Illinois
Deputy’s fatal shooting of inmate ruled justified
DANVILLE, Ill. (AP) — Prosecutors in an eastern Illinois county say a sheriff’s deputy was justified when he fatally shot an inmate who attacked and stabbed him in a courthouse holding cell.
Vermilion County State’s Attorney Jacqueline Lacy says Deputy Kyle Janesky’s actions in inmate Daryl Perkins’ Aug. 23 shooting warrant no criminal charges and “deadly force was justified.”
Perkins attacked Janesky as he was being held in a first-floor county courthouse cell in Danville for a hearing in his felony case.
The (Champaign) News-Gazette reports that Lacy says Perkins fought with Janesky and stabbed him with several different items before the deputy fatally shot Perkins after he grabbed his Taser, aimed it at the deputy and tried to pull the trigger.
Janesky was treated for wounds to an eye, his face and neck.
Utah
State high court hears arguments in a public records case
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The Utah Supreme Court has heard arguments in a public records case that pits a newspaper against Brigham Young University.
Friday’s hearing was the culmination of a three-year battle between the Salt Lake Tribune and the university.
A BYU attorney argues that because the school’s police force now is subject to records laws, the state’s high court should find police can keep secret any document created before the change in the public records law this year.
A Tribune attorney says that if BYU’s police officers have the power to make arrests, serve search warrants and use deadly force, they should be bound to hand over public records like any other police agency.
In July, a district court judge ruled in the newspaper’s favor and BYU appealed.
The Utah Supreme Court has taken the matter under advisement.
Delaware
State high court upholds sentence in motel slaying
DOVER, Del. (AP) — The Delaware Supreme Court has upheld the 33-year prison sentence of a man convicted of killing a woman in a motel room.
The Delaware State News reports the court this week upheld the sentence of Darren Weiford.
Weiford last year pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and possession of a firearm in the 2017 shooting death of 20-year-old Amber Buckler at a Dover motel.
The newspaper reports Weiford in his appeal argued that his attorney was not aware of a letter he had sent to a judge asking for leniency. The news outlet reports Weiford had sought to be sentenced for an offense lower than second-degree murder.
Weiford’s attorney had argued Weiford suffered from depression and anxiety and had just spent time in a behavioral health facility before the shooting.
Florida
Woman hides in ceiling to avoid shoplifting arrest
PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. (AP) — A Florida woman faces multiple charges after authorities say she climbed into the ceiling of a Big Lots store to avoid shoplifting charges.
A Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office news release says 37-year-old Kristina Perkins went into the store’s restroom on Friday and removed some tiles so she could climb into the ceiling.
Deputies removed tiles from several spots in a five-hour effort to catch Perkins. The news release says she ignored commands to come down and instead moved to other sections of the ceiling. A deputy stayed behind when the search was called off and saw Perkins climbing down from the ceiling.
She was arrested on charges of criminal mischief, petit theft and resisting law enforcement.
Pennsylvania
Deliveryman to be tried for manslaughter
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A judge has agreed to a request by Philadelphia’s top prosecutor to drop a third-degree murder charge against a bicycle deliveryman in the stabbing death of a real estate developer during a traffic confrontation near the city’s tony Rittenhouse Square last year.
The judge on Monday accepted District Attorney Larry Krasner’s argument Friday that prosecutors had the best chance of a conviction pursuing only voluntary manslaughter and weapons count charges against 22-year-old Michael White.
Police say 37-year-old Sean Schellenger was in a car with two others in July 2018 when a confrontation began with White, who was delivering food on his bicycle and who authorities said pulled a knife and stabbed Schellenger.
The victim’s mother blasted Krasner’s decision, urging the judge to reject the motion and “let the jury decide.”
Nebraska
Woman gets 10 years for sex trafficking 16-year-old
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A Wisconsin woman has been imprisoned for sex trafficking a 16-year-old girl in Iowa and Nebraska
Federal prosecutors say 37-year-old Brooklyn Pohl was given 10 years at her sentencing Friday in Omaha.
The prosecutors say officers made contact in November 2016 with the girl at a truck stop in the Omaha suburb of Gretna.
Investigators learned that Pohl and the girl had traveled from Illinois through Iowa into Nebraska. They stayed at several motels along the way, with Pohl posting online ads offering the girl for sex acts.
Prosecutors say Pohl would help the girl negotiate prices with the customers.
Texas
State appeals court rejects recommendation to spare killer
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has rejected a lower court recommendation that a convicted killer’s death sentence should be changed to life in prison because prosecutors lied during the case.
A district judge had recommended 34-year-old Paul David Storey be resentenced because prosecutors weren’t truthful when they told jurors the victim’s family wanted Storey executed.
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports that the appeals court last week found no evidence that one of Storey’s attorneys wasn’t aware of the victim’s parents’ opposition to the death penalty. The court also said the family’s wishes “do not override prosecutorial discretion” to seek the death penalty.
Storey’s execution was stayed last year when the parents of victim Jonas Cherry said they opposed a death penalty.
Storey’s attorneys said they’ll ask the appeals court to reconsider.
