National Roundup

Florida Witness email: Sansom's project had "cover" TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) -- A consultant testifying Thursday in the corruption trial of former Florida House Speaker Ray Sansom says he told Sansom in an email that justifying a multi-million-dollar budget item as a training center would provide "cover" to get it passed. Jeff Schembera is the consultant who worked for the college that would build the project. He later said on the stand Thursday that he was being flippant in the email and wasn't trying to mislead anyone. Sansom faces charges that he schemed to get a $6 million budget appropriation in 2007 to build a hangar at the Destin airport for his co-defendant. Defense lawyers have said the money was for a new hurricane-proof emergency operations center. Hong Kong Jury mulls U.S. woman's fate in milkshake murder HONG KONG (AP) -- A Hong Kong jury is deliberating in the retrial of an American woman accused of murdering her wealthy husband after drugging his milkshake. The jury reached no verdict Thursday. It will reconvene on Friday, when a decision is possible. The original trial found Nancy Kissel, a native of Adrian, Michigan, guilty of killing her husband seven years ago. A judge later ordered a retrial. Prosecutors say Kissel gave her husband a sedative-laced milkshake and then bludgeoned him with a metal ornament. The defense says Kissel was a battered wife acting under diminished responsibility. New York NYC grandmother pleads guilty in voodoo ritual NEW YORK (AP) -- A New York City grandmother of a 6-year-old girl severely burned in a voodoo ritual has admitted she did nothing to stop it. Sylvenie Thessier, of Queens, pleaded guilty Wednesday to endangering the welfare of a child. Under a plea deal, she faces three years in prison. Prosecutors say the child's mother, Marie Lauradin, sprayed her with rum and set her on fire in June 2009 to rid the daughter of evil spirits. They say the 71-year-old grandmother later doused the girl with water and put her to bed without seeking medical help. The girl's mother is set to go on trial on charges of assault and endangering the welfare of a child. Texas Judge named for trial of 2 DeLay co-defendants AUSTIN, Texas (AP) -- A new judge will oversee the Texas conspiracy and money laundering trial of two associates of convicted former U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay. State District Judge David Crain of Austin was named Wednesday. The judge in DeLay's trial, Senior District Judge Pat Priest of San Antonio, recused himself March 10 from presiding over the trial of John Colyandro of Austin and James Ellis of Washington. They face trial for allegedly illegally funneling corporate money to Republican Texas legislative candidates in 2002. A jury last year convicted DeLay of money laundering and conspiracy. The Houston-area Republican is appealing his three-year prison term. The Austin American-Statesman reports Priest has sealed the records in the defense motion, alleging bias, to remove him. Crain is a Democrat. Mississippi Retrial date set for Williams in 2005 slaying OXFORD, Miss. (AP) -- A Lafayette County judge has set Oct. 17 as the new trial date for David Jackson Williams, who is charged with the 2005 slaying of a college student. Williams was released on $100,000 bond on Wednesday. Circuit Judge Andrew Howorth will preside over the retrial. The Mississippi Supreme Court last November ordered a new trial for the now 28-year-old Williams. He was convicted in 2007 and sentenced to life in prison. Williams was convicted in the death of Demetria Bracey of Jackson. Williams and Bracey were students at the University of Mississippi. He claimed the stabbing death was part of a mutual suicide pact. Missouri Appeals court upholds conviction in Columbia death COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) -- The Missouri Court of Appeals has upheld the conviction of a man who shot his former brother-in-law to death at a McDonald's in Columbia. Forty-year-old William Clinch appealed his life sentence for the murder of 32-year-old Jeremy Bohannon in September 2007. He testified that he shot Bohannon to save the lives of his sister's three children. They were scheduled to visit Bohannon, their father, that day. The Columbia Tribune reports that the appeals court on Tuesday rejected Clinch's contention that the case should have been dismissed because Boone County prosecutors dropped charges after receiving an unfavorable court ruling and then immediately refiled them. Clinch also questioned a decision not to allow his brother to testify during his trial. The appeals court rejected both of those arguments. California Man to stand trial for false imprisonment SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) -- A California judge says a transient is mentally competent to stand trial for felony false imprisonment of a good Samaritan who was forced into a Palo Alto fast food restaurant bathroom. A judge ordered trial for 54-year-old Reginald Hodges after an October preliminary hearing. But defense attorney Jeffrey Dunn expressed doubts about his client's competency and a doctor's examination was ordered. A San Jose judge ruled Wednesday that Hodges was competent. A March 28 hearing will decide a trial date. The San Jose Mercury News says Hodges asked a woman for help in carrying his belongings to a bus stop. Prosecutors say Hodges led her behind a building, opened the door to a Taco Bell bathroom and forced her inside against her will. The woman escaped unharmed minutes later. Montana Supco: Man mauled after smoking pot gets work comp KALISPELL, Mont. (AP) -- The Montana Supreme Court has upheld a Workers' Compensation Court ruling that a man who was mauled while feeding the bears at a tourist attraction is eligible for workers' compensation coverage. Brock Hopkins filed a claim with the Uninsured Employers' Fund, which denied it because Hopkins had smoked marijuana before entering a bear enclosure at Great Bear Adventures near West Glacier on Nov. 2, 2007. Park owner Russell Kilpatrick argued that Hopkins was a volunteer and fed the bears after Kilpatrick told him not to. The Workers' Compensation Court found Hopkins was an employee and said there was no evidence that impairment from smoking marijuana led to the mauling. The Daily Inter Lake reports the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Hopkins on Tuesday. Published: Fri, Mar 25, 2011