National Roundup

Missouri
Another lawsuit filed over 2017  protest arrests
ST. LOUIS (AP) — A federal lawsuit alleges that St. Louis police officers mistreated scores of protesters two years ago.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that the suit was filed Tuesday against the city and 343 officers and officials. It’s seeking class-action status over the use of a tactic known as a kettle in which officers form lines and encircle crowds deemed unruly.

The procedure resulted in 123 arrests on Sept. 17, 2017, amid protests over the acquittal of Jason Stockley, a former St. Louis officer who had been accused of fatally shooting a black suspect.

City officials say they haven’t seen the suit and won’t comment. It’s one of at least three lawsuits filed this week, just before the statute of limitations deadline. A former substitute teacher and undercover detective also sued.

Indiana
Dillinger family members apply again to exhume gangster’s grave
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Family members of 1930s gangster John Dillinger have submitted a new application to exhume his Indianapolis gravesite.

The Indiana State Department of Health said it received the latest application Tuesday.

Dillinger’s family first applied to exhume the remains in July as part of a planned History Channel documentary. The deadline to exhume and return the remains was Sept. 16, and the exhumation did not occur.

The History Channel last week dropped out of a planned documentary on Dillinger that would have included the exhumation. Family members said they have evidence Dillinger’s body may not be buried in Crown Hill Cemetery.

Cemetery officials object to the exhumation, saying it would be disruptive. Dillinger’s nephew, Michael C. Thompson, sued the cemetery last month, seeking a court order to gain access to the grave. A hearing is scheduled for Oct. 1.

Oregon
Man sentenced for stealing from missing mom
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Nearly 10 years after a Klamath County woman went missing, her son has been sentenced to federal prison for stealing thousands in Social Security benefits meant for her.

The Oregonian/OregonLive reports 64-year-old Theodore Kirk will spend 15 months in prison for stealing more than $30,000 in government funds in the name of his mother, Nadine Kirk.

Although Kirk does not face any charges related to his mother’s death, U.S. District Court Judge Michael McShane told him Sept. 6 that he would give him one week to reveal where his mother’s remains were before he formally sentenced him. Kirk hasn’t answered that question.

On Sept. 6, Kirk filed a suit in federal court against seven people related to his trial, including defense attorney Brian Butler and Klamath County Sheriff’s deputy Nick Kennedy. Kirk filed a suit for $440 million claiming his civil rights were violated and that he was convicted for a crime he did not commit.

Florida
Nursing assistant accused of sexual assault
CLEARWATER, Fla. (AP) — Authorities say a 32-year-old nursing assistant sexually assaulted four patients including one in a wheelchair and another disabled by a stroke at Florida health care facilities where he’s worked over the past three years.

Clearwater police spokesman Rob Shaw tells the Tampa Bay Times that Falo Kane was brought in for questioning on Monday, confessed to the assaults and wrote an apology letter to the women. Shaw says they’re concerned there could be other victims.

Police reports say two incidents happened in 2016 and two others this year.

Pinellas County Sheriff’s officials say Kane was arrested on charges of inappropriately touching a hospital patient in 2018. Hospital officials say they suspended him when a patient complained, but they didn’t know about his arrest.

California
Store paying $1.2M to settle sex-assault claims
REDDING, Calif. (AP) — A Northern California store as agreed to pay $1.2 million to settle claims that a supervisor sexually assaulted employees in a walk-in freezer.

The California Department of Fair Employment and Housing announced a settlement Tuesday with 99 Cents Only Stores.

The agency began investigating after two former employees said they were assaulted and harassed by an assistant manager at a store in Redding.

The employees also alleged that they had their hours reduced in retaliation after reporting the harassment.

That led the agency to file claims against the store chain. In addition to paying the employees and the agency, the store chain agreed to provide managers with extra training and hire an independent monitor to track compliance with the settlement agreement for three years.

New York
Judge resigns after complaint about noose posting online
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — An upstate New York town judge resigned following a complaint about a Facebook post that featured a noose, a Trump campaign slogan and a phrase about making “evil people” fear punishment.

The New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct announced Tuesday that Altona Town Court Justice Kyle R. Canning resigned from the job June 27.

A formal written complaint from the commission said Canning appeared “to convey racial and/or political bias.”

The text on the posted image read: “If we want to make America great again we will have to make evil people fear punishment again.”

Commission Administrator Robert Tembeckjian issued a statement saying it undermines the judiciary’s integrity, along with public confidence in the courts, for a judge to use “the image of the noose in making a political point.”

“The noose is an incendiary image with repugnant racial connotations,” he said in the statement. “It is the very antithesis of law and justice.”

In an interview with The New York Times, Canning described himself as a registered Democrat and said he did not consider the post’s racial symbolism.

“There is not a man that I could despise more than Donald Trump,” said Canning.

“The post was not racist. I’m not a racist guy,” he added. “I see it as pro-death penalty, pro-capital punishment. It doesn’t need to be a noose; it could have been a gas chamber. It could have been an electric chair,” Canning told the Times.

Canning, who is not an attorney, agreed never to hold judicial office again. He had been a justice in the town near the Canadian border since 2018.