National Roundup

New Jersey Appeal denied for man in brutal sex attacks CAMDEN, N.J. (AP) -- A New Jersey appeals court has upheld the conviction of a man serving a life sentence for raping and murdering a young mother in Burlington County eight years ago. Christopher Kornberger had appealed his conviction for the murder and rape of Krista DeFrancesco as she returned to her Evesham townhouse from a night out with friends. Kornberger was convicted and sentenced in 2008 to life in prison plus 51 years. The state appellate court ruling published Monday rejected Kornberger's argument that his confession to police was involuntary and that he should have been allowed to withdraw it. The court also upheld Kornberger's convictions and guilty pleas in several other attempted sexual assaults on women in Camden and Burlington counties. Massachusetts Jury gets case of mother who withheld medicine LAWRENCE, Mass. (AP) -- A jury has begun deliberations in case of a Massachusetts woman accused of withholding cancer treatment from her autistic son. Kristen LaBrie is charged with attempted murder, child endangerment and assault and battery for failing to give her son, Jeremy Fraser, at least five months of at-home cancer medications. The boy died at age 9 in 2009. A jury in Lawrence Superior Court began deliberating Monday after hearing closing arguments and instructions from the judge. LaBrie said she stopped giving her son his chemotherapy medications because the side effects made him so sick she was afraid the treatments would kill him. During closings, LaBrie's lawyer said her actions were not "intentional, wanton or reckless." A prosecutor told the jury LaBrie "showed not one shred of feeling responsible" for her son's death. Ohio School teacher firing case back in state court COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- The appeal of an Ohio science teacher fired after he was accused of preaching religious beliefs in class has been moved back into state court. The decision by a federal judge was a victory for John Freshwater, who argued his claims should be decided under state law. The Mount Vernon school board fired Freshwater in January, following a state hearing officer's recommendation. The board wanted the appeal moved to the federal courts because it alleges a violation of Freshwater's constitutional right to express a religious opinion. But U.S. District Judge Gregory Frost said last week the constitutional issue could be decided in a Knox County court. Freshwater was also accused of burning students' arms with the image of a cross, but that allegation was resolved and not cited in the board's final firing recommendation. Mississippi Tribunal to hear Bar complaint against 2 lawyers JACKSON, Miss. (AP) -- The Mississippi Supreme Court has appointed a tribunal to hear the state Bar's complaint against two McComb attorneys who were accused of fraud in an asbestos case. Lawyers William Guy and Thomas Brock asked the Supreme Court to appoint a tribunal to hear the case. The request was granted this past week. The Mississippi Bar asked the Supreme Court to suspend the two after they were cited by a federal jury in Jackson in 2010 in a civil fraud case. The jury found the two committed fraud during an asbestos lawsuit they filed in 2001 and should pay Illinois Central Railroad Company $420,000 in damages, according to court records. Guy and Brock, in Supreme Court documents, said they were appealing the civil judgment to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. They said the Bar should wait until the appeals run their course or they deserved a chance to explain their side to a tribunal. The Supreme Court this past week named Circuit Judge Winston Kidd of Hinds County as presiding judge of the tribunal. The tribunal will report its findings to the Supreme Court, Chief Justice Bill Waller Jr. said in the order. In the civil case, Illinois Central claimed Guy and Brock knew their clients lied about their involvement in an earlier landmark asbestos case when they were questioned during the railroad lawsuit. The jury awarded Illinois Central actual and punitive damages, finding the lawyers responsible for the fraud. Guy and Brock claimed during trial that they didn't know their clients had been plaintiffs in the earlier asbestos litigation -- Cosey v. E.D. Bullard -- one of several lawsuits with huge verdicts in the 1990s that led to calls for tort reform in Mississippi. Illinois Central said it would not have settled with two former employees -- Warren Turner Jr. for $120,000 in 2002 and Willie Harried for $90,000 in 2003 -- if the company had known they had already been involved in the other asbestos lawsuit. The case was a mass litigation filed in 1995 in Jefferson County that grew to represent hundreds of people from around the country who claimed asbestos made them sick. Twelve of the plaintiffs went to trial and were awarded $48.5 million. Companies soon agreed to settlements with other plaintiffs out fear of being hit with another big verdict. Harried and Turner have both testified that they each received several hundred thousand dollars in the Cosey case, Illinois Central said. Illinois Central sued Harried in 2006 and Turner in 2007 in U.S. District Court in Natchez, accusing both men of lying in sworn statements about the previous lawsuit. The company eventually accused the lawyers of knowing about the deception and the two lawsuits were consolidated. South Dakota Will new Supr eme Court justice be man or woman? SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) -- At least one legal expert in South Dakota believes it would be good to continue having a female presence on the state's highest court, but Gov. Dennis Daugaard says gender is not a primary consideration in any judge appointment. Daugaard will be appointing the successor to state Supreme Court Justice Judith Meierhenry, who is retiring in June. Meierhenry, 67, is the only female among the high court's five justices. Bob Burns, a South Dakota State University political science professor emeritus, told the Argus Leader that if the Judicial Qualifications Commission includes a woman in the names of candidates it forwards to Daugaard, he hopes the governor will "weigh the appointment very heavily." "If that person is recommended, it's pretty good evidence that the person is qualified, and I think it would be appropriate to continue to have at least one woman among the five (justices)," Burns said. Published: Tue, Apr 12, 2011