Florida
Panel: Judge abused power with domestic violence show
MIAMI (AP) — A Florida judge abused her authority by filming a show called “Protection Court” using real people involved in domestic-violence cases, a state commission has ruled.
Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Carroll Kelly oversees the county’s family division, the Miami Herald reported. She violated numerous judicial ethics rules by participating in the television project, the Florida Judicial Qualifications Commission said Wednesday in a filing to the state Supreme Court. The show was supposed to debut last fall, but it wasn’t clear if it ever aired.
Courtroom shows like the The People’s Court and Judge Judy, have been around for years, but those programs are actually closer to arbitration for small claims cases rather than real courts. The judicial commission said “Protection Court” featured people involved in domestic-violence cases who were given minimal notice about the show when a producer asked them to sign appearance release forms, just before entering their hearings. Even litigants who didn’t consent were still filmed, the commission said.
Kelly’s lawyer, David Rothman, didn’t immediately respond to a message seeking comment.
The Florida Supreme Court will review the charges and make a decision on possible discipline.
Arizona
Ruling denies appeal based on miniature bat used in assault
PHOENIX (AP) — A court ruling says Arizona’s law making it a crime to commit aggravated assault isn’t unconstitutionally vague as claimed by a man convicted of using a miniature souvenir baseball to hit a man.
The Arizona Court of Appeals’ ruling Tuesday upheld Gordon Francisco’s conviction for a 2018 unprovoked attack on another man in a Tempe park. The attack left the man with a gash above one eye. when he was struck with an 18-inch (0.5-meter) wooden bat that weighed less than 8 ounces (0.2 kilograms).
Francisco’s appeal argued that the law’s definition of “dangerous instrument” could sweep in numerous household items and made the law unconstitutionally vague by allowing discriminatory and arbitrary enforcement.
However, the appellate court said the miniature bat or anything else that could be used to cause death or serious physical injury can be considered a dangerous instrument under the law and that a law’s broad reach doesn’t mean its unconstitutionally vague.
Francisco didn’t appeal a related aggravated assault conviction that he got for spitting on a police officer during the incident.
He had previous felony convictions and is serving prison terms totaling 11.25 years.
Ohio
Former trooper gets 3-year prison sentence for sex charges
EATON, Ohio (AP) — A former Ohio state trooper convicted of sex crimes against several women in the course of his work and against a minor female has been sentenced to three years in prison.
A judge handed down the term Wednesday but also said Christopher Ward, 45, will not go to prison yet due to concerns over the coronavirus pandemic. It’s not clear when he might start serving his sentence.
In a ruling issued last December, a judge in Preble County found Ward guilty of one count of sexual battery and three counts of gross sexual imposition. Ward was found guilty on charges involving four of his accusers, but was found not guilty of one count of sexual battery and two counts of gross sexual imposition.
Prosecutors had argued that the former state trooper from Eaton used his position of authority to sexually abuse the women.
Ward was initially charged in February over allegations of inappropriate sexual contact with an adult in 2015 and a minor in 2018. He was indicted on additional charges in November 2019 after more accusers came forward.
Virginia
Ex-prosecutor sues Justice Dept. after misconduct allegation
Roanoke, Va. (AP) — A former federal prosecutor in Virginia accused the Justice Department of removing her from her job over a false sexual misconduct allegation.
The accusation was made in a lawsuit filed during the weekend by Ashley Brooke Neese, a former prosecutor with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Virginia, the Roanoke Times reported.
Neese said she was put on paid leave hours after a report to the office alleged that she engaged in a “sexual relationship with a subject or target of a grand jury investigation,” the lawsuit said. She has denied the allegations.
During her leave, Neese said her superiors did not give her an explanation as to why she was taken out of the office. According to the lawsuit, she was assigned to lower level tasks upon her return to work. She said she was also given a different office, and was restricted from accessing computer systems and different floors in the building.
She resigned in June 2018 after “continual mistreatment,” the lawsuit said. Nearly two years later, the lawsuit said Neese still does not know the specific allegations that were made against her. She said records about the allegations she requested from the Justice Department in a separate lawsuit were withheld.
According to the lawsuit, she is seeking reinstatement to her job, a similar position or monetary compensation.
In 2016, a judge ruled that Neese engaged in prosecutorial misconduct after she misrepresented her account of a possible sexual assault by a Bedford County deputy against a grand jury witness, the Roanoke Times reported.
There are several defendants in the lawsuit, including U.S. Attorney Thomas Cullen, Attorney General William Barr and the Executive Office for United States Attorneys.
