Court Digest

Virginia
Trial unlikely for man accused of killing parents
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Attorneys and doctors say that a Virginia man who suffers from schizophrenia is unlikely to stand trial on charges that he killed his parents.

The Richmond Times-Dispatch reported Tuesday that William Roy Brissette, 28, of Henrico County, was found “unrestorably incompetent” by a Circuit Court judge.

Brissette will continue to receive treatment at Central State Hospital in Petersburg. And his case will be reviewed by the court until he is able stand trial. But attorneys and doctors say that is unlikely. Schizophrenia is a psychosis that includes hallucinations and delusions.

Doctors at Central State had recently told attorneys that they could move forward to trial. But three evaluators agreed that Brissette remained “unrestorable” and was likely to remain so for the foreseeable future.

Brissette was living with his parents in March 2016 when they were found shot to death inside the home. His mother was Martha B. Brissette, 56, and his father was Henry J. Brissette III, 59.

Minnesota
Mother charged in death of 2-year-old daughter
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Ramsey County prosecutors have charged the mother of a St. Paul toddler with murder in the death of the 2-year-old girl.

According to a criminal complaint, Ciashia Lee told police she lost her temper and kept hitting her daughter because she wouldn’t stop crying and woke up her infant.

The child’s father, who was also arrested, has been released from custody Tuesday, officials said. The 29-year-old mother has been charged with second-degree unintentional murder.

The father called police early Sunday where officers found Melody Vang dead on the back porch of her family’s home, officials said. An autopsy determined she died of head trauma, the  St. Paul Pioneer Press  reported.

The man told police he found the toddler was cold to the touch and that he wrapped her in blankets and took her to the porch so the other children in the home wouldn’t see her.
Lee is being held on $1 million bond.

New Jersey
73-year-old man charged with murder in wife’s fatal stabbing
MAHWAH, N.J. (AP) — A man faces murder charges after his wife was found stabbed to death in a bathroom at their northern New Jersey townhome.

Dieter Zimmermann, 73, of Mahwah, also faces weapons charges stemming from the death of 69-year-old Jaquelin Zimmerman, according to the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office. Police found her body on a bathroom floor when they responded to the home around 8 a.m. Tuesday for a reported domestic violence incident.

Dieter Zimmermann used a kitchen knife to kill his wife and had several scratches and a bleeding cut on his finger, authorities said.

It’s not yet known what sparked the deadly dispute or if anyone else was in the home when the stabbing occurred. No other injuries were reported in the incident.

It wasn’t known Wednesday if Zimmerman has retained an attorney.

Florida
Pediatrician arrested on child porn charges
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Investigators have arrested a South Florida pediatrician on charges of child pornography.

The Broward Sheriff’s Office received a tip in June that Dr. Michael Mizrachy, 49, might be in possession of child pornography, officials said. The tipster also said the physician, who worked at West Broward Pediatrics, could possibly be distributing child porn.

Mizrachy is no longer employed by the practice in Plantation, the Fort Lauderdale SunSentinel reported.

In a statement released Tuesday night, the sheriff’s office said detectives had located a video depicting child pornography.

“In addition to the initial video described in the tip, detectives located several photos depicting what appear to be young children in their bathing suits, underwear or shorts in which none of the children appear to be aware the photos were being taken,” the statement said.

In October, detectives got a search warrant for Mizrachy’s home in Parkland. Officials said Mizrachy used an app to chat with a child who was 15 at the time, which also included sexually explicit photographs.

He was booked into jail on Tuesday afternoon, and faces two counts of possession of sexual performance by a child and one count of computer pornography.

Jail records did not list a lawyer for Mizrachy.

Oregon
Drone maker to pay $25M over military gear parts
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Aerial drone manufacturer Insitu in the Columbia River Gorge will pay $25 million to settle allegations that its military drones were outfitted with used components instead of new ones.

U.S. attorney Brian Moran said cases such as this one should be seen as a warning to defense contractors that false claims have no place in military purchasing. Moran announced the settlement Tuesday, The Oregonian/OregonLive reported.

The allegations originated with a former Insitu manager, D R O’Hara, who filed a whistleblower complaint in federal court and will receive $4.6 million of the settlement. Investigators, who took over the case under provisions of the whistleblower law, allege that Insitu billed the military for new parts and components but actually used less expensive recycled and refurbished parts.

Insitu said it cooperated with the investigation and that its disclosures to the government met all requirements.

“At all times, Insitu provided superior ISR services to the Navy and Special Operations Command, a fact the government does not dispute,” the company said in a statement. “Insitu continues to provide mission-ready systems and supports the nation’s warfighters by providing world-class service.”

Owned by Boeing, Insitu, is headquartered in the town of Bingen, Washington, along the Columbia River. It employs about 1,500 people with two-thirds of them in the Bingen and Hood River, Oregon, area.

New Orleans
Federal lawsuit: Regulation illegally blocks woman’s business serving kids
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A New Orleans woman says in a federal lawsuit that she’s being unconstitutionally denied the right to run a business providing care to special needs children.

The suit was filed Tuesday on behalf of Ursula Newell-Davis, who said she wants to run a business providing “respite” services — giving care and education services to disabled or challenged children whose parents can’t be with them around the clock.

Filed on her behalf by the Pacific Legal Foundation and the Louisiana-based Pelican Institute for Public Policy, the lawsuit opposes the state requirement that she prove a need for the service through a “Facility Need Review.”

The suit says the state requirement is really an unconstitutional way of protecting the interests of existing care providers. The requirement for a Facility Need Review “permits the Department to reject an applicant solely because there are purportedly ‘enough’ businesses already operating,” the suit says. “This is simple, unconstitutional economic protectionism.”

Defendants in the lawsuit are several state health officials. The state has not yet filed its response.

Georgia
Teacher killing trial makes detour to State Supreme Court
ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia’s highest court heard arguments Tuesday on whether taxpayers should cover portions of the legal defense for a man facing trial in the 2005 slaying of a high school teacher whose disappearance remained a mystery for more than a decade.

Ryan Duke had been scheduled to stand trial on murder charges in April 2019 in the killing of teacher and beauty queen Tara Grinstead. The COVID-19 pandemic that’s shuttered courtrooms statewide has contributed to the long delay. But it’s rooted in an ongoing dispute over whether Duke is entitled to state funding.

Duke’s attorneys asked the Georgia Supreme Court to overrule the trial judge, who twice has refused to provide the defense team with funding for expert witnesses in DNA, false confessions and psychology. Duke’s lawyers argue he won’t get a fair trial without them.

Tift Judicial Circuit Superior Court Judge Bill Reinhardt has ruled Duke gave up any claim to state money when he declined legal representation from public defenders in favor of private attorneys who took his case for free.

The Supreme Court didn’t rule on Duke’s request Tuesday. WMAZ-TV reported  that two of the justices indicated questions about which defendants are entitled to taxpayer funding may be better suited for state lawmakers than for judges tasked with interpreting existing law.

“You can argue policy up and down, but it’s not going to change how I view a statute of the constitution,” Justice David Nahmias said.

Justice Nels Peterson seemed to agree.

“Absent a constitutional basis or a statutory basis, to tell the state they have to do something that’s good policy — that does appear to be an argument directed more toward the legislature,” Peterson said.

Grinstead was 30 in October 2005 when she disappeared from her home in Ocilla, about 185 miles (300 kilometers) south of Atlanta. A billboard with her photo and a tip line number loomed for years in the area, and hope remained that she would be found alive.

Her death was confirmed when Duke and another man were arrested in February 2017.

A Georgia Bureau of Investigation agent testified at a pretrial hearing that Duke confessed to killing Grinstead after breaking into her home to steal money for drugs. GBI agents have also said DNA matching both Duke and Grinstead was found on a latex glove discovered in her yard.

Duke’s attorneys have said he made a false confession under the influence of drugs. They said in court filings that Duke was asleep at home when Grinstead was killed.

Duke’s former best friend and co-defendant, Bo Dukes, was convicted in March of helping conceal Grinstead’s death and was sentenced to serve 25 years in prison. He told authorities he helped Duke burn her body in a rural pecan orchard.


Minnesota
Family of man killed by police in 2015 files lawsuit
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — The family of a man killed by St. Paul police six years ago is suing the department.

The aunt, mother and grandmother of Marcus Golden filed their federal lawsuit just before the statute of limitations was set to expire.

The 24-year-old Black man was shot and killed by police outside a St. Paul apartment building on Jan. 14, 2015. His relatives allege Officers Jeremy Doverspike and Dan Peck used excessive force in violation of Golden’s constitutional rights.

The family is seeking monetary damages, Minnesota Public Radio News reported.

Police said Golden had been sending threatening messages to an ex-girlfriend, and drove at officers at high speed as they approached him.

A grand jury concluded that the shooting was justified and declined to charge the officers.

Arizona
Man pleads not guilty to discarding human remains
PRESCOTT, Ariz. (AP) — A man accused of discarding human remains in remote areas of central Arizona has pleaded not guilty in the case.

Walter Harold Mitchell was arraigned Wednesday in Yavapai County Superior Court. His attorney waived a formal reading of the indictment, which charges Mitchell with 29 counts of concealing or abandoning a dead body.

Authorities say they tied Mitchell to the body parts that included legs, arms and heads through tags and medical gauze that were found with the remains outside Prescott in late December.

Authorities said Mitchell moved to Arizona from Washington state last year. They said he owned a business that managed cadavers for research.

The remains haven’t been identified.

Mitchell is being held on a $250,000 bond. He’s scheduled for another court hearing in mid-February.