Court Roundup

Washington Court sides with families of two killed contractors WASHINGTON (AP) -- A federal appeals court has ruled against Syria's effort to throw out a judgment of more than $400 million to the families of two American contractors whose beheadings in Iraq were posted on the Internet. In a 3-0 decision, the court said the Syrian government had been properly notified of the lawsuit brought in the 2004 executions of Eugene "Jack" Armstrong of Hillsdale, Mich., and Jack Hensley of Marietta, Ga. The two were in Iraq assisting the U.S. military. Syria was sued on grounds that it supported Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and his terrorist organization, al Qaida in Iraq. Al-Zarqawi, who was killed by a U.S. airstrike in June 2006, is believed to have beheaded the two American contractors. California Inmate charged in 23-year-old Andover rape SALEM, Mass. (AP) -- A California inmate currently serving two life sentences for murder has pleaded not guilty in a Massachusetts court in connection with a rape and kidnapping case that occurred Andover exactly 23 years ago Friday. Valentine Underwood was arraigned Friday in Salem Superior Court and ordered held without bail on aggravated rape and kidnapping charges. Police were able to tie the 49-year-old Underwood to the crime using his DNA information from a nationwide databank. Prosecutor Kate MacDougall said Underwood forced a car of the then-24-year-old victim off the road and dragged her into his car at knifepoint then repeatedly brutalized and raped her as they drove toward Hampton, N.H. Underwood is due back in court on June 17. It was unclear if he had an attorney. Illinois Life for murderer of former Bear player's girlfriend WAUKEGAN, Ill. (AP) -- A judge has sentenced a woman convicted of killing the pregnant girlfriend of former Chicago Bears player Shaun Gayle to life in prison. Lake County Judge Christopher Stride told Marni Yang as he sentenced her Friday that "the methodical, meticulous and maniacial manner" of her crime made it different from other murders. A jury found Yang guilty in March of the October 2007 murder of Rhoni Reuter and Reuter's unborn child. Reuter was shot six times, and two of the bullets struck the baby. Prosecutors accused Yang of carefully planning the execution of someone she viewed as a rival for the football player's affection. Gayle was a member of the Bears' 1985 Super Bowl team. Ohio Jurors recommend life for mom who microwaved baby DAYTON, Ohio (AP) -- Jurors have recommended a life sentence with no parole for a woman found guilty of burning her baby daughter to death in a microwave oven. The same Montgomery County jury found 31-year-old China Arnold guilty of aggravated murder last week. The Dayton Daily News reports the jury made its recommendation Friday in a Montgomery County courtroom. Jurors also had the option of recommending a death sentence. It was Arnold's third trial in the 2005 death of 28-day-old Paris Talley. Arnold's first trial ended in a mistrial. She was found guilty in the second, but an appeals court reversed that conviction. Prosecutors have said Arnold intentionally put the baby in the microwave and turned it on after a fight with her boyfriend. The defense had argued that someone else was responsible. Nebraska High court affirms commitment of sex offender LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) -- A Lancaster County District court did not err in approving the mental health commitment of a convicted sex offender deemed likely to re-offend, the Nebraska Supreme Court ruled in an opinion released Friday. The state high court's decision upheld the ruling in the case of a man convicted in 1991 of raping a woman in her home after he spotted her sunbathing on her balcony. The man -- listed in court documents only as "D.H." -- was to be released from prison in 2009, but a local mental health board deemed him a dangerous sex offender likely to rape again. The board based its determination on the testimony of two psychologists who evaluated D.H. and diagnosed him with paraphilia, a psychiatric disorder marked by deviant sexual behavior, and anti-social personality disorder. Court documents show the psychologists administered several tests to D.H., and that he scored in the high-risk category for committing a future sex offense. D.H. objected, arguing among other things that Nebraska's sex offender registry act dictating sex offender commitments applies only to sex offenders convicted in 1997 or later. But the state Supreme Court said the law applies to anyone who is serving a prison term for rape and other sex offenses in 1997 or later. Neither attorneys with the Lancaster County Attorney's office nor the county public defender's office who represented D.H. immediately returned messages left Friday by The Associated Press. Last week, the state's high court ordered a mental health board to reconsider a case in which it committed a convicted sex offender to treatment following his prison sentence. In that case, the state's high court reversed a ruling by a Dawson County District judge in the case of a man known only as "A.M. Jr." who was convicted in the early 1990s of raping a 15-year-old girl. The state Supreme Court agreed with the man that the board's use of statements and facts from his vacated 1992 sex assault conviction was improper. Published: Mon, May 23, 2011