National Roundup

NEW YORK
B.B. King estate, Universal sued over photographs

NEW YORK (AP) - A New York photographer is suing B.B. King's estate and Universal Music Group for copyright infringement after he says his pictures of the blues legend have been used on King's albums for more than 40 years without his permission.

Glen Craig says in the suit filed Thursday in New York federal court that his photos of King have been used on albums without his permission since 1971. He cites more than 40 examples of what he says is unauthorized use of his photography of King, including several photos published with albums put out over the past year.

Craig is asking for damages and a jury trial.

Universal Music Group and King's estate haven't responded to requests for comment.

King died last year at age 89.


IOWA
Catholic priest arrested in ­prostitution sting, authorities say

HAMBURG, Iowa (AP) - Authorities say a Roman Catholic priest was charged with solicitation after a prostitution sting in southwest Iowa.

Fremont County authorities say the Rev. Dominic Yamoah was arrested early Saturday in Hamburg. He's since bonded out of jail. A phone listed for him rang unanswered Monday, and he didn't immediately reply to an email from The Associated Press. Online court records don't list the name of an attorney who could be contacted to speak on Yamoah's behalf.

The 40-year-old Yamoah is listed as pastor at St. Clare Parish in Clarinda and St. Joseph Parish in Villisca. A representative of the Des Moines Diocese didn't immediately return a message from The Associated Press.


OHIO
High court to hear appeals in death penalty cases

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - The Ohio Supreme Court is hearing appeals in two death penalty cases this week, including a man sentenced to die for a double slaying five years ago.

On Tuesday, justices will weigh the death sentence of Dawud Spaulding, condemned to die for killing 28-year-old Erica Singleton and 31-year-old Ernest Thomas in Akron in December 2011.

Records show Singleton had a protective order against Spaulding at the time.

The court will hear arguments Wednesday in the case of Steven Cepec, who received a death sentence for strangling 72-year-old Frank Munz in Munz's Medina County home in 2010.

Decisions by the court won't come for several weeks, and any executions would be years off because of lengthy appeals and the state's current lack of lethal injection drugs.


SOUTH CAROLINA
Sides dealt ­setback in tour guide free-speech suit

CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) - A federal judge has dealt both sides a setback in a free-speech challenge to a tour-guide licensing ordinance in historic Charleston.

U.S. District Judge David Norton has issued an order that allows the city to still enforce the ordinance, but it denies a motion to have the lawsuit dismissed. The judge last week set a January trial date.

Three would-be guides have sued, saying they shouldn't have to pass a test and get a license to earn a living as tour guides. The city contends that it's a lawful business regulation.

The lawsuit is similar to free-speech cases that have been heard in other cities.

The Charleston ordinance requires guides to pass a 200-question test to receive a license.


FLORIDA
Congresswoman says prosecutors persecuting her

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) - A Florida congresswoman indicted on fraud charges is telling supporters she's being "persecuted" by federal authorities because she's black.

U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown, D-Fla., and her chief of staff pleaded not guilty after being indicted last week on multiple fraud charges and other federal offenses.

In a statement posted Sunday on her campaign website, Brown says her indictment was part of a "very rough" week that included a black man fatally shooting five officers in Dallas and the killings in Louisiana and Minnesota of two black men by white police officers.

Brown proclaimed her innocence, saying the indictment was "very scary." She wrote: "I'm not the first black elected official to be persecuted and, sad to say, I won't be the last."

She was one of the first three African-Americans elected to Congress from Florida since Reconstruction.


TENNESSEE
Mom charged with killing ­children to have evaluation

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) - A Tennessee woman charged with stabbing her four children to death will undergo a mental health evaluation to determine if she can face the upcoming legal proceedings against her.

General Sessions Judge L. Lambert Ryan on Monday agreed with a request from lawyers to order the evaluation for 29-year-old Shanynthia Gardner. She is accused of cutting the throats of her three daughters and one son, all younger than 5, on July 1. Her 7-year-old son escaped the attack in a suburban Memphis apartment.

Gardner was not present during a brief court hearing Monday. She is being treated at the Memphis Mental Health Institute, where she was taken after a court hearing last week.

A hearing has been scheduled for later this month to check the progress of the evaluation.


OKLAHOMA
Mother suspected in fatal stabbing of her own child

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - Oklahoma City police have arrested a mother on suspicion of stabbing a man and her two children, the youngest of which was pronounced dead when police arrived on scene.

Police spokeswoman Megan Morgan said Monday that the department arrested 21-year-old Raven Veloz on one count of first-degree murder and two counts of assault with a deadly weapon.

Police say they entered an apartment in southern Oklahoma City early Monday and found four people with knife wounds, including Veloz, a 28-year-old man, a 4-year-old child and the body of 8-month-old Ezekiel Veloz. Police say the mother's wounds appeared to be self-inflicted.

Police say the 4-year-old is in critical condition Monday morning at a hospital. Veloz and the man are stable.

Morgan says she doesn't know whether Veloz has an attorney.

Published: Tue, Jul 12, 2016