National Roundup

Louisiana Prosecutors want judges recused in theft case BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) -- The Louisiana Attorney General's Office has moved to recuse all eight judges of 21st Judicial District Court from hearing the case of Brenda Bickford, accused of stealing more than $1 million from the Florida Parishes Juvenile Detention District. The motion argues that Bickford, who was District Attorney Scott Perrilloux's administrative assistant, likely had close working relationships with employees of the 21st Judicial District. The Advocate reports the motion says the judges of the Florida Parishes Juvenile Detention District appoint two of the eight commissioners who govern the Florida Parishes Juvenile Detention District. Perrilloux has already been excused from the case. Massachusetts Dentist gets home confinement for drug conviction BOSTON (AP) -- A dentist authorities say prescribed drugs to female patients who in exchange allowed him to fondle them has been sentenced to six months home confinement. Steven Miller of Wareham was also sentenced Thursday in federal court in Boston to two years of probation and ordered to undergo regular drug testing. He pleaded guilty in March to distributing and dispensing the painkiller hydrocodone and the relaxant diazepam. Authorities say the 69-year-old Miller prescribed the drugs to at least nine patients who then allowed him to fondle their breasts or buttocks. Miller gave up his dentist's license after his arrest in December. The Boston Herald reports that Miller told the judge he has "lost everything." He says his employees, his patients and his family have all suffered. Oregon Kinkel lawyer takes appeal to federal court PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) -- A lawyer for Springfield, Ore., school shooter Kip Kinkel has filed a federal court challenge to Kinkel's prison sentence of more than 111 years for the 1998 shooting spree that killed his parents and two fellow Thurston High School students and wounded 25 others. Kinkel's state court appeals are exhausted but his arguments remain much the same. His lawyer says Kinkel was mentally ill and the trial court should not have accepted his guilty plea without ordering a mental health exam. The petition also says he had inadequate legal representation. Kinkel's lawyer Dennis Balske says his client should be in the state mental hospital rather than state prison. Kinkel turns 29 this month. He was 15 when he killed his parents in their rural home, then opened fire in Thurston's cafeteria the next morning. Oregon attorney general's spokesman Tony Green says his office has argued successfully so far that Kinkel is not entitled to a new trial. Pennsylvania Man agrees to testify against brother in killing BETHLEHEM, Pa. (AP) -- A man who previously refused to testify against his brother in a Pennsylvania murder case has changed his mind after prosecutors asked for him to be held in contempt of court. The lawyer for Algee Macon says his client has agreed to testify against his brother, Daniel, in the fatal shooting of a teenager that police called a case of mistaken identity. Authorities say Daniel Macon ordered another man to kill a rival drug dealer in 2006 in Bethlehem but the man went to the wrong apartment. Paul Serrano III has already pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in the death of 15-year-old Kevin Muzila. Attorney Brian Lawser said during last week's contempt hearing in Northampton County court that Algee Macon agreed to testify at a preliminary hearing scheduled for this week. Pennsylvania Woman gets 9 yrs in minority-owned bank fraud PITTSBURGH (AP) -- A Pittsburgh woman will spend nine years in prison for taking advantage of a computer glitch to steal $1.1 million from the city's only minority-owned bank, which regulators closed as insolvent two years ago. Forty-six-year-old Jammie Harris is one of four people charged in the scheme and the second to plead guilty earlier this year. She was sentenced Thursday after Senior U.S. District Judge Alan Bloch interrupted her as she asked for leniency saying she wanted "to live right." Bloch noted she has 28 prior theft convictions, and eight more for other crimes. Federal prosecutors say the suspect learned of an accounting glitch at Dwelling House Savings and Loan that let them siphon more than $3 million from the bank, which could not absorb the losses. Louisiana Man convicted of raping child a decade ago NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- A New Orleans jury has convicted a man of raping a child more than a decade ago. Fifty-eight-year-old Samuel Williams faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison following his conviction Thursday for raping an 11-year-old girl several times in 1999 and 2000. The Orleans Parish District Attorney's office says Williams impregnated the girl -- and DNA from the fetus matched him. Williams was tried in 2006, but the jury couldn't reach a verdict. Prosecutors said the city's police department thought it had lost the fetus when Hurricane Katrina struck in 2005, but found it last year. Pennsylvania Lawyer: Coroner charged in insurance scam in rehab SCRANTON, Pa. (AP) -- A northeastern Pennsylvania deputy coroner accused of trying to hire and undercover officer to burn down a building for insurance money is in rehab. The Times-Tribune of Scranton reports Lackawanna County Deputy Coroner Joseph Swoboda has been admitted to a residential alcohol rehabilitation program. According to the newspaper's report, defense attorney Joseph D'Andrea requested a preliminary hearing scheduled for Thursday be rescheduled because of Swoboda's admission to rehab. Prosecutors say Swoboda offered an undercover police officer $40,000 to burn down a building so he could collect the insurance. Swoboda allegedly gave the officer $1,000 in "good faith" money. Swoboda has been suspended without pay from his county job. Published: Mon, Aug 15, 2011