Court Digest

Colorado
Truck driver convicted in pileup that killed 4
GOLDEN, Colo. (AP) — A truck driver accused of causing a fiery pileup that killed four people and injured six others on a Colorado highway has been convicted of vehicular homicide and other charges.

Rogel Lazaro Aguilera Mederos, 25, was convicted by a Jefferson County jury on Friday in connection with the April 2019 crash on Interstate 70 west of Denver, The Denver Post reported.

Aguilera Mederos testified that the brakes on his semitrailer failed before he plowed into vehicles that had slowed because of another wreck in the Denver suburb of Lakewood.

Prosecutors argued he could have used one of several runaway ramps as his truck barreled down from the mountains. The chain-reaction wreck ruptured gas tanks, causing flames that consumed several vehicles and melted parts of the highway just after it descends from the mountains west of Denver.

Aguilera Mederos was found guilty of six counts of vehicular homicide, six counts of first-degree assault, 10 counts of attempted first-degree assault, six counts of careless driving and one count of reckless driving. Jurors acquitted him of 15 additional counts of attempted first-degree assault.

Sentencing was set for Dec. 13. Aguilera Mederos faces decades in prison.

The truck carrying lumber was going at least 85 mph (137 kph) on a part of Interstate 70 where commercial vehicles are limited to 45 mph (72 kph) because of a steep descent from the Rocky Mountain foothills, according to investigators. The initial impact caused a 28-vehicle chain-reaction wreck that ruptured gas tanks, causing flames that consumed several vehicles and melted parts of the highway just after it descends from the mountains.

Just before the crash, police said the truck traveled past a ramp on the side of the interstate that is designed to safely stop trucks and other vehicles that have lost their brakes.

Aguilera Mederos testified at trial that he tried to hit part of a parked 18-wheeler’s trailer to slow down and sought a space between traffic.

Texas
Former Boeing test pilot pleads not guilty in 737 Max case
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — A former Boeing test pilot pleaded not guilty Friday to charges that he deceived regulators by withholding information about a key system that played a role in two deadly crashes involving Boeing 737 Max jets.

Mark Forkner made his first appearance in federal court in Fort Worth since being indicted on six counts of fraud. A magistrate set trial for Nov. 15.

Outside the courthouse, his lawyer, David Gerger, said Forkner was a scapegoat. He said if the case goes to trial, “the truth will show that Mark did not cause this tragedy, he did not lie, and he should not be charged.”

Forkner’s is accused of withholding information about an automated flight-control system that misfired during the deadly flights, pushing the nose of each plane down based on a faulty sensor reading. Prosecutors say his actions led the Federal Aviation Administration to remove mention of the system from pilot manuals and training materials.

He is the first person to be charged with a crime in connection with the crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia, which together killed 346 people. Families of passengers called for more prosecutions.

“Forkner is just a fall guy. He and Boeing are responsible for the deaths of everyone who died in the Max crashes,” said Nadia Milleron, whose daughter was killed in the Ethiopian crash in March 2019, five months after the first crash. “The executives and board of directors of Boeing need to go to jail.”

Milleron is among relatives suing the company in federal court in Chicago, where Boeing is based.

In January, Boeing agreed to a $243 million fine as part of a $2.5 billion settlement with the Justice Department. The government agreed not to prosecute Boeing for conspiracy if it lives up to terms of the settlement for three years.

Kentucky
Teen charged  with murder in wrong-way crash
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — A Kentucky teen has been charged with murder in a fatal wrong-way crash on Interstate 65, authorities said.

The 17-year-old boy was charged with murder, assault, driving under the influence and other counts, Louisville Metro Police Department spokeswoman Alicia Smiley told news outlets. His name wasn’t released due to his age.

The teen was driving the wrong way in the southbound lanes when the head-on crash happened about 4 a.m. Saturday, police said.

The driver of the other vehicle, Doan Lufti, 22, died from her injuries at a hospital, the Jefferson County Coroner’s Office said. Two passengers from her vehicle were being treated for injuries.

The 17-year-old driver was also taken to a hospital for injuries suffered in the crash.

New York
Man who texted threats to reporter’s family pleads guilty
NEW YORK (AP) — A California man pleaded guilty Friday to threatening harm in text messages sent during the attack on the Capitol to a New York-based family member of a journalist.

Robert Lemke, 36, entered the plea in Manhattan federal court, where he was charged in January.

Prosecutors alleged that a Jan. 6 text message from Lemke’s phone to the relative of the journalist, whose identity was not disclosed, said the journalist’s words “are putting you and your family at risk.”

The text added: “We are nearby armed and ready. Thousands of us are active/retired law enforcement, military, etc. That’s how we do it,” prosecutors said in court papers.

From November 2020 through early January, Lemke sent threatening electronic and audio messages to approximately 50 people, including journalists and politicians, prosecutors said.

They say he was frustrated with the results of the 2020 presidential election and targeted the people based on statements they made. The Bay Point, California, resident is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 14.

“Inevitably, elections result in frustrations for some — that is part of the political process — but trying to instill fear in others by threat will not be tolerated by law enforcement,” U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in a release.

A plea agreement signed by Lemke recommended that he be sentenced to between 15 months and 21 months in prison.

In the papers, prosecutors noted that Lemke had previously been convicted in state court in Oakland for falsely reporting an emergency, in state court in San Diego for failing to appear on a felony charge and in state court in Livermore, California, for obstructing a police officer. Those convictions occurred between 2011 and 2015.

Connecticut
Jury: Police officer in fatal shooting to pay $350,000
NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) — A civil jury has ordered a former Bridgeport police officer to pay $350,000 after finding he wrongfully shot and killed a man eight years ago who had dropped his weapon.

The federal jury found Friday that Christopher Borona violated the constitutional right to life of Bryan Stukes when he shot him in the back as he ran from Borona on April 1, 2013, the Connecticut Post reported.

Borona previously was cleared of criminal wrongdoing following an investigation by a state prosecutor.

A federal lawsuit filed by Stukes’ mother, Melissa Gibbs, against the detective and city of Bridgeport claimed Borona used excessive force. The jury deliberated about six hours over two days before returning its decision.

Deputy City Attorney John Bohannon said Borona had been forced to make “split-second decisions” and called the finding of liability disappointing.

Borona confronted Stukes outside a store where Stukes appeared to have been threatening to shoot another man with a rifle, the Hartford Courant reported.

Stukes ran from Borona and, during a brief chase, dropped the rifle before being struck by the fatal shot.

Borona said he did not know Stukes was unarmed at the time. Stukes’ mother argued that video evidence showed otherwise.

Borona retired from the Bridgeport Police Department in December 2018. He could not be reached for comment Saturday because there was no public telephone listing for him.

Detroit
Inmates win right to kosher meat, cheesecake
DETROIT (AP) — Michigan must serve kosher meat, dairy and cheesecake to prisoners observing the Jewish Sabbath and holidays, a federal appeals court said, rejecting arguments that a special menu would be too costly and disruptive.

The Corrections Department typically offers a vegan meal to anyone with religious dietary needs. But the appeals court said it was a “substantial burden” on the rights of prisoners who said they instead need meat and dairy to practice their Jewish faith.

In a 3-0 opinion this week, the appeals court affirmed a decision by U.S. District Judge Linda Parker. The court analyzed the case under a federal law that protects the exercise of religion in a confined setting.

Gerald Ackerman and Mark Shaykin sued after the state in 2013 adopted a vegan religious meal and said Jewish organizations could no longer send food for four holidays.

Prisoners can purchase small kosher meat and dairy products at the commissary, but the food can’t be brought into the chow hall. Ackerman and Shaykin said they must eat the special food as meals, not snacks.

The Corrections Department said providing meat to all Jewish prisoners on holidays and the Sabbath would cost about $10,000 a year.

“The interest in simply avoiding an annual $10,000 outlay here is not compelling. ... The MDOC annual food budget is $39 million,” the appeals court said.

The state also argued that an exception to its religious meal policy would turn prison kitchens into a “religious-accommodation buffet.” But the three-judge panel said the state failed to properly develop that defense.

Ackerman and Shaykin believe they must eat kosher cheesecake on Shavuot, which recalls the ancient harvest of wheat and the delivery of the Torah to Jews.

The appeals court said the “cheesecake issue is trickier” than meat and milk, but it affirmed the trial judge’s findings.

Parker “reached the defensible conclusion that (she) should credit the prisoners’ testimony that they believe cheesecake is mandatory on Shavuot. That’s all that is required,” the appeals court said.

Indiana
AG asks state Supreme Court to take adoption neglect case
LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) — The Indiana attorney general’s office has asked the state’s highest court to take up a case involving a former couple accused of abandoning their adopted daughter.

The attorney general’s office has requested the Indiana Supreme Court reverse an appeals court decision involving Michael and Kristine Barnett,  according to WLFI-TV.

They were charged in 2019 with neglect of a dependent for allegedly leaving their daughter Natalia in an apartment and moving to Canada. They adopted the girl, who has dwarfism and is from the Ukraine, in 2010. Authorities say a doctor who examined the girl that year estimated her age as 8 years old. Before leaving, the couple legally changed her age to 22. They claimed she was posing as an adult. The case generated i nternational headlines.

The attorney general’s office wants the state’s high court to reverse an Aug. 25 decision by the Indiana Appeals Court finding the Barnetts can’t be prosecuted for neglect of a dependent based on their adopted daughter’s age.
The attorney general’s office says the re-aging petition was signed without a hearing or legal representation for their daughter’s interests.

The couple divorced in 2014. Messages left Sunday for their attorneys were not immediately returned.

Rhode Island
Man sentenced in international fentanyl case
FARGO, N.D. (AP) — A Rhode Island man accused by prosecutors of having a “leadership role” in an international fentanyl trafficking operation has been sentenced in North Dakota to 33 years in federal prison.

Steven Pinto, also known as Yeaboy, is one of more than 30 people, including a handful of Chinese nationals, accused of dealing large amounts of the powerful opioid in the U.S. and Canada. Deaths from drugs traced to the operation have been reported in North Dakota, North Carolina, New Jersey and Oregon.

Pinto, 40, of Pawtucket, Rhode Island, was convicted by a jury in June following a five-week trial. In addition to his prison term, Pinto was ordered Thursday to serve three years of supervised release.

The investigation known as “Operation Denial” began after 18-year-old Bailey Henke, of Grand Forks, North Dakota, died from a fatal overdose in January 2015. Former U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions came to North Dakota in April 2019 to talk about the case after Jian Zhang, the alleged ringleader from China, was charged.

The U.S. State Department is offering up to $5 million for information leading to the arrest or conviction of Zhang.

Three Canadian citizens accused in the operation have been extradited to the United States and are scheduled for trial in Fargo in October 2022.