Massachusetts
Man gets prison for threats made to Harvard’s black commencement
BOSTON (AP) — An Arizona man authorities say threatened to bomb Harvard University and shoot people who attended the Ivy league school’s black commencement has been sentenced to more than a year in prison.
A federal judge in Boston sentenced 25-year-old Nicholas Zuckerman on Wednesday to a year and three months behind bars and three years of probation.
The Phoenix area man pleaded guilty in February to making interstate threats.
Prosecutors say Zuckerman posted comments on Harvard’s Instagram account in May 2017 encouraging “violence and death” if the event occurred. He suggested using “two automatics with extendo clips” to kill people he referred to with a racial epithet. He then
added bombing comments to other users’ responses.
A concerned citizen reported the posts to campus police, who referred the case to federal authorities.
Vermont
Judge says accused fertility doc must provide DNA sample
BURLINGTON, Vt. (AP) — A judge says a Vermont fertility doctor accused of using his own sperm to impregnate a patient must turn over a sample of his DNA.
A Florida couple sued retired Dr. John Coates in U.S. District Court last year with a claim that Coates is the father of their daughter due to an artificial insemination procedure in 1977. They believe Coates used his own sperm sample instead of that of an unnamed medical student who was supposed to be the donor.
A lawyer for Coates has made the case Vermont law doesn’t allow DNA paternity tests for sperm donors. But WCAX-TV reports a federal judge is ordering Coates to provide the DNA sample.
The parents say they discovered the discrepancy when their daughter sought information about her biological father through genetic testing databases.
New Jersey
Court acts against judges for remarks in sex assault cases
New Jersey’s high court took action Wednesday against two judges who have faced criticism over their comments in cases involving sexual assault.
New Jersey’s Supreme Court recommended that state Superior Court Judge John Russo Jr . be removed from the bench. Russo asked a woman during a 2016 hearing if she could have closed her legs to prevent a sexual assault, and joked about the exchange later with court personnel.
Also Wednesday, the court terminated the temporary assignment of a judge who declined to order a 16-year-old rape suspect tried in adult court because the youth came “from a good family.”
State Superior Court Judge James Troiano asked whether the suspect should face serious consequences over a video-recorded assault on an intoxicated teenager. Troiano is retired but had been recalled to serve in Monmouth County.
The Troiano case and another involving a judge who also declined to waive a 16-year-old’s sexual assault case to adult court prompted strong criticism in recent weeks after the comments came to light. Both decisions were reversed by appeals courts.
Numerous public officials called for Troiano and state Superior Court Judge Marcia Silva to be removed from the bench. Silva called an alleged sexual assault of a 12-year-old girl by a 16-year-old “not an especially heinous or cruel offense.”
According to the court’s order, the termination of Troiano’s assignment was by his own request.
According to an appeals court decision last month, Troiano wrote that the “young man comes from a good family who put him into an excellent school where he was doing extremely well. ... He is clearly a candidate for not just college but probably for a good college.
His scores for college entry were very high.”
In the Russo case, the Supreme Court is seeking a harsher punishment than one recommended earlier this year by a judicial ethics commission that suggested a three-month unpaid suspension — though some members pushed for six months.
Russo has contended he was only trying to elicit more information from the woman. At a hearing before the Supreme Court this month, Russo’s attorney said he was remorseful and had “learned his lesson.” The attorney didn’t immediately answer an email seeking comment Wednesday.
Russo, who was reassigned to a different county court in December, has until next month to respond to the Supreme Court’s order and can contest his removal in front of a panel. He will be on unpaid suspension during the process.
North Carolina
Police: Kids seeking candy trapped in store by sex offender
NEWPORT, N.C. (AP) — A sex offender working at a North Carolina convenience store is accused of locking children inside the shop and robbing them.
Newport police Chief Keith Lewis tells reporters two children entered the shop near closing Sunday to buy candy and were trapped by 60-year-old Hector Sanchez, a registered sex offender from California. Lewis says Sanchez said he locked up because he was closing, but he then refused to let the kids leave.
He says the kids tried to buy candy with $20 that Sanchez pocketed. He says one of them called their mom, who alerted police.
The chief says Sanchez eventually released the children and was arrested on charges including kidnapping and failing to register as a sex offender in North Carolina. He says Sanchez admitted to the crimes.
South Carolina
Ex-police chief jailed over failed drug tests
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — A former police chief in South Carolina has been arrested and jailed after repeatedly failing drug tests that showed methamphetamine in his system.
The State reports former Columbia police Chief Randy Scott was arrested Wednesday. This is Scott’s fourth arrest in less than a year.
Scott’s probation officer, Crystal Boyd, said in court documents that Scott violated his bond conditions by using drugs, failing to submit to drug testing and not showing up for substance abuse treatment. Court records say Scott failed drug tests as recently as this month.
Authorities arrested Scott on federal warrants in May after a tip about a stolen car led them to his motel room. Scott was Columbia’s police chief for less than three years before resigning in 2013 amid allegations of sexual misconduct.
