National Roundup

Idaho
Man accused of throwing bomb at courthouse
POCATELLO, Idaho (AP) — Authorities arrested an Idaho man on Thursday who was in possession of a Molotov cocktail fire bomb — the same type of explosive that was thrown at the Bannock County Courthouse the day before.

The Idaho State Journal reports Pocatello police believe 29-year-old Christopher Griffin threw the first explosive on Wednesday and was en route to throw another when he was arrested.
Courthouse camera footage shows a person who police believe was Griffin throwing the fire bomb that landed on a sidewalk. Nobody was injured.

Investigators found out that Griffin filled a glass bottle with gasoline early Wednesday morning at a gas station. When Griffin returned to the same gas station early Thursday morning to fill up another bottle, someone tipped off Pocatello police, who caught up with him.

Oregon
Man appeals murder sentence for 6th time
WILSONVILLE, Ore. (AP) — An Oregon man has appealed his 1991 murder sentence for the sixth time.

The Oregonian/OregonLive reports 41-year-old Todd Davilla had his sixth sentencing on Thursday for the murder of Lisa Flormoe after the state Court of Appeals overturned his sentence last August.

The court did not make a decision in the case, so Davilla will be back in a few weeks to hear his sentence.

The court overturned Davilla’s 50-year sentence last August, ruling the judge did not sufficiently establish during a 2012 sentencing why the crime justified a greater sentence than the one determined by state guidelines. Davilla’s presumptive sentence for the murder was 10 years.

In January 1992, Davilla pleaded guilty to murder, first-degree burglary and first-degree attempted rape. He was 16 years old when he committed the crime and was charged as an adult.

Georgia
Judge dismisses lawsuit in teen’s gym-mat death
VALDOSTA, Ga. (AP) — A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by the parents of a Georgia teenager found dead at school inside a rolled up gym mat.

News outlets report that U.S. District Court Judge W. Louis Sands filed an order Tuesday saying the parents of 17-year-old Kendrick Johnson were negligent in filing paperwork to the court and in filing for extensions. As such, the court dismissed their claims against 39 defendants without prejudice.

Sands also said the plaintiffs’ attorney was ignorant of a significant legal change tightening deadlines for certain paperwork.

Classmates at Lowndes High School in Valdosta found Johnson’s body inside an upright mat on Jan. 11, 2013. Investigators concluded he died in a freak accident. However, Johnson’s parents say classmates killed their son and law enforcement and school officials covered up the crime.

Ohio
Jury calls for death penalty in slaying of woman
LEBANON, Ohio (AP) — An Ohio jury has recommended that a man be put to death for abducting his estranged girlfriend from Kentucky and killing her along an Ohio interstate.

A jury in southwest Ohio’s Warren County deliberated several hours Thursday before making the death penalty recommendation for 43-year-old Terry Froman, of Brookport, Illinois. The same jury found Froman guilty of aggravated murder and kidnapping Tuesday in the September 2014 slaying of 34-year-old Kimberly Thomas.

A judge will decide whether to impose the death penalty or a prison sentence.

Prosecutors said Froman became vengeful when Thomas ordered him out of her Mayfield, Kentucky, home. Prosecutors say Froman abducted Thomas from Kentucky after fatally shooting
Thomas’ 17-year-old son, Eli Mohney.

Froman faces charges in Kentucky for Mohney’s death.

Pennsylvania
$870K awarded to man whose doctor removed wrong testicle
HUNTINGDON, Pa. (AP) — A Pennsylvania jury has awarded $870,000 to a man whose urologist removed the wrong testicle.

Fifty-four-year-old Steven Haines sued Dr. V. Spencer Long, who Haines went to see in 2013 after suffering pain in his right testicle for 15 years.

Long performed surgery at J.C. Blair Memorial Hospital in Huntingdon, but removed Haines’ healthy left testicle.

A Huntingdon County jury on Wednesday found Long was “recklessly indifferent” and awarded Haines $620,000 for pain and suffering and $250,000 in punitive damages. Long declined to comment Friday.

Haines’ lawyer says the Mount Union man remains in pain, but has a “debilitating fear” of seeking further treatment for his problem. The attorney says Haines will need testosterone treatment for the rest of his life if he loses the remaining testicle.

North Dakota
Man sentenced for Samurai-sword slaying
COLSTRIP, Mont. (AP) — A North Dakota man accused of killing his friend with a Samurai-style sword in Montana has been sentenced to six years in prison after accepting a plea agreement for one voluntary manslaughter charge.

The Billings Gazette reports 28-year-old Tyson Jo Lonebear was sentenced Thursday. He was originally charged with second-degree murder in the May 2016 death of 21-year-old Chay Little.

The sword stabbing occurred on a night where both Lonebear and Little had been using methamphetamine. The two began fighting and it ended in Lonebear stabbing Little in the chest.

U.S. District Judge Susan Watters said Little might have assaulted Lonebear, but stabbing him was unjustified.

Ohio
Boy charged in woman’s slaying found competent
URBANA, Ohio (AP) — A juvenile court judge says a 14-year-old Ohio boy accused of killing his father’s longtime girlfriend is competent to stand trial.

The teen is charged as a juvenile with aggravated murder and murder in the April 6 slaying of 40-year-old Heidi Fay Taylor. The boy told a 911 dispatcher an alternate personality stabbed and shot Taylor at the home she shared with him and his father in Mad River Township, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) west of Columbus.

A Champaign County judge made the ruling Thursday. The boy’s attorney the teen has mental health issues but the defense didn’t object to the ruling.

The judge hasn’t yet decided the prosecutor’s request to transfer the case to adult court.

The Associated Press generally doesn’t identify juveniles charged with crimes.