National Roundup

New York NYC to pay $70 million in Medicaid settlement NEW YORK (AP) -- New York City has agreed to pay $70 million to settle a federal lawsuit that accused it of overbilling Medicaid for millions of dollars in reimbursements for personal care services. The city acknowledged it had re-authorized the services for certain patients without obtaining the required assessment from a physician, nurse or social worker. It also admitted it didn't get a medical review in some cases. City corporation counsel Michael Cardozo says the city had acted in the belief the services provided were appropriate. He said the settlement covered a small percentage of the PCS expenditures over the past decade and was based on technical recording-keeping deficiencies. U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara says the judge who denied the city's motion to dismiss the case had specifically rejected the argument the case was about "paperwork." Texas Former inmate's lawyers question district judge GEORGETOWN, Texas (AP) -- A former prosecutor has answered more than six hours of questions from attorneys for a man who says he was wrongfully sent to prison for nearly 25 years because of suppressed evidence in his case. Ken Anderson gave a deposition behind closed doors Monday at the Williamson County Courthouse in Georgetown, Texas, where he is now a state district judge. He was questioned by attorneys for Michael Morton, whom DNA evidence freed this month after he spent 24 years of a life sentence in prison in the 1986 murder of his wife. Anderson's deposition is part of an investigation into allegations that he concealed evidence at Morton's trial while a prosecutor. An appeals court last week denied his attempt to stop the deposition. Nebraska Court rejects rehearing in 'Boys Don't Cry' case LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) -- A federal appeals court has rejected a request from a Nebraska death row inmate for a rehearing in a triple murder that inspired the 1999 film "Boys Don't Cry." The Lincoln Journal Star (http://bit.ly/tx8UgQ ) reports the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals denied John Lotter request on Monday. Lotter and a co-defendant were convicted in the 1993 slaying of a 21-year-old woman who lived briefly as a man and two witnesses to the killing in a rural farmhouse. He has maintained his innocence. In split decision in August, a three-judge panel of the 8th Circuit rejected Lotter's attempt to appeal his conviction. He filed a petition for the panel to rehear the case or for the full court to consider it. The request was denied. New York Trial opens in NYC parking spat that injured woman NEW YORK (AP) -- A defense lawyer has told a jury a man was justified in hitting a woman in a New York City parking space dispute that ended with her in a coma. The man says it was self-defense, but prosecutors say it was just angry retaliation. Oscar Fuller's assault trial opened Monday. The electrician got into an argument with Lana Rosas in February. He was trying to park his van in Manhattan's East Village in February. She was standing in the space to save it for her boyfriend. Prosecutors say he punched her in the face so hard she was knocked unconscious and hit her head on the pavement. His lawyer says she attacked him and he had to use force to protect himself. Washington Tacoma judge warns victim's family not to pray TACOMA, Wash. (AP) -- At a Tacoma murder trial the judge admonished the family of the victim against praying outside the courtroom. KIRO-TV reports the judge told the family of Camille Love to be sensitive to the risk of influencing the jurors and forcing a mistrial. One defense lawyer said he heard the family praying Monday for conviction of the four defendants. Love's father said they were just praying for justice. The 20-year-old Love was shot to death in February 2009 as she rode in a car with her brother. Police say the gunmen were rival gang members. Nebraska City fights $350,000 award to nurse OMAHA, Neb. (AP) -- The city of Bellevue is asking the Nebraska Supreme Court to throw out an order for it to pay $350,000 in damages to a nurse attacked by a mentally ill man left at a hospital by Bellevue police. Police took the 19-year-old man from his apartment on July 4, 2007, over concerns about his mental health. Officers took him to Alegent Health's Midlands Hospital in Papillion, where he later attacked nurse Jan Ginapp, leaving her with permanent eye damage. The city says a lower court judge erred in finding that its police officers were negligent in leaving the man at a local hospital. But Ginapp says the city should have protected her from someone police believed to be dangerous. The state's high court is set to hear arguments Wednesday. Pennsylvania Self-defense claimed in killing of 11th grader WEST CHESTER, Pa. (AP) -- The lawyer for a Pennsylvania man accused of fatally shooting a high school student says his client fired only after the slain teen pulled the trigger of a gun loaded with the wrong ammunition. The attorney for Falandez James says James killed 17-year-old Carron London in self-defense after the teen's gun misfired during a confrontation outside a Coatesville gas station in June 2010. Prosecutors say London tried to fire at James after being shot. London was a student at Coatesville High School. James is charged with first- and third-degree murder in the killing and could face life in prison if convicted. The trial in Chester County court is expected to last through the end of the week. California Defendant in 2004 knife attack fit for trial REDWOOD CITY, Calif. (AP) -- Doctors say the defendant in a 2004 killing in San Carlos is now mentally fit to stand trial for murder. Vitin Ajani Cruz has been in mental institutions for most of seven years because court-appointed doctors said he was unfit to stand trial. The San Jose Mercury News says the 37-year-old Daly City man was in court Monday where it was decided he can now stand trial for the Oct. 27, 2004, stabbing death of a classmate at a vocational training program. San Mateo County prosecutors say Cruz was sitting next to a classmate when he suddenly attacked the man with a knife. Another court hearing is set for Nov. 22. Published: Wed, Nov 2, 2011