National Roundup

Wisconsin Doctor: Girl is competent for trial in stabbing WAUKESHA, Wis. (AP) - A state doctor says the mental condition of one of two girls accused of repeatedly stabbing a classmate to please the fictional horror character Slender Man has improved, and that the 12-year-old is fit to stand trial. Judge Michael Bohren summarized the doctor's report during a brief hearing Wednesday. But he didn't act on the report after defense attorney Anthony Cotton said he hadn't had a chance to discuss it with his client. Bohren had ordered the girl to undergo mental health treatment in August, after a psychologist testified the child claimed to see and hear things others could not, including Slender Man. Court documents say the two girls attacked the victim following a May 30 sleepover, stabbing her 19 times during a walk in a park. The victim survived. California Teen arrested in fatal shooting of war veteran LOS ANGELES (AP) - Police have arrested an 18-year-old man on suspicion of shooting and killing an Army veteran on a sidewalk in the San Fernando Valley. Los Angeles police spokeswoman Officer Nuria Vanegas says Vincent Estrada was arrested Tuesday in the Sylmar area. He was booked on suspicion of murder. Vanegas says she had no information on the motive behind Sunday's attack. Police and witnesses said 21-year-old Francisco Garcia had left a party at his girlfriend's house when two cars pulled up to him. A man in one of the cars jumped out, smashed a beer bottle on the ground and yelled at Garcia. Investigators said the killer then walked to the other car, grabbed a handgun and began shooting at Garcia. Garcia had returned from Afghanistan over the summer. Connecticut Skakel settles lawsuit against TV's Nancy Grace NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) - Kennedy cousin Michael Skakel has settled a lawsuit against television commentator Nancy Grace and others over comments made on her HLN network show in 2012 about the murder case against him. Neither side has disclosed details of the settlement, which was entered Oct. 31 in New Haven federal court. Skakel's 2013 lawsuit said he was slandered by untrue comments that DNA linked him to the 1975 killing of his Greenwich neighbor Martha Moxley when both were 15 years old. The lawsuit named Grace, Time Warner Inc., Turner Broadcasting System Inc. and commentator Beth Karas. Skakel, a nephew of Robert F. Kennedy's widow, Ethel Kennedy, has maintained his innocence. He was convicted in 2002 but was freed last year after a judge granted him a new trial. The defendants in the lawsuit had argued that Skakel is a public figure. His attorney said the comments were untrue and could hurt him in a retrial. HLN retracted the comments in a statement Oct. 30. "HLN's Nancy Grace show mistakenly reported that DNA evidence linking Michael Skakel to the murder of Martha Moxley was found at the crime scene," the statement read. "This aspect of its report is inaccurate. There was never any DNA evidence offered in the trial linking Michael Skakel to the murder of Martha Moxley." Skakel's attorney Stephan Seeger called the settlement a vindication. "They got it wrong, and they set the record straight," Seeger told the Connecticut Post, which first reported the settlement last month. A spokeswoman for Grace and HLN, Alison Rudkick, told the Post, "The settlement terms are confidential. We think the filings and publicly available materials speak for themselves." No date has been set for a new Skakel trial, which is being appealed by prosecutors. Utah Gun pointed in argument over Battleship game SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - A Utah man is accused of threatening his teenage daughter with a rifle during an argument that began over a game of Battleship. Police say the 68-year-old man was with his 17-year-old daughter in a rural area when he accused her of cheating and broke the game. Utah County authorities say the girl tried to leave the trailer where they were playing, but the man dragged her back by her hair and pointed the loaded rifle at her head. The Daily Herald reports she called 911 from a cellphone and authorities traced the GPS signal to a campsite. She escaped from the trailer after deputies arrived. The Deseret News reports the father was arrested on suspicion of intoxication, aggravated assault and other charges. Oregon Should le­gal pot affect cri­minal sentences? PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - A federal judge in Oregon delayed the sentencing of a convicted marijuana smuggler, saying a national trend in legalizing the drug could affect how seriously the crime is punished. U.S. District Court Judge Michael Mosman said in a transcript that he wants to take the executive branch's "evolving or shifting views" into consideration when sentencing marijuana crimes, The Oregonian reported Monday. Marijuana in any form or amount remains illegal under federal law. Mosman, a former U.S. attorney who is also serving on the U.S. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, said he was not suggesting the abolition of federal marijuana cases. However, he did say perception is shifting. Mosman said he did not want to suggest that he agreed on marijuana legalization. It was the first time a judge in Oregon's federal judicial district raised the sentencing issue after voters in the state on Nov. 4 approved recreational use of marijuana beginning next year. Oregon and Alaska have joined Washington and Colorado as states approving legal pot. Maryland Settlement talks fail in public prayer case BALTIMORE (AP) - The opposing parties in a Maryland public prayer lawsuit say their attempt to negotiate a settlement has failed. Attorneys for Carroll County and the American Humanist Association filed the status report Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Baltimore. They remain divided on the correct interpretation of a Supreme Court ruling in May allowing clergy to invoke specific deities in opening prayers at government meetings. That ruling involved the town of Greece, New York. It didn't specifically address the Carroll County practice of having opening prayers said by elected commissioners. Some of them prefer overtly Christian prayers. The county says the high court ruling favors its practice. Published: Thu, Nov 13, 2014