National Roundup

New Hampshire
Man gets over 47 years in prison in woman’s death
BRENTWOOD, N.H. (AP) — A man has been sentenced to at least 47 ½ years in prison for killing a woman last year in Exeter, New Hampshire.

Derek Webber had pleaded guilty to second-degree murder for beating and stabbing 65-year-old Carol Felides and then setting her home on fire in a mobile home park last year.

Prosecutors said Webber entered the home through a window after choosing his target at random.

Felides, a physical therapist’s assistant, had lived in the home a short time.

Deputy Attorney General Jane Young said Wednesday Webber’s sentence was one of the lengthiest for a second-degree murder conviction for one victim in state history.

South Carolina
Police: Secret videos of female athletes posted to porn site
GAFFNEY, S.C. (AP) — Police say female athletes were secretly recorded while changing and showering at a South Carolina Christian college, and now some of those videos have been posted online.

Citing a Gaffney police report, news outlets report the athletes were filmed while using Limestone College’s men’s soccer locker room between 2012 and 2013. Police say five videos were uploaded to the porn site only months ago. The report of the “peeping Tom” behavior says the videos’ angle suggests the camera was on a sink.

The four-year college near the North Carolina border is about 20 miles (32 kilometers) northeast of Spartanburg.

A college statement released Wednesday says it’s assisting in the investigation. Reports say a suspect hasn’t yet been identified. It’s unclear if law enforcement has notified the women in the videos.

North Carolina
Woman charged in kidnapping now accused in another case
GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) — A North Carolina woman charged with kidnapping a 3-year-old girl is now accused of kidnapping another toddler.

News outlets report 22-year-old N’denezsia Lancaster, of Greensboro, is now charged with second-degree kidnapping in addition to first-degree kidnapping.

She’s accused of snatching 3-year-old Ahlora Lindiment from an apartment merry-go-round last week. The girl was found safe the next day. Prosecutors say Lancaster previously took a 2-year-old girl from the same spot and returned her safely.

A judge refused to lower Lancaster’s $1 million bond Monday. Lancaster’s attorney, Daniel Harris, says Lancaster has bipolar disorder and requested a mental evaluation. One was set for this week.

Lancaster may appear in court Nov. 14. She’s also charged with assault in another case in which she’s accused of attacking a man with a box cutter.

New York
Lawsuit against Alan Dershowitz can proceed
NEW YORK (AP) — A woman who went public with claims she was a teenage victim of Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking ring can move toward trial with her defamation lawsuit against Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz, a judge ruled Wednesday as she disqualified a law firm from representing her.

U.S. District Judge Loretta A. Preska rejected Dershowitz’s effort to toss out the lawsuit, but she granted his request to disqualify Boies Schiller Flexner LLP from the case.

Dershowitz had sought to toss out the case on several grounds, including that the statute of limitations had passed.

Virginia Roberts Giuffre has said Epstein trafficked her to several prominent men, including Dershowitz. She says she had sex with Dershowitz on several occasions— allegations Dershowitz vehemently denies.

Giuffre sued Dershowitz for defamation after he publicly denied ever even meeting Giuffre and called her a “serial perjurer,” a “serial liar,” and a “serial prostitute” in interviews with major media outlets.

Giuffre’s allegations drew new attention after Epstein was charged in New York this summer with sexually abusing dozens of girls. Epstein killed himself in August in his cell at a federal lockup adjacent to Manhattan federal court.

Preska wrote that disqualification of the law firm representing Giuffre was “clearly required” because members of the firm could be called as witnesses at a trial.

Dershowitz has said he secretly recorded David Boies, a prominent attorney with the firm, casting doubt on the veracity of Giuffre’s claims. Boies has said the call was recorded without his consent and that Dershowitz has mischaracterized their conversation.

“The advocate-witness rule prohibits an attorney from representing a party where the attorney will be called as a witness,” Preska wrote in her ruling.

Dershowitz on Wednesday called the ruling a “significant victory.”

“It clears us to put David Boies at the center of this conspiracy,” he said in a telephone interview. “We’re going to prove that my accuser had repeatedly told people that she did not have sex with me until she met her lawyers. Her lawyers pressured her into saying she had sex with me, and they’re key witnesses.”

“I will continue to call (Giuffre) a liar and a perjurer,” he added.

In a statement, Sigrid McCawley of the Boies Schiller Flexner firm said the firm will promptly appeal Preska’s ruling. She called the judge’s decision to disqualify her firm “deeply disappointing.”

“The defamation case against Alan Dershowitz is going forward and he will have to face justice,” McCawley said.

Giuffre said in a statement that she was grateful that Preska denied Dershowitz’s “shameful attempt to dismiss my defamation case against him.”


New Jersey
Court: Watching porn in your car not allowed
LITTLE EGG HARBOR, N.J. (AP) — A state appellate court has upheld a New Jersey man’s conviction on an obscenity charge for watching porn videos on his iPad while sitting in his car outside a fast-food restaurant.

Little Egg Harbor police responded to the restaurant in April 2014 after getting a complaint about 53-year-old David Lomanto’s activities. Authorities say he initially refused to leave his car, then repeatedly refused to show the officer his license or other identification.

Lomanto was charged with obstruction, and a count of public communication of obscenity was later filed. He was convicted in May 2017 and sentenced to two concurrent one-year terms of probation and five days in jail, which he has served.

Lomanto claimed the definition of “publicly communicates” in the obscenity law is overly broad and that watching porn in the privacy of his car is protected under the U.S. Constitution.