National Roundup

Florida
Court upholds conviction in loud music killing case
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — A Florida appeals court is upholding the conviction of a white man who shot a Jacksonville teenager after an argument over loud music.

The 1st District Court of Appeal on Thursday rejected an argument from lawyers representing Michael Dunn that he was acting in self-defense when he killed Jordan Davis in November 2012.

Dunn’s attorneys argued that the state failed to present evidence contradicting his self-defense claims.

Authorities say Dunn fired 10 times at the SUV Davis was riding in after the two argued over the loud rap music coming from the 17-year-old’s vehicle. Dunn was sentenced to life in prison.

The three judges on the panel said the state presented sufficient evidence to contradict Dunn’s account, including witness testimony that there was no visible gun in Davis’ car.

Massachusetts
Jury convicts man who tried to use Cheetos as an accelerant
TAUNTON, Mass. (AP) — A Massachusetts man who authorities say attempted to use Cheetos to accelerate a fire at his ex-girlfriend’s home while she was inside has been convicted of malicious destruction of property.

The Bristol County District Attorney’s Office says a jury convicted 31-year-old Shemroy Williams, of Taunton, on Wednesday. He was sentenced to two-and-a-half years behind bars.

Crews responded to a home in March after the woman and her friend reported that Williams was trying to light it on fire.

Authorities say an investigation revealed Williams wedged a propane tank against the house while a fire on the back porch was burning.

Police say they located Williams in the area with two lighters in his pocket and an empty bag of Cheetos. Investigators determined Williams tried to use Cheetos to accelerate the fire.

Pennsylvania
Pooper scooper owner pleads guilty over fake federal badge
PITTSBURGH (AP) — A Pennsylvania man whose company scoops up pet poop admitted buying fake Secret Service identification cards and badges online from China to impress women on a dating site.

Christopher Diiorio, 53, pleaded guilty in federal court Thursday to a count of fraudulently using an official seal. He acknowledged the other behavior alleged by federal prosecutors, including flashing an ID card during a traffic stop and trying to use a Secret Service badge to get a government rate for a hotel room.

Diiorio, of Greensburg, remains free on bond and will be sentenced March 9.

He and his attorney, William Difenderfer, wouldn’t answer questions about the charges or the motivation for buying the bogus credentials.

Diiorio told the judge he’s undergoing counseling for “marital” issues “and over this situation” but was of sound mind and understood the charges and consequences of his plea.

The investigation began when Reserve Township police said Diiorio flashed the Secret Service ID card after an officer pulled him over for a faulty brake light July 22. The hotel incident occurred a month earlier.

Diiorio told the officer “he was a U.S. Secret Service agent who had just returned from the Republican National Convention in Cleveland,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul Hull said in court Thursday. The credential said Diiorio was a “senior special agent in the protective services division,” Hull said.

Further investigation revealed that “Diiorio’s first and last name match that of a real Secret Service agent” but nothing else, Hull said.

Diiorio later confessed that he bought the IDs and badges for $100 online in March 2014 when he also “began to identify himself as a federal agent on online dating sites,” Hull told the judge. In reality, Diiorio owned and operated Doodle Scoopers, based in the Pittsburgh suburb of Bethel Park.

Diiorio had also begun buying handguns and rifles, including an AR-15, like those used to equip Secret Service agents, though he’s not accused of doing anything illegal with the weapons.
Because Diiorio’s crime is a felony, he’ll have to surrender the weapons, Hull said.
Authorities haven’t named the company that created and sold the credentials.
The fraudulent seal charge carries up to five years in prison, but under sentencing guidelines that take into account Diiorio’s lack of a recent criminal history, he’ll likely face probation.

Colorado
Judge: Man in attack on Planned Parenthood still incompetent
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) — A judge says a man who acknowledged killing three people at a Colorado Planned Parenthood clinic remains mentally incompetent, stalling the case against him.

Judge Gilbert Martinez made the ruling Thursday based on a report from the state psychiatric hospital, where Robert Dear has been undergoing treatment since he was deemed incompetent in May.

Dear will remain in the state hospital until the judge determines he is able to assist in his defense.

During an October hearing, Dear claimed he’s been forcibly medicated while being held at the hospital.

He is charged with 179 counts, including murder and attempted murder, stemming from the Nov. 27 shooting at the Colorado Springs clinic that also left nine injured.

Dear told investigators he attacked the clinic because of his anti-abortion stance. Two psychologists testified he has a delusion disorder.

The judge will receive an update on his progress at a Feb. 15 hearing.


California
Appeals court rejects lawsuit against egg law
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A federal appeals court has rejected a lawsuit by six states challenging a California law that prohibits the sale of eggs from chickens that are not raised in accordance with strict space requirements.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Thursday that the states failed to show how the law would affect them and not just individual egg farmers. California voters approved a ballot initiative in 2008 that required that egg-laying hens in the state spend most of their day with enough space to allow them to lie down, stand up, turn around and fully extend their limbs.

In 2010, California legislators expanded the law to ban the sale of eggs from any hens that were not raised in compliance with the standard.

A call to the Missouri Attorney General’s Office, which argued the case for the states, was not immediately returned.