National Roundup

Louisiana
Prosecutor often drops charges in misdemeanor domestic violence
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A Louisiana prosecutor’s office has dropped charges in nearly 90% of misdemeanor domestic violence cases it has closed since the beginning of 2018, new data shows.

The data analyzing domestic violence cases in the local Municipal and Criminal courts was presented to the New Orleans City Council on Tuesday, according to news outlets.

The report says about half of dropped charges were due to victims refusing to prosecute the case, while another 37% were dropped because they were not considered suitable for prosecution. It showed that only 6.6% of the domestic violence cases tried in the Municipal Court led to convictions, as compared to the roughly 25% conviction rate in Criminal District Court.

“If you’re a victim and you see these numbers, you almost wonder, ‘Why even bother calling the police?’” Councilwoman Helena Moreno said. “If I’m an NOPD officer, I’m wondering to myself, ‘Why did I just risk my life to go respond to a domestic violence case?’”

Moreno said she requested the report by public safety analyst Jeff Asher after Parish District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro and his staff praised the Municipal Court’s speediness and positive effect on victims during this year’s budget hearings. Council members were told then that Cannizzaro was moving misdemeanor cases through the Municipal Court because it was faster than Criminal District Court.

“So yes, the data shows that cases are moving much faster in Municipal Court, but that’s because cases are simply being dropped,” Moreno said Tuesday. “How is this good for victims?”

Cannizzaro blamed the low conviction rates on a new law that makes it harder for prosecutors to convict in cases in which the victim is reluctant to testify. Nearly all the dropped municipal court cases involved victims or witnesses who failed to show up in court or testify at trial, he said at a news conference later Tuesday.

But the law he referenced was passed this year, meaning it doesn’t account for the lack of prosecutions in 2018. When pressed for an explanation, Cannizzaro said judges were reluctant to sign off on warrants even before the law passed.

Police statistics show the office had a better prosecution rate with felony domestic violence cases, declining to move forward on about 38% of all domestic violence charges sent to it.

Georgia
Authorities: Cemetery workers stole, sold memorials
VILLA RICA, Ga. (AP) — Two Georgia cemetery employees have been charged with stealing dozens of bronze memorial markers and selling them at a recycling center for about $300,000.

The Carroll County Sheriff’s Office responded to complaints last week that markers were disappearing from Meadowbrook Memory Gardens in Villa Rica, according to a statement  released by the agency on Wednesday. Cemetery officials told deputies they thought two employees were responsible for stealing more than 70 memorials valued at about $4,500 each.

Deputies arrested Brent Thomas McAdams and Anna Millwood after conducting a search at their home in Haralson County and discovering stolen items and drugs inside, the statement said. The two workers are charged with felony theft by taking, the sheriff’s office confirmed.

Florida
Teacher accused of having sex with son’s teenage friend
PENSACOLA, Fla. (AP) — A special education teacher in Florida’s Panhandle is accused of having a sexual relationship with her son’s teenage friend.

Susan Weddle, 40, was arrested Monday and faces multiple charges, including lewd and lascivious behavior and sexual assault, according to Escambia County court records.

Weddle resigned Monday from her job as a learning resource specialist, according to Escambia County School District Superintendent Malcolm Thomas. She had worked there for 11 months and worked as an elementary school teacher before that.

‘’We will not have any tolerance for a teacher that crosses that line,” Thomas told the Pensacola News Journal. ‘’Allegations of crossing the line sexually with a student are some of the most serious allegations that a teacher can face.”

A friend of Weddle’s son admitted to authorities last month that he had been in a sexual relationship with her for more than a year. police said.

He said he was 15 and she was 39 when they began their relationship. He estimated they had sex “several hundred times’’ at the beach, her house, his home and her vehicle.

A high school guidance counselor notified authorities in November of a possible relationship between the two, a report said.

New York
Ex-investment banker sentenced to 2 years in prison
NEW YORK (AP) — A former investment banker sentenced to two years in prison Tuesday for insider trading says fledging companies looking for advice still trust him with their secrets.

Sean Stewart made the comment before U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff announced the sentence in Manhattan.

The Yale-educated Stewart had already served over a year of a three-year prison term before his first conviction was overturned on appeal.

A retrial resulted in conviction again on charges including securities fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

Prosecutors said over $1 million was earned illegally by Stewart’s father and a broker after the son gave his father secrets about five pending mergers involving public health companies from 2011 through 2014. At the time, Stewart was an executive in mergers and acquisitions at JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Perella Weinberg Partners LP.

At his 2015 trial, Sean Stewart testified that he sometimes discussed work, including pending acquisitions that were supposed to be secret, when he was with his parents but never thought the disclosures would result in illegal trades.

“I am innocent,” he said. “I never, ever gave my father information expecting him to trade.”

On Tuesday, prosecutors argued for restoration of the three-year term, but Rakoff said Stewart deserved additional leniency, in part because he’ll have to return to prison after being freed and because of the effect Stewart’s incarceration was likely to have on his young son.

Given a chance to address the judge directly, Stewart said his son has flourished since his release after his incarceration had “crushed his world.”

Stewart said he has done consulting work with emerging companies that trust he won’t give away their secrets.

“I stand before you ashamed, humiliated, embarrassed, but also changed,” Stewart said. “I am sorrier than you’ll ever know.”