New Hampshire
Man accused of marrying 4 women pleads guilty
DOVER, N.H. (AP) - A man accused of being married to four women pleaded guilty Monday to bigamy in New Hampshire, but he will avoid jail time if he behaves for the next five years.
Michael Middleton, 43, married a Georgia woman in 2006, an Alabama woman in 2011 and a New Hampshire woman in 2013. That led to the bigamy charge in New Hampshire, but according to court documents, he also married a fourth woman in Kentucky in 2016.
Prosecutors say he used the marriages to gain access to the women's assets. In court Monday, Assistant Strafford County Attorney Michael Rotman read a statement from Middleton's New Hampshire wife, Alicia Grant, who blamed Middleton for her transformation from a compassionate person to someone with a "not-my-problem" attitude.
She said she was "satisfied" that he was facing consequences for his actions.
"When we got married six years ago, what I thought I had found in him was a life partner, someone that I could face life's ups and downs with, someone my children could look up to," Grant wrote. "Instead I got six years of pain and misery as I tried to free myself from the prison of his lies and manipulations."
Middleton was arrested in Ohio in February. He also has faced domestic violence charges in Maine.
As part of his 12-month suspended sentence, Middleton was ordered to undergo screenings for domestic abuse and substance abuse, and comply with any recommended counseling or programs. Neither he nor his attorney spoke at the hearing other than to answer brief questions from the judge.
After the hearing, Middleton was asked if he was sorry for his actions. He told reporters he felt "compassion and understanding" for his New Hampshire wife, Grant, after hearing her letter.
"It was a good outcome," he said. "I hope to move forward with my life and everything, and abide by everything that was handed down to me."
North Carolina
Republican branded as Democratic plant sues GOP for benefits
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - A candidate for the Republican nomination in a still-vacant North Carolina congressional seat is suing the GOP after being barred from debates and access to internal party data. Republicans call him a Democratic plant.
Candidate Chris Anglin of Raleigh said Monday he wants a state court to force the state GOP to give him access to benefits provided nine others in the 9th congressional district field.
The state GOP didn't comment Monday. Its leaders noted previously Anglin was a registered Democrat before running for state Supreme Court as a Republican. The incumbent Republican lost that court seat to a Democrat last year.
The May 14 congressional primary election was ordered after an operative working for the Republican who appeared to win last year's election was accused of illegally handling mail-in ballots.
Florida
Miami's federal police monitor wants to end oversight early
MIAMI (AP) - Federal oversight of the Miami Police following a series of fatal shootings may end a year early.
The Justice Department appointed former Tampa police chief Jane Castor to oversee the Miami police for four years after finding a pattern of excessive use of force. Castor was elected mayor of Tampa last week and is telling the Miami Herald she believes the federal requirements have been satisfied.
The Justice Department hasn't said whether it supports an early end to the agreement, which followed 33 police shootings from 2008 to 2011, including the fatal shootings of seven black men.
Castor was paid $150 an hour as an independent monitor. She says she'll continue her work pro bono if necessary after swearing in as mayor on May 1.
Illinois
Report: Illinois gunman vowed to kill others if he was fired
CHICAGO (AP) - The gunman who opened fire at a suburban Chicago manufacturing plant in February, killing five colleagues before he was killed by police, told a co-worker the morning of the shooting that if he was fired he was going to kill every other employee and "blow police up," prosecutors said in a report released Monday.
The Henry Pratt Co. employee told authorities in Aurora that he knew Gary Martin carried a firearm in his vehicle, but that he didn't report Martin's comments to his superiors because he routinely made "off the wall" statements and that he didn't believe Martin would do anything violent, according to the nine-page Kane County State's Attorney's office report.
While it has widely been reported that Martin had been fired, the report marks the first time officials have explained that Martin's firing came during a Feb. 15 disciplinary meeting that was called because of his refusal to war safety glasses. It also details the events immediately before the shooting, including the fact that Martin could be seen "walking over to his workstation to retrieve something," putting on a hoodie and going into the bathroom just before the meeting.
The report that details the shooting shows that after Martin was told by Clayton Parks, the company's human resources manager, that he had been fired, Martin used profanity and then began firing. Parks was among those killed.
The reports also gives an account of the police response, beginning with officers being dispatched to the scene at 1:24 p.m., the five-minute period in which five officers were shot inside and outside the building, and the search for Martin that ended with him being fatally shot by law enforcement.
It also includes an autopsy that revealed Martin was shot six times, including once in the middle of his forehead.
The report concludes that the officers who fired upon Martin were justified in using deadly force.
Montana
BNSF ordered to pay $1M more in wrongful termination lawsuit
KALISPELL, Mont. (AP) - A federal judge has ordered BNSF Railway to pay an additional $1 million after reaffirming a $2.1 million jury award in a Montana man's wrongful termination lawsuit.
The Flathead Beacon reports Judge Dana Christensen last week denied BNSF's motion for a new trial and ordered the railway to pay Zachary Wooten's attorneys' fees and other court costs.
The Columbia Falls man sued BNSF claiming it violated federal law protecting whistleblowers and people injured on the job after he suffered severe injuries to his wrist and arm in the Whitefish rail yard in July 2015.
A federal jury awarded Wooten for lost wages, pain and suffering and punitive damages in November 2018.
A company spokesperson did not immediately provide comment to the newspaper.
Published: Tue, Apr 30, 2019
