National Roundup

California
Man convicted of killing student during burglary
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A Los Angeles County Superior Court jury has convicted a San Joaquin Valley man of killing a UCLA student whose body was discovered after a fire in her Westwood apartment.

Alberto Hinojosa Medina of Fresno was convicted Tuesday of first-degree murder, and the jury also found a special-circumstance allegation of murder during a burglary to be true.

The 24-year-old defendant was also convicted of arson, two counts of first-degree burglary and animal cruelty.

Prosecutors say Medina burglarized an apartment on Sept. 21, 2015, went into a second apartment and fatally stabbed 21-year-old Andrea DelVesco, then set her apartment on fire. DelVesco was a fourth-year student from Austin, Texas.

Medina will be sentenced July 20. Another defendant previously pleaded guilty to burglary and being an accessory after the fact.

Illinois
Man accused of painting swastikas on graves, homes
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. (AP) — A man accused of painting swastikas on more than 200 gravestones at a southern Illinois cemetery has been charged with criminal damage, institutional vandalism and hate crimes.

Aside from the alleged vandalism at the Sunset Hill Cemetery in Glen Carbon, Timothy V. McLean is accused of daubing the Nazi symbol on houses, cars and mailboxes there and in nearby Edwardsville over the Memorial Day weekend.

The Belleville News-Democrat reports that the 34-year-old McLean is also suspected of painting swastikas on area churches in April.

McLean is being held on two $100,000 bonds at the Madison County Jail in Edwardsville, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) northeast of St. Louis, Missouri.

Florida
Deputies: Officer threatened to kill, rape to get nude pics
ORANGE CITY, Fla. (AP) — A Florida police officer is charged with threatening to kill a woman and her 5-year-old brother, and to rape her sister if she didn’t send him nude photos of herself.

The Daytona Beach News-Journal reports that 25-year-old Orange City officer Joshua Fancher resigned Tuesday after his arrest by Volusia County sheriff’s deputies on charges of making terroristic threats. He had been an officer since December.

An arrest warrant from Lowndes County, Georgia, says Fancher began threatening the woman in January through Instagram and text messages.

Local media reports Fancher was being held without bail at the Volusia County jail.

South Carolina
Father accused of killing 5 kids to use insanity defense at trial
LEXINGTON, S.C. (AP) — A South Carolina man accused of killing his five children is planning to use an insanity defense in his upcoming murder trial.

News outlets report that attorneys for Timothy Ray Jones Jr. have notified prosecutors of their intent for his trial set to begin October 15.

Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against Jones on five counts of murder.

Authorities said the 36-year-old father killed his children at his Lexington home in 2014, put their bodies in plastic trash bags and drove for nine days around the Southeast before leaving them on a hillside in Camden, Alabama.

Jones was stopped at a DUI checkpoint in Mississippi, where authorities said they found blood in his vehicle and handwritten notes about killing and mutilating bodies.

Arkansas
10 states back court fight over lawmaker testimony
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Ten states back Arkansas’ argument that legislators should not be forced to provide documents or testify regarding a state law that prevents cities and counties from banning discrimination against LGBT people.

The states on Tuesday asked to file a brief in support of Arkansas before the state Supreme Court, which last year halted efforts by the university city of Fayetteville and the American Civil Liberties Union to seek the documents and testimony from the two legislators who sponsored the 2015 law. The states requesting to file the brief are Texas, Alabama, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Missouri, Oklahoma and Kentucky.

The Arkansas Supreme Court struck down Fayetteville’s anti-discrimination ordinance last year, saying it violates the law. But justices didn’t rule on the constitutionality of the law itself.

Delaware
Man who befriended undercover cop on Facebook loses appeal
DOVER, Del. (AP) — Dela­ware’s Supreme Court has rejected an appeal from a felon convicted on gun charges after accepting a Facebook “friend” request from an undercover police officer.

A court panel on Tuesday said a detective’s viewing of 40-year-old Terrance Everett’s Facebook page did not violate constitutional prohibitions against illegal searches.

Everett was sentenced as a habitual offender last year to 15 years in prison after being convicted of possession of a firearm by a person prohibited.

Everett was arrested in 2015 after accepting a friend request about two years earlier from a detective using a fictitious Facebook profile.

The detective then used information gained from Everett’s posts, including a photo of showing a handgun on a nightstand, to obtain a search warrant for Everett’s house, where officers found a loaded 9mm pistol.

Wisconsin
High court says DNA surcharge isn’t punishment
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The state Supreme Court says Wisconsin’s criminal DNA surcharge isn’t punishment.

The 5-0 decision Wednesday stems from a case involving Jamal Williams, who was sentenced to 10 years in prison in 2014 for his role in a 2013 Milwaukee armed robbery that left a man dead.

Williams argued he was improperly required to pay the $250 DNA surcharge, saying when he committed his crimes the surcharge was mandatory only in certain sex crimes.

The Supreme Court found the surcharge isn’t a punishment and therefore imposing it doesn’t violate bans on ex post facto laws.

The court said the Legislature termed the payment a surcharge rather than a fine and it’s intended to cover expanding DNA databanks rather than punish.

Williams’ attorney, Christopher August, didn’t immediately reply to an email.