North Carolina
Trial delayed for general facing sex charges
FORT BRAGG, N.C. (AP) — The Fort Bragg court martial of a U.S. Army general facing assault charges has been postponed.
The trial of Brig. Gen. Jeffrey Sinclair had been scheduled to begin next Monday. A statement from Fort Bragg on Tuesday said the judge overseeing the case rescheduled the trial for Jan. 7 after a request from Sinclair’s defense team.
Sinclair’s chief civilian lawyer Rich Scheff said the delay was triggered by several procedural issues, including the appeal of pretrial motions denied by the trial judge.
Sinclair has pleaded not guilty to eight criminal charges including forcible sodomy, indecent acts, violating orders and adultery. Most stem from a three-year affair with a female captain who says Sinclair twice forced her to perform oral sex while she served under his command in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Pennsylvania
District nixes transgender homecoming king
JOHNSTOWN, Pa. (AP) — A western Pennsylvania school board won’t let a student who was born female but identifies as male run for homecoming king.
The Richland School Board didn’t rule on Kasey Caron’s request Monday night, but simply let stand an earlier decision by school administrators which leaves the 17-year-old senior on the ballot for homecoming queen.
Kasey’s mother, Kathy Caron, says she’s disappointed by the decision. Kasey says, “My heart sunk a little.”
School board solicitor Timothy Leventry says Pennsylvania law requires a person born female to have a physician certify a sex change operation and have their birth certificate changed to legally be considered male.
Kasey was diagnosed at a young age with polycystic ovary syndrome. Among other things, it can cause biological females to produce higher-than-normal levels of male hormones.
Massachusetts
Prosecutors seek assault case against Celtic
WALTHAM, Mass. (AP) — Prosecutors say they intend to pursue domestic assault charges against Boston Celtics forward Jared Sullinger even though his accuser wants to drop the case.
The 21-year-old Sullinger appeared in Waltham District Court on Monday to face charges of assault and battery, destruction of property and witness intimidation in connection with the Aug. 31 confrontation with his girlfriend. She accused Sullinger of pinning her to a bed and the floor at his Waltham home.
His lawyer, Charles Rankin, says the girlfriend does not want to continue the case and is not afraid of Sullinger.
A spokeswoman for the Middlesex district attorney’s office says prosecutors “believe we have evidence to support the charges.”
Sullinger has pleaded not guilty and remains free on $5,000 bail. He called the charges “embarrassing.”
North Dakota
Teen sentenced in school assault
FARGO, N.D. (AP) — A former male student at Davies High School in Fargo who was accused of sexually assaulting a female classmate in a school hallway in March has pleaded guilty to reduced charges and been sentenced to time already served in jail and about a year of probation.
Borris Dahn, 18, pleaded guilty on Monday to unlawful imprisonment and disorderly conduct, both misdemeanors. Prosecutors dropped a felony restraint charge and misdemeanor charges of sexual assault and simple assault.
School video surveillance cameras appear to show Dahn slapping the girl in the face and buttocks, putting her on the floor and restraining her with her head between his legs. Police say the girl had previously been suspended for directing a racial slur at Dahn and that she had been accused of taking his coat and hat.
Dahn, who spent 10 days in jail after the incident, told Judge Wick Corwin that he and the girl had a brief romantic involvement before the altercation but that he had never been physical with her. He said he was expelled from school following the incident and has struggled to find work and a place to live.
Cass County prosecutors asked for 1 1/2 years of supervised probation. Corwin decided on 360 days — or just under a year — of unsupervised probation.
Kentucky
Ex-officer admits to tampering with evidence in case
OAK GROVE, Ky. (AP) — A former police officer who was the lead investigator of a 1994 double slaying at a southern Kentucky massage parlor has pleaded guilty to tampering with evidence in the unsolved case.
The Kentucky New Era reports 50-year-old Leslie Duncan entered the plea Monday in Christian County Circuit Court. Prosecutors have recommended that he serve three years in prison.
Duncan was the Oak Grove police department’s lead investigator in the slayings of 22-year-old Candida Belt and 18-year-old Gloria Ross, who had been shot and stabbed in the backroom of the New Life Massage Parlor.
Duncan’s 2012 arrest warrant accused him of having “knowingly altered evidence which directly affected its reliability and availability” in the investigation of the slayings.
Wisconsin
Bill requires verification of gun possession
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A bipartisan bill expected to get a speedy hearing at the state Capitol would better verify whether domestic and child abusers covered by restraining orders have guns in their possession.
Republican Rep. Garey Bies is circulating legislation that would require perpetrators who are under a permanent injunction to fill out a form listing the make, model and serial number of any guns they owned. If guns are not surrendered within 48 hours, the perpetrator must attend another hearing or face arrest.
State legislators in both chambers have made reforming domestic violence laws a priority following a shooting at the Azana Salon & Spa in Brookfield last October. The legislation likely would not have stopped Radcliffe Haughton from killing his estranged wife, Zina, and two of her co-workers at Azana and wounding four others before committing suicide. Nothing in the bill makes it illegal to sell a gun to someone who is the subject of a restraining order, the Journal Sentinel reported.
When a Milwaukee County court commissioner granted a restraining order against Haughton three days before the shooting, he did not have any guns. But he purchased one from an online dealer within 48 hours of leaving court.
The legislation could come up for a vote in the Assembly by the end of the year.
Duncan is scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 5.
