National Roundup

New York
Judge tosses Paul Manafort’s fraud case
NEW YORK (AP) — A judge has thrown out Paul Manafort’s New York mortgage fraud case on double jeopardy grounds.

Judge Maxwell Wiley ruled Wednesday that state law precludes prosecution.

Manafort, 70, was President Donald Trump’s campaign chairman in 2016. He was later convicted in two federal cases stemming from his business dealings and is serving a 7½-year prison sentence.

He wasn’t in court for Wiley’s ruling because of a health problem.

Manafort’s lawyers had argued that the state charges should have been dismissed because they involve some of the same allegations as federal cases that have landed Manafort behind bars.

Lawyer Todd Blanche raised the double jeopardy issue soon after Manafort was arrested, saying that the charges brought by Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. violated a state law that bars repeat prosecutions for the same general conduct.

The factual overlap between the federal and state cases “is extensive — if not total,” Blanche wrote in court papers.

Manafort had a heart-related condition and was moved last week to a hospital from a federal prison in Pennsylvania, two people familiar with the matter told The Associated Press on Tuesday. They were not permitted to discuss the matter publicly and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity.

He’s already serving a 7 1/2-year prison sentence for misleading the U.S. government about lucrative foreign lobbying work, hiding millions of dollars from tax authorities and encouraging witnesses to lie on his behalf.

Oklahoma
Judge drops charge against 2nd man in Aniah Blanchard case
OPELIKA, Ala. (AP) — An Alabama judge dismissed a kidnapping charge Tuesday against one of the three men arrested in the disappearance of a UFC heavyweight fighter’s stepdaughter who was later found slain.

Lee County Judge Russell Bush dismissed a kidnapping charge against Antwain Shamar Fisher, 35, of Montgomery, after the county’s assistant district attorney, Garrett Saucer, filed a motion to dismiss.

Fisher was one of three people arrested earlier in the death of 19-year-old Aniah Blanchard, an Alabama college student and the stepdaughter of UFC heavyweight Walt Harris.

Blanchard was last seen Oct. 23 at a gas station in Auburn, Alabama. Her black Honda CRV was found abandoned days later more than 50 miles (90 kilometers) away at an apartment complex in Montgomery and her remains were found weeks later in a wooded area.

“The investigation has since revealed that Fisher was not present during the commission of the principal offense,” according to the motion as reported by the Opelika-Auburn News.

After Fisher’s arrest “”it was determined that Mr. Fisher’s conduct did not rise to the level of accomplice liability as was originally charged and as is required under Alabama law,” said Lee County District Attorney Brandon Hughes. “Therefore, based on legal and jurisdictional grounds, we have requested Mr. Fisher’s charge for Kidnapping First Degree be dismissed.”

Fisher had been scheduled to appear in Lee County court Wednesday but the hearing was canceled, the newspaper reported.

Fisher’s attorney, Andrew Stanley, was not immediately available for comment Tuesday. A telephone call by The Associated Press to his law office was not answered.

Ibraheem Yazeed, 29, of Montgomery, was charged with capital murder-kidnapping, after Blanchard’s remains were discovered and identified. County District Attorney Brandon Hughes said the medical examiner determined Blanchard died from a gunshot wound.

Yazeed is being held at the Lee County Jail without bond. Prosecutors have indicated they will seek the death penalty if Yazeed is convicted.

David Lee Johnson Jr., 63, is charged with hindering prosecution. He’s accused of lying to police about who took Yazeed to Florida to escape.

A memorial service for Blanchard is scheduled Saturday at a church in Birmingham, Alabama’s biggest city.

Massachusetts
Teacher fired for smoking pot in class, school officials say
NORTH ATTLEBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) — A substitute teacher at a Massachusetts high school has been fired for smoking marijuana in class and leading a discussion about the drug, the school’s principal said.

The teacher was fired Monday from North Attleborough High School after students reported the incident to officials, according to a statement from Principal Peter Haviland. The principal praised students for showing maturity and courage during an experience that he called “unfortunate and unprecedented.”

“It was their quick decisions to report the concerns which allowed our school to immediately intervene and remove the individual who created the unsafe environment,” Haviland said.

The teacher, whose name has not been released, has been barred from the school. It was not immediately clear if criminal charges will be filed.

Haviland said the case was “entirely unexpected and unprecedented,” adding that the teacher’s actions are “in no way a reflection of the great students, faculty, staff and families of this great school and community.”

WJAR-TV reports  that local residents were shocked by the incident. Some said the teacher should have known better, while others applauded students for reporting the incident.


Pennsylvania
Man convicted in 1993 triple fatal fire wins new trial
A man convicted on murder charges stemming from a deadly 1993 fire at two western Pennsylvania apartment buildings will get a new trial after prosecutors discovered evidence that had never been turned over to the defense.

A judge made the decision in an order filed Tuesday.

Daniel Carnevale has maintained his innocence since he was initially questioned following the fires in Bloomfield, which left three people dead. He was sentenced to life in prison without parole.

The Allegheny County District Attorney’s office initially opposed his bid for a new trial, but eventually consented based on recently discovered evidence. Authorities say a report was found this fall in a case file that showed one Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms chemist disagreed with the findings of another about accelerants being found at the fire scene.

In the newly discovered report, the chemist who reviewed the original work called the initial results “meaningless.”