National Roundup

Georgia
Man arrested after calling police to confess
BOSTON, Ga. (AP) — A man apparently felt so bad about breaking the law that he called police three times to confess, according to police in Georgia.

Lt. Tim Watkins of the Thomas County Sheriff’s Office told the Thomasville Times-Enterprise that a man called at 5 a.m. Friday to say he had stolen a car in Thomasville and was about 12 miles (20 kilometers) away in the smaller town of Boston.

A Boston police officer went looking for the Chevrolet Impala and 29-year-old Quent Rashed Lankford, but could find neither. Lankford called back again, and finally called a third time to say he had broken into a convenience store and was drinking beer.

“He wanted to confess and turn himself in,” Watkins said. “He called three times.”

That was enough for Boston police to track down and arrest Lankford. The car was later found in Thomasville.

Lankford was charged with second-degree burglary, and theft charges are pending. He’s jailed awaiting a bail hearing. It’s unclear if Lankford has a lawyer.

Louisiana
State sues California over alligator ban
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Louisiana is suing the state of California over its decision to ban the import and sale of alligator products, saying the ban will hurt an important Louisiana industry and ultimately could hurt the state’s wetlands.

In a lawsuit filed lasat week, Louisiana said the economy surrounding alligators has played a key role in bringing back the American alligator population and is an important factor in protecting wetlands and other species besides alligators that depend on the wetlands.

“California has nevertheless attempted to destroy the market for American alligator products notwithstanding the fact that no such alligators live in California,” the lawsuit says.

According to The Times-Picayune/the New Orleans Advocate, California banned alligator skins and meats in the 1970s but repeatedly issued exceptions that allowed sales. The newspaper reports that the most recent exemption expires on Jan. 1 of next year, and this time California’s legislature did not pass another exemption. The newspaper reports the alligator ban was backed by a coalition of animal rights and environmental groups.

Louisiana said in its lawsuit that because most of the state’s coastal habitat is privately owned, the state does not have direct control over how it is managed. But the alligator industry provides economic incentives for landowners to take steps to protect marshlands that serve as habitat for the alligators.

The state argues that if California’s ban goes into effect, “landowners will be forced to greatly reduce or cease their erosion control efforts because they will be unable to economically sustain those efforts, resulting in irreparable harm to their property as well as harm to Louisiana’s sovereign environmental interests in wetland preservation.”

According to the lawsuit, California’s large economy often means that their product standards become de facto national standards so California’s alligator ban will have effects in other states. Louisiana says the upcoming ban is already having effects up and down the supply chain with the price of alligator hides decreasing, and alligator farmers reducing their investments.

According to Louisiana Wildlife & Fisheries, over 300,000 alligators are harvested every year from both farm and wild sources.

New Jersey
Prosecutor to dismiss charges against mom in newborn’s death
PATERSON, N.J. (AP) — A New Jersey prosecutor on Monday announced she was dismissing murder and child endangerment charges against a woman in the death of her newborn after higher courts upheld a judge’s ruling that evidence in the case was inadmissible.

Keri Barry was admitted to a hospital in December 2009 with abdominal pain and symptoms consistent with recent child birth or miscarriage, authorities said. Medical personnel discovered Barry had given birth, but there was no sign of the child. Police later recovered a plastic bag at Barry’s home which contained the body of a full-term baby boy.

Barry’s lawyer sought to suppress the evidence and Judge Joseph Portelli found the search of Barry’s home did not comply with the requirements for warrantless searches. The ruling barred prosecutors from using the evidence, including the body.

The ruling was upheld on appeal.

“Without the use of the evidence deemed inadmissible by Judge Portelli’s ruling, the state cannot sustain its burden of proof,” Passaic County Prosecutor Camelia Valdes said in a statement.

While disagreeing with the ruling, the prosecutor said she respects the opinions and the process.

Maryland
Lawsuit claims paternity test falsely ID’d man
BALTIMORE (AP) — A Baltimore man is suing over a take-home paternity test he says incorrectly indicated he was the father of a 1-year-old girl.

Nnanaka Nwofor wants the Ohio company that conducted the DNA test to pay $75,000 for the cost of supporting the child and her mother and the pain of learning he wasn’t the father, The Daily Record  reports.

“He’s filled with sorrow about it, and it took a long time to tell his family that he wasn’t the father, because his family bonded with the child too,” Nwofor’s attorney, Charles Edwards, said. “When a family goes all in and bonded to the child like he did and finds this out, it’s devastating.”

The Fairfield-based DNA Diagnostics Center Inc. claims its paternity tests are 100% accurate, according to the lawsuit, which says Nwofor’s take-home paternity test indicated he was “99.9999999995%” likely to be the girl’s biological father. Months after that May test, Nwofor took another DNA Diagnostics Center test at the prompting of an associate. That test found he was not the biological father, according to the lawsuit.

The second test prompted Nwofor and the child to be tested at a local health care facility, which found Nwofor wasn’t the girl’s biological father, the lawsuit states. The lawsuit blames the discrepancy between the DNA Diagnostic Center tests on poorly handled genetic samples and accuses the company of negligence.

The company has been used by government agencies and shows including “Maury,” “Dr. Phil” and “Paternity Court,” according to its website. The newspaper said it wasn’t able to reach the company for comment.