Ohio
Judge to decide next steps on ‘heartbeat’ abortion ban
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — A judge in Ohio was scheduled to hear arguments Friday on whether to extend a block on Ohio’s law banning virtually all abortions on a more permanent basis.
Hamilton County Judge Christian Jenkins previously decided to pause the law through Oct. 12, after it took effect in the wake of federal abortion protections being overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court in June.
That marked the second 14-day pause Jenkins had ordered in a lawsuit brought by the ACLU of Ohio on behalf of the state’s remaining abortion providers. He found their lawsuit was “substantially likely to prevail on the merits.”
He must now decide whether to issue a permanent injunction that would pause the law as the litigation proceeds.
The suit argues that the abortion ban violates protections in the state constitution guaranteeing individual liberty and equal protection. It also says the law is unconstitutionally vague.
Republican Gov. Mike DeWine signed the law in April 2019. It prohibited most abortions after the first detectable “fetal heartbeat.” Cardiac activity can be detected as early as six weeks into pregnancy, or before many people know they’re pregnant.
The law was initially blocked through a legal challenge, but it went into effect after the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision was overturned.
Washington
Former USA Climbing coach sentenced for sexual abuse
EVERETT, Wash. (AP) — A former coach for Team USA Climbing has been sentenced to five years in prison for the sexual abuse of two girls.
The Daily Herald of Everett, Washington, reports that 28-year-old Alexander Fritz was charged in February with four counts of third-degree child rape after two 15-year-old girls he met through climbing reported he abused them from 2016 to 2019.
Fritz pleaded guilty in July to the four counts, deputy prosecutor Jarrett Goodkin said at a sentencing hearing Thursday in Snohomish County Superior Court.
An investigator with the U.S. Center for SafeSport had contacted Redmond detective Marshall Tolbert about several allegations that Fritz had “relationships” with youth athletes.
Fritz was involved in climbing for more than 20 years. He was a coach for the U.S. Olympic Climbing Team in 2018 and 2019.
Fritz apologized for his actions Thursday in court.
“I promise that I will do everything in my power, both in incarceration and afterwards to seek help in the form of deviancy programs and therapy and any other resource that is available to me in order to make those improvements and better myself,” he told the court.
Wisconsin
Judge dismisses lawsuit against loan forgiveness
GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — A federal judge in Wisconsin has dismissed a lawsuit from a taxpayers group seeking to block President Joe Biden’s student loan forgiveness program, ruling that the group doesn’t have standing to bring the lawsuit.
The Brown County Taxpayers Association argued that Biden’s order unlawfully circumvented Congress’ power over spending. They also argued the plan was discriminatory by seeking to give particular help to borrowers of color.
U.S. District Judge William Griesbach, an appointee of President George W. Bush, tossed the case Thursday, writing that the group does not have standing to challenge the plan simply because they are taxpayers.
Biden enacted the debt relief plan under the HEROES Act, which was passed after the Sept. 11 attacks sparked an American-led military campaign aimed at terrorism. The act gave the executive branch authority to forgive student loan debt in association with military operations or national emergencies.
The president cited COVID-19 as reason to invoke the act. The lawsuit, filed by the conservative Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty on behalf of the taxpayers group, had argued it was an overextension of executive power that improperly sidestepped Congress.
Similar lawsuits have been filed in other states. In Indiana, a libertarian group has argued that Biden’s plan creates additional tax burdens for students who would have their loans forgiven by other means. Six Republican-led states also filed a lawsuit in Missouri raising specific objections to loan forgiveness for federal loans that are owned by private banks. The Biden administration quickly removed eligibility for the estimated 770,000 borrowers with such loans.
Idaho
Mom’s triple murder case paused for competency determination
BOISE, Idaho (AP) — An Idaho judge has postponed the trial of a woman charged with conspiring to kill her two youngest children and her fifth husband’s late wife until officials can determine if she’s mentally competent.
Seventh District Judge Steven Boyce ruled Thursday, a few days after Lori Vallow Daybell’s defense attorneys asked that the case be paused. The documents detailing the request were sealed and a short hearing on the matter was closed to the public.
The trial had been set for next January.
Both Vallow Daybell and her husband, Chad Daybell, have pleaded not guilty to the charges. The strange details of the case have drawn attention from around the world.
Idaho law enforcement officers started investigating the couple in November 2019 after extended family members reported her two youngest children, Joshua “JJ” Vallow and Tylee Ryan, were missing. At the time, JJ Vallow was 7 years old and Tylee Ryan was nearing her 17th birthday.
Daybell and Vallow Daybell had married just two weeks after his previous wife, Tammy Daybell, died unexpectedly. The children’s bodies were later found buried on his property in rural eastern Idaho.
The couple was eventually charged with murder, conspiracy and grand theft in connection with the deaths of the children and Daybell’s late wife. They have pleaded not guilty and could face the death penalty if convicted.
Prosecutors say the couple promoted unusual religious beliefs to further the alleged murder conspiracies. Vallow Daybell’s former husband, Charles Vallow, died while the two were estranged but had said in divorce documents that Vallow Daybell believed she was a god-like figure responsible for ushering in the apocalyptical end times. Daybell wrote doomsday-focused fiction books and recorded podcasts about preparing for the apocalypse.
Friends of the couple told law enforcement investigators the pair believed people could be taken over by dark spirits, and that Vallow Daybell referred to her children as “zombies,” which was a term they used to describe those who were possessed.
Vallow Daybell is also charged with conspiracy to commit murder in Arizona in connection with the death of Vallow. Her previous husband was shot and killed by Vallow Daybell’s brother, Alex Cox, who said it was self-defense. Cox later died of what police said was natural causes.
The Arizona legal proceedings are on hold while the Idaho case is underway and Vallow Daybell has not been scheduled to make a plea in the Arizona case.
It’s the second time the Idaho case against Vallow Daybell has been put on hold. The criminal case was paused in 2021 after she was declared incompetent to stand trial and she was committed to the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare for treatment. She was declared competent 10 months later.
Louisiana
Life sentence for murder of would-be online bike seller
GRETNA, La. (AP) — A man convicted of gunning down a victim who was lured to a New Orleans-area apartment in hopes of selling a dirt bike has been sentenced to life in prison.
WWL-TV reports that Jalen Harvey was sentenced Thursday. He had been convicted of first-degree murder in September for the 2021 shooting death of 29-year-old Joseph Vindel.
Authorities said Vindel had offered his dirt bike for sale on an online marketplace. He towed the bike to a parking lot in Jefferson Parish after Harvey responded to the post. Prosecutors said Harvey intended to rob Vindel, who was still in his vehicle when Harvey shot him.
Harvey then used Vindel’s vehicle to drive the body back to New Orleans before abandoning it.
Thursday’s sentencing hearing included statements from Vindel’s parents.
“There is no helping me,” Vindel’s father, Lindsey Vindel, said. “I’m 70 years old, I don’t have a lot of time left, it’s not a bad thing now.”
The Vindel case led the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office to establish public spaces where people can meet to safely complete sales arranged online.
Georgia
Judge denies bond for Atlanta man who shot wife in SUV
ATLANTA (AP) — A judge on Friday denied bond for a well-connected Atlanta man who’s awaiting a second trial in the killing of his wife after Georgia’s highest court overturned his murder conviction earlier this year.
Claud “Tex” McIver, 79, was convicted in 2018 on charges including felony murder in the September 2016 death of 64-year-old Diane McIver and was sentenced to serve life in prison. The Georgia Supreme Court in June reversed the murder conviction, saying the jury should have had the option to give him a misdemeanor involuntary manslaughter charge.
When reversing his other convictions, the high court affirmed his conviction for influencing a witness. But McIver finished serving his sentence for that conviction last month. Prosecutors said in a court filing in July that they plan to retry McIver on charges of felony murder, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony.
“He’s now serving time for nothing he’s been convicted of,” defense attorney Don Samuel told Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney during a hearing Friday, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Samuel asked for a $220,000 bond and asked that McIver be allowed to live with his sister near Dallas, Texas, the newspaper reported.
Prosecutor Adam Abbate urged the judge to deny bond.
“He’s 80 years old,” Abbate said. “After being convicted of murder he’s less likely to return to court because he has less to lose.”
After hearing from four witnesses called by the state who all asked the judge not to let McIver go free, McBurney denied the request for bond.
“I have before me a man who has heard a jury say you are guilty of felony murder and will spend the rest of your natural life in prison,” McBurney said. “That is a powerful incentive for you, Mr. McIver, not to come back to court and face some of the same evidence.”
The McIvers were wealthy and well-connected. He had been a partner at a prominent labor and employment law firm and served on the state election board. She was president of U.S. Enterprises Inc., the parent company of Corey Airport Services, where she had worked for 43 years.
At the time of the shooting, Tex McIver was no longer a partner at his firm and his income had dropped significantly. He and his wife kept separate finances and prosecutors alleged he killed his wife because he needed her money to cover his expenses. Defense attorneys disputed that, saying McIver deeply loved his wife and her death was a tragic accident.
Dani Jo Carter, a close friend of Diane McIver, was driving the couple’s Ford Expedition the evening of Sept. 25, 2016, as the three returned from a weekend at the McIvers’ horse farm about 75 miles (120 kilometers) east of Atlanta. Diane McIver was in the front passenger seat and Tex McIver was in the back seat behind his wife.
With traffic heavy on the interstate, Carter exited in downtown Atlanta. A short while later, McIver fired the gun once, striking his wife in the back. Carter drove to a hospital where Diane McIver died.
