National Roundup

New York
Settlement in Iraq vet’s fatal fall from coaster
BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — A settlement has been reached in the wrongful-death lawsuit filed against a western New York amusement park by the family of a double amputee Iraq veteran killed when he fell out of a roller coaster.
The Buffalo News reports that lawyers for Darien Lake Theme Park and Resort and James Hackemer’s family say a seven-figure settlement has been reached. The exact amount isn’t being released. The lawyers say Hackemer’s two young daughters will be the beneficiaries.
The 29-year-old Army sergeant lost both legs to a roadside bomb.
In July 2011, Hackemer was at Darien Lake with his family when he fell out of a car on the Ride of Steel coaster, landing on the ground about 150 feet below.
State officials determined operator error was to blame for the accident.

Ohio
Man pleads no contest before trial in child rape 
TROY, Ohio (AP) — A western Ohio man has pleaded no contest to one count of child rape just before his trial was scheduled to begin.
Thirty-year-old Jason Zwick made the plea Tuesday morning in court in Miami County, north of Dayton. Judge Christopher Gee pronounced him guilty and sentenced him to 10 years to life in prison.
Prosecutors dropped two other charges that Zwick had raped the 10-year-old adopted son of a Troy man who has pleaded guilty to raping three boys in his care. Prosecutors say Zwick raped the boy in meetings arranged through the adoptive father.
The boy’s adoptive father, who will serve 60 years to life in prison as part of a plea agreement, was expected to testify against Zwick.
Zwick’s attorney had unsuccessfully sought Monday to delay the trial.

Wisconsin
State High Court: Newspaper has right to records
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The state Supreme Court says a newspaper has a right to complete copies of Juneau County’s legal bills.
The Juneau County Star-Times in 2010 asked the county for legal bills from an investigation into a former sheriff’s deputy. The law firm that handled the probe released redacted bills to the newspaper through the county.
A state appeals court ruled in 2011 that the Star-Times deserved complete copies under Wisconsin’s open records law.
The Supreme Court ruled 4-3 Tuesday the bills are public records because they were produced during the course of the law firm’s work for the county. The majority didn’t take up the actual redactions, letting the appellate ruling stand on that issue.

Vermont
Man sentenced to 7 years on child porn charges
BURLINGTON, Vt. (AP) — A Vermont man has been sentenced to more than seven years in prison for possessing child pornography and firearms.
Court records say 52-year-old Dennis Wayne Baldwin of Barre was receiving, possessing, and distributing child pornography with file-sharing software that he had installed on his computers.
Baldwin, a convicted felon, also possessed seven firearms.
Baldwin was arrested on Feb. 28, 2012. He pleaded guilty to the charges in August.

Colorado
85-year-old man charged over attack with cane
DENVER (AP) — Formal charges have been filed against an 85-year-old man accused of attacking a person with his cane during a dispute over a disabled parking place.
John Copeland is charged with assault on an at-risk adult. The elderly man is accused of hitting a 66-year-old parking enforcement volunteer while arguing over a handicapped parking permit on Dec 15.
According to KCNC-TV, Copeland is out on bond and scheduled to appear in court on Jan 18 to be advised of the charges.

Pennsylvania
AG: Hospital tech stole painkillers, swapped drugs
PITTSBURGH (AP) — A former pharmacy technician at a Pittsburgh-area hospital is charged with stealing prescription painkillers meant for patients, which she allegedly swapped for other medications.
Officials at Jefferson Memorial Hospital in Pleasant Hills informed more than 300 patients that they might have received an anti-nausea drug instead of the oxycodone that was allegedly stolen.
Attorney general’s investigators have charged 43-year-old Cheryl Ashcraft, of New Eagle, with stealing those drugs to feed her habit of up to 10 pills a day. Online court records don’t list an attorney for Ashcraft, and The Associated Press was unable to find a listed home number for her.
She faces a preliminary hearing Jan. 30 on charges including prescription drug theft and reckless endangerment.

Virginia
Man sues after conviction for murder tossed
CULPEPER, Va. (AP) — A man whose capital murder conviction was overturned is suing the Culpeper County sheriff, four other officers, a former prosecutor and an informant.
Media outlets report that Michael Hash of Culpeper alleges the defendants engaged in a concerted effort to convict him even though there wasn’t any credible evidence against him.
Hash served 12 years of a life sentence before a federal judge overturned his conviction in February 2012.
U.S. District Judge James Turk cited police and prosecutorial misconduct. In August 2012, Turk approved a special prosecutor’s motion to drop the case.

South Carolina
Man gets life sentence in 1993 killings of pair
SPARTANBURG, S.C. (AP) — A man once condemned to South Carolina’s death row has been resentenced to life in prison.
The Herald-Journal of Spartanburg reports that a judge on Monday sentenced 48-year-old Andre Rosemond of Lyman to two consecutive life sentences.
Rosemond was convicted in 1996 of killing his girlfriend, 42-year-old Christine Norton, and her 10-year-old daughter, Autumn. Mother and child were each shot twice in the head in 1993.
That sentence was overturned in 2009 by the state Supreme Court. The justices ruled that Rosemond’s attorney failed to address the man’s mental health during the sentencing phase of his trial.
Rosemond has been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia.?