National Roundup

South Dakota
Defendant pleads guilty to threatening to shoot prosecutor
RAPID CITY, S.D. (AP) — A man accused of threatening to shoot a prosecutor at the federal courthouse in Rapid City has pleaded guilty to charges.

Steven McCann entered the plea late last week to threatening to assault, kidnap or murder a federal official. Two charges of contempt of court are to be dropped as part of a plea deal with prosecutors.

McCann was in court in December 2018 when a judge revoked his supervised release for possessing a gun, officials said.

The Rapid City Journal  reports McCann became agitated and was taken to a cell where he threatened to shoot U.S. Attorney Eric Kelderman in the head.

The threatening crime carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, but prosecutors said they will recommend a punishment on the low end of sentencing guidelines.

Ohio
Legislation would lift pain-and-suffering caps in rape cases
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Proposed legislation in the Ohio House would lift caps on pain-and-suffering awards in lawsuits brought by rape victims.

The bill introduced this month by two Democratic lawmakers stems from a 2016 Ohio Supreme Court ruling that threw out a $3.6 million jury award to a woman raped by her pastor at age 15.

The court reduced the award to about $385,000 based on a 2005 law meant to limit awards in lawsuits, sometimes known as tort reform.

“This is a crucial piece of legislation that helps survivors of violent crimes receive the full measure of compensation awarded to them by the jury,” said bill sponsor Rep. Allison Russo of suburban Columbus. Rep. Kristin Boggs, also of Columbus, co-sponsored the legislation.

It’s unclear what chances the bill will have in the GOP-controlled Legislature. A similar proposal to exempt rape victims from the caps that was introduced shortly after that 2016 court ruling went nowhere.

In a similar case, a Cuyahoga County judge in January cut a portion of a $20 million jury verdict to $250,000 under the same 2005 law, in a case involving a woman repeatedly raped as a child.

The woman’s attorney, John Fitch, also represented the woman whose case sparked the Supreme Court’s 2016 ruling. He’s promised a challenge of the 2005 law.

Virginia
Judge dismisses lawsuit by Charlottesville rally organizer
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) — A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by the leader of a white nationalist rally that ended in violence in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Jason Kessler argued in the lawsuit that law enforcement and city officials violated his free speech rights by effectuating a “heckler’s veto” on the 2017 Unite the Right rally.

Kessler argued that the defendants knew of plans by leftist “Antifa” activists to disrupt the rally, then used the expected chaos and violence caused by confrontations between alt-right protesters and “Antifa” counter-protesters as an excuse to shut down the rally.

U.S. District Court Judge Norman Moon ruled Friday that the defendants did not breach any affirmative constitutional duty to Kessler.

Moon said that while the defendants had a constitutional obligation to not restrict Kessler’s speech because of the threat or possibility of public hostility to the alt-right message, they had no constitutional obligation to prevent that public hostility.

“In sum, plaintiffs’ allegations that defendants failed to prevent private parties from mutually engaging in violence that led to the declaration of an unlawful assembly did not state a claim for the violation of a constitutional right,” Moon wrote.

The August 2017 rally was held to protest the planned removal of a statute of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee. The event drew hundreds of white nationalists and hundreds of counterprotesters.

After authorities forced the clashing crowds to disperse, a car driven by a white nationalist plowed into a group of people, killing 32-year-old counterprotester Heather Heyer.

The driver of the car, James Alex Fields Jr. of Maumee, Ohio, was sentenced last year to life in prison.

Washington
Judge dismisses Nunes lawsuit against political research firm
WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge on Friday dismissed a racketeering lawsuit brought by Republican Rep. Devin Nunes against the political research firm that enlisted a former British spy to look into Donald Trump’s ties to Russia during the 2016 presidential campaign.

Nunes, the former chairman of the House Intelligence Committee and a vocal ally of Trump, had accused Fusion GPS in a lawsuit last year of harassing him and trying to impede his panel’s investigation into Russian election interference.

The lawsuit, which was filed in federal court in Alexandria, Virginia, and also named a nonprofit advocacy group as a defendant, sought nearly $10 million in damages.

Lawyers for Fusion denied the allegations, and U.S. District Judge Liam O’Grady dismissed the lawsuit in a two-page order Friday.

“Defendants raise significant questions and make meritorious arguments as to both the sufficiency of the factual pleadings and the court’s jurisdiction over these defendants,” O’Grady wrote.

Fusion GPS was paid by Democrats in 2016 to investigate Trump’s ties to Russia ahead of the election. As part of that work, Fusion enlisted a former British operative named Christoper Steele, who compiled his research into a series of files that came to be known colloquially as the Steele dossier.

Nebraska
Man again ruled incompetent to face murder trial
MADISON, Neb. (AP) — A judge has ruled that a man accused of stabbing to death a neighbor in northeast Nebraska is still incompetent for trial.

Station KNEN reported that the judge made the ruling Friday in Madison County District Court on Rodolfo Castaneda-Morejon, 51. He’s pleaded not guilty to a murder charge in the slaying of Yosvanis Velazquez Gomez on Aug. 25, 2017, at a Norfolk apartment complex.

Court records say Castaneda-Morejon told investigators he confronted Velazquez Gomez about an inappropriate text message sent to Castaneda-Morejon’s girlfriend, suspecting the two were having a secret relationship. The records also say Castaneda-Morejon acknowledged stabbing Velazquez Gomez.

Castaneda-Morejon has been undergoing treatment at the state psychiatric hospital in Lincoln in an effort to restore him to competency. His next hearing is scheduled for June 26.