National Roundup

Ohio
Coroner’s report sheds little light on North Korea detainee’s death
CINCINNATI (AP) — A coroner’s report gives a cause of death for a young Ohioan detained for more than a year by North Korea, but couldn’t determine what led to the fatal injury.

Otto Warmbier’s parents told a Fox News show Tuesday that North Korea tortured the 22-year-old University of Virginia student. President Donald Trump tweeted after their TV appearance: “Otto was tortured beyond belief by North Korea.”

A Hamilton County coroner’s report dated Sept. 11 shows cause of death as brain damage from oxygen deprivation through “an unknown insult more than a year prior to death.”

The Cincinnati Enquirer first reported the finding.

North Korea has denied mistreating Warmbier, sentenced to 15 years of hard labor in March 2016 for allegedly stealing a propaganda poster. He died in Cincinnati in June, days after his release.

Massachusetts
AG: Dealership sold lemons under unfavorable loan terms
BOSTON (AP) — The Massachusetts attorney general has sued a car dealership that allegedly sold lemons to hundreds of customers under predatory loan terms.

The suit filed Tuesday against J.D. Byrider alleges the dealer sold defective and sometimes inoperable vehicles with high cost loans at four Massachusetts locations — Boston, Brockton, Dartmouth and Springfield.

The attorney general says hundreds of customers have returned vehicles to J.D. Byrider for repair within three months of purchase due to problems with the engine, electrical system, transmission, brakes, or drive train.

The complaint alleges more than half of J.D. Byrider’s deals fail or end in repossession, causing long-term economic harm to consumers.

The company said it is “looking into the facts of this matter carefully” and is “committed to working with regulators to solve concerns and improve our business.”

Delaware
Judge to hear arguments over prison smuggling
DOVER, Del. (AP) — A federal judge has scheduled a hearing next month on a defense motion to dismiss an indictment against a former Delaware prison guard charged with accepting bribes to smuggle contraband to inmates.

Lorraine Mosley is accused of taking a $100 bribe to smuggle a cellphone to an inmate at the women’s prison in New Castle. She is charged with conspiracy and “extortion under color of official right.”

Mosley’s public defenders argue that the allegations against her do not qualify as an “official act” because the alleged receipt of a cellphone in exchange for money is not a formal exercise of governmental power under federal law.

Two other former prison guards face sentencing next month after pleading guilty in a similar smuggling case at the Vaughn maximum-security prison in Smyrna.

Florida
Neo-Nazi group founder pleads guilty to charges
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — The leader of a small Florida-based neo-Nazi group has pleaded guilty to charges associated with having explosives in his apartment’s garage.

Court documents show that Brandon Russell entered his pleas on Wednesday in a federal courtroom in Tampa. He faces up to 11 years in federal prison on charges of possessing illegal firearms and a destructive device, and storing explosives.

The bomb-making materials were discovered during a murder investigation involving Russell’s roommate, Devon Arthurs.

Arthurs is charged with two counts of first-degree, premeditated murder in the deaths of two other Tampa roommates, Andrew Oneschuk and Jeremy Himmelman. All three were at one time members of Atomwaffen, the white supremacist group Russell admitted to starting.

In entering his guilty pleas, Russell filed an objection to the allegation he intended to assemble a bomb.

Wisconsin
Paramedic charged with assaulting patient in ambulance
WAUSAU, Wis. (AP) — A Wausau paramedic has resigned after he was charged with groping a female patient while treating her in an ambulance.

The firefighter and paramedic, Clifford Heiser, was arrested after DNA results came back. City officials commended the woman for coming forward and said they will review policies and procedures, including hiring practices. Fire Chief Tracey Kujawa says one possibility is putting video cameras in ambulances.

Heiser appeared in Marathon County Circuit Court Tuesday where a judge set a $25,000 signature bond. Court records don’t list an attorney for Heiser. He’s charged with third- and fourth-degree sexual assault and misconduct in public office.

New Jersey
Police: Man arrested twice in 1 day for DWI
RAMSEY, N.J. (AP) — A 71-year-old New Jersey man was arrested twice in one day for driving while intoxicated.

NorthJersey.com reports Richard Haskell was first arrested Saturday morning when police in Ramsey found him sleeping in his parked car near a pond with a bottle of alcohol between his legs. He was given a field sobriety test and failed. He was later released.

That afternoon, police say Haskell drove to the police department to see if his car from the earlier arrest would be released. Officers performed another field sobriety test, and Haskell’s blood-alcohol level was still over the legal limit.

He was charged with a second DWI and given a court date.

No attorney information is available.

North Dakota
Convicted wife killer appealing no-contact order with children
MINOT, N.D. (AP) — A Minot man convicted of killing his ex-wife by stabbing her 44 times in the neck, face and chest is appealing a judge’s order that forbids him from having contact with their two children while they’re still minors.

Richie Wilder Jr. was convicted last December of murder in the November 2015 death of 30-year-old Angila Wilder. He was sentenced in May to life in prison.

Judge Gary Lee originally ordered a lifetime ban on contact between Wilder and his daughter and son. He amended the order this month to allow the children to make up their own minds about contact with their father when they become adults.

The Minot Daily News reports that Wilder is appealing to the North Dakota Supreme Court. He’s also appealing his conviction.