OHIO
Couple gets 10 years in jail for locking up kids
JEFFERSON, Ohio (AP) - A husband and wife were sentenced to 10 years in prison for keeping their four adopted children locked inside bedrooms for all but a few hours a day without food to eat or beds to sleep on and forced them to use buckets and containers for toilets.
The couple, age 60 and 66, pleaded guilty in May to endangering children and felonious assault charges in Ashtabula County, about 60 miles east of Cleveland. The Associated Press is not naming the couple because the husband previously faced sexual abuse charges involving their two adopted teenage daughters. Those charges were dropped in a plea deal.
The children were allowed out of their rooms for only two hours a day to use the bathroom and do homework, authorities said. Bedroom windows were boarded up and covered so the children couldn't see outside.
Defense attorneys told the (Ashtabula) Star Beacon on Monday that the couple's discipline of the children went too far but said the home wasn't a "house of horrors." They had sought probation for the couple.
Ashtabula County Prosecutor Nick Iarocci called living conditions in the Dorset Township home "deplorable."
Authorities removed three of the children from the home in 2013 after the two daughters escaped and crashed the family's van. The girls were 17 and 14 at the time.
An assistant county prosecutor read a statement written by the oldest daughter that said she and her siblings would be paddled 10 times for each mistake on their homework. Authorities seized a blood-stained paddle from the home.
In a statement read by one of the attorneys, the husband told the judge that his inability to parent children he described as having special needs was "disheartening" and he apologized for his failures, the Star Beacon reports.
The wife told the judge on Monday that she was sorry for having hurt the children and hoped "they find peace and full lives as I have tried and failed to do."
ILLINOIS
Love him tender: Blagojevich still Elvis fan in prison
CHICAGO (AP) - Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich gave up his life-sized Elvis Presley statue when he went to prison in 2012, but not his love for the King.
Blagojevich's attorney says in court documents arguing for a reduction in his 14-year sentence that he has studied guitar and formed a band named after one of Elvis's biggest hits: "Jailhouse Rock."
Attorney Leonard Goodman says Blagojevich and another inmate have performed as "The Jailhouse Rockers" at times.
Goodman also says Blagojevich has been anything but a hound dog while serving time for corruption convictions, tutoring inmates studying for their GED, teaching history and providing job interview counseling for soon-to-be-released inmates.
Under his current sentence, Blagojevich cannot be released until early 2024 at the earliest. His resentencing hearing is scheduled for Aug. 9.
LOUISIANA
Change of venue granted for man accused in slaying
LAKE CHARLES, La. (AP) - Prosecutors say a change of venue for jury selection in the trial of the man accused of killing a Louisiana state trooper has been granted.
Fifty-four-year-old Kevin Daigle faces a possible death sentence in connection with the Aug. 23, 2015, shooting death of senior trooper Steven Vincent.
Melissa Sonnier with the Calcasieu District Attorney's Office tells the American Press jurors will be selected from Bossier Parish, about 200 miles away. She says those chosen to serve will be brought in a group to Lake Charles for Daigle's trial, which has been set for March 13, 2017.
Daigle is accused of shooting the 44-year-old Vincent in the head.
Vincent, who was responding to a call about an erratic driver, died from the injuries the next day.
MINNESOTA
Cops leave game over Black Lives Matter jerseys
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - A police union official says four off-duty Minneapolis officers working a WNBA game walked off the job at the city's Target Center arena Saturday after Minnesota Lynx players wore pregame warm-up jerseys supporting the Black Lives Matter movement.
The shirts listed the names of Philando Castile and Alton Sterling, both fatally shot by police officers last week. Castile was killed by a police officer in suburban St. Paul during a traffic stop. The shirt also showed the Dallas police shield above the phrase "Black Lives Matter."
Minneapolis Police Federation President Bob Kroll tells the Minneapolis Star-Tribune he commends the officers. He says they took their names off a list of officers to work future games.
The newspaper says Minneapolis police, the Lynx and the Target Center haven't commented.
LOUISIANA
Man accused in death of wife pleads not guilty
GONZALES, La. (AP) - A 38-year-old Louisiana man, who is facing a first-degree murder charge in the beating death of his wife in the backyard of the couple's home in August, has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity.
The Advocate reports David Johnson Sr. of Geismar entered the plea Monday before state Judge Thomas Kliebert Jr.
Johnson, along with one of his attorneys, Rusty Messer, and Assistant District Attorney Shawn Bush, met with the judge behind closed doors. After the private meeting, the judge, Johnson and the lawyers returned to the courtroom, where Johnson entered his plea.
Johnson is accused of beating his estranged wife, 45-year-old Monica Butler Johnson, with a baseball bat Aug. 9 and injuring the arm of her 18-year-old son when he tried to defend his mother.
FLORIDA
Court hears case over kosher food in state prisons
MIAMI (AP) - The state of Florida wants a federal appeals court to allow it to discontinue a kosher meals program in state prisons if its budget problems worsen.
An attorney for Florida told a three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday the estimated $12.3 million cost of the program could become prohibitive if other budget needs arise. The state is appealing a decision by a lower court judge requiring that it provide kosher food to Jewish inmates and others who request it for religious reasons.
A U.S. Justice Department attorney countered that cost is not a compelling reason for the state to drop a federally required kosher food program. The Justice Department sued the state in 2012 over the issue.
The court will rule in coming months.
Published: Wed, Jul 13, 2016
