National Roundup

Maine
Feds eye new rules to protect right whales from fishing gear
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Federal ocean regulators are considering new rules to protect endangered North Atlantic right whales from fishing gear.

The whales number only about 360 and are vulnerable to entanglement in the gear. Most of the government’s efforts to protect them has focused on regulating gear used to harvest lobsters and Jonah crabs.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said it is working on a new phase of rules that will focus on other fisheries, including those that use gillnets and those that use traps and pots. Lobster and crab gear in the primary threat to the whales, but they are also vulnerable to gear used to harvest fish, conch and other valuable species, said Allison Ferreira, a spokeswoman for the agency.

NOAA said it’s hosting a series of webinars with members of the fisheries in September and October. The agency said the webinars will be used to gather input about the forthcoming rules.

NOAA has also been working on new rules for the lobster and crab fisheries. The agency said those rules are expected to be finalized soon.

North Dakota
Supreme Court allows DUI guilty plea to be withdrawn
MINOT, N.D. (AP) — The North Dakota Supreme Court will allow a man accused of drunken driving to withdraw his guilty plea to the charge.

The court recently reversed a North Central District Court judge’s refusal to suppress some evidence in the DUI case against defendant Michael Anthony Boger.

He was stopped by a Minot police officer in November 2019 who said Boger failed to have his rear license plate illuminated. Boger argued in court the officer’s own body camera footage showed the license plate was actually illuminated, the Minot Daily News reported.

The officer claimed that it only looked illuminated because of the reflection of the lights from the police squad car and a nearby gas station.

Judge Doug Mattson denied Boger’s motion to suppress evidence in the case and Boger then entered a conditional guilty plea to driving under the influence, his third offense within seven years. The conditional plea was with the understanding that he would be able to withdraw his plea if the Supreme Court ruled in his favor on appeal.

The high court ruled the body camera video clearly shows that Boger’s license plate was illuminated and the officer did not have probable cause to stop the vehicle, so the evidence must be suppressed.

The case will be sent back to the district court to allow Boger to withdraw his guilty plea.

Wisconsin
Evers hires law firm to handle PFAS suits
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Gov. Tony Evers has decided to hire a San Francisco-based law firm to handle potential lawsuits over PFAS pollution.

Evers and Attorney General Josh Kaul announced Wednesday that Sher Edling LLP has won a bidding process to serve as the state’s outside counsel for PFAS litigation.

State law allows the governor to hire outside attorneys rather than use state Justice Department lawyers if he feels the move would be cost-effective and serve the public interest. Evers wrote in a letter to the state Department of Administration in January asking the agency to solicit bids that the Justice Department lacks the resources to prosecute “scientifically complex and resource intensive” PFAS cases on its own.

The DOA received 11 proposals. An evaluation panel made up of staffers from the Justice Department, the Department of Natural Resources and the DOA scored the submissions. Sher Edling LLP submitted the lowest bid among the finalists and won the contract. Evers and Kaul didn’t say in their announcement how much the contract would cost the state and aides for both didn’t immediately return messages.

PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are known as “forever chemicals” because they don’t easily break down in the environment. They have been used for decades in a range of products, including stain-resistant sprays and firefighting foam.

Mississippi
Trial in officer’s killing to be heard by Rankin County jury
BILOXI, Miss. (AP) — The case of a then-teenager accused of killing a police officer on the Mississippi coast will be tried in front of a central Mississippi jury, a judge ruled this week.

Judge Christopher Schmidt ordered that Darian Atkinson’s trial go before a Rankin County jury, although the trial will be held in Biloxi.

Atkinson, now 21, is accused of fatally shooting police officer Robert “Mac” McKeithen outside a public safety center in Biloxi on May 5, 2019.

The Sun Herald reports that Schmidt ruled that Atkinson can be sentenced to the death penalty or life without parole, if he is convicted of capital murder.

The judge said he is considering whether to allow people to show signs of support for McKeithen and his family outside the courthouse or in the courtroom during the trial. Schmidt is also considering whether to allow law enforcement officers who attend the trial — other than a police chief — to wear their uniforms.

Atkinson’s trial is set for Sept. 27, although public defender Angela Blackwell said she plans to ask for a trial delay due to the surge of COVID-19 in the state.

The defense attorney said she initially planned to argue an insanity defense for Atkinson, or that he acted under extreme mental distress. Schmidt has ruled Atkinson is mentally competent to stand trial.


Oregon
Ex-officer pleads guilty to stealing drugs from evidence room
KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. (AP) — A former Klamath Falls police officer who stole narcotics from an evidence room and caused a DUII crash has pleaded guilty to multiple federal charges.

Thomas Reif, 28, pleaded guilty Tuesday to possession of a controlled substance by misrepresentation, fraud, forgery, deception or subterfuge in a federal court in Medford, The Herald and News reported.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Oregon said Reif entered the Klamath Falls Police Department’s evidence room with an unauthorized key, and removed methamphetamine and fentanyl on Nov. 27, 2020.

Reif then overdosed while driving his police car and caused a multi-car crash, prosecutors said. A toxicology report showed Reif was under the influence of methamphetamine and fentanyl.

He faces a maximum sentence of four years in prison, a $250,000 fine and one year of supervised release. He’s scheduled to be sentenced in November.

He was hired as a Klamath Falls police officer in December 2014 and fired Dec. 1, 2020, according to state records.