Iowa
Trial set for teen accused of killing Spanish teacher
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A trial for a 17-year-old charged with murder in the death of a southeast Iowa high school Spanish teacher has been set for March 20.
A judge on Thursday set the trial date for Willard Miller, who is charged with first-degree murder in the beating death of 66-year-old Nohema Graber. Another student, Jeremy Everett Goodale, also is charged with murder in Graber’s death.
Judge Shawn Showers had previously set the location for Miller’s trial in Council Bluffs, about 200 miles (322 kilometers) west of Fairfield, where Graber’s body was found in a park last November. Graber, a Spanish teacher at Fairfield High School, had been beaten to death with a baseball bat.
The judge also set a hearing date for Nov. 2 in Fairfield for Miller. His attorney is seeking to keep jurors from hearing certain evidence police gathered during their investigation.
The judge earlier had moved Goodale’s trial about 80 miles (128 kilometers) east from Fairfield to Davenport. It is set to begin Dec. 5.
Both teens will be tried as adults. In Iowa the penalty for a first-degree murder conviction is life in prison. However, Iowa Supreme Court rulings require juveniles convicted of even the most serious crimes to be given a chance for parole.
Indiana
Man charged with murder in Dutch soldiers’ shooting
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — A 22-year-old Indiana man was charged Thursday with murder in the fatal shooting of a Dutch soldier and the wounding of two others in downtown Indianapolis.
Shamar Duncan was charged with murder, two counts of attempted murder and disorderly conduct in the shootings early Saturday, Marion County Prosecutor Ryan Mears said. The soldiers had been training at a southern Indiana military camp and were on a night off in Indianapolis when they clashed with Duncan and his friends, according to an arrest affidavit. The affidavit says Duncan told one of his friends that he opened fire on the soldiers because he “just spazzed.”
The soldier who was killed has been identified as Simmie Poetsema, a 26-year-old member of the Dutch Commando Corps.
One of the wounded soldiers has returned to the Netherlands and the other is expected to return Thursday, and both are expected to make a full recovery, Deputy Police Chief Kendale Adams said.
Adams called the shootings disgusting and tragic.
“The life taken due to senseless gun violence of a hero is disgraceful and cowardly,” Adams said.
Duncan has been in custody since his Tuesday arrest.
According to the affidavit, soldiers told investigators that they were walking back to their hotel from a bar when Duncan and his friends bumped into them. Witnesses told police that the soldiers tried to defuse the situation, but that a brief fight broke out before the gunshots were fired from a passing pickup truck.
Mears said others who were with Duncan at the time could still face criminal charges.
“I hope no one interprets this as the end of the investigation or that other additional charges against other individuals will not be filed in the future,” Mears said. “We are continuing to evaluate everybody’s conduct involved.”
An initial court hearing for Duncan was scheduled for Thursday afternoon but court records didn’t immediately list an attorney who could comment on his behalf.
Alabama
Train engineer indicted in death of worker on rails
MOBILE, Ala. (AP) — A train engineer who was allegedly chatting on video when his locomotive struck heavy equipment on the tracks in south Alabama, killing a Mississippi man, was charged with reckless manslaughter in the crash, court documents show.
James Jeffery Elder, 49, of Spanish Fort was indicted last week by Mobile County grand jurors in the death of Dexter Scott of Laurel, Mississippi, WKRG-TV reported.
Elder, who worked for Alabama Export Railroad at the time of the collision, was booked and released on a $75,000 bail. Court records don’t include the name of a defense attorney who could speak on his behalf.
Prichard police said Elder was operating a Canadian National train that collided with equipment that was installing railroad ties on tracks in the town on Nov. 17, 2020.
The train was traveling at 19 mph around a curve when it hit a boom truck, which knocked the backhoe into the workers, killing one contractor and injuring three others, according to an investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board.
The engineer was distracted by a video conversation on a personal cellphone while the train was in motion, a violation of federal regulations, the agency found. Minutes before impact, the engineer took off his hat and placed it in front of a surveillance camera, but the man could still be seen holding the phone, said the report.
The indictment accused Elder of “recklessly using a cellular device while operating a locomotive” and going too fast for conditions.
The engineer was fired, and the company took steps that included lowering the speed limit on its tracks, the federal investigation said.
Kentucky
Former state trooper convicted of conspiracy
FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — A former state trooper has been convicted in federal court of conspiring to misappropriate weapons belonging to Kentucky State Police, authorities said.
Jurors found Michael Crawford, 58, of Georgetown, guilty last week, according to a statement from U.S. Attorney Carlton S. Shier.
Crawford conspired with former Scott County Coroner John Goble, 68, and another person to unlawfully misappropriate 21 firearms belonging to Kentucky State Police, the statement said.
Goble previously pleaded guilty to a related conspiracy to misappropriate 187 cases of police ammunition. Crawford and Goble were indicted in federal court last year.
Crawford faces up to five years in prison when he is sentenced on Dec. 13.
Hawaii
4 families sue U.S.over Navy fuel-tainted tap water
HONOLULU (AP) — The U.S. Navy “harbored toxic secrets” when jet fuel contaminated drinking water for 93,000 military members and civilians in Hawaii, according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday from four families who say they’re still suffering from seizures, gastrointestinal disorders and neurological issues.
Hundreds of additional claims are expected from those who ingested the toxic water, said the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Honolulu. Others going through the administrative process of the Federal Tort Claims Act will be added to the lawsuit.
At least twice last year, thousands of gallons of jet fuel from the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility, a massive World War II-era military-run tank farm in the hills above Pearl Harbor, leaked into a well that supplied water to homes and offices in and around the sprawling base.
A Navy investigation blamed the water crisis on shoddy management and human error.
“Because government personnel then failed to disclose those leaks as required, the plaintiffs continued to ingest jet fuel and became sick from that exposure,” the lawsuit said. “Instead of promptly and appropriately addressing the harm, government officials conducted a woefully inadequate clean-up and clearing effort, while government doctors provided medical care far below the standard of care.”
The Navy said in a statement it doesn’t comment on ongoing litigation. “The Navy’s priorities are to ensure the safety and health of our people, their families, and the community members impacted by the Red Hill fuel spill, provide responses to their concerns, and ensure access to clean drinking water,” the statement said.
Each family lived in a home at or near Pearl Harbor with water provided by the Navy. The families include a mother who is a major in the Army, a father who is an active-duty Navy ensign, a father who is a senior chief petty officer in the Navy and a father who is an active-duty technical sergeant in the Air Force, according to the lawsuit.
The families have since left Hawaii.
They are asking for monetary awards to be determined at trial for damages including pain and suffering, mental anguish and medical expenses.
Iowa
Judge dismisses official’s lawsuit against governor
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A state court judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by a former state agency director who claimed Gov. Kim Reynolds fired him after he objected to her diverting federal Medicaid money to pay a member of her staff.
Iowa Department of Human Services Director Jerry Foxhoven filed the lawsuit against Reynolds in June 2021, two years after she fired him. In his lawsuit, Foxhoven contended he was fired because he refused to engage in illegal Medicaid fraud.
Reynolds denied she did anything wrong, but she refused to say why she fired Foxhoven, apart from stating she chose to go in another direction. Later, she added that Foxhoven’s dismissal was partly related to patient deaths at the Glenwood Resource Center, where Iowans with severe disabilities are treated.
In August 2019 Foxhoven sought $2 million in damages from the State Appeal Board, which considers legal claims against the state. He filed the lawsuit after the board denied his claim.
On Wednesday, Judge Sarah Crane dismissed his lawsuit, concluding that as an appointed official he served at the pleasure of the governor who had the right to choose executive leadership.
“Foxhoven’s argument that the governor does not have discretion to terminate him in violation of public policy fails,” she wrote.
Crane said even Foxhoven’s allegations that the governor had committed a financial impropriety did not supersede her right to fire him.
“The remedy to the public, in such instances of abuse, is at the polls,” said Crane, who was appointed by Reynolds to her position in 2018.
Reynolds said in a statement that “the court has confirmed what I’ve known all along — that this case was baseless from the start.”
Foxhoven’s firing received national attention when The Associated Press reported that his firing came a day after he sent an email to DHS employees with a quote from rapper Tupac Shakur he found inspirational.
Foxhoven has said he was a fan of the late rapper.
Foxhoven’s lawyer Tom Duff said they are disappointed in the decision and are considering an appeal.
