Pennsylvania
Residents win suit against power plant — sort of
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Three people who live near a coal-fired FirstEnergy Corp. power plant in southwestern Pennsylvania have won their federal pollution lawsuit.
Sort of.
A federal judge in Pittsburgh has entered a default judgment against the Akron, Ohio-based utility because FirstEnergy didn’t respond to the lawsuit in time. The lawsuit was filed Aug. 28 and the company had 21 days to respond after it received the court papers, which online records show occurred by certified mail on Sept. 4.
But FirstEnergy spokeswoman Jennifer Young says the company wasn’t properly served with papers and plans to ask a federal court judge to reopen the lawsuit.
The plaintiffs claim they and 1,000 other nearby residents have been harmed by pollution from the Hatfield’s Ferry plant in Masontown.
FirstEnergy closed the plant earlier this month saying tightening pollution regulations make it cost-prohibitive.
Minnesota
Wilf family argues ‘anti-wealth bias’ at play in NJ case
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Minnesota Vikings owner Zygi Wilf is fighting efforts to make his family reveal its net worth in a court proceeding, saying an “anti-wealth bias” is at play.
Court papers filed in a New Jersey case argue the Wilfs shouldn’t have to publicly disclose their fortune. It stems from a civil case in which the Wilfs have been ordered to pay $84.5 million to a spurned business partner.
The Star Tribune reported Thursday that the Wilfs contend they aren’t seeking special treatment but that forcing them to bare their finances for all to see is unfair. The court papers contend they could be targets of physical attack or extortion.
A judge has said the family should disclose its net worth, but offered the chance for appeal first.
Texas
Court strikes law banning sex talk with minors
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — The state’s highest criminal court has struck down a Texas law banning sexually explicit Internet communications between an adult and minor.
The Court of Criminal Appeals unanimously determined that the 2005 law violates free speech protections. The Austin American-Statesman reports the law was intended to target “grooming,” in which predators befriend children online before making explicit comments.
A companion law criminalizing the sexual solicitation of minors was not affected by Wednesday’s ruling.
The court noted that lawyers for the state argued that perverts “will be free to bombard our children with salacious emails and text messages.” But it said children already are protected by other laws banning obscenity, harassment and other conduct.
In its ruling the court dismissed an indictment against a Harris County man whose trial was delayed while he challenged the law.
Minnesota
Mother sues wilderness school over son’s death
LANDER, Wyo. (AP) — The mother of a Minnesota man has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against a well-known Wyoming-based wilderness training academy.
The lawsuit filed in federal court by Elizabeth Brenner of Minnetonka, Minn., accuses the National Outdoor Leadership School of negligence in the September 2011 death of her son Thomas Plotkin.
The 20-year-old man died during a backpacking trip in India that was led by the school. The lawsuit says Thomas Plotkin slipped on a wet rock and plunged 300 feet down a ravine. His body was never found.
The lawsuit doesn’t specify a specific damage amount but states the number is in excess of $75,000.
Bruce Palmer is director for admission and marketing at the Lander-based National Outdoor Leadership School. He says there was no disciplinary action for any of the school’s employees involved. He declined to elaborate on the incident, citing pending litigation.
Ohio
Man pleads not guilty in killings of three women
CLEVELAND (AP) — A sex offender suspected of killing three Ohio women pleaded not guilty Thursday to updated charges including aggravated murder that could lead to a death sentence if he’s convicted.
Deputies escorted Michael Madison, 36, in shackles and an orange jail jump suit into court for a brief arraignment on an updated indictment that added the death penalty option.
Madison’s attorney, David Grant, spoke for his client, entering the not guilty plea and waiving a legal indictment notification deadline. Grant had lobbied against making it a death penalty case but said he wasn’t surprised by the decision.
Madison is accused of killing three women and leaving the bodies in trash bags in a rundown East Cleveland neighborhood. They were found in July after police were called about an odor coming from a garage.
The medical examiner said victims Shirellda H. Terry, 18, and Angela H. Deskins, 38, were strangled. Shetisha D. Sheeley, 28, died of “homicidal violence by unspecified means,” the examiner said.
The 14-count updated indictment includes two counts each of aggravated murder for each victim, reflecting allegations that the alleged crimes were a pattern and were done while committing another felony.
The indictment also includes three counts of kidnapping, three counts of gross abuse of a corpse, one count of rape and one of weapons possession by an ex-convict.
Madison was classified as a sex offender in 2002 when he was sentenced to four years in prison for attempted rape, according to court records. He had drug-related convictions in 2000 and 2001.
Montana
Woman gets 100 years for shooting man in head
BOZEMAN, Mont. (AP) — A Bozeman woman has been sentenced to 100 years in prison after being convicted of breaking into the house of a former tenant, ransacking the place and shooting the man in the head.
District Judge John Brown sentenced 59-year-old Diana Arnold on Wednesday for attempted deliberate homicide and aggravated burglary, saying he believed she intended to kill Henry “Dave” McDunn and his wife and burn their house down on May 30, 2012.
Arnold said she didn’t remember much of what happened. Her attorney said she is mentally ill due to a brain injury suffered in a 1999 car crash and was in a “dissociative state” when she broke into the McDunns’ house.
The attack happened shortly after a District Court judge ruled Arnold owed the McDunns $22,000 — $1,500 for a security deposit plus attorney fees.
Arkansas
Court says death row inmate can pursue a review
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — The Arkansas Supreme Court says a lower court erred when it dismissed a petition from an inmate condemned to die for the rape and murder of a shopping mall security guard.
A Pulaski County jury in 1999 convicted Andrew Engram in the death of Laurie White, who worked at a North Little Rock mall. The state’s highest court said Thursday that Engram can pursue another review of his case.
Engram’s lawyers asked justices to send Engram’s case back to a lower court for a hearing on whether he had good cause to file a petition after a deadline to do so had passed.
In arguments Oct. 10, Engram’s legal team said a previous lawyer did poor work and that death row inmates are entitled to a full set of reviews.
Minnesota
Ex-Milwaukee police officer gets guns returned
MILWAUKEE (AP) — A former Milwaukee police officer on duty disability retirement for mental health issues has reclaimed nine guns taken from him during an emergency detention under Wisconsin’s mental health law — a situation a city alderman said shows clear problems with the law.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports the guns were taken from Jason Mucha, 35, during an emergency detention in November. The circumstances of that detention have not been made public.
Mucha had applied for disability in July 2012, saying he suffered a mental breakdown the preceding March because of news reports going back to 2007. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported in 2007 that Mucha had never been disciplined despite a long history of complaints. Last year, he became entangled in an investigation into illegal strip searches. Mucha was never charged with a crime, but four officers he supervised were convicted of conducting or observing the searches.
Mucha, who was suspended early in the investigation, said in applying for disability that he had a breakdown in March 2012 and since then has suffered headaches, sleeplessness and social problems because he fears friends might be recording him. He said he suffers from paranoia, depression and suicidal thoughts.
Still, Judge J.D. Watts determined Mucha met the requirements for getting his guns back. Mucha’s attorney, Michael Lutz, told Watts at a Friday hearing that Mucha was never committed after the emergency detention and did not face any criminal charges.
Milwaukee Alderman Joe Davis Sr. said in a statement that the case shows there’s a clear loophole in the law when it comes to mental health.
“In a case such as Mucha’s, in my view we are shortsighted (and potentially dangerously so) to think of the firearms return as just a matter of ‘paperwork filing’ and showing up at a hearing,” he said.
Lutz said Wednesday that Watts signed the appropriate order.
“No objections were raised by the district attorney’s office, the city attorney’s office, nor by the Milwaukee Police Department,” Lutz said. “Judge Watts acted in accordance with the law and our constitution when he ordered Mr. Mucha’s property returned to him.”
Mucha did not attend the hearing.
