Court won’t revive Arizona abortion disqualifying law
PHOENIX (AP) — U.S. Supreme Court is refusing to revive an Arizona state law that would have disqualified abortion providers from receiving funding for other medical services they provide.
The high court on Monday declined to hear Attorney General Tom Horne’s appeal asking the justices to overturn a federal judge’s ruling blocking the 2012 law. That ruling was upheld by an appeals court in August.
The law would have disqualified Planned Parenthood and other health providers that perform abortions from receiving public funds for other services.
The Supreme Court in May refused to revive a similar law in Indiana that also has been blocked.
U.S. high court declines to hear Mississippi appeal
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear an appeal from a Mississippi death row inmate who argued there was an alleged constitutional error in his trial for the slaying of a junior college student.
Carl Ray Crawford asked the Supreme Court in October to hear his arguments. The court declined Monday without comment.
Crawford, now 43, was sentenced to death in 1994 for the murder and rape of Northeast Mississippi Community College student Kristy Ray in rural Tippah County.
The 20-year-old Ray was abducted from her parents’ home in Chalybeate. Crawford told authorities he did not remember the incident but later led them to the body buried in leaves in a wooded area.
The Mississippi Supreme Court upheld his death sentence in 1998.
High court won’t block Va. capital murder retrial
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court will not block Virginia from retrying an accused drug dealer, whose earlier capital murder conviction was set aside because of misconduct by prosecutors.
The justices on Monday rejected an appeal by Justin Wolfe, who said the prosecutors’ misdeeds were so serious that they precluded a fair second trial.
A federal judge agreed with Wolfe and had ordered his immediate release, but the federal appeals court in Richmond, Va., said the new trial could be held fairly.
Wolfe was sent to death row in 2002 for a drug-related murder, but his original conviction and sentence were overturned.
Justices refuse appeal from killer set for execution
HOUSTON (AP) — A convicted killer facing execution next month for a Dallas-area slaying 11 years ago has lost an appeal at the U.S. Supreme Court.
Anthony Doyle is set to die March 27 for the 2003 beating death and robbery of 37-year-old Hyun Mi Cho. She was delivering a doughnut and burrito order to a house in Rowlett. Her body was found in a trash can behind the house. Doyle was 18 at the time and on probation for theft. He also had a juvenile record.
The high court Monday, without comment, refused to review his case.
Doyle told police he intended to rob the woman and struck her with a baseball bat when she told him she had no money. Evidence showed he took her car and used her credit cards.
Court rejects the appeal of woman in starvation case
HOUSTON (AP) — The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to review an appeal from an Arlington woman on Texas death row for the starvation of a 9-year-old boy a decade ago.
A Tarrant County jury in 2006 convicted Lisa Ann Coleman of capital murder and decided she should die for the death of Davontae Williams.
Her appeal to the high court was rejected by the justices Monday with no comment.
Coleman shared an apartment with the boy's mother, Marcella Williams. She took a plea deal to avoid the death penalty and is serving a life prison term. Evidence showed Coleman beat, bound, neglected and starved the boy, who weighed 35 pounds. An autopsy showed he had more than 250 scars.
Coleman does not yet have an execution date.
Supreme Court rejects NRA age restriction case
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court has turned away appeals from the National Rifle Association which complained about resistance by governments and judges to the high court’s recent seminal rulings declaring that Americans have a constitutional right to own a gun.
The justices on Monday let stand rulings that upheld a federal law that prevents young adults ages 18-20 from purchasing a handgun or ammunition from a licensed federal firearms dealer and a Texas regulation that prohibits most 18-to-20 year olds from carrying a handgun outside the home.
The NRA said the laws make it difficult, if not impossible, for young adults to exercise their Second Amendment rights.
The court did not comment in denying the appeals.
High court won’t review poker club game conviction
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court will not disturb the criminal conviction of a New York man whose underground poker game ran afoul of a federal anti-gambling law.
The justices on Monday rejected an appeal from Lawrence DiCristina, who said his twice-a-week games of Texas Hold ‘em should not be covered by the federal Illegal Gambling Businesses Act. DiCristina said the law targets games of chance, like lotteries, slot machines and dice, but not poker, which is a game of skill.
Bridge and Scrabble players weighed in on DiCristina’s behalf, worrying they could be targeted under a federal appeals court’s expansive interpretation of the law.
At least three justices, Elena Kagan, Antonin Scalia and Sonia Sotomayor, like to play poker.
Death penalty appeal is denied by US high court
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear an appeal from a woman on Mississippi’s death row who was seeking a new trial in the 1999 slaying of her husband based on claims that she was abused.
The court issued the order Monday without comment.
Byrom has argued her original lawyer failed to present evidence of physical and sexual abuse at the hands of her husband. Prosecutors say the abuse issue was raised at her trial and denied.
Byrom, now 56, was convicted of capital murder in 2000. In a rare move, she asked the judge, instead of the jury, to decide her sentence. The judge sentenced her to death.
State and federal courts have denied Byrom’s appeals for a new trial.
