National Roundup

Colorado
Genealogy DNA query leads to suspect in cold case

GOLDEN, Colo. (AP) - A Colorado cold case has been revived and a homicide suspect pinpointed with the use of a relatively new DNA technique that gathers information from ancestry databases, officials said.

The Jefferson County Sheriff's Office used genealogy databases to identify a suspect in the case of Margaret "Peggy" Beck, KMGH-TV reports.

Beck was sexually assaulted and strangled at a Girl Scout camp near Deckers in August 1963.

An arrest warrant was issued for James Raymond Taylor, who was in his 20s and living in Colorado at the time of Beck's killing, officials announced Thursday.

Authorities do not know Taylor's location or whether he is alive. He was last seen in Las Vegas in 1976 and would now be 80.

The genealogy method of tracing DNA came into use in recent years. The most notable case has been the April 2018 arrest of Joseph DeAngelo, the alleged "Golden State Killer" accused of killing and raping dozens of California residents decades ago.

Investigators in the Beck case developed a DNA profile that could be submitted to two ancestry databases, FamilyTreeDNA and GED Match.

The sheriff's office also partnered with United Data Connect, a company specializing in genealogy testing founded by former Denver District Attorney Mitch Morrissey.

Taylor had a child in Colorado in the early 1960s and investigators were able to trace him to the Las Vegas area in 1976.

Utah
Court: Law graduates can skip bar exam during pandemic

PROVO, Utah (AP) - Recent law school graduates can become practicing lawyers without taking the typical bar exam under new temporary rules forced by the coronavirus pandemic, court officials said.

The Utah Supreme Court says the temporary process requires the graduates to perform 360 hours of supervised legal service under an experienced attorney, The Daily Herald reported.

The order also requires that applicants have graduated from a law school where students have a high rate of passing the bar or is currently classified as in good standing and licensed in another jurisdiction.

"We know that applicants invest several weeks and thousands of dollars preparing to take the bar exam," Utah Supreme Court Chief Justice Matthew Durrant said. "Because of the crisis, not only could we not guarantee that Utah could offer the bar examination safely, we could not tell applicants when they should start to invest the time and money to prepare for the exam."

The order announced Tuesday is intended to aid applicants who planned to take the exam in July but will not be able to since schools have closed and exams are not offered.

All qualified candidates must complete a character and fitness check as well as pass the Multistage Professional Responsibility Examination to test the knowledge of their ethical standards, court officials said.

The court is working with the National Conference of Bar Examiners to offer the examination in Utah as soon as it can safely be done. The next regularly scheduled bar exam is in February.

Indiana
Court declines to unseal video in shooting of two judges

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - A man charged with shooting and wounding two judges during a fight outside an Indianapolis fast food restaurant lost a bid to have surveillance video and other evidence unsealed.

Marion Superior Criminal Court Judge Shatrese Flowers on Wednesday denied Brandon Kaiser's motion to dismiss a protective order that sealed testimony and evidence presented last year to a grand jury.

Kaiser, 42, faces four felony counts of aggravated battery and other charges in the May 1, 2019, shooting of Clark County judges Andrew Adams and Brad Jacobs following a fight outside a White Castle restaurant. His trial is scheduled for June 15.

Kaiser's attorneys argued in a February court filing that he had acted in self-defense after the two southern Indiana judges approached him "in a hostile manner," slammed him to the ground, choked him, beat him and kicked him in the head.

Adams, who admitted to kicking Kaiser, pleaded guilty in September to a misdemeanor count of battery but avoided jail time.

The restaurant's surveillance video of the encounter has not been released publicly, although some still images were entered into evidence as exhibits by Kaiser's defense attorneys, who signed Tuesday's motion seeking the unsealing of the testimony and evidence, The Indiana Lawyer reported.

Their motion states that the protective order "results in an extreme injustice to the Defendant by limiting the Defendant's ability to conduct (an) independent investigation into the incident, obtain witnesses in his favor, and prepare his defense."

Marion County prosecutors opposed the request, stating in a court filing that the protective order doesn't prevent Kaiser's counsel from investigating and speaking to witnesses. Prosecutors also argued that transcripts and exhibits from the grand jury proceedings have already been provided to Kaiser's attorneys.

Kentucky
Confederate flag flap leads to call for new policy

BENTON, Ky. (AP) - A flap over the placement and subsequent removal of a Confederate flag at a Kentucky county courthouse has led to a call for more openness.

The Marshall County Fiscal Court voted this week to have staff draft new procedures that would make similar future decisions more open, The Paducah Sun reported.

Marshall County Judge-Executive Kevin Neal ordered the flag removed last week after it drew criticism.

County Commissioner Justin Lamb has said members of the local Sons of Confederate Veterans paid for the flag and raised it in front of the building in Benton. The flag aimed to recognize April as Confederate History Month, Lamb said.

Neal verbally authorized the request to display the flag without holding a fiscal court vote.

The new policy will affect all county-owned property, Neal said. He's hoping to have a draft to review by the county's next meeting on May 5.

"It was made clear that nothing would happen on any of our county properties until that policy is in place and passed by the fiscal court with a majority vote," Commissioner Monti Collins told the newspaper.

Published: Mon, Apr 27, 2020