National Roundup

Vermont
Man sentenced to 10 years for killing daughter’s boyfriend
RUTLAND, Vt. (AP) — A Vermont farmer has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for killing his daughter’s boyfriend and burying his body beneath a manure pile.

The Rutland Herald reports that 62-year-old Stephen Pelletier pleaded no contest last year to second-degree murder in a plea deal.

Prosecutors say the Castleton man shot 25-year-old Michael Wisell in the back and head on Pelletier’s farm in May 2014. Investigators say Pelletier told them Wisell had been physically abusive to his daughter.

Judge Cortland Corsones said Tuesday that he was initially inclined to reject the plea deal to send a message that people should not take the law into their own hands.

He noted that Pelletier never sought police help or a restraining order before shooting Wisell, who lived with the family.

New York
More civilians use video in police complaints
NEW YORK (AP) — New York City’s independent police review board says civilians are increasingly using video evidence in complaints against New York Police Department officers.

The Wall Street Journal reports that 794 of the 4,426 complaints closed by the Civilian Complaint Review Board in 2016 included some form of video evidence. In 2012, there were just 43 closed complaints with video evidence out of 4,268.

The review board says recordings help increase transparency when examining cases of alleged police misconduct.

The First Amendment protects civilian recording. But officers can legally stop people who are endangering themselves or someone else while recording or interfering with police activity.

The board is recommending training for officers on the subject.

The New York Police Department declined to comment on the study.

Pennsylvania
Pediatrician on trial on charge he assaulted patient’s mom
ALLENTOWN, Pa. (AP) — The trial of a Pennsylvania pediatrician charged with indecently assaulting a woman while examining her infant has opened with his defense attorney claiming at least one of his accusers is in it for the money.

Seven women have made similar accusations against 43-year-old Dr. Jarret Patton and will testify at the trial that opened Tuesday. But Patton faces a criminal charge involving only one of the women.

Patton is accused of rubbing against the 32-year-old woman during her child’s exam in February 2016. Prosecutors claim the doctor was sexually aroused by the act.

But Patton’s attorney says the 6-foot-5, 250-pound physician accidentally made contact with the woman in a cramped hospital examination room.

Patton’s medical license was suspended after the charge was filed, but it has been reinstated.

New Jersey
Man convicted of killing roommate with steak knife
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — A New Jersey man has been convicted of fatally stabbing his roommate after the victim told him he had to move out because he wasn’t paying rent.

Essex County prosecutors say Edwin Andujar was convicted Tuesday of murder. Prosecutors say he stabbed Thomas Parent 12 times with a steak knife while Parent was in a wheelchair after returning from a rehabilitation center.

Andujar said the stabbing in August 2014 was in self-defense, but the jury rejected that claim.

He will be sentenced on Aug. 17. He faces 30 years to life in prison.

Ohio
Judge sentences teens to write a book report
CANTON, Ohio (AP) — An Ohio judge hoping to send a message has sentenced two teenagers to jail time — and writing a five-page book report.

Stark County Judge Frank Forchione on Monday sentenced 19-year-olds Jonas Rohr and Kyle Bodager to read a book about World War II or the Vietnam War and write a report.

Police say the two teens and another juvenile were shooting during target practice last fall when a stray bullet struck a man mowing his lawn.

The man was hit in the face, but survived.

Rohr and Bodager have been convicted of discharging a firearm near prohibited premises.

Forchione tells WJW-TV he wanted to teach the teens to make better judgments so they won’t be back in his courtroom.

Mississippi
County will stop jailing people without lawyers
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A Mississippi county is agreeing to appoint lawyers for poor defendants immediately after their arrest and to consider alternatives to money bail.

U.S. District Judge Henry T. Wingate approved the settlement Tuesday, months after the parties had agreed.

The agreement settles a class action lawsuit filed on behalf of two men who say they were held for months in Scott County without a lawyer or bail.

The American Civil Liberties Union and the MacArthur Justice Center sued in 2014 on behalf of two men jailed for months without being formally charged or being appointed a lawyer.

Judges previously refused to appoint lawyers until people were indicted, when sometimes they weren’t indicted for months or years.

The agreement also affects Leake, Neshoba and Newton counties, part of the same judicial circuit.

Iowa
Man charged in kidnap-torture case also facing explosive charge
MESERVEY, Iowa (AP) — A northern Iowa man accused of kidnapping and torturing his girlfriend is facing an explosives charge.

The Mason City Globe Gazette reports that 41-year-old Charles Albright is charged with unauthorized possession of offensive weapons, a felony. A court filing says Albright broke Iowa law in Cerro Gordo County by possessing “a bomb, explosive or combination of such parts comprising an offensive weapon.”

Albright is scheduled to go on trial July 11 on kidnapping and willful injury charges in Franklin County. Court records say he held his girlfriend for 12 to 14 hours on Oct. 7 in Meservey (meh-ZUR’-vee), where she was punched, slammed against a floor, shocked with a stun gun and bitten by a dog.

She told officers Albright then took her to Sheffield and continued attacking her.