National Roundup

Connecticut
Sales rep in opioid kickback scheme avoids prison sentence
NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) — A sales representative for a drugmaker that prosecutors say schemed to bribe doctors to prescribe its highly addictive fentanyl spray has avoided prison.

Prosecutors say 35-year-old Natalie Levine was sentenced Monday in federal court in Connecticut to five years of probation, the first six months of which are to be served in home confinement. The Scottsdale, Arizona woman pleaded guilty in 2017 to conspiracy to violate the anti-kickback law.

Authorities say in 2013 and 2104 while a sales rep for Arizona-based Insys Therapeutics, Levine paid medical professionals in Connecticut, Rhode Island and New Hampshire to participate in sham speaking engagements to promote the company's medications.

Company founder John Kapoor and four senior executives were previously convicted of their roles in the scheme and the company agreed to pay $225 million.

North Carolina
Decision striking down abortion ban appealed
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — State officials are appealing a federal judge's decision that struck down North Carolina's ban on abortions after the 20th week of pregnancy except in a medical emergency.

A lawyer for North Carolina's Department of Justice filed the notice of appeal to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday, hours before the appeal window was to have expired.

The department is led by Democratic Attorney General Josh Stein, who supports abortion rights. Stein said Monday night that he won't participate in the appeal because of his stance, leaving it to career lawyers in his agency. The department filed the notice after conferring with Republicans leading the General Assembly, which approved the challenged law. Department lawyers represent the state in legal actions.

Stein publicly criticized recent laws in states to restrict abortion __ as well as attempts by President Donald Trump's administration to impose additional hurdles for women seeking abortions.

"In this hostile environment, it is critical for those who support women's freedoms to speak out," Stein said in a news release. "I intend to do so, and for that reason, I am unwilling to participate in the appeal of the ruling that struck down the current version of the North Carolina abortion statute."

U.S. District Judge William Osteen declared the law unconstitutional because the 20-week limit prohibited some abortions before a fetus could live outside the womb. His judgment would allow some women to obtain abortions later but prior to viability.

Alabama
Lawsuit: Woman was left in senior facility's van
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — The family of an 83-year-old woman has filed a lawsuit against an Alabama assisted living community accusing them of leaving the senior citizen in a van for six hours.

News outlets report the lawsuit was filed against Elmcroft of Montgomery, LLC, following a field trip with other residents on Wednesday.

Family members say workers at the facility called to say the woman was "missing" hours after the trip. They say the woman was later found in a van in the assisted living facility's parking lot.

The lawsuit says the woman was taken to a hospital and diagnosed with heatstroke, as well as other conditions.

The facility released a statement saying it was saddened by the incident and will work with local and state agencies to provide support.

Florida
Missing lawyer disbarred by Supreme Court
FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) — A Florida criminal defense lawyer who has been missing since October has been permanently disbarred.

The News-Press reports the Florida Supreme Court disbarred David Allen Brener on June 6. He has been ordered to pay restitution of $27,800 to six clients after the apparent abandonment of his law practice.

Six judges from three Florida counties reported Brener's failure to appear at numerous court appearances beginning in October 2018.

The newspaper reports he didn't communicate with clients and failed to respond to the Florida Bar or participate in disciplinary proceedings.

Attorney Chris Crowley called Brener's disappearance "very bizarre." Crowley successfully defended Brener on a claim of ineffective counsel. He called Brener a "very talented trial attorney."

Ohio
State, Planned Parenthood seek delay in case over abortion law
CINCINNATI (AP) — Republican Attorney General Dave Yost has joined Planned Parenthood in asking a federal judge to postpone information-gathering in a legal challenge to Ohio's law banning a common second-trimester abortion procedure.

In a joint filing Monday, the parties asked U.S. District Judge Michael Barrett in Cincinnati to halt discovery in the Ohio case while a similar Kentucky case is decided.

Both cases challenge laws outlawing dilation and evacuation abortions. A federal judge struck down the Kentucky law as unconstitutional in May. Kentucky is appealing.

Barrett has blocked part of the Ohio law from taking effect. He forbid the state in April from bringing criminal charges against doctors who perform D&Es under most circumstances until the legal challenge is resolved. Other parts of the law were allowed to proceed.

Ohio has appealed.

Maryland
Newspaper shooting trial to be in 2 phases
ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — A judge has ordered that the trial for a man charged with killing five people at the Capital Gazette newspaper in Maryland will be held in two parts.

Judge Laura Ripken granted a request Tuesday by Jarrod Ramos' defense attorneys for the trial to first determine guilt or innocence. If he's found to have committed the crimes, a second phase would determine whether his mental state made him not criminally responsible.

Ramos has pleaded not guilty and not criminally responsible, Maryland's version of an insanity defense.

Ripken also granted an extension for the state health department to conduct a mental evaluation until Aug. 10.

Ramos is charged with murder in the June 28, 2018, shooting deaths of Gerald Fischman, Rob Hiaasen, Rebecca Smith, Wendi Winters and John McNamara.