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Archive of Crime & Courts on Wednesday October 28, 2009
NV: Case spurs pharmacies' fears of lawsuits over drug abuse
When Patricia Copening, a petite, 35-year-old doctor's office receptionist, bought nearly 4,500 doses of prescription painkillers one year, alarm bells sounded at the Nevada controlled-substance task force. The state board sent letters to 14 pharmacies in the Las Vegas area warning that Ms. Copening could be abusing drugs. Read More
PA: Supreme Court election crucial to redistricting, leaders say
Lt. Gov. Joe Scarnati's letter to fellow Republicans on behalf of state Supreme Court candidate Joan Orie Melvin was unusually blunt. Read More
AK: Palin got $1.25 million retainer for book while in office
Sarah Palin was paid $1.25 million while governor in advance of her upcoming memoir. Read More
AL: Closing to begin in Langford case
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- Testimony in Larry Langford's federal bribery trial ended Tuesday without the Birmingham mayor taking the stand to deny claims he pocketed about $236,000 in exchange for giving lucrative bond business to an investment banker. Read More
AL: Attorneys -- Mayor Larry Langford made the decision not to testify
Birmingham Mayor Larry Langford's lawyers talked to him as early as February about whether he should testify, but when the moment arrived, his attorneys said, Langford ultimately decided not to take the witness stand. Read More
AL: Law license return not automatic for ex-judge
MOBILE, Ala. -- A former judge won't automatically get his law license back now that he has been cleared of criminal charges accusing him of paddling and sexually abusing young inmates. Read More
AZ: State Supreme Court upholds corporations' diverting income taxes for private schools
The state's high court on Tuesday upheld a 3-year-old law that lets corporations divert some of their state income taxes to help students attend private and parochial schools. Read More
AZ: Goddard asked to challenge Land Dept. funding law
Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard was asked on Oct. 27 to challenge a recent law change that allows the Arizona State Land Department to use portions of proceeds from the sales of state trust land to cover its own management duties. Read More
AZ: Rotellini makes it official
Felecia Rotellini, the former state prosecutor known for her investigations of white-collar crimes, officially entered the race to replace Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard in 2010. Read More
CA: Ex-Assembly Speaker Nuñez did not misuse campaign funds, board rules
Former Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez broke no state laws when he spent tens of thousands of dollars in campaign funds on luxury travel around the world, gifts at high-end boutiques and meals at exclusive restaurants, the state's ethics watchdog has ruled. Read More
CA: Planned background checks for in-home healthcare workers are criticized
A storm of protest has erupted over the Schwarzenegger administration's push to require prospective home health aides for the elderly and disabled to begin undergoing criminal background and fingerprint checks next week. Read More
CA: Push to legalize marijuana gains ground in California
SAN FRANCISCO — These are heady times for advocates of legalized marijuana in California — and only in small part because of the newly relaxed approach of the federal government toward medical marijuana. Read More
CO: Stimulus money a "lifeline" for Colorado
The stimulus money flowing through state agencies has saved or created almost 4,500 jobs in Colorado so far, most of them in colleges and prisons. Read More
FL: AG, team to study fatalities in domestic violence cases
The death of Antoinette Ross is a prime example of the kind of case that will be examined over the next year by a statewide domestic violence review team, according to a state victim advocate. Read More
HI: Lingle nominates Nacino to be Oahu Circuit Court judge
Gov. Linda Lingle today nominated District Court Judge Edwin Nacino as a Circuit Court judge on Oahu. Read More
IA: Decision day arrives for Culver on budget cuts
Gov. Chet Culver will release at 3 p.m. today his plan for slicing $565 million from the budgets of 39 state departments and agencies. Read More
ID: Idaho students share in $112M debt settlement
BOISE, Idaho — Three dozen former Idaho students from a bankrupt helicopter training school will share in a $112 million debt-relief settlement with lender Student Loan Xpress. Read More
IL: State crime rate continues two-decade decline
Crime in Illinois continued a steady two-decade decline last year, reported the Illinois State Police in its annual crime-rate index released today. Read More
KS: Press group seeks review of an open meetings opinion
The Kansas Press Association on Tuesday asked Johnson County District Attorney Steve Howe to review an opinion he issued this summer on a potential violation of the state's open meetings law. Read More
MD: Extensive failures found in medevac crash
A Maryland State Police helicopter pilot made a questionable decision to fly on a foggy night last year. Air traffic controllers were inattentive, unhelpful and sloppy. Troopers tracking the medical rescue flight were complacent and slow to recognize that the helicopter was lost and ran a scattershot search. Read More
MD: Lawmakers want to change oversight panel
Several Maryland senators said Tuesday that they believe the public defender oversight board overstepped its authority by firing the agency's director in August and promised legislation next year to change the board's makeup. Read More
MS: Ex-Miss. USDA director pleads guilty
Nick Walters, the former Mississippi director of USDA Rural Development, pleaded guilty Tuesday to a misdemeanor charge for work he performed for Natchez Regional Medical Center after he left the government agency. Read More
MT: Investigator finds no prison discrimination
A state human rights investigator has thrown out a complaint alleging that Montana's only private prison discriminated against American Indians who want to practice native religious ceremonies. Read More
NC: Paroled killer pleads guilty to kidnapping
Jerry Douglas Case, a former death row inmate paroled in 2007 from a life sentence for murder, will probably spend the rest of his life in prison for kidnapping a Gastonia family in July. Read More
NC: Teens dined with molester
The N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences is severing ties with a local ecotourism company after children dined with a convicted child molester during a museum-sponsored trip to Florida in April. Read More
NC: The collector can't recollect
They asked; they prodded. Dave Horne just couldn't remember. Horne, who was treasurer for former Gov. Mike Easley's gubernatorial campaigns, struggled to understand or recall the answer to many questions during his testimony Tuesday morning to the State Board of Elections. Read More
NC: Poole was often Easley's shadow
Ruffin Poole was a newly minted lawyer in the late 1990s when he started working in an obscure section of the state Attorney General's Office for Mike Easley. Read More
NC: Easley camp pushed donation law's limits
Internal documents from former Gov. Mike Easley's campaign committee suggest a concerted effort to run donations illegally through the N.C. Democratic Party to circumvent contribution limits. Read More
NE: Nebraska sheriff believes investigation is political
CHADRON, Neb. -- Dawes County Sheriff Karl Dailey believes an investigation into his department's handling of abandoned vehicle titles is politically motivated, but he declined to give details. Dailey acknowledged Tuesday that he and former Chief Deputy Steve Crile are being investigated by the Nebraska State Patrol. Read More
NM: Meetings aim to soften the budget blow
Educators and state employees. People representing youth shelters, behavioral health organizations and literacy programs. Law-enforcement officers dealing with border crime. Emergency 911 operators. Read More
NV: ACORN, former official plead not guilty in Nevada
LAS VEGAS, Nev. — Lawyers for the political advocacy group ACORN and a former voter registration supervisor pleaded not guilty Tuesday to illegally paying canvassers to register Nevada voters during last year's presidential campaign. Read More
NV: One-time state pilot fired a second time after new ruling
A former state pilot who raised disturbing allegations about the safety of the state plane's operation was fired by the Nevada Department of Transportation last week, after a district court judge ruled the agency was within its rights to terminate him. Read More
NY: Is $5,000 stipend boost a back-door pay hike?
As the Legislature and governor tackle New York's $3 billion budget deficit, the state's third branch of government has doubled judges' stipends, which will cost an additional $6 million per year. Read More
OH: Atmosphere in AG's anti-crime unit better, union says
The Ohio attorney general's anti-crime unit, which was a hotbed of employee complaints in Marc Dann's scandal-shortened term as the state's top lawman, was at the receiving end of another employee grievance this summer. Read More
OK: Oklahoma's private detention contracts to be cut
With the state Corrections Department's funding cut 5 percent for the remainder of this fiscal year, contracts with private prisons will be cut by the same rate, a legislative leader said Tuesday. Read More
OK: Oklahoma governor makes Tulsa court appointments
Oklahoma Gov. Brad Henry made two appointments Tuesday to the 14th Judicial District in Tulsa County. Read More
PA: Undecideds abound in top court, Senate, gubernatorial races
Superior Court Judges Joan Orie Melvin and Jack Panella are locked in a dead-heat in the race for state Supreme Court, based on a statewide poll released Tuesday that shows the lowest voter confidence in Pennsylvania's direction in 14 years. Read More
PA: Panella supporters attack ads
With the state Supreme Court election less than a week away, rancor is rising rapidly between Democrat Jack Panella and Republican Joan Orie Melvin, with his camp accusing her of making false charges in a television ad that he "turned his back on children" in Luzerne County. Read More
RI: Bill to close loophole in prostitution law clears hurdle
A bill to close a nearly 30-year-old loophole in the state's prostitution law that has allowed brothels to operate legally in Rhode Island cleared its first hurdle Tuesday night. Read More
SC: State official Roland Corning out of a job after incident
An assistant state attorney general was stopped in his car by a Columbia police officer Monday on suspicion of illegal activity, identified himself as an employee of the attorney general's office, and was not charged with a crime. Read More
SC: Sanford impeachment bill 'out of order'
House leader rejects attempt to begin proceedings against Sanford this week. Read More
TN: Legal limbo for former Senator Stanley's office furniture
Furniture that former state Sen. Paul Stanley apparently purchased with campaign funds for his Legislative Plaza office has been placed in storage until he decides to retrieve it, an official said Tuesday. Read More
TX: Houston Chronicle sues Gov. Rick Perry
The Houston Chronicle and Hearst Newspapers today filed suit against Gov. Rick Perry seeking the release of the clemency report that Perry used in 2004 to deny a stay of execution to Cameron Todd Willingham. Read More
TX: Texas executes man convicted of April 2000 slaying
HUNTSVILLE, Texas – Condemned murderer Reginald Blanton was executed Tuesday evening for a robbery-slaying in San Antonio more than nine years ago. Read More
TX: Watchdog group files ethics complaints against Texas education board members
A nonprofit watchdog group filed complaints Monday with the Texas Ethics Commission against two State Board of Education members for failing to disclose gifts they received from a company seeking an investment contract with the board. Read More
TX: Swine flu vaccine is prison-bound
Thousands of prisoners could get vaccinations for swine flu before law-abiding Texans because they fit the criteria for priority inoculations, officials said Tuesday. Read More
US: Obama set to sign bill widening hate crime laws
At a ceremony in the White House Rose Garden Wednesday afternoon, President Obama plans to sign a bill into law that was more than a decade in the making. It is an update to the federal hate crimes statute that Congress initially passed in 1968. Read More
UT: A.G. names former legislator, payday lender lawyer to head division
Attorney General Mark Shurtleff has named former state legislator and close political adviser John Swallow as chief deputy attorney general handling civil cases. Read More
VA: Proposal to keep jurors anonymous withdrawn
A proposal under consideration by the Virginia Supreme Court to keep juries anonymous in all criminal trials has been withdrawn. Read More
VA: Hate-crimes bill spurs some worry from religious groups
NORFOLK, Va. -- Under a new bill, crimes based on a victim's sexual orientation or sexual identity could be prosecuted as hate crimes. Socially conservative clergy say the bill threatens freedom of religious expression. Read More
WA: Judge declines to suspend rules on R-71 contributions
A federal judge has denied an emergency request that would have allowed opponents of Referendum 71 to accept large donations this late in the campaign — a small setback in a series of bold legal moves that could have ramifications far beyond the Nov. 3 election. Read More
WA: R-71 opponents lose bid to change campaign rules
Opponents of stronger legal partnerships for gay couples must abide by Washington state's campaign finance laws while a lawsuit challenging those laws' constitutional footing moves ahead, a federal judge ruled Tuesday. Read More
WI: Wis. justices consider rules on campaign donations
Wisconsin Supreme Court justices are expected to consider adopting rules Wednesday that spell out whether they must step aside from cases involving their campaign contributors. Read More
WV: Greear may run for Berger court seat
Dan Greear, the Republican lawyer who nearly unseated Attorney General Darrell McGraw, is eyeing the seat soon to be vacated by Kanawha County Circuit Court Judge Irene Berger. Read More |
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