Oregon
Judge throws out 2 charges against indicted FBI agent
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - A federal judge has thrown out two of the five charges against an FBI agent who allegedly lied about firing two rifle shots at the truck of an Oregon refuge occupation spokesman at a roadblock in January 2016.
The Oregonian/OregonLive reports U.S. District Judge Robert E. Jones on Monday struck one count of making a false statement and one count of obstruction of justice against W. Joseph Astarita.
Astarita in a trial set to start next week still faces two counts of making a false statement and one count of obstruction of justice in the incident in which he allegedly fired two errant shots at the truck driven by Robert "LaVoy" Finicum.
Astarita has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Finicum was a spokesman for the Ammon Bundy-led group that took over the refuge to oppose federal control of land in the Western U.S.
Virginia
Convictions upheld for women who raised money for al-Shabab
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - A federal appeals court has upheld the convictions and prison sentences of two women who used an internet chat room to raise several thousand dollars for the Somali militant group al-Shabab.
Muna Osman Jama of Reston, Virginia, and Hinda Osman Dhirane of Kent, Washington, were convicted of providing support to a terrorist organization. Jama was sentenced to 12 years, while Dhirane received 11 years.
In their appeal, Jama and Dhirane argued that a federal judge was wrong to deny their motion to suppress evidence and to apply certain sentencing enhancements.
The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected those arguments in a ruling Monday.
The women did not deny their sympathies for al-Shabab, but their lawyers argued that the money went to people who were not clearly defined members.
Louisiana
Order barring executions is extended by year
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - A federal judge's order on Monday bars Louisiana from carrying out any death sentences for at least one more year.
At the request of state authorities, U.S. District Judge Shelly Dick agreed to impose a 12-month extension in an order temporarily staying all executions in Louisiana.
A lawsuit challenging the state's lethal injection protocols has prohibited Louisiana from carrying out any death sentences since 2014. Its last execution was in 2010.
Drug shortages have forced Louisiana's corrections department to rewrite its execution plan several times since 2010. Under the current execution protocols, the state's primary method is a single-drug injection of pentobarbital, a powerful sedative. The alternative method is a two-drug combination of the painkiller hydromorphone and the sedative midazolam. The corrections department has none of those drugs in its inventory, according to department spokesman Ken Pastorick.
In a court filing last Wednesday, an attorney for the state said litigating the case now would be "a waste of resources and time." Jeffrey Cody, the state's lawyer, asked Judge Dick to extend the court-ordered halt in executions for one additional year "because the facts and issues involved in this proceeding continue to be in a fluid state."
Dick's order suspends the litigation through at least July 18, 2019.
Louisiana has 71 inmates on death row. The state's last execution was in January 2010, when prison officials put to death Gerald Bordelon, who was convicted of killing his 12-year-old stepdaughter in 2002.
Georgia
2-year sentence for teacher who fired gun in classroom
DALTON, Ga. (AP) - A teacher who fired a gun inside a Georgia classroom has been sentenced to two years behind bars.
News outlets report that 53-year-old Jesse Randal Davidson was sentenced Tuesday after pleading guilty in a Whitfield County courtroom to multiple charges, including criminal damage to property in the first degree.
Once released from prison, Davidson will be on probation for eight years.
Davidson had been a social studies teacher at Dalton High School when he barricaded himself inside a locked classroom in February and fired a single shot from a handgun.
No students were in the classroom at the time, and Davidson surrendered after a school resource officer talked him out of his classroom.
The incident happened two weeks after 17 were killed in a shooting at a Florida high school.
Texas
Report: State saw increase in student arrests for threats
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) - A new report shows a sharp increase in arrests of Texas students for threatening violence in the wake of the deadly high school shooting in February in Parkland, Florida.
The report was released Tuesday by Texas Appleseed, a social justice advocacy group, and other organizations.
It says that according to Texas Juvenile Justice Department data, more than 1,200 arrests were made from January through May for terroristic threats. That compares to 473 such arrests during the same period last year.
The report says there were 259 arrests for exhibition of firearms from January through May, compared to 37 in those months last year. The offense doesn't require possessing a firearm, and the report says most of the students accused didn't have one.
The report says its review suggests many schools aren't distinguishing between students who pose a threat and those who don't.
South Dakota
Mom sentenced for killing son who wet the bed
RAPID CITY, S.D. (AP) - A South Dakota woman accused of beating her 2-year-old son to death after he wet his bed has been sentenced to 40 years in federal prison.
Thirty-year-old Katrina Shangreaux, of Porcupine on the Pine Ridge Reservation, pleaded guilty in March to second-degree murder in the July 2016 death of 2-year-old Kylen Shangreaux. She was sentenced Tuesday.
The Rapid City Journal reports that Shangreaux admitted assaulting the toddler with a studded belt. She also threw him to the ground, kicked him in the abdomen and head, and bit him several times.
Shangreaux's mother, Sonya Dubray, has pleaded not guilty to being an accessory and hindering the investigation.
The boy's father is serving time in federal prison for abuse and neglect of a son with a different woman.
Published: Thu, Jul 19, 2018
