Alabama
Third suspect convicted in 25 slaying of paralyzed man
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (AP) - An Alabama man will not face the death penalty, but could spend life in prison, after being convicted of fatally shooting a paraplegic man in a 2015 robbery.
Al.com reports 22-year-old Latransezon Malloy was convicted of felony murder on Thursday, making him the third suspect convicted in the case. Malloy's previous case ended in a mistrial.
Malloy was charged with capital murder in the slaying of Markia Kendall, but a jury returned a guilty verdict on a lesser charge. He'll be sentenced this year.
Prosecutors have said Latransezon was one of four masked men that forced their way into Kendall's Huntsville home in January 2015.
Prosecutors have said that at least four children were held at knifepoint in a back bedroom while Kendall was fatally shot as he was sleeping.
Ohio
Black EMS captains file suit alleging racial discrimination
CLEVELAND (AP) - Five black captains in Cleveland's emergency medical services division have sued the city and its EMS commissioner alleging racial discrimination.
The lawsuit accuses the city and EMS Commissioner Nicole Carlton of treating the black captains differently than white co-workers.
The officers said at a recent news conference that they've been punished for conduct such as being late to work while white workers weren't punished. They allege Carlton has given their white counterparts better shifts or sometimes rescheduled them because she said too many black employees were working at the same time.
The officers also allege retaliation over their complaints.
The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages and an order prohibiting discriminatory and retaliatory employment practices.
Indiana
Lawyers seek testimony for U.S. woman charged with aiding IS
HAMMOND, Ind. (AP) - Attorneys for an Indiana woman accused of providing support to the Islamic State group received a judge's approval to seek depositions from three Yazidis who were taken as slaves by her husband, who she says died while fighting for IS.
A federal judge in Hammond gave Samantha Elhassani's lawyers permission Tuesday to seek depositions from the two Yazidi women and a young Yazidi boy in hopes of bolstering her defense, the Post-Tribune reported.
One of the women and the boy are in the Kurdish-controlled city of Erbil, Iraq, and the other woman lives nearby.
Elhassani has argued that her husband tricked her into traveling to Syria and allegedly bought the two women and the boy while in IS-controlled territory.
In court documents, her lawyers say that Elhassani offered the Yazidis protection while her husband was alive and after he died, when she, her four children and the Yazidis made their way to a Kurdish refugee camp.
Although Elhassani wasn't able to prevent her husband from raping the women or to stop IS from using the boy in propaganda videos, she tried to help them and "all of this conduct by (Elhassani) was done at the risk of certain execution," they wrote.
Defense attorney Thomas Durkin said the potential depositions would be "incredibly helpful" in determining whether the former Elkhart woman "ever intended to give material support to ISIS," a charge to which she has pleaded not guilty.
Both Durkin and fellow defense attorney Joshua Herman noted there are several obstacles that could hinder getting the depositions and using them at Elhassani's trial, which is scheduled to start in January.
While "at least the two Yazidi women witnesses have indicated that they would be willing to be deposed," the Yazidis are "stateless" and "beyond the subpoena power" to appear in U.S. court, according to the defense motion.
Additionally, defense attorneys would need to get consent from the sovereignty that rules the region in order to go there and take depositions.
"But I don't for the life of me know the (sovereign) status of Kurdish-controlled Iraq," Durkin said.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Abizer Zanzi said that since the U.S. lacks a treaty for court depositions with Iraq, the task that Elhassani's attorneys aim to achieve becomes a "diplomatic function" that would have to go through the U.S. Department of State - a potentially long process that provides no assurance of success.
New York
Suspended judge pleads in underwear-theft case
CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. (AP) - A suspended New York judge has pleaded guilty to attempted burglary for trying to sneak into a neighbor's home to steal her underwear.
Robert Cicalepleaded guilty Friday in Suffolk County court.
Prosecutors say the 50-year-old Cicale had several pairs of worn women's underwear stuffed into his jacket and raincoat when he was arrested on March 29, 2018, after leaving the neighbor's home.
They say he admitted that he had entered the home on several occasions and stolen panties from a hamper.
Cicale was removed from the bench after his arrest. He is expected to be sentenced Nov. 15 to five years of probation with sex offender status.
Cicale's attorney, Michael J. Brown, tells Newsday that Cicale is a changed man. Brown says Cicale has dealt with "his mental illness issues."
Georgia
Prosecutors: Paramedic stole morphine meant for patients
CARNESVILLE, Ga. (AP) - A Georgia paramedic is accused of stealing morphine, replacing it with another liquid and then re-attaching the cap with super glue.
Prosecutors say Michael Shane Hambrick knew the vial he left behind would be intended for critically injured patients who are in need of the pain medication.
A newly filed indictment says Hambrick was a supervisory Emergency Medical Technician/ paramedic at Franklin County EMS when the crime occurred in September 2018. Court records say he accessed the morphine in a locked narcotics box in a locked supervisor's vehicle, and used a syringe to remove the drug.
Court records don't indicate whether Hambrick has a lawyer who could be reached for comment.
Published: Tue, Sep 17, 2019
