Court Digest

Maine
Federal judge declines to stop $1B power line
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — A federal judge declined to intervene to stop construction of a 145-mile (230-kilometer) electricity transmission corridor aimed at bringing Canadian hydropower to the New England grid.

Three conservation groups sought the preliminary injunction to allow them time to argue for a more rigorous environmental review by the Army Corps of Engineers.

The lawsuit in federal court will proceed, but so will construction, under U.S. District Judge Lance Walker’s decision Wednesday. The parent company of Central Maine Power plans to begin site preparation work in January.

The Natural Resources Council, one of the opponents, accused CMP of rushing to begin construction “before appropriate federal review has been completed and all the lawsuits challenging this project are fully heard and decided.”

Thorn Dickinson, of New England Clean Energy Connect LLC, praised the judge’s decision and said ground will be broken “in the coming weeks.”

The $1 billion New England Clean Energy Connect would provide a conduit for up to 1,200 megawatts of Canadian hydropower, reducing greenhouse emissions and stabilizing energy costs in the region, supporters say. Critics say that the benefits are overstated and that the project would destroy unspoiled wilderness.

The Sierra Club and Appalachian Mountain Club joined the Natural Resources Council in suing to force the Army Corps to conduct a more rigorous environmental impact statement instead of the less-stringent environmental assessment.

“Given the enormous impact this project would have on the woods, waters and recreational economy of western Maine, Mainers deserve an answer to why the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers conducted their assessment behind closed doors and failed to properly assess the widespread damage that would be done,” said Sue Ely from NRCM.

The Army Corps gave its approval in November. The project previously received approval from the Maine Department of Environmental Protection, Maine Land Use Planning Commission and Maine Public Utilities Commission.

That leaves a “presidential permit” issued by the U.S. Department of Energy for the cross-border connection as the only hurdle.

The project, which would be fully funded by Massachusetts ratepayers to meet the state’s clean energy goals, calls for construction of a high-voltage power line from Mount Beattie Township on the Canadian border to the regional power grid in Lewiston, Maine.

Much of the project calls for widening existing corridors, but a new swath would be cut through 53 miles (85 kilometers) of wilderness.

It would cross the Appalachian Trail and several hundred wetlands and streams, according to the Natural Resources Council of Maine.

Geneva
Russia banned from using its name, flag at next 2 Olympics
GENEVA (AP) — Russia was banned Thursday from using its name, flag and anthem at the next two Olympics or at any world championships for the next two years.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport’s ruling also blocked Russia from bidding to host major sporting events for two years.

Russian athletes and teams will still be allowed to compete at next year’s Tokyo Olympics and the 2022 Winter Games in Beijing, as well as world championships including the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, if they are not implicated in doping or covering up positive tests.

The punishments are less than the four-year ban the World Anti-Doping Agency had proposed.

The case centered on accusations that Russian state authorities tampered with a database from the Moscow testing laboratory before handing it over to WADA investigators last year.

Oregon
Judge: Inmates’ COVID-19 lawsuit can proceed
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A federal judge in Portland has ruled that a group of Oregon prison inmates can proceed with their lawsuit against state officials over their response to the coronavirus pandemic.

The class-action lawsuit says the seven inmates named in the case have underlying medical conditions and are at risk for contracting COVID-19, Oregon Public Broadcasting reported. The case applies to any Department of Corrections inmate who has been infected or is medically vulnerable.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Stacie Beckerman ruled this week that state leaders named in the lawsuit are not protected from litigation over their response to the pandemic inside Oregon’s correctional institutions.

The ruling is believed to be one of the first in which a judge found a state is not protected from litigation over its pandemic response in prisons and could have to pay financial damages.

The lawsuit names Gov. Kate Brown, Oregon Department of Corrections Director Collette Peters and other prison officials.

In August, the Oregon Department of Justice, which represents the state officials, asked Beckerman to dismiss the lawsuit’s primary argument. Their attorneys argued the defendants were protected by qualified immunity because the COVID-19 pandemic is unprecedented and there’s no clear constitutional requirement for the Department of Corrections to limit COVID-19 spread inside prisons.

Beckerman disagreed in a 26-page opinion.

“The law does not support a finding of qualified immunity for government officials who fail to protect individuals in their custody from a new serious communicable disease, as opposed to a serious communicable disease of which they were previously aware,” Beckerman wrote. “To hold otherwise as a matter of law would provide qualified immunity to defendants even if they had done nothing in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.”

The Oregon Department of Justice did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Brown’s office declined to comment, citing the pending litigation.

More than 1,670 people in state custody have contracted COVID-19 this year, and 19 have died as of Tuesday, according to the state.

New Jersey
Reputed mobster admits assaulting ‘Real Housewives’ husband for lavish wedding reception
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — A reputed mobster admitted assaulting the then-boyfriend and now husband of a former “Real Housewives of New Jersey” cast member in exchange for a deeply discounted lavish wedding reception.

John Perna, 43, of Cedar Grove, New Jersey, pleaded guilty Wednesday to a federal charge of committing a violent crime in aid of racketeering activity.

Prosecutors allege the former husband of cast member Dina Manzo, Thomas Manzo, hired Perna to assault his ex-wife’s then boyfriend. Perna is part of the Lucchese organized crime family and carried out the assault with a member of his crew in July 2015, prosecutors said.

Authorities said a month later, Perna held a wedding reception for 330 guests at Thomas Manzo’s Brownstone Restaurant in Paterson for “a fraction of the price.” Many of the guests were members of the Lucchese crime family, according to prosecutors.

Perna faces up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine when he’s sentenced on April 28.

Thomas Manzo has pleaded not guilty to conspiracy and committing a violent crime in aid of racketeering activity. He is awaiting trial.

Dina Manzo left the Bravo reality series in 2015 and she married Dave Cantin in June 2017.

Washington
11 indicted on federal drug-trafficking charges
SEATTLE (AP) — Eleven people have been indicted by a federal grand jury in a drug-trafficking conspiracy involving the sale of meth, heroin and cocaine, according to federal prosecutors.

“This drug trafficking group continued to bring large loads of drugs up to Western Washington even after law enforcement seized nearly 50 pounds of methamphetamine from one carload,” U.S. Attorney Brian Moran said Wednesday in a press release.

“This investigation uncovered threats of violence and retaliation which made it critical that law enforcement move now on this drug ring.”

According to the indictment, the 11 people smuggled the drugs into the U.S. from Mexico and brought them up the West Coast to sell in Pierce, King and Snohomish counties.

Two of the men are from California and the rest from Washington state, Moran said.

Since the investigation began, law enforcement has seized large amounts of drugs including a 49-pound load of methamphetamine that was coming to Washington state from California.

On Wednesday, officials seized 18 pounds of heroin, 25 pounds of methamphetamine, as many as 15,000 fentanyl pills, more than $150,000 in cash drug proceeds and 23 firearms, Moran said.

Texas
Houston-area priest gets 10 years for child indecency counts
CONROE, Texas (AP) — A Houston-area Roman Catholic priest was sentenced to a decade in prison on Wednesday for abusing children at his church more than 20 years ago.

Manuel La Rosa-Lopez pleaded guilty last month to two counts of indecency with a child. As part of an agreement with the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office, three other indecency with a child charges he was also facing were dropped. He will be eligible for parole after five years.

The two counts La Rosa-Lopez pleaded guilty to arise from allegations made against him while he was a priest at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Conroe, located just north of Houston.

In one case, La Rosa-Lopez in April 2000 brought a teenage girl to his office after confession, kissed her and then groped her days later, according to authorities. In the other case, a teenage boy told authorities La Rosa-Lopez tried to take the boy’s clothes off and put his hands down the victim’s pants in 1999.

Some of the three counts that were dropped are related to a third victim. Prosecutors say a fourth victim was from a church in neighboring Harris County, where Houston is located.

During Wednesday’s hearing, two of the victims described the setbacks and successes they’ve had in healing from what happened to them, according to prosecutors.

“This was the day when (the victims) could speak publicly and without shame about the crimes committed against them privately, and the day when they could finally see a measure of justice,” prosecutors Nancy Hebert and Wesley LeRouax said in a statement.

The Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston said in a statement it hoped the sentencing “will provide healing and peace to the victims and their families.”

Wendell Odom, La Rosa-Lopez’s lawyer, has said his client accepted responsibility and wanted closure.

Ohio
Death sentence rejected for teen who killed Kent State student
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The Ohio Supreme Court on Thursday rejected the death sentence for a man who fatally shot a Kent State University student during a robbery, citing the killer’s youth at the time and his history of substance abuse and mental health issues.

Death row inmate Damantae Graham was sentenced to die for killing 18-year-old Nick Massa in February 2016 at an off-campus apartment. Graham, then 19, and two 17-year-old codefendants went to the apartment to steal drugs and money from the apartment’s residents, according to court records. A fourth codefendant stayed outside in a vehicle.

The state Supreme Court has not always given weight to an offender’s youth but has changed that position in other recent rulings, Justice Patrick Fischer said in the court’s opinion.
“We consider Graham’s youth—he turned 19 the month before he committed the offenses with three teenagers—to be a factor that carries significant weight,” Fischer said.

The court also said Graham’s troubled home life, his mental health issues and his substance abuse—including an addiction to tranquilizers—all outweighed factors calling for a death sentence. The court returned Graham’s case to Portage County court for resentencing on the aggravated murder conviction.

Portage County Prosecutor Victor Vigluicci called the ruling disappointing but noted Graham was also sentenced to decades in prison on burglary, robbery and kidnapping charges and is unlikely ever to get out.