Pennsylvania
Police plan to charge vendor over shooting
ORANGEVILLE, Pa. (AP) — Police in central Pennsylvania are recommending criminal charges against a gun show vendor who accidentally shot a woman while demonstrating a concealed carry wallet holster.
Bloomsburg police Officer Brad Sharrow said Monday he intends to file a reckless endangerment charge against 44-year-old Geoffrey Hawk, of Warminster. The Columbia County district attorney would have to approve the charge.
Police say 25-year-old Krista Gearhart was shot in the thigh on Saturday at the Eagle Arms Gun Show at the Bloomsburg Fairgrounds. She was treated at a hospital and released.
Sharrow says the vendor displayed “gross negligence” by failing to make sure the gun was unloaded.
Hawk did not immediately return phone messages Monday.
The charge is a misdemeanor that carries a maximum sentence of two years in prison and a $5,000 fine.
Utah
Man sentenced to jail after fight over pew space
OGDEN, Utah (AP) — A 52-year-old man accused of punching another man and hitting him with his car in a dispute over pew space in Utah has been ordered to spend 30 days in jail.
The Salt Lake Tribune reports Wayne Dodge was sentenced Wednesday after pleading guilty to one misdemeanor assault charge. He was also ordered to complete an anger management class and pay a fine.
Weber County deputies say the fight happened last June at a Mormon meetinghouse during a crowded service that included a baby blessing and a missionary farewell.
Authorities say Dodge sat in a section that another family had saved in hopes of getting a good view of the baby blessing.
Dodge is accused of punching the man after the service, and striking him with his vehicle in the parking lot.
Florida
Judge involved in fracas returns to bench after leave
VIERA, Fla. (AP) — A central Florida judge accused of punching an assistant public defender during an altercation outside the courtroom has issued a public apology as he prepares to return to the bench after a leave of absence.
Florida Today reports that Brevard County Judge John C. Murphy wrote a letter of apology to the county’s residents Sunday. He wrote that his actions on June 2 may have “tarnished the reputation of the entire judiciary.”
Following the incident with Andrew Weinstock, Murphy took a paid leave of absence and received anger management counseling. He’s expected to return to the bench Monday morning.
A court spokeswoman says Murphy will now handle civil cases. He’ll work mainly in his chambers at the Titusville Courthouse unless there’s a trial involving multiple parties.
Florida
Judge dismisses Zimmerman’s suit against NBC
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — A Florida judge on Monday dismissed the defamation lawsuit filed by George Zimmerman against NBC and three reporters, saying the former neighborhood watch leader failed to show the network acted with malice.
Judge Debra Nelson said the malice standard was appropriate because Zimmerman became a public figure after he shot 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in Sanford in February 2012, generating a national conversation about race and self-defense laws.
Zimmerman was acquitted last year for Martin’s shooting. He said he shot Martin in self-defense when the teenager attacked him. Martin was black. Zimmerman identifies himself as Hispanic.
Zimmerman “voluntarily injected his views into the public controversy surrounding race relations and public safety in Sanford and pursued a course of conduct that ultimately led to the death of Martin and the specific controversy surrounding it,” said Nelson, who presided over Zimmerman’s criminal trial last summer.
In his lawsuit, Zimmerman said NBC’s editing of a story on the shooting made it sound as if Zimmerman voluntarily told an operator that Martin was black. He was actually responding to a dispatcher’s question about the Miami teen’s race. Zimmerman said the broadcasts made his seem like a racist and exposed him to public ridicule and threats. He was seeking damages for emotional distress and mental anguish.
His attorney, James Beasley, was in depositions for another case Monday and didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
NBC News spokeswoman Ali Zelenko said in a statement that the network is “gratified by the court’s dismissal of this lawsuit, which we have always believed to be without merit.”
Ohio
Family of man detained in North Korea are fearful
CINCINNATI (AP) — A friend of an American man accused of hostile acts in North Korea says the detainee’s family is devastated by the situation and hoping for the best while preparing for the worst.
Jeffrey Edward Fowle, a 56-year-old Ohio father of three, arrived in North Korea on April 29. In June, North Korea’s state media said authorities were investigating him for committing acts inconsistent with a tourist visit.
On Monday, the agency said investigations into Fowle and another American, Matthew Todd Miller, concluded that suspicions about their hostile acts have been confirmed by evidence and their testimonies.
The agency says the men will be tried in a court but released no other details.
Fowle family friend Sergei Luzginov says Fowle’s family and friends are fearful of a long prison term.
New York
Amanda Bynes’ bong-tossing case dismissed
NEW YORK (AP) — A judge has dismissed actress Amanda Bynes’ New York City bong-tossing case.
Bynes’ lawyer appeared in court Monday. The actress was not present. The case was sealed after the dismissal.
The judge had previously said the charges would be dismissed if Bynes stayed out of trouble for six months and went to counseling twice a week. Attorney Gerald Shargel submitted an affidavit saying Bynes had complied with the court’s requirements.
Bynes was charged last year with reckless endangerment and marijuana possession. Building managers called police because they said she was smoking pot in the lobby of her Manhattan apartment. When officers entered her 36th-floor apartment, they said they saw her heave a bong out the window.
Shargel said outside court that the episode is now behind her.
