National Roundup

Arkansas
‘Stand Your Ground’ bill fails before State House panel
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — An Arkansas House panel on Tuesday rejected legislation that would have eased the state’s restrictions on the use of deadly force in self-defense.

The House Judiciary Committee rejected the proposal to remove the state’s duty to retreat after hearing three hours of testimony. The Senate-backed bill failed on a voice vote, and the committee’s chair quickly adjourned the meeting after the vote.

A similar measure failed before a Senate panel two years ago, but the bill this year moved more easily  through the Legislature after groups that opposed it have said they’re neutral to the latest version. Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson has not said whether he supports the legislation.

Tuesday’s vote, however, doesn’t mean the issue is dead for the session. Supporters could try again with the same bill before the House Judiciary Committee or file a new bill. They could also try and pull the bill from the committee directly to the House floor, a move that would require at least 67 votes in the 100-member House. The bill’s sponsors did not immediately return calls seeking comment.

At least 25 states have laws stating that there is no duty to retreat before using deadly force against an attacker, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. The most recent state to enact such a measure was Ohio last month.

“The truth is, we’re moving the needle slightly in Arkansas to allow someone to defend themselves if they find themselves in a dangerous situation and they have to use lethal force to survive,” Republican Rep. Aaron Pilkington, the bill’s House sponsor, told the panel.

But critics of the proposal said removing the state’s duty to retreat would put more people at risk. Opponents have also noted the state’s law already allows someone to use deadly force without retreating in certain circumstances.

“Stand Your Ground laws provide the perfect opportunity to increase gun violence incidences and harm minority groups,” Camden Mayor Julian Lott told the panel.


Oregon
Man gets 15 years for child sexual abuse
BEND, Ore. (AP) — A Redmond man accused of sexually abusing a child for more than four years has been sentenced to 15 years in prison.

Cody Owen Hough-Nielsen, 31, was in court Tuesday for sentencing after previously entering an Alford plea on two counts of first-degree sex abuse and one of coercion. Under an Alford plea, a defendant does not admit guilt but acknowledges prosecutors have enough evidence for a conviction.

Hough-Nielsen was arrested in September 2018 after a girl who lived with him told police he had abused her numerous times from 2014 into 2018, while she was younger than 11, prosecutor Stacy Neil told the court.
“She reported that he threatened to hurt her mother if she told anyone,” Neil said.

Hough-Nielsen’s attorney, Karla Nash, said he maintains he did not sexually abuse the child. He did not speak in court.

Nash said her client felt his chances at trial were slim due to his arrest record, which includes a high-profile arrest in 2005, when he was 16.

On Dec. 12 of that year, Hough-Nielsen and two others broke into a Redmond couple’s home picked at random. They ransacked the house, stole guns and jewelry, shot several pets and set the house on fire.

Hough-Nielsen was charged as an adult, convicted on nearly two dozen counts and sentenced to more than seven years in custody.

New Mexico
Kirtland airman convicted in 2019 crash that killed woman
ALBUQUERQUE, NM. (AP) — A U.S. Air Force court-martial panel has convicted a Kirtland Air Force Base airman on charges stemming from a 2019 crash that killed an Albuquerque woman.

Airman Calvin Cooper, 22, faced sentencing Wednesday after being convicted Tuesday of involuntary manslaughter and negligent homicide in the death of Angelica Baca, 39.

James Dallas Wicker, a brother of Baca, said Cooper’s conviction doesn’t bring his sister back but was “the start of a long healing process,” the Albuquerque Journal reported.

A prosecutor, Capt. Andrew Trejo, said Baca was struck in a street median by Cooper’s car as he drove 60 mph (97 kph) in a 35 mph (56 kph) zone.

Capt. Victoria Clark, one of Cooper’s defense attorneys, said Baca was negligent by not using a crosswalk to cross a busy street.

Washington
18-year-old charged in shooting death of his stepfather
YAKIMA, Wash. (AP) — An 18-year-old Yakima man has been charged with second-degree murder in the shooting death of his stepfather.

Jonathan A. Hidalgo is accused of shooting Charles Ellis Wade Mills, 45, at their home on Jan. 27, the Yakima Herald reported.

Officers went to the home around 10:45 p.m. after Hidalgo called 911 to report the shooting, according to a probable cause affidavit. Officers said Hidalgo made statements in the call that linked him to the killing, court documents said.

Mills was pronounced dead at the scene. An autopsy determined he died from a single shot to the head, Yakima County Coroner Jim Curtice said.

Hidalgo, who has no prior criminal history, is being held at the Yakima County jail in lieu of $1 million bail.

Oklahoma
Man jailed for shooting deaths of 5 kids, brother
MUSKOGEE, Okla. (AP) — A 25-year-old Oklahoma man remained in custody Wednesday on first-degree murder complaints for the killings of his brother and five young children, police said.

Police in Muskogee said they don’t yet know why Jarron Deajon Pridgeon fatally shot Javarion Lee, 24, or the children, the oldest of whom was 9. The children’s mother, Brittany Anderson, was also wounded in the shootings early Tuesday and was hospitalized in Tulsa.

Police identified the slain children as Jalaiya Pridgeon, 1; Jaidus Pridgeon, 3; Harmony Anderson, 5; Neveah Pridgeon, 6; and Que’dynce Anderson, 9.

Jail records do not list an attorney who could speak on Pridgeon’s behalf.

Pridgeon and the victims lived in the home where the shootings occurred, Muskogee police said. Neighbors told the Muskogee Phoenix that they had only recently moved to the home but that the children were often outside playing.

Raven Anderson, who is an aunt to the children, told Tulsa TV station KOTV that Pridgeon was the father of three of the slain children.