National Roundup

Iowa Lawsuit over Slipknot bassist's death dismissed DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - A judge says the widow of Slipknot bassist Paul Gray waited too long to file a lawsuit against Gray's former doctor. The Des Moines Register says Polk County District Judge Dennis Stovall ruled earlier this week to dismiss a lawsuit filed by Brenna Gray against Dr. Daniel Baldi. Stovall said plaintiffs have up to two years to file. Paul Gray died of an overdose in July 2010; Brenna Gray filed her suit on Feb. 14, 2014, accusing Baldi of failing to help her husband overcome his drug addictions. Gray's lawyer said the statute of limitations shouldn't have started until she had reason to believe Baldi caused her husband's death. The judge disagreed. Baldi was acquitted May 1 of involuntary manslaughter in connection with several patient deaths, including Paul Gray. Georgia Prosecutor says peanut plant faked lab results ALBANY, Ga. (AP) - A federal prosecutor says a Georgia peanut plant linked to a deadly salmonella outbreak fabricated food-safety lab results sent to customers including food giant Kellogg's. Assistant U.S. Attorney Alan Dasher told jurors in an opening statement Friday that Peanut Corp. of America officers and managers shipped chopped nuts and peanut paste without waiting for microbiological testing, and sometimes faked lab certificates for customers requiring them. Dasher says customers weren't notified if the company later received positive tests for salmonella. Peanut company owner Stewart Parnell; his brother and food broker, Michael Parnell; and plant quality control manager Mary Wilkerson are standing trial on 76 criminal counts. Nine people died and more than 700 were sickened in the 2009 outbreak. Washington Former judge questions search of his chambers WASHINGTON, Pa. (AP) - A judge must now decide whether to toss out evidence in the trial of a former judge accused of stealing cocaine from evidence files. A suppression hearing wrapped up Thursday in the case of former Washington County judge Paul Pozonsky, who is accused of taking the drugs and replacing some of them with baking soda before he was removed from hearing criminal cases early in 2012. The defense contends that a president judge's order to search Pozonsky's chambers was "illegal, invalid and unconstitutional." Attorney Robert Del Greco said state police and the attorney general's office did not have probable cause for a search warrant, and he calls the order an attempt to "circumvent the Fourth Amendment." State prosecutors, however, argue that the court order signed by President Judge Debbie O'Dell Seneca was legal, since it dealt with evidence, not Pozonsky's personal property. Pozonsky, 58, wasn't present at Thursday's hearing. He is charged with conflict of interest, theft, obstruction of justice, possession of a controlled substance and misapplying entrusted government property. California Serial killer given additional death sentence Friday LOS ANGELES (AP) - One of the most prolific killers in Los Angeles history was given an additional death sentence Friday. Chester D. Turner, who was already on death row for murdering 10 women, was sentenced for four more murders. "It is the order of this court that you should suffer the death penalty," Superior Court Judge Robert Perry said. The slayings during the crack-cocaine epidemic of the 1980s and 1990s were once thought to be the work of one man dubbed the "Southside Slayer." The 47-year-old Turner is one of three men now blamed for the murders of women who typically were raped and strangled. Many were prostitutes. The former pizza delivery man was convicted in June of the additional slayings between 1987 and 1997. Another man imprisoned 11 years for three of those killings was freed after DNA evidence pointed to Turner. New Jersey Attorney: Appeal coming in gay conversion suit NEWARK, N.J. (AP) - An attorney for a New Jersey couple says he'll appeal the dismissal of a lawsuit that challenged the state's ban on gay conversion therapy. The suit was filed by the unnamed couple and their teenage son last year. It claimed their constitutional rights were being violated because the ban prevents them from seeking treatment for their son. A federal judge in Trenton dismissed the lawsuit in a ruling released Thursday. Attorney Demetrios Stratis says he will appeal the ruling to the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia. The court is considering an appeal in another challenge to New Jersey's law filed by a group that includes two licensed therapists who practice the therapy. A ruling in that case is pending. Wisconsin Parents sue site for caregivers over baby's death KENOSHA, Wis. (AP) - A Wisconsin couple has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the Illinois baby sitter charged in the death of their baby and the caregiver screening website they used to hire her. A lawsuit filed by Nathan and Reggan Koopmeiners in Kenosha County Circuit Court names the company, Care.com, and Sarah Gumm as defendants. Gumm is jailed in Lake County, Illinois where she is charged with first-degree murder in the 2012 death of 3-month-old Rylan Koopmeiners. Gumm is accused of causing a head injury that resulted in the baby's death at her home in Waukegan, Illinois. The Koopmeiners allege Care.com, of Waltham, Massachusetts, failed to reveal that Gumm had a court record, including two citations for drunken driving, even though they paid for the background check. The wrongful death lawsuit alleges Gumm was under the influence of alcohol when the baby's head injury occurred. The child suffered a skull fracture and cranial hemorrhaging and died July 27, 2012, from blunt force trauma, according to an autopsy. Published: Mon, Aug 04, 2014