Court Report

Appeal Filed in Phil Spector Case

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Lawyers for legendary music producer Phil Spector have asked an appellate court to throw out his second-degree murder conviction on grounds of judicial error and prosecutorial misconduct. In an extremely detailed 148-page brief, the attorneys cited multiple reasons they believe Spector was denied his right to a fair trial. They asked the California Second District Court of Appeal to reverse the jury verdict and order a new trial. Read more...

Man Convicted in Slaying of Broncos Cornerback

DENVER (AP) - The group of Denver Broncos players arrived at the Safari nightclub to celebrate New Year's Eve and was whisked inside by bouncers. One of the dozens of people waiting in line to get in - an alleged Tre-Tre Crips gang member - took exception. "We street," Willie Clark told wide receiver Brandon Marshall, according to court testimony. "We got money too." That encounter between celebrated professional athletes and an alleged angry gang member ultimately led to the Jan. 1, 2007, shooting death of cornerback Darrent Williams, a jury decided, convicting Clark of first degree murder. Read more...

Indiana Man Who Murdered 2 Executed in Texas

HUNTSVILLE, Texas (AP) - An Indiana man whose cross-country crime spree with his girlfriend a decade ago ended in a gun battle with police in San Francisco was executed Thursday in Texas for killing a sheriff's officer. Joshua Maxwell's voice broke as he apologized repeatedly in the seconds before the state put him to death by lethal injection for the October 2000 slaying of Bexar County sheriff's Sgt. Rudy Lopes. "The person that did that 10 years ago isn't the same person you see today," Maxwell said. "I hurt a lot of people with decisions I made. I can't be more sorry than I am right now." Read more...

Ohio State Shooter Left Apology Note

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Authorities have released notes written by the Ohio State University janitor who shot two supervisors before killing himself, and he appears to tell a woman named Donna "sorry I let you down." Police say Nathaniel Brown shot two supervisors early Tuesday before killing himself. Records show he shared the same address with a woman named Donna Dunson, although their relationship is unclear. Messages left at the home Thursday seeking comment were not immediately returned. Read more...

Woman Beaten in Bar After Rejecting Advances

NEW YORK (AP) - A stranger followed a woman into a New York City bar restroom after she rejected his advances, savagely beat her in a toilet stall and perhaps tried to sexually assault her, police said. A police security camera near the bar's entrance captured images of the man afterward walking down the sidewalk and looking at his hand - an indication it might have been injured during the attack. The department released the footage on Thursday in hopes of identifying him. Read more...

Woman Charged With Murdering Infant Son

OAKLAND, Md. — An Arnold woman has been indicted in Garrett County for the death of her newborn son. State's Attorney Lisa Thayer Welch said that 27-year-old Jamie Lynn Hiemenz is charged with second-degree murder, manslaughter, first-degree child abuse and reckless endangerment. She was released after posting a $50,000 bond. Read more...

Pot Farm Found In Colorado Office Building

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (CBS4) -- A pot farm was found in an office building in Grand Junction. The Western Colorado Drug Task Force found more than 1,000 marijuana plants and a tub full of hash in Suite 101 of 573 Building One. The realtor, Sid Squirrel of Bray Commercial Realty, told police the pot was all legally grown medical marijuana plants. Squirrel is currently in Mexico and was asked by police for an explanation over the phone. Read more...

7-Year-Old Calls 911, Saves Family

NORWALK, Calif. — A 7-year-old boy who called 911 while armed robbers threatened his parents hugged and delivered a high five to the dispatcher who took his call. The boy, identified only as Carlos, told reporters \he remained calm during the ordeal because his mother used to make him practice dialing 911 in case of emergencies. Carlos gave a hug to Los Angeles County Sheriff's dispatcher Monique Patino, who called the boy "my little hero." Read more...

Judge Bans Release of Dead Hiker's Photos

ATLANTA — A Georgia judge has barred authorities from releasing crime scene and autopsy photos of a 24-year-old University of Georgia graduate killed while hiking. DeKalb County Superior Court Judge Dan Coursey said releasing the photos of Meredith Emerson to Hustler Magazine would cause "irreparable harm." Authorities had already announced they would refuse the porn publication's request for photos of the 24-year-old, whose decapitated body was found in January 2008 in the north Georgia woods. Read more...

Sex Offender With Post Office Job Reassigned

LOS ANGELES — A Southern California letter carrier who is a registered sex offender has been reassigned after concerns were raised that he was delivering mail in an area with many children. Postal Service spokeswoman Eva Jackson said that Dana Kennette is now in a job that does not deal with the public. Kennette had been delivering mail in the Rancho Bernardo area of San Diego, where he lives. The Megan's Law Web site says he was convicted of lewd or lascivious acts on a child under 14. There is no telephone listing for Kennette. Read more...

Man Burglarizes Church to View Porn

AMES, Iowa — Second-degree burglary charges were filed against an Ames man who broke into a church where he allegedly used the institution's electronic equipment to watch pornography. Police allege 55-year-old Charles E. Bentley broke into the First Christian Churc. After gathering items from around the building, he is believed to have gone to the basement to spend the night. Police summoned to the church by staff, found Bentley trying to haul away a garbage can filled with food, kitchen utensils, clothes, electronic equipment and a 26-inch flat-screen television. Read more...

Accused Teacher Turns Herself In

A 33-year-old Burbank middle school teacher accused of having sex with a teenage male student over a six-month period last year was charged with unlawful sex with a minor, MyFoxLA.com reported. Amy Victoria Beck, a teacher at David Starr Jordan Middle School, appeared in Burbank Superior Court. She did not enter a plea and her arraignment was scheduled for March 25. Read more...

Odor Leads to $10M Marijuana Bust

The scent of marijuana was so strong Monroe Township police officer Thomas Lucasiewicz said he could smell it through the vents of his patrol car during a midnight shift last month. When he looked around and couldn't find anyone smoking on patios or in parked cars, the officer concluded it was coming from the chimney of a home on Spotswood-Englishtown Road. Lucasiewicz said he and other officers who knocked on the door of that house were shocked with what they found: rows and rows of marijuana plants in the basement and bedroom of the one-story home. Read more...

Employee Kills Co-Worker, Then Self

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Records showed that an Ohio State University janitor who fatally shot a supervisor and injured another was told last week he was being fired. Documents released by the university from Nathaniel Brown's personnel file show that supervisors complained he was tardy, slept on the job and had problems following instructions. Brown had been hired in October and was still on probation. The university sent him a letter March 2 informing him that his employment was to end Saturday. Read more...

Gag Order Issued in Chelsea King Case

ESCONDIDO, Calif. — A convicted sex offender charged with murdering one teen and suspected in the disappearance of another appeared in court as a judge issued a gag order and delayed a key hearing in the case. Defendant John Albert Gardner III spoke only to acknowledge that he waived his right to speedy proceedings. Superior Court Judge David J. Danielsen rescheduled the preliminary hearing from March 18 to Aug. 4. The hearing is meant to show if there is enough evidence to send Gardner trial. Read more...

Police Criticise Facebook Safety Record

Senior police officers clashed with the UK's most-used social networking site today, accusing Facebook of ignoring worrying trends that it is providing a safe haven for predatory paedophiles by refusing to sign up to a "panic button" for children and young people. Jim Gamble, chief executive of the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Unit (Ceop), was joined by the country's lead officer on homicide to tackle the site about its repeated refusal to sign up to a key safety practice adopted by many other similar websites. Read more...

Second Officer Charged in Katrina Shooting

NEW ORLEANS — A second ex-New Orleans officer charged in an alleged conspiracy to cover up a deadly police shooting of unarmed residents after Hurricane Katrina is expected to plead guilty, a person familiar with the case said. A federal court filing Tuesday charges former detective Jeffrey Lehrmann with misprision of a felony, which meant he had knowledge of a crime and didn't report it. It said he "knew of a conspiracy among police officers to obstruct justice," helped conceal the conspiracy, helped create false reports and provided false information to federal investigators. Read more...

Yankees Executive Charged With DUI

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — A top New York Yankees executive was charged with driving under the influence in Tampa. Hillsborough County Jail reports show that Mark Newman, the Yankees' senior vice president of baseball operations, was arrested Monday night. He reportedly refused to take a blood-alcohol test. He was released several hours later on $500 bail. The Yankees released a statement Tuesday night saying the team is taking the situation seriously and is looking into the matter. Read more...

DMX Back in Jail for Alleged Probation Violation

PHOENIX (AP) - Authorities in Arizona say rapper DMX has been arrested for allegedly violating his probation by using drugs. DMX, whose real name is Earl Simmons, had served about half of his 18-month supervised probation when he was booked Tuesday night into the downtown Phoenix jail. The rapper was released from jail in May after serving a 90-day sentence for felony convictions including cruelty to animals, theft and two drug counts. Read more...

Remains of Amber Dubois Found

Less than a week after a registered sex offender was arrested for the death of 18-year-old Chelsea King, the skeletal remains of a 14-year-old girl have been found in a remote section of an Indian reservation north of San Diego. Authorities have identified the remains as those of Amber Leeanne Dubois, but would not say what lead them to the location. Amber disappeared Feb. 13, 2009 while walking to school in Escondido, California. Read more...

Ohio Inmate ODs on Pills Hours Before Execution

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - Gov. Ted Strickland postponed the execution of a convicted killer who managed to take an overdose of pills in his death row cell and was found unconscious just hours before he was to be driven to his execution. Lawrence Reynolds Jr., 43, who was sentenced to die for killing his neighbor in 1994, was found unconscious around 11:30 p.m. Sunday at the Ohio State Penitentiary in Youngstown, prisons spokeswoman Julie Walburn said. Read more...

Airman With Shotgun Disarmed at Air Force Base

WICHITA FALLS, Texas — A shotgun-toting airman in training at Sheppard Air Force Base is in custody after being confronted outside a dormitory. Spokesman George Woodward says no shots were fired, nobody was hurt and the base "wouldn't issue a weapon to an airman in training." Woodward says the base at Wichita Falls had to be shut down during the incident but reopened Monday. Read more...

Man Holding Fake Gun Fatally Shot Near School

NEW YORK (AP) - A police officer in Brooklyn has fatally shot a man who the NYPD says was brandishing a fake pistol near a school. Police said they received a 911 call from a parent reporting a man with a handgun near an elementary school. They say that when officers arrived, the 22-year-old man pointed the phony gun at them during in a confrontation on the street outside the school. A uniformed officer responded by firing three shots. Read more...

Lil Wayne Begins 1-Year Jail Term

NEW YORK (AP) - After saying goodbye on concert stages and online video streams, Lil Wayne had nothing to add as he was sentenced Monday to a year in jail for having a loaded gun on his tour bus. The Grammy Award-winning rapper delivered only a brief bow to fans and supporters as he was led out of a courtroom in handcuffs to start serving his sentence. With that, Lil Wayne headed off to face his punishment in a case that had shadowed him as he became one of music's most prolific and profitable figures in recent years. Read more...

Georgia QB Arrested On Alcohol Charges

REMERTON, Ga. -- Police arrested a quarterback for the Georgia football team on a series of alcohol-related charges early Sunday morning. Officers arrested Zach Mettenberger, 18, at Flip Flops bar in Lowndes County at 1:36 a.m., according to an arrest report. The report shows that police charged Mettenberger with underage consumption, possession of alcohol, disorderly conduct, obstruction and two counts of having fake identification. Read more...

8 Teens Shot While Leaving Indiana Concert

GARY, Ind. - Authorities say eight teenage boys were shot while leaving a Gary, Ind., skating rink where they were attending a concert. Police Cpl. Gabrielle King says "chaos broke loose" when a fight erupted Friday night event at World of Skates. Police say the shooting started in the parking lot. The victims were taken to three area hospitals. Police say they ranged in age from 14 to 18, with wounds in the legs, wrist, stomach or back. King said injuries weren't believed to be life-threatening. Read more...

68 Fatal ODs Linked to Kansas Clinic

WICHITA, Kan. - A new federal indictment implicates a Kansas doctor and his wife in nine additional patient deaths, bringing to 68 the number of fatal overdoses the government contends are linked to illegal prescription writing and a moneymaking conspiracy at their clinic. Dr. Stephen Schneider, his wife Linda, who is a nurse, and unnamed others are accused of scheming to illegally dispense prescription drugs and defraud health insurance programs and patients through their Haysville clinic. They also are accused of money laundering. The couple are directly charged with contributing to 21 deaths. Read more...

Casey Anthony Defense Wants State to Pay Legal Fees

Lawyers for an Orlando woman accused in her young daughter's death says the state should pay the cost of defending her. The team representing 23-year-old Casey Anthony says the financial assistance is the only way to ensure they'll have the resources to fight a conviction and possible death sentence in the first-degree murder case. The defense wants the state to pay the cost of travel, serving supoenas, hiring experts, deposing witnesses and investigating the case. Read more...

Doctor Guilty of Wife's Cyanide Death

CLEVELAND – An Ohio doctor accused of lacing his wife's calcium supplement with cyanide so he could be with his mistress was convicted of aggravated murder. The jury heard weeks of testimony before returning the verdict against Dr. Yazeed Essa, 41. His wife, Rosemarie Essa, collapsed while driving Feb. 24, 2005, and crashed her car into another vehicle about five miles from the couple's home. Essa was an emergency room doctor in Akron but fled to Lebanon after his wife's death. Read more...

Malvo Sends Letter of Apology to Louisiana Victim

NEW ORLEANS – A Louisiana man shot by Lee Boyd Malvo before the criminal spree that terrorized the Washington, D.C., area in 2002 has received a letter of apology from the convicted sniper. John C. Gaeta, 58, of Albany, said Thursday that he's glad Malvo wrote him but remains skeptical about Malvo's intentions. Gaeta was shot in the neck Aug. 1, 2002, outside a mall near Baton Rouge, La. He has said that two men approached him as he tried to change a tire. Read more...

Officer Kills Gunman Outside Walmart in Texas

COMMERCE, Texas (AP) - Authorities say a gunman has been killed and an off-duty officer injured in a shootout outside a Walmart store in the east Texas city of Commerce. Commerce spokeswoman Marty Cunningham says police received a call about shots being fired from a car in nearby Greenville, about 50 miles northeast of Dallas. Cunningham says the suspect exchanged gunfire with Commerce police just outside the city limits before driving to the Walmart. Read more...

Inmate Tried to Have 2 Kids Killed

Cook County Jail inmate is charged with trying to hire a hit man to kill two children he's accused of molesting and their parents. Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart says 32-year-old Edward Floyd faces six counts of solicitation to commit murder. He's been ordered held without bond on the new charges. He's been in custody since a September 2008 arrest for two counts of criminal sexual assault of a child. Read more...

Steelers QB Accused of Sex Assault

NFL quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is accused of sexually assaulting a woman at a rural Georgia nightspo, police said. Police talked to Roethlisberger, 28, and the 20-year-old woman at the scene immediately after the incident was reported at about 2:30 a.m. Friday morning at Capital City in Milledgeville, Georgia, said Deputy Police Chief Richard Malone. However, Malone said investigators still need to do a follow-up interview with Roethlisberger and witnesses. He added that nobody has been charged in the alleged incident and stopped short of calling the football player a suspect. Read more...

Maryland Considers 3 Bills On Ignition Interlocks

Maryland's House of Delegates is contemplating three different bills that would require vehicle ignition interlock devices for first-offender drunk drivers. Two of the bills would require the devices for all first offenders without exception. The other bill would allow the judge in the case to consider other factors in deciding if the interlock should be mandatory. Read more...

NFL Suspends Ferguson For First 8 Games Of 2010

MIAMI -- Free agent Jason Ferguson, a veteran nose tackle most recently with the Miami Dolphins, has been suspended for the first eight games of next season for violating NFL policy on performance-enhancing substances. NFL spokesman Greg Aiello confirmed on Sunday that the discipline was handed down late this week but could offer no further details. Ferguson was also suspended for violating NFL drug policy in 1999, sitting out four games after an anabolic steroid showed up during a urine test. Read more...