Supreme Court: Drug search unwarranted
PIERRE, S.D. (AP) — The South Dakota Supreme Court has sided with a man who said police did not have a warrant or consent to search him for drugs.
The high court has reversed a Pennington County ruling that denied Gene Kaline’s attempt to suppress evidence, specifically three bags of methamphetamine that was found in his pockets in Rapid City in September 2016. The Argus Leader says the arresting officer had testified that Kaline consented to the search.
Kaline served eight days of a suspended sentence in jail. The state Supreme Court ruled prosecutors failed to prove that Kaline had consented to the search. It said the search was done without a warrant or reasonable suspicion of criminal activity.
Appeals court decision makes it hard to sue TSA screeners
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A federal appeals court says airport security screeners can’t be sued over alleged mistreatment because they aren’t law-enforcement officers.
Judges on the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals concede that their decision leaves people who are mistreated by screeners with limited legal options.
Nadine Pellegrino of Florida claimed Transportation Security Administration agents at the Philadelphia airport mistreated her and damaged her property in 2006. Screeners said she hit two of them with a bag.
Pellegrino was arrested but found not guilty at trial. She and her husband filed a misconduct claim against TSA, seeking $951,200.
The appeals court voted 2-1 Wednesday to uphold a lower court ruling that TSA screeners get immunity because they perform an administrative job and aren’t law-enforcement officers who can be sued under federal law.
Judge orders Indiana county to open more early-voting sites
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — A federal judge hearing a case about alleged voter suppression has ordered county officials in central Indiana to open several locations for voters to cast early ballots for November’s general election.
The Indianapolis Business Journal reports that Judge Sarah Evans Barker’s ruling this week comes after she issued an injunction three months ago ending what critics call an effort to suppress voting in Democratic-leaning Marion County.
Barker said in April that the Marion County Election Board must establish at least two satellite voting sites for future elections. But she raised the number this week to a minimum of five satellite early voting locations.
Government watchdog group Common Cause Indiana and the NAACP sued the election board for effectively disenfranchising local voters. Residents since 2009 could only cast early ballots in the County Clerk’s Office.
Judge rules infant’s death 39 years ago was a homicide
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — A judge has ruled that an infant’s death 39 years ago was a homicide and not sudden infant death syndrome.
The Portland Press Herald reports the judge’s ruling Wednesday comes after new evidence found 4-month-old Nathan Hagar was likely smothered with a pillow at a Maine apartment in 1979.
The ruling will allow the child’s father, 63-year-old Burton Hagar, to plead guilty to a manslaughter charge in exchange for a 15-year sentence as part of a deal with prosecutors.
Hagar has repeatedly admitted to his son’s death, but the case against him couldn’t move forward until a court determined that a crime was committed.
Hagar’s attorney says he is “disappointed” in the judge’s ruling due to inconsistencies in his client’s statements.
Prosecutors: Detective falsely reported child rape suspect
DEMING, N.M. (AP) — A detective in southern New Mexico is facing charges of falsely reporting a child rape suspect.
The Deming Headlight reports Bobby Brookhouser, an 18-year veteran of the Luna County Sheriff’s Office, is facing charges of perjury, a fourth-degree felony, and a misdemeanor charge of false reporting.
Brookhouser is accused of filing an arrest warrant and criminal complaint stating a suspect in a 2017 child rape case admitted to the crime.
But court documents say the suspect never gave a verbal confession.
Luna County Sheriff’s Office Captain Jose Martinez says the 57-year-old Brookhouser is on paid administrative leave.
No attorney is listed for Brookhouser in court records.
