National Roundup

Ohio Parents admit denying ailing son medical care CLEVELAND (AP) -- The parents of an 8-year-old Ohio boy who died from Hodgkin's lymphoma have pleaded guilty to denying him medical treatment. Thirty-seven-year-old Monica Hussing and 40-year-old William Robinson Sr., both of Cleveland, pleaded guilty Monday to attempted involuntary manslaughter. Willie Robinson collapsed at his home on March 22, 2008. Prosecutors say he had begged his parents to take him to see a doctor but was rejected. Hodgkin's lymphoma is a highly treatable cancer. Prosecutors say that while the boy was suffering, the parents claimed financial hardship but paid $87 to have a pit bull treated for fleas. According to The Plain Dealer, each parent faces up to eight years in prison at sentencing next month. Mississippi Jackson couple awarded $600K in abortion lawsuit JACKSON, Miss. (AP) -- A Hinds County judge has awarded a Jackson woman and her husband $600,435 in a lawsuit arising from an abortion the woman received in 2003. The Clarion-Ledger reports Judge Bill Gowan awarded the money Tuesday after issuing a default judgment for Daschica Thomas and her husband, Christopher Thomas, after no one showed for the scheduled Nov. 29 trial of the lawsuit. Thomas and her husband filed the lawsuit in 2005 in Hinds County Circuit Court against Dr. Joseph Booker, the National Women's Health Organization of Jackson and others. The suit claimed Thomas went into the coma because of a blood infection brought on by a botched abortion in 2003. Gowan had earlier entered the default judgment but had not ruled on damages until Tuesday. "The court was very methodical in its ruling and very fair," the couple's attorney, John Reeves of Jackson, said. "Mrs. Thompson and her husband were terribly wronged, and we now have this judgment that we look forward to collecting." The lawsuit claimed that Booker wasn't the doctor originally scheduled to perform the abortion, but the other doctor was out that day. When Booker was performing the abortion, he allegedly stopped abruptly, said he couldn't finish it and told Thomas to come back so it could be completed by the other doctor. The lawsuit claimed a "reasonably prudent" physician would have treated Thomas with antibiotics because of her diabetes, but Booker didn't. Thomas allegedly came down with a blood infection, went into a coma and needed blood transfusions. The lawsuit also claimed, among other things, that Thomas couldn't have children after the abortion and that her husband lost his job for missing work while caring for her. Booker performed abortions in Mississippi for years. He no longer works at the clinic in Jackson. Shannon Brewer, director of All Women's Healthcare of Jackson, the only abortion clinic in Mississippi, has said the default judgment would have no affect on the clinic because it is under new ownership. That is, the National Women's Health Organization no longer owns the Mississippi clinic. Arizona Feds to unseal some of case in Ariz. agent killing TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) -- Prosecutors have agreed in principle to unseal some of the case against people accused of killing U.S. Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry more than a year ago near the Arizona-Mexico border. The Arizona Daily Star reports that six news organizations argued in a Dec. 19 court filing that the docket and all records in the case should be unsealed. The news organizations argued that the public has a right to inspect the records of the case and attend any criminal trials that might come out of it. Prosecutors said they object to records being unsealed that reveal the identity of any charged defendant who has not yet been arrested, but they are willing to unseal the remaining records. The identity of one charged defendant has already been revealed. Terry was killed in an exchange of gunfire on Dec. 14, 2010, when he and other agents were looking for bandits in a desert area more than 10 miles north of Nogales. Two rifles found at the scene were the same weapons being monitored by federal firearms agents as part of a gun trafficking investigation. The probe was intended to track firearms bought by straw purchasers but was heavily criticized because agents lost track of hundreds of guns. Critics have called for Attorney General Eric Holder's resignation for the investigation. One suspect, Manuel Osorio-Arellanes, was struck by gunfire and later told investigators he was part of a five-man "rip crew." Osorio-Arellanes was indicted April 20 on one count of second-degree murder and five other crimes. The indictment included blacked-out references to additional defendants. But in the ensuing months, the entire case was sealed. A judge must approve the news outlets' entry in the case and has the authority to order records unsealed. The news organizations that asked for the case to be unsealed are the Arizona Daily Star, The Associated Press, The Arizona Republic and Phoenix television stations KPNX, KPHO and KNXV. Kentucky Bengals cheerleader gets day in court over posting LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) -- Sarah Jones seemed to have it all -- a job as a high school teacher in northern Kentucky and Sundays spent as a Cincinnati Bengals cheerleader. Then, a posting on a website nearly caused it all to fall apart. Now Jones, who taught at Dixie Heights High School in Edgewood until resigning in November, will get her day in court with the owner of the website, Hooman Karamian, who goes by the name Nik Richie, over posting her picture and lurid allegations about her sex life. U.S. District Judge William O. Bertelsman set a June 4 trial date in Covington for Jones' defamation and invasion of privacy suit against Richie and the website. Richie has denied any wrongdoing. Indiana 3 doctors to examine man using insanity defense SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) -- Three doctors will examine a South Bend man who contends he was insane when he allegedly beat his 10-year-old son to death. St. Joseph Superior Court Judge Jane Woodward Miller on Wednesday appointed a psychiatrist, a psychologist and a general doctor to examine 35-year-old Terry Sturgis. He's charged with murdering his son, Tramelle, on Nov. 4. The boy's 14-year-old brother told police their father had beaten them for hours during the night. Sturgis is accused of using a hot iron, a hot screw driver, a wooden club or his hands to beat his children from 2008 to 2011. He is charged with eight felony counts of battery and one misdemeanor count of battery, two counts of neglect and two counts of confinement. He's being held without bond. Published: Thu, Jan 12, 2012