National Roundup

Massachusetts Shoe bomber says he can't pay $250,000 fine BOSTON (AP) - The British man sentenced to life in prison for trying to detonate explosives in his shoe on a trans-Atlantic flight in 2001 says he can't afford the $250,000 fine that was part of his sentence. Richard Reid has asked a federal judge in Boston to declare him bankrupt. The Boston Herald reports that the 43-year-old Reid writes: "I am not now, nor will I - I believe - ever be, able to pay this fine." Reid contacted Judge William Young after receiving notice last month reminding him the payment is past due. Young on Thursday told prosecutors they have until Dec. 16 to respond to Reid's request to have the fine forgiven. Reid tried to set off the bomb on a Paris-to-Miami American Airlines flight. The plane was diverted to Boston. Virginia $20M lawsuit filed against jail over inmate's death RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - The mother of a 26-year-old man who died at Richmond City Justice Center has filed a $20 million wrongful-death lawsuit. The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports that the lawsuit claims Gregory Lee Hill was treated for the wrong medical condition. The lawsuit says Hill told medical officials that he was addicted to Xanax but the jail nurse wrote on forms that he was addicted to opiates. The lawsuit filed by Hill's mother, Brenda Hill Myrick, says Hill died in January after jail officials strapped him to a restraint chair. The $20.4 million lawsuit is against Richmond Sheriff C.T. Woody Jr. and the jail's top administrator, among others. General counsel for the Richmond sheriff's office told the newspaper Thursday that it couldn't comment on the lawsuit because it hadn't yet received it. New York Man sentenced to life plus 10 years for three murders ROCHESTER, N.Y. (AP) - A New York man has been sentenced to life in prison plus 10 years for leading a violent drug trafficking organization that beat and killed workers seen as disloyal. Pablo Plaza was sentenced Wednesday in federal court in Rochester, where he was convicted of murder and drug conspiracy in July. Prosecutors say he and his brother James Kendrick ran a drug business between 1993 and 2011 that was linked to three killings. One of the victims was found buried on the Cattaraugus Indian Reservation in 1999. Kendrick also was convicted of murder. Nine other defendants have been found guilty of drug and weapons crimes. California Court: Firms have duty to protect workers' families from asbestos SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - The California Supreme Court says companies can be held liable for exposing members of a worker's household to asbestos. The court ruled unanimously Thursday that companies have a responsibility to prevent such exposure when they can reasonably forsee that their employees will carry asbestos on their bodies or clothing to their households. The court limited responsibility to members of a worker's household and no one beyond that. The ruling came in two separate lawsuits - one of them against BNSF Railway Company by the family of a woman who died of cancer. The family said the woman's ex-husband - a railway employee - exposed her to asbestos from his job, and the asbestos caused her cancer. A BNSF spokeswoman said the company was reviewing the decision. Florida Court lets cop killer off death row for 3rd time TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) - A Florida man sentenced to death three times for killing a deputy and two others during a drug-addled rampage is off of death row again - at least for now. The state Supreme Court on Thursday ordered a new sentencing hearing for Paul Beasley Johnson. It's the third time the court has removed Johnson from death row, including twice after separate governors signed death warrants. The court cited two U.S. Supreme Court rulings requiring juries, not judges, to impose sentences. That includes a decision that led the state high court to rule in October that jury decisions have to be unanimous. The court did uphold Johnson's murder convictions in the January 1981 shooting deaths of Polk County Deputy Theron Burnham, cab driver William Evans and Darrell Ray Beasley. New Mexico State high court upholds man's murder conviction CLOVIS, N.M. (AP) - The New Mexico Supreme Court has upheld the murder conviction of a Clovis man, who was sentenced to life in prison for the 2007 killing of his mother's boyfriend. State Attorney General Hector Balderas announced Thursday that Albert Jose Ramirez will remain in prison after the court agreed with the Office of the Attorney General Criminal Appeals Division by affirming the murder conviction. Ramirez appealed his conviction citing seven arguments. The state Supreme Court disagreed with all of them. He was sentenced in January 2014, three months after a Curry County jury convicted Ramirez of first-degree murder and two counts of tampering with evidence. Ramirez was accused of going to his mother's home against a no trespass order in July 2007 and fatally shooting Eladio Robledo in the front yard. Ohio Fired officer must repay $15K for theft from charity AKRON, Ohio (AP) - A northeast Ohio police officer accused of stealing over $26,000 from a charity fund used to buy Christmas gifts for financially disadvantaged children has been ordered to repay $15,000. Investigators say now-fired Richfield officer Michael Simmons took funding from his department's Shop with a Cop program over several years and used it for personal expenses, including electronics, clothing and sporting event tickets. Simmons pleaded guilty to a felony theft charge. A Summit County judge put the 42-year-old Stow man on probation for two years. Defense attorney Mark Guidetti tells the Akron Beacon Journal that Simmons wants to move on, find a new job and work to pay the restitution as agreed under a plea deal. The local police union says the money will be distributed to charities that benefit children. Published: Mon, Dec 05, 2016