New Hampshire
Woman with 84 Great Danes guilty of 10 animal cruelty counts
OSSIPEE, N.H. (AP) — A judge has found a woman guilty of 10 animal cruelty charges after 84 Great Danes were seized from her New Hampshire home.
The dogs were taken from Christina Fay in June. Authorities said the animals were living in filth and suffering from health problems. Fay pleaded not guilty.
Fay initially was charged with 12 misdemeanor counts; Judge Charles Greenhalgh dismissed two last month. In his ruling Tuesday, he found the evidence showed Fay didn’t provide proper care or shelter for the dogs.
Fay testified at her recent trial before Greenhalgh that she took good care of the animals.
Authorities alleged that Fay deprived the dogs of medical treatment and fed them maggot-infested food.
Her lawyers didn’t immediately return a call seeking comment.
South Carolina
Man arrested after Airbnb guest finds camera
GREENVILLE, S.C. (AP) — A South Carolina man has been arrested after a woman who rented an apartment from him using Airbnb found a hidden camera.
Media outlets reported that Greenville police arrested 35-year-old Cesar Adan Mendez Fuentes late last week and charged him with voyeurism.
A 26-year-old woman from Calhoun, Georgia, reported finding a hidden camera in an alarm clock in the bedroom. Police Sgt. Johnathan Bragg said the woman was trying to turn on the alarm and realized there was not an on-off switch.
No attorney was listed for Fuentes in Greenville County records.
Airbnb issued a statement saying cameras are never allowed in the bathrooms and bedrooms that members of its community offer for rent. The statement said the person involved has been banned permanently from participation in its community.
Florida
U.S. judge bans prayer at county’s meetings
MELBOURNE, Fla. (AP) — A federal judge has barred a Florida county commission from opening its meetings with prayers.
A Florida Today report says U.S. District Judge John Antoon II said opening Brevard County commission meetings with religious invocations violated both the U.S. Constitution and the Florida Constitution.
County commissioners voted unanimously to appeal the Nov. 29 injunction. While that’s pending, they are opening meetings with a moment of silence instead of prayer.
The Central Florida Freethought Community, the Humanist Community of the Space Coast and the Space Coast Freethought Association sued the county in federal court in 2015 after commissioners declined to include atheists, agnostics and other non-religious people in a rotation of clergy members delivering the opening religious invocations.
Commission Chair Rita Pritchett said Antoon’s ruling “takes away the freedom of speech of the Christian community.”
Connecticut
Man intervenes in couple’s argument, thrown from bridge
DERBY, Conn. (AP) — Connecticut police say a man threw another man 45 feet off a bridge because he intervened in an argument between the suspect and his girlfriend.
Derby police charged Gregory Rottjer with attempted murder in connection with the Thanksgiving morning encounter that left the victim seriously injured.
Rottjer’s friend Matthew Dorso was charged with assault while Rottjer’s girlfriend, Jennifer Hannum, was charged with lying to police.
Police say Rottjer and Hannum were arguing as they walked across the bridge over the Housatonic River between Derby and Shelton. The victim and his brother asked Hannum if she was OK, which prompted Rottjer and Dorso to start a fight that ended with the victim in the water.
It was unclear if the suspects had lawyers.
New York
NFL Network suspends analysts over sexual misconduct suit
NEW YORK (AP) — Hall of Fame player Marshall Faulk and two other NFL Network analysts have been suspended after a former employee alleged sexual misconduct in a lawsuit.
NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy on Tuesday identified the three as Faulk, Ike Taylor and Heath Evans. He says they have been “suspended from their duties at NFL Network pending an investigation into these allegations.”
According to court documents first reported by Bloomberg, former wardrobe stylist Jami Cantor described several sexually inappropriate encounters with the three retired NFL players and others who have worked for the NFL Network.
Former NFL Network executive Eric Weinberger and former NFL Network analyst Donovan McNabb are among those named in the suit. McNabb now works for ESPN.
Cantor worked at the NFL Network for a decade. She filed an amended complaint originally filed in Los Angeles Superior Court in October.
New York
Police: Man posed as officer, tried to get discounted coffee
BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Police in western New York have charged a man who they say impersonated a police officer in an attempt to get discounted coffee.
WIVB-TV reports the man flashed a fake badge and gun at a Starbucks in Buffalo around 11 p.m. Friday. Police say the man claimed he was a detective and asked for a discount.
Authorities say the man then left Starbucks and tried to get into Spot Coffee after closing time by claiming he was a police officer. He was later arrested.
Police say the man was carrying a BB gun.
Police have charged the 48-year-old Buffalo man with criminal trespassing, criminal impersonation of a police officer and menacing.
Mississippi
Former sheriff's deputy sentenced for sex with inmate
PASCAGOULA, Miss. (AP) — A former sheriff's deputy in Mississippi will serve two years in prison for having sex with an inmate while on duty.
The Sun Herald reports that 33-year-old Johnathan Jenkins was sentenced Friday on one count of unlawful sexual activity.
In his plea, Jackson admitted to having sex with a female inmate for two days in September 2016 while on duty as a Jackson County deputy.
Jenkins will serve three years under post-release supervision and will pay a $1,500 fine. He'll have to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.
District Attorney Tony Lawrence said Jackson violated the law by taking advantage of someone he was charged with securing, monitoring and protecting.
- Posted December 13, 2017
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