National Roundup

California Police chief defends cops' search for son's iPhone BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) -- The police chief of the California college town of Berkeley is defending using 10 officers -- some on overtime -- to search for his teenage son's stolen iPhone. Police Chief Michael Meehan told the Oakland Tribune on Wednesday no preferential treatment was given when the officers, including three detectives and a sergeant, searched for the phone, which was taken from a school locker in January. Meehan says field supervisors decide how many officers to put on a case and he's confident the search was properly handled. The police chief also came under scrutiny in March after ordering an officer to a reporter's home to ask for changes to an online story about a community meeting criticizing the alleged slow police response to an elderly man's beating death. Meehan apologized. Maryland GI seeks dismissal of 10 counts in WikiLeaks case HAGERSTOWN, Md. (AP) -- An Army private charged in a massive leak of U.S. government secrets to the anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks is seeking dismissal of 10 of the 22 counts he faces. Pfc. Bradley Manning's civilian defense lawyer posted the motions on his website Wednesday night. A military judge will hear oral arguments at a pretrial hearing starting June 6 at Fort Meade, Md. Manning contends eight of the counts are unconstitutionally vague. He claims two other charges fail to state a prosecutable offense. Manning faces the possibility of life in prison if convicted of the most serious charge, aiding the enemy. He is being held at Fort Leavenworth, Kan. He allegedly sent WikiLeaks hundreds of thousands of classified diplomatic cables and war logs downloaded from government computers. Pennsylvania Cops: Two men mistook Bible for purse in snatching ARMAGH, Pa. (AP) -- Police say two western Pennsylvania men mistook a woman's Bible carrying case for a purse when they tried to snatch it from her, knocking her to the ground. The Indiana Gazette reports that 26-year-old Christopher Scott Ludwig and 25-year-old Ronald Stephenson Jr., both of Seward, have been charged with aggravated assault, robbery and other charges in the incident Nov. 29. Police charged Ludwig earlier this month before he told police that it was Stephenson who physically grabbed the Bible, knocking the elderly woman to the ground. Stephenson was arrested Tuesday. Online court records don't list an attorney for Stephenson, and Ludwig's attorney didn't immediately return a call Thursday. Police say the incident happened about 7 p.m. outside the rural Robin-dale Union Church in East Wheatfield Township, about 50 miles east of Pittsburgh. Cambridge Mom of man shot in Harvard dorm sues university CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) -- The mother of a Massachusetts man fatally shot inside a Harvard University dormitory during a drug-related robbery has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the Ivy League school. Denise Cosby says in her suit filed in Middlesex Superior Court that Harvard negligently allowed the mastermind of the killing of her son, Justin Cosby, to operate a "criminal enterprise" in Kirkland Hall that resulted in the May 2009 killing. Her lawyers tell The Boston Globe that Denise Cosby believes her son would be alive today if the school had followed its own policies. The 21-year-old Cosby was shot by one of three men during a drug robbery. None were Harvard students, but the shooter was dating a student. A Harvard spokesman says the university isn't accountable. New York Cops: Son injured during dad's samurai sword fight UTICA, N.Y. (AP) -- Authorities say an upstate New York man using a samurai sword to fight with another man struck his 8-year-old son in the head. Police in Utica tell local media outlets that 42-year-old Thar Kyi barged into the home where his three children were getting ready for school Tuesday morning and began swinging the sword at their mother's boyfriend. Officials say Kyi missed the boyfriend but struck his son. The boy was treated at the hospital for non-life-threatening injuries. Kyi was eventually found in the Syracuse area and charged with assault, burglary, criminal contempt and criminal possession of a weapon. He's being held in Oneida County Jail. It couldn't immediately be determined whether he had a lawyer. Ohio Teen to be tried as adult in school shooting CHARDON, Ohio (AP) -- A 17-year-old boy will be tried as an adult in the Ohio school shooting deaths of three students, a juvenile court judge ruled Thursday. Authorities say T.J. Lane admitted firing at students sitting at a cafeteria table at Chardon High School east of Cleveland on Feb. 27, killing three students and seriously wounding two. Geauga County Juvenile Court Judge Timothy Grendell ruled that Lane should be tried as an adult. The judge said he found probable evidence in all six charges for which Lane is charged, including aggravated murder charges. He rejected a defense request to release Lane on a $500,000 bond and said Lane would pose a risk to flee and a safety risk to the community. At a hearing Thursday, a police officer testified that Lane admitted killing the victims but didn't know why he did it. Sheriff's Deputy Jon Bilicic said that Lane was wearing a T-shirt with the word "Killer" when he was arrested about one mile from the school. One of the first officers at the scene, Chardon Patrolman Matt DeLisa, testified that he found the victims near a cafeteria table with lots of blood around. Lane could face life in prison if he's convicted. Minors are not eligible for the death penalty in Ohio. Had his case been routed to juvenile court, the maximum possible penalty would have kept him jailed until he turned 21. Grendell previously found the teenager mentally competent to stand trial in juvenile court, where he was charged with three counts of aggravated murder and two counts of attempted aggravated murder. Grendell said the ruling on mental competency may not be used in other legal proceedings, meaning the issue may be revisited in adult court. A psychiatrist had testified Lane suffers from hallucinations, psychosis and fantasies, but that none of the symptoms detailed in a mental evaluation would prevent him from understanding the case against him and helping in his defense. The psychiatrist said he saw no evidence that Lane was faking mental illness. Published: Fri, May 25, 2012