Oregon
Report reveals rape kit backlog testing success
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - A new report says the elimination of Oregon's backlog of untested rape kits has led to hundreds of new DNA profiles being added to a national database and multiple cases have been prosecuted.
The report from the Manhattan District Attorney's office was released Tuesday.
Oregon was one of 20 states to benefit from a sweeping, $38 million grant program created in 2015 to process thousands of untested rape kits across the country.
KOIN reports the Multnomah County District Attorney's Office and its law enforcement partners around Oregon worked to test 2,913 sexual assault kits under the grant program.
Through that testing, officials were able to enter 882 DNA profiles into the FBI's national CODIS database. More than half of those profiles matched those already in the database.
So far, those DNA matches have led to six convictions across Oregon.
Pennsylvania
Jurors chosen in white officer's shooting of black teenager
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - A jury of six men and six women is in place for next week's trial of a white former Pennsylvania police officer accused of criminal homicide for the shooting death of an unarmed black teenager last year.
The final three jurors and four alternates were selected Wednesday to hear the allegations against former East Pittsburgh Police Officer Michael Rosfeld.
Rosfeld is charged in the June death of 17-year-old Antwon Rose after Rosfeld stopped a vehicle Rose was in as part of a shooting investigation.
The main jury panel includes two black women and one black man. The jury will be sequestered.
Jurors were being picked in Harrisburg because of pretrial publicity, but the trial will be in Pittsburgh.
Rosfeld's lawyer has argued he was afraid and the shooting was justified.
California
Gang member in country illegally arrested in woman's slaying
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) - Authorities in Northern California are criticizing sanctuary policies they say prevented federal authorities from detaining a gang member in the country illegally before he allegedly killed a woman inside her home.
San Jose Police Chief Eddie Garcia says Carlos Eduardo Arevalo Carranza "stalked" Bambi Larson's San Jose neighborhood before allegedly beating and stabbing her to death.
Garcia said Tuesday Arevalo has a long criminal history in the San Francisco Bay Area and Los Angeles.
Garcia says ICE had previously asked to take custody of him six times - four times in Santa Clara County and two times in Los Angeles County.
Garcia and San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo criticized the county's sanctuary policy, saying it is time for Santa Clara County officials to reconsider a policy that ignores ICE hold requests for predatory felons.
Virginia
Judge criticizes jail on inmate's mental health treatment
NORTH PRINCE GEORGE, Va. (AP) - A judge has sharply criticized administrators at a regional jail in Virginia for their mishandling of an inmate in need of psychiatric care.
The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports that Chesterfield General District Judge Pamela O'Berry told two top administrators at the Riverside Regional Jail that their handling of the inmate is a "frightening commentary" on the jail's inadequate mental health services.
O'Berry made her comments Tuesday during a court hearing on the treatment of inmate Niesha Smith. The judge accused administrators of lying and mishandling her order to transfer Smith to a state hospital for an evaluation after Smith exhibited extreme mental health distress.
The judge told the administrators she was "not going to let this go away" and said she will closely monitor the jail during the next 60 days.
New York
Judge won't let unvaccinated children in school
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. (AP) - A federal judge, citing an "unprecedented measles outbreak" in suburban Rockland County, New York, has denied a request to let 44 unvaccinated children return to school.
Parents of students in the Green Meadow Waldorf School in Chestnut Ridge have sued the county health department. They say none of the school's excluded children have contracted measles amid the county's outbreak, which started last fall.
According to the Journal News , their lawyer, Michael Sussman, criticized the judge's decision Tuesday to deny a temporary injunction that would have allowed the children back in classes.
On the same day, pediatric organizations expressed support for state legislation that would allow minors to get vaccinated without parental consent .
The legislation's Democratic sponsors say too many parents believe unsupported online claims that vaccines are unsafe.
Illinois
Chicago-based U.S. court to get 1st female chief judge
CHICAGO (AP) - The federal court for northern Illinois is getting its first female chief judge.
The Chicago Daily Law Bulletin reports Rebecca Pallmeyer will take over from the Chicago-based court's current chief judge, Ruben Castillo, in June. He became the district's first Latino chief judge in 2013.
Then-President Bill Clinton nominated Pallmeyer to the bench in 1997. She presided over the corruption trial of ex-Illinois Gov. George Ryan and sentenced him in 2006 to over six years in prison.
Monday's Law Bulletin says Castillo opened the way for Pallmeyer to become chief judge by stepping aside a year early. Chief judge goes to the judge with the most seniority under 65. Pallmeyer turns 65 in September and wouldn't have been eligible after that. Now, she'll be able to serve until she's 70.
New York
Court vacates man's conviction for refusing to unchain door
CLIFFSIDE PARK, N.J. (AP) - The New Jersey Supreme Court has tossed a man's obstruction conviction over his refusal to unchain his apartment door for police.
NJ.com reports that the justices ruled Tuesday that Andrew Fede's refusal didn't amount to physical obstruction because it required no actual effort on his part.
Cliffside Park police came to Fede's door in March 2014 while investigating a call about a "potential domestic violence situation."
Fede partially opened the door, but he refused to move the chain when the officers said they wanted to come inside.
Fede told the officers he was alone and asked for a warrant.
The officers eventually broke the chain and entered the apartment. They found Fede was alone as he said.
The justices say while Fede's behavior was unwise, it was not illegal.
Published: Thu, Mar 14, 2019
