National Roundup

North Carolina Prosecutors question conflict for Edwards lawyer RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) -- Federal prosecutors are questioning whether one of the lawyers defending former presidential contender John Edwards on campaign finance charges has a conflict of interest. Washington lawyer Abbie Lowell previously represented two potential witnesses in the case, including the widow of former Edwards national campaign finance chairman Fred Barron. If a judge determines there is a conflict, it could prompt Lowell's exclusion from parts of the case. Barron provided much of the nearly $1 million used in 2007 to help support Edwards' then-pregnant mistress. Lowell said in a statement Monday he had already discussed the issue with prosecutors and plans to respond in a court filing. Edwards is charged with six felony and misdemeanor counts. He has pleaded not guilty. A trial is scheduled to begin in January. Rhode Island Brown U. ordered to turn over fundraising records PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) -- A federal judge has ordered Brown University to turn over fundraising and donation records of an alumnus whose daughter says she was raped in 2006. Judge John McConnell Jr. last week ordered the school to release the documents, which were requested by lawyers for William McCormick III and his parents. McCormick is suing Brown, his accuser and her father. He says he was falsely accused of rape and unfairly pressured to leave school. The woman's father is a wealthy Brown alumnus and donor. The school has two weeks to turn over the documents dating back to Jan. 1, 2000. Brown objected, saying the father should produce the information. The judge also ordered Brown to turn over unredacted employee emails, which were previously handed over with about 100 items blacked out. Virginia Man accused of having 4 wives fac es bigamy charge RICHMOND, Va. (AP) -- A Virginia man accused of having four wives faces sentencing on one bigamy charge and prosecution on two other charges. Isaac C. Custalow Jr. of Chesterfield County pleaded guilty to bigamy in Chesterfield County in April. He faces similar charges in Virginia Beach and Henrico County. The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports that Custalow was scheduled to be sentenced in Chesterfield County last week. He didn't appear at the hearing because of an apparent medical problem. According to court records, Custalow married a woman in Chesapeake in 2000. Eight years later, he married another woman in Henrico County. In 2009, he married a third woman in Hopewell. His fourth marriage occurred in July in Virginia Beach. Custalow's attorney in the Chesterfield case, Russell Bowles, declined to comment. Vermont Man, 91, in jail on charges he beat wife, 84 ST. JOHNSBURY, Vt. (AP) -- A 91-year-old Vermont man is in jail and facing charges he beat his 84-year-old wife. On Thursday Louis Albiser, of St. Johnsbury, pleaded not guilty to a misdemeanor charge of domestic assault in Caledonia Superior Court-Criminal Division. A judge ordered Albiser to undergo a competency evaluation and ruled he can only be released into the custody of a responsible adult. Court documents say Albiser's wife Cecile was taken to the hospital Wednesday night after emergency crews responded to a report that she was unconscious. The Caledonia Record says Louis Albiser was reported to be confused about why and how he got to the hospital on Wednesday. Wisconsin Woman suspecte d of removing fe tus from mother MILWAUKEE (AP) -- A Milwaukee woman abducted a young pregnant mother and removed her fetus just days before the baby was due, killing the mother and her unborn child, according to authorities. The suspect arrested after she tried to pass the baby off as her own. Milwaukee police said the 33-year-old suspect removed the full-term baby from Maritza Ramirez-Cruz' uterus "by force," but did not elaborate. The suspect called 911 on Thursday saying she had given birth at home and that the baby wasn't breathing, police said. An autopsy and investigation led police back to the suspect's home Friday where they found the 23-year-old mother's body in the basement. The woman was arrested but has not been charged in the case. Family members told WTMJ-TV that Ramirez-Cruz was due to give birth Oct. 16 to her fourth child, a boy, whom she and her husband had already named Omar. Ramirez-Cruz's husband, Christian Mercado, told the station that his wife had mild contractions Thursday morning and left the house around 9:15 a.m. to run an errand. Mercado went to work but asked her to call him if she wanted to go to the hospital. Mercado said that around 11 a.m. he called his wife but got no answer. Family members searched for her and, more than a day after Mercado filed a police report, authorities called to say a body had been found that matched her description. The case has been forwarded to the Milwaukee County district attorney's office for review, police spokeswoman Anne E. Schwartz said. Milwaukee Police Chief Edward Flynn said there was no evidence that the two women knew each other and he said "fetal abduction" is extremely rare. Similar cases of women taking an unborn child from a mother's womb were reported in Massachusetts and Oregon in 2009, in Pennsylvania in 2007, in Illinois in 2006 and Missouri in 2004. In the Oregon case, a woman was indicted on an aggravated murder charge, accused of cutting a fetus out of another woman whom she met searching for baby clothes on the Internet. The charge alleges Korena Roberts, 27, attempted to kidnap the baby of Heather Snively, 21, and rob her, and tried to conceal the crimes. In Massachusetts, a Worcester woman, Julie Corey, was accused of killing her pregnant friend, Darlene Hayes, and cutting the baby from the womb. Corey and the baby were found in a homeless shelter in Plymouth, N.H., in July 2009, just days after Hayes was found dead with a fractured skull. Published: Tue, Oct 11, 2011