National Roundup

Oklahoma Okla. City lawyer suspended over $130K judgment OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- An Oklahoma City attorney accused of using a fake order from a judge to steal $130,000 from the bank account of a boy hurt in a traffic crash has asked to turn in his law license. John M. Merritt, 73, is the subject of an Oklahoma Bar Association complaint accusing him of converting the money to his own use, The Oklahoman reported. After the complaint surfaced, the Oklahoma Supreme Court suspended Merritt's license on June 1. Merritt, a 40-year law veteran, wrote a letter to the court on June 17 asking that he be allowed to resign from practicing law. "I am aware that a resignation pending disciplinary proceedings is tantamount to disbarment," Merritt wrote in an affidavit. The Oklahoman said in its story that it was unable to reach Merritt. There was no answer at Merritt's law office when The Associated Press tried to contact him Sunday. The boy whose account Merritt is accused of targeting was injured in an automobile crash in 2007. A lawsuit in the case was settled, and the amount of the settlement wasn't made public. The Bar Association said in its complaint that Merritt went to the bank with the boy's account and produced a fraudulent order, which he said was signed by U.S. District Judge Vicki Miles-LaGrange. According to the complaint, Merritt changed the mailing address for the account from the boy's home to his own post office box. Merritt's lawyer, Gary A. Rife, told the Supreme Court that Merritt had a solid reputation in the legal community for his ethics and ability. Rife noted that the only other disciplinary action Merritt faced was almost 40 years ago, when he was privately reprimanded for sending Christmas cards to clients. According to court filings, Merritt has had serious health problems over the past year. Tennessee Couple implicated in teen sex recordings KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- Knox County authorities say video recordings involving a couple now in their 40s and teenagers engaged in sex go back for a number of years. Paul Anthony Johnson and his wife Kathy Denise Johnson were initially arrested on charges of sexual exploitation of two teens. But after the arrests, police searched the couple's home in the Mascot community and found many recordings involving other teens, according to The Knoxville News Sentinel. "This went on for a number of years," said. Steve Sword, assistant district attorney for Knox County. "Mr. Johnson was videotaping his wife having sex with teenagers and was, in effect, directing it." At a bond hearing last week, defense lawyer Joshua Hedrick indicated the police search that turned up the recordings will be challenged as flawed. The Johnsons currently face charges of sexual exploitation of a minor and incest. The prosecutor says the recording that those charges are based on involved two teenagers, at least one of whom is related to the couple. Sword said authorities have identified several of the teens who were recorded and have interviewed them as part of an ongoing investigation. The older video tapes have been sent to the TBI crime lab in hopes the dates of the earlier recordings can be found. At the hearing on Thursday, the Johnsons sought a lower bond, but Criminal Court Judge Bob McGee declined to reduce it from $120,000 each. "I know there's going to be more and more victims, "Sword said. Virginia Former Winchester prosecutor pleads guilty HARRISONBURG, Va. (AP) -- A former Winchester prosecutor has pleaded guilty to cocaine possession and tampering with witnesses and evidence. Paul Hampton Thomson pleaded guilty to five of the eight charges facing him Monday, the day his trial was scheduled to start in federal court in Harrisonburg. The plea agreement calls for the 56-year-old Thomson to be sentenced to three years, two months in federal prison. He also could be fined up to $75,000. Thomson admitted possessing cocaine in May 2010. He also admitted destroying and altering phone records and instructing one of his cocaine suppliers to lie to authorities investigating his activities. Thomson served four four-year terms as a commonwealth's attorney before losing a re-election bid in 2001. Connecticut Man wins nearly $1M for botched eye surgery NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) -- A 60-year-old Army veteran won a $925,000 settlement with the Department of Veterans Affairs after he was blinded in one eye during a routine outpatient cataract operation, his attorney said Monday. Jose Goncalves of Hartford was blinded in his right eye when a third-year resident at the Veteran's Administration Hospital in West Haven incorrectly administered an anesthetic during the procedure in 2007, attorney Christopher Bernard said. The resident then injected too much anesthetic, causing his eyeball to explode, Bernard said. "Jose suffered excruciating pain after that botched surgery and continued to have severe pain for months afterward," Bernard said. "The damage to the eye is obvious because his iris is missing and his eyelid droops. If anything should ever happen to the undamaged left eye, he could face total blindness." The U.S. attorney's office, which represented the VA, declined to comment. The resident, Dr. Yue Michelle Wang, also declined to comment. She wasn't sued because doctors who work for the federal government have immunity, Bernard said. Wang incorrectly placed a needle with a local anesthetic directly into Goncalves' eye instead of behind his eye, Bernard said. Goncalves endured four more surgeries in an attempt to save the damaged eye and to maximize his eyesight, but he has no functional vision in that eye, his attorney said. He is able to see a rough outline of his hand when held about 6 inches in front of his face, Bernard said. The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Bridgeport in 2009 against the VA, argued that Goncalves' injuries were a result of carelessness and negligence by the doctors at the Veterans' Administration facility and that he "has been permanently deprived of his ability to carry on and enjoy life's activities." Goncalves suffers from a significant lack of depth perception that makes him unable to resume his previous job as a roofer, his attorney said. He works in the maintenance department at Central Connecticut State University. He is unable to drive except for short distances. Reading, watching television and going to movies are difficult because the undamaged eye tires so quickly, Bernard said. Published: Tue, Jun 28, 2011