National Roundup

Indiana
Jury hunt begins for man’s first murder trial
NEW ALBANY, Ind. (AP) — A southern Indiana judge, prosecutors and attorneys have begun searching for potential jurors in the first of three murder cases against a man charged with killing three women.
Floyd Superior Court Judge Susan Orth on Wednesday began overseeing the tedious process of helping prosecutors and attorneys for William Clyde Gibson search questionnaires to find jurors for Gibson’s July murder trial. The Courier-Journal of Louisville, Ky., reports about 400 people who returned questionnaires have been deemed eligible for jury duty.
The jurors will come from southeastern Indiana’s Dearborn County
Gibson is set to stand trial July 15 in the killing of 75-year-old Christine Whitis, whose mutilated body was found in his garage in New Albany. His trials in the two other killings are expected in 2014.

Oklahoma
Autopsy shows inmate died of meth overdose
McALESTER, Okla. (AP) — An autopsy shows that an inmate found unresponsive in his cell at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary died from a methamphetamine overdose.
Mark Stacey was found in his cell Dec. 9 and pronounced dead later that night. According to court records, two balloons containing methamphetamine were found in Stacey’s gastrointestinal system.
An affidavit says one of the balloons was intact and another had ruptured.
Stacey had been serving time for a drug conviction out of Oklahoma County. He had a parole hearing scheduled in June.
The McAlester News-Capital reports that investigators reviewed Stacey’s visiting records and charged Monica Mae Jackson with one count of bringing contraband into a prison.

California
Suspect caught who allegedly killed over music
RICHMOND, Calif. (AP) — A Contra Costa County man who eluded capture for four years after allegedly shooting his neighbor to death in a dispute over loud music has been arraigned on murder charges.
The Contra Costa Times reports 27-year-old Demaurier Bullard is charged with murder with use of a gun in connection with the 2009 death of Latoi Stevens in Richmond.
Bullard was arrested April 17 in Sacramento County on a $1 million warrant.
Prosecutors say Bullard was wearing a bulletproof vest the day he approached Stevens at his home and shot him once in the neck. Stevens, a 29-year-old culinary student and father of three, died at the scene.
Detectives said Bullard was their only suspect.
He will return to court April 30 to enter a plea with a public defender.

New York
Martin Scorsese’s daughter files lawsuit over film
NEW YORK (AP) — The daughter of film director Martin Scorsese has filed a lawsuit claiming an online video company cut her out of profits from her directorial debut.
Catherine Scorsese filed the suit in Manhattan federal court on Wednesday.
The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages from Jumpview Entertainment and its owners Michael Simon and Kenneth Waddell.
Scorsese says she was asked to co-produce and co-direct the film. She says she even got her father and actor Ray Liotta to appear in the film.
Scorsese says Simon and Waddell failed to honor the 25 percent of the film profits they promised her.
Jumpview didn’t return requests for comment.

Pennsylvania
DA: 46 pounds of coke seized after hotel focus
MONROEVILLE, Pa. (AP) — Local and federal law enforcement officials are continuing to investigate after 46 pounds of cocaine worth about $10.5 million was seized and three men were arrested in searches that began with surveillance of a suburban Pittsburgh hotel.
Monroeville police began watching the Days Inn after complaints about drug activity and recent overdoses in the suburb about 15 miles east of Pittsburgh.
Police followed a vehicle from the hotel to a home in neighboring Penn Hills on Tuesday, and the resulting searches through Wednesday have yielded the cocaine and three arrests.
Online court records don’t list attorneys for the men allegedly linked to the drugs, 42-year-olds Leland Cobbs, of Pittsburgh and William Wilson, of Penn Hills; and 36-year-old Mexican national Faustino Rodriguez.
Federal agents are trying to determine whether the drugs are connected to a Mexican cartel.

Ohio
Couple sues after daughter held for raping three girls
CANFIELD, Ohio (AP) — A northeastern Ohio couple is suing a city police department and a prosecutor for what they claim was the malicious prosecution of their 11-year-old daughter on rape charges.
The (Youngstown) Vindicator reports the $5 million lawsuit against the city of Canfield, some of its police officers and a Mahoning County prosecutor was filed this week in federal court.
The action claims the couple’s daughter was falsely imprisoned and maliciously prosecuted after three other girls claimed she raped them in 2012. She later was acquitted of all the charges.
One of the accusers recanted and gave officers information “that showed the three accusers conspired to fabricate their allegation,” the lawsuit said.

Virginia
Man pleads not guilty to thefts from Iraq base
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A July 2 trial is set for a civilian contractor accused of stealing two electric generators from a U.S. military base in Iraq.
Ruebin S. Thomas of Richmond is charged with theft of government property and making a false statement.
The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports that the 35-year-old Thomas pleaded not guilty to the charges Wednesday in federal court in Richmond.
Thomas was employed by Honeywell Technologies at the Camp Victory Base Complex in Baghdad. The indictment accused him of stealing the generators in June 2009. He’s also accused of lying to the FBI.
The generators were valued at $176,000 each.
Thomas remains free on bond. The charges carry a total of up to 15 years in prison and a $500,000 fine upon conviction.
The Mahoning County prosecutor’s office declined to comment.r