National Roundup

Ohio
Governor delays 9 executions as court fight continues
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Gov. John Kasich on Monday delayed nine executions as a court fight continues over the constitutionality of the state’s lethal injection process, including a contested sedative used in problematic executions in at least three states.

Kasich’s announcement postponed next month’s execution of child killer Ronald Phillips until July and pushed back eight other procedures.

The Republican governor said the timing of arguments before a Cincinnati federal appeals court makes the delay necessary. The court is hearing Ohio’s appeal of a federal judge’s order finding the state’s latest execution process unconstitutional.

The effectiveness of the sedative midazolam is expected to be front and center of those arguments. That’s especially true given last week’s execution in Arkansas of Kenneth Williams, a convicted killer who lurched and convulsed 20 times during a lethal injection process Thursday that began with midazolam.

Midazolam was also used in Ohio in January 2014 when Dennis McGuire gasped and snorted during a 26-minute procedure, the state’s longest. Executions in the state have been on hold since then.

In July 2014, Arizona inmate Joseph Wood gasped for air and snorted and his belly inflated and deflated during the nearly two hours it took for him to die when the state executed him.

Both Ohio and Arizona used a two-drug method — starting with midazolam — that each state has since abandoned. Unlike Ohio, Arizona agreed not to use midazolam in future executions.

Attorneys for death row inmates challenging Ohio’s use of midazolam say it doesn’t render inmates fully unconscious, leading to an unconstitutionally high risk of harm.

The state argues that the massive dose planned in Ohio of 500 milligrams — 10 times what it used on McGuire — is more than enough to ensure inmates don’t feel pain. The state also says the U.S. Supreme Court permitted the drug’s use in a 2015 ruling out of Oklahoma.

Kasich issued a similar delay in February to give a three-judge panel of the appeals court time to hear similar arguments. That panel sided with the lower-court judge. In a rare move, the full court said it would hear the case and set arguments for June 14.

Monday’s delay was another setback for death penalty supporters who hoped that new supplies of drugs obtained by Ohio last year would allow executions to move forward after a delay of more than three years.

The state has said it has enough drugs for four executions, but records obtained by The Associated Press indicate Ohio could have enough on hand to put dozens of killers to death.

Phillips, scheduled to die May 10 for raping and killing his girlfriend’s 3-year-old daughter in Akron in 1993, is now set for execution July 26.


Massachusetts
DA: Tossing ex-NFL star’s conviction seen as reward
BOSTON (AP) — Prosecutors have asked a judge to reject a request by attorneys for ex-NFL star Aaron Hernandez to dismiss his murder conviction.

In court documents filed Monday, prosecutors argue that dismissing the conviction would reward Hernandez for his “conscious, deliberate and voluntary act” of committing suicide.

Hernandez was convicted of first-degree murder in Lloyd’s 2013 killing. The former New England Patriots tight end died by suicide in prison last month, five days after being acquitted in a separate double slaying in 2012.

Last week, his lawyers asked that his murder conviction be vacated under case law in Massachusetts that has held that when a defendant dies before an appeal is decided, the conviction is vacated. Hernandez’s appeal hadn’t been heard yet when he hanged himself.

Ohio
Grand jury clears cop who killed man holding butcher knife
HAMILTON, Ohio (AP) — A grand jury has concluded no charges should be filed against an Ohio police officer who fatally shot a man authorities say was charging him with a butcher knife.

Butler County Prosecutor Mike Gmoser said Monday that the grand jury considered evidence including witness accounts and the history of the man who was killed. He says 24-year-old Michael Wilson-Salzl had called in a false report April 22 of shots fired in his apartment complex parking lot in Hamilton.

Police say once an officer arrived, Wilson-Salzl charged at him while wearing a black mask and holding a knife. Police say Wilson-Salzl then refused commands before 17-year Hamilton police officer Steven McFall fired three times.

Gmoser says investigation also found Wilson-Salzl was mentally disturbed, with a history of suicidal attempts.

Wyoming
Psychologist charged with 2nd sexual assault
GILLETTE, Wyo. (AP) — A 32-year-old former therapist in Gillette faces more charges of using his position to get patients to have sex with him.

Joshua Ray Popkin waived his preliminary hearing in Circuit Court and was bound over to District Court last week to face two felony charges of second-degree sexual assault.

The Gillette News Record reports that a trial on an initial charge of second-degree sexual assault had been scheduled to start Monday, but it was postponed until September.

Popkin worked as a psychologist with Campbell County Health from Nov. 2, 2015, to May 25, 2016.

Popkin was arrested on the latest charge April 14 and was freed on a $50,000 cash or surety bond April 17. No date for an arraignment has been set yet.

Utah
Appeal filed in sexual harassment case against judge
OGDEN, Utah (AP) — A former employee for a Utah court who won a sexual harassment claim against a Weber County judge has filed an appeal seeking additional damages in the case.

The Standard-Examiner reports former Weber County Justice Court administrator Marcia Eisenhour filed a lawsuit in 2010 saying Judge Craig Storey sexually harassed her and county commissioners retaliated against her for bringing up the allegations.

U.S. District Court rulings had cleared Weber County and the commissioners of liability but imposed a $184,000 judgment against Storey for causing Eisenhour emotional distress.

Eisenhour’s suit is now before a Denver appeals court.

The appeal, filed in February, challenges a trial judge’s reduction of Eisenhour’s award for damages and his decision to drop the commissioners as defendants in the lawsuit.