National Roundup

New York NYPD forming unit to deal with ticket-fix claims NEW YORK (AP) -- The NYPD is forming a new unit to deal with claims that officers are fixing tickets. Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly says the special unit will track court cases to ensure parking and other low-level tickets go through the court system. The Bronx district attorney's office launched a probe about a month ago after an officer was caught on a wiretap talking about making a ticket disappear. Dozens of officers are being investigated. No criminal charges have been filed. The NYPD is also doing an internal investigation. New Mexico Teacher arrested for sexting 11-year-old ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) -- An Albuquerque teacher has been arrested for sending sexually explicit messages to an 11-year-old former student. The Albuquerque Journal reports fifth grade teacher Jacob Lawler has been placed on paid leave and will have a disciplinary hearing on Thursday. According to an affidavit from police, Lawler had been "sexting" the girl for two years. The messages included one asking the girl to send him pictures of her breasts and others offering sexually explicit pictures of himself and his wife. Police say the girl's father found the texts after he became suspicious because she wouldn't show him the messages on her phone. In an interview with police, the report says, Lawler told officers he "made a mistake and did something he shouldn't have." Lawler is a teacher at Edward Gonzales. Alabama Grand jury indicts man in family shootings OPELIKA, Ala. (AP) -- A Lee County grand jury has indicted an Auburn man on charges of capital murder and attempted murder involving his estranged wife and family members. Court documents show Thomas May III was indicted on two counts of capital murder and three counts of attempted murder in the April 6 shootings at Southern Union State Community College. May is scheduled for arraignment in Lee County Circuit Court on May 26. May is charged with capital murder in the shooting of 62-year-old Brenda Marshall Watson of Opelika. He is charged with the attempted murder of his estranged wife, 36-year-old Bethany May of Opelika, her grandmother, 93-year-old Maude Ethell Marshall of Opelika, and the couple's 4-year-old daughter. May allegedly drove onto the campus and shot at the vehicle containing the family. Texas Man in Houston dismemberment case gets no bond HOUSTON (AP) -- A man accused of fatally shooting and dismembering a friend who shared a house with him will remain jailed. During a court hearing Wednesday, a judge ordered that Noe Gerardo Morin continue being held without bond. The 32-year-old is charged with murder in the death of Marlon Thomas. Noe's attorney says he is still gathering information about the case. The headless body of the 35-year-old Thomas was found outside a vacant Houston house. Police found his head and arm in a trash bag under the house the two men shared, with a chain saw next to it. Officials say Thomas had been shot in the head before being dismembered. Neighbors described Thomas and Morin as best friends and speculated that a dispute over money might have led to the slaying. Utah Defense: Smart abductor needs mental health help SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- Defense attorneys for the man convicted of Elizabeth Smart's 2002 kidnapping say he should serve his sentence in a federal mental health facility, not a standard prison. Brian David Mitchell was convicted of federal kidnapping and unlawful transportation charges in December. He faces a life sentence at a May 25 hearing. In papers filed Tuesday in federal court in Salt Lake City, Mitchell's attorneys argue that a judge can consider his mental and physical health in sentencing. During his trial, four mental health experts said Mitchell suffers from serious mental diseases. A message left for federal prosecutors was not immediately returned on Wednesday. Smart was 14 in 2002 when she was taken from her home at knifepoint, raped and held for nine months. New York State courts order 367 layoffs in budget cuts ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) -- New York officials say 367 court employees statewide will be laid off as of June 1. The workers are being notified Wednesday morning. The state's judicial branch is dealing with a $170 million cut in the state budget passed March 31. Judges have already been ordered to close court by 4:30 p.m. every day to reduce overtime pay, a move that could extend trials by days. Courts are also calling fewer jurors to duty, but officials say 95 percent of the $2.7 billion budget is for personnel. The action was first reported by the New York Law Journal. Alaska Trial starts in cold case murder of young woman ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) -- The trial has begun in an Anchorage courtroom in the 1994 murder of a college student. Forty-one-year-old Kenneth Dion is on trial, accused of rape and murder in the death of Bonnie Craig, who was 18 years old when she was found dead in McHugh Creek south of Anchorage. Dion's trial began Tuesday in Superior Court. Prosecutors say the young woman was raped, killed and dumped off a 30-foot cliff. Prosecutors say a DNA sample from Dion -- who was in a New Hampshire prison for armed robbery -- linked him to the crime. Alabama Funeral home, hospital sued over body release ANNISTON, Ala. (AP) -- Regional Medical Center in Anniston and a funeral home are facing a lawsuit which claims they refused to release a body to a family. Matthew Reaves filed the suit April 19 in Calhoun County Circuit Court against the hospital, Anniston Funeral Services and its director, the Rev. Jeffery Williams. Reaves, whose brother died in November, alleges that RMC released the body to Anniston Funeral Services without the family's permission and that Williams refused to release it upon the family's request. The lawsuit comes a little more than two months after Williams was found not guilty in criminal court of refusal to surrender a corpse. Raymond Johnson, Williams' attorney in the criminal case, says he believes the complaint will be found to have no merit. Published: Thu, May 19, 2011