National Roundup

Ohio
Man accused of raping teenage relative can't be own attorney

TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) - An Ohio judge has ruled that a Toledo man charged with imprisoning and raping a teenage relative can no longer act as his own attorney in the case.

The Blade newspaper reports that a Lucas County Common Pleas judge says she ended Timothy Ciboro's self-representation because of his conduct in court. Court proceedings involving the 53-year-old have been marked by his frequent interruptions and outbursts.

A message seeking comment Monday from Ciboro's court-appointed attorney, Merle Dech, wasn't immediately returned.

Ciboro and his 27-year-old son have pleaded not guilty to kidnapping and child endangering charges. Timothy Ciboro has told media outlets the allegations aren't true.

Ciboro's son, Esten Ciboro, also is charged with rape and is representing himself. He hasn't responded to requests for comment.

Washington
Proposed $50M settlement made in 2014 landslide suit

SEATTLE (AP) - Attorneys representing the survivors and family members of people who died in a massive 2014 landslide north of Seattle have announced a proposed $50 million settlement with the state of Washington on the eve of a trial.

The tentative pact was announced Sunday night. The state Attorney General's Office did not immediately return messages from The Associated Press.

The lawsuit was filed following the devastating March 22, 2014, Oso landslide, which wiped out a rural neighborhood and killed 43 people.

The victims or their families alleged that the state, Snohomish County or a company that logged above where the hillside collapsed have liability for worsening the damage or failing to warn about the danger. The proposed deal was first reported by the Seattle Times, which reported that it still must be approved by Judge Roger Rogoff, who has presided over the litigation.

The attorneys for the victims said they would continue pressing their claims against Snohomish County and the logging company.

A trial was scheduled to begin Monday.

Last week Rogoff ordered the Washington Attorney General's Office to give him internal emails that might help explain when state lawyers handling the landslide liability case realized that their expert witnesses were improperly deleting emails. Rogoff ordered the office to produce the emails, saying it's critical for him to know what they show as he considers punishing the state for allowing the destruction of potential evidence in the case.

Attorney General Bob Ferguson has already acknowledged that one of his lawyers knew for the past year and a half that experts hired by the state to determine the cause of the 2014 slide were deleting emails among themselves. But the office insists that its other lawyers were unaware, and that the lawyers and the experts believed the emails did not need to be turned over to the plaintiffs and thus could be deleted.

Following the landslide the state imposed new rules on logging in landslide-prone areas. The slide struck after weeks of heavy rains. The neighborhood that was destroyed was a development of about 35 single-family homes, some dating to the 1960s, across the North Fork of the Stillaguamish River from a hillside in the Cascade Mountains.

The river eroded the base of the hill, as it had been doing for decades, causing numerous smaller slides. The deadly 2014 slide produced enough sand and soil to cover 600 football fields, which rushed down and swept the river up with it. A highway was buried under as much as 20 feet of muck.

Mississippi
2 judges reversed on at least 20 percent of appeals

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) - Two Hinds County circuit judges have seen at least one in five appeals end with a higher court overruling them.

New York law professor Laurie Shanks tells The Clarion-Ledger that reversal rates above 20 percent are considered a red flag.

The newspaper is looking at how judges around the state fared on appeals from 2013 through 2015.

Higher courts have disagreed with Judge Jeff Weill on more than 21 percent of appeals, and with Judge Tomie Green 36 percent of the time.

In Lamar County, Judge Prentiss Harrell of Purvis had just one reversal.

Green notes that hundreds of cases and motions don't get appealed. Eleven of her rulings were appealed, and four were reversed. Weill had 38 cases appealed and eight reversed.

Texas
County board hopes to rid court of pigeons, their droppings

ODESSA, Texas (AP) - Ector County commissioners are deciding how to get rid of pigeons believed to be raising a stink at the county courthouse in Odessa.

An item on Monday's agenda calls for the county board to consider proposals for "bird exclusion services."

The droppings from the pigeons are believed responsible for a noxious smell in the county clerk's office.

The Odessa American reports the pigeon poop gets cleaned regularly and commissioners now are looking to consider proposals to keep the birds away.

Illinois
U.S. Judge denies  media access to racketeering trial evidence

CHICAGO (AP) - A U.S. judge in the racketeering trial of six purported Hobos street-gang leaders has refused media access to photographs and other evidence even after it's shown in open court to jurors.

Judge John Tharp Jr. ruling denies a Chicago Tribune request to release exhibits once they're entered into evidence. Some evidence includes photos of victims allegedly killed by the gang.

Tharp has ordered jurors not to follow any media coverage of the case. But he says in his ruling posted last week that he fears jurors wouldn't be able to avert their eyes from sensational, front-page treatment of evidence and that that could undermine defendants' fair-trial rights.

The Tribune argued there's a strong presumption in favor of granting access because reporters are "the eyes and the ears of the public."

Published: Tue, Oct 11, 2016