National Roundup

Ohio
Ex-judge ordered to jail after years of legal challenges
CINCINNATI (AP) — A judge has ordered a former county juvenile court judge to jail, ending years of legal challenges that allowed her to remain free.

A deputy pulled Tracie Hunter out of the courtroom Monday morning, after she went limp. Supporters stood and yelled in anger.

Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge Patrick Dinkelacker ordered her six-month jail sentence carried out after a contentious hearing in which he read from postcards sent to his home in Hunter’s support. He called them an apparent intimidation attempt that “flat out failed.”

Hunter had gone to multiple courts to challenge her 2014 conviction and sentence on a felony count related to mishandling a confidential document.

Attorneys for Hunter have contended the case was political. The Democrat took the bench after a disputed 2010 election.

Oklahoma
Federal jury clears deputy in fatal shooting
TULSA, Okla. (AP) — A federal jury has cleared a Mayes County deputy accused in a lawsuit of violating the civil rights of a man he fatally shot more than five years ago.

The Tulsa World reports that the jury in Tulsa on Thursday found that Deputy Kyle Wilson did not use excessive force in the Jan. 1, 2014, shooting death of 33-year-old Shane Bridges at Bridges’ home near Chelsea, about 40 miles (64 kilometers) northeast of Tulsa.

Bridges’ widow, Janelle Bridges, argued that her husband was inside his home when Wilson shot through the closed front door, killing him.

Wilson, who was previously cleared of wrongdoing by the district attorney, said Bridges was on his front porch firing a handgun at him when he fired 13 times, striking Bridges twice.

Hawaii
New attorney seeks to delay next trial of ex-prosecutor
HONOLULU (AP) — A newly appointed, taxpayer-funded attorney representing a former Honolulu prosecutor wants to delay her trial on bank fraud and identity theft charges.

Lawyer Gary Singh was appointed to represent Katherine Kealoha after her former taxpayer-funded attorney Cynthia Kagiwada asked to withdraw from the case, citing a breakdown in the attorney-client relationship.

Kealoha and her retired police chief husband were convicted last month of conspiracy in a plot to frame her uncle. Prosecutors said the couple wanted to keep the uncle from revealing fraud that paid for their lavish lifestyle.

The couple’s fraud and identity theft trial is scheduled for October.

At a hearing Thursday, Singh said he needs more time and sought a delay until January.

The timing of that trial will affect scheduling for another trial faced by Katherine Kealoha with her pain physician brother on drug-dealing charges.

U.S. District Judge J. Michael Seabright wants Singh to consult with other attorneys involved about new trial dates.

Seabright anticipates the upcoming trials will take about two weeks each, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported.

A judge appointed taxpayer-funded attorneys for the Kealohas after they said they couldn’t afford to hire their own.

After they were found guilty of conspiracy, Seabright ordered Katherine Kealoha into federal custody because of concerns she would try to obstruct justice if she remained free on bond before her sentencing.

Prosecutors didn’t object to allowing her husband to remain free on bond.

Partington joined her defense team in the midst of the first trial. He has said her mother hired him and he won’t represent her at the other trials.

Kentucky
State: Doctor’s wife mishandled vaccines, caused infection outbreak
MOUNT STERLING, Ky. (AP) — The Kentucky Board of Medical Licensure says a Mount Sterling doctor allowed his unlicensed wife to mishandle vaccines, causing an infection outbreak in patients across Kentucky, Indiana and Ohio.

The Lexington Herald-Leader reports the board on Friday placed Dr. Paul E. McLaughlin on five years’ probation. He also was ordered to pay $5,000 for delegating to someone without a medical license and contributing to a public health crisis.

The vaccination provider “Location Vaccination” is owned and operated by McLaughlin’s wife, Fairshinda Sabounchi McLaughlin.

The company was hired during last year’s flu seasons to provide vaccines to adult employees in more than 20 municipalities. The state Department of Public Health first began investigating the company in February after learning its patients were experiencing pain, swelling and lumps at their injection sites.

Nebraska
Man accused of student’s death wants trial moved
AUBURN, Neb. (AP) — A man accused of killing a Peru State College student wants his trial moved away from Nemaha County in southeast Nebraska.

The Lincoln Journal Star reports that 37-year-old Joshua Keadle’s attorney argued in court Friday that pretrial publicity and local conditions make it impossible to empanel a fair jury. Keadle’s pleaded not guilty to a charge of first-degree murder in the disappearance and presumed death of a 19-year-old Peru State College student, Tyler “Ty” Thomas.

The judge will rule on the motion in the coming weeks.

Thomas disappeared Dec. 3, 2010, after leaving a party near the campus. The state issued a death certificate for Thomas in 2013, even though her body has never been found.

Keadle is serving prison sentence for the 2008 rape of a 15-year-old girl.

California
Sentencing for man who killed when he was 16
FRESNO, Calif. (AP) — A California man who was 16 when he participated in a botched robbery-turned homicide has been sentenced to 40-years-to-life in state prison.

Zachery Goodwin, now 20, was one of four people convicted in the fatal shooting of 59-year-old Michael Der Vartanian of Clovis in 2016.

The Fresno Bee reports Judge John Vogt wrestled with whether to grant leniency to Goodwin because of his age and childhood hardships. In the end the judge determined public safety outweighed other factors. On Friday he gave prosecutors the sentence they sought.

Der Vartanian’s wife and mother said no amount of remorse for poor decision-making can bring back their loved one. They also wanted the 40-to-life maximum.

All four co-defendants were teens when the crime happened. The others received sentences between four and 11 years.