Alabama
Request to end trial in running death is denied
GADSDEN, Ala. (AP) - A judge has refused a defense request to end the trial of an Alabama woman accused of running her 9-year-old granddaughter to death.
Attorneys for 49-year-old Joyce Hardin Garrard asked for a mistrial Wednesday. They say the state failed to turn over some records on 9-year-old Savannah Hardin's hospital treatment after her collapse in 2012.
Circuit Judge Billy Ogletree refused to halt the trial.
Minutes later, prosecutors took a medical scribe off the stand before she could testify in detail about the girl's treatment records.
The exchange between lawyers leading to the witness removal was heated. One attorney loudly told another to "shut the hell up" during a discussion with the judge.
Prosecutors say Garrard made the girl run for hours as a punishment. She passed out and died three days later.
The defense says Garrard didn't mean to harm her.
Pennsylvania
Man rolls in dog waste to try avoiding arrest
WILKES-BARRE, Pa. (AP) - Police say a Pennsylvania man dropped to the ground and rolled around in dog waste to avoid being arrested for public drunkenness, but he was taken into custody anyway.
Police in Wilkes-Barre tell the Times Leader officers came upon 45-year-old Maurice Franklin early Monday night after he jumped into traffic. They believed he was under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
They say he slurred his words and at first claimed he was walking erratically to avoid stepping in the dog feces on the sidewalk.
But when officers tried to arrest him, police say he lay down in the waste and told authorities they couldn't arrest him because he was covered in feces.
Franklin couldn't immediately be reached for comment. Court records don't list a lawyer for him.
Louisiana
Man accused of killing deputy dies, official says
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - The murder suspect accused of killing a deputy U.S. marshal in a shootout died Wednesday, an official with a Louisiana coroner's office said.
Jamie D. Croom, 31, was wounded multiple times Tuesday in the shootout with a task force led by federal marshals on the outskirts of Baton Rouge.
Croom was pronounced dead about 12:45 a.m. Wednesday, Shane Evans, chief of investigations for the East Baton Rouge Parish Coroner's Office, told The Associated Press.
Deputy U.S. Marshal Josie Wells died while trying to arrest Croom, wanted in the slayings of a brother and sister outside a nightclub about 20 miles away in New Roads.
Wells, 27, was assigned to an office in Mississippi.
Pointe Coupee Parish Sheriff Beauregard Torres III said Croom faced two counts of first-degree murder in connection with the deaths of Lechelle Rita Williams, 42, and her brother Sinica Lee Williams, 38.
Croom, a resident of New Roads, had a long criminal record, Torres said.
Torres said Tuesday that investigators had not established a motive in the shootings of the siblings.
Ohio
Fugitive treasure hunter returns to for legal fight
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - A deep-sea treasure hunter who spent years as a fugitive has returned to Ohio to face the investors he's accused of bilking out of millions of dollars in gold.
A judge in Ohio will handle the criminal contempt charge filed against Tommy Thompson after he went missing in the midst of demands he appear in court.
Federal court documents said the 62-year-old Thompson and his longtime companion, Alison Antekeier (an-teh-ker) were in the state Wednesday. The two had been held in Florida where they were apprehended in January.
Thompson has faced accusations of cheating investors nearly since his 1988 discovery of the S.S. Central America, known as the Ship of Gold. The ship sank in a hurricane off South Carolina in 1857 with thousands of pounds of gold aboard.
Florida
Church loses tax-exempt status
PANAMA CITY BEACH, Fla. (AP) - A Florida church that hosted naked paint parties and slumber-party Sundays featuring the "sexiest ladies on the beach" has lost its tax-exempt status.
The News Herald of Panama City reports The Life Center: A Spiritual Community has been operating a seven-day-a-week party called Amnesia: The Tabernacle since Feb. 28.
A sign on the door says events are alcohol and drug free, but Sheriff Frank McKeithen calls the party atmosphere a "blatant slap in the face" to taxpayers. He says church officials are "trying to get around the laws."
Patrons are charged a "donation" of $20 at the door. On the walls inside are T-shirts emblazoned with obscene gestures and signs that say "I hate being sober."
This led Property Appraiser Dan Sowell to change the tax exempt status.
Pennsylvania
Man admits he kicked woman, 102, in the shin
NEW CASTLE, Pa. (AP) - A Pennsylvania man has admitted kicking a 102-year-old woman in the shin at his mother's nursing home and complained that she kept following them.
The (Sharon) Herald reports that 66-year-old Michael Pavelek, of Fairview Township, pleaded guilty to harassment and was fined $150 plus court costs last week.
Neshannock Township police say the altercation happened Oct. 18 at the Jameson Care Nursing Home.
Police say Pavelek was walking his mother down the hall and became annoyed when the 102-year-old woman began trailing them. They say Pavelek kicked the woman's shin, cutting her, then kicked her again as the nurse tried to pull him away.
Police say when the nurse told Pavelek he could hurt the woman, he replied, "Good."
Published: Thu, Mar 12, 2015
