National Roundup . . .

New York
Feds say man attempted to support IS group
BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Authorities in western New York say they’ve arrested a man on a charge of attempting to support the Islamic State group.

Federal authorities holding a news conference Wednesday morning at the U.S. attorney’s office in Buffalo say they were tipped off by a resident who heard the man talking about his jihadi beliefs.

The man is scheduled to be in court Wednesday to face a charge of attempting to support a terrorist organization. Authorities say his social media posts and travel records were checked out as part of the investigation.

More details, including the man’s name and nationality, are expected to be released at the news conference.

Police executed a search warrant Wednesday morning at the man’s home in the neighboring city of Lackawanna.

Iowa
Charges dropped against Chinese woman in trade secrets case
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A judge has dismissed charges against the wife of a Chinese billionaire accused of taking part in a scheme to steal trade secrets from U.S. corn companies.

The order signed Tuesday instructs the government to return Mo Yun’s passport, meaning she can return to China.

Investigators allege that Mo, her brother and five other Chinese nationals were working for a seed subsidiary of China-based DBN Group when they stole seeds from Iowa cornfields and shipped them out of the country in 2011 and 2012.

Prosecutors asked that the charges be dropped against Mo after a judge ruled that investigators couldn’t use partial instant messages found on her brother’s computer.

Mo’s husband is DBN Group Chairman Shao Genhou, who has a net worth estimated at $1.4 billion. He hasn’t been charged.

Ohio
Man petted zoo cougars after calling ‘kitty’
DELAWARE, Ohio (AP) — An Ohio man who jumped a fence to pet cougars at the Columbus zoo and posted video on YouTube says he jokingly said “Here, kitty” and moved closer when the animals seemed to respond.

Thirty-five-year-old Joshua Newell of suburban Gahanna pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor criminal trespassing charge Wednesday and was found guilty and fined $200.

Video posted last week showed an outer fence being jumped, then two cougars being petted through another fence as someone says, “Kitty, kitty, kitty.”

Newell tells WBNS-TV the encounter lasted several minutes. He says he may have acted like an idiot but also questions the ease of access to the cats.

Columbus Zoo and Aquarium officials say safety and animal welfare are top priorities, but they’d prefer not to change the exhibit.

Ohio
Man pleads guilty over shot outside recruiting site
LANCASTER, Ohio (AP) — A civilian who accidentally fired a shot from an AR-15 rifle outside an Ohio military recruiting center while trying to guard it has pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge.

Police in Lancaster say 28-year-old Christopher Reed was holding the weapon last Thursday when someone asked to look at it. As he cleared the ammunition from the rifle, he accidentally fired a shot into the pavement.

No one was injured. Police confiscated the rifle.

Reed pleaded guilty Tuesday to a count of discharging a firearm. His 30-day jail sentence was suspended.

Online court records listed no attorney for him.

Gun-toting citizens had appeared at recruiting centers around the country in a protective effort following the killing of four Marines and a sailor in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Rhode Island
Jury awards $125K to victim of lead poisoning
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — A Rhode Island jury has awarded $125,000 to a 19-year-old who sued her landlord for lead poisoning she says she suffered while living in a Pawtucket apartment when she was 2.

The Providence Journal reports that the verdict, which amounts to $350,000 with interest, went in favor of Traecina Claiborne.

The law firm Motley Rice, which represented Claiborne, said in a statement that even though the lead exposure occurred 17 years ago, Claiborne still suffers from and will continue to suffer for the rest of her life from brain injuries and IQ loss.

The Superior Court trial ended last week.

The jury found that the landlord negligently concealed or failed to disclose the lead paint issues in the apartment and that the lead was responsible for Claiborne’s health problems.


Louisiana
Judge upholds sentence in child abuse case
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — A Baton Rouge judge is standing by the 40-year prison term he gave a St. Gabriel woman convicted of abusing her then-20-month-old stepson.

After Charlotte Staggs was swiftly convicted of second-degree cruelty to a juvenile and sentenced in 2012, her attorney filed a motion in 2013 asking state District Judge Mike Erwin to reconsider the penalty and put her on probation and five years of home incarceration.

Stephen Sterling, who represents Staggs, argued 40 years in prison was an excessive sentence for a “one-time isolated event” and a woman — now 28 — with no prior criminal history.

The boy’s father, Steven Staggs, 32, of Baton Rouge, was found guilty earlier this month of second-degree cruelty to a juvenile, and Erwin gave him an identical sentence.
The Advocate reports Erwin denied the motion last week.

“At the time of sentencing, the Court considered all relevant mitigating and aggravating circumstances surrounding the charge,” Erwin wrote in his denial. “The sentence imposed by this Court falls within the statutory guidelines recommended for the charge.

“The defendant makes no allegations of fact, which would warrant alteration of the sentence in any way,” he added. “The Court sees no reason to modify the defendant’s sentence at this time.”

The state 1st Circuit Court of Appeal affirmed Charlotte Staggs’ conviction and sentence Nov. 1, 2013 — four days before her motion for reconsideration was filed at the 19th Judicial District Court. The appellate court noted then that it did not consider her excessiveness claim because the motion had not been filed and acted on by Erwin.

But the 1st Circuit said Charlotte Staggs would be able to appeal any adverse ruling on the motion if it was filed timely, which it was.