Court Digest

New Mexico
Prosecutor wants to try juvenile as adult in athlete's death
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Prosecutors plan to seek adult criminal sanctions against a 16-year-old defendant in the killing of a standout high school basketball player in New Mexico, Santa Fe-based District Attorney Marco Serna said Monday.

Serna said the district attorney's office filed a petition in juvenile court that includes an open count of murder against a juvenile defendant, and that his office will request to move the case to state district court to pursue adult sanctions in the shooting death Saturday of Fedonta "J.B." White.

White, an 18-year-old college basketball recruit who planned to graduate from high school early over the summer, was shot at a social gathering on the northern outskirts of Santa Fe in the rural community known as Chupadero.

A 16-year-old linked to the killing was being held at a juvenile detention center. The Associated Press generally does not identify juveniles who are accused of crimes.

White, a 6-foot-8 forward for the Santa Fe High School Demons averaged 20 points and 10 rebounds in the 2019-20 season, as his team reached the state quarterfinals. He was scheduled to play basketball on a scholarship for the University of New Mexico.

Hundreds of friends and acquaintances gathered Sunday on Santa Fe's downtown plaza for a vigil, lighting candles at a makeshift memorial. Others stayed away as a precaution against any potential violence.

Serna said an initial detention hearing will take place in juvenile court before prosecutors can file a request to apply adult sanctions in state district court.

He declined to share copies of the petition, citing juvenile court restrictions.

In a news release Sunday, the Santa Fe County Sheriff's Department announced preliminary homicide and weapons charges against a 16-year-old defendant. The department on Monday declined to immediately release further documents related to its charges and investigation.

Administrators and students from White's school district made a public appeal Monday for parents to safeguard firearms and for youths to take a pledge toward stemming gun violence. School officials outlined free counseling options for youths who may be despondent or depressed over the shooting and White's death.

Santa Fe Public Schools Superintendent Veronica Garcia expressed concern about the social gathering that turned violent amid a statewide stay-at-home order to stem the spread of COVID-19.

"I say to our parents, be mindful of house parties — let's not forget that there's a current pandemic," she said. "Be cognizant of students' access to guns, talk to your children."

Miranda Viscoli, of the gun control advocacy group New Mexicans to Prevent Gun Violence, called on state lawmakers to revisit stalled proposals for a child access protection law that allows adults to be prosecuted if a minor gains access to a neglectfully stored firearm.

California
Reporter sues Golden Globes organization over member rules
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A Norwegian entertainment reporter on Monday sued the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, the organization that gives out the Golden Globe Awards, alleging that it acts as a cartel that stifles competition for its members.

Reporter Kjersti Flaa filed the lawsuit in federal court in Los Angeles, saying that despite reporting on Hollywood for many prominent Norwegian outlets, she has been repeatedly denied membership in the organization. Her suit contends the HFPA consistently rejects qualified new applicants like herself whose work competes with that of existing members.

The suit alleges the organization allocates foreign markets among its members, requires new applicants to pledge not to write for any publication claimed by a member or a rival of that publication, and denies applications that might compete in a market claimed by one of its members.

"Qualified applicants for admission to the HFPA are virtually always rejected because the majority of its 87 members are unwilling to share or dilute the enormous economic benefits they receive as members," the suit says.

The HFPA responded in a statement, saying the suit "seems consistent with Ms. Flaa's ongoing attempts to shake down the HFPA, demanding that the HFPA pay her off and immediately admit her prior to the conclusion of the usual annual election process applied to every other HFPA applicant. The HFPA has refused to pay ransom, telling Ms. Flaa that membership was not gained through intimidation."

The suit says that the group's members enjoy huge perks over their colleagues who do the same work but are not members, especially during Hollywood's awards season, whose early months are dominated by the Globes as the most prominent forerunner to the Academy Awards.

The suit says "studios go far out of their way to accommodate HFPA members by inviting them to attend every industry function, event, and screening, and, most importantly, making their top producers, directors, actors, and other talent available for exclusive interviews with HFPA members."

The suit says the HFPA's status as a tax-exempt California mutual benefit corporation requires it to benefit all members of the class of workers it represents.

"But it does no such thing because its members are unwilling to share the enormous economic benefits membership provides," the suit states.

Flaa is seeking to have the California enforce the right of fair procedure it applies to a tax-exempt mutual benefit corporation like the HFPA, to have the group's bylaws declared unlawful and to recover economic damages she may have suffered by her lack of membership.

The HFPA said in its statement that it "takes seriously its obligations as an organization and its dedication to foreign journalism and philanthropy, and it will vigorously defend against these baseless claims."

West Virginia
Jury in civil trial decides no excessive force during arrest
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — A federal jury in West Virginia has found that two Logan County police officers did not use excessive force during a 2018 encounter with a man.

The verdict came in a civil trial filed by Frank Morgan Jr. against officers Joshua Tincher and Kevin Conley, the Charleston Gazette-Mail reported. Jurors decided on Friday that the officers had not committed battery against Morgan, nor did they assault him or delay medical care.

Jurors also did not find that Tincher, who had filed a counterclaim, experienced any pain, suffering or mental anguish when taking Morgan into custody.

Attorney Wendy Greve, who represented Tincher and Conley, said in a statement that civil rights cases are never easy.

"This verdict confirms that jurors can and do see that our law enforcement personnel are important members of the public dedicated to protecting the public," Greve said.

Kerry Nessell, who represented Morgan, wasn't available Monday for comment.

The claims stem from an incident in April 2018, when Tincher and Conley came across Morgan and his ex-fiancee while investigating a report of a man masturbating on a street and ended up arresting Morgan.

Morgan testified that he was beaten and left with a broken arm, seven staples in the back of his head and more than a dozen contusions and lacerations.

Officers testified that Morgan punched them before being arrested, and Tincher said Morgan injured his head after lunging and hitting his head on a table.

Morgan remains at the Southwestern Regional Jail, according to the West Virginia Regional Jail and Correctional Facility Authority website.


California
Ex-UCLA gynecologist pleads not guilty to new sex charges
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A former gynecologist who worked for the University of California, Los Angeles pleaded not guilty Monday to sexually assaulting seven patients.

James Heaps, who had previously been charged with assaulting two patients, entered pleas to additional charges for a total of 20 felony counts, according to a statement from the Los Angeles County district attorney's office.

Heaps, 63, was taken into custody and held on $650,000 bail. The charges carry a potential sentence of more than 67 years in prison.

Heaps worked at UCLA's student health center and UCLA Medical Center. He is accused of sexually assaulting patients between 2011 and 2018.

Heaps retired in 2018 when the university declined to renew his contract.

Heaps also has been sued by women who contend that he improperly groped or fondled them during examinations.

Georgia
Grand jury doesn't indict judge on domestic violence charge
BUCHANAN, Ga. (AP) — A west Georgia grand jury declined to indict a superior court judge on misdemeanor battery charges after his wife recanted her accusation.

The Times-Georgian of Carrollton reports Haralson County grand jurors on Friday declined to indict Superior Court Judge Meng Lim.

Lim had been arrested in July and charged in connection with a Feb. 17 incident. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation said in July that the judge's wife contacted a friend and told her about being hit multiple times by Lim during an argument, also sending her pictures of bruising and scratching.

Now, though, Haralson County District Attorney Jack Browning and defense lawyer Bob Rubin say the wife contends it was not her husband that hit her, but Lim's 15-year-old daughter, the wife's stepdaughter.

Browning said in a statement that Lim said his only involvement was to break up the fight, and that the judge is unsure how his wife's injuries occurred.

Rubin said the daughter "consistently maintained" that her father didn't strike his wife and that Lim passed a polygraph test when asked whether he "ever intentionally caused physical harm" to his wife.
Rubin said grand jurors didn't hear about those things, but still concluded there wasn't enough evidence to indict Lim.

Browning said he considers the case closed.

Lim temporarily stepped down from the bench in the circuit covering Polk and Haralson counties after he was charged. He was also being investigated by the state Judicial Qualifications Commission, which can discipline or remove judges for violating the code of judicial conduct. Director Chuck Boring wrote in an email Tuesday that the commission's investigation into Lim continues. It wasn't immediately clear Tuesday when or if Lim will be returning to the bench.

Lim became the first Asian American superior court judge in Georgia when he was elected to an open seat in 2014.


Indiana
Court rejects appeal by man convicted in 5 killings
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — An Indiana appeals court has rejected the latest request by a man convicted of fatally shooting five people in southeastern Indiana in 2011 who sought to appeal his guilty pleas and sentence in those slayings.

In a ruling issued last week, the state Court of Appeals dismissed David Ison's appeal of a trial court's decision that denied him the opportunity to file a belated appeal of his guilty pleas and sentence, the Palladium-Item reported.

Ison, 54, had pleaded guilty in March 2012 to the five killings. He was sentenced to five life-without-parole sentences, and he's currently serving that sentence at the Wabash Valley Correctional Center in Carlisle.

Ison was convicted of fatally shooting the five victims in September 2011 in and near a mobile home in rural Laurel, about 50 miles southeast of Indianapolis. Those killed were: Roy D. Napier, 50; Angela Napier, 47; Melissa L. Napier, 23; Jacob L. Napier, 18; and Henry X. Smith, 43.

A probable cause affidavit alleged the shootings were linked to Ison's efforts to buy prescription painkillers.

Since his sentencing, Ison has repeatedly sought post-conviction relief and challenged his guilty pleas and sentence in court filings.

On Feb. 3, he petitioned the Franklin County trial court seeking to be allowed to pursue a belated appeal. Ison claimed, without documentation, that he had diligently sought to appeal the guilty pleas.

After the trial court denied that petition, he raised the issue with the appeals court. The state's motion supporting the dismissal of Ison's request argued that his petition was improperly attempting to circumvent the appeals court.

In last week's ruling, the appeals court dismissed Ison's request without explanation.

Ison has repeatedly argued in his requests for post-conviction relief that he was made to feel that he was eligible for the death penalty, when he actually was not.

Ison also has argued that he agreed to his plea deal in order to avoid the death sentence and contended that he was not aware that the judge should have considered aggravating and mitigating circumstances before pronouncing his sentence.

Ison has suggested that his drug use and history of mental illness around the time of the killings could have been mitigating factors.