National Roundup

Washington
Attorney seeks delay in his trial over sexual harassment
TACOMA, Wash. (AP) — A Washington attorney has asked a federal judge to delay his trial over sexual harassment allegations in part because he will be busy campaigning for re-election.

The Peninsula Daily News reports court papers say Clallam County Prosecuting Attorney Mark Nichols and his attorney, Suzanne Michael, asked for the scheduled Oct. 16 trial to be delayed until after the Nov. 6 general election.
Michael says she has a conflicting trial date and Nichols will be in the “heart of an election.”

If the motion is granted, the 10-day trial would be delayed until at least Nov. 9.

Tina Hendrickson, a former office manager in the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Tacoma last year against Nichols alleging he sexually harassed her for two years.

Nichols denies allegations of wrongdoing.

Florida
Lawyer gets prison for role in insurance fraud case
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — A Florida man has been sentenced to more than a year in prison for his role in a $23 million auto insurance fraud involving chiropractors’ clinics.

The SunSentinel reports 55-year-old Jason Dalley wept in court Monday as a judge sentenced him to spend a year and nine months in prison and pay more than $1.8 million in restitution.

Dalley admitted he was part of a group of clinic owners, chiropractors and attorneys involved in the scheme. 

Court records show the fraud involving clinics in Broward, Palm Beach and Miami-Dade counties brought in at least $23 million from 10 insurance companies between 2010 and 2017.

Dalley ran a personal injury and criminal defense law firm in Boca Raton. He pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit health care, mail and wire fraud.

Connecticut
Sandy Hook families file suit against Infowars’ Alex Jones
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — The families of two children slain in a 2012 elementary school massacre in Newtown, Connecticut, have filed lawsuits against right-wing radio host and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones for claiming the shooting didn’t happen.

The defamation lawsuits were filed late Monday in Texas, the home state of Jones’ media company, Infowars.

Neil Heslin, the father of Jesse Lewis, and Leonard Pozner and Veronique De La Rosa, the parents of Noah Pozner, filed separate lawsuits seeking more than $1 million.

Jesse and Noah were among 20 first-grade students gunned down inside Sandy Hook Elementary School on Dec. 14, 2012. Six educators also were killed.

The lawsuits allege Jones’ insistence that the shooting was staged led others to make death threats against the victims’ families.

Ohio
Court rules televangelist did not violate labor laws at buffet
CUYAHOGA FALLS, Ohio (AP) — A federal appeals court has ruled that an Ohio televangelist did not violate labor laws by urging members of his congregation to volunteer at the church’s for-profit restaurant.

A lower court had ruled churchgoers were effectively employees of Cathedral Buffet, located at Ernest Angley’s church in CuyahogaFalls.

The U.S. Department of Labor argued that Angley coerced people into working by saying refusal could be a sin.

The appeals court said Monday that the law deals with economic coercion, not spiritual coercion. The judges said churchgoers were not employees because they had no expectation of compensation.

The restaurant closed after the lower court said it owed workers nearly $400,000.

Angley’s attorney said he was pleased with the decision. The labor department didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.


Arkansas
Judge rules law allowing dogs in court is unconstitutional
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — An Arkansas judge has ruled that a law allowing child victims of sexual assault to testify while accompanied by a comfort dog is unconstitutional.

The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports that Pulaski County Circuit Judge Wendell Griffen determined Monday that state lawmakers exceeded authority by passing the Courthouse Dogs Child Witness Support Act.

Griffen says the law violates the Arkansas Constitution’s separation of powers clause by holding judiciary authority for courtroom procedure and operations. The clause bans one branch of government from wielding the power of another.

A spokesman for Attorney General Leslie Rutledge disagrees with the ruling, saying the law is constitutional. Prosecutors can appeal the ruling.

Griffen’s ruling comes after defense attorneys filed a motion against having a “certified facility dog” in Perry County court for a sexual assault case.


South Dakota
State Supreme Court upholds man’s murder conviction
ABERDEEN, S.D. (AP) — South Dakota’s Supreme Court has upheld the murder conviction of an Aberdeen man found guilty of fatally beating a friend over a $400 debt.

A jury a year ago convicted 57-year-old Bradley Quist of killing 61-year-old Ron Witchey in May 2015. Quist was sentenced to life in prison.

He appealed, arguing in part that he wasn’t given notice of the coroner’s release of Witchey’s body, which he said deprived him of the opportunity for an independent autopsy.

The American News reports justices ruled there’s no reason a body should be kept for redundant tests or analysis.

Quist also unsuccessfully argued that evidence in the case was lacking and that the jury disregarded his self-defense theory.

Quist called the incident a bar fight, but justices described it as “an unprovoked brutal killing.”