Maine
City claims immunity from crash lawsuits
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) -- Maine Supreme Judicial Court justices are considering an appeal from the state's second-largest city seeking to overturn a lower-court ruling that said the city was not immune from a lawsuit in connection with a plane crash that killed three high school students.
An attorney for Lewiston told justices Wednesday that the Maine Tort Claims Act makes the city immune from wrongful-death lawsuits filed by the families of the Lewiston High School students. The students were killed in 2006 when the plane crashed in western Maine while the students were participating in the school's Air Force Junior ROTC program.
Terry Garmey, an attorney speaking for the families of the students, said the city is responsible because a Lewiston High School employee in charge of the ROTC program was told before the fatal flight that the pilot was operating the plane in an unsafe manner.
Wisconsin
Minneapolis couple charged in heroin death
MENOMONIE, Wis. (AP) -- A couple from Minneapolis, Minn., are charged in Wisconsin with providing the heroin that caused the death of a 37-year-old man.
Thirty-three-year-old Richard Roiz and 36-year-old Jessica Quirt each face a felony charge of party to first-degree reckless homicide in Dunn County.
A criminal complaint says a family member found Adrian Albrecht dead at home in the village of Downing on Dec. 31. It says drug paraphernalia and drug residue were found in his bedroom.
The St. Paul Pioneer Press reports the Ramsey County, Minn., medical examiner's office determined Albrecht died of a heroin overdose.
The Dunn County Clerk of Circuit Courts had no listing of an attorney for either Roiz or Quirt.
Montana
Man gets 20 years for child pornography
BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) -- A federal judge has sentenced a convicted sex offender to almost 20 years in prison for child pornography.
Chief U.S. District Judge Richard Cebull says 38-year-old Joseph Emory Anthony will also face a lifetime of supervision after his prison term is completed.
Anthony was sentenced in 1997 to 30 years in prison for raping and assaulting a 14-year-old Montana boy. He was released on parole in 2005, and prosecutors said he admitted to officers in 2008 that he'd been accessing child pornography on the Internet.
Pennsylvania
Anti-abortion group wants $360,000 in fees
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- A Christian legal group that successfully overturned a Pittsburgh law restricting protests near abortion clinics and health facilities wants the city to pay $360,000 in legal fees.
City Solicitor Dan Regan says the fees sought by the Alliance Defense Fund of Scottsdale, Ariz., are "excessive" and is challenging the request.
The group sued saying a 2005 law denied free speech rights to Indiana Township nurse and abortion protester Mary Kathryn Brown.
The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in October overturned the Pittsburgh law which banned protesters from standing within 15 feet of entrances but also kept protesters 8 feet from clients in a 100-foot buffer around entrances.
The city dropped the 100-foot buffer zone to comply with the ruling.
Iowa
Trial for man charged with killing roommate
SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) -- The trial of a Sioux City man accused of killing his roommate is scheduled to start next week.
Jury selection in the second-degree murder trial of Sinh Manivanh (SIN' MAHN'-ee-wahn) is to begin on Tuesday in Woodbury County District Court.
Manivanh is accused of shooting his roommate, Phomma Vanhthong (POH'-muh WONG-tong), on Nov. 17. Police say the two got into an argument in their apartment.
Kentucky
County coroner indicted on three counts of sodomy
LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) -- A county official in central Kentucky has been indicted on three counts of sodomy.
Kentucky State Police reported the arrest Wednesday of 54-year-old Steve Ward of Versailles. Ward is the coroner for Woodford County.
The Lexington Herald-Leader reported the charges stem from a child pornography investigation that began in October.
The newspaper quoted Trooper Ron Turley who said a man came forward during that investigation and said Ward molested him when he was 14 years old.
Ward was released from the Woodford County Jail after someone posted bond on his behalf. It wasn't immediately clear if he has an attorney.
Minnesota
Defense attorney wants Toyota car re-examined
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- The attorney for a man imprisoned after a fatal car crash says he'll seek to have the man's Toyota re-examined in light of automaker's recent recall over accelerator issues.
Koua Fong Lee is serving eight years in prison for a high-speed crash in Minneapolis that killed three people in 2006.
Accident reconstruction experts estimated Lee was going 72 to 91 mph when he left Interstate 94 and repeatedly pumped what he believed were the brakes before slamming into another car and killing three people.
Attorney Brent Schafer tells the Star Tribune he'll ask for a court order to re-examine Lee's 1996 Camry, believed to be at a police impound lot.
Toyota has recalled nearly 8.5 million vehicles for problems that can cause sudden acceleration. The earliest model involved in the recent Toyota recalls is from 2005.
Utah
Man charged with felony animal abuse
LOGAN, Utah (AP) -- A Logan man has been accused of shooting a dog in the testicles with a pellet gun.
The 22-year-old defendant, Emilio Deshun Hoy, was charged in court Tuesday with torture of a companion animal, a felony.
Police say they obtained a videotape of Hoy holding the Jack Russell terrier upside down by its tail and shooting it in the testicles on Christmas Eve.
Logan Police Sgt. Chad Esplin says the Airsoft gun shoots plastic BBs. He didn't know if the dog had any lasting injuries.
The terrier reportedly belonged to a roommate of Hoy's who gave it up for adoption.
Arraignment for Ward on three counts of third-degree sodomy is scheduled for March 3 in Woodford Circuit Court.
Published: Fri, Feb 12, 2010
––––––––––––––––––––
Subscribe to the Legal News!
https://test.legalnews.com/Home/Subscription
Full access to public notices, articles, columns, archives, statistics, calendar and more
Day Pass Only $4.95!
One-County $80/year
Three-County & Full Pass also available
