Indiana
Court: State legislature can divert civil forfeiture money
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The Indiana Supreme Court has ruled that the state’s General Assembly is within its rights to divert civil forfeiture proceeds for law enforcement purposes from a fund for schools.
The (Northwest Indiana) Times reports the court’s majority recently said a constitutional requirement that civil forfeitures in the state must be paid into a fund that helps school districts pay for technology upgrades, building new schools and other projects doesn’t mean that every penny must go to the fund.
Police and prosecutors have been permitted by Indiana law to divert for “expenses” a portion of the revenue generated through the seizure of property and cash connected to criminal enterprises — a process known as civil forfeiture. Taxpayers challenged how the distribution worked .
The court also is weighing a separate forfeiture case.
Ohio
Man faces retrial in slaying after death penalty overturned
PAINESVILLE, Ohio (AP) — A man accused of raping and killing a female bartender is set to face retrial after the Ohio Supreme Court overturned his conviction and death sentence.
The News-Herald in Willoughby reports jury selection was set to begin Monday in Lake County court for 34-year-old Joseph Thomas’ retrial in the 2010 slaying of Annie McSween.
Prosecutors say Thomas attacked the 49-year-old woman by her car after she asked him to leave the bar where she worked in Mentor-on-the-Lake in northeastern Ohio.
The state’s high court overturned his conviction in 2017, ruling that Thomas’ knife collection shouldn’t have been introduced into evidence during the original trial because the weapons weren’t used in the slaying.
Thomas has argued he’s innocent.
Virginia
County to take up Confederate battle flag case
LOUISA, Va. (AP) — A court date will soon be set to determine whether a massive confederate battle flag will be allowed to fly on private property off of a Virginia highway.
The Daily Progress reports the debate surrounds a 30 by 50 foot (9 by 15 meters) Confederate battle flag on a 120-foot (36.5-meter) pole. The Virginia Flaggers say the flag, located about 15 miles (24 kilometers) from Charlottesville, counters the Charlottesville City Council’s vote to remove a statue of Gen. Robert E. Lee in May.
Officials say the flag violates height ordinances, but the group says it’s a Civil War monument, exempting it from height limitations.
Judge Timothy K. Sanner is expected to set a hearing date July 15 for two separate rulings: First, whether the flagpole is a monument, then on the constitutionality of the county’s zoning ordinance.
Louisiana
Man faces charges for licking ice cream at store
NAPOLEONVILLE, La. (AP) — Another apparent incident of someone licking ice cream at a store has surfaced. This time it’s in Louisiana.
Assumption Parish Sheriff’s Office says a man posted a video of himself on Facebook opening a Blue Bell ice cream container, licking it, poking it with his finger and putting it back on the shelf.
News outlets report 36-year-old Lenise Martin III was charged Saturday with property tampering and posting criminal activity.
Police Commander Lonny Cavalier says after being alerted of Martin’s actions by management, deputies found Martin at the scene showing the sales clerk a receipt showing he bought the ice cream he licked. Deputies searched the freezer and confirmed the purchase but still decided to move forward with the charges.
Earlier this month, a teen in Texas was shown in an online video taking ice cream from a Walmart freezer, removing the top to lick it and then putting it back.
Wyoming
State Supreme Court orders attorney to be disbarred
CASPER, Wyo. (AP) — The Wyoming Supreme Court has ordered an attorney to be disbarred after finding he engaged in a sexual relationship with a client.
KTWO-AM reported Sunday that the disbarment of Gregory Knudsen of Torrington goes into effect July 15.
According to the court order, a woman had retained Knudson in April 2018 to handle her divorce case.
Court documents say the two exchanged 11,000 text messages and images over the next six months.
The client’s husband submitted a complaint to the Wyoming State Bar in March 2019, claiming that Knudsen had entered a romantic relationship with his wife while they were still married.
State Division of Criminal Investigation agents searched Knudsen’s office and home in April. They obtained the communications between Knudsen and his client.
North Carolina
Judges overturn child sex abuse conviction of Marine colonel
CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. (AP) — A three-judge military panel has overturned the child sexual abuse conviction of a decorated Marine colonel who was based in North Carolina.
The Daily News of Jacksonville reports the judges overturned the conviction of Col. Daniel H. Wilson of Mason, Washington.
In September 2017 in a hearing at Camp Lejeune, Wilson was found guilty of sexual abuse of a child; six counts of conduct unbecoming of an officer and gentleman and absence without leave. He was sentenced to 5 ½ years of confinement and was dismissed from service.
The United States Navy-Marine Corps Court of Criminal Appeals overturned his sex abuse conviction this month, ruling that the evidence was legally and factually insufficient.
The panel remanded the case for a rehearing to deliver a sentence on the other convictions.
