Tennessee
Man indicted in death of toddler
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — A man has been indicted in the death of his girlfriend's 2-year-old son in Tennessee.
Shelby County district attorney Amy Weirich says in a news release 41-year-old Alan Johnson was indicted on a first-degree murder charge.
The statement says Johnson had been playing with the child by throwing him in the air and catching him in October but the child slipped. A hospital staff determined the boy had a fractured skull, swelling on the brain and that the injuries were inconsistent with Johnson's account. The boy died two days later.
An autopsy showed the child also had rib fractures and lacerations on several organs.
Johnson is being held without bond in the Shelby County Jail. It wasn't immediately known whether Johnson has an attorney who could comment on the charge.
Virginia
Man accuses developer of harming 200-year-old grave
STAFFORD, Va. (AP) — A Virginia landowner and a housing developer are engaged in a dispute over reported damage to 200-year-old headstones at a revolutionary war era cemetery.
The Freelance-Star reports 70-year-old Gordon Silleck noticed headstones displaced and ground disturbed at Liberty Hall farm, a property he says was once owned by his distant relatives in Stafford, Virginia. Sellick says the burial ground houses his great-great-great-grandfather and great-grandfather, a Civil War veteran.
Today, most of the land is cleared for Liberty Hall Estates, a housing development by Jumping Branch Farms. County officials say photos show vegetation removed, equipment tracks and headstones moved. They've cited the developer for violating cemetery preservation ordinances.
The developer's attorney says his client didn't damage the cemetery and has appealed the Board of Zoning Appeals' nine citations, but three remain.
New York
No charges for officer in Garner chokehold death
NEW YORK (AP) — Federal prosecutors won't bring civil rights charges against a New York City police officer in the 2014 chokehold death of Eric Garner, a person familiar with the matter said Tuesday.
The decision not to bring charges against Officer Daniel Pantaleo comes a day before the statute of limitations was set to expire, on the fifth anniversary of the encounter that led to Garner's death. The person was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity.
Garner was black, Pantaleo is white. Garner's words "I can't breathe" became a rallying cry for police reform activists, coming amid a stretch of other deaths of black men at the hands of white officers. Protests erupted around the country erupted, and police reform became a national discussion.
Officers were attempting to arrest Garner on charges he sold loose, untaxed cigarettes outside a Staten Island convenience store. He refused to be handcuffed, and officers took him down.
Garner is heard on bystander video crying out "I can't breathe" at least 11 times before he falls unconscious. He later died.
A state grand jury had also refused to indict the officer on criminal charges.
In the years since Garner's death, the New York Police Department made a series of sweeping changes on how it relates to the communities it serves, ditching a policy of putting rookie cops in higher-crime precincts in favor of a neighborhood policing model that revolves around community officers tasked with getting to know New Yorkers.
Some activists, including Garner's family and the relatives of others killed by police, have argued the changes weren't enough.
Pantaleo's attorney, Stuart London, said he was not immediately aware of the decision.
Chokeholds are banned under police policy. Pantaleo maintained he used a legal takedown maneuver called the "seatbelt."
The medical examiner's office said a chokehold contributed to Garner's death.
The New York Police Department brought Pantaleo up on departmental charges earlier this year. Federal prosecutors were observing the proceedings. An administrative judge has not ruled whether he violated policy. He could face dismissal, but Police Commissioner James O'Neill has the final say.
In the years since the Garner death, Pantaleo has remained on the job but not in the field, and activists have decried his paycheck that included union-negotiated raises.
Washington
No charges yet for man who confessed to killing and then recanted
OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — Prosecutors say they are not filing charges at this time against a man who allegedly confessed to killing his former neighbor in 2009 but then recanted the confession.
The Olympian reported Monday that any charges related to Nancy Moyer's death will not be filed until the investigation is complete, according to Chief Criminal Deputy Prosecutor Jeffery Lippert.
Authorities say Roberts was also arrested on weapons charges based on evidence detectives found at his home and that he remains in jail.
Probable cause documents say Eric Lee Roberts called 911 last week and said he killed Moyer. Documents say he told investigators the two had a sexual relationship and that he accidentally strangled her.
But as investigators began searching his property south of Olympia, documents say Roberts recanted those statements.
Moyer was reported missing March 7, 2009. Her body has never been found.
New York
Court: NYC can ban ads in Uber and Lyft cars
NEW YORK (AP) — A federal appeals court in New York says the city can ban advertisements in vehicles driven for companies like Uber and Lyft.
The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday overturned a lower court decision last year that concluded the city could not justify its regulations.
The appeals panel said the city was correct in arguing the ban survives First Amendment scrutiny by advancing the government's interest in improving the passenger experience.
The ruling came in a case brought by Vugo Inc., a Minnesota company that sued the city in 2015 after the Taxi and Limousine Commission prohibited the ads in vehicles that were not medallion taxis or street-hail liveries. The company puts digital content in vehicles driven for ride-share companies.
