National Roundup

Illinois Jury sides with victim in deadly trench collapse BELLEVILLE, Ill. (AP) -- A jury in southwestern Illinois has awarded $3.7 million to the family of one of two construction workers killed in a trench collapse more than three years ago. Thirty-seven-year-old Ron Yankey of Ellis Grove and a 48-year-old co-worker died in March 2008 when soft dirt collapsed into the Millstadt trench they were working in during construction of a sewage treatment plant. Both families sued the project's general contractor, Followell Construction of Marion. An attorney for Yankey's family tells WSIL-TV that a St. Clair County jury recently sided with Yankey's survivors and awarded them $3.7 million. A representative from Followell Construction hasn't returned a message seeking comment Monday. The other family's lawsuit awaits trial. Nebraska Court upholds ruling on power line to Kansas LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) -- Landowners along the planned route of an electric transmission line that will run from Axtell to the Kansas border have lost their appeal to the Nebraska Supreme Court. The court last week backed a decision by the Nebraska Power Review Board. In May last year, the board approved a Nebraska Public Power District application to build the line. The Kearney Hub says the court rejected arguments by the landowners in eastern Kearney and Franklin counties. They argued the project primarily would benefit Kansas interests but that NPPD customers would pay a disproportionate share of the costs. They also said the NPPD route was not the most economical. NPPD says the line will ease congestion on other lines and raise the reliability of the regional grid. Nebraska Man charged in sex assaults found dead NORTH PLATTE, Neb. (AP) -- Authorities say the body of a Hershey man who was charged with sexually assaulting children has been found in an irrigation ditch. The body of 43-year-old Daniel Fischer was found Sunday by family members. His vehicle was found nearby. Lincoln County Sheriff Jerome Kramer says the cause of Fischer's death is under investigation. Fischer was charged April 4 with three counts of sexual assault of children and released on bond. When officers went to arrest him Wednesday on another charge, they couldn't find him. Documents filed by police in Lincoln County Court says five girls ages 7 to 15 reported being assaulted by Fischer at his home. Fischer's wife, 38-year-old Deanna, has been charged with child abuse. Authorities say she photographed one of the assaults. Massachusetts Federal jurors probed in death penalty case BOSTON (AP) -- A federal judge is looking into whether three jurors who condemned a Massachusetts man to death in 2003 lied when they filled out their jury questionnaires. Gary Lee Sampson was convicted of killing three people during a weeklong crime spree in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. His lawyer is seeking a new trial on possible grounds of jury misconduct. The Boston Globe reports that court documents made public last week show Judge Mark Wolf has spoken to three of the jurors, including a woman who did not reveal that her daughter once worked for a police department in Florida and that her daughter went to prison on a drug charge. Prosecutors contend that even if the jurors did make false statements, it did not impact on their jury's decision in the first-ever federal death penalty case in Massachusetts. Kansas Kan. pays $500k-plus to defend ex-AG Kline, aides TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) -- Kansas taxpayers have picked up the tab for more than $500,000 in legal fees and expenses for former Attorney General Phill Kline and two of his aides, and with more hearings upcoming this summer, that bill is likely to go even higher. Kline is accused of violating the state's ethics code as an attorney while he was attorney general and Johnson County district attorney. The allegations stem from investigations Kline conducted into the Planned Parenthood clinic in Overland Park and George Tiller's abortion clinic in Wichita. The Topeka Capital-Journal reported Sunday that the stated paid $200,023 in legal fees and $20,291 in expenses to the Overland Park-based Holbrook and Osborn law firm, which defended Kline during an eight-day disciplinary hearing earlier this year. The state also paid $178,285 in legal fees and $4,929 in expenses to Kansas City, Mo., law firm Graves, Bartle, Marcus and Garett for defending Kline earlier. The total for Kline so far is $403,528. An additional $125,959 went to lawyers to defend Kline aides Eric Rucker and Steven Maxwell, both of whom received informal admonitions in the ethics case. Both worked for Kline while he was attorney general and district attorney. No decision has been made on the ethics allegations against Kline. Kline said he personally paid more than $200,000 so appeals could be filed in an abortion case while he was district attorney. He said the office didn't have the resources to handle the appeals and the staff was bogged down with 8,400 cases a year. During Kline's eight-day hearing, the state Board of Discipline of Attorneys heard testimony about allegations including misconduct by Kline, mishandling of patient abortion records, infractions of trial publicity, conflict of interest, lack of candor toward a court and lack of truthfulness in statements to others. Jeff Wagaman, spokesman for the Kansas attorney general's office, said legal fees for state officials and employees who are defendants in lawsuits are paid by the state under the Kansas Tort Claims Act. "Historically, the state of Kansas and its agencies were immune from liability for the wrongful conduct of their officers and employees in the absence of a statute imposing liability," Wagaman said. "The KTCA replaced sovereign immunity with the general rule that the state would be liable for the wrongful conduct of its employees in the same manner as a private employer." According to state records examined by the newspaper, more than $2,500 was spent to fly Kline from his home in Virginia to Topeka, to house him in a Topeka hotel and to provide him with a rental vehicle. More legal fees and expenses are still in the pipeline, so the state probably will be on the hook for more legal bills. Also, a four-day hearing scheduled to begin July 19 on a second count accusing Kline of misleading a Johnson County grand jury could push total state spending on his legal issues even higher. Published: Tue, Apr 19, 2011