Kansas
Man guilty in death of boy found encased in concrete
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) - A Kansas man was convicted Wednesday of first-degree murder in the killing of a 3-year-old boy whose body was found encased in concrete in the laundry room of his home four months after his death.
Stephen Bodine, 41, of Wichita, was accused in the May 2017 death of Evan Brewer.
Prosecutors called dozens of witnesses and presented more than 550 pieces of evidence, including parts of the concrete tomb found in the rental home where the boy had lived with his mother, Miranda Miller, and Bodine.
Miller is also charged with murder in her son's death.
Evan had been subject to a monthslong custody battle and authorities had been alerted at least six times that he was being abused.
Much of the evidence at trial came from a cache of 16,000 photos and video files shot by the couple's home surveillance system, including images of Evan naked and chained up in the basement. In one video, Bodine and Miller are heard chastising Evan over the course of several hours, less than two months before he was killed.
Miller testified that Bodine took her screaming son into the bathroom on May 19, 2017, and came out with her son's wet and lifeless body in his arms. Evan was discovered entombed in concrete in September after Miller and Bodine had moved out of the property.
An autopsy couldn't determine the cause and manner of Evan's death because of the condition of his body when he was chipped out of the block of concrete. He did have Benadryl in his system, and Miller said she thinks Bodine sickened him in the days leading up to his death by force-feeding him large amounts of salt.
Oklahoma
Police officer justified in fatal shooting of teen
TULSA, Okla. (AP) - A northeast Oklahoma police officer has been found justified in the fatal shooting of a 16-year-old boy.
The Tulsa County District Attorney's Office said Tuesday that it's been determined Bixby Officer Jon Little shot and killed Logan Simpson after a pursuit in which Simpson drove toward the officer.
Kevin Adams, an attorney for Simpson's family, told the Tulsa World that the ruling is disappointing.
Simpson's family has filed a federal lawsuit against Little, saying Simpson was driving past the officer when he was shot.
The vehicle Simpson was driving had been reported stolen and Simpson did not stop for officers. His mother says she mistakenly reported the vehicle stolen and told officers that she had learned her son was driving the vehicle and that it belonged to him.
Oregon
Charges aredropped against suspended judge
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - A judge dismissed all criminal charges against a suspended Marion County Circuit judge on the eve of his trial because a key witness in the case against him wasn't willing to participate.
News outlets report a jury was expected to hear opening statements Wednesday on whether Vance Day allowed a felon to handle a firearm on two occasions.
However, lawyers for the Oregon Department of Justice asked Multnomah County Circuit Senior Judge Julie Frantz to dismiss the case.
Charges won't be refiled because the statute of limitations has passed.
Day was accused of allowing a felony drunken driving defendant to handle a gun in a home and while target shooting.
Day previously made national headlines for his refusal to marry same-sex couples.
The Oregon Supreme Court suspended him in March for three years after determining that Day had lied to ethics investigators.
California
Monsanto weed killer ruling is 1st step in long legal battle
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - With its stock dropping and more lawsuits expected, Monsanto vowed Tuesday to press on with a nationwide legal defense of its best-selling weed killer Roundup after a San Francisco judge upheld a verdict alleging it causes cancer.
Legal experts said the decision will have little value in courtrooms across the country where similar cases are pending, but it will likely lead to more lawsuits. Similar lawsuits doubled from 4,000 to 8,000 after a San Francisco jury awarded groundskeeper DeWayne Johnson $389 million in August.
Monsanto's lawyers said they will fight Johnson and every other lawsuit in the country alleging that the active ingredient in the world's most popular herbicide - glyphosate - causes cancer. Johnson's lawsuit was the first lawsuit to go to trial, and several more appear ready to start early next year.
Judge Suzanne Bolanos cut the jury's award for Johnson to $78 million on Monday but upheld its verdict against St. Louis-based Monsanto.
She reduced punitive damages from $250 million to $39 million in a brief decision that stood in sharp contrast to an earlier tentative ruling saying she doubted Johnson should receive any such award.
Bolanos previously said Johnson's attorneys failed to show Monsanto executives acted with malice, which is required for punitive damages. She didn't explain her change of mind. Several jurors wrote to the judge asking her to respect their verdict, but legal experts said that should not have influenced the judge.
Monsanto's lawyer said it would appeal the decision if Johnson accepts the award rather than asking for a new trial. He has until Dec. 7 to decide.
Monsanto argues that numerous scientific studies and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency have found glyphosate to be safe.
"Because of this, we will continue to vigorously defend our glyphosate-based products," company spokesman Daniel Childs said.
Johnson's attorney argued that the World Health Organization in 2015 concluded otherwise.
Legal experts say the San Francisco decision will have no immediate legal effect on the other lawsuits, especially since they predict months - if not years - of appeals.
A San Francisco trial court decision also is not binding in any other court. California appeals court decisions are binding in California courts but not on state court actions elsewhere.
"It's just one early piece in a large, legal puzzle," said University of California, Hastings law professor David Levine.
Levine said the company will not consider settling any lawsuit until enough trial court decisions pile up against it. "There just aren't enough data points to make a decision," he said.
The German company Bayer Ag bought St. Louis-based Monsanto in August for $63 billion. Its stock price fell 8.6 percent per share Tuesday.
"Clearly this topic isn't going to go away," UBS analyst Michael Leuchten wrote in a note to investors Tuesday.
Published: Thu, Oct 25, 2018
