New York
Appeals court overturns 2 men’s 1993 convictions
NEW YORK (AP) — A state appeals court has overturned the guilty verdicts of two men convicted in 1993 of kidnapping a 16-year-old Brooklyn girl.
The panel ruled Wednesday that authorities withheld information that might have cleared Everton Wagstaffe and Reginald Connor of the charges. It also dismissed the indictments against them.
Both men have always maintained their innocence.
The bludgeoned body of Jennifer Negron was found on a Brooklyn street on Jan. 1, 1992. A judge dismissed the murder charges due to lack of evidence.
The appeals court ruled that prosecutors buried documents that might have shown police and the prime witness had lied.
The Brooklyn district attorney’s office said it was reviewing the decision.
Pennsylvania
Hearing set in ex-Penn State president suit
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) —” A federal judge has scheduled a Nov. 14 hearing to determine whether former Penn State president Graham Spanier’s defamation suit against former FBI director Louis Freeh should be heard in federal court or in Centre County where it was filed.
U.S. District Judge Malachy Mannion has so far indicated that Freeh hasn’t done enough to show why Spanier’s pending lawsuit should be in federal court.
Spanier’s attorneys have filed notice they intend to sue Freeh for defamation. Freeh criticized Spanier’s handling of the Jerry Sandusky sex scandal in an investigative report the university paid Freeh to prepare.
Freeh’s attorneys want the case moved to federal court by claiming he and his law firm don’t have Pennsylvania ties, among other issues. Cases can be moved to federal court if the opposing parties are from different states.
Texas
55 indicted in El Paso gang investigation
EL PASO, Texas (AP) — Investigators say 55 suspected gang members and associates in far West Texas have been indicted on charges including murder, drug dealing and extortion.
Federal officials in El Paso on Wednesday announced that 20 people believed connected to the Barrio Azteca gang face charges.
Authorities say 35 others face state charges of organized crime as part of the multi-agency investigation. Officials say six people facing federal charges and nine facing state charges remain at large.
A federal prosecutor also announced the arrest of eight El Paso residents allegedly involved in racketeering. Prosecutors say six others involved in the same alleged conspiracy were already in custody.
California
Parents say police killed unarmed man
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The parents of a black man killed last month by Los Angeles police filed a $75 million claim against the city on Wednesday and a federal civil rights lawsuit against the department and the two officers who shot him.
Ezell Ford, 25, was unarmed when police confronted him Aug. 11 on a street near his home. Officers said they tried to speak with Ford, but ended up in a struggle in which they shot him when he tried to grab an officer’s gun.
The suit filed in U.S. District Court for unspecified damages said Ford was not breaking any laws when police approached him and that he complied when officers told him to lie on the ground. It alleged the officers used excessive force that violated Ford’s right to be free from unreasonable seizure.
“No millions of dollars or any type of award can bring that young man back to his family,” attorney Steven Lerman said at a news conference. “And that is the ultimate tragedy.”
The suit said the two gang officers — Sharlton Wampler and Antonio Villegas — knew Ford from the neighborhood and were aware he had mental problems.
The Los Angeles Police Department referred calls for comment to the city attorney’s office, where spokesman Rob Wilcox said the policy is not to comment on pending litigation. Efforts to reach the officers for comment were unsuccessful.
The suit also claimed that the city, LAPD and 10 unnamed superiors or other officers were part of a culture that tolerated civil rights violations, including racial profiling and excessive force against blacks.
Lerman said his investigator has found witnesses to support his case, though he refused to divulge any details he had learned or what he thinks led officers to confront Ford.
He refused to comment on Ford’s criminal record, which includes a conviction for illegally possessing a loaded firearm. He also wouldn’t discuss Ford’s mental issues.
Ford’s killing inspired several peaceful protests and marches through the city, where demonstrators connected the death with that of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, just days earlier.
The Aug. 9 killing of Brown, 18, who was also black and unarmed, sparked rioting and violent clashes with heavily armed police in the St. Louis suburb.
Pennsylvania
Couple involved in Craigslist slaying sentenced to life
SUNBURY, Pa. (AP) — A newlywed couple who lured a stranger to his death through a Craigslist ad were sentenced to life without parole by a judge who said they must be permanently removed from society.
Neither 19-year-old Miranda Barbour nor her 22-year-old husband, Elytte, displayed any emotion Thursday in Northumberland County Court in Sunbury, Pennsylvania, as the victims' relatives expressed anger and pain over the slaying. However, Elytte Barbour apologized, but said he could not explain his actions.
They pleaded guilty last month to second-degree murder, which carries a mandatory life sentence, in a plea deal that ruled out the death penalty.
Colorado
Elway son pleads guilty in domestic violence case
DENVER (AP) — Jack Elway, the son of Denver Broncos general manager John Elway, has pleaded guilty in a domestic violence case involving his girlfriend.
Court records show the 25-year-old John Albert Elway on Tuesday pleaded guilty to disturbing the peace and was sentenced to one year of probation that includes domestic violence counseling. Prosecutors withdrew an assault charge.
Elway was arrested in May after his girlfriend told Denver police that he pulled her from a car by her hair and shoved her to the ground when she tried to get back inside, causing scrapes. Police say Elway then fled the scene.
Court records show Elway is forbidden from possessing firearms and from having contact with the woman in the case.
His attorney did not immediately return a call for comment.
