Louisiana
Deputy marshal seeks change of venue in shooting
MARKSVILLE, La. (AP) - One of two deputy city marshals charged in the fatal shooting of a boy who was strapped into the front seat of his father's car in Louisiana is asking a judge to move his trial to another location.
The Advocate reports attorneys for Derrick Stafford, 33, say publicity surrounding the November shooting of 6-year-old Jeremy Mardis and the wounding of his father, Chris Few, has prejudiced potential jurors for the trial in Marksville.
Attorneys Jonathan Goins and Chris LaCour wrote in the motion that other factors that could bias a jury include "government officials (who) made invidious and inflammatory statements" against Stafford after the shooting.
Stafford and Norris Greenhouse Jr., 24, earlier pleaded not guilty to charges including second-degree murder.
State Police said the two opened fire on Few's car after a pursuit that a third deputy and a Marksville police sergeant also joined. A police report says video from the sergeant's body camera shows Few's empty hands were raised and visible inside the vehicle when gunfire erupted.
Few was hit twice but survived. Jeremy, who sat in the front passenger seat, was shot five times and died at the scene.
Stafford's family has claimed that he and Greenhouse feared for their lives and shot at Few in self-defense.
Stafford's trial is scheduled to begin Sept. 26, and Greenhouse's on Nov. 28, though it's possible the trials will be delayed. Both men remain free on $1 million bail.
A hearing on the change of venue request and other motions is set for June 29.
Greenhouse's lawyer, George Higgins of Alexandria, said he would not seek to move the trial out of Avoyelles Parish. Higgins said he's tried several jury trials in the parish.
"I've always thought they had jurors who were fair minded," Higgins said. "That is where the allegations took place. That's where it should be tried."
Pennsylvania
Jerry Sandusky's attorneys want to question judge
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - Jerry Sandusky's attorneys want to question the judge who oversaw the grand jury that indicted the former Penn State assistant football coach.
Sandusky is seeking to overturn his child molestation conviction, and a hearing is scheduled for August.
The attorney for former Senior Judge Barry Feudale says there's "no way" for Feudale to testify at that hearing without violating the secrecy of grand jury proceedings.
But the Centre Daily Times reports Sandusky's attorneys believe they can ask Feudale about steps he took to investigate allegations that grand jury information was leaked.
They say it's relevant because Judge John Cleland's hearing in August will address whether prosecutors improperly leaked information, among other issues.
Sandusky is serving a 30- to 60-year sentence but maintains he's innocent of molesting 10 boys.
Pennsylvania
Brother of pro wrestler pleads guilty in slaying
PITTSBURGH (AP) - Pro wrestler and former Olympian Kurt Angle's brother has admitted under a plea deal that he killed his wife at their Pennsylvania home.
Sixty-three-year-old David Angle had been charged with homicide. He pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter Tuesday.
Allegheny County homicide detectives say David Angle was arguing with 57-year-old Donna Angle about vodka when she tried to kick him in their Dormont home last September. They say he dragged her off a couch, stepped on her chest and pulled her arms before she became unconscious. He called 911 when he couldn't revive her.
Defense attorney William Difenderfer tells WTAE-TV his client had been intoxicated and that the killing was "almost accidental."
David Angle faces up to a decade in prison when he's sentenced in September.
Texas
Father charged in hot-car death of 6-month-old
MELISSA, Texas (AP) - A Dallas area man whose 6-month-old daughter died after she was left in a hot minivan parked outside the family home has been charged with manslaughter.
Michael Thedford was booked into the Collin County Jail after the grim Tuesday afternoon discovery and was released on $20,000 bond later in the day.
The 33-year-old father's jail record lists no attorney.
Capt. Jim Moody of the Collin County Sheriff's Department says when deputies arrived around 1:30 p.m. they found the child removed from the car but unresponsive. The family lives in Melissa, about 40 miles north of Dallas.
The National Weather Service reports the temperature at the nearby McKinney National Airport had risen to the low 90s but felt like the upper 90s by that time.
New York
Defense: Suspect in fiance's death didn't know rights
GOSHEN, N.Y. (AP) - The defense attorney for a woman accused of fatally sabotaging her fiance's kayak on the Hudson River says his client may have miscarried during an interrogation and asked investigators who "Miranda" was hours after she was read her Miranda rights.
Angelika Graswald's attorney, Richard Portale, revealed the details at a pretrial hearing Tuesday on whether Graswald's statements to police can be used during her upcoming murder trial.
The Miranda warning informs suspects they are allowed to say nothing and obtain a lawyer.
State police Investigator Donald DeQuarto says he believes Graswald understood her rights when she admitted to removing the drain plug of Vincent Viafore's kayak in April 2015.
DeQuarto says she also admitted to tampering with his paddle. Viafore drowned after his kayak capsized.
Graswald has pleaded not guilty.
Washington
Woman charged in slaying of businessman
SEATTLE (AP) - A woman has been charged with murder nearly five years after prosecutors say she killed a retired Seattle businessman and fled to Japan.
The Seattle Times reports Kyung Hee Dowdle is wanted on a $5 million warrant for the death of 75-year-old Toshio Ota, whose body was found in the Columbia River in 2012.
Authorities believe Ota was killed in March 2011, around the same time he was reported missing.
Charging papers say Dowdle was upset after learning Ota removed her from his will and allege she wrote $16,000 worth of false checks from his bank accounts.
Dowdle told police after Ota's disappearance that she was also looking for him and said he was like a father to her.
The charges say Dowdle left to Japan in April 2011.
Published: Thu, Jun 23, 2016
