Washington
Man charged in woman's death in Olympic National Forest
TACOMA, Wash. (AP) - A Renton man charged with killing a young California woman in the Olympic National Forest in February made his first appearance in U.S. District Court in Tacoma, authorities said.
The woman - who the Clallam County Sheriff's Office identified as Dioneth Lopez - traveled to the Seattle area to visit Alejandro J. Aguilera Rojas, The Seattle Times reported.
The two were in a relationship that was hidden from Aguilera Rojas' wife and family, according to a statement from U.S. Attorney Brian Moran's office.
They went to Sequim Feb. 10 and four days later authorities found Lopez's body off a logging road in the Olympic National Forest.
There were signs she had been beaten and stabbed, and a broken tequila bottle and a knife were among items found nearby, the statement said.
The King County Medical Examiner's Office identified Lopez and ruled her manner of death a homicide, while the cause of death was blunt and sharp force injuries.
Aguilera Rojas told authorities the two went into the forest where she threatened to kill his wife and child and tried to stab him with a knife, according to an FBI complaint. Aguilera Rojas said he grabbed a tequila bottle and hit her on the head and that when he drove away, he thought Lopez was still breathing, the complaint says.
Because the killing occurred on federal land in the Olympic National Forest, the case is being prosecuted in federal court, the statement said. He is in federal custody.
West Virginia
State Supreme Court upholds 'right-to-work' law
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) - The West Virginia Supreme Court has upheld a so-called right-to-work law and handed a defeat to labor unions which had sought to preserve workers' union dues.
In an opinion released Tuesday, the justices granted summary judgment to the state and overturned a February 2019 ruling by a lower court judge who had sided with the unions.
Kanawha County Circuit Judge Jennifer Bailey had struck down as unconstitutional some provisions of the 2016 law, which authorized union employees to stop paying dues and fees or, in lieu of that, make payments to a charity or third party.
After the Republican-led Legislature crafted the bill, then-Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin, a Democrat, vetoed it and lawmakers overrode the veto the next day, making West Virginia the 26th "right-to-work" state.
The state chapter of the AFL-CIO and other unions then filed a lawsuit, maintaining the law illegally took their assets since they still have to represent all employees in a union shop, including those that the law would allow to stop paying union dues.
The new law would have required unions and union officials "to work, to supply their valuable expertise, and to provide expensive services for nothing," Bailey wrote.
But the state Supreme Court ruled the law "does not violate constitutional rights of association, property, or liberty."
Proponents said the law would attract businesses and give workers more freedom over their ties to unions. Democrats argued the law was solely meant to undercut unions for political reasons, allowing workers to benefit from union representation without paying dues. Democrats also argued the economic benefits were unproven and wages would drop.
"This is a major victory for worker choice," state Attorney General Patrick Morrisey said in a statement Tuesday. "This is not a pro-union or anti-union decision. It is a ruling that will protect workers, give them a greater voice and make unions stronger in the end."
AFL-CIO state President Josh Sword called the court's decision "very disappointing yet not at all surprising."
"As always, we will continue to negotiate for fair wages, good benefits and a safe workplace," Sword said.
Senate President Mitch Carmichael said in reference to the coronavirus that the ruling "comes at such a critical time, as we will need every possible tool available to re-energize and rebuild West Virginia's economy as we emerge from this pandemic."
Delaware
Judge tosses most claims in suit by ex-death row inmate
DOVER, Del. (AP) - A federal judge has dismissed most claims in a lawsuit filed by a former Delaware death row inmate who was acquitted of all charges after being retried for a drug-related killing.
Isaiah McCoy claimed in the lawsuit that he was wrongfully and maliciously investigated, prosecuted and incarcerated.
The judge on Tuesday granted motions to dismiss filed on behalf of state police superintendent Col. Nathaniel McQueen and former Department of Correction Commissioner Robert Coupe, who now serves as Delaware's Secretary of Safety and Homeland Security.
The judge also dismissed McCoy's claims against prosecutors, two police officers, and the former warden of Delaware's maximum-security prison. But he allowed McCoy to pursue claims against three correctional officers on allegations that they violated his civil rights by beating, torturing, taunting and otherwise abusing him.
McCoy, who has a long criminal history, claimed that police and prosecutors knew or should have known he was innocent of the 2010 murder of 30-year-old James Mumford, but nevertheless investigated and prosecuted him. Prosecutors say Mumford was killed after meeting McCoy for a drug deal outside a Dover bowling alley.
McCoy was convicted and sentenced to death in 2012, but Delaware's Supreme Court ordered a new trial, citing errors by the judge and prosecutor at trial. The Supreme Court also criticized David Favata, the prosecutor, for "pervasive unprofessional conduct." Favata's misconduct included vouching for a prosecution witness, lying to the court and making disparaging and threatening remarks intended to be overheard by McCoy, who was representing himself.
Following a retrial, a Kent County judge declared McCoy, who waived his right to a jury retrial, not guilty on all charges. The judge noted that there was no physical evidence linking McCoy to the crime, and that two alleged accomplices gave contradictory testimony against him.
After his acquittal in January 2017, McCoy moved to Hawaii, where he was indicted on federal charges of sex trafficking, child pornography and witness tampering. Prosecutors were forced to drop the charges in 2018 after a federal agent admitted that he had withheld evidence and lied.
McCoy and an alleged accomplice were charged last year with beating a man in Waikiki and stealing his $20,000 wristwatch. McCoy was released on bail but later arrested after trying to board a one-way flight to Los Angeles.
McCoy was released again in December after posting a $100,000 bail bond, but a judge revoked his bail last month after McCoy failed to comply with conditions of his release. He remains in custody without bail pending a scheduled June trial.
Published: Thu, Apr 23, 2020
