National Roundup

Texas 1st execution with new drug set for Tuesday LIVINGSTON, Texas (AP) -- Attorneys for condemned inmate Cary Kerr are trying to keep him from becoming the first Texas prisoner executed with a new drug. The 46-year-old Kerr is set to die Tuesday in Huntsville for the rape-slaying of a woman near Fort Worth 10 years ago. Texas is switching to pentobarbital as one of the three drugs in the lethal injection process because of a nationwide shortage of sodium thiopental, a sedative previously used. But appeals Monday before the U.S. Supreme Court are focusing whether Kerr received adequate legal help during earlier appeals of his conviction and death sentence. Kerr was convicted of the July 2001 slaying of 34-year-old Pamela Horton. Her body was dumped on a Tarrant County street. Kerr has denied killing the woman. New York State's top court to weigh online defamation claim ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) -- New York's top court will hear arguments on reinstating a real estate broker's defamation claim against a rival business over anonymous comments posted on its website saying he mistreated his agents, failed to pay bills, made racist and anti-Semitic remarks and committed adultery. Christakis Shiamili (sha-MEE'-lee), founder and head of Ardor Realty Corp., sued the Real Estate Group of New York, its chief operating officer and the employee who was moderator of the now defunct website. Defendants say the bulletin board was meant as satire of the New York City real estate industry. They claim immunity under federal law on the grounds they didn't author the comments and therefore were not "information content providers." A midlevel court agreed, rejecting claims they were liable for helping create the content. West Virginia Jury awards $2.69M in fatal DUI wreck WAYNE, W.Va. (AP) -- The families of four people killed in a fatal drunken driving accident have won a $2.69 million verdict in their lawsuit stemming from the crash. The Herald-Dispatch reports that a Wayne County Circuit Court jury ordered Bobby Lynn Frazier of Louisa, Ky., to pay 80 percent of the award. The April 22 decision also orders a car dealership in Ashland, Ky., to pay 20 percent. Frazier entered a Kennedy plea in 2009 to four counts of drunken driving causing death and other charges. He was sentenced to six to 26 years in prison. Police said Frazier was driving a pickup truck stolen from the dealership that hit another pickup head on. All four occupants of the second pickup were killed. The accident occurred on April 17, 2008. Utah Insurer settles s u it with former U S U frat members LOGAN, Utah (AP) -- A Georgia insurance company that paid a wrongful death claim on behalf of a former Utah State University fraternity has settled the lawsuit it brought against four of the fraternity's members. The Herald Journal of Logan reports that attorneys for RSUI Inc. told a 1st District Court judge the company had resolved a dispute with the four men. Court records show attorneys met with the judge April 20 -- one day before a planned hearing. RSUI sought $50,000 each from Sigma Nu pledge Chad Burton and chapter officers Cody Littlewood, Colton Hansen and Mitchell Alm as compensation for a settlement payment to the parents of Michael Starks. Starks died Nov. 21, 2008, from alcohol poisoning after a fraternity event. At the time, RSUI was the insurer for the fraternity and its members, including pledges. RSUI attorneys have acknowledged that both the company and the four defendants would have been jointly liable to Starks' parents, George and Jane Starks of Salt Lake City. The company claims it paid the full amount of a settlement with the Starks, although those terms have not been made public. In court documents, attorneys for RSUI contend the defendants planned and participated in a "capture event," in which new pledges would be kidnapped by members of a sister sorority and later rescued by fellow pledges. During the event, court documents say, Starks drank nearly two-thirds of a bottle of vodka. He died hours later. "The defendants are required to pay their portion of the amount used to settle the claims against them," RSUI's attorneys state in court papers. "The defendants accepted this benefit and it would be inequitable for them to retain the benefit without payment to plaintiff of its value." Defense attorneys for the fraternity brothers say RSUI breached its good faith agreement by going after its own policyholder. "You cannot subrogate against your own insured," said Baird Morgan, who represented Hansen. "That is almost the definition of insurer bad faith." Terms of the agreement reached between RSUI and the four defendants were not disclosed in court records. Both Morgan and attorney Richard Glauser, who represented Burton, said their clients paid no money to RSUI. Littlewood's attorney said he couldn't discuss financial details of the resolution and no attorney could be located for Alm. RSUI attorneys declined the newspaper's request for comment on the resolution. Baird said he intends to file a counterclaim against RSUI on Hansen's behalf and contends the company had breached its implied duty of good faith and fair dealing. California Environmental group to sue feds over SoCal frog LOS ANGELES (AP) -- An environmental group says it plans to file a lawsuit against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on allegations that the agency failed to develop a recovery plan for the endangered Southern California mountain yellow-legged frog. The Riverside Press-Enterprise reports the Center for Biological Diversity filed a 60-day notice of intent to sue Thursday. The group accuses federal officials of not taking adequate steps under the Endangered Species Act to save the frog from extinction. The mountain yellow-legged frog has been on the federal endangered species list for nine years. The Press-Enterprise reports only about 200 adult frogs remain in the San Bernardino, San Jacinto and San Gabriel mountains, where they once thrived. The suit covers the frog and the California tiger salamander, which also is endangered. A Fish and Wildlife spokesperson declined to comment on the pending litigation. Published: Tue, May 3, 2011