New Mexico
Right to privacy not violated by photos of victim
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) - A federal judge has ruled that a New Mexico State Police officer did not violate any constitutional right to privacy when he used his personal cellphone to take and text to friends pictures of a Santa Fe-area man who had been killed by police.
The Albuquerque Journal reports that 34-year-old Samuel Pauly, who lived in Glorieta, was shot and killed by police in 2011 before an officer snapped photos of the death scene.
Earlier this month U.S. District Court Judge Judith C. Herrera found that Pauly's family failed to show that Pauly had the right to privacy under the Fourteenth Amendment after his death.
The family's attorney says the ruling effectively says dead people do not have privacy rights. He says he will likely appeal the ruling.
Nevada
Trial reset in porn case for German illusionist in Vegas
LAS VEGAS (AP) - Trial has been rescheduled again in Las Vegas for an illusionist performer from Germany who faces decades in prison and up to $1 million in fines on federal child pornography charges.
Court records show that Jan Rouven Fuechtener's trial has been rescheduled for a third time, to Oct. 17.
Proceedings had been due to begin this week in U.S. District Court.
The 39-year-old German citizen has pleaded not guilty to the charges against him.
He headlined on the Las Vegas Strip as Jan Rouven. His show closed following his arrest March 16, and he remains in federal custody.
Prosecutors allege that a computer user named "Lars45" collected more than 3,500 videos and images on computers at Fuechtener's home. They say some depict sex acts with kindergarten-age children.
Minnesota
Man jailed in death of girl taken from home
LITCHFIELD, Minn. (AP) - A man has been jailed on suspicion of first-degree murder and kidnapping in the death of a co-worker's 5-year-old daughter whose mother says was taken from their home in central Minnesota.
Zachary Todd Anderson, 26, of Monticello, was being held in the Crow Wing County Jail in the death of Alayna Ertl.
Alayna was last seen around 2 a.m. Saturday when she was put to bed at her home in Watkins, about 70 miles northwest of Minneapolis. Her mother reported her missing at 8 a.m. and her body was found later Saturday in a wooded area about 80 miles to the north.
Also missing from the home Saturday morning was Anderson, who authorities said had been spending the night with the Ertl family. A pickup truck belonging to the girl's father was also gone.
"Our suspect in this case is a family friend, co-worker of the victim's father, and was staying the night up in Watkins last night," Meeker County Sheriff Brian Cruze said Saturday night. "He had previously been to that residence and spent a night here and there - so he's not a stranger and not new to the residence, but was just there for the night."
Alayna's disappearance led authorities to issue an Amber Alert.
Sheriff's deputies found the stolen truck on property owned by Anderson's family in rural Cass County, according to a statement from the Minnesota Department of Public Safety. K-9 officers searching the property found Anderson just before 4:30 p.m. Saturday. He did not attempt to flee, did not have a weapon and did not resist arrest, according to the statement.
"Information provided by the suspect" and other "investigative efforts" led officials to Alayna's remains in a wooded, swampy area a few hundred yards from the Anderson family cabin, the statement said. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
A medical examiner said Alayna died of homicidal violence, according to the statement, which gave no further details about the cause of death.
Online court records available Saturday listed only minor traffic violations for Anderson, and it wasn't immediately clear if he had a lawyer who could comment on his behalf. He has not been charged.
"We have no known predatory sexual offender information on him or anything like that," Cruze said. "We have no known motive. We are at a loss as to why this happened at this time."
Published: Tue, Aug 23, 2016
