National Roundup

Iowa
Reporter faces sanctions over video of case
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — A television reporter is facing the threat of jail after allegedly violating an order not to take video of “The Bachelor” star Chris Soules appearing in court in his hit-and-run case.

Prosecutors are pursuing contempt of court proceedings against KWWL reporter Elizabeth Amanieh in what could be the first such case against an Iowa journalist in decades. She faces up to a $500 fine and 180 days in jail.

Amanieh obtained video of Soules’ April 25 initial appearance, after he was jailed for his role in the accident that killed a 66-year-old farmer.
Prosecutors contend a judge told Amanieh she couldn’t take video and that only photos would be permitted. They say Amanieh violated that order by using her phone to record the appearance, which the NBC affiliate later aired.

Florida
Juror: ‘Holy Spirit’ said former U.S. Rep. Brown not guilty
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — A juror dismissed during deliberations in former U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown’s fraud trial in Florida told his colleagues that the “Holy Spirit” told him she was not guilty, according to a court transcript.

The transcript released Monday provided new details into why the unidentified juror was released during deliberations after another juror raised concerns over the comments.

Brown, 70, was found guilty of 18 of 22 charges associated with her use of money from a purported charity for poor children called the One Door for Education Foundation. She also was convicted of lying on her taxes about the amount of charitable contributions she made and providing false information on her congressional financial disclosure forms.

Brown had represented the district that included Jacksonville since 1993 but lost re-election last year after the indictment was issued.

Federal prosecutors presented evidence of a scheme where Brown helped raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for One Door, but spent most of the money on lavish parties, trips and shopping. One Door raised more than $800,000, but gave only one scholarship for $1,200.

The dismissed juror, who was not identified, told the court he was getting information from “my father in heaven” about Brown’s guilt while considering the case’s outcome.

“Did you say the words, ‘A higher being told me that Corrine Brown was not guilty on all charges?’” Judge Timothy Corrigan asked the juror.

“I said the Holy Spirit told me that,” the juror replied.

Brown’s attorney, James Smith, has said he plans to ask for a new trial before she is sentenced. He objected to the juror’s dismissal, pointing out that the juror also said he could follow the court’s direction and deliberate appropriately.

But Corrigan believed the comment was enough to spur the juror’s dismissal, and to restart deliberations.

“I want to be very clear that I am drawing a distinction between someone who’s on a jury who is religious and who is praying for guidance ... from this situation, where the juror is actually saying than an outside force, that is, a higher being, a Holy
Spirit, told him that Ms. Brown was not guilty on those charges,” Corrigan told the attorneys. “I think that’s just an expression that’s a bridge too far.”

After the juror was replaced by an alternate, the jury took just more than a day to reach a verdict.

Brown could spend the rest of her life in a federal prison. No date has been set for her sentencing.

Connecticut
Man pleads guilty to cashing 126 false tax refunds
MANCHESTER, Conn. (AP) — A Connecticut convenience store owner has pleaded guilty to illegally cashing 126 false federal income-tax refund checks totaling more than $787,000.

The U.S. Attorney’s office says 50-year-old Asafak Bhura pleaded guilty last week to attempting to interfere with the administration of internal revenue laws.

Court records show Bhura cashed the checks for a person he knew only by a first name. Bhura also deposited checks into his personal bank accounts.

Federal prosecutors say there’s no evidence Bhura filed the false tax returns. But in cashing the checks, he violated procedures that require proper identification for check-cashing customers.

Bhura has agreed to pay $39,000 in restitution, which reflects the commissions he took for cashing the checks.

He faces up to 16 months in prison when he’s sentenced in August.

Tennessee
Court upholds convictions for 2012 election extortion plot
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A federal appeals court has upheld the convictions of a Tennessee man engaged in an extortion scheme where he claimed to have the tax returns of then-presidential candidate Mitt Romney and threatened to release them if he wasn’t paid.

It was an elaborate plot where Michael Mancil Brown sent letters signed “Doctor Evil” that falsely claimed that he had hacked into PriceWaterhouseCoopers accounting firm and would make the tax returns public if the company didn’t send him $1 million in Bitcoin, a digital currency.

On Monday, the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the 38-year-old’s 12 convictions for wire fraud and extortion. However, the court vacated his four-year prison term and ordered him re-sentenced because the punishment was wrongfully enhanced. Brown’s lawyer declined to comment.


South Dakota
Woman accused of stealing from funeral fund
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — A South Dakota woman is accused of stealing thousands of dollars raised to pay funeral expenses for a friend’s daughter.

Thirty-three-year-old Steph­a­nie Lea Blaine of Sioux Falls is charged with grand theft, a felony that carries a maximum five years in prison.

Court documents say Blaine raised about $3,900 online to help her friend with expenses. The mother checked with the funeral home and hospital where her daughter was treated and discovered no payments had been made. She informed the online fundraising website gofundme.com.

The Argus Leader reports court documents say gofundme. com froze the account after discovering that Blaine had made nine withdrawals.

The website reimbursed the grieving mother.