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Archive of Crime & Courts on Monday November 02, 2009
NE: What might $335.5 million in state budget cuts look like?
Just how big is $335.5 million, the shortfall that state senators face in a special session this week? Shut down the state prison system for the next two years, and you'll be close to covering the shortfall. Read More
NY: Bruno's trial is seen as a hearing on Albany
The 35-page, eight-count indictment filed by federal prosecutors names a lone defendant: Joseph L. Bruno, the former president of the State Senate and former Republican majority leader. Read More
AK: Alcohol runners face stiff penalties
Weeks after two hub cities in rural Alaska voted to remove bans on local liquor sales, the state is launching a campaign warning bootleggers they face big fines and mandatory jail time if caught. Read More
AL: Case may turn on tossed test
A Huntsville man charged with manslaughter in a deadly 2005 wreck wants the crime lab results of his blood alcohol test thrown out because the sample was destroyed before the defense could do its own tests. A court order asking that the sample be preserved was never delivered to the state crime lab. Read More
AL: Dothan developer, Riley's staff battle over bingo
Officials with the Country Crossing development in Houston County are complaining that a member of the governor's staff attempted to stop the shipment of about 1,700 electronic gaming machines from Nevada. Read More
AL: King's top foes for re-election? Top GOP figures
Alabama Attorney General Troy King is running for re-election while feuding with influential Republicans who would normally be his allies, including the top three GOP officeholders in the state. Read More
AR: Court-security update lags in some counties
Compliance with a 2007 state law intended to beef up security at county courthouses has been coming along slowly, but many counties have failed to fill out the paperwork necessary for getting state grants. Read More
AZ: Appeals court OKs age discrimination suit
A federal appeals court has reinstated an age discrimination suit filed by former Phoenix employees of an international firm. Read More
AZ: Navajo hope stimulus cash closes a revolving prison door
TUBA CITY, Ariz. -- More than 50,000 people are arrested across the Navajo reservation each year -- yet there are only 59 jail beds here. Read More
CA: Newsom exit gives huge boost to Brown campaign
When Attorney General Jerry Brown, 71, became the last man standing in the 2010 Democratic gubernatorial field on Friday, the battle-scarred warrior with four decades in state politics pulled off a remarkable feat in California - home to an elbow-throwing pack of ambitious Democratic politicians. Read More
CA: California killer's case back before Supreme Court
WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Supreme Court is considering, for the third time, the case of a California murderer who was sentenced to die in 1982 for the brutal killing of a young woman. Read More
CO: Hundreds in Denver, Colorado Springs still need hepatitis C testing
Four months after a terrorizing and high- profile hepatitis C outbreak linked to hospital drug theft, hundreds of patients who might have been exposed to the liver disease still may not have been tested. Read More
FL: Victim of wrongful incarceration refuses reparations because his legal costs aren't fully covered
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- A Fort Lauderdale man only needs to sign a few legal papers to start receiving $179,000 from the state and become the first wrongfully convicted person compensated under a new Florida law. Read More
FL: Miami-Dade pilot court program for mentally ill allows treatment
At 18, Keith Zapata's mind plunged into chaos. Suffering from schizophrenia and addicted to crack cocaine, he heard voices warning of impending doom and saw visions of Jesus in the sky. Then he landed in jail, for punching out a car window near the Miami River last December. Read More
FL: Department cracking down on business license violators
The Department of Business and Professional Regulation is planning statewide sweeps and stings this week to combat unlicensed business activity. Read More
FL: Fla. lawmakers propose banning felons owning pain clinics
MIAMI -- Lawmakers announced Friday that they will be filing a bill that would require the state to revoke or deny operating licenses for pain clinics operated by convicted felons. Read More
GA: New mental health director faces difficult task, critics
Dr. Frank Shelp, commissioner of the state Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities, inherited services that had been buried in the state's sprawling bureaucracy, and which were loaded with problems. Read More
GA: Complaints against judges turn into lengthy probes
Georgians who turn to the Judicial Qualifications Commission to investigate and unseat errant judges must accept that when the accused is a judge, justice moves at a snail's pace and almost entirely in secret. Read More
HI: Ruling on substitute teachers' underpayment case is upheld
The Intermediate Court of Appeals has upheld a 2005 Circuit Court ruling that found the Department of Education underpaid Hawaii substitute teachers millions of dollars. Read More
IA: Glenwood urged to limit reports
A consultant at a state-run home for the disabled recently proposed that the facility limit reporting resident-care problems to state and federal regulators. Read More
IA: Names of fired caregivers withheld
The state of Iowa is again keeping secret the names of some Iowans fired from care facilities because of criminal activity or abuse. Read More
IA: Local gay marriage advocates push ahead
Two Iowa City women could have said "mission accomplished" six months ago after they and five other couples won a lawsuit legalizing gay marriage in Iowa, but they didn't. Read More
IA: More cities hit hard for sewer violations
After issuing 28 sanctions for sewage permit violations and a couple of small fines, the state of Iowa filed a lawsuit in March against the city, alleging excess discharges dating back to at least 1991. Read More
IA: Carlson -- Present-day budget cuts reach into Iowa's past
Nobody is paying much attention to the part of government that educates Iowans about our heritage and preserves tens of thousands of artifacts, some dating back hundreds of years before Iowa became a state on Dec. 28, 1846. Read More
IL: Indictment changes were 'unprofessional,' Illinois appeals court rules
Despite chastising Cook County prosecutors, judges let sex-assault conviction stand. Read More
KS: Kansas high court backs ban on wind farms
The Kansas Supreme Court has ruled that Wabaunsee County commissioners have the right to prohibit the construction of commercial wind farms in their county. Read More
MA: Banks, collection firms pursue claims after homes foreclosed
Hank Lane figured that when he lost his Groton home to foreclosure in 2008, at least his long-running financial nightmare had come to an end. He was wrong. Read More
MD: Foreclosure glut causing lawyer shortage
The pileup of foreclosure cases glutting local courtrooms has exposed a growing problem with the legal system: There just aren't enough lawyers to go around for all the struggling homeowners who need the help. Read More
MD: Justice institute to study Pr. George's jail
The Prince George's County jail, plagued in recent years by allegations of corruption, incompetence and brutality, has entered into a partnership with a nonprofit group to improve management practices and develop a model for independent oversight of the Upper Marlboro facility, officials said yesterday. Read More
MI: State investigates workers in woman's neglect death
The state's Department of Human Services is investigating why its workers failed to help a struggling Southfield woman take care of her bedridden mother, who eventually died of neglect, despite repeated pleas for help and multiple visits to her home that documented the mother's perilous condition. Read More
MI: Michigan child support pleas flood courts
Parents pinched by the recession are flooding courts across the state with requests for reductions in child support payments. Read More
MS: Death row case delays flagged
The Mississippi Supreme Court has asked trial judges why they have not ruled on post-conviction claims of nine death row inmates. Read More
MT: Montana court rules against Whitefish
WHITEFISH, Mont. - The Montana Supreme Court has upheld a lower court ruling that a couple's rights were violated when the city of Whitefish denied them a building exemption permit. Read More
NC: Hearings put Easley on spot
It's not close to being over for Mike Easley. The judgment Friday by the State Board of Elections that evidence suggests Easley, a Democrat who served two terms as governor, committed crimes while in office is the result of only one arm of state and federal probes that are wide-ranging and continuing. Read More
NC: Easley case may spark change
The spectacle of a former governor being called before an elections tribunal to answer for transgressions committed by his campaign was historic in many ways. Read More
NC: Oblinger can't shake Mary Easley mess
The job former first lady Mary Easley got at N.C. State University - and its fallout - is following former N.C. State University Chancellor James Oblinger across the country. Read More
NJ: Corzine campaign denies connection to man arrested on drug charges
A Paramus man claiming to work for Gov. Jon Corzine's re-election campaign was arrested Friday night on drug charges after police found Ecstasy tablets in his car, authorities said. Read More
NM: Firm faces big fine, possible loss of contract
A firm that took over management of the state's behavioral health care system July 1 has not paid millions of dollars to nonprofits and other companies for work they have completed, the state said Friday. Read More
NV: Ceremony welcomes 31 to official citizenship
Onema Bushra, 6, had just one word to describe her feelings after a Friday ceremony where she received her certificate of citizenship: "Happy." Read More
NY: Ethics laws on trial
As the trial of former Senate Majority Leader Joseph L. Bruno begins today, state ethics laws, as much as the powerful Republican leader himself, will be on trial. Read More
NY: Ex-N.Y. Senate leader faces corruption trial
For more than a decade, state Senate Republican leader Joseph L. Bruno was a top power broker in New York. The backslapping ex-boxer was gruffly unapologetic over the millions in pork projects that he grabbed for his upstate district. Read More
OH: Convicted ex-union leader gets state post
Michael Billirakis, the former Ohio teachers-union chief convicted of ethics violations while on the State Teachers Retirement System board, has a new state job. Read More
OH: Dann aide found to owe debt to workers' comp
the man at the heart of the scandal that toppled former Attorney General Marc Dann last year also shortchanged Ohio's workers' compensation fund by improperly classifying employees as independent contractors, a Bureau of Workers' Compensation panel ruled. Read More
OH: Dann aide Gutierrez attempted fraud, workers' comp board rules
The man at the heart of the scandal that toppled former Attorney General Marc Dann last year also shortchanged Ohio's workers' compensation fund by improperly classifying employees as independent contractors, a Bureau of Workers Compensation panel ruled this week. Read More
OH: Casinos aren't only ballot issue
Of the three state issues Ohioans will decide Tuesday, one sparked red-hot controversy (casinos); the second stirred mild debate (livestock standards); and the third is off the radar (veterans bonuses). Read More
OK: Oklahoma tag agents differ in donations
Some Oklahoma tag agents are breaking a law that requires they ask their customers to consider giving $1 for organ donation education, records show. Read More
OK: Today marks the first day of new Oklahoma laws
Most elements of a comprehensive lawsuit reform measure, agreed to in the last days of this year's legislative session after more than two years of bickering, are now law. It's one of nearly 200 state laws that will take effect today. Read More
OK: Emergency updates urged for Oklahomans
During his 13 years with the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, Lt. George Brown said he has performed and assisted in more than 100 notifications, and it never gets easy. Highway patrol investigators usually find next of kin through the deceased motorists' identification or tag check. If that doesn't work, he said, they try the U.S. Postal Service Read More
OR: Attorney general calls his justice agenda ambitious
John Kroger said he is busy in his first 10 months as attorney general trying to keep campaign promises to step up enforcement of consumer and environmental protection, and to redirect the criminal justice system. Read More
PA: Turnpike documents subpoenaed by state grand jury
A Turnpike Commission spokesman today confirmed the agency received a subpoena for records from a statewide grand jury investigating patronage and contracts at the agency. Read More
PA: PennDOT ramping up efforts on curb cuts
Lawsuits have prompted the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation to budget $820 million over the next decade to replace 117,000 handicapped curb ramps along state roads -- a program that attorneys say would be unnecessary had the agency installed the ramps properly the first time. Read More
SC: Gun culture -- Residents load up on permits
So far in 2009, the number of South Carolinians wanting to pack heat nearly has doubled over the previous year as people worry about violent crime and feel threatened by partisan politics. Read More
TX: S.A. legislator dogged by claim he owes $5.5M
A New York finance company that lent state Rep. David Leibowitz millions of dollars for his small law practice claims the legislator failed to make payments that rose to $75,000 a month and has defaulted on $5.5 million in debt. Read More
TX: Emergency alert system now includes cell phones
Central Texans can now receive emergency notifications on their cell phones. Read More
TX: State Rep. Terri Hodge planning re-election bid as bribery trial looms
Embattled state Rep. Terri Hodge, whose federal bribery trial is scheduled just days after the March 2 Democratic primary, says her legal troubles won't deter her from running for an eighth term. Read More
US: On Halloween, many sex offenders must post 'No Candy Here' signs
ATLANTA -- A growing number of convicted sex offenders around the US will spend this weekend with a Halloween version of a scarlet letter hanging on their front porches. Read More
UT: More than 100 arrested in Halloween DUI blitz
State troopers made 124 DUI-related arrests during a Halloween blitz, according to numbers released Sunday by the Utah Highway Patrol. Read More
WI: Drunken driving, education issues face Legislature
Toughening the state's drunken driving laws and passing education reforms to help Wisconsin qualify for federal stimulus money are just two of the many issues facing lawmakers in their final week in session. Read More
WI: Bill would get police access to Wis. driver photos
The state Assembly is considering a bill that would allow police electronic access to Wisconsin drivers' license photographs. Read More
WI: Wis. Corrections Dept. defends vaccine for inmates
Responding to a state lawmaker's complaints about inmates receiving swine-flu vaccine while other citizens wait, Wisconsin Department of Corrections officials said most of the vaccine was going to staff, not inmates. Read More
WV: W.Va. justice slams DHHR's ability to protect kids
For the second time this year, a West Virginia Supreme Court justice has blasted the Department of Health and Human Resources by suggesting the agency has systemic problems that need rapid correction. Read More
WV: Former TV anchor could run for judgeship
Kathy A. Brown, a Charleston lawyer and former WSAZ-TV news anchor, may run for the open seat on the Kanawha County Circuit Court, whether Gov. Joe Manchin appoints her to fill that vacancy or not. Read More
State bar still wants to revoke Herman Thomas' law license, despite acquittal
Former Judge Herman Thomas, cleared of criminal charges last week, still faces a State Bar that wants to revoke his law license, and can do so without proving wrongdoing "beyond a reasonable doubt" as was required in the criminal case. Read More |
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