Florida
Teacher accused of recording students changing clothes
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) - Authorities in Florida have arrested a 49-year-old high school teacher who they say placed two camera phones in a changing room to secretly record female students undressing.
Hillsborough County Sheriff's spokeswoman Crystal Clark said in a news release that Bloomingdale Senior High School fashion design teacher Mark Ackett told deputies he put the cameras in a classroom where students were changing for a class assignment. He was arrested Tuesday on one count of video voyeurism.
A 17-year-old student told investigators she was changing clothes when she noticed an electronic recording device. She says she immediately got dressed and reported the incident to school administrators. School officials began investigating and notified the sheriff's office.
Investigators say Ackett admitted he recorded students while they changed.
A lawyer isn't listed on jail records.
Nebraska
State's top court: Voters to decide on expanding Medicaid
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) - Nebraska voters will decide in November whether to expand Medicaid coverage, despite a lawsuit that threatened to knock the issue off the ballot, the state Supreme Court ruled Wednesday.
The court's rejection of a Republican-led lawsuit was a victory for advocates who say a vote favoring expansion would ensure coverage for about 90,000 low-income residents who earn too much to qualify for regular Medicaid but too little to be eligible for assistance under the Affordable Care Act.
Nebraska's Republican-dominated Legislature has rejected six previous attempts to expand Medicaid. Utah and Idaho have similar ballot measures pending.
The lawsuit seeking to overturn the citizen-led drive to put the issue on the ballot was filed by state Sen. Lydia Brasch and former state Sen. Mark Christensen, both Republicans who helped derail similar bills in the Legislature. Republican Gov. Pete Ricketts opposes expanding Medicaid as well, arguing the state can't afford it without diverting money from other services or raising taxes.
State officials last month certified nearly 105,000 signatures from the ballot drive, far more than the 84,269 that were needed. Petition circulators also met a requirement that the signatures come from different parts of the state.
Many residents who fall into the so-called coverage gap work in service jobs with no benefits, such as hotel, fast-food and construction workers.
Iowa
Police: Woman bound 3 kids' hands, feet to control them
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - A Des Moines woman is accused of binding her children by the hands or feet to keep them under control.
Polk County court records say 38-year-old Jessica Henderson is charged with child endangerment.
Henderson told Des Moines station KCCI that her friend bound the children when she was in another room.
School officials contacted police last month about a photograph taken in March that shows the children tied up on the floor. Authorities haven't said who took the photograph.
Police Sgt. Paul Parizek says the children aged 9, 5 and 4 years were taken to a hospital but had suffered no significant injuries.
Henderson's next court hearing is scheduled for Oct. 22.
New York
Judge on probation for previous conviction faces new charge
ROCHESTER, N.Y. (AP) - An embattled New York judge has been indicted on a weapons charge while she remains on probation for a drunken driving conviction.
Rochester City Court Judge Leticia Astacio was indicted Tuesday on the felony charge in Monroe County. The Democrat and Chronicle reports Astacio is accused of trying to purchase a shotgun at a sporting goods store in Henrietta.
The Commission on Judicial Conduct previously recommended that Astacio be removed. New York's highest court is weighing her future.
The judge has not heard cases since her 2016 arrest. The terms of Astacio's probation prohibit her from possessing a firearm.
Her arraignment is expected next week.
Astacio's attorney, Mark Foti, says the indictment is "inconsistent with the law."
New Mexico
Attorney: Man received unfair trial in officer's death
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) - The New Mexico Supreme Court has heard arguments that a man sentenced to serve life in prison in the 2015 killing of a police officer received an unfair trial.
An attorney for Andrew Romero argued Tuesday that the jury was tainted during his trial because four jurors indicated they had been exposed to some media coverage resulting from the shooting that killed Rio Rancho Officer Gregg Nigel Benner.
KRQE reports that Romero's attorney argued that none of the 12 jurors should have been exposed to media headlines in the case.
Romero was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole, plus 60 years, in 2016. His trial was held in Los Lunas, about 40 miles south of Rio Rancho, because of the amount of local media coverage the case received.
Maryland
Dismissal of lawsuit over judge's order to stun man upheld
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - The dismissal of a lawsuit against a Maryland judge who ordered a deputy to shock a defendant has been upheld by a federal appeals court.
The Daily Record reports the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed on Monday a U.S. District judge's dismissal of the suit citing "judicial immunity."
The decision notes Robert Nalley's actions were "outrageous and unlawful" and that the former Charles County Circuit Court judge was convicted of a federal civil rights offense and excused from judicial service.
Delvon King sued Nalley after Nalley demanded King's stun cuff be activated to quiet him during a 2014 gun charge hearing.
King's attorney Steven Silverman says they're considering an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.
The Maryland attorney general's office represented Nalley. It didn't return The Record's messages seeking comment.
Published: Thu, Sep 13, 2018
