National Roundup

Florida
Prosecutor: Man accused of setting girlfriend on fire
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — A woman is in critical condition with burns over her entire body after being set on fire by her boyfriend in her South Florida home, sheriff’s officials said.

A neighbor heard the woman screaming for help on Monday afternoon and called 911. Police said she was burned everywhere but the soles of her feet and a spot on her ankle, news outlets reported.

Noe Jimenez-Cortes, 40, was charged with attempted murder and arson, and was ordered held without bond in the Broward County jail.

“A lady is screaming outside her house like crazy,” the caller told the 911 operator. “She’s burnt.”

Broward Sheriff’s deputies found the woman in Lauderdale Mobile Home Park around 4:30 p.m. Monday. She was able to tell them that her boyfriend set her on fire.

Investigators said Jimenez-Cortes poured a flammable liquid on the woman and lit her on fire with a cigarette, the newspaper reported.

During a bond hearing on Tuesday, Broward Assistant State Attorney Alix Buckelew said the victim’s condition was grave.

“I think the court should know that the doctors do not expect this victim to survive her injuries,” Buckelew said. “She was burned on 99% of her body.”

The woman’s name wasn’t released.

Buckelew said in court that Jimenez-Cortes already had a bus ticket to Mexico when he was arrested. He was ordered to surrender his passport, officials said.

Massachusetts
Mob figure granted release from prison
BOSTON (AP) — A former high-ranking member of the Patriarca organized crime family was granted compassionate release from prison Wednesday by a federal judge in Boston who ruled his poor health puts him at greater risk from the coronavirus if he remains behind bars.

Robert DeLuca, 75, is also not a threat to the community and was serving time for nonviolent crimes, U.S. District Judge Denise Casper said in her decision.

“The court agrees that DeLuca’s medical condition constitutes an extraordinary and compelling reason for release,” the decision said. “DeLuca, now 75 years old, has a serious heart condition and chronic kidney disease, all of which make him vulnerable to serious illness if he contracts COVID-19.”

DeLuca’s attorney, Carlos Dominguez, confirmed the judge’s decision in an email to WPRI-TV.

“I have not had a chance to speak with Mr. DeLuca but I am certain he is grateful for receiving the court’s consideration,” Dominguez wrote.

He said it’s unclear exactly when DeLuca will be released.

DeLuca was sentenced in 2018 to five years in prison after pleading guilty to obstruction of justice and false statements for lying to federal prosecutors about what he knew about the 1993 disappearance and killing of Boston nightclub owner Steven DiSarro.

Under Wednesday’s decision, the sentence was amended to time served, although he remains on probation.

DiSarro vanished in 1993 and his body was not discovered until it was unearthed from behind a Providence mill building in 2016.

The original indictment said DeLuca arranged with former mob boss Francis “Cadillac Frank” Salemme to have DiSarro’s body buried.

Wisconsin
Judge: Marsy’s Law improperly enacted, lets law stand for now
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A Dane County judge has ruled a measure meant to protect crime victims’ rights was improperly enacted and should be rescinded, but he allowed the law to remain in effect pending an appeal.

Voters adopted what’s known as Marsy’s Law as an amendment to the state constitution in April. Dane County Circuit Judge Frank Remington, in a 36-page ruling Tuesday, said the question presented to voters was misleading.

The judge said voters should have been asked two questions instead of one so they were aware that the amendment both increased the rights of victims and diminished the rights of those accused of crimes.

“Voters deserve to know what they are voting on,” Remington wrote. “Only by framing a question that reasonably, intelligently and fairly comprised or referenced every essential (element) of the amendment, could the voters decide whether and how to change the rights of persons accused of crimes.”

Marsy’s Law is named for Marsalee “Marsy” Nicholas, a California woman killed in 1983 by her ex-boyfriend, who was released from jail without notification to Nicholas. Versions of the law have been enacted in several states.

Wisconsin enacted its version when a majority of voters approved it in April.

The lawsuit challenging the law was brought by the Wisconsin Justice Initiative, state Democratic Sen. Fred Risser of Madison and defense attorneys Craig Johnson, Jacqueline Boynton and Jerome Buting.

Hawaii
Lawsuit against police settled for $1.84M
HONOLULU (AP) — An assistant chief of police in Kauai settled a lawsuit against his department and Kauai County for $1.84 million.

Mark Begley sued the county and the Kauai Police Department in 2016, alleging he was harassed and retaliated against by former Kauai Police Chief Darryl Perry, Hawaii News Now reported  Monday.

Begley’s lawsuit claimed the harassment began in 2012 when he encouraged a female officer to file a sexual harassment complaint against another assistant chief.

Perry was suspended by then-Mayor Bernard Carvalho for allegedly mishandling the sexual harassment complaint, but an appeals court decision returned Perry to command.

Loretta Sheehan, one of Begley’s attorneys, said Perry and his subordinates retaliated against Begley with investigations intended to force him out.

Begley took a leave of absence in 2012 but was reinstated last year after Perry retired.

“This is a story of complete and absolute vindication,” Sheehan said.

Kauai County did not admit wrongdoing in the settlement and attorneys for the county had no immediate comment.

Perry has said the investigations were justified.

“While I can’t comment on the case itself, I can assure the community of Kauai that there was no retaliation,” Perry said in an email. “I had wanted to explain my side of the issue and have the opportunity to explain what happened because the claim of retaliation was not true.”

Perry said he was willing to have the court decide the case.

“The main reason for the settlement was because the insurance company did not want to incur anymore legal fees such as from attorney Ms. Loretta Sheehan (former HPD commissioner) and others,” Perry said.