National Roundup

 Florida

Thief fakes heart attack so friend can steal toys 
LAKE WALES, Fla. (AP) — Authorities say a man faked a heart attack inside a Florida Wal-Mart store so his friend could steal toys.
The men — 30-year-old Tarus Scott and 27-year-old Genard Dupree — were arrested Tuesday on grand theft charges.
The Polk County Sheriff’s office says the men filled a shopping cart with a motorized power wheel Barbie car, Leap Frog tablet and a Barbie Glam vacation house. They walked through the store together.
Video surveillance shows Dupree on the floor near the store entrance, clutching his chest. As concerned citizens checked on him, Scott walked out of the store with the cart. Once Scott was outside, Dupree got up and walked out. They left in a silver SUV, but deputies caught up with them.
It’s not known whether they have attorneys.
 
New York
State AG cracks down on toy guns that look real 
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — New York’s attorney general wants retailers to stop selling toy guns that are nearly indistinguishable from real firearms.
Eric Schneiderman’s office announced Thursday that letters were sent to Walmart, Amazon, K-Mart and Sears telling them to follow a state law intended to ensure that toy guns aren’t mistaken for the real thing.
The law says toy guns cannot be sold in realistic colors unless they bear an orange stripe on the barrel.
Schneiderman’s office says the toys were sold online, and in one case, at a Rochester-area K-Mart.
A Walmart spokesman says the company will work with Schneiderman to ensure compliance. Messages left with K-Mart, Sears and Amazon Wednesday were not immediately returned.
Schneiderman’s move comes after a 12-year-old Ohio boy with a pellet gun was fatally shot by police.
 
Alabama
Judge won’t release ex-gov.  on appeal bond 
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — A judge has denied former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman’s request to get out of prison while he continues to appeal his 2006 bribery conviction.
U.S. District Judge Clay Land of Georgia said while Siegelman raised “significant issues that deserve serious consideration,” he believes the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is unlikely to grant the former governor a new trial or a significantly reduced sentence.
Siegelman, 68, has been serving a six and one-half-year sentence at a Louisiana prison camp.
The former Democratic governor is arguing his 2006 trial was tainted by the involvement of a prosecutor with ties to GOP politics. His lawyers also say the trial judge made legal mistakes when sentencing Siegelman.
Land noted that the 11th Circuit already rejected similar arguments from Siegelman’s co-defendant, Richard Scrushy.
 
Mississippi
Former lawman found guilty of murder attempt
POPLARVILLE, Miss. (AP) — A Pearl River County jury has convicted a former law enforcement officer of trying to have his wife and stepdaughter killed.
The Hattiesburg American reports (http://hatne.ws/1AuzFe7 ) the jury found Averal Burnett guilty Wednesday on two counts of attempted capital murder in Poplarville.
Burnett is scheduled to be sentenced by 15th Circuit Court Judge Prentiss Harrell on Jan. 6. Burnett faces a maximum penalty of no less than 20 years on each count.
The 47-year-old Burnett was accused of giving money to a former cellmate at the Pearl River County Jail between July 13-15. Instead, the cellmate went to authorities and told of the plot.
Burnett spent the majority of his 22 years in law enforcement with the Hattiesburg Police Department.
 
Ohio
Court upholds traffic ca­mera enforcement 
CINCINNATI (AP) — The Ohio Supreme Court has again upheld use of traffic camera enforcement by the state’s municipalities.
A lower court agreed with a ticketed motorist’s contention that Toledo overstepped its authority with a camera system, but the Supreme Court justices split 4-3 to reverse the lower court ruling. The driver’s attorneys had argued that the system improperly bypassed the courts and violated his rights to due process.
The high court stood by its 2008 ruling in a challenge to Akron cameras that cities have “home-rule authority” to use the cameras.
Camera advocates say they free up police for other crime-fighting and make communities safer. Foes contend they are aimed primarily at raising revenues.
The justices focused on legal issues, not the debate over safety and revenue.
 
New York
Judge recuses himself in case around chokehold 
NEW YORK (AP) — A New York judge overseeing a request for grand jury records in the Eric Garner chokehold case has recused himself.
The New York Times reported Thursday that State Supreme Court Justice Stephen Rooney hoped to avoid an appearance of a conflict of interest.
Rooney’s wife serves on the board of the Staten Island hospital whose workers responded to Garner after his deadly confrontation with police in July.
The New York City public advocate and others are seeking grand jury minutes and other evidence in the case.
A hearing on that was scheduled for Friday. The Times says a new hearing date will be set next month.
A grand jury decided not to indict the officer seen in amateur video putting Garner in a chokehold.
 
Indiana
Woman to serve 60 years for murder-for-hire 
EVANSVILLE, Ind. (AP) — A southwestern Indiana woman who admitted plotting to have her daughter’s boyfriend kill her estranged husband has been sentenced to 60 years in prison.
Forty-seven-year-old Brenda Dossett of Evansville could have faced life without parole if she had been convicted at trial of murder in the May killing of her estranged husband, Gilbert Dosset.
But the Evansville Courier & Press reports Dossett instead agreed last month to plead guilty to murder and was sentenced Wednesday. She’s agreed to testify against 19-year-old Mason James Hughes, who’s accused of fatally shooting Gilbert Dossett as he slept.
Court documents say Brenda Dossett expected a $42,000 life insurance payout from her husband’s death and promised to buy Hughes a car costing no more than $10,000 to kill her husband.