National Roundup

Alabama
Burglary suspect chased by bull through pasture
ARAB, Ala. (AP) — Sheriff’s officials in northern Alabama say a burglary suspect was taken into custody after being chased by a bull through a cow pasture.

Marshall County Sheriff Scott Walls tells WHNT-TV (http://bit.ly/1eHdsnY) 26-year-old Brad Lynn Hemby was being sought in connection with a burglary Wednesday morning in Arab.

Walls says Hemby tried fleeing deputies by running through a cow pasture and a bull roaming the land joined the chase. Walls says Hemby eventually fell onto a barbed wire fence and surrendered.

Walls says stolen property was recovered from Hemby’s truck and the man is charged with burglary, theft and attempting to elude. It’s unclear if he has an attorney.

Florida
Judge recuses self from theater shooting case
DADE CITY, Fla. (AP) — A judge has recused himself from the trial of a former Tampa police captain accused of fatally shooting a man during an argument over texting in a Florida movie theater.

Pasco Circuit Court Judge Pat Siracusa filed the order Tuesday. Circuit Judge Susan Barthle is now assigned to the case.

Siracusa issued a notice of removing himself after a hearing last week in which he appeared aggravated over repeated delays.

The case has been in Siracusa’s courtroom since Curtis Reeves was arrested in January 2014 following the shooting death of 43-year-old Chad Oulson at Grove Cobb Theater in Land O’Lakes. Reeves faces second-degree murder and aggravated battery charges.

Siracusa agreed in June to delay the trial until January after attorneys said they needed more time. He’s also overseeing the trial of a quadruple-murder suspect.

New Jersey
Teacher fired over students’ notes to sick inmate sues
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — A former teacher has sued a New Jersey school board that fired her after her third-grade class wrote get-well letters to a sick prison inmate convicted of killing a Philadelphia police officer.

NJ.com reports a judge Wednesday scheduled a Sept. 2 hearing to discuss allegations made by former Orange teacher Marylin Zuniga in an attempt to get her job back. The lawsuit was filed in June.

Zuniga claims the board violated state law by firing her in May after discussing it in private. She says she requested a public discussion.

The letters were delivered to Mumia Abu-Jamal (moo-MEE’-ah AH’-boo jah-MAHL’) in prison. The former Black Panther is serving a life sentence for the 1981 killing.
NJ.com couldn’t reach school and city officials for comment.

Zuniga’s lawyer declined to comment.

Maine
Manslaughter charges brought in hayride crash
AUBURN, Maine (AP) — A farm that hosted a Halloween-themed hayride and its driver were indicted Wednesday in a crash that killed a teenage girl and injured more than a dozen passengers.

A grand jury leveled manslaughter charges against Harvest Hills Farm Inc. and driver David Brown in the crash, which claimed the life of 17-year-old Cassidy Charette. Another 20 people were hurt during the hayride in Mechanic Falls in October.

District Attorney Andrew Robinson made the announcement of the charges after the panel wrapped up its work Wednesday. It was the third time grand jurors were convened to consider charges in the case.

The dead teenager’s parents, Monica and Randy Charette, of Oakland, said they respected the legal process.

“We understand there are many people who are angry and want some sort of ‘justice to be served,’” they said in a statement. “We do believe that if investigators and prosecutors deem that a person is criminally responsible, then appropriate charges should be pursued. People should be held accountable for the decisions they make that affect the health and safety of others.”

Authorities have said it appears a mechanical problem caused the hayride accident. A Jeep that was towing a wagon in the crash was examined by a team of state troopers, motor vehicle inspectors and fire marshal investigators.

The hayride was called The Gauntlet. The trailer went out of control and overturned while traveling downhill, throwing riders into trees, officials said.
The hay wagon was being pulled by a 1979 Jeep when it crashed. The driver was among those hospitalized. A mechanic who had worked on the Jeep was indicted on a misdemeanor charge of reckless conduct in the case.

The farm and the driver also were charged with aggravated assault, driving to endanger and reckless conduct.

Messages left for the farm and for a spokesman for the farm weren’t immediately returned Wednesday. No working telephone number could be found for the driver, who lives in Paris, just northwest of the farm.

The Charettes said the charges won’t bring their daughter back.

“In the end, we are still in the same place,” they said. “Living in a life we no longer recognize without our beautiful, loving, inspiring, amazing Cass.”

Hayrides aren’t regulated in Maine. The state Legislature considered a bill directing the fire marshal to license and inspect hayrides and other amusements. In the end, lawmakers voted to create a task force to examine ways to improve the safety of hayrides and other unregulated farm rides.

A company that owns the property on which the farm buildings are located filed for bankruptcy last week, citing personal injury claims as its biggest liabilities. Owner Peter Bolduc estimated his debt at between $1 million and $10 million.

Washington
Gay couples to gain marriage benefits from U.S.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch says the government will make federal marriage benefits available to same-sex couples following a landmark Supreme Court decision last month that legalized same-sex marriage.

She says the Justice Department will work to make sure that all federal benefits will be available equally to married couples across the country.

She says programs for veterans and the elderly and disabled will now cover same-sex marriages.

The Supreme Court ruled in a 5-4 decision last month that the U.S. Constitution provides a right to same-sex marriage.

In a statement, Lynch said the government would strive to “fulfill our commitment to equal treatment for all Americans.”