Florida
Nun pleads not guilty in case of false-imprisonment
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) -- A nun has pleaded not guilty in a central Florida false-imprisonment case.
Laura Maria Caballero didn't appear in court Tuesday. Her attorney entered the plea on her behalf during an arraignment stemming from charges of false imprisonment and interfering with child custody.
Caballero's next court date is March 24. She is free on bond.
Caballero was known as Sister Mary at the St. Filumena Catholic Church in Eustis. It's not a Roman Catholic church affiliated with the Orlando Diocese or the Vatican, nor are its clergy and nuns. Investigators executed a search warrant at the church, but it was not known what was collected.
Caballero is accused of taking a 2-year-old girl to Argentina and refusing to give her back to her parents. The girl has since reunited with her parents.
Pennsylvania
Feds reviewing torture death as 'hate crime'
GREENSBURG, Pa. (AP) -- Pittsburgh's federal prosecutor is reviewing the torture murder of a mentally disabled woman under a new federal law banning hate crimes against people with disabilities.
Acting U.S. Attorney Robert Cessar (SES'-ar) says Tuesday it's too early to tell if his office will file charges against any or all of the six suspects under the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act signed by President Obama in October.
The suspects face homicide and other charges in state court in last week's death of 30-year-old Jennifer Daugherty. Her body was found in a trash can in Greensburg, about 30 miles east of Pittsburgh.
Cessar says he needs to do more research to determine whether his office may file an extra charge against the suspects or bring the entire case into federal court.
Virginia
Man admits to depositing dead mother's checks
NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (AP) -- A Newport News man has pleaded guilty to depositing government checks intended for his deceased mother over an 18-year period, and admitted spending much of the money on crack cocaine and alcohol.
Gilbert Harges admitted to depositing 221 monthly Department of Veterans Affairs benefit checks for $191,669 after forging the signature of his mother, who was entitled to receive the checks after the death of her husband. Her payments were supposed to stop when she died in February 1990, but Harges continued to deposit money into their joint account, according to court documents.
Sentencing is scheduled for May 7.
Missouri
Out-of-town jury to hear case in child's death
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- An out-of-town jury will hear the case of a mid-Missouri teen accused of killing 9-year-old Elizabeth Olten.
Attorneys for Alyssa Bustamante had asked that her first-degree murder trial be moved to another county because of the publicity surrounding Elizabeth's death last fall.
But in a brief court hearing Tuesday, Cole County Prosecutor Mark Richardson said he preferred to keep the case in Cole County because he expects to call several witnesses and out of respect for the victim's family. He suggested bringing in a jury from another county.
Cole County Circuit Judge Patricia Joyce scheduled a March 8 hearing to decide where the jury will be selected.
Bustamante has pleaded not guilty in Elizabeth's death. Authorities say Bustamante, who was 15 at the time, confessed to killing her neighbor because she wanted to know what it felt like to kill someone.
North Carolina
Court: taxpayers can't fight tax breaks for Google
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) -- A North Carolina appeals court has ruled that only specific taxpayers who are negatively affected by a tax break can sue to challenge the special benefits available to some companies but not others.
The state Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday that three taxpayers weren't recognized under state law as eligible to sue because of tax breaks used to lure Google Inc., to Caldwell County.
Lawmakers approved exemptions from the state's retail sales and use tax, worth about $90 million over 30 years, in exchange for Google building an Internet data center in Lenoir. The data center was to create up to 210 jobs.
The North Carolina Institute for Constitutional Law challenged Google's tax breaks, claiming it forces other taxpayers to pay more. The group earlier failed to reverse incentives given to computer maker Dell Inc.
Ohio
High court weighs claim of repressed memories in case
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- The Ohio Supreme Court is weighing the claim of a woman who says she missed a deadline for suing over sexual abuse because she only recently recalled the assault.
A 2006 law allows victims of child sexual abuse to file claims until they turn 30, or 12 years after becoming adults.
The case before the court involves a claim filed by a 33-year-old woman in 2008 after she says she recalled the abuse.
The woman says a 1994 state Supreme Court ruling allows abuse claims to start when a victim recovers repressed memories of the abuse.
The Greene County Common Pleas Court and the Second Ohio District Court of Appeals both dismissed her claim, saying she should have filed the claim no later than her 30th birthday.
Louisiana
Judge to decide whether perjury charge stands
COVINGTON, La. (AP) -- A judge is expected to decide Thursday whether former Mandeville Mayor Eddie Price's perjury trial will go forward.
Price and Mandeville police Sgt. David Hurstell are accused of lying during the trial of a Mandeville businessman who was convicted of second-degree battery for beating a woman in a bar.
Defense attorneys argue that the testimony wasn't relevant to the case and the perjury charges should be thrown out.
Price is awaiting sentencing on federal corruption and tax evasion charges. He pleaded guilty to those charges last year and is scheduled to be sentenced next month.
Texas
Pardon requested for man who died in prison in 1999
DALLAS (AP) -- Attorneys for a man who died in prison after wrongly being convicted of rape have filed for a pardon with the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles.
Tim Cole's pardon application was mailed to Austin on Monday by the Innocence Project of Texas.
Cole, an Army veteran, died behind bars in 1999 at age 39. He was convicted of a 1985 rape of a Texas Tech student in Lubbock. A 2008 DNA test cleared Cole and implicated convicted rapist Jerry Wayne Johnson, who confessed in letters to court officials beginning in 1995.
Cole's family has been asking for a pardon from Gov. Rick Perry, who was sympathetic but maintained he legally could not issue a posthumous pardon.
Last month, Attorney General Greg Abbott ruled that the Texas constitution limits pardon power only in cases of treason or impeachment.
Published: Wed, Feb 17, 2010
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