Montana
Neo-Nazi website founder's lawyers backing out of case
MISSOULA, Mont. (AP) - A neo-Nazi website operator's attorneys intend to withdraw from representing him in a lawsuit over an anti-Semitic "troll storm" that terrorized a Montana real estate agent's family.
One of those lawyers, Marc Randazza, told The Associated Press on Friday that his decision stems from his client's refusal to comply with a court order requiring him to be present in the U.S. for a deposition.
The Daily Stormer founder Andrew Anglin says he lives abroad and claims it's too dangerous for him to travel to the U.S. However, U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeremiah Lynch ruled that Anglin's personal safety concerns are "factually unsupported."
In an order Monday, Lynch warned Anglin that he faces a default judgment against him if he fails to appear for an April 30 deposition.
New Jersey
Man convicted in compound bow-and-arrow shooting death
CAMDEN, N.J. (AP) - A man accused of using a compound bow and arrow to shoot and kill another man has been convicted of aggravated manslaughter.
Timothy Canfield was also found guilty Thursday of hindering and a weapons count. The 31-year-old Berlin man now faces up to 55 years in prison when he's sentenced May 16.
Camden County prosecutors say Canfield shot Kereti Paulsen in January 2013.
They say the 25-year-old Cape May Court House man was walking away from a verbal argument that had involved several people when Canfield shot him. An arrow pierced one of Paulsen's veins and he bled to death.
Prosecutors say Canfield made a 911 call after the shooting and pretended to be Paulsen. They also said Canfield provided false information and hid the compound bow and arrows.
Canfield said he acted in self-defense.
Florida
Police: Youth pastor threatened girl's family for sex
PEMBROKE PINES, Fla. (AP) - Authorities say a 38-year-old youth pastor at a now defunct South Florida church coerced a girl into having sex with him by threatening to turn her family in to immigration officials.
The SunSentinel reports Luis Clarke assaulted the 15-year-old girl over six months in 2016 and 2017 while he was a part-time youth pastor at Abrazo tu Sueno Church in Pembroke Pines. Clarke was arrested Thursday. He's charged with 25 counts of sexual battery of a minor and false imprisonment.
Pembroke Pines police Capt. Al Xiques says Clarke once forced a 15-year-old boy to watch him assault the girl. The boy went to police on April 3.
The report says Clarke admitted to two sexual encounters with the girl.
A lawyer for Clark wasn't listed on jail records.
Connecticut
Man who killed wife in 2009 weeks after wedding sentenced
NEW LONDON, Conn. (AP) - The 10-year legal saga of a Connecticut man who pleaded guilty to fatally shooting his wife weeks after their wedding has ended, even though he continues to maintain her death was an accident.
Chihan Eric Chyung was sentenced Thursday to 25 years in prison for the June, 2009 death of 46-year-old Paige Bennett in their Norwich home.
He pleaded guilty in February to murder under the Alford doctrine, meaning he disputed the prosecution's case.
The 55-year-old Chyung was convicted of murder and manslaughter in 2014, but the verdict was overturned by the state Supreme Court, which ruled he couldn't be convicted of both.
Chyung has long maintained that his handgun accidentally discharged as he was packing to leave home during an argument, and he restated that assertion Thursday.
Washington
Man sentenced to 9 years in prison for strangling mother
PORT ORCHARD, Wash. (AP) - After pleading guilty to attempted first-degree murder for strangling his mother, a suspect praised Kitsap County officials for the mental health care he received in jail.
The Kitsap Sun reports that Michael Dean Thayer told the judge Thursday that he's safe from himself now, and every day he gets better.
He was then sentenced to 19 years in prison.
With the time he has served in jail and discounts for good behavior, he won't be released until he is 80.
Eighty-nine year old Frances Thayer survived the attack and recovered enough to leave the rehabilitation facility but then died about five months after the attack.
Deputy Prosecutor Phil Bacus said if the case would have gone to trial, prosecutors would have added a charge of first-degree murder, but proving she died from the attack would have been difficult.
Tennessee
Attorney gets prison for stealing $1M from clients
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - A Tennessee attorney has been sentenced to 92 months in prison for stealing more than $1.36 million from clients. The majority was from the daughter of a state trooper killed in the line of duty.
The U.S. Attorney's Office in Nashville says Jackie Garton served as the trustee for several estates. In 2009, he began withdrawing funds from those accounts for his own use. His purchases included a Jaguar automobile, a boat and a house.
The theft was uncovered after the trooper's daughter wanted to use her funds to open a bookstore and discovered her account had been depleted.
Garton admitted to stealing about $1.2 million from the woman. He pleaded guilty to wire fraud, tax fraud and identity theft.
Garton was sentenced on Monday and taken into custody.
Virginia
Inmates sue jail, ex-guard convicted of sex assault
NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (AP) - Three former Virginia Peninsula Regional Jail inmates are suing the jail, its former administrator and a former guard convicted of sexual assaulting two of the inmates.
The Daily Press reports the lawsuits were filed between December and April 16. In November, 55-year-old Henry Thomas Rhim was sentenced to prison for the assaults. A third inmate has since come forward and said she was also assaulted.
The lawsuits accuse the jail of failing to keep the women safe. They say the women were molested as Rhim supervised them alone and one lawsuit accuses the jail of allowing guards to sexually abuse inmates while other guards watched.
Superintendent Tony Pham says he can't speak to past administrations, but he's instituted new rules to protect inmates and created a new internal investigations unit.
Published: Mon, Apr 29, 2019
