bieber, a 23-year-old Canadian pop singer, is currently in Australia performing his "Purpose World Tour." Police have warned young fans and their parents to be extra vigilant when using the internet.
Gordon Douglas Chalmers, a law lecturer at the Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane, was charged in November with using Facebook and Skype to impersonate the star, after tip-offs from U.S. and German authorities. Chalmers was charged with using a carriage service to procure and groom children for sex and to access child pornography. He was also charged with possessing child porn.
As a result of warrants issued in November to search his social media and messaging accounts and cloud servers, Chalmers was charged this week with another 931 child sex offenses dating back a decade, including rape and making child exploitation material, a police statement said.
"The fact that so many children could believe that they were communicating with this particular celebrity highlights the need for a serious rethink about the way that we as a society educate our children about online safety," Police Detective Inspector Jon Rouse said in a statement.
"The breadth of offenses committed in this instance is frankly horrendous," Rouse added.
Police have not said how many children had become victims or in what countries they live. But Rouse said the investigation showed "the global reach and skill that child sex offenders have to groom and seduce victims."
Chalmers has yet to enter pleas. It is not clear how long he could spend in prison if convicted.
Connecticut
Man sentenced for running $1.4M Ponzi scheme
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) - A Connecticut man who operated a Ponzi scheme that cheated investors out of more than $1.4 million has been sentenced to nearly six years in prison.
Federal prosecutors say 59-year-old Joseph Castellano was sentenced Wednesday to five years and eight months behind bars and three years of probation.
Authorities say the Wallingford man was an accountant and tax preparer who also offered investment opportunities.
Starting in 2007, he falsely represented to victims that he had clients who were in need of capital to fund businesses or real estate projects, but were unable to secure funding from traditional sources.
Authorities say he used much of the money for personal expenses, including international travel.
Some victims lost most of their retirement savings.
He pleaded guilty in September to mail fraud and money laundering.
Arkansas
New York woman jailed after body found at farm
DES ARC, Ark. (AP) - Authorities say a body found in a suitcase at a farm in central Arkansas appears to be that of an elderly man who died in upstate New York.
Johnstown, New York, Police Lt. Dave Gilbo says police suspect the man died of natural causes, but investigators don't yet know why his body was taken more than 1,000 miles to the farm in Des Arc, 50 miles northeast of Little Rock.
Arkansas State Police say a 56-year-old New York woman was arrested in Arkansas on Wednesday night in connection with the case. State police say she is being held in the Prairie County jail on a preliminary charge of abuse of a corpse.
State police say another man who is jailed in Arkansas on an unrelated charge is also being questioned.
Pennsylvania
School athlete charged with raping teen girl
SCOTT TOWNSHIP, Pa. (AP) - A two-sport star at a suburban Pittsburgh high school has been charged with raping a 17-year-old girl.
Eighteen-year-old Ross Wilkerson was the leading scorer for Chartiers Valley High School's basketball team when he was arrested Tuesday on rape, aggravated indecent assault and other charges. He also stars on the school's baseball team and had planned to attend John Carroll University to play that sport.
Scott Township police say Wilkerson messaged the girl on Snapchat last Friday, told her he had a gift for her and asked her to go to a pool house behind his home. Police say when the girl arrived, Wilkerson forced her to have sex.
Online court records don't list an attorney for Wilkerson. School officials have declined to comment, citing confidentiality rules about student matters.
Louisiana
Settlement on race bias claims over inspections
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - A settlement agreement has been reached in a federal lawsuit that accuses Louisiana state regulators of racially discriminating against a group of Vietnamese-American nail salon owners.
Court filings on Wednesday don't disclose any terms of the deal. Attorneys for the state and for four Vietnamese-American salon owners didn't immediately respond to messages seeking comment on Thursday.
The plaintiffs said the Louisiana State Board of Cosmetology disproportionately targeted Asian-American salon owners for frequent inspections, fines and disciplinary hearings because of their race.
Lawyers for the board and two agency inspectors denied there was any evidence of racial bias in their regulatory activities.
A trial for the case was scheduled to start March 13.
Published: Fri, Mar 10, 2017
