National Roundup

Washington
U.S. to pay $12M after child’s face burned in surgery
TACOMA, Wash. (AP) — A federal judge has ordered the United States to pay $12 million in damages after doctors at Madigan Army Medical Center caused an operating room fire that badly burned a baby’s face.

The baby, identified only by his initials in court documents, underwent surgery to remove a cyst above his eyebrow in 2015. The anesthesiologist thought the surgeon was going to use a scalpel, and thus administered anesthesia through an oxygen mask. Instead, the surgeon tried to cauterize the cyst, creating a fireball in the elevated oxygen levels.

The government acknowledged that its doctors caused the fire and expressed regret. U.S. District Judge Ronald Leighton awarded the boy $9 million and each of his parents $1.5 million.

Georgia
Charges filed against judge accused of ­absenteeism
ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia’s judicial watchdog has filed charges against a judge accused of being chronically absent and late and trying to cover it up.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports the Judicial Qualifications Commission’s investigative panel filed the charges Wednesday against Atlanta Municipal Court Judge Terrinee Gundy.

The charges filed with the state Supreme Court accuses Grundy of misconduct including failing to provide required hearings that resulted in defendants being unlawfully incarcerated.

It says Grundy failed to show up for work on time for years and disabled a courthouse recording system to conceal the tardiness. It says she also repeatedly lied to the commission during its investigation. Her annual salary is $182,000. The newspaper says Grundy wasn’t immediately available and her lawyer declined to comment.

The case is headed to a hearing panel.

Illinois
State Supreme Court suspends license of defense attorney
CHICAGO (AP) — The Illinois Supreme Court has suspended the license of a lawyer who gained notoriety for representing convicted murderer Drew Peterson and is under investigation for alleged courtroom antics.

The high court acted Wednesday in the wake of a filing by the Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission contending Joel Brodsky “engaged in conduct that threatens irreparable injury to the public and to the orderly administration of justice.” The agency said Brodsky’s suspension should occur even through the investigation into his actions is ongoing.

A woman answering telephone calls to Brodsky’s office Wednesday said he wasn’t taking messages.

Brodsky’s suspension comes less than a week after an administrative panel of the U.S. District Court in Chicago cut his yearlong suspension from practicing there in half.

Peterson was convicted in the 2004 drowning death of his third wife.

Kentucky
Prosecutor drops death penalty, says witness lied
ELIZABETHTOWN, Ky. (AP) — A death penalty case has unraveled in Kentucky, where a prosecutor said he can’t go forward because a key witness can’t be truthful at trial.

Hardin County prosecutor Shane Young said no physical evidence shows Aaron Pearson was complicit in the murder of 71-year-old Army veteran Norman Hall.

Young said testimony from another suspect, Eloysia James-Venerable, was key to a conviction. She was given a plea deal limiting her time to at least 20 years if she would tell the truth.

But the prosecutor said she’s proven untruthful, and he can’t pursue capital punishment if he’s “not 100% certain” about her testimony.

The News-Enterprise reports that Pearson accepted a plea deal of 15 years on lesser charges. Young said he’ll now pursue a life sentence for his former key witness.

Ohio
Man convicted in killing charged with ­bribing ­witnesses
CLEVELAND (AP) — Prosecutors say an Ohio man convicted in a 1995 slaying has been charged with bribery for asking witnesses to recant years later while promising them money from wrongful imprisonment payments he’d receive after his prison release.

The Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s Office says a grand jury on Wednesday indicted 52-year-old Timothy Simms on two bribery counts.

Simms is serving a life sentence in state prison for 34-year-old Milton Whitlow’s slaying during a birthday party in Cleveland. Simms was eligible for parole in December 2020.

Prosecutors say Simms wrote letters last year to witnesses of the shooting and their families asking them to sign affidavits he’d prepared to help get him out of prison. The letters were given to Cleveland police.

Wisconsin
Man, 82, bound over for trial in 1976 killings
MARINETTE, Wis. (AP) — An 82-year-old man will face trial on two counts of first-degree murder in the fatal shooting of a couple at a Wisconsin park 43 years ago.

A judge in Marinette County determined Wednesday that there’s enough evidence to send the case against Raymand Vannieuwenhoven to trial.

Vannieuwenhoven is accused in the killing of 25-year-old David Schuldes and 24-year-old Ellen Matheys in 1976 at McClintock Park in Silver Cliff, about 200 miles (320 kilometers) north of Milwaukee.

WLUK-TV reports sheriff’s detective Todd Baldwin testified Wednesday that tests of Vannieuwenhoven’s DNA from a licked envelope matched DNA from the crime scene. Investigators didn’t have any major leads until last year when a DNA lab in Virginia identified the genealogical background of the suspect.

Vannieuwenhoven is scheduled to enter a plea July 1.

Florida
Police seek owner of prosthetic ear
HOLMES BEACH, Fla. (AP) — A Florida police department is trying to locate the owner of a prosthetic ear that was found on a beach after a competition.

The Holmes Beach Police Department posted a photo of the rubber ear found in the sand after the “World’s Strongest Man” contest on Anna Maria Island, south of Tampa Bay.

Officials said on Wednesday that a local resident found the left-sided ear, and they waited a couple of days to post it on Facebook. Prosthetic ears can cost thousands of dollars.