Court Roundup

Louisiana Judge: Suspected serial killer spoke freely BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) -- A state judge has ruled that suspected serial killer Jeffery Lee Guillory spoke "freely and voluntarily" to Baton Rouge police in 2006 and 2009. Tuesday's ruling by District Judge Tony Marabella gives prosecutors permission to use those statements at Guillory's second-degree murder trial set to begin Monday. The Advocate reports the Sept. 26, 2006, statement was taken more than three years before Guillory's arrest in the slayings of Florida Edwards, Sylvia Cobb and Renee Newman, all of Baton Rouge. The Dec. 16, 2009, statement was given the day Guillory was arrested. That interrogation lasted five hours. "The court is satisfied that the defendant's rights were given properly," state District Judge Tony Marabella said from the bench in denying a defense motion to suppress Guillory's 2009 statement. The judge said the statement was "freely and voluntarily given." Police have said Guillory twice denied knowing or seeing Newman and Edwards. His DNA was matched to evidence found at both women's crime scenes, authorities said. In granting a prosecution motion to introduce Guillory's 2006 statement, Marabella likewise said the statement was voluntarily given. Guillory, 45, is scheduled to stand trial Monday in the 2002 killing of Newman, 46. Her body was found April 11, 2002, behind the old Maison Blanche/Goudchaux's building on Main Street. Massachusetts Bulger lawyers get more time to look at evidence BOSTON (AP) -- Lawyers for former reputed crime boss James "Whitey" Bulger have been given more time to review a "massive" amount of evidence turned over by prosecutors. Bulger's lawyers said Wednesday the government has given them a huge pile of documents and other materials that may be used during Bulger's trial. The former leader of the Winter Hill Gang is charged in connection with 19 murders. He was not in court. Attorney J.W. Carney Jr. said the defense has begun to go through the discovery materials, but needs more time. Magistrate Judge Marianne Bowler scheduled a status conference for Nov. 21. Bulger fled Boston just before a racketeering indictment was handed up against him in 1995. He remained a fugitive for more than 16 years until he was apprehended in June in Santa Monica, Calif. Colorado Federal judge threatens fines over police lawsuit DENVER (AP) -- A federal judge is threatening to fine Denver $5,000 a day for dragging its feet on court orders to provide complaints of excessive force against police. The documents include records of every excessive-force complaint filed against a Denver police officer or sheriff's deputy in the past eight years. Attorneys for Jason Graber say the documents are needed to prove their claim that the city has a continuing practice of unconstitutional misconduct by law enforcement after he was injured during a confrontation with police. U.S. District Judge John Kane criticized the city in July for failing to turn over the documents sooner and he warned further obstruction would not be tolerated. According to the Denver Post, the city has 300,000 pages of complaints and 7,500 audio and video recordings. Maine Man charged in Mass. killing claimed to be vampire AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) -- One of three men charged in a triple-killing in western Massachusetts claimed to be a vampire and Satanist after an assault in which he licked a teenager's blood in Maine. Caius Veiovis (KYE-us VAY-oh-veese), then known as Roy Gutfinski, served almost 7 1/2 years in prison in Maine for charges including elevated aggravated assault after he and his 16-year-old girlfriend cut a teenager's back with a razor and kissed as they licked the blood. The 1999 injury required 32 stitches to close. The Kennebec Journal reported Gutfinski claimed to be a vampire and a Satan worshipper. His name was changed while in prison. He's now one of three men charged in Massachusetts in a triple killing. His lawyer declined comment to The Associated Press during a court hearing Monday. Virginia Richmond jury awards $2.4M in inmate death lawsuit RICHMOND, Va. (AP) -- A Richmond jury has awarded $2.4 million to the estate of an inmate in a wrongful death lawsuit. Media outlets report that the Richmond Circuit Court jury returned its verdict Tuesday. Jurors found that Richmond Sheriff C.T. Woody Jr. and Dr. Stanley Furman, the former chief physician for the Richmond City Jail, were liable in the death of 46-year-old James D. Robinson. An attorney for Robinson's estate, Mark J. Krudys, says Robinson had pneumonia that wasn't diagnosed or properly treated by the jail's medical staff. Robinson collapsed at the jail and died at a hospital on March 9, 2008. The sheriff's office declined to comment on the verdict, saying it would be inappropriate. Published: Thu, Sep 15, 2011