National Roundup

Georgia
Court overturns Super Bowl party convictions
ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia’s highest court has reversed a man’s convictions in the killing of one man and the wounding of another outside a Super Bowl party.

Court documents say Melvin Brown Jr. and Javious Tucker argued in February 2014 after Brown refused to share a bag of pork skins.

The argument continued outside, where Tucker and Cyntrelis Boggs followed Brown in Tucker’s car. Eventually, court documents say, Brown got a gun from his car and fired shots into Tucker’s car, killing Tucker and wounding Boggs. Brown says it was self-defense.

The Georgia Supreme Court ruled Monday that jurors should not have been told that Brown pleaded guilty to being the gunman in two other shootings in 2005.

Virginia
Ex-Virginia Tech student goes on trial in slaying of 13-year-old girl
CHRISTIANSBURG, Va. (AP) — A former Virginia Tech student has pleaded not guilty in the killing of a 13-year-old girl.

Media reports say David Eisenhauer entered his pleas to first-degree murder, abduction and concealing a dead body just before jury selection began Monday in the stabbing death of Nicole Lovell of Blacksburg.

Prosecutors say the girl climbed out her bedroom window to meet Eisenhauer in 2016 after the two communicated through an instant messaging app. Her body was found three days later.

Eisenhauer, of Columbia, Maryland, admitted meeting her but told police he left when he saw how young she was.

His friend, Natalie Keepers, told police that Eisenhauer killed her to keep her from exposing their inappropriate relationship.

Keepers is charged as an accessory and is scheduled to stand trial in September.

Georgia
Court overturns woman’s 2004 murder conviction
ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia’s highest court has reversed the murder conviction of a woman whose baby died months after he was burned when a fire started while the baby’s father was cooking methamphetamine.

Suzzette Marie Calloway’s 15-month-old son, Chelton, suffered burns in the February 2001 fire and died four months later.

Calloway was convicted in December 2002 on federal charges related to manufacturing meth and sentenced to 20 years in prison.

She was convicted in February 2004 on a state felony murder charge based on manufacturing meth and sentenced to life plus 30 years.

In an opinion published Monday, the Georgia Supreme Court says that since Calloway had already been convicted on several federal charges related to manufacturing meth, she couldn’t be prosecuted in state court for felony murder involving the same conduct.

Maryland
Officer allegedly stole paralyzed woman’s pain pills
HAGERSTOWN, Md. (AP) — A police sergeant in Maryland has been charged with stealing prescription opioids from a paralyzed woman after she and a friend caught him on video.

The Herald-Mail reports that the paralyzed woman noticed her pain pills missing after Sgt. Christopher Barnett questioned her about an unrelated case.

Documents say Barnett returned to her bedside minutes later after she called Hagerstown Police and asked for the name of the officer who stole her medicine. She told him she couldn’t afford more pills. He asked what he could do “to make this right,” and said he’d be back in 15 minutes.

That’s when Barnett’s friend set up a camera to secretly record the sergeant’s third visit. The video allegedly shows him putting four replacement oxycodone pills of a different strength into her hand. The woman also says he gave her $35 in hush money.

Police Chief Victor Brito says they acted quickly after seeing the video, putting Barnett on leave without pay and having him arrested at his home in Three Springs, Pennsylvania on Thursday.

“I am sickened by this betrayal of this criminal act,” Brito said at a news conference. “I know in my heart and in my soul that the men and women of the Hagerstown Police Department serve HPD with integrity, and do so in a selfless fashion each and every day.”

Barnett, 45, was released from custody Friday. He faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted on theft and drug charges.

Kentucky
Anti-DUI tweet alludes to prison rape during Super Bowl
FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Kentucky State Police have apologized for a Super Bowl-themed tweet aimed at discouraging drunken driving that referenced prison rape.

News outlets report the official state police account tweeted “Enjoy watching Rob Gronkowski (TE) play but if you drink & drive ... your tight-end may end up in jail!” on Sunday night, accompanying the post with a gif of a dropped soap on a rope. Gronkowski is a tight end for the New England Patriots, who eventually lost to the Philadelphia Eagles.

The tweet, which remained up for nearly two hours, drew condemnation from Kentucky’s Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes, who called for an apology.

The agency later posted a statement, saying “making light of sexual assault is never acceptable,” and apologized especially “to the victims of these heinous crimes.”

Arkansas
Lawsuit targets hot-check court
SHERWOOD, Ark. (AP) — A new federal lawsuit mirrors a 2016 lawsuit that alleged a central Arkansas city and judge violated constitutional rights by effectively operating a debtor’s prison with a court that imposed fines and jail time on people whose checks bounce.

The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports that the lawsuit was filed last week on behalf of Tamatrice Williams, who both lawsuits allege was subjected to unconstitutional practices for years in the Sherwood court.

The 2016 suit was settled in a November agreement that states the court will stop jailing people who can’t afford to pay court fines imposed for bouncing a check.

The new lawsuit seeks compensatory and punitive damages against the city for Williams, whose hot-check case is still considered ongoing in state court.

An attorney for Sherwood says the city denies any alleged wrongdoing.