National Roundup

Massachusetts
Hernandez phone calls tapped aheadof 1st murder trial

BOSTON (AP) - A new report says former New England Patriots star Aaron Hernandez had his jailhouse phone calls hacked ahead of his first murder trial.

A Suffolk Sheriff's Department spokesman tells the Boston Herald the hacking happened in 2014, when Hernandez was being held in a Boston jail. He was convicted in 2015 of killing the boyfriend of his fiancee's sister.

The spokesman says the breach was discovered in a database operated by Securus Technologies during a routine security check. Securus has since resolved the issue. He didn't say who accessed Hernandez's calls.

Hernandez is awaiting trial on a 2012 double homicide.

Prosecutors say they didn't know the phones had been tapped, and his current defense team says it hadn't been told about the breach. His previous defense team didn't comment.

Pennsylvania
Prison for hacker who stole nude photos, videos of celebrities

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - A Pennsylvania man has been sentenced to a year and a half in prison for hacking into the email and online accounts of several female celebrities and stealing private information, including nude photos and videos.

Thirty-six-year-old Ryan Collins was sentenced Wednesday by a federal judge in Pennsylvania.

Prosecutors say he gained access to more than 100 Google and Apple accounts from November 2012 to September 2014. Many of them belonged to famous women.

The Harrisburg-area man pleaded guilty in May to one count of gaining unauthorized access to a protected computer to obtain information.

No celebrities were identified in his plea agreement.

Prosecutors say there was no evidence that Collins posted any of the pilfered images online or shared any information he obtained.

Pennsylvania
3 teens accused of killing couple in home, taking safe

PENN RUN, Pa. (AP) - Authorities say three teens killed a young couple inside their Pennsylvania home and robbed them of a safe.

Twenty-six-year-old Timothy Gardner and 20-year-old Jacqueline Brink were found slain in their Cherryhill Township home early Thursday.

State police have charged 18-year-old Nathaniel Price, of Indiana, Pennsylvania, and 19-year-old Justin Stevenson and 17-year-old Isaiah Scott, both of Clymer, with criminal homicide and robbery.

All three remained jailed without bond. Scott's attorney declined comment Friday. Online court records don't list attorneys for Price or Stevenson.

Indiana County District Attorney Patrick Dougherty says the investigation is ongoing and the cause of the victims' deaths wasn't immediately released.

Scott is charged as an adult and faces a preliminary hearing along with the others Nov. 8.

Tennessee
Family sues over hoverboard that burned $1M home

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - A family is suing Amazon for selling a hoverboard blamed for starting a fire that burned their $1 million home in Nashville.

The Tennessean reports that the Fox family's lawsuit says Amazon had information about the dangers of the product before the Jan. 9 fire.

The lawsuit was filed in Davidson County Circuit Court late Wednesday. It targets 10 defendants, including Amazon and retailers on its website.

The lawsuit says the listed seller of the hoverboard, "W-Deals," is a sham business registered to a New York City apartment and hasn't responded to lawyers.

It claims the family was sold a counterfeit product from China.

The family is seeking $30 million in damages, plus possible additional financial penalties.

An Amazon representative said the company doesn't comment on pending cases.

Missouri
House candidate sues colleague over rape claims

ST. LOUIS (AP) - A Missouri House candidate is pressing a defamation lawsuit against another unopposed colleague who publicly accused him of sexual assault.

Steven Roberts II filed his lawsuit in St. Louis Circuit Court Thursday, two days after a special prosecutor declined to pursue charges in the case, saying the evidence doesn't support Cora Faith Walker's claims.

Walker, who is married, alleges Roberts sexually assaulted her when they met at an apartment in August to discuss how they could work together in the upcoming legislative session. Both Democrats are running unopposed for the Missouri House.

Roberts has said he and Walker had consensual sex.

Walker didn't return Associated Press telephone messages seeking comment Friday.

The lawsuit seeks at least $25,000 in damages on each count of defamation, malicious prosecution and inflicting emotional distress.

New York
Man convicted of wounding 6, killing2 over 2 years

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) - A Buffalo man has been convicted of killing two people and wounding six others in four gang-related shootings over two years.

An Erie County judge issued the verdict Friday in 19-year-old Diamond Lewis' bench trial on murder and attempted murder charges.

Prosecutors say the first slaying was in October 2014 when Lewis fatally shot a 22-year-old man. The following June he shot and killed an 18-year-old man and wounded four other people, including a man who was left paralyzed.

The third shooting in August 2015 wounded an 18-year-old woman, and the last shooting in January left a 13-year-old girl with a gunshot wound after Lewis opened fire on a crowd of people.

Defense attorneys suggested the trial witnesses lacked credibility and were trying to save themselves from prison.

Florida
Mom jailed after pretending to suffocate baby

SANFORD, Fla. (AP) - A judge ordered a 19-year-old mother in Florida to serve two months in jail for making a video in which she pretended to smother her 7-month-old son and sending it to the baby's father.

The Orlando Sentinel reports that Samantha Nicole Salinas was sentenced Wednesday. She pleaded no contest in September to felony child abuse charges, and could have faced up to five years in prison.

The father received the video last year, along with a note that said, "Good luck finding your son's body."

Police say Salinas confessed to police in May, adding that she pretended to smother the boy because the father wasn't paying child support. In the video, the child was crying and appeared to be distressed.

Published: Mon, Oct 31, 2016