National Roundup

Florida News groups fight to open teen shooting files ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) -- A group of news organizations in Florida, including The Associated Press, is challenging efforts to seal records in the criminal case of a neighborhood watch volunteer charged with killing an unarmed teenager. A motion was filed Monday in Seminole County Circuit Court that asks that records in Zimmerman's file be unsealed. The effort is being led by The Miami Herald. Zimmerman's attorney last week asked that the records be sealed. Those records are normally public under Florida law. The motion by the news organizations says Zimmerman's case doesn't meet the standards that are typically used to create an exemption to those laws. Zimmerman was charged with second-degree murder last week for fatally shooting 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in a gated community in Sanford, near Orlando. He is pleading not guilty. Mississippi Appeals Court to hear assault case JACKSON, Miss. (AP) -- A federal appeals court has scheduled oral arguments in a case in which a man was awarded $64,000 from three Jackson police who he accused of standing by and allowing another officer to attack him. The hearing before the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is scheduled for May 2 in New Orleans. A federal jury in Mississippi in 2010 ordered the three officers to pay Maryland Singleton. Singleton said he suffered a fractured cheekbone, a broken jaw, a broken nose and other injuries during the attack in a holding cell at Jackson police headquarters on Feb. 11, 2005. Singleton had been placed in the holding cell after being arrested on a charge of driving under the influence. Singleton had sought $514,000 in damages. The officer who allegedly attacked Singleton could not be found to be served with the suit and wasn't a defendant. The judgment was against the other three former officers. The city was dismissed as a defendant. The city fired Officer Larry Davis after its investigation showed he punched Singleton. The city claimed Singleton didn't deserve money from Tony Collins, Billy Slaughter and Cornelius Johnson because they played no role in the assault. Singleton's attorney said the three detention officers had a duty to protect Singleton from excessive force. Ohio Teen Craigslist suspect to have charges merged AKRON, Ohio (AP) -- A 17-year-old charged in a deadly Craigslist robbery scheme has agreed to waive a hearing and have charges against him merged in adult felony court, his attorney said Monday. Brogan Rafferty will waive his right to a hearing on being tried as an adult when he appears before a judge Wednesday in Akron, said his attorney, John Alexander. Alexander said that would clear the way for juvenile court charges in the deaths of two men to be merged with adult charges originally from Noble County in the death of a third man and an attack on a fourth victim. Rafferty has pleaded not guilty to all charges. Rafferty is suspected of helping 52-year-old Richard Beasley, of Akron, lure victims with bogus Craigslist job offers. Beasley, who has been described as a mentor to Rafferty, has pleaded not guilty and could face the death penalty if convicted. As a juvenile, Rafferty cannot. Alexander said he decided to waive the hearing in order, for now, to keep out of the media certain information which he declined to specify. Alexander said there were no other advantages to the strategy. There was no immediate comment from the Summit County prosecutor on the defense decision. A message was left Monday for the prosecutor's spokeswoman. The charges stem from the deaths of Ralph Geiger, 56, of Akron; David Pauley, 51, of Norfolk, Va.; and Timothy Kern, 47, of Massillon. Authorities say the men answered Craigslist ads for work on a nonexistent cattle farm in rural Noble County in southeast Ohio. The scheme targeted older, single, out-of-work men with backgrounds that made it unlikely their disappearances would be noticed right away, according to authorities. Missouri Witness recants account in Columbia editor's death JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- A former Columbia Daily Tribune janitor who testified he saw convicted killer Ryan Ferguson at the scene of sports editor Kent Heitholt's death in 2001 now says his previous testimony was a lie. Jerry Trump says he was coached to identify Ferguson and accomplice Chuck Erickson by former Boone County prosecutor Kevin Crane, who is now a circuit court judge. Trump's videotaped testimony was shown Monday morning in a Cole County courtroom at the start of a weeklong hearing in which Ferguson is seeking a new trial. Crane has previously denied Trump's revised account. He is scheduled to testify on Friday. Ferguson is serving a 40-year sentence for second-degree murder and robbery in the strangling death of Heitholt in the newspaper's parking lot. Erickson will also testify this week. Louisiana Woman indicted in fraud case LAFAYETTE, La. (AP) -- A federal indictment accuses a Lafayette Parish woman of concealing a relative's 1984 death from the Social Security Administration so she could continue to collect his $1,000 monthly retirement benefits for about 27 years. The Advocate reports the indictment charges Hazel A. Broussard with 46 counts of mail fraud. Broussard was living with her uncle, Joseph Nelson Robertson, when Robertson died April 8, 1984, at age 75, according to the indictment, filed Wednesday and made public Thursday. Broussard is accused of devising a scheme that would allow her to continue to collect her uncle's retirement checks even though she was not eligible to receive them, the indictment says. Broussard is also accused of sending a change-of-address form through the mail to the Social Security Administration, which caused the agency and the U.S. Postal Service to deliver Robertson's benefits to 515 Orchid Drive, where Broussard lived. The 46 counts of mail fraud stem from checks that were mailed to Robertson in amounts that ranged from $1,037 to $1,127. The checks date from May 2007 through March 2011, according to the indictment. No attorney is listed for Broussard, according to federal online court records. Published: Tue, Apr 17, 2012