Maine: Publisher files suit in connection in Madoff scheme
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — A Maine publisher who lost about $2.5 million in the Bernard Madoff Ponzi scheme scandal has filed a lawsuit against an investment firm he says funneled his money to Madoff without his knowledge.
In a lawsuit filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court, Daniel Goldenson and his wife, Suzanne, of Bremen, accuse John “Launny” Steffens and his investment firm, Spring Mountain Capital, of New York, of securities fraud, breach of fiduciary duty and nine other counts. Spring Mountain’s chief operating officer, Gregory Ho, is also named in the complaint.
Steffens and Ho issued a statement saying the Goldensons’ claims lack merit.
Madoff is now serving 150-year sentence for ripping off thousands of investors for billions of dollars.
Oklahoma: Woman pleads guilty in baby’s 1991 death
EUFAULA, Okla. (AP) — A Tulsa woman has pleaded guilty to a reduced charge in the 1991 death of her newborn daughter.
Thirty-eight-year-old Penny Lowry pleaded guilty in McIntosh County District Court to first-degree accessory to murder after the fact. She was initially charged with first-degree murder.
Assistant District Attorney Carol Iski told the Tulsa World that Lowry entered the plea last week and was sentenced to 45 years in prison.
The infant was found dead inside a plastic bag on Nov. 12, 1991, beside Jake’s Lake near Warner. Iski says the man who found the body saw a man and woman at the scene — but that Lowry has refused to identify the man.
Iski said testing of DNA matched the infant to Lowry in 2009. She says the father has also been identified and has been cleared of involvement in the crime.
Ohio: Defendant’s words get him three more years
TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) — An Ohio judge has tacked an additional 3 years on an aggravated burglary sentence because of an outburst from the defendant when he was first sentenced.
The Blade of Toledo reports Thursday that a court reporter and a security officer heard 21-year-old Christopher Fought tell his attorney he should have killed the victim of the home break-in.
The judge who had given Fought 6 years on Oct. 13 read part of the transcript from that sentencing in a Toledo courtroom on Wednesday and increased the prison term to 9 years. That was despite a tearful apology from Fought, who said he didn’t mean what he said and didn’t know what he was saying.
The judge said he upped the sentence because he concluded Fought was “a significantly greater danger.”
Ohio: Family, teacher settle cross branding suit
MOUNT VERNON, Ohio (AP) — The family of an Ohio student who claimed his science teacher burned the image of a cross on his arm has agreed to settle a lawsuit against the man for $450,000.
The Mount Vernon News reports the settlement agreement with John Freshwater is meant to compensate Zachary Dennis for physical pain and his parents for mental pain. The money will come from an insurance policy.
Word of a settlement — but no details — first came in July, days before the scheduled start of a trial. In a court filing, the parents say they sought to avoid putting their son and other Mount Vernon Middle School students through a possibly lengthy ordeal.
A message left with Freshwater’s attorney wasn’t immediately returned Thursday. The teacher is fighting his firing from the school.
Arizona: Cost to defend immigration law tops $1 million
PHOENIX (AP) — The cost to defend Arizona’s tough new law cracking down on illegal immigration topped $1 million through July, and the bill for an appeals court challenge being heard next week will push those costs even higher.
Invoices released by Gov. Jan Brewer’s office to The Arizona Republic on Wednesday show the Phoenix law firm Snell & Wilmer billed nearly $622,000 in July and more than $440,000 in May and June.
The state’s legal costs are being paid by Brewer’s legal-defense fund, which has received $3.7 million from 42,727 individuals across the nation.
A federal judge in Phoenix put the harshest parts of SB1070 on hold in July.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco hears Arizona’s appeal of that ruling on Monday. Brewer will attend.
California: Man files lawsuit against defrocked molester priest
STOCKTON, Calif. (AP) — A lawyer for a California man says his client has filed a lawsuit against a defrocked priest who admitted molesting dozens of children.
Attorney Joseph George says the civil lawsuit filed Wednesday in San Joaquin County Superior Court accuses Oliver O’Grady of repeatedly sexually assaulting his client when he was 5.
George says the alleged acts took place at Turlock parish. The alleged victim, now 24-years-old, is not identified in the suit. The lawsuit is seeking unspecified compensation for what it terms “emotional scars.”
O’Grady was deported to his native Ireland in 2000 after serving prison time on a 1994 conviction for molesting two brothers.
Stockton Diocese spokeswoman Barbara Thiella declined to comment on the lawsuit because the diocese has not seen the suit.
Hawaii: Ruling: Army failed to provide crucial info
HONOLULU (AP) — A federal judge has held the Army failed to give the community crucial information on how military training in Makua Valley could damage Native Hawaiian cultural sites.
The environmental law firm Earthjustice says U.S. District Chief Judge Susan Oki Mollway also held Wednesday that the Army failed to show how the training at Makua Military Reservation could contaminate marine resources used by area residents.
The Army issued a statement saying it will abide by the ruling.
Earthjustice attorney David Henkin says the ruling vindicates the public’s right to accurate information about the harm to public health and cultural sites that the resumption of training at Makua could cause.
The ruling came on a lawsuit filed last year by Malama Makua.
