South Dakota: Hearing set on courtroom cameras issue
PIERRE, S.D. (AP) — The South Dakota Supreme Court will take public testimony next month on two proposals regarding cameras in the state’s circuit courtrooms.
The input at the Oct. 7 meeting in Pierre will help guide the high court as it prepares to choose between the two proposed rules, The Argus Leader said. One presumes proceedings are open to media recordings; the other would require the media to petition for the right to make audio or video recordings.
A committee of representatives from the media, judicial system and law enforcement met late last year to discuss the issue. The majority voted to recommend the more restrictive rule change, which was written by Judge David Gienapp of Madison.
His proposal would require media organizations to get approval a week in advance and give veto power to the judge and attorneys involved. Gienapp said he thinks it is important to bring everyone in on the decision because a defendant’s rights are more important than media access.
“From a judge’s perspective, you’re more concerned about both sides getting a fair trial than anything else,” he said.
The South Dakota Newspaper Association has sent a letter to the Supreme Court supporting the proposal that presumes the courts are open to cameras, Executive Director David Bordewyk said.
Requiring media groups to petition for cameras in trial courts “is unworkable,” he said.
The Hague: U.S., Chinese judges take seats on U.N. court
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The U.N. court that settles disputes among member states has sworn in new judges from the United States and China to join the 15-member bench.
Joan Donoghue was the top legal adviser on international law to President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, including issues related to interrogations at the Guantanamo Bay detention center.
Donoghue also advised the government on human rights law, and has been involved in several cases at the International Court of Justice, the U.N.’s highest judicial body.
Before taking her seat Monday, Xue Hanqin was China’s ambassador to ASEAN, the grouping of Southeast Asian nations, and previously was ambassador to the Netherlands.
It’s the first time the court has two women judges at the same time.
Missouri: Trial begins in woman’s 1985 murder
CLAYTON, Mo. (AP) — The trial for a Springfield man charged with killing a woman in 1985 began Monday in Clayton.
Gerald Carnahan, 52, was charged three years ago with forcible rape and first-degree murder in the death of Jackie Johns of Nixa after authorities developed DNA evidence they claim links him to the crime.
The case was moved to St. Louis County Circuit Court from Greene County on a change of venue.
Carnahan’s trial has been delayed several times as prosecutors and defense attorneys pored through decades-old records and argued the validity of the lab results, according to The Springfield News Leader.
Prosecutors claim Carnahan abducted, raped and bludgeoned Johns and dumped her body in Lake Springfield. Her body was found five days later.
Few crimes in the Ozarks have commanded as much attention as Johns’ June 18, 1985 disappearance.
Law enforcement and volunteers scoured the area between Springfield and Nixa for signs of the 20-year-old waitress after her car was found in a convenience store. Her bloodstained clothing was found in the back seat. Four days later, a pair of fishermen at Lake Springfield found her body.
Carnahan, a local businessman, was questioned early on after witnesses reported seeing his truck near the area where Johns disappeared. Carnahan acknowledged he knew Johns, but said he was at a bar that night.
The Johns case went cold until August 2007 when a Missouri State Highway Patrol trooper re-examining several area cold cases allegedly linked Carnahan’s DNA with evidence collected during the 1985 autopsy of Johns’ body.
Carnahan’s attorney, Dee Wampler, argues the DNA still is no sure thing.
“I’m going to question the chain of custody and the condition of the DNA sample,” Wampler said.
Les Johns, Jackie John’s father, has missed few of Carnahan’s court appearances. But he’s now 82 and said his health won’t allow him to travel to across the state to Clayton for the trial.
“I’ll just be glad to get it over with ... after 25 years you don’t get too fired up over it,” he said.
Idaho: Older Idaho inmates increase medical costs
IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (AP) — An increased number of older inmates is causing an increase in medical expenses, the Idaho Department of Correction says.
The agency said there are more than 800 prisoners age 50 and older in Idaho, compared to 400 in that category a decade ago.
The agency said it’s currently paying about $23 million per year for medical expenses, up from the $12.1 million it paid in 2004.
Officials said much of that increase is for medical care for older inmates. Different theories exist to explain the aging Idaho jail population.
Monica Hopkins, executive director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Idaho, said a reliance on mandatory minimum sentencing is likely the cause.
“It’s easy to lock someone up, but we can’t just look at what’s easy, (we need to) look at models that work,” she told the Post Register.
Dane Watkins, Bonneville County prosecutor, said offenders of all ages commit drug crimes, and the increasing number of drug charges during the past decade could have led to the increase in older inmates.
Nationally, according to the Federal Bureau of Justice, the number of prisoners in state and federal prisons 55 and older increased 76 percent from 1999 to 2008.
State Rep. JoAn Wood, R-Rigby, in 2009 helped begin a program called the Wood Pilot Project intended to promote recovery and self-sufficiency in 7th District Court as a way to limit people returning to prison.
Both mental health and addiction problems are considered by the specialty court. Such problem-solving courts have helped save the state millions of dollars, Wood said.
It has also helped keep nonviolent offenders out of prison, said Watkins.
“In my experience, people have been given the opportunity to prove themselves (in problem-solving courts),” he said. “If they fail and they fail again (within the structure of problem-solving courts), then prison is an option.”
