Pennsylvania
Mom guilty of endangerment for squalor
MEADVILLE, Pa. (AP) - A Pennsylvania woman has pleaded guilty to child endangerment for letting her kids live in deplorable conditions, which were discovered when her 4-year-old son accidentally shot his 2-year-old brother while the woman napped.
The Meadville Tribune reports 24-year-old Tiffany Whitman, of Wayne Township, pleaded guilty Thursday in Crawford County. Her husband, 24-year-old Mark Whitman, pleaded guilty in December to the same charge because of the home's condition, plus a misdemeanor reckless endangerment charge for leaving the gun accessible to young children.
The couple remain free pending sentencing. Tiffany Whitman faces up to seven years in prison when she's sentenced March 5. Her husband faces up to nine years when he's sentenced Feb. 24.
Their 2-year-old son survived the shooting.
California
Man freed amid claims FBI hid evidence
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - A Northern California man considered by the federal government to be a radical eco-terrorist and a threat to the nation has been set free amid claims the FBI hid evidence.
The Sacramento Bee reports that in 2007, Eric Taylor McDavid was convicted of plotting to bomb or torch the Nimbus Dam, a U.S. Forest Service lab and cellphone towers in the Sacramento region.
He was sentenced to nearly 20 years in federal prison in a case touted by the FBI as a success in fighting domestic terrorism. He served nine years and agreed Thursday to plead guilty to one conspiracy count that would have originally earned him a much lesser sentence.
The government conceded that thousands of pages of evidence that should have been given to McDavid's attorney had been secretly held in an FBI file until recently.
Massachusetts
Lawyer: Teen coerced into confession
SALEM, Mass. (AP) - A Massachusetts judge heard arguments Thursday as lawyers for a teenager charged with raping and killing his high school math teacher want to have his police confession dismissed as evidence.
Philip Chism's lawyers say police coerced him into waiving his rights and making detailed statements about the murder.
Chism, 15, has been charged as an adult with murder and aggravated rape in the October 2013 slaying of Colleen Ritzer, a popular 24-year-old teacher at Danvers High School. He has pleaded not guilty.
Chism's public defender, Denise Regan, is expected to argue in Essex County Superior Court on Friday that police never properly read Chism his Miranda rights and had continued to question Chism even after he had invoked his right to remain silent and his mother had asked for a lawyer.
Regan's legal brief contends police pressured Chism's mother into helping them get a confession out of her son while he was handcuffed in a police interrogation room, according to The Salem News.
Prosecutors allege in previous court filings that on Oct. 22, 2013, Chism followed Ritzer into the girl's bathroom after school, raped her and "repeatedly asphyxiated her before or while assaulting her with a box cutter."
They said Chism put Ritzer's mutilated body in a recycling bin and dumped it in the woods. He also took Ritzer's cellphone, which he destroyed, and her wallet, which he used a credit card from to buy fast food and attend a movie at the mall later that day, according to prosecutors.
Chism has pleaded not guilty to those charges as well as to attempted murder and other charges stemming from an assault on a Department of Youth Services worker while in custody for Ritzer's murder.
Massachusetts
Ex-principal gets probation in cheating scam
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (AP) - The former principal of a Massachusetts charter school has been sentenced to a year of probation for helping students cheat on standardized tests.
Janet Henry-Reilly was sentenced Thursday in U.S. District Court in Springfield. She pleaded guilty in October to mail fraud for falsely certifying that tests had been administered honestly.
The Republican reports that prosecutors say Henry-Reilly was a pawn in a wider conspiracy to help students at the now-closed Robert M. Hughes Academy taking the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System exam.
Henry-Reilly was the only person indicted.
Prosecutors say in 2009 she told teachers to give clues and other tips to students taking the exam.
She said she was under pressure from a member of the school's board of directors, who demanded a boost in test scores to stave off closure.
Texas
Police: Officer stole suspects' cash, drugs, rifle
SAN ANTONIO (AP) - A San Antonio police officer is accused of stealing marijuana, thousands of dollars and a rifle from a couple during a disturbance call.
Police on Friday announced 32-year-old Officer Konrad Chatys has been charged with felony theft by a public servant.
Bexar (bayr) County jail records didn't list an attorney for Chatys, who was arrested Thursday night and being held without bond.
Investigators say Chatys was dispatched to a reported disturbance involving a man and a woman on New Year's Eve. The couple say he took the cash, drugs and weapon before releasing them.
The woman later went to a police station to complain. A warrant was issued after police searched the officer's home.
Chatys, who's been a San Antonio officer for seven years, is on administrative leave.
Massachusetts
Attempt to steal shrimp lands man prison term
WORCESTER, Mass. (AP) - An attempt to steal $300 worth of shrimp from a supermarket has landed a Massachusetts man a five-year prison sentence.
The Telegram & Gazette reports that John Pinard of Spencer was sentenced Thursday to three to five years in prison and two years of probation after pleading guilty to armed robbery, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, and assault and battery.
Authorities say the 38-year-old Pinard entered a Price Chopper in June, loaded a cart with shrimp and attempted to leave.
Pinard struck the store manager several times with the cart and threatened to stab store employees with a hypodermic needle.
He escaped in a vehicle, but left the shrimp and a pill bottle with his name on it behind.
Published: Mon, Jan 12, 2015
