Arkansas
Police: After court
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - Arkansas State Police have announced that they will continue to conduct sobriety checkpoints as part of an annual holiday initiative, one week after the state Court of Appeals ruled one such stop was unconstitutional.
State police arrested Jeremy Whalen in September 2012 at a sobriety checkpoint on Interstate 540 near Fort Smith. The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports that the Arkansas Court of Appeals overturned Whalen's conviction Dec. 9, saying that the checkpoint lacked supervision and left troopers to stop vehicles at their own discretion.
Written policy for state police says that troopers need special permission to conduct checkpoints without a supervisor, and every vehicle must be stopped while the checkpoint is in operation.
State police spokesman Bill Sadler said Friday that "nothing will be different" about the checkpoints as the agency increases patrols to find intoxicated drivers through Jan.3. Sadler also said that state police were not considering changes to its sobriety checkpoint procedures, noting that the Whalen case only relates to a particular stop.
"The state police policies and practices are written consistent with the U.S. Supreme Court laws for sobriety checkpoints, and sobriety checkpoints will be part of the enforcement."
Little Rock Police Department spokesman said the court ruling had not affected the department's efforts to stop intoxicated drivers. Little Rock police say they have no plans for additional sobriety checkpoints this year.
Idaho
Man's conviction for attempted murder tossed
BOISE, Idaho (AP) - A Nampa man who was released from prison in October after being sentenced to four consecutive life sentences for a Canyon County assault could face a new trial.
The Idaho Statesman reports Senior Canyon County Judge Renae Hoff ruled that 45-year-old John David Wurdemann received inadequate legal representation at his 2002 trial. He was ordered a new trial, pending resolution of an appeal before the Idaho Supreme Court.
Wurdemann was convicted of attempted murder, kidnapping and other charges in the 2000 assault on Linda Lebrane.
The victim had initially failed to identify Wurdemann in a photo lineup, and defense attorneys argued that the suspects' appearances didn't match the descriptions she provided.
Judge Hoff determined that Wurdemann's attorneys were "ineffective" by not brining an expert to court to challenge the identifications.
Arizona
State to pay $300K in legal fees in same-sex marriage case
PHOENIX (AP) - Lawyers representing several same-sex couples who challenged Arizona's ban on gay marriage will receive $300,000 from the state to cover attorney fees and other costs, a federal judge ruled.
Judge John Sedwick approved the agreement in an order issued late last week that calls for a judgment of roughly $302,000.
The plaintiffs include national gay-rights organization Lambda Legal, which filed a lawsuit in March 2014 on behalf of seven couples and two surviving spouses. The ban violated the couples' rights to equal protection and due process under the U.S Constitution, attorneys had argued at the time.
Then Attorney General Tom Horne was named as a defendant in the complaint. In October 2014, the conservative Horne gave up fighting a federal court ruling that struck down Arizona's 1996 law barring same-sex marriage as well as a 2008 voter-approved state constitutional amendment outlawing it.
The decision on the Arizona law came after gay marriage bans were struck down in more than two dozen states.
Then, the U.S. Supreme Court declared this summer that same-sex couples have a right to marry in all 50 states.
Federal law lets those who prevail in civil rights cases seek compensation for the costs of bringing such lawsuits to court.
Sedwick was the same judge who ruled in September that lawyers for four same-sex couples in a separate class-action lawsuit opposing the marriage ban receive $200,000 from the state.
Massachusetts
Court to hear case on letters with profanity
BOSTON (AP) - Massachusetts' highest court will hear a challenge to the state's criminal harassment law from a man convicted of sending profanity-laced letters to a local elected official.
Harvey Bigelow, of Rehoboth, was convicted of writing letters to Selectman Michael Costello and his wife in 2011. The letter writer called Costello a "scumbag," ''loser" and other names. The writer also accused Costello of attempting to kill his ex-wife and abusing drugs and alcohol.
Bigelow denies writing the letters. In an appeal, his lawyer argues that the remarks were "merely political hyperbole" to express dissatisfaction with Costello's job performance and weren't "true threats." She says the letters constitute free speech.
Prosecutors say the letters included "a large amount of threatening, ominous, and intimidating material."
The Supreme Judicial Court will hear arguments Jan. 8.
New Jersey
Bear pulls Boy Scout leader into cave by foot
ROCKAWAY TOWNSHIP, N.J. (AP) - A Boy Scout leader was pulled into a cave by a bear in northern New Jersey but beat the animal away with a rock hammer while the three Scouts with him called for help, authorities said.
Christopher Petronino, 50, and the Scouts were hiking at Split Rock Reservoir on Sunday afternoon when he stopped to show the boys a cave, NJ.com reported. He dipped into a small crevasse leading to it, and the bear grabbed him by the foot and yanked him inside. It began biting his legs and shoulders and Petronino fought it off, NJ.com reported.
"Petronino struck the bear twice in the head with a rock hammer. He then pulled his sweatshirt over his head and curled into the fetal position," Bob Considine, a spokesman for the state Department of Environmental Protection, said in a statement. "He yelled to the Scouts, who were outside the cave, to leave and go get help."
The boys used a cellphone to call authorities, who told them to place any food they had outside the cave to lure the bear away from Petronino. When it emerged, a dog that had come along with the group began barking and the bear ran up a nearby hillside.
Considine said the Scout leader spent about 80 minutes inside the cave before escaping. He was airlifted to Morristown Medical Center and treated for his wounds. The Scouts, from a Boonton-based troop, were released to their parents.
Published: Tue, Dec 22, 2015
