National Roundup

Florida
Lawyers: Suspect in rampage ill but legally competent

MIAMI (AP) — Lawyers for the Alaska man charged in a Florida airport shooting rampage say he’s definitely mentally ill but is also competent to stand trial.

The attorneys say in court papers that 26-year-old Esteban Santiago of Anchorage, Alaska has been diagnosed with schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder. He’s accused in the Jan. 6 shooting that killed five and wounded six at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.

Santiago’s lawyers say he is taking an anti-psychotic drug and is able to communicate clearly, understand legal issues, is cooperative with jail staff, and is not disoriented or delusional.

A hearing is set for Wednesday on Santiago’s mental condition. He previously told the FBI he acted under government mind control, then claimed inspiration by Islamic State extremists.

Trial is set Oct. 2.

Vermont
Man facing 2nd death trial seeks to move trial

MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) — A Vermont man facing his second federal death penalty trial for the 2000 abduction and murder of a Rutland supermarket worker wants the trial to be held in Burlington.

In a Monday court filing, attorneys for 36-year-old Donald Fell said that a number of prospective jurors who were in the process of being chosen last month before the trial was delayed until September would have had to travel a long distance to hear the case in Rutland.

The attorneys also argued a survey found prospective jurors from southwestern Vermont were more likely to favor the death penalty than those from northern and southeastern Vermont.

Fell was convicted in 2005 and sentenced to death for the killing of Terry King, but his conviction was overturned due to juror misconduct.

Pennsylvania
Jury: PennDOT owes cyclist $5.4M over brain injuries

MEDIA, Pa. (AP) — A jury says the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation should pay $5.4 million to a man who suffered severe brain injuries when his bicycle crashed on a bridge that was in disrepair.

The Delaware County Daily Times reports the jury ruled Wednesday in favor of 63-year-old David Carletti.

The jury awarded Carletta $2.4 million for lost wages and medical expenses and $2 million for future suffering. His wife, Brenda, received $1 million for loss of consortium.

The Boothwyn man was riding over trolley tracks near the Springfield Mall when he hit a bump in May 2012 that was caused by road crews who had patched a damaged section of the bridge.

State attorneys had argued PennDOT was immune, but the jury disagreed because the state had notice of the conditions.

New Jersey
Man charged with killing 3 women pleads not guilty

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — A man charged with killing three women and attempting to kill a fourth pleaded not guilty Monday.

An attorney entered the plea on behalf of Khalil Wheeler-Weaver.

A grand jury had indicted Wheeler-Weaver, 20, in the deaths and sexual assaults of the three women between September and November. The victims were 20-year-old New Jersey City University student Sarah Butler, of Montclair; 33-year-old Joanne Brown, of Newark; and 19-year-old Robin West, of Philadelphia.

Butler was reported missing Nov. 23, and her body was found buried under leaves and debris in a park in West Orange on Dec. 1. Brown was last seen Oct. 22 in Orange, and a work crew found her body Dec. 5 at a vacant house in Orange. Investigators said Wheeler-Weaver killed West on Sept. 1 and then set fire to the vacant house in Orange where he dumped her body.

Defense attorney Shevelle McPherson said in December the evidence against Wheeler-Weaver was circumstantial.

Wheeler-Weaver was charged in the deaths of Butler and Brown in December, and the grand jury in February accused him of killing West.

He also was charged with attempting to kill a 34-year-old woman in November. Investigators said she survived, was treated at a hospital and released.

New Jersey
Defense lawyer still going strong at 94 years old

HACKENSACK, N.J. (AP) — A New Jersey lawyer isn’t letting his age get in the way of vigorously defending clients with theatrical flare.

Frank Lucianna, 94, is still going strong, 66 years after he began his legal career, The Record reported Monday.

The decorated World War II veteran and Englewood Cliffs resident has defended murder suspects, politicians, thieves, and drivers facing DWI charges. His signature style includes raising his voice and emphatically chopping the air with his arms.

“Your Honor, sometimes I wish they would throw all the laws out!” Lucianna said during a soliloquy in which he criticized mandatory sentencing, complimented the judge for being “assiduous” in the pursuit of justice and lauded the “young prosecutor.”

The son of Italian immigrants and a lifelong runner, he said his athleticism has given him the stamina to keep up with the demands of the job. He only stopped running a year ago because of a fractured vertebra.

“This is a very consuming profession and it has taken a lot out of my life,” Lucianna said. “I am constantly involved in preparing cases, and it’s a tremendous strain, both mental and physical. Physical because when you go to trial in a case, your whole being is obsessed with trying to help the person you represent, and it places your body and mind under tension.”

He founded Lucianna & Lucianna in Hackensack where he works with a staff that includes his daughter Diane.

Lucianna says he still feels 64 and doesn’t want to retire and move to Florida.

“Florida is inhabited by a lot of old retired people who, if you are living among them, are annoying,” he said.

Oklahoma
Father jailed in fatal shooting of ­daughter’s ex-boyfriend

TULSA, Okla. (AP) — Authorities say an Oklahoma father fired a gun into a car occupied by his 17-year-old daughter’s ex-boyfriend, killing him and another teenager. A third teen was wounded.

Tulsa Police Sgt. Dave Walker says the shooting happened Sunday night and was apparently linked to the breakup of Antonio Simmons’ teenage daughter and her 18-year-old ex. The daughter was unharmed.

Walker says the 18-year-old, whose name wasn’t released, arrived at the home in search of his ex-girlfriend. He was let in but was soon asked to leave.

Police say the 45-year-old Simmons followed the ex-boyfriend to the car then opened fire, killing the man and an 18-year-old woman in the backseat. A 19-year-old woman was injured.

Simmons is jailed on two first-degree murder complaints.