Court Roundup

Georgia Court suspends lawyer for 2 years ATLANTA (AP) -- Georgia's top court has suspended a former public defender who was charged with exposing himself to the 16-year-old daughter of a friend. The Georgia Supreme Court on Tuesday suspended Robbie Levin's law license for 24 months. Levin pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor charges and was sentenced in 2010 to 40 days in prison and a year of probation. Levin, who worked at Clayton County's public defender office, was 36 in 2007 when he was charged with exposing himself on a Webcam to the girl. Police say he also attempted to meet her at a restaurant through someone who turned out to be an undercover agent. A special master recommended that Levin be suspended for six months, but the court concluded a longer sentence was appropriate because "acts of moral turpitude" were involved. Washington Pasco murder defendant incompetent for trial PASCO, Wash. (AP) -- A Franklin County Superior Court judge says the defendant in a Pasco murder case is incompetent to stand trial at this time because he is unresponsive and not helping his lawyer. The Tri-City Herald reports the judge ordered Jose Garcia-Morales back to Eastern State Hospital at Medical Lake on Monday for another evaluation. The 27-year-old is charged with murder and attempted murder in the shooting of a Pasco couple in December 2008. Prosecutors say Garcia-Morales and his brother shot Alfredo Garcia and his wife because the brothers believed Garcia had deprived them of a job in the fields. The trial for the 31-year-old brother, Ramon Garcia-Morales, also has been delayed for mental evaluations. New York Rapist in NY prison turns down heart transplant ROCHESTER, N.Y. (AP) -- The sister of a New York state prison inmate serving time for raping a 12-year-old female relative in 1996 says her brother has turned down a heart transplant. Kenneth Pike was flown from Coxsackie prison to Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester last week for a transplant revaluation. The Department of Corrections confirmed Monday that Pike was being evaluated. But later Monday, Pike's sister, Sharon Cardinal of Auburn, told media outlets that her brother had changed his mind about the transplant after news reports sparked a debate over inmates receiving organ transplants at taxpayers' expense. The procedure could have cost up to $800,000. The 55-year-old Pike is serving an 18- to 40-year sentence for rape. Another relative says he recently underwent a triple bypass and would likely die without a transplant. Maryland Witness to beating praised for trying to help ROSEDALE, Md. (AP) -- A witness who tried to help a transgender woman who was being beaten at a McDonald's in Maryland said she was overwhelmed by the response from people who have praised her for intervening. Vicky Thoms was embraced by strangers at a rally Monday night outside the McDonald's in Baltimore County where the assault took place. The victim, 22-year-old Chrissy Lee Polis, decided not to attend, but Thoms said she wished she had come so she could give her a hug. Thoms said she walked into the restaurant April 18 and saw two teens beating Polis. No one was helping the woman and one bystander was even recording the attack with his cell phone camera, she said. Thoms told The Baltimore Sun she watched for about two minutes but decided to step in because she thought Polis would be killed. When she stepped up and asked the girls to stop, Thoms ended up getting punched in the face herself, she said. "She hit me like a man would hit and she was 14 years old," she said. Afterward, a man behind the counter asked Thoms if she realized the person being beaten was not a woman and was transgendered. "I told him, 'No I didn't and I don't care,'" she said. "He said he worked with her and she had a smart mouth -- in other words, she deserved it." Teonna Monae Brown, 18, was arrested Friday and charged with first- and second-degree assault. A 14-year-old girl has been charged as a juvenile. Prosecutors are reviewing other charges are warranted including hate crimes counts. Polis, told The Baltimore Sun that before she was attacked, she heard a teen say Polis was a man using the women's restroom and accused Polis of talking to her man. The 14-year-old told police she and Brown fought with Polis over using the restroom, according to charging documents. Video of the attack shows Polis being beaten, dragged though the restaurant by her hair and then apparently having a seizure. Since the attack, Thoms said her nerves are shot and she can't stop crying. She told her family about it, but they didn't understand how bad the situation was until they saw the video on television last week. "They couldn't watch it," she said. More than 200 people gathered in the parking lot of the McDonald's for Monday's rally. The restaurant had closed for the evening in support, and the roads around it were clogged. Michael Strebeck, 43, came with his 15-year old daughter, Lindsay, who was upset by the attack. He grew up blocks away and had worked at the McDonald's briefly and the Jiffy Lube next door for years. "I think (the attack) should never have happened, but it should have been stopped and the police called sooner. That's why I'm here." Crimes against transgender people are included in the state's hate crime law, but advocates who pushed for a bill that would have extended housing and employment protections say this shows that discrimination against the group is real. The bill passed the House, but was never brought to the Senate floor for a vote. Published: Wed, Apr 27, 2011