National Roundup

Illinois: Family files lawsuit over ‘Transformers 3’ injury
CHICAGO (AP) — The family of a woman left with brain damage after an accident during the filming of “Transformers 3” has filed a lawsuit against the movie’s makers.

Gabriela Cedillo is being treated at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago. She was working as an extra when she was hit in the head by a piece of flying metal during the filming of a stunt sequence in Hammond, Ind.

The lawsuit contends the Sept. 1 accident left her permanently brain damaged, paralyzed on her left side and with her left eye stitched shut.

The lawsuit filed in Cook County Circuit Court on Tuesday accuses Paramount Pictures of negligence.

In a statement, Paramount officials say they’re sorry about the accident and that they pledge to help Cedillo and her family.

Louisiana: Man gets plea deal in quadruple murder
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A 2006 shooting rampage in Treme that killed four men drew a 10-year sentence for Ramond Amison, under a plea deal worked out by Orleans Parish prosecutors.

According to Wednesday’s Times-Picayune, District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro’s office reduced the charges, when Amison appeared in court for jury selection.

The 23-year-old Amison was accused of the July 28, 2006, manslaughter of Kadeem and Kareem Stephens, both 16, their older brother Kendall Stephens, 21, and their family friend Carl Lucineo, 39.

Judge Camille Buras on Tuesday sentenced Amison to 10 years, with credit for the four years he has already served awaiting trial at Orleans Parish Criminal District Court.

The plea bargain for the post-Katrina bloodshed ends a case that included shaky witness identification and no physical evidence linking either Amison or his older brother Kevin Amison to the attack.

“In light of the exposure to the death penalty, it’s basically an offer that we couldn’t refuse,” said defense attorney Donald Sauviac. “He’s mentally retarded and we don’t think he should have ever been exposed to the death penalty.”

Manslaughter carries up to 40 years, while a capital murder conviction could draw either a life sentence or an execution date.

Kadeem and Kareem Stephens and Carl Lucineo each were shot in the head. Kendall Stephens was fatally wounded as he tried to run away from the shooting.

Police arrested the two Amison brothers days after the ambush.

Prosecutors took Kevin Amison to trial first on capital murder in October 2008, leaving court with a mistrial when at least 10 jurors wanted to acquit him and couldn’t persuade the other two to join them.

Three months later, prosecutors dismissed the murder charges against him and proceeded to try Raymond Amison for the crime.

In a first-degree murder case, a jury must return an unanimous decision in order to convict or acquit.

At Kevin Amison’s trial, the jury heard from two eyewitnesses. One of the Stephens’ cousins identified Amison as one of the gunmen while the Stephens’ mother only identified him in court in her second trip to the witness stand.

Mississippi: Court upholds 40 year sentence in shooting
GULFPORT, Miss. (AP) — The Mississippi Court of Appeals has uphold the 40-year sentence given to Michael Eugene Welch for a drive-by shooting that left three teenage brothers wounded.

Harrison County Judge Roger Clark sentenced Welch in 2007 as a habitual offender following his conviction on three counts of aggravated Assault. That means Welch must serve the time without consideration of early release.

Welch appealed based on allegations he didn’t have an effective lawyer and that lower court erroneously denied his motion for a new trial.

The Court of Appeals disagreed on Tuesday, saying the evidence against Welsh was substantial.