Arizona
Election worker accused of stealing security fob also charged with other crimes
PHOENIX (AP) — A temporary election worker accused of computer tampering in Arizona’s largest county has been charged with additional crimes.
Walter Ringfield was charged with third-degree burglary and criminal trespassing after prosecutors say he stole several items while walking through a secure area of the Arizona Legislature on June 15, according to an indictment filed last week.
Ringfield had previously been charged with computer tampering after surveillance video captured him on June 20 taking a security fob off of a desk that would allow him access to vote tabulators in Maricopa County. He was arrested at his Phoenix home the next day after election workers realized that one of the fobs was missing.
Ringfield also is charged with theft after prosecutors say he stole $9,500 in vintage jewelry from mannequins at the Phoenix Art Museum on May 20.
West Virginia
Wrongful death lawsuit against troopers settled in man’s death
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — A judge approved a $1 million settlement Tuesday in a wrongful death lawsuit that accused West Virginia state police troopers of using excessive force on a Maryland man who was walking along a highway last year.
Kanawha County Circuit Judge Kenneth Ballard approved the settlement for the estate of Edmond Exline. The lawsuit said he died at a hospital after three troopers tackled and handcuffed him and used a Taser to immobilize him Feb. 12, 2023, along Interstate 81 near Martinsburg.
The lawsuit said Exline, 45, of Hagerstown, Maryland, was unarmed. Troopers administered the overdose-reversing drug Narcan several times even though Exline had not overdosed on any narcotics, it said.
State police Capt. Eric Burnett in Charles Town had said the Taser was used on Exline after he ran into traffic and ignored commands from a trooper.
During a March 2023 briefing, Gov. Jim Justice said he had watched police video involving Exline and called it “very, very concerning.” State police previously denied a request by The Associated Press to review the video, and Exline’s cause of death following an autopsy wasn’t released.
Justice announced at the time that Exline’s death would be part of a sweeping investigation of the state police due to several alarming allegations, including that a now-dead employee hid a video camera in the women’s locker room at a facility in Kanawha County. The governor also appointed a new state police superintendent after the former one resigned.
Dozens of lawsuits have been filed over the locker room allegations, which are now part of a federal investigation of the state police.
Minnesota
Judge cites ‘hyper-religious’ belief in ruling man incompetent for trial in killings
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A Minnesota judge has ruled that a man accused in the deaths of three relatives is incompetent to stand trial, citing the man’s “hyper-religious” belief that God is telling him to plead guilty.
David Ekers, 38, was charged with three counts of second-degree intentional murder for pipe wrench attacks in July 2020 in suburban Minneapolis that killed his sister, mother and grandmother.
But last week, Hennepin County Judge Julia Dayton Klein ordered Ekers to remain in a state security hospital indefinitely, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported Wednesday. The commitment order said Ekers told a doctor he planned to plead guilty “because I think Matthew 5 says, ‘you should settle with your accuser quickly.’ … It’s not that I want to go to prison or anything. It’s that I’m trying to follow what God says.”
The doctor determined that Ekers “was unable to consider what is in his best interest in light of his hyper-religious delusional rigidity, illogical and disorganized thought process and confusion, all of which are reflective of psychotic symptoms,” the order read.
Ekers was previously committed to the state institution on a court order that said he was schizophrenic in part because of years of consuming high-caffeine energy drinks.
Arizona
Judge closes door to new trial for rancher in fatal shooting of Mexican man
NOGALES, Ariz. (AP) — An Arizona rancher who was unsuccessfully tried in the fatal shooting of a Mexican man on his property will not be retried, a judge ruled Tuesday.
Santa Cruz County Superior Court Judge Thomas Fink denied a request by prosecutors who had argued that the possibility of a new trial should be left open in case new witnesses emerge.
Fink agreed with attorneys for rancher George Alan Kelly who said the case should be dismissed with prejudice, meaning it cannot be brought back to court after it ended in a mistrial April 22 with jurors unable to reach a unanimous verdict.
In his latest ruling, Fink said justice would not be served by letting prosecutors wait for a tactical advantage to retry Kelly, which he said would amount to harassment of the defendant.
Fink noted that jurors could not be swayed by prosecutors’ arguments during the trial and said another attempt would result in another hung jury or more likely an acquittal.
Prosecutors did not immediately respond to an email message seeking comment on the judge’s ruling.
After the trial, Deputy County Attorney Kimberly Hunley said the prosecution supported dismissing the case but wanted the option to retry it if circumstances change. She had said unknown witnesses may come forward and known witnesses in Mexico might become available.
Kelly, 75, was on trial for nearly a month in Nogales, a city on the border with Mexico, in the death of 48-year-old Gabriel Cuen-Buitimea, who was fatally shot on Jan. 30, 2023. Kelly was charged with second-degree murder.
Cuen-Buitimea, who lived just south of the border in Nogales, Mexico, was in a group of men whom Kelly encountered that day on his ranch.
Prosecutors claimed Kelly recklessly fired nine gunshots toward the group from about 100 yards (90 meters) away. Kelly said he fired warning shots in the air and not directly at anyone.
In his ruling, Fink noted the testimony of a Honduran migrant who told jurors he was walking with Cuen-Buitimea that day. The judge wrote that any new witnesses would contradict testimony that the man was the sole witness and raise other credibility challenges.
Fink also wrote that since the bullet that killed Cuen-Buitimea remains missing, there is no reliable forensic evidence to prove who shot him.
Election worker accused of stealing security fob also charged with other crimes
PHOENIX (AP) — A temporary election worker accused of computer tampering in Arizona’s largest county has been charged with additional crimes.
Walter Ringfield was charged with third-degree burglary and criminal trespassing after prosecutors say he stole several items while walking through a secure area of the Arizona Legislature on June 15, according to an indictment filed last week.
Ringfield had previously been charged with computer tampering after surveillance video captured him on June 20 taking a security fob off of a desk that would allow him access to vote tabulators in Maricopa County. He was arrested at his Phoenix home the next day after election workers realized that one of the fobs was missing.
Ringfield also is charged with theft after prosecutors say he stole $9,500 in vintage jewelry from mannequins at the Phoenix Art Museum on May 20.
West Virginia
Wrongful death lawsuit against troopers settled in man’s death
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — A judge approved a $1 million settlement Tuesday in a wrongful death lawsuit that accused West Virginia state police troopers of using excessive force on a Maryland man who was walking along a highway last year.
Kanawha County Circuit Judge Kenneth Ballard approved the settlement for the estate of Edmond Exline. The lawsuit said he died at a hospital after three troopers tackled and handcuffed him and used a Taser to immobilize him Feb. 12, 2023, along Interstate 81 near Martinsburg.
The lawsuit said Exline, 45, of Hagerstown, Maryland, was unarmed. Troopers administered the overdose-reversing drug Narcan several times even though Exline had not overdosed on any narcotics, it said.
State police Capt. Eric Burnett in Charles Town had said the Taser was used on Exline after he ran into traffic and ignored commands from a trooper.
During a March 2023 briefing, Gov. Jim Justice said he had watched police video involving Exline and called it “very, very concerning.” State police previously denied a request by The Associated Press to review the video, and Exline’s cause of death following an autopsy wasn’t released.
Justice announced at the time that Exline’s death would be part of a sweeping investigation of the state police due to several alarming allegations, including that a now-dead employee hid a video camera in the women’s locker room at a facility in Kanawha County. The governor also appointed a new state police superintendent after the former one resigned.
Dozens of lawsuits have been filed over the locker room allegations, which are now part of a federal investigation of the state police.
Minnesota
Judge cites ‘hyper-religious’ belief in ruling man incompetent for trial in killings
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A Minnesota judge has ruled that a man accused in the deaths of three relatives is incompetent to stand trial, citing the man’s “hyper-religious” belief that God is telling him to plead guilty.
David Ekers, 38, was charged with three counts of second-degree intentional murder for pipe wrench attacks in July 2020 in suburban Minneapolis that killed his sister, mother and grandmother.
But last week, Hennepin County Judge Julia Dayton Klein ordered Ekers to remain in a state security hospital indefinitely, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported Wednesday. The commitment order said Ekers told a doctor he planned to plead guilty “because I think Matthew 5 says, ‘you should settle with your accuser quickly.’ … It’s not that I want to go to prison or anything. It’s that I’m trying to follow what God says.”
The doctor determined that Ekers “was unable to consider what is in his best interest in light of his hyper-religious delusional rigidity, illogical and disorganized thought process and confusion, all of which are reflective of psychotic symptoms,” the order read.
Ekers was previously committed to the state institution on a court order that said he was schizophrenic in part because of years of consuming high-caffeine energy drinks.
Arizona
Judge closes door to new trial for rancher in fatal shooting of Mexican man
NOGALES, Ariz. (AP) — An Arizona rancher who was unsuccessfully tried in the fatal shooting of a Mexican man on his property will not be retried, a judge ruled Tuesday.
Santa Cruz County Superior Court Judge Thomas Fink denied a request by prosecutors who had argued that the possibility of a new trial should be left open in case new witnesses emerge.
Fink agreed with attorneys for rancher George Alan Kelly who said the case should be dismissed with prejudice, meaning it cannot be brought back to court after it ended in a mistrial April 22 with jurors unable to reach a unanimous verdict.
In his latest ruling, Fink said justice would not be served by letting prosecutors wait for a tactical advantage to retry Kelly, which he said would amount to harassment of the defendant.
Fink noted that jurors could not be swayed by prosecutors’ arguments during the trial and said another attempt would result in another hung jury or more likely an acquittal.
Prosecutors did not immediately respond to an email message seeking comment on the judge’s ruling.
After the trial, Deputy County Attorney Kimberly Hunley said the prosecution supported dismissing the case but wanted the option to retry it if circumstances change. She had said unknown witnesses may come forward and known witnesses in Mexico might become available.
Kelly, 75, was on trial for nearly a month in Nogales, a city on the border with Mexico, in the death of 48-year-old Gabriel Cuen-Buitimea, who was fatally shot on Jan. 30, 2023. Kelly was charged with second-degree murder.
Cuen-Buitimea, who lived just south of the border in Nogales, Mexico, was in a group of men whom Kelly encountered that day on his ranch.
Prosecutors claimed Kelly recklessly fired nine gunshots toward the group from about 100 yards (90 meters) away. Kelly said he fired warning shots in the air and not directly at anyone.
In his ruling, Fink noted the testimony of a Honduran migrant who told jurors he was walking with Cuen-Buitimea that day. The judge wrote that any new witnesses would contradict testimony that the man was the sole witness and raise other credibility challenges.
Fink also wrote that since the bullet that killed Cuen-Buitimea remains missing, there is no reliable forensic evidence to prove who shot him.
