Florida
Prosecutors must disclose Epstein sex case papers
MIAMI (AP) — An appeals court has ordered South Florida federal prosecutors to disclose to victims secret plea negotiations in a billionaire’s sex case.
The decision by the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals came in a lawsuit seeking disclosure by two alleged victims of investor Jeffrey Epstein. The FBI in 2006 was investigating Epstein for possible sex abuse of minor girls, but his lawyers reached a non-prosecution deal with the U.S. attorney’s office without telling victims.
Epstein pleaded guilty to lesser state charges of solicitation of prostitution and served 13 months in prison. He is a registered Florida sex offender.
The two alleged victims are identified only as Jane Doe No. 1 and Jane Doe No. 2. They have been seeking details of the federal negotiations under the Crime Victims’ Rights Act.
Tennessee
State high court to hear cancer faith-healing case
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The state Supreme Court has agreed to hear an appeal by a Loudon County woman who tried to heal her daughter’s cancer through prayer.
Jacqueline Crank was convicted of misdemeanor child neglect in 2012 and given a sentence of 11 months and 29 days, suspended to unsupervised probation. The conviction came 10 years after the death of her then-15-year-old daughter Jessica Crank from Ewing’s Sarcoma. According to court records, the cancer caused a grapefruit-sized tumor on the girl’s shoulder that appeared to cause her severe pain.
Jacqueline Crank has argued in court that a Tennessee law protecting some faith healers but not others is unconstitutional. The law offers some protection from prosecution if the faith healing is performed by a “duly accredited practitioner” of a recognized church or religious denomination.
Oklahoma
Stay postpones the execution of death row inmate
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — An Oklahoma Department of Corrections spokesman says the scheduled execution of a death row inmate has been canceled following a stay order handed down by the state Supreme Court.
Clayton Lockett was scheduled to be executed Tuesday evening for the 1999 shooting death of 19-year-old Stephanie Nieman. But corrections spokesman Jerry Massie says the execution was put on hold after a stay was issued Monday by the state’s highest court.
The stay also covers the scheduled April 29 execution of a second inmate, Charles Warner, who was convicted in the 1997 death of his roommate’s 11-month-old daughter.
The stay halted the executions until the state Supreme Court can hold a hearing on the inmates’ lawsuit challenging the secrecy protocol surrounding the source of the state’s lethal injection drugs.
Minnesota
Court: IQ can’t keep father from seeing daughter
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — The Minnesota Court of Appeals says a father’s mental impairment shouldn’t keep him from having a relationship with his daughter.
The court has ruled the parental rights for the Detroit Lakes father were wrongfully terminated based on his IQ. The appeals judges say there’s no evidence the man’s intellectual impairment interferes with his ability to be part of his young daughter’s life.
The Star Tribune says Monday’s ruling upholds the man’s access to his 2-year-old daughter, but doesn’t mean she can live with him fulltime.
The district court in Becker County had terminated the man’s parental rights after the child’s mother agreed to terminate her rights. The lower court said the girl would be better off in a more stable household.
Wisconsin
State high court reduces $1M damages award
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The Wisconsin Supreme Court has reduced a $1 million damage award against a title insurance company in a Door County property dispute.
The case stems from a dispute over whether Robert and Judith Kimble had an easement granting them a route from their lakefront property to a highway. They failed to sell the land in 2008 because they couldn’t resolve the dispute.
They sued their title insurance company, First American, in 2009 alleging the company failed to defend the title. They ultimately sold their interest in the title to adjoining property owners John and Jane Stevenson, who won a $1.03 million award against the company.
The Supreme Court ruled 4-2 on Tuesday that the award was excessive and reduced it to $239,738. The Stevensons’ attorney didn’t immediately return a message.
North Dakota
Former suspect in slaying faces new charges
WILLISTON, N.D. (AP) — A man who once faced a murder conspiracy charge in a Williston-area killing now faces new charges after an incident outside the trial of another man charged in that case.
Ronald Gibbons, 28, faces six charges including two felonies related to alleged weapon, drug and vehicle offenses. He could face more than 11 years in prison if convicted. Court documents do not list an attorney for him, and a listed telephone number for him could not be found in Williston.
Authorities say Gibbons was stopped by a police officer April 15 after attending the trial of Issac Steen, who was convicted of hindering authorities who were investigating the slaying of Williston-area hobby rancher Jack Sjol a year ago.
According to an affidavit of probable cause, Gibbons had a loaded .45-caliber handgun and drug paraphernalia in his vehicle and was driving with a suspended license and expired registration, the Williston Herald reported. Gibbons did not have a license to carry a loaded weapon in his vehicle and is barred from possessing any weapons because of a 2011 felony drug conviction.
He also faces a misdemeanor criminal mischief charge for allegedly slamming his head against a patrol car window and damaging it after his arrest last week.
Prosecutors in March dropped the murder conspiracy charge against Gibbons, citing “prosecutorial discretion” and not elaborating on their reasons. They dropped a similar charge against another suspect last October.
Several others still face charges in Sjol’s killing, including Ryan Stensaker, who is accused of killing him and is scheduled for trial in July.
Sjol’s body was found in a garbage dump May 14, 2013, after his family reported him missing. Sjol had bullet wounds to his head, face and upper left arm. Prosecutors have not discussed a possible motive for his killing.
