National Roundup

Iowa
Man whose DNA linked him to 4 sex assaults gets 40 years in prison
DUBUQUE, Iowa (AP) — A man whose DNA linked him to Dubuque sexual assaults reported years ago has been given 40 years in prison.

Martel Fountain Sr. was sentenced earlier this week, the Telegraph Herald reported. He’d pleaded guilty to four counts of sexual assault.

Court documents say Fountain assaulted three women in 2011 after forcing his way into their homes. The documents say another was raped in 2014 after Fountain forced her into her garage.

A DNA sample taken from Fountain in March 2018 after his arrest in a federal drug case linked him to the four Dubuque assaults, Iowa prosecutors said. DNA information from those four cases had been filed in an FBI database.

Fountain has since been sentenced to more than 12 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine.

Washington
Rabbi who spied on women taking baths released
WASHINGTON (AP) — A once-prominent Orthodox rabbi who secretly videotaped nude women at a Jewish ritual bath in Washington was released early from prison amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Bernard Freundel got released Wednesday, 551 days earlier than his original sentence, news outlets reported.

His sentence was reduced mostly by repeatedly taking a job training course, and an extra two weeks because of coronavirus concerns.

Freundel, 68, was originally sentenced to over six years in prison in 2015 after one of his recording devices was discovered at the National Capital Mikvah in Washington.

Prosecutors found that he had filmed some 150 women at the Jewish ritual bath using recording devices hidden in a clock radio, a fan and a tissue box holder.

Fruendel’s actions led to a crisis of faith and PTSD among his victims, Bethany Mandel, one of Fruendel’s victims, told WRC-TV after his release.

Women who were secretly videotaped by the former rabbi were awarded over $14 million in a class-action lawsuit settlement against organizations affiliated with Fruendel in 2018.
Fruendel will not be legally required to register as a sex offender.

Oregon
Longtime federal judge and state politician dies, 91
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Retired U.S. District Judge James A. Redden, who presided over the Northwest’s biggest salmon lawsuit and had served as an Oregon state representative, state treasurer and attorney general, died Tuesday.

The 91-year-old died at an adult foster care home, where he was being treated for congestive heart failure, according to a story in the Portland Tribune, which employs his son.

One of his biggest legacies was his fight to force the government to recover wild fish, The Oregonian/OregonLive reported. He rejected three federal recovery plans and pressured government agencies charged with protecting threatened and endangered salmon to spill more water over dams. He pushed the government to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on technical fixes to dams and commit to habitat work on rivers and streams in the Columbia basin.

“Jim was a superb judge — and a superb person,’’ U.S. District Judge Michael H. Simon said, in an email to other judges announcing Redden’s death. “He also had such a great reputation as Oregon Attorney General. Jim was special and will be missed.’’

Redden was born in Springfield, Massachusetts, and attended Boston College and Boston College Law School. He moved to Oregon in 1955.

Iowa
Boy accused of murder wants case moved to juvenile court
MAPLETON, Iowa (AP) — A 17-year-old boy accused of killing a 16-year-old in western Iowa is seeking prosecution as a juvenile.

Monona County court records say the boy’s attorney filed a motion Wednesday to transfer the case to juvenile court. The boy is charged with first-degree murder in the January shooting death of Joseph Hopkins in Mapleton. The Associated Press generally doesn’t name juveniles charged with crimes.

A hearing on the request is scheduled for June 1.

The Sioux City Journal reported that the boy, Hopkins and two other teenagers were at the boy’s home, working the night of Jan. 31 on a car in a detached garage. A court document says Hopkins and one of the two teens were playing with an unloaded shotgun, pointing it at others and pulling the trigger.

It angered the boy when they wouldn’t stop, despite his warning that he’d go get a loaded shotgun, the document says. The boy then retrieved the loaded shotgun and shot Hopkins, who was holding the unloaded shotgun, the document says.

California
State Supreme Court won’t hear immigration case
HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. (AP) — The California Supreme Court on Wednesday has refused to hear a challenge to a state law that limits police collaboration with federal immigration agents.

The court denied a request by the city of Huntington Beach to review an appellate court opinion in January that found that the issue was a matter of statewide concern and that gave the law precedence over the police authority of charter cities. That reversed a 2018 ruling.

“This is tragic for the rule of law and for local control efforts,” Huntington Beach City Attorney Michael E. Gates said in an email. “Now the lower court ruling stands, which opens the floodgates for the state to legislate and control every aspect of local governance.”

The Orange County city of 200,000 people sued claiming that California’s so-called immigrant sanctuary law, the 2017 California Values Act, interfered with its authority to enforce local laws and regulations.

The law prohibits state and local police from asking arrestees — except for those charged with serious crimes — about their immigration status or notifying federal agents when an immigrant is being released from jail.

California enacted the law following President Donald Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration. It was hailed as a victory by immigrant advocates seeking to encourage immigrants to trust in local police officers and report crime.

But critics decried the law, saying it makes it harder to deport immigrants who commit crimes and leads law enforcement to release them back into communities.

In California, 121 cities have their own charters and others follow the state’s general law. Huntington Beach argued that cities that create their own charters to have a greater say over local affairs shouldn’t be subject to the law since it relates to local policing.