Georgia
Man attacked by veteran's support dog sues over negligence
ATLANTA (AP) - An Alabama man who was attacked by a veteran's emotional support animal while on a Delta Air Lines flight from Atlanta to San Diego is now suing the airline and the veteran.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported Tuesday that Marlin Jackson is accusing the defendants of negligence.
The lawsuit says it happened as the flight was boarding in June 2017. Jackson was in a window seat and the dog was next to him, in the lap of Ronald Kevin Mundy Jr. The attack left Jackson's face permanently scarred.
The lawsuit says Delta didn't verify the dog was trained or met the requirements of a service animal. A police report says the Marine Corps veteran's dog was a chocolate lab pointer mix. Airlines later made changes to policies for emotional support animals.
California
Canadian sentenced for selling encrypted phones to criminals
SAN DIEGO (AP) - A Canadian man who sold encrypted Blackberry smartphones to criminals worldwide that enabled them to sell drugs and even plan murders while avoiding the prying eyes of law enforcement was sentenced Tuesday to nine years in prison.
Vincent Ramos, 41, of Richmond in the Vancouver area was sentenced Tuesday in federal court in San Diego. He pleaded guilty last fall to one count of racketeering conspiracy.
Ramos also was told to forfeit $80 million in earnings, which included homes, international bank account holdings, cryptocurrency and gold coins.
Ramos ran a company called Phantom Secure that offered gutted, uncrackable smartphones that, for a subscription, could send encrypted text messages through a secure network based in Panama and Hong Kong.
The company also could wipe the phones remotely if they were seized.
Prosecutors said Ramos' clients included the Sinaloa drug cartel of Mexico and a global drug-trafficking and illicit gambling organization run by former University of Southern California football player Owen Hanson. Hanson is serving a 21-year prison sentence.
Other clients were Hells Angels in Australia who used them to coordinate several killings, authorities said. Ramos boasted about his wares after seeing a 2014 news report that said use of his encrypted devices by a suspect in one high-profile murder had hampered the investigation.
At least 7,000 of the phones were sold.
"The scope of this case is staggering," Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Young said, calling Ramos' clients "some of the most sophisticated criminals in the world using some of the most sophisticated technology in the world."
It was the first U.S. conviction involving someone who provided encryption technology to criminal organizations. Four of Ramos' co-defendants remain at large.
"I am sorry and accept responsibility for my actions that have led me here today," Ramos told Judge William Hayes. He said he turned "a blind eye" to the use of his phones - which were marketed as a tool for business executives - for international drug sales.
But prosecutors said Ramos set up his system intentionally to block interception of criminal communications by law enforcement.
The anonymous clients used nicknames that included "leadslinger, The.cartel, The.killa, Elchapo66 and Knee_capper9," the San Diego Union-Tribune reported .
In a 2018 text message, Ramos urged an employee to get a brand new Range Rover "cuz I just closed a lot of business. This week man. Sinaloa cartel, that's what's up."
Ramos was arrested last year in Washington state and his secure communications network was dismantled.
Some 250 law enforcement agents from the U.S, Canada and Australia reportedly were involved in the investigation.
Idaho
Judge to hear arguments in Idaho abortion provider lawsuit
BOISE, Idaho (AP) - A federal judge will hear arguments next week on whether to dismiss a lawsuit over Idaho laws restricting who can provide abortions.
Planned Parenthood of the Greater Northwest and Hawaiian Islands sued late last year, contending that Idaho's laws barring nurse practitioners, physician assistants, certified nurse midwives and other advanced-practice clinicians from performing first-trimester abortions puts an undue burden on women seeking the procedure.
Similar physician-only laws are also on the books in 33 other states. In addition to the Idaho lawsuit, Planned Parenthood is challenging physician-only laws in Virginia, Maine, Wisconsin and Arizona.
It comes as half a dozen Republican-dominant states have passed near total bans on the procedure.
In the Idaho lawsuit, Planned Parenthood attorneys say state law allows advanced-practice clinicians to do many of the same tasks as doctors, including diagnosing patients, prescribing medicine and carrying out complex medical procedures like delivering babies, inserting IUDs and performing endometrial biopsies.
They're also allowed to carry out medical procedures designed to remove non-viable fetal tissue when a woman is having a miscarriage - also known as a "spontaneous abortions" by medical professionals - but they can't do the same procedure if a woman is seeking an abortion, according to the lawsuit.
"These onerous burdens far outweigh the law's nonexistent health justification," Nicole Hancock, the attorney representing Planned Parenthood, wrote in the lawsuit.
The organization is the largest provider of reproductive health services in Idaho, with three health centers in Ada and Twin Falls counties. Planned Parenthood officials note that their doctors have limited availability, and that leaves women seeking abortion care with significant and expensive travel burdens, sometimes delaying their access to the procedure and sometimes preventing it altogether.
The Idaho attorney general's office contends there's no undue burden on a woman's access to abortions because anyone seeking the procedure can simply go to a doctor instead of a clinician. State attorneys say it's not Idaho's fault that Planned Parenthood doctors are only available to schedule abortions a few days a week because the rest of their time is tied up with other obligations.
"States have no duty to take actions to ensure that women can perfectly exercise, or even fully realize, all of the advantages associated with the right to an abortion," wrote Cynthia Yee-Wallace and Megan Larrondo, both deputy attorney generals. "Nor must states guarantee that abortion is conveniently available."
The hearing is set for June 6 in Boise's U.S. District Court.
Published: Thu, May 30, 2019
