Court Digest

Florida
Man accused of fraud in ticket business scheme
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — A Florida man is accused of defrauding investors he recruited for a business opportunity where he was supposed to secure coveted tickets and resell them for a profit.

The federal indictment against Thomas Coelho, 52, of St. Petersburg, charges him with two counts of wire fraud. It also notifies Coelho that the U.S. government is seeking to recover $1.8 million, the amount he is estimated to have made from the scheme.

Federal prosecutors say Coelho recruited investors for the business opportunity using his entertainment industry connections to make it seem like he had privileged access to tickets to certain high-profile events.

Instead of using the investors’ money to buy event tickets, the U.S. government says Coelho primarily used it for personal expenses, entertainment, and cash withdrawals.

If convicted, Coelho faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison on each count.

Maryland
Jewish group appeals after losing Chabad House lawsuit
BALTIMORE (AP) — A Jewish organization is filing an appeal after a federal judge in Baltimore dismissed the group’s religious-discrimination lawsuit over an expansion of its property in Towson.

The group Friends of Lubavitch filed the discrimination lawsuit in 2018 after a local judge ordered the group to tear down a major addition on its Chabad House. The house is used for outreach to students at nearby Towson University and Goucher College.

Neighbors say the expansion violates local zoning laws. The lawsuit claims that demolishing the addition would deprive Jewish students of their rights.

Earlier this month, U.S. District Judge George Russell rejected a request from Friends of Lubavitch to reconsider his earlier ruling against the group. On Thursday the group’s lawyers gave notice they are appealing the case to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia.

Texas
Judge tosses hospital workers’ lawsuit over vaccine policy
HOUSTON (AP) — A federal judge threw out a lawsuit filed by employees of a Houston hospital system over its requirement that all of its staff be vaccinated against COVID-19.

The Houston Methodist Hospital system suspended 178 employees without pay last week over their refusal to get vaccinated. Of them, 117 sued seeking to overturn the requirement and over their suspension and threatened termination.

In a scathing ruling Saturday, U.S. District Judge Lynn Hughes of Houston deemed lead plaintiff Jennifer Bridges’ contention that the vaccines are “experimental and dangerous” to be false and otherwise irrelevant. He also found that her likening the vaccination requirement to the Nazis’ forced medical experimentation on concentration camp captives during the Holocaust to be “reprehensible.”

Hughes also ruled that making vaccinations a condition of employment was not coercion, as Bridges contended.

“Bridges can freely choose to accept or refuse a COVID-19 vaccine; however, if she refuses, she will simply need to work somewhere else. If a worker refuses an assignment, changed office, earlier start time, or other directive, he may be properly fired. Every employment includes limits on the worker’s behavior in exchange for remuneration. That is all part of the bargain,” Hughes concluded.
Jared Woodfill, a Houston lawyer representing Bridges and the other clients, promised an appeal.

“All of my clients continue to be committed to fighting this unjust policy,” Woodfill said in a statement. “What is shocking is that many of my clients were on the front line treating COVID-positive patients at Texas Methodist Hospital during the height of the pandemic. As a result, many of them contracted COVID-19. As a thank you for their service and sacrifice, Methodist Hospital awards them a pink slip and sentences them to bankruptcy.”

Employees had a June 7 deadline to complete their immunization.

In a Tuesday memo, the hospital system’s CEO, Marc Boom, said that 24,947 employees had complied with the vaccination requirement and that 27 of the 178 others had received the first of a two-dose vaccine and wouldn’t be fired if they got their second. The rest are subject to termination.

He also wrote that 285 other employees received medical or religious exemptions, and 332 were deferred because they were pregnant or for some other reason.

Indiana
Judge rejects new trial for man in murder-for-hire
MUNCIE, Ind. (AP) — A central Indiana judge has rejected a new trial for a man convicted in the 1993 murder-for-hire slaying of a woman found shot to death in her garage.

Jess David Woods was convicted in 2009 of murder and conspiracy to commit murder in Teresa French’s May 1993 killing and sentenced to 100 years in prison.

Woods was hired by the Muncie woman’s estranged husband to kill the 29-year-old mother of three, The Star Press reported.

In his bid for post-conviction relief, Woods and his attorney claimed authorities had not pursued evidence suggesting Anthony French could have fatally shot his wife.

Woods, 69, also said last year that his hearing problems had prevented him from understanding witness testimony at his 2009 trial.

But in a ruling released Thursday, Delaware County Judge Wolf said that Woods had “failed to prove how any of the alleged claims, even if true, individually or collectively would have changed the outcome of the trial.”

Delaware County Prosecutor Eric Hoffman said Friday in a statement that “society is much safer given the fact that Woods will spend the rest of his natural life in prison.”

Anthony French, 60, was convicted of murder and conspiracy to commit murder in his wife’s death by a Delaware County jury in 2008 and sentenced to 80 years in prison.


New Mexico
Widow of police officer suing for wrongful death
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — The widow of a New Mexico State Police officer fatally shot in the line of duty in February has filed a wrongful death lawsuit, asserting the agency failed to equip her husband.

The Albuquerque Journal reported Sunday that Gabriella Jarrott filed the suit in 1st Judicial District Court in Santa Fe, naming the state Department of Public Safety as a defendant. It has been filed on behalf of her and the couple’s three young children.

When reached, the State Police declined to comment.

Officer Darian Jarrott pulled over 39-year-old Omar Cueva on Feb. 4 along Interstate 10 east of Deming. Police said Cueva shot Jarrott multiple times, including in the head.

Cueva fled the scene and fired on officers during the pursuit, police said. Las Cruces officers returned fire, fatally hitting Cueva.

Police said Jarrott was helping Homeland Security Investigation agents with a narcotics investigation when he pulled Cueva over. Cueva was the target of a federal drug sting involving a confidential informant and undercover agent, according to State Police documents.

Sam Bregman, Gabriella Jarrott’s attorney, alleges Jarrott was tasked with pulling over Cueva without any protective gear or backup. The officer had no idea how dangerous Cueva was but his superiors did, the lawsuit says.

Gabriella Jarrott is asking for unspecified damages.

South Carolina
Jury awards $500K to woman over sexual abuse by former pastor
COLUMBUS, Ga. (AP) — A Georgia jury has awarded $500,000 to a woman who sued her former pastor, alleging that he had sexually abused her for years, starting when she was 15 years old.

Jurors in Columbus found Wednesday that Lewis Clemons, who led the Faith Unlimited Ministries and Kingdom Awareness Ministries churches, must pay Lequita Jackson, The Ledger-Enquirer reported.

Victims should not be ashamed to come forward, said Jackson, whose suit said he pushed her into a sexual relationship lasting from 2002 to about 2009.

“We’re not the ones who should be hiding in the shadows,” she said Thursday. “The predators are the ones who should be hiding in the shadows.”

Jackson filed the suit four years ago. She said she revealed the relationship after learning Clemons had pressured other women into similar affairs.

“Lequita’s goal from the very beginning was to make sure this doesn’t happen to anyone else,” said her attorney, Jeb Butler.

He said Jackson was among four women who testified against Clemons, who was not represented by an attorney in the civil trial before Muscogee County Superior Court Judge Ron Mullins.

Jackson alleged Clemons made advances after she went to him to complain about a church music director’s inappropriate sexual contact.

From age 15 until she turned 23, she and Clemons had sex multiple times in various locations, including motel rooms, cars, the church office, the pulpit and a bedroom belonging to Clemons’ daughter, Butler said.

Jackson and other women testified that Clemons perpetuated a practice he called “body anointing,” in which he would have them strip to their underwear or completely nude and rub oil on them as he preached or recited scripture.

“He would tell them it would ‘seal in the holy spirit,’” Butler said. Clemons at one point claimed it cured a woman’s breast cancer, he added.

When Jackson tried to end the relationship, Clemons “re-initiated it using coercion, persuasion, and by falsely claiming the Bible justified his actions,” said the lawsuit filed June 16, 2017.

Butler, now 34, said she lost a lot after suing Clemons, but it was worth the sacrifice.

When she left the church, “I lost a family that I had for years.” She lost other friends, too, she said: “It helped me sort through who my friends were.”

Clemons could not be reached for comment Thursday.

Butler said he doubts that his client will ever get the money the jury awarded her.

“I don’t think Lewis Clemons has half a million dollars,” Jeb Butler said. “I don’t think we’ll collect a dime.”

South Carolina
Family of man killed by police in his own home gets $75,000
GREENVILLE, S.C. (AP) — The family of a South Carolina man who was shot and killed by police who forced their way into his home after he was the victim in a robbery and assault call has received a $75,000 wrongful death settlement.

Charles Edward Rosemond Sr. fired at the Greenville County deputies who broke down the door of his Taylors apartment in December 2015 after a neighbor called 911. One officer suffered a superficial head wound and recovered, investigators said.

Rosemond, 55, was shot in the leg and died while the deputy was being treated, investigators said. The lawsuit said deputies were negligent when they did not also provide prompt first aid to Rosemond.

The deputies were cleared in Rosemond’s death, and the Greenville County Sheriff’s Office said the payment was not an admission of fault in the shooting.

Rosemond’s niece told The Greenville News that her uncle’s death should be listed as an unsolved homicide since no one was charged.

“It still hurts. It feels like it was just today,” Candace Brewer said. “Saying sorry is not enough for me. My uncle is worth more than this.”

The deputies told investigators they broke down Rosemond’s door because no one answered when they knocked and they feared an unconscious victim might be inside after the neighbor reported an assault.

The $75,000 settlement was paid by the state Insurance Reserve Fund in February, according to a report the agency released this month.


Alabama
Woman acquitted of theft sues ex-boss over claim
DOTHAN, Ala. (AP) — An Alabama woman who was cleared of theft charges after a former employer accused her of stealing from his wedding venue business is now suing her one-time boss for $4 million.

Gayla White, a former member of the city planning commission who was acquitted of wrongdoing during a trial in April, sued Eddie Donaldson. The suit accuses him of defamation, slander, libel, malicious prosecution and abuse of process, the Dothan Eagle reported.

White is seeking $3 million to punish Donaldson plus $1 million in compensation for lost wages, pain and suffering and legal expenses.

She claims Donaldson falsely accused her of theft in 2018 because he was upset she was resigning before a planned wedding. Donaldson also wanted to keep the personal notebook she used to track her work hours and calendar, White said.

White said she’d often stay at home because of the humiliating accusations, and her family felt isolated because of the experience.