National Roundup

Georgia
State Supreme Court orders review of slain baby case
BRUNSWICK, Ga. (AP) — The Georgia Supreme Court has ordered a lower court to review the case of a teenager whose failed robbery attempt ended with him fatally shooting a baby in the face.

The Brunswick News reports the review was ordered Friday per De’Marquise Kareem Elkins’ claim that he had ineffective counsel. Elkins, then 17, was convicted in 2013 of murder and other charges in the shooting of Antonio Santiago and two others. He was sentenced to life without parole plus 125 years.

The state Supreme Court ruled in 2016 that it’s unconstitutional in most circumstances to sentence a minor to life without parole. On that basis, he filed a motion for a new trial that was denied without a hearing. The state Supreme Court says his motion should’ve been granted a hearing.

Indiana
Appeals court strikes down 183-year prison term in 2 deaths
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The Indiana Court of Appeals has ordered a new sentencing hearing for a northwestern Indiana man serving 183 years in prison for two slayings when he was 16.

The (Northwest Indiana) Times reports the court decided 3-0 that a ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court that life without parole for juveniles is cruel and unusual punishment similarly applies to cases such as Donnell Wilson’s where the sentence effectively is a no-parole one.

The Gary man could be eligible for release in 2104, when he would be 107. No timeline for resentencing is set. The ruling could be appealed to the Indiana Supreme Court.

Court records say Wilson, now 22, fatally shot brothers 19-year-old Shaqwone Ham and 18-year-old Charles Wood in a 2013 gang territory dispute in Gary’s Glen Park neighborhood.

California
Judge Real, who desegregated ­California schools, dies at 95
LOS ANGELES (AP) — U.S. District Judge Manuel Real, who was an active judge for five decades and desegregated schools in Southern California, has died, the courts said. He was 95.

Real, whose courtroom was in Los Angeles, died on Wednesday, the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California said in a statement posted on Friday.

Real was the longest-serving active district judge in the United States before he took senior status in November. He was appointed by President Lyndon Johnson in 1966 and served as an active judge for 50 years, the statement said.

Real ordered the desegregation of the Pasadena Unified School District in 1970 and barred the district from discriminating on the basis of race.

Before becoming a judge, Real was the U.S. attorney and an assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern District of California. He also served in private practice.

He served in the U.S. Navy reserve during World War II from 1943 to 1945.

Real was nominated to be a judge and confirmed in 1966, the same year that the Central District was created.

“Judge Real has been the heart and soul of our district since it was formed in 1966, and his passing leaves an unfillable void for us, his family, the legal world and the larger community,” Chief Judge Virginia Phillips said in the statement.

Illinois
U.S. judge removed from cases after emails to return to bench
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) — A federal judge who was removed from hearing criminal cases last summer as he was presiding over two of Illinois’ highest-profile cases will be resuming all his duties in September.

The (Champaign) News-Gazette reports that a judicial panel admonished Judge Colin Bruce for exchanging emails with a U.S. attorney’s office employee about one of his trials but concluded his decision-making on the bench wasn’t affected.

At the time of his removal, the Urbana-based judge was presiding over former U.S. Rep. Aaron Schock’s corruption case and the case of Brendt Christensen. Prosecutors in March agreed to drop charges against Schock.
Christensen, a former University of Illinois doctoral student, was convicted this past week in the 2017 kidnapping and slaying of Chinese scholar Yingying Zhang.

Arizona
Flagstaff man wrongfully arrested in drug sting mulls suit
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) — A Flagstaff man who spent more than 30 hours in jail after he was wrongfully arrested on suspicion of selling LSD is considering a lawsuit, saying mistakes made by police should have consequences.

Tremayne Nez, who is Navajo, was arrested earlier this month as part of a multi-agency drug operation. His mug shot was circulated online, and he said he was placed on administrative leave from his job and subjected to a drug test before being cleared this week to return to work.

“I do support the police in all they do, but there’s consequences for mistakes,” Nez said Friday at a news conference outside the Coconino County courthouse. “That’s why there’s jails. As citizens, if we make mistakes, we go to jail. If officers make mistakes, then they have to have consequences, too.”

Police say Nez’s arrest on June 18 was a case of mistaken identity and have apologized to him.

A Coconino County Superior Court judge signed an order Friday dismissing a single felony count against him without prejudice, meaning it can be filed again.

Flagstaff police spokesman Sgt. Charles Hernandez said a task force was working with a paid informant who purchased LSD from a man named “Trey” in the parking lot of a place Nez used to live. The informant later was shown a picture of Nez and identified him as the seller, Hernandez said. The actual suspect — Trey Store — and Nez share the same nickname, are in their early 20s, have similar physical features and are Native American, which led to the mistaken identity, Hernandez said.

“Investigators and resources are not infallible and in this case a mistake was made during the identification of Mr. Tremayne Nez as the individual who sold drugs, which was subsequently corrected immediately upon discovery,” Hernandez wrote in response to questions from The Associated Press.

Hernandez said police are reviewing policies after Nez’s arrest, which will be removed from his record. Store was arrested Wednesday.

The Flagstaff Police Department announced the arrests of nearly three dozen people in a drug operation the same day. A week later, police announced Nez was wrongfully accused.