Pennsylvania
Family sues Little League over bunk bed fall, head injury
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A Utah boy who suffered a serious head injury after falling from a bunk bed during last month’s Little League World Series in Pennsylvania has returned home from the hospital and his family is suing the league and the company that made the bed.
Easton Oliverson, 12, of Saint George, Utah, suffered a skull fracture and bleeding on the brain in the Aug. 15 fall at a players dormitory in Williamsport. He has since had three operations and battled a staph infection, the family’s lawyer, Ken Fulginiti, said Tuesday.
“He’s not doing well. The more recent development, after a third craniotomy, is seizures. It’s been a long road,” Fulginiti said. Easton had been hospitalized in Pennsylvania and Utah before his discharge last week, he said.
The negligence lawsuit, filed by Jace and Nancy Oliverson on Friday in Philadelphia, said there was no railing on the top bunk. Kevin Fountain, a spokesperson for Little League International, said the league would not comment on the pending suit. Savoy Contract Furniture of Williamsport did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment.
Easton, a pitcher and outfielder with the Snow Canyon team from Santa Clara in southwestern Utah, fell in his sleep, Fulginiti said. The lawsuit seeks more than $50,000 for the boy’s care, along with punitive damages.
“They really appreciate all the support they’ve gotten throughout the nation,” Fulginiti said. “But they’re struggling to focus on the family. They have two other kids and it’s a lot.”
Jace Oliverson was an assistant coach on the baseball team, while Easton’s younger brother Brogan was an alternate who was tapped to take his place after the fall. Snow Canyon was eliminated after two losses.
California
State attorney general takes over LA corruption probe
LOS ANGELES (AP) — California’s attorney general on Tuesday took over a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department investigation of a county supervisor who had called the corruption probe an act of political retaliation.
Attorney General Rob Bonta announced he was assuming all responsibility for the investigation into contracts awarded to a nonprofit group run by a friend of Supervisor Sheila Kuehl.
The state Department of Justice asked the nation’s largest sheriff’s department to stop its probe and hand over its evidence in the case.
The Sheriff’s Department released a letter that Bonta sent Tuesday to Undersheriff Timothy K. Murakami that said he has authority to take over investigations “in the public interest” and ordering the department to cease activity in the case, including making public statements or court filings.
For more than a year, the Sheriff’s Department has been investigating some $800,000 in contracts awarded by the county’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority to Peace Over Violence, a nonprofit organization that describes itself as a “social service agency dedicated to the elimination of sexual and domestic violence and all forms of interpersonal violence.”
The contracts were to operate a hotline for reporting sexual harassment on public transit.
The group’s executive director and CEO is Patricia Giggans, a friend of Supervisor Sheila Kuehl.
The Sheriff’s Department has said it was looking into whether Kuehl was improperly involved in obtaining contracts for the group.
Kuehl is a fierce critic of Sheriff Alex Villanueva and has called for his resignation. She appointed Giggans to serve on the Civilian Oversight Commission that monitors the Sheriff’s Department.
Both have denied wrongdoing in regard to the contracts.
Last week, sheriff’s deputies raided county offices and the homes of Kuehl and Giggans but a Superior Court judge has ordered the Sheriff’s Department to temporarily cease searching any computers and hard drives seized in the raids.
Kuehl and Metro challenged the validity of the search warrants, with lawyers for Kuehl writing in a court filing Monday that raids at Kuehl’s home and office were “politically motivated and retaliatory.”
The filing called warrants for those searches a “flagrant abuse of power and an offense to the rule of law.”
Villanueva had recused himself from the investigation but has discussed it in interviews and on social media as he campaigns for reelection.
Meanwhile, on the day of the raids, the sheriff asked Bonta to look into whether Kuehl and Giggans had improperly received advanced notice of the searches. In Tuesday’s letter, Bonta said he would look into the allegations but also was taking over the Sheriff’s Department probe.
“In recent days, the public unfolding of an unprecedented investigation has raised serious questions for residents of Southern California and beyond,” Bonta said in a statement released by his office. “I recognize the deep uncertainty this has engendered.”
He said his office was committed to “a thorough, fair, and independent investigation that will help restore confidence for the people of our state.”
Colorado
Lawmaker seeks dismissal of voting charge
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) — An attorney for a Colorado lawmaker has asked El Paso County prosecutors to dismiss a felony charge that he voted outside the district he lives in and represents in 2020, citing incorrect information presented to a grand jury before his indictment.
Dan Kaplan, an attorney for Democratic Sen. Pete Lee, filed a motion to dismiss on Tuesday, stating the wrong residency information was provided to prosecutors by the state Office of Attorney Registration, The Colorado Sun reports.
The office told prosecutors of the mistake last week, and the El Paso County District Attorney’s Office is reviewing the case, spokesman Howard Black said.
Lee, whose website says he practiced law for 25 years, chairs the state Senate Judiciary Committee. He was indicted in August.
“We believe that the erroneous information would have resulted in no indictment being issued,” said Lee, who previously denied any wrongdoing.
The felony charge carries a possible penalty of one to three years in prison and a possible fine of up to $100,000.
Lee’s next court hearing is set for Oct. 18.
Lee is not seeking a second term in November’s election after being elected to represent his El Paso County district in 2018. He previously served in the House.
