Court Report

Men in Videotaped Police Beating Acquitted

PHILADELPHIA - Three men beaten by Philadelphia police on the hunt for a police killer were acquitted of all charges stemming from their arrests. Jurors who watched a 10-minute news videotape of the violent arrest said it did not influence their verdict on the attempted murder and other charges related to a triple shooting earlier that night. They also found plausible defense lawyers' arguments that three young black men being pursued by police in May 2008 might have been afraid to stop, knowing they could be mistaken for the fugitive police killer. Read more...

Son of 'Master Counterfeiter' Arrested

CHICAGO - Like father, like son? The 18-year-old son of master counterfeiter Art Williams Jr., whose life is chronicled in a new book "The Art of Making Money," has been arrested on charges of passing fake $100 bills. Arthur Williams III, of Chicago, is accused of selling counterfeit bills containing serial numbers matching $112,900 in counterfeit currency that has been circulated nationwide, the U.S. attorney's office for the Northern District of Illinois announced. Read more...

Jury Gets 'Alpha Dog' Kidnap-Murder Case

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - A jury is considering the case of Jesse James Hollywood, who is accused of kidnapping a teenager over a drug debt and then ordering his death. In closing arguments earlier, prosecutor Joshua Lynn argued that Hollywood had escaped conviction for too long in the August 2000 killing that inspired the 2007 movie "Alpha Dog." Lynn told the jurors: "The time has come." Read more...

1 Dead, 4 Hurt in Shooting at Dental Office

SIMI VALLEY -- One person is dead and three others critically wounded after a shooting at a Dental clinic in Simi Valley. One other person suffered a minor injury, according to police. The shooting took place at 10:38 a.m. at the "Family Dental Care" clinic. The incident also involved Christian Auto Repair across the street from the dentist's office. Read more...

Teacher Found With Student Pleads Not Guilty

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – A former Massachusetts schoolteacher who was found with a student at a West Virginia motel has pleaded not guilty to rape. Twenty-four-year-old Lisa Lavoie (lah-VOY') was arraigned Tuesday in Hampden Superior Court in Massachusetts on three counts of aggravated rape and abuse and three counts of statutory rape. Lavoie and a 15-year-old student were reported missing Feb. 16 and were found a week later. She was fired from her job. Read more...

Robbers' Getaway Car Runs Out of Gas

KIRKWOOD, N.Y. - State police in New York say two Pennsylvania men robbed a gas station and might have gotten away if they had also fueled up. Troopers said they caught 29-year-old Lonnie Meckwood, of Carbondale, and 51-year-old Phillip Weeks, of Tunkhannock, after their getaway car ran out of gas while they were trying to escape. They're accused of using a knife to rob a clerk at the Quickway Convenience Store in Kirkwood. Read more...

One in Five Young Adults Need Rehab

More than one in five young people in the United States aged 18 to 25 were classified as needing treatment in the past year for alcohol or illicit drug use, but of those seven million people less than one in 10 actually received alcohol and drug treatment. A new study by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) found that 93% of young people who need a specialty treatment facility did not get it. Read more...

Anna Kournikova Gets in Catfight

Former tennis star Anna Kournikova sustained cuts to her neck in a fight with another woman last weekend in Las Vegas, People Magazine reported. The magazine said Kournikova was in the Lavo Nightclub when a scuffle broke out with another woman, who allegedly threw a drink at her. "The woman came back over and threw a drink on Anna and her assistant," the source told People. "The woman was definitely drunk. Anna said she wanted the woman kicked out, but then everything started to escalate and she and the woman started shoving and pushing each other." Read more...

7 Shot, Wounded Near School

Gunmen in a green minivan opened fire on a group of teenagers waiting at a bus stop near a Detroit school, wounding seven including two who were in critical condition, authorities said. Five of the teens had just left Cody Ninth Grade Academy, where they were taking summer classes, when they were shot at the nearby bus stop. The gunmen exited a vehicle and "asked for a person by name" before they "opened fire at the crowd," said Detroit Public Schools Police Chief Roderick Grimes. Read more...

Medical Examiner: Girl Appeared Malnourished

A 15-month-old girl whose parents' church shuns doctors in favor of faith healing appeared to be malnourished after her death from pneumonia, a deputy medical examiner testified Tuesday in the manslaughter trial of her parents. Raylene and Carl Brent Worthington of Oregon City are members of the Followers of Christ Church and are accused of manslaughter and criminal mistreatment in the death last year of their child, Ava. The state medical examiner said she could easily have been saved with antibiotics. Read more...

Kneeling Woman's Cash Stolen

WESTBURY, N.Y. - Nassau County police said a congregant at a Long Island church disregarded at least one of its commandments: Thou shalt not steal. Police said the 46-year-old woman reached over a pew and took cash from a purse while its owner knelt at Our Lady of Hope Roman Catholic Church in Westbury. Police said an usher saw the theft, and officers stopped the woman as she left the church. Read more...

Former Pastor Sentenced in Child Porn Case

DALLAS – A former Texas pastor who admitted having more than 600 images of child pornography on his church computer has been sentenced to 17 years in prison. The U.S. attorney's office in Dallas says 36-year-old Steve Richardson was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Sam A. Lindsay. The former pastor of First United Methodist Church in Royse City pleaded guilty in March to one count of transporting and shipping child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography. Read more...

Stallworth May Have Been High and Drunk

It's been well-publicized that Donte Stallworth was well over the legal limit for drinking and driving when he hit and killed a man, but he may have been feeling the effects of a smoking marijuana, too. Justnews.com is reporting a source close to the case said traces of weed were found in Stallworth's system after the March 14 accident. Mario Reyes was attempting to cross the MacArthur Causeway when he was hit by Stallworth's Bentley. He died from his injuries. The Reyes family knew about the toxicology results, which revealed the traces of marijuana and still agreed not to prosecute Stallworth, the source said. Read more...

Insomniac Jackson Begged for Drug

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Michael Jackson was so distraught over persistent insomnia in recent months that he pleaded for a powerful sedative despite warnings it could be harmful, says a nutritionist who was working with the singer as he prepared his comeback bid. Cherilyn Lee, a registered nurse whose specialty includes nutritional counseling, said Tuesday that she repeatedly rejected his demands for the drug, Diprivan, which is given intravenously. Read more...

Man Arrested for Bulldozing While Intoxicated

In an apparent drunk driving first, Robert Tite is facing criminal charges for allegedly piloting a bulldozer while intoxicated. Tite, 57, was nabbed last Friday after he drove the heavy machinery onto a neighbor's property and uprooted trees and dug up a swath of lawn. Tite, pictured in the below mug shot, was arrested by Huron County Ohio Sheriff's Office deputies and charged with operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated, criminal damage, and resisting arrest. Cops responded to the crime scene after the neighbor called 911. Read more...

Man Gets Life in Susannah Chase Case

A Colorado man has been sentenced to life in prison for the rape and murder of 23-year-old University of Colorado student Susannah Chase in 1997. Diego Olmos Alcalde, 39, was spared the death penalty in the case because Susannah's family told prosecutors that she was against it. Attorneys for Alcalde plan to appeal the conviction of the Chilean national. Read more...

Dad Lures Son Home, Shoots Family

AXTON, Va. - A college student played dead to escape a family shooting by his father, who killed the other son and their mother before setting their house on fire and taking his own life, investigators said. Authorities said the father, retired tire factory employee William Ronald Carter, shot his wife, Bonnie, 56, and their 29-year-old son William Ronald Carter Jr. He later shot Timothy Carter, 22, in the back and then again after the son begged for mercy, but only wounded him, Henry County Sheriff's Sgt. Curtis Spence said. Spence said the father killed himself before authorities arrived at the burning home early Sunday. Read more...

Would-Be Rapist Bound, Injected Girl

HINGHAM, Mass. - A 6-year-old girl fled an apartment wearing leg shackles after her friend's father lured her with a promise to show her some pet gerbils, then bound her with tape and chains, injected her with an unknown substance and tried to rape her, authorities said. Justin Shine, 26, was charged with kidnapping, attempted rape, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon — a hypodermic needle — and resisting arrest. Read more...

Court Rules for White Firefighters

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Supreme Court ruled that white firefighters in New Haven, Conn., were unfairly denied promotions because of their race, reversing a decision that high court nominee Sonia Sotomayor endorsed as an appeals court judge. The ruling could alter employment practices nationwide and make it harder to prove discrimination when there is no evidence it was intentional. New Haven was wrong to scrap a promotion exam because no African-Americans and only two Hispanic firefighters were likely to be made lieutenants or captains based on the results, the court said in a 5-4 decision. Read more...

Board Denies Clemency For Inmate

OKLAHOMA CITY -- The Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board has unanimously denied clemency for a 32-year-old man facing execution for killing two men in southern Oklahoma. The decision came Monday after testimony from the condemned man, Michael P. DeLozier, and from the family of his victims. DeLozier is set to die by injection July 9 for the 1995 killings of Paul Steven Morgan and Orville Lewis Bullard. The men were shot and robbed while camping along the Glover River in McCurtain County. Read more...

Day Care Owners Charged With Pot Possession

The owners of a New York City day care center where police shot and wounded a robbery suspect have been charged with marijuana possession. Bail was set at $5,000 each for Donna and Sherwin Rogers at Sunday's arraignment. Police say they found more than $100,000 in cash and 10 pounds of marijuana in the couple's home, which houses the Special Moments Day Care Center. Read more...

Bernard Madoff Sentenced to 150 Years

NEW YORK (AP) - Bernard Madoff has been sentenced to 150 years in prison for his multibillion-dollar fraud scheme. U.S. District Judge Denny Chin handed down the sentenced in New York on Monday. The 71-year-old former Nasdaq chairman was arrested late last year after confessing to his sons that his secretive investment advisory business was a "big lie." He pleaded guilty to securities fraud and other charges in March and has been jailed since. Read more...

Troy Davis Jurors Have Second Thoughts

SAVANNAH, Ga. - Inside the jury room, seven men and five women huddled around a table to discuss a parade of witnesses in the case of an off-duty police officer shot and killed outside a fast-food restaurant. In just two hours they found Troy Anthony Davis guilty. In another seven, they said he deserved to die. Both times they were unanimous. Since then, Davis' attorneys have delayed his execution three times — less than 24 hours before he was to be executed, in one instance — by raising doubts about those witnesses. Read more...

'Rockefeller' Asks Judge to Toss Conviction

BOSTON – Lawyers for the man who calls himself Clark Rockefeller asked a judge to throw out his kidnapping and assault convictions, arguing that the state's mental health expert was unqualified and that a prosecutor made an improper closing argument. Rockefeller, a German man whose real name is Christian Karl Gerhartsreiter, was convicted earlier this month in the kidnapping of his 7-year-old daughter and an assault on a social worker. During the trial, his lawyers claimed he was suffering from a delusional disorder and was legally insane when he snatched his daughter during a supervised visit in Boston last July. Read more...

Cops Find 100 Pounds of Pot in Casket

DALLAS - A casket minus a cadaver yielded nearly 100 pounds of marijuana after a traffic stop in Dallas. William Dale Crock of Cave City, Ark., was in jail on a marijuana possession charge, plus traffic and seat belt violations. Dallas police say Crock was arrested Wednesday when bundles of marijuana were discovered under the casket's cover and pillow. Read more...

Body Parts Found in Alleged Killer's Freezer

COLUMBUS, Ohio - An Ohio coroner says the head and arms of a woman were found in the freezer of the man charged with killing her. Columbus police say other remains were found in trash bins, a pond and brush near an apartment complex on the city's southwest side. Police were called after a maintenance worker found what he thought were body parts in the pond. Police have charged 50-year-old Robert Knight with murder in the death of 44-year-old Tracey Moore, who lived with him at the complex. Read more...

Mom Charged With Changing Daughter's Grades

HUNTINGDON, Pa. - A high school secretary illegally changed grades in a school computer system to improve her daughter's class standing, according to criminal charges. Caroline Maria McNeal of Huntingdon is accused of using the passwords of three co-workers without their knowledge to tamper with dozens of grades and test scores between May 2006 and July 2007 at Huntingdon Area High School in central Pennsylvania, the state attorney general's office said. McNeal, 39, is alleged to have improved her daughter Brittany's grades and reduced those of two classmates to enhance Brittany's standing in the 2008 graduating class. Read more...

Girl Escapes Would-Be Rapist

HANOVER, Mass. – A 6-year-old Massachusetts girl riding her bicycle was kidnapped by a neighbor who tried to rape her, but she managed to escape from his apartment despite being in leg shackles, a state prosecutor said. The girl was found Saturday afternoon as police searched the apartment complex in Hanover, about 20 miles southeast of Boston, where she and the suspect live, Plymouth District Attorney Timothy Cruz said. The girl's mother reported her missing at about 1:30 p.m., about a half-hour after she had left her home to ride her bike, authorities said. Officers found the girl outside during a door-to-door search, and she led them to the apartment where she was taken, Cruz said. Read more...

Michael Jackson Investigation Continues

After preliminary autopsy results showed no obvious trauma and no signs of foul play, speculation in the media continues to increase that a drug overdose may be the cause of pop superstar Michael Jackson's death. Toxicology tests have been ordered by the Los Angeles coroner and results are expected within four to six weeks. Jackson, 50, was pronounced dead at the L.A. Medical Center Thursday after paramedics responded to a 9-1-1 call from his home and found him unresponsive. Read more...

Zoey Zane Suspect Returned to U.S.

A man who fled to Mexico to avoid prosecution in the murder of a Kansas college student has been returned to the United States to face charges in her death. Israel Mireles was returned to Butler County, Kansas Thursday and made his first court appearance Friday. He is charged with murder, rape and aggravated criminal sodomy in the 2007 death of 18-year-old Emily Sander. Read more...

Jena Six Case Ends With Plea Bargains

JENA, La. - Five members of the Jena Six pleaded no contest to misdemeanor simple battery and won't serve jail time, ending a case that thrust a small Louisiana town into the national spotlight and sparked a massive civil rights demonstration. The five, standing quietly surrounded by their lawyers, were sentenced to seven days unsupervised probation and fined $500. It was a far less severe end to their cases than seemed possible when the six students were initially charged with attempted murder in the 2006 attack on Justin Barker, a white classmate. They became known as the "Jena Six," after the central Louisiana town where the beating happened. Read more...

Councilwoman Pleads Guilty in Bribery Case

DETROIT – City Council member Monica Conyers, the wife of powerful and popular Democratic congressman John Conyers, pleaded guilty to accepting cash bribes in exchange for supporting a sludge contract with a Houston company. Conyers, a political unknown who won her council seat in 2005 largely on her husband's name, admitted in federal court to a single count of conspiracy to commit bribery, responding quietly to questions from Judge Avern Cohn. She faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine when she's sentenced. Read more...

Court Rules School's Strip Search Illegal

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that school officials conducted an illegal strip search of a 13-year-old girl, but the court left to the lower courts if the school could be held financially liable for their actions. In an 8-1 ruling, the court said school officials violated the Fourth Amendment rights of Savana Redding. Read more...

Rapper Coolio Reaches Plea Deal

LOS ANGELES – Rapper Coolio has pleaded guilty in Los Angeles to felony cocaine possession in a deal that requires him to spend 18 months in rehab. District attorney spokeswoman Jane Robison says the 45-year-old rapper, whose real name is Artis Leon Ivey, entered his plea in Superior Court. Coolio was arrested March 6 at Los Angeles International Airport. He allegedly grabbed a screener's arm to prevent a search of his luggage. Read more...

Michael Jackson Dies at Age 50

Michael Jackson, the one time "King of Pop," died today after suffering cardiac arrest in Los Angeles. Paramedics found Jackson not breathing or responding when they were called to his home and were not able to revive him as he was transported to L.A. Medical Center. Jackson death came less than a month before he was scheduled to begin a series of comeback concerts. Read more...

Man Charged With Murdering 4

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) - A 37-year-old man was charged with murdering four people, including a 3-year-old girl whose body was found in the front yard of a Kansas City home. Adrian Burks, of Kansas City, Kan., is charged with four counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of 66-year-old James Warren, 21-year-old Amanda Remmers, 41-year-old Peggy Castleberry and Castleberry's 3-year-old daughter, Juanita D. Castleberry-Bess. All died from multiple gunshot wounds. Wyandotte County District Attorney Jerome A. Gorman said he was considering filing capital murder charges against Burks. Read more...

Court: Strip Search of Teen Was Illegal

WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court said Thursday school officials acted illegally when they strip-searched an Arizona teenage girl looking for prescription-strength ibuprofen. In an 8-1 ruling, the justices said that school officials violated the Fourth Amendment ban on unreasonable searches when they ordered Savana Redding to remove her clothes and shake out her underwear. Redding was 13 when Safford Middle School officials in rural eastern Arizona conducted the search. They were looking for pills — the equivalent of two Advils. Read more...

Man Sentenced for Neglect Death of Son

PEORIA, Illinois (Reuters) – The father of a starved 5-month-old U.S. boy who died after his skin was eaten away by bacteria from a soiled diaper was sentenced in Illinois to 100 years in prison for neglect. "I don't believe that someone who would let a 5-month-old rot to death deserves" an explanation for the harsh sentence, Peoria County Circuit Judge James Shadid said in ordering James Sargent to prison. Sargent, 24, read a 15-page statement in court about society's impending demise without mentioning his son, Benjamin, whose body was found by authorities in February 2008. Sargent was convicted in April of murder in the boy's death. Read more...

Daryl Hannah Arrested at West Virginia Mine

Daryl Hannah was among 31 people arrested in a protest against mountaintop removal in southern West Virginia, part of a wider campaign to stop the practice in the region. The protesters, who also included NASA climate scientist James Hansen, were charged with obstructing officers and impeding traffic after they sat in the middle of State Route 3 outside Massey Energy's Goals Coal preparation plant on Tuesday, the The Charleston Gazette reported. Read more...

Man Charged With Killing 2-Year-Old

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. -- On Monday, deputies responded to a report of a child not breathing at 711 Tangerine St., in Bakersfield. Joshua Preston was at the residence with his girlfriend's five children while she was at work, according to the KCSO. Preston called 911 to report that he had found 2-year-old Guillermo Alvarez not breathing, police said. Read more...

Mom Pleads Guilty in Drunk Breast-Feeding Case

A Grand Forks mother who police say was "extremely intoxicated" while breast-feeding her 6-week-old pleaded guilty to child neglect. Officers responded to an unrelated call at a Grand Forks residence in the early morning of Feb. 13 and saw 26-year-old Stacey Anvarinia slurring her speech and breastfeeding, prosecutor Meredith Larson told the judge. Citing a police report, Larson said officers were concerned about the infant's welfare, so they called Altru Hospital and were told that breast-feeding while intoxicated was not good for the child. Read more...