Montana: 2nd trial under way in 2007 Bozeman shootout
BOZEMAN, Mont. (AP) — A second trial is under way in the case of a 36-year-old Colorado man charged with attempted homicide for a 2007 shootout in Bozeman.
Christopher W. Wagner was convicted and sentenced to 60 years in prison for exchanging gunfire with Michael Peters on Jan. 17, 2007. But the Montana Supreme Court overturned the conviction, saying prosecutors attacked Wagner’s credibility during the trial by using against him his refusal to speak with investigators without an attorney present.
Prosecutors say Wagner shot Peters out of jealousy because Peters had dated his ex-girlfriend. Peters acknowledges shooting Wagner first, and both men say they fired in self-defense.
The trial began Monday and is expected to continue through the end of the week.
Louisiana: Woman found insane in death of grandmother
COVINGTON, La. (AP) — A Covington-area woman who fatally stabbed her 85-year-old grandmother in April has been found not guilty by reason of insanity.
Authorities say 31-year-old Ashley Von Hadnagy committed the killing because she thought the voice of Fidel Castro was commanding her to do so. A judge on Monday ordered Van Hadnagy to undergo treatment at the state forensic psychiatric hospital.
The Times-Picayune said Rita Quaglino, of New Orleans, had a butcher knife plunged into her liver while visiting Von Hadnagy and her mother. She died nine days later and Von Hadnagy was charged with second-degree murder.
Court-appointed experts testified that Von Hadnagy had a severe psychotic episode.
Colorado: Man gets 40 years in $71 million Ponzi scheme
DENVER (AP) — A Colorado man who ran a $71 million Ponzi scheme that swindled dozens of investors, including former Denver Broncos quarterback John Elway, has been sentenced to 40 years in prison.
Sean Michael Mueller received the maximum sentence Monday for theft, fraud and racketeering. The 42-year-old former hedge fund manager pleaded guilty to the charges in November.
Prosecutors say the plea agreement includes restitution of $65.46 million.
Authorities say 65 people invested $71 million with the company over 10 years, but it had $9.5 million in assets and $45 million in liabilities in April.
Elway told the court that he and a business partner gave Mueller $15 million in March.
New Hampshire: Teenager and juvenile charged with poem threats
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — A 17-year-old New Hampshire high school student is facing charges he helped write a poem that threatened to kill two school officials with a .12-gauge shotgun.
Damien Armendariz, a senior at Merrimack Valley High School in the Penacook neighborhood of Concord, made a video appearance in court Monday on three misdemeanor charges. He was being held on $3,000 bail.
Police say Armendariz and an unnamed 15-year-old juvenile wrote the poem in October while serving an in-school suspension.
In addition to threatening to kill two school officials, the poem threatened a police officer if the officer interfered.
A judge set a March trial date.
The Concord Monitor says it’s unclear if Armendariz is still enrolled at the high school.
Mississippi: County judge orders man’s body to be exhumed
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A Hinds County judge has ordered the body of a 21-year-old Jackson man who died in 2007 after a police officer jolted him with a stun gun will be exhumed for a new autopsy.
The Clarion-Ledger reports Patricia Forbes, the mother of Rafael Forbes, filed a lawsuit in 2009 against the city of Jackson, Taser International Inc. and others related to her son’s death.
The lawsuit is scheduled for trial in January in U.S. District Court in Jackson.
The body will be exhumed for a new autopsy after a medical expert for the family questioned findings in the 2007 autopsy done by Dr. Steven Hayne for the Hinds County coroner’s office.
The newspaper reports Tuesday it’s uncertain when the body will be exhumed.
Louisiana: Sentencing of former state senator delayed
MONROE, La. (AP) — Sentencing of a former state senator has been postponed until after the new year.
The News-Star reports that Charles Jones was set to be sentenced Monday in federal court but the hearing was delayed until Jan. 5.
Jones was convicted in August on two counts of filing false tax returns and one count of tax evasion. He faces up to three years in prison and a $100,000 fine on each of the first two counts and up to five years and a $100,000 fine on the tax evasion charge.
Jones’ first trial ended in a mistrial June 3. During the second trial, the prosecution called 10 witnesses to show how Jones allegedly routed and hid more than $750,000 in fees he received for two cases, one in 1995 and another in 1999. The government claims lost tax revenue of around $190,000.
Ohio: Judge: Juvenile center lawsuit unnecessary
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — A juvenile court judge is criticizing a federal lawsuit that alleges harsh treatment of youth at an Ohio detention center, including prolonged solitary detention.
Judge Timothy Williams of Washington County Juvenile Court on Tuesday defended the county detention center’s policies and the actions of its staff.
Williams says the court’s top priority is ensuring the health and safety of juveniles in the justice system.
The lawsuit filed Monday alleges youth were locked in detention cells up to 23 hours a day, denied medical care and forced to clean bathrooms and gyms on their knees with toothbrushes.
Williams says mediation would have been preferable to the cost of a lawsuit.
