NORTH CAROLINA
Judge: Man still not mentally competent for murder trial
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP) — A judge has ruled that a North Carolina man who is accused of fatally stabbing a woman in 2011 is still not competent to stand trial for murder.
The Winston-Salem Journal reported Monday that Cornelius Tucker Jr. will be sent to the Central Regional Hospital.
He faces a first-degree-murder charge in the death of Constance Edwina Hall. The 47-year-old was found dead in a trash can. DNA tests led Winston-Salem police to arrest Tucker in 2015.
Forsyth Superior Court Judge David Hall signed an order on Thursday that involuntarily commits Tucker to a hospital until at least June 1, 2021.
Tucker may never be able to stand trial because of his history of mental illness as well as a slew of physical medical issues, according to court documents.
David Botchin, Tucker’s attorney, said his client has been diagnosed with Schizoaffective disorder and bipolar disorder with psychotic features. Tucker also has chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, seizure disorder and hepatitis.
Prosecutor Jonathan Shrader agreed that Tucker was not capable to proceed to trial.
MISSISSIPPI
Ponzi scheme convict wants prison release due to pandemic
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A Mississippi man sentenced to nearly 20 years only nine months ago for running a $100 million Ponzi scheme is hoping a federal judge will order his release from prison because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Arthur Lamar Adams, 61, filed a petition in the U.S. District Court in Jackson requesting to serve the remainder of his sentence in home confinement, The Clarion Ledger reported.
Adams initially filed a request with the Federal Bureau of Prisons but the request was denied.
Besides his age, Adams said he has hypertension, high cholesterol, psoriasis, vertigo and occasional lung infections from being a smoker, making him more susceptible to contracting COVID-19.
U.S. Assistant Attorney Dave Fulcher urged U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves to deny Adams’ petition, saying all of his health issues can be managed with medicine.
Fulcher also said that Adams hasn’t proved he would be safer if released.
Reeves appointed an attorney for Adams made no decision regarding his release.
Adams pleaded guilty to wire fraud and was sentenced in October to 19½ years. He’s serving his sentence at Forrest City Low Correctional Institution in Forrest City, Arkansas
Adams ran the Ponzi scheme through his Madison Timber Properties business, defrauding up to 300 investors. He sold bogus timber rights, promising high interest rates but he was really using the money to pay off old investors.
NEW YORK
Judge rejects tentative $19M Weinstein deal with accusers
NEW YORK (AP) — A $19 million settlement between Harvey Weinstein and some of his accusers was rejected Tuesday by a judge.
U.S. District Judge Alvin K. Heellerstein in Manhattan said Weinstein’s accusers in the proposed class-action settlement were too varied to be grouped together.
Lawyers for several women who had opposed the deal praised what they described as Hellerstein’s swift rejection of a one-sided proposal.
A spokesman for Weinstein did not immediately comment. A lawyer for his companies declined comment.
A spokesperson for New York Attorney General Letitia James, who announced the tentative agreement on June 30, said her office is reviewing the decision and determining its next steps. “Our office has been fighting tirelessly to provide these brave women with the justice they are owed and will continue to do so,” Morgan Rubin said in a written statement.
The deal to settle lawsuits brought by James and a Chicago lawyer on behalf of multiple women would have provided between $7,500 and $750,000 to some women who accused Weinstein of sexually abusing them.
The 68-year-old former Hollywood producer was convicted earlier this year of rape and sexual assault against two women. Accusations by dozens of women in 2017 led to the downfall of his career and gave rise to #MeToo, the global movement to hold powerful men accountable for their sexual misconduct.
Weinstein was diagnosed in March with the coronavirus just days after he was moved to the state’s maximum security Wende Correctional Facility near Buffalo to begin serving his 23-year prison sentence.
OKLAHOMA
Man charged in federal court for Indian Country killing of woman
TULSA, Okla. (AP) — A man accused in the shotgun slaying of a Native American woman in Tulsa was charged with murder in federal court Monday in line with a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling.
Federal prosecutors charged James Michael Landry, 29, with first-degree murder for the killing of his girlfriend, a citizen of the Cherokee Nation identified in court documents only by her initials, C.B.
The federal prosecutor’s office is pursuing the case consistent with the Supreme Court’s ruling last week that state prosecutors lack authority in criminal cases on Indian land in which the suspect or victim are tribal citizens, said U.S. Attorney Trent Shores.
“In this case and others that may now fall under federal jurisdiction, the U.S. Attorney’s Office will uphold its trust responsibility in the public safety arena,” Shores said in a statement.
Authorities who arrived at Philpott Park in Tulsa on Friday to an emergency call of a woman in need of assistance observed Landry standing over the body of a woman who had been shot in the head, according to a court affidavit. A shotgun was found nearby.
Landry admitted to detectives that he was holding the gun when it discharged, but said the shooting was unintentional, the affidavit said. A message left Monday with the federal public defender’s office in Tulsa seeking comment wasn’t immediately returned.
Landry is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on Thursday.
