National Roundup

Washington
Gov’t wants 45-year sentence for FRC shooter
WASHINGTON (AP) — Prosecutors say a Virginia man who planned a mass killing at the Washington headquarters of a conservative Christian lobbying group should spend 45 years in prison for his plot.
Prosecutors filed a court document Friday recommending the sentence for Floyd Corkins II, who pleaded guilty to three charges in February. A security guard subdued Corkins in the lobby of the Family Research Council in August after he pointed a pistol at the man. The guard was the only one injured. Corkins later told authorities he planned to kill as many people as possible and to smear Chick-fil-A sandwiches on their faces as a statement.
Chick-fil-A was making headlines at the time because of its president’s stated opposition to gay marriage. The Family Research Council also opposes gay marriage.
Sentencing is set for April 29.

Washington
Court: Does ex- or current wife get money?
WASHINGTON (AP) — Supreme Court justices are questioning a Virginia law that would override a federal employee’s designation of a beneficiary in a federal insurance program.
Warren Hillman made Judy Maretta beneficiary of his Federal Employees’ Group Life Insurance policy before their divorce and his re-marriage to Jacqueline Hillman. He never changed his beneficiary designation, and Maretta got the money after his death. The second wife sued, but the Virginia Supreme Court said the first wife gets the money since her name was on the form.
Virginia law revokes a beneficiary designation in favor of the current spouse, but Maretta argued it was pre-empted by federal law saying named beneficiaries get the money.
Justices questioned whether it was Congress’ intention to get involved in divorce matters. A decision will come later this summer.

Washington
U.S. high court to look at appeal from automaker
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court says it will hear an appeal from automaker Daimler AG that seeks to shut down a U.S. lawsuit over allegations that its unit in Argentina played a role in that country’s “dirty war” in the 1970s.
The justices said Monday they will review a federal appeals court ruling that allowed a lawsuit filed by 22 Argentines in California to proceed. The Argentines claim they were victims of human rights abuses while working for Mercedes-Benz Argentina.
The issue for the Supreme Court is whether the company has sufficient ties to California to allow a lawsuit to be filed there.
The case will be argued in autumn.

Washington
Supreme Court to hear Okla. water rights appeal
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — The nation’s highest court is preparing to consider whether a North Texas water district should have access to water supplies in southeastern Oklahoma.
Oral arguments are scheduled before the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday in the Tarrant Regional Water District’s challenge of Oklahoma statutes that govern the appropriation and use of water within its boundaries.
The district filed a federal lawsuit in 2007 to invalidate state laws it claims pose a burden to interstate commerce. The water district wants to transfer water flowing through southeastern Oklahoma to Fort Worth, Arlington and surrounding communities.
A federal judge dismissed the lawsuit. The state says the Red River Compact, which includes Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas and Louisiana, insulates Oklahoma water statutes from interstate commerce challenges involving surface water that is subject to the compact.

Colorado
Police identify possible suspect in shooting
DENVER (AP) — Denver police urged the public to view a YouTube video Monday that may help them identify an accomplice in a weekend shooting at a marijuana celebration that wounded two people and scattered a crowd of thousands.
Police spokesman Sonny Jackson said the man is shown walking away from the shooting scene as sirens wail in the background. The suspect is a black male wearing a brown and white checkered shirt. He can be seen about six seconds into the video, Jackson said.
A primary, unidentified suspect in the shooting was wearing a blue hat, grey sweatshirt and black pants, Jackson said.
Saturday’s shooting happened at the end of an outdoor celebration of the first 4/20 counterculture holiday since Colorado legalized marijuana. A man and a woman suffered non-life threatening gunshot wounds. A juvenile grazed by a bullet was treated at a nearby hospital, police said.
The police gang unit has taken over the investigation, although it isn’t yet clear if gangs were involved, Jackson said.

Virginia
Murder charges certified in toddler’s death
MANASSAS, Va. (AP) — A judge has certified murder charges to a grand jury against a man accused of drowning his 15-month-old son to collect on a life insurance policy.
At a hearing Monday in Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court in Manassas, prosecutors presented evidence that 15-month-old Prince McLeod Rams died of drowning in October during an unsupervised visit with his father, Joaquin Shadow Rams.
The boy’s death has prompted a renewed investigation into the deaths of two others who were close to Joaquin Rams — his mother and a former girlfriend.
Rams’ lawyer questioned the medical examiner’s conclusion of drowning and suggested that Prince had been ill.
Prince died on the fourth unsupervised visit he had with his father. Prince’s mother had fought against unsupervised visits, fearing her son would be in danger.

Minnesota
Woman gets 3 years for homicide
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A St. Paul woman who admitted she was under the influence of drugs and alcohol when she struck and killed a college student in Minneapolis has been sentenced to three years in prison.
Teisha Randle earlier pleaded guilty to criminal vehicular homicide in the October death of Austin Conley, a 20-year-old Augsburg College student. During an emotional sentencing hearing in Hennepin County District Court Monday, the victim’s father, Earl Conley, told Randle that although it’s a struggle, he forgives her for the death of his son.
The Star Tribune says Judge Daniel Moreno urged the 27-year-old mother of two to make changes and try to lead a life worthy of the life she took.P