Missouri
Woman freed from sentence for murder adjusting
OZARK, Mo. (AP) — A southwest Missouri woman says she’s trying to rebuild her life after being found not guilty of a murder that kept her locked up for seven years.
Paula Hall, of Sparta, was found not guilty Tuesday after a second trial in the death of 68-year-old Freda Heyn, who disappeared in November 2003 from Oldfield.
Hall was in custody since her arrest in October 2006. She was convicted in 2009 of second-degree murder and was sentenced to 20 years in prison. But an appeals court overturned the conviction in 2011.
On Wednesday, Hall told KYTV that she’s adjusting to being free and to realizing her nightmare is over.
Hall’s attorney, Rita Sanders, says she will file a civil lawsuit against people who testified against Hall in her original trial.
New York
Split court allows negligence claim on drug testers
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — New York’s highest court agreed Thursday to let a man sue a drug-testing company for what he claims was a false positive test for marijuana that cost him a promised job, prospective marriage and months of anguish when he was threatened with prison.
In a 4-3 decision, the Court of Appeals ruled that Eric Landon may pursue his negligence claim against Kroll Laboratory Specialists over the 2007 saliva analysis done under contract with Orange County. The majority said the lab has “a duty of care” toward its testing subject.
Landon obtained a blood test from a private lab the same day and later submitted to a county urine test, both of which were negative.
An attorney for Louisiana-based Kroll argued the test result wasn’t wrong but was based on a low testing threshold. Kroll sold its drug-testing unit to Inverness Medical Innovations in 2010.
“Without question, the release of a false positive report will have profound, potentially life-altering, consequences for a test subject. In particular, here, plaintiff faced the loss of freedom associated with serving an extended period of probation,” Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman wrote. “The laboratory is also in the best position to prevent false positive results. Under the circumstances, we find that Kroll had a duty to the test subject to perform his drug test in keeping with relevant professional standards and that the existence of its contract with the county does not immunize the defendant laboratory.”
Judges Victoria Graffeo, Jenny Rivera and Sheila Abds-Salaam agreed.
In a dissent, Judge Eugene Pigott Jr. wrote that the majority “opens the door” for parolees, probationers, job applicants and others subject to drug and alcohol testing to sue independent, third-party drug labs. He said the four judges defined the lab’s duty too broadly.
Judge Susan Read sided with Pigott.
In a separate dissent, Judge Robert Smith said defamation law already provides a limited remedy for those who claim false positives on drug tests. “There is no good reason to invent a new tort,” he said.
South Carolina
Man slain trying to sell truck on Craigslist site
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Two men have been charged in the shooting death of a South Carolina man they met because he was selling his pickup on Craigslist, authorities said.
Jquan Margel Scott, 19, of James Island has been charged with murder, armed robbery, kidnapping and possession of a weapon during a violent crime, according to court records. Isaac R. Williams, 20, of Charleston is charged with murder and kidnapping.
The men are accused of killing William Apps, 25, of Charleston. His body was found Monday night in Mount Pleasant.
Scott had arranged to buy Apps’ pickup for about $15,000 after seeing it advertised on Craigslist, according to court documents filed Tuesday.
Authorities say Apps met the two men in downtown Charleston on Oct. 3 and drove with them to Mount Pleasant, where Apps was taken out of the truck at gunpoint. He was later forced back into the truck and driven around before one of the men shot Apps in the neck and left his body in a wooded area, according to court documents.
Authorities tracked Apps’ debit card, which Beaufort County Sheriff P.J. Tanner said was used to buy food, sneakers and gas in the Bluffton area. Phone records also showed that Scott was one of the last people in contact with Apps before his disappearance.
Scott was driving Apps’ truck when he was stopped on Sunday, initially telling authorities he had bought the pickup but didn’t have the title. As collateral, Scott said, Apps had given him his debit card to hold until the deal could be finalized. He added that he dropped Apps off in Mount Pleasant.
Scott ultimately led authorities to Apps’ body on Monday night after he was arrested. Investigators said they believe Scott went to Bluffton on Friday to visit friends before returning to Charleston.
Minnesota
Man is arrested 44 times in at least 18 counties
DULUTH, Minn. (AP) — A 37-year-old Minnesota man who has been arrested 44 times in 18 counties has been sentenced to nearly six years in prison for robbing a car and pet wash.
Richard Hegquist accepted a plea deal in the robbery case and was sentenced in State District Court in Duluth Wednesday to 71 months. Had the case gone to a jury trial, prosecutors would have asked to have Hegquist tried as a career offender, which could have meant 40 years in prison.
The Duluth News Tribune says Hegquist has had 12 prior felony convictions and has been involved in 59 court cases. His first arrest came in 1996 for consuming alcohol at age 20. In his latest crime, Hegquist brandished a screwdriver and punched the owner of the car and pet wash in the mouth during the burglary.
Ohio
Failed bombing plotter appeals his conviction
CLEVELAND (AP) — The last of five defendants sentenced in a failed anti-Wall Street plot to bomb a highway bridge in Ohio has appealed his conviction and 10-year sentence.
The attorney for 25-year-old Joshua Stafford of Cleveland filed the appeal notice on Wednesday with the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati.
The filing didn’t specify a basis for the appeal, and there was no immediate comment from Stafford’s attorney in response to a message left on Thursday.
Stafford was sentenced Monday in Akron.
His co-defendants earlier pleaded guilty and received sentences of six to 11 1/2 years. Stafford was convicted in June at a trial where he served as his own attorney.
The plotters planted a dud provided by an FBI informant and no one was hurt.
