Connecticut
Inspirational speaker charged with robbery
GREENWICH, Conn. (AP) -- Police in Connecticut say they believe a man who claims to be an inspirational speaker to inner-city youth was the leader of a multi-town armed robbery spree.
Greenwich police charged 48-year-old Gregory Jetter of Bridgeport on Monday with first-degree robbery, conspiracy and larceny. He was held in lieu of $250,000 bail pending arraignment Tuesday in Stamford Superior Court.
Police say Jetter and two other men robbed an antique shop in Greenwich at gunpoint and made off with more than $250,000 worth of jewelry in July 2009.
Authorities say that robbery was the second of five similar crimes in Greenwich, Fairfield, Orange, Stratford and Monroe. Greenwich police expect authorities in the other towns to charge Jetter.
It's not clear if Jetter has a lawyer.
New York
Juror in Astor case says court claim 'surprising'
NEW YORK (AP) -- A Manhattan woman says she's shocked to learn that her dispute with a fellow juror is the basis for a defense motion filed in the Brooke Astor case.
Court papers filed Monday contain Judi DeMarco's assertion that she felt frightened while holding out for acquittal.
Yvonne Fernandez says things got "nasty," but then she and DeMarco made up and hugged. Fernandez told The New York Times: "All this is very surprising."
The defense wants to vacate the October convictions of Astor's son, Anthony Marshall, and estates lawyer Francis X. Morrissey Jr.
The jury found they took advantage of the socialite's advancing dementia to siphon millions of dollars from her estimated $200 million fortune.
Kentucky
Teacher being charged with sex abuse of a minor
PARIS, Ky. (AP) -- A Bourbon County teacher's attorney says his client was nearing retirement and wouldn't have risked those benefits for a sexual fling with a student.
Opening statements came Monday in the Paris trial of 52-year-old Kimberly Fryman, who is charged with first-degree sexual abuse of a minor by a person in authority.
The Lexington Herald-Leader quoted defense lawyer Richard Rawdon as saying Fryman's accuser was a problem student who told her she would be sorry if she reported him for bad behavior.
The accuser, who was 16 when charges were brought, testified against her Monday.
Jessamine County Commonwealth's Attorney Tom Lockridge said Fryman's statements to investigators were inconsistent and said she sent sexual text messages to the boy and to other students.
Nevada
Lawyer, consultant face trial in Vegas over fraud case
LAS VEGAS (AP) -- Trial is about to begin for a Las Vegas medical consultant and an attorney accused of scheming to control personal injury cases and inflate courtroom settlements.
Jury selection is scheduled to start Wednesday for consultant Howard Awand and attorney Noel Gage on mail and wire fraud charges alleging they didn't provide honest services to clients.
Prosecutors in 2007 alleged the two men were part of a regional network controlling clients' medical care, paying kickbacks, and shielding friends and health providers from malpractice lawsuits.
Gage went to trial two years ago, and Senior U.S. District Judge Justin Quackenbush acquitted him of all but one charge. Quackenbush later threw out all charges against Gage and Awand.
California
Man sues Blue Cross over cost of liver transplant
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Trial has begun in Los Angeles in a breach-of-contract lawsuit filed by a man against Anthem Blue Cross over a liver transplant.
The insurer should pay the $205,000 cost of an out-of-state liver transplant for Ephram Nehme, 62, because Nehme would have died had he waited to have his surgery at a Blue Cross-contracted hospital in California, his lawyer Scott Glovsky told jurors in his opening statement Monday.
Blue Cross approved a liver transplant for Nehme at UCLA Medical Center when his condition began to deteriorate in 2006, but his doctor, a Blue Cross network physician at UCLA, recommended Nehme go to Clarian Transplant Center in Indiana because the wait times there were much shorter.
Fearing he would die waiting for an organ in California, Nehme received a liver transplant at Clarian in 2007, paying the $205,000 out of pocket.
Blue Cross attorney William von Behren said there was "no dispute" Nehme needed a liver transplant. "The question is whether Mr. Nehme needed to go somewhere other than UCLA for that liver transplant."
Von Behren said there was no evidence Nehme would have died had he waited to have the transplant in California. By going out of the Blue Cross coverage network, Nehme left the insurer with no obligation to pay for his out-of-state care, von Behren said.
Delaware
Federal judge throws out school board prayer suit
WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) -- A federal judge has ruled that the Indian River School Board can continue to start its meetings with a prayer or moment of silence.
U.S. District Judge Joseph J. Farnan Jr. found that it is constitutional for the board to open meetings with prayer and threw out the lawsuit. His opinion was made public on Monday.
The suit charged the board's practice violated the constitutional separation of church and state, but Farnan found that prayer is permissible because the elected school board is closer to a legislative body than a school.
The attorney for the plaintiffs says they expect to appeal the decision.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated charges against the two men last August.
Montana
ACLU appeals court ruling on ballot access
BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) -- The ACLU of Montana has appealed a federal court ruling that upheld the state's rules for independent candidates seeking to run for office.
The civil liberties group describes Montana's ballot access laws as among the most stringent in the nation. Independent candidates are required to file early, pay a steep filing fee and submit thousands of signatures to qualify to run for statewide office.
In 2008, the ACLU sued the Montana Secretary of State on behalf of Steve Kelly of Gallatin County, who unsuccessfully sought to run in 2008 as an independent candidate for U.S. Senate.
Earlier this month, U.S. District Judge Sam Haddon ruled that Kelly did not have standing in the case because he never made a serious attempt to meet the requirements.
The ACLU asked the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to intervene.
Louisiana
Woman pleads to selling children
VILLE PLATTE, La. (AP) -- A 52-year-old Pitkin woman has pleaded guilty to two counts of sale of a minor in connection with allegations she traded two children to a couple in exchange for a cockatoo and $175.
Donna Louise Greenwell received 15 months of hard labor on each count, which will run concurrently. Greenwell was accused of selling the couple a 4-year-old girl and 5-year-old boy. Both children were under Greenwell's care after the children' biological parents had left them with her.
Published: Wed, Feb 24, 2010
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