National Roundup

Kentucky Bills mount for counties in Commandments case SOMERSET, Ky. (AP) -- Two south-central Kentucky counties that lost a long legal battle to post the Ten Commandments in their courthouses are now trying to figure out how to pay the mounting legal bills. Just this week, a federal judge added $23,366 to the bill Pulaski and McCreary counties owe in attorney fees and costs to the American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky. The organization challenged the displays, which were ruled unconstitutional. The counties now owe a total of $456,881, according to the Lexington Herald-Leader. Officials say it's unclear how they will pay. McCreary County Judge-Executive Doug Stephens says he expects "a whole lot of scrambling" to find the money when the bill comes due. The county's insurance policy doesn't cover the judgment and Stephens says there's no extra funding in the budget for the bill. Stephens, who was voted into office after the Ten Commandments case started, said he didn't want to use taxpayer money to pay the bill. He says people have threatened to sue if the county did use tax dollars. Pulaski County Judge-Executive Barty Bullock was not available Wednesday to speak to the newspaper, but Magistrate Glenn Maxey says the Fiscal Court needs to discuss the issue. Virginia U.S. sailor pleads guilty to attempted China spying NORFOLK, Va. (AP) -- A U.S. Navy sailor has pleaded guilty to attempted espionage for trying to sell classified documents to someone he believed was a Chinese intelligence officer. Petty Officer 2nd Class Bryan Minkyu Martin of Mexico, N.Y., faces a maximum sentence of life in prison. At a court martial in Norfolk, Va., on Thursday, Martin said he accepted more than $11,000 from an undercover FBI agent in exchange for documents, photographs and images that were classified as secret or top secret. Martin is an intelligence specialist who was stationed at Fort Bragg in North Carolina at the time, preparing for a deployment to Afghanistan. Martin also pleaded not guilty to four of 11 charges levied against him for mishandling classified documents. "We kept hoping we'd win the thing rather than pay it," he said. Mathew Staver, the attorney who represented the counties, says officials could try to negotiate a lower settlement. Attorneys for both sides said they plan to discuss a resolution to the case soon. ACLU attorney William E. Sharp said the counties owe the civil-rights organization money because it won the court case challenging the counties' decision to post the Ten Commandments. Sharp said the legal bill increased considerably because the counties kept appealing aspects of the case after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 against the displays in 2005. "The ACLU is committed to ensuring these judgments are enforced to deter future violations of civil liberties," Sharp said. Nebraska Teen faces murder charges in beating death LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) -- A 17-year-old faces murder charges in the beating death of a man found in a Lincoln park. Lancaster County Court records show David Centamore has been charged as an adult with first- and second-degree murder in the May 5 death of 49-year-old William Morgan. Authorities say Centamore and two others beat Morgan during a robbery in Trago Park. Police found and took him to Cornhusker Place treatment center, where he was found unresponsive the next morning. Police say officials thought his death was related to substance abuse, but an autopsy showed he died of blunt force trauma to the head. The county public defender was assigned to represent Centamore but his office says it didn't yet have the case. Two other 17-year-olds, Jonathan Gollin and Johnnie Showalter, face lesser charges. Kentucky Sex offender registry not retroactive, court rules LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) -- The Kentucky Supreme Court has ruled that a requirement for sex offenders to register with law enforcement cannot be retroactively enforced. In a 5-2 split Thursday, the high court found that anyone convicted of a sex offense before 1994 cannot be forced to give their address to law enforcement officials. The ruling comes in the case of Anthony Nash of Lexington. Nash was initially convicted of a sex offense in 1993, just months before Kentucky enacted its sex offender registration requirements. Prosecutors charged Nash with failing to register in 2007. Nash pleaded guilty, but reserved the right to appeal. The high court ruled that the 1994 law didn't apply to Nash because his conviction came before it was passed and there was no provision making the law retroactive. Oregon 13-year sentence for 1998 rape in Eugene EUGENE, Ore. (AP) -- A former Springfield man was sentenced Wednesday to 13 years in prison for a 1998 rape. The Register Guard reports 40-year-old Jason Richard Papaleo pleaded guilty in Lane County Circuit Court after he was matched to the cold case by a DNA sample. It was taken last year after a burglary conviction in Alaska. His defense lawyer said Papaleo was addicted to methamphetamine in 1998. The 19-year-old victim was grabbed from behind, dragged into bushes and raped at knifepoint. Vermont Judge excludes drug evidence from police officer BURLINGTON, Vt. (AP) -- A federal judge says prosecutors cannot use any of the evidence in a drug trafficking case because of unprofessional conduct by a Vermont police officer. The judge found that South Burlington Police Cpl. Jack O'Connor acted unprofessionally and lacked grounds to arrest 28-year-old Kareem Campbell of New York in March 2010 in a supermarket parking lot. U.S. District Judge William Sessions ruled last week that all evidence obtained as a result of Campbell's arrest, including the contraband recovered and the statements made by Campbell, must be suppressed. The Burlington Free Press says O'Connor, who has come under criticism before for aggressive tactics in drug investigations, is on paid administrative leave. Sessions criticized O'Connor after a police video camera recorded him pulling down Campbell's pants to look for drugs. Published: Fri, May 20, 2011