National Roundup

OKLAHOMA
Murder charges dropped in case of dismemberment
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — First-degree murder charges have been dropped against two men accused of killing a 19-year-old Oklahoma woman whose dismembered body was found in a duffel bag.
Oklahoma County prosecutors filed a motion on Friday to dismiss charges against Jimmy Lee Massey Jr. and Luis Ruiz pending further investigation into the death of Carina Saunders. District Judge Ray Elliott signed the motion that states charges can be refiled in the future pending the outcome of the investigation.
Saunders’ dismembered body was found Oct. 13, 2011, behind a grocery store in the Oklahoma City suburb of Bethany. Last month, Bethany police asked the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation to take over the case.
Investigators have said Saunders’ death involved human trafficking and drugs.

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ILLINOIS
Court overturns mom’s conviction in death of son 
CHICAGO (AP) — A Chicago woman whose conviction in the death of her 4-year-old son was overturned by a federal appeals court has been released from prison.
The Illinois Department of Corrections says that Nicole Harris was released from Dwight Correctional Center on Monday morning.
Harris had been in prison since 2005 after being convicted of strangling her son with a bedsheet. In October, the 7th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals overturned the conviction of Harris because Harris’ 6-year-old son was wrongfully prevented from testifying that his brother’s death was an accident.
Steve Drizin (DRIH’-zehn) of Northwestern’s Center on Wrongful Convictions says that the same court granted the center’s motion to release Harris.
He says the Cook County State’s Attorney has not announced whether to try Harris again.

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WISCONSIN
Jail, probation for 76-year-old mom in 1957 murder
MILWAUKEE (AP) — A 76-year-old Wisconsin woman accused of killing her infant daughter more than a half-century ago will serve 45 days in jail and 10 years’ probation, under a plea agreement approved Monday.
Ruby Klokow was charged with second-degree murder in the 1957 death of her 6-month-old daughter, Jeaneen, only after her son, James Klokow Jr., came forward in 2008 with horrific stories of childhood abuse.
District Attorney Joe De Cecco cited Klokow’s advanced age and health as factors in the agreement approved by Sheboygan County District Judge Angela Sutkiewicz. De Cecco said if Klokow had been tried, she might have been acquitted altogether and walked free. A jury could no longer have convicted her of a lesser charge, such as manslaughter, because of the statute of limitations.
No charges were filed after Jeaneen’s death in 1957. Ruby Klokow told the police that the baby had fallen off a sofa while she was tending to a crying James. An autopsy found that Jeaneen had suffered two brain hemorrhages, a partially collapsed lung and three scalp bruises.
At a preliminary hearing five decades later, a forensic pathologist who reviewed documents in the case testified that the severity of the injuries didn’t match Klokow’s explanation.
According to a criminal complaint, Klokow admitted causing her daughter’s death.
Klokow had been free pending trial and will remain free until formal sentencing April 15. After the plea hearing, she told reporters, “It’s not over until it’s over.”
Her attorney, Kirk Obear, said he thought the case against Klokow was unfair.
“There were witnesses that could have been interviewed that have long since died,” he said.
Scott Klokow, another of Ruby Klokow’s children, was found dead in his crib seven years after Jeaneen died. No charges have been filed in his death.
Obear noted that Jeaneen and Scott were exhumed but that nothing was discovered at odds with the initial accidental death rulings.
DeCecco’s announcement last week of a plea agreement came as a relief to James Klokow, now 57. He said he had feared his mother “turning and questioning (him) on the stand.” In an interview with The Associated Press, he said his mother had regularly beaten and choked him.
The case was delayed several times after Klokow was charged in 2011, including for mental tests to see if she was competent to stand trial.

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NORTH DAKOTA
Man accused of killing wife asks court for lawyer
FARGO, N.D. (AP) — A Fargo man accused of killing his wife and staging her death as a suicide told a judge Monday he lost his job and needs a public defender.
Ronald Rogers Jr., 46, made his first appearance Monday in Cass County Court on charges of murder and willful disturbance of a dead body. He was not asked to enter a plea.
Authorities believe Rogers shot Elizabeth Rogers, 40, in the head and placed a pistol in her hand to make it look like a suicide. Police first received a call on the incident Tuesday night, but didn’t charge Rogers until Friday.
In arguing for Rogers’ bail to remain at $1 million, Assistant State’s Attorney Tristan Van de Streek said Monday that Rogers told police he staged the scene.
Cass County State’s Attorney Birch Burdick declined afterward to talk about details of the case, but defended the high bail.
“The defendant doesn’t have any ties to our community. He has not lived here very long,” Burdick said. “He’s got no job here, no particular reason to stay, every reason to flee.”
Rogers, appearing via video from the Cass County jail, told Judge Lisa Fair McEvers he moved to Fargo after living in northern Idaho. Rogers said he lost his job and was evicted from his home.
Fair McEvers ordered that bail be kept at $1 million and scheduled a preliminary hearing for March 21.

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NEW JERSEY
Court tosses suit over cashless flight policy
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — A New Jersey court has thrown out a lawsuit that claimed an airline was at fault for not accepting cash on its flights.
Michael Rosen sued Continental Airlines after he was unable to buy a set of headphones or alcohol using cash on a flight from Honolulu to Newark in 2010.
He sued for breach of contract, unlawful discrimination against low-income people who don’t possess credit cards and violation of New Jersey’s Consumer Fraud Act.
A lower court judge dismissed the case and Rosen appealed.
In Monday’s appeals court ruling, the three-judge panel concluded that federal airline deregulation law pre-empts claims under state law.
It also ruled Rosen didn’t have standing to bring a class action on behalf of low-income people.