Oregon
Man sentenced to 4-plus years in death of original ‘Mickey Mouse Club’ cast member
MEDFORD, Ore. (AP) — A man charged in the death of Dennis Day, an original cast member on Walt Disney’s “Mickey Mouse Club” television program in the 1950s, has been sentenced to just over four years in prison after entering a modified guilty plea this week.
Daniel Burda, 41, pleaded no contest Monday to charges of criminally negligent homicide and abuse of a corpse. Burda was a live-in handyman at Day’s home in Phoenix, Oregon, but Day, 76, had been trying to evict him around the time he disappeared in mid-2018. A no-contest plea is a concession that the state can prove criminal charges at trial and carries the same legal effect as a guilty plea.
Prosecutors said Burda caused Day’s death and then used Day’s identity to spend money.
Day’s badly decomposed body wasn’t discovered for nine months, beneath a pile of clothes at the home. His family has sued the Phoenix Police Department, saying its failure to discover his remains in his own home for so long — despite having been to the home multiple times — caused emotional distress.
During one search, police stepped on Day’s body, causing fractures to the corpse, but they still didn’t find it until April 2019, when Oregon State Police came with a cadaver-sniffing dog, the lawsuit said. The delay prevented the medical examiner from being able to determine a cause of death, it said.
The police department has denied the allegations. A trial is set for October in Jackson County Circuit Court.
Burda’s criminal case was long delayed by trips to the Oregon State Hospital to determine his mental fitness to assist in his own defense as well as other legal challenges. He faced several other charges while out of custody, court records show, and he has also recently been sentenced to two years to be served separately in a burglary case — meaning he faces just over six years in all.
California
Ex-Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist sued for wrongful death in alleged fatal collision
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Ex-Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist Josh Klinghoffer is being sued for wrongful death and negligence after allegedly hitting and killing a pedestrian earlier this year.
The lawsuit was filed Wednesday by Ashley Sanchez, the daughter of 47-year-old Israel Sanchez, who died after being hit while walking in a crosswalk in Alhambra, east of Los Angeles.
The collision happened the afternoon of March 18, when plaintiffs allege Klinghoffer was driving a black SUV with no license plates and turned left at an intersection with a marked crosswalk.
Video from the plaintiffs shows a black car hitting a man, who was Israel Sanchez, during the turn before pulling over. The footage was obtained from a neighbor’s Ring camera. Israel Sanchez suffered blunt force trauma to the head and died from his injuries a few hours later at the hospital, the lawsuit said.
The lawsuit also alleges Klinghoffer was using a cellphone while driving, as video footage shows the driver holding an object above the steering wheel. Video also shows a 40-foot-wide grassy median dividing the road that should have given Klinghoffer time to see pedestrians in the crosswalk, the lawsuit said.
“My dad was known for being a great chef, the most talented of his family, the greatest grandpa always full of love and joy,” Ashley Sanchez said in a news release. “His smile was so infectious. His life was taken by a careless act of a person who didn’t bother to look where he was driving.”
Klinghoffer is currently on tour with the band Pearl Jam. He could not be reached for comment.
The plaintiff’s attorney, Nick Rowley, called the incident a “reckless homicide” that law enforcement has failed to properly investigate.
“They never charged the guy or even wrote him a ticket for blowing through the crosswalk and killing someone,” Rowley said. “This is a horrific injustice.”
Alhambra police spokesperson Sgt. Brian Chung said the case was still active and could not comment further.
North Carolina
Judge denies Clemson’s request to dismiss ACC countersuit
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Clemson’s request to dismiss an Atlantic Coast Conference lawsuit that was filed in response to the school challenging the conference bylaws in court was denied Wednesday by a judge.
The case stems from Clemson’s attempt in March to release itself from the ACC’s grant of rights and a potential $140 million exit fee if it were to leave the conference. Clemson sued the ACC in South Carolina to strike down the grant of rights and avoid the exit fee if it were to leave.
The ACC countersued the next day.
Clemson wanted that countersuit thrown out, or at least paused — stayed — but a judge ruled only a North Carolina court can decide interpretation and enforcement of the bylaws.
Clemson disputed jurisdiction in the case and argued that it cannot be sued in North Carolina because it had not waived sovereign immunity. The court disagreed. North Carolina Chief Business Court Judge Louis A. Bledsoe III cited Clemson’s ongoing participation in league meetings and administration of affairs within North Carolina, including competitions, as having waived immunity.
Bledsoe did, however, grant the school’s motion to dismiss ACC claims of relief for breach of contract and a declaration of its grant of rights as valid and binding contracts. Clemson did not challenge their enforceability, the ruling noted, just the scope.
The ACC celebrated the ruling in a statement and said it reinforces what it has always said — that North Carolina courts are the proper place to enforce and interpret agreements.
“This recognizes the ACC’s consistent position that the 2013 and 2016 Grant of Rights are valid and enforceable agreements that each of our members entered into voluntarily, with full knowledge of their terms,” the statement added.
The ACC has also sued Florida State on similar grounds. Bledsoe has stayed that lawsuit pending the school’s appeal to the North Carolina Supreme Court of his ruling that denied its motion to dismiss the case.
Tennessee
Judge: City’s fine for profane yard sign about Biden and Trump was unconstitutional
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A federal judge has ruled that a Tennessee woman has a constitutional right to post a yard sign with profane language condemning both President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump.
Julie Pereira set up a sign in her front yard saying “F--- ‘Em Both 2024” — except, uncensored. The city of Lakeland, a northeast suburb of Memphis, then fined Pereira hundreds of dollars for violating its regulation against obscene content on signs.
She filed a lawsuit in June, saying she was so dissatisfied with both presidential candidates that she wanted a sign that “speaks simply and cogently for itself.”
U.S. District Judge Mark Norris in Memphis ruled Tuesday that Pereira’s political sign is not obscene, and the city cannot lawfully regulate people’s points of view.
“We are proud to have protected Mrs. Pereira’s right to express her political views and to have achieved a successful outcome in this important First Amendment case,” said Daniel Horwitz, Pereira’s lead attorney.
The judge’s order comes after the city agreed to a settlement paying Pereira about $32,000 for her legal fees and reimbursing nearly $700 in fines.
The city’s regulation prohibits signs with “statements of an obscene, indecent, or immoral character which would offend public morals or decency” and “statements, words or pictures of an obscene nature.”
Initially, Pereira censored her sign as local officials demanded by covering up one letter in the profane word, but within a week she removed the redaction. The city began fining her in January, so she covered up part of the word again to avoid further penalties, according to the lawsuit.
Pereira’s lawsuit said “cuss” words are not constitutionally obscene. The lawsuit — and the judge — pointed to a 1971 Supreme Court decision that overturned the conviction of a man in California who entered a courthouse wearing a jacket with a message against the draft that included profanity.
Wyoming
Groups sue to restore endangered species protection for US northern Rockies wolves
CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — Six conservation groups have filed a lawsuit challenging a recent federal government decision not to protect wolves in the northern U.S. Rocky Mountain region under the Endangered Species Act, arguing that states are exercising too much leeway to keep the predators’ numbers to a minimum.
The groups sued the U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the directors of those agencies July 2 in U.S. District Court in Missoula, Montana.
The lawsuit follows a Fish and Wildlife Service decision in February to reject conservationists’ requests to restore endangered species protections across the region. Wolves are in no danger of extinction as states seek to reduce their numbers through hunting, the agency found.
The Fish and Wildlife Service at the same time announced it would write a first-ever national recovery plan for wolves, with a target completion date of December 2025. Previously, the Fish and Wildlife Service pursued a region-by-region approach to wolf management.
The decision not to return wolves to endangered status in the region violated the Endangered Species Act by failing to properly analyze threats to wolves and rely on the best available science involving the animals, the six groups wrote in their lawsuit.
The lawsuit critiques state wolf management programs in the region. Montana and Idaho plan to sharply reduce wolf numbers while Wyoming allows wolves outside a designated sport hunting zone to be killed by a variety of means, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit singled out how a Wyoming man last winter ran down a wolf with a snowmobile, taped its mouth shut and brought it into a bar before killing it. The killing drew wide condemnation but only a $250 state fine for illegal possession of wildlife under Wyoming law.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on the lawsuit filed by Animal Wellness Action; the Center for a Humane Economy; Project Coyote, a project of the Earth Island Institute Inc.; the Kettle Range Conservation Group; Footloose Montana; and the Gallatin Wildlife Association.
“Rocky Mountain states have liberalized the legal killing of wolves and have also removed discretion from their fish and wildlife agencies, letting lawmakers run wild and unleashing ruthless campaigns to kill wolves by just about any and all means,” Kate Chupka Schultz, senior attorney for Animal Wellness Action and the Center for a Humane Economy, said in a statement.
Wolves have been protected as an endangered species in the region off and on since they were first delisted in 2008. They were first listed in 1974 and populations were successfully reintroduced in Yellowstone National Park and Idaho in the mid-1990s.
They have been off the federal endangered species list in the northern U.S. Rockies since 2017.
The rejection of the conservation groups’ petitions to relist wolves in February allowed state-run wolf hunts to continue in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming. Wolves also roam parts of California, Colorado, Oregon and Washington.
An estimated 2,800 wolves inhabit the seven states.
Man sentenced to 4-plus years in death of original ‘Mickey Mouse Club’ cast member
MEDFORD, Ore. (AP) — A man charged in the death of Dennis Day, an original cast member on Walt Disney’s “Mickey Mouse Club” television program in the 1950s, has been sentenced to just over four years in prison after entering a modified guilty plea this week.
Daniel Burda, 41, pleaded no contest Monday to charges of criminally negligent homicide and abuse of a corpse. Burda was a live-in handyman at Day’s home in Phoenix, Oregon, but Day, 76, had been trying to evict him around the time he disappeared in mid-2018. A no-contest plea is a concession that the state can prove criminal charges at trial and carries the same legal effect as a guilty plea.
Prosecutors said Burda caused Day’s death and then used Day’s identity to spend money.
Day’s badly decomposed body wasn’t discovered for nine months, beneath a pile of clothes at the home. His family has sued the Phoenix Police Department, saying its failure to discover his remains in his own home for so long — despite having been to the home multiple times — caused emotional distress.
During one search, police stepped on Day’s body, causing fractures to the corpse, but they still didn’t find it until April 2019, when Oregon State Police came with a cadaver-sniffing dog, the lawsuit said. The delay prevented the medical examiner from being able to determine a cause of death, it said.
The police department has denied the allegations. A trial is set for October in Jackson County Circuit Court.
Burda’s criminal case was long delayed by trips to the Oregon State Hospital to determine his mental fitness to assist in his own defense as well as other legal challenges. He faced several other charges while out of custody, court records show, and he has also recently been sentenced to two years to be served separately in a burglary case — meaning he faces just over six years in all.
California
Ex-Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist sued for wrongful death in alleged fatal collision
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Ex-Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist Josh Klinghoffer is being sued for wrongful death and negligence after allegedly hitting and killing a pedestrian earlier this year.
The lawsuit was filed Wednesday by Ashley Sanchez, the daughter of 47-year-old Israel Sanchez, who died after being hit while walking in a crosswalk in Alhambra, east of Los Angeles.
The collision happened the afternoon of March 18, when plaintiffs allege Klinghoffer was driving a black SUV with no license plates and turned left at an intersection with a marked crosswalk.
Video from the plaintiffs shows a black car hitting a man, who was Israel Sanchez, during the turn before pulling over. The footage was obtained from a neighbor’s Ring camera. Israel Sanchez suffered blunt force trauma to the head and died from his injuries a few hours later at the hospital, the lawsuit said.
The lawsuit also alleges Klinghoffer was using a cellphone while driving, as video footage shows the driver holding an object above the steering wheel. Video also shows a 40-foot-wide grassy median dividing the road that should have given Klinghoffer time to see pedestrians in the crosswalk, the lawsuit said.
“My dad was known for being a great chef, the most talented of his family, the greatest grandpa always full of love and joy,” Ashley Sanchez said in a news release. “His smile was so infectious. His life was taken by a careless act of a person who didn’t bother to look where he was driving.”
Klinghoffer is currently on tour with the band Pearl Jam. He could not be reached for comment.
The plaintiff’s attorney, Nick Rowley, called the incident a “reckless homicide” that law enforcement has failed to properly investigate.
“They never charged the guy or even wrote him a ticket for blowing through the crosswalk and killing someone,” Rowley said. “This is a horrific injustice.”
Alhambra police spokesperson Sgt. Brian Chung said the case was still active and could not comment further.
North Carolina
Judge denies Clemson’s request to dismiss ACC countersuit
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Clemson’s request to dismiss an Atlantic Coast Conference lawsuit that was filed in response to the school challenging the conference bylaws in court was denied Wednesday by a judge.
The case stems from Clemson’s attempt in March to release itself from the ACC’s grant of rights and a potential $140 million exit fee if it were to leave the conference. Clemson sued the ACC in South Carolina to strike down the grant of rights and avoid the exit fee if it were to leave.
The ACC countersued the next day.
Clemson wanted that countersuit thrown out, or at least paused — stayed — but a judge ruled only a North Carolina court can decide interpretation and enforcement of the bylaws.
Clemson disputed jurisdiction in the case and argued that it cannot be sued in North Carolina because it had not waived sovereign immunity. The court disagreed. North Carolina Chief Business Court Judge Louis A. Bledsoe III cited Clemson’s ongoing participation in league meetings and administration of affairs within North Carolina, including competitions, as having waived immunity.
Bledsoe did, however, grant the school’s motion to dismiss ACC claims of relief for breach of contract and a declaration of its grant of rights as valid and binding contracts. Clemson did not challenge their enforceability, the ruling noted, just the scope.
The ACC celebrated the ruling in a statement and said it reinforces what it has always said — that North Carolina courts are the proper place to enforce and interpret agreements.
“This recognizes the ACC’s consistent position that the 2013 and 2016 Grant of Rights are valid and enforceable agreements that each of our members entered into voluntarily, with full knowledge of their terms,” the statement added.
The ACC has also sued Florida State on similar grounds. Bledsoe has stayed that lawsuit pending the school’s appeal to the North Carolina Supreme Court of his ruling that denied its motion to dismiss the case.
Tennessee
Judge: City’s fine for profane yard sign about Biden and Trump was unconstitutional
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A federal judge has ruled that a Tennessee woman has a constitutional right to post a yard sign with profane language condemning both President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump.
Julie Pereira set up a sign in her front yard saying “F--- ‘Em Both 2024” — except, uncensored. The city of Lakeland, a northeast suburb of Memphis, then fined Pereira hundreds of dollars for violating its regulation against obscene content on signs.
She filed a lawsuit in June, saying she was so dissatisfied with both presidential candidates that she wanted a sign that “speaks simply and cogently for itself.”
U.S. District Judge Mark Norris in Memphis ruled Tuesday that Pereira’s political sign is not obscene, and the city cannot lawfully regulate people’s points of view.
“We are proud to have protected Mrs. Pereira’s right to express her political views and to have achieved a successful outcome in this important First Amendment case,” said Daniel Horwitz, Pereira’s lead attorney.
The judge’s order comes after the city agreed to a settlement paying Pereira about $32,000 for her legal fees and reimbursing nearly $700 in fines.
The city’s regulation prohibits signs with “statements of an obscene, indecent, or immoral character which would offend public morals or decency” and “statements, words or pictures of an obscene nature.”
Initially, Pereira censored her sign as local officials demanded by covering up one letter in the profane word, but within a week she removed the redaction. The city began fining her in January, so she covered up part of the word again to avoid further penalties, according to the lawsuit.
Pereira’s lawsuit said “cuss” words are not constitutionally obscene. The lawsuit — and the judge — pointed to a 1971 Supreme Court decision that overturned the conviction of a man in California who entered a courthouse wearing a jacket with a message against the draft that included profanity.
Wyoming
Groups sue to restore endangered species protection for US northern Rockies wolves
CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — Six conservation groups have filed a lawsuit challenging a recent federal government decision not to protect wolves in the northern U.S. Rocky Mountain region under the Endangered Species Act, arguing that states are exercising too much leeway to keep the predators’ numbers to a minimum.
The groups sued the U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the directors of those agencies July 2 in U.S. District Court in Missoula, Montana.
The lawsuit follows a Fish and Wildlife Service decision in February to reject conservationists’ requests to restore endangered species protections across the region. Wolves are in no danger of extinction as states seek to reduce their numbers through hunting, the agency found.
The Fish and Wildlife Service at the same time announced it would write a first-ever national recovery plan for wolves, with a target completion date of December 2025. Previously, the Fish and Wildlife Service pursued a region-by-region approach to wolf management.
The decision not to return wolves to endangered status in the region violated the Endangered Species Act by failing to properly analyze threats to wolves and rely on the best available science involving the animals, the six groups wrote in their lawsuit.
The lawsuit critiques state wolf management programs in the region. Montana and Idaho plan to sharply reduce wolf numbers while Wyoming allows wolves outside a designated sport hunting zone to be killed by a variety of means, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit singled out how a Wyoming man last winter ran down a wolf with a snowmobile, taped its mouth shut and brought it into a bar before killing it. The killing drew wide condemnation but only a $250 state fine for illegal possession of wildlife under Wyoming law.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on the lawsuit filed by Animal Wellness Action; the Center for a Humane Economy; Project Coyote, a project of the Earth Island Institute Inc.; the Kettle Range Conservation Group; Footloose Montana; and the Gallatin Wildlife Association.
“Rocky Mountain states have liberalized the legal killing of wolves and have also removed discretion from their fish and wildlife agencies, letting lawmakers run wild and unleashing ruthless campaigns to kill wolves by just about any and all means,” Kate Chupka Schultz, senior attorney for Animal Wellness Action and the Center for a Humane Economy, said in a statement.
Wolves have been protected as an endangered species in the region off and on since they were first delisted in 2008. They were first listed in 1974 and populations were successfully reintroduced in Yellowstone National Park and Idaho in the mid-1990s.
They have been off the federal endangered species list in the northern U.S. Rockies since 2017.
The rejection of the conservation groups’ petitions to relist wolves in February allowed state-run wolf hunts to continue in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming. Wolves also roam parts of California, Colorado, Oregon and Washington.
An estimated 2,800 wolves inhabit the seven states.
