Court Roundup

Kentucky
Judge to hear arguments in pole dancing dispute
ADAIRVILLE, Ky. (AP) — A judge has set a date to hear oral arguments over whether a tavern on the Kentucky-Tennessee line should be allowed to offer pole dancing.
The Daily News in Bowling Green reports that Logan County, Ky., Circuit Court Judge Tyler Gill will hear arguments on Dec. 3.
Officials in Logan County denied an entertainment permit earlier this year to tavern owner Sheila Haley, who wants to offer paid pole dancing at the Tenn-Tucky State Line Bar.
Gill turned down a request from Haley’s attorney during a status conference on Monday for an evidentiary trial appealing the denial, saying that part of the state law governing the appeal of permit denials is unconstitutional.
Gill said an evidentiary trial would call for him to usurp power given to the county’s judge-executive.

Massachusetts
Chemist in drug lab scandal refuses to testify
BOSTON (AP) — A chemist at the center of a Massachusetts drug lab scandal has refused to testify in a drug case against a Boston man who once spent 15 years in prison for the slaying of a 12-year-old girl he says he did not commit.
A lawyer for Shawn Drumgold asked a judge Wednesday to dismiss two drug charges because chemist Annie Dookhan’s initials appear on a drug analysis form indicating she tested the suspected cocaine and heroin.
Dookhan is charged with obstruction of justice for allegedly skirting protocols and faking test results at the now-closed lab.
Prosecutors say Dookhan’s name appears on a certificate used in court only as a notary and not as a tester of the substances.
Dookhan was in court but exercised her Fifth Amendment right not to testify.

New Jersey
3 charged in NJ as ‘Baby Bones’ victim identified
FREEHOLD, N.J. (AP) — Police in New Jersey have identified a child whose skeletal remains were found in 2005 as a New York City girl who was the victim of years of abuse. They also have charged three people, including her aunt and uncle, in the cover-up of the death.
Monmouth County prosecutors have charged 39-year-old Likisha Jones, 48-year-old Godfrey Gibson and 35-year-old James Jones with hindering apprehension and other counts in the disposal of a body.
The investigation came to be known as the “Baby Bones” case after burned, skeletal remains were found in Upper Freehold Township in 2005.
Officials used DNA to identify the remains as 9-year-old Jon-Niece Jones.
Likisha Jones was the child’s aunt, James Jones was the child’s uncle and Gibson was the aunt’s boyfriend. They are in jail pending a Wednesday afternoon court hearing.

Washington
Media group seek court-martial files in WikiLeaks case
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. military’s highest court is hearing arguments on whether the public should have access to written records in the court-martial of an Army private charged with giving reams of classified information to the secret-sharing website WikiLeaks.
WikiLeaks and its founder Julian Assange are among those represented by the New York-based Center for Constitutional Rights at the hearing Wednesday before the Court of Appeals for Armed Forces in Washington.
They are seeking reversal of a lower court order denying them access to written motions, opinions and other records that are generally available in civilian courts.
The government contends the Freedom of Information Act provides the proper route for requesting such records. However, the military has denied such requests.
The Associated Press is joining other news organizations in supporting the appeal.