National Roundup

Florida
Tampa adopts new approach to massage parlors

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Tampa has revised a 1980s ordinance regulating bathhouses to crack down on prostitution in massage parlors.

The city council unanimously agreed to impose a permit process including strict rules for any massage parlor offering bathing, a common precursor to sex acts. Anyone operating a bath house without a permit can face penalties of up to 60 days in jail and a $500 fine.

The Tampa Bay Times reports some advocates for sex workers are opposed, while others hail the measure as helpful in the fight against human trafficking. City officials are promising that any sex workers caught in a crackdown will be protected.


Arkansas
Road rage killing suspect mulls insanity defense

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — A Little Rock man accused of killing a toddler in a “road rage” shooting in 2016 will explore an insanity defense.

Lawyer Ron Davis told a judge Thursday that recent conversations with the man’s family have led him to believe a private doctor should examine 34-year-old Gary Eugene Holmes.

The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported that state doctors found Holmes fit for trial, but that Holmes also has a history of psychiatric treatment.

Holmes is accused of killing 3-year-old Acen Ahmeer King. The boy was in the back seat of his grandmother’s car when someone fired a gun into the vehicle in southwest Little Rock. Holmes has told police that he wasn’t aware he was carrying a gun at the time.

A trial is set for next month.


Connecticut
Man charged with hacking celeb accounts

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — A Connecticut man charged with hacking into more than 250 iCloud accounts of Hollywood stars and ordinary people has agreed to plead guilty.

Federal prosecutors say the charge against 26-year-old George Garofano stems from the investigation into the 2014 “celebgate” scandal in which the private photos of Jennifer Lawrence, Kirsten Dunst and others were made public.

The North Branford man agreed to plead guilty to unauthorized access to a protected computer. He faces up to five years in prison.

Prosecutors say Garofano sent emails that appeared to be from Apple encouraging victims to reveal usernames and passwords, or to enter them on a website where he could retrieve them.

Garofano’s lawyer tells the Hartford Courant his client “is a good person who was taken advantage of” by more sophisticated hackers and is remorseful.


Nebraska
Man imprisoned after toddler shoots out daughter’s eye

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — An Omaha man has been sent to prison after a toddler found the man’s loaded weapon and shot his 18-month-old daughter in the face.

The Omaha World-Herald reports that 22-year-old Marquell Buie was sentenced to 18 months on Thursday.

Prosecutors say Buie was smoking marijuana and watching a movie at his apartment in April while the toddlers played nearby. He placed his loaded gun on a counter. The boy grabbed the weapon and shot Buie’s daughter, who lost an eye.

Buie pleaded no contest to negligent child abuse resulting in serious bodily harm.


Pennsylvania
Final defendant pleads guilty in ‘Basement of Horrors’ case

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The final defendant charged with kidnapping, torturing and enslaving disabled adults who were discovered chained up in a Philadelphia basement over six years ago has pleaded guilty.

Nicklaus Woodard, of West Palm Beach, Florida, on Thursday admitted he helped ringleader Linda Weston hold victims captive for years in the
cramped basement. The Philadelphia Inquirer reports the plea comes more than two years after Weston struck a deal where she agreed to life in prison to avoid the death penalty.

Woodard faces up to life in prison during sentencing in April.

All five defendants in the “Basement of Horrors” case have admitted that they imprisoned mentally disabled persons and exploited them for over a decade. Three of the defendants, alongside Woodard, face sentencing this year.


Illinois
Parents sue for girl, 11, to use marijuana at school for illness

CHICAGO (AP) — The parents of a suburban Chicago elementary school student suffering from leukemia are suing a Schaumburg-based school district and the state of Illinois for her to have the right to take medical marijuana at school.

The Chicago Tribune reports that the plaintiffs of the federal lawsuit, who are identified by initials, contend the state’s ban on taking the drug at school is unconstitutional. They say it denies the right to due process and violates the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The 11-year-old student is being treated for leukemia with chemotherapy. The lawsuit says that as a result, the girl suffers seizure disorders and epilepsy.

The lawsuit notes her physicians have certified her to receive medical marijuana to treat the epilepsy.

Illinois’ medical cannabis law prohibits possessing or using marijuana on school grounds or buses. Superintendent Andy DuRoss says School District 54 will abide by the law.


Washington
Judge blisters city lawyers in upholding $15M verdict

SEATTLE (AP) — A federal judge has upheld a $15 million verdict over a Lakewood police shooting in an opinion that blistered the city for suggesting the award was racially motivated.

The Seattle Times reports that the ruling from U.S. District Judge Barbara Rothstein found that the jury had plenty of reasons to conclude that the shooting of Leonard Thomas during a 2013 SWAT operation was outrageous. Thomas was unarmed and standing on his porch with his 4-year-old son, whom he had agreed to release, when a sniper killed him.

The defendants asked the judge to reduce or set aside the verdict and order a new trial. Lakewood’s lawyers argued that the jurors sided with Thomas’ family because they didn’t want to have to tell their friends they sided with white police who shot and killed a black man.

Rothstein said that suggestion was insulting and entirely fabricated.