Court Digest

Texas
Nurse convicted of killing 4 men with air injections
TYLER, Texas (AP) — A Texas nurse was convicted Tuesday of capital murder in the deaths of four patients who died after prosecutors say he injected them with air following heart surgeries.

The Smith County jury deliberated for about an hour before finding William George Davis, of Hallsville, guilty of capital murder involving multiple victims. Prosecutors planned to seek the death penalty during the sentencing phase, which was scheduled to start Wednesday.

Davis, 37, was accused of injecting air into the four patients’ arteries after they underwent heart surgery at the Christus Trinity Mother Frances Hospital in Tyler in 2017 and 2018. During recovery from their surgeries, the four — John Lafferty, Ronald Clark, Christopher Greenway and Joseph Kalina — suffered unexplained neurological problems and died.

During the trial, Dr. William Yarbrough, a Dallas-area pulmonologist and professor of internal medicine, explained to the jury how injecting air into the arterial system of the brain causes brain injury and death.

Yarbrough said he was able to determine there was air in the arterial system of the victims’ brains by viewing images from brain scans — something he said he had never before observed in his decades in medicine.

He ruled out blood pressure problems or any other causes of death besides the injection of air, and said it must have happened after the surgeries because the complications occurred while the patients were in recovery.

Defense attorney Phillip Hayes told the jury that the hospital had issues and that Davis was a scapegoat who was only charged because he was there when the deaths occurred.

Prosecutor Chris Gatewood said during closing arguments that Davis “liked to kill people.” And prosecutor Jacob Putman said the hospital hadn’t changed any of its procedures and hadn’t had any similar incidents since Davis left.
Ohio

Federal trial underway in aviation espionage case

CINCINNATI (AP) — The trial of a Chinese national charged with trying to steal trade secrets from multiple U.S. aviation and aerospace companies is underway in federal court in Cincinnati.

The government alleges that beginning in December 2013, Yanjun Xu recruited experts who worked at aviation companies, including GE Aviation in Cincinnati. They say Xu and others would pay stipends for the experts to travel to China under the guise of delivering a university presentation.

Court papers say Xu and other operatives discussed how they would obtain “highly sensitive information” from the experts.

Xu was charged with conspiring and attempting to commit economic espionage and theft of trade secrets. He has pleaded not guilty. His attorneys say he’s not a spy, never asked for trade secrets and the case involves the legal exchange of trade information.

Opening statements began Tuesday, with Judge Timothy Black closing the courtroom to the public and media. The judge told WCPO-TV there wasn’t enough space for the public “in light of the ongoing pandemic.” Audio of the trial is available in an overflow room.

Illinois
R. Kelly’s trial on federal sex charges set Aug. 1
CHICAGO (AP) — A federal judge on Wednesday ordered R&B superstar R. Kelly to stand trial in Chicago on child pornography and obstruction of justice charges next year after the scheduled sentencing for his conviction in an earlier sex trafficking trial in New York.

U.S. District Judge Harry Leinenweber appeared to have wanted the trial in Chicago to begin earlier, but he set it for Aug. 1 after one of Kelly’s attorneys, Steven Greenberg, said that he another of Kelly’s attorneys will be in trial on other cases through July.

Attorneys told the judge during the brief hearing that they estimated the trial of Kelly and co-defendants Derrell McDavid and Milton “June” Brown would last three to four weeks.

Kelly, who remains jailed in New York, was listening to the hearing on a conference call but he did not speak. His sentencing there is scheduled for May 4 and he faces up to life in prison.

Kelly, who was born Robert Sylvester Kelly, is also facing four separate indictments alleging sexual abuse in state court in Chicago and a child prostitution charge in Minnesota.

Experts have said there is a possibility that prosecutors could drop the charges in state court if he receives a lengthy prison sentence in New York. But there is virtually no chance that the federal charges in Chicago will be dropped.

Kelly, who has been jailed without bail since 2019, was convicted last month by a federal jury in New York on racketeering conspiracy charges and other counts. Greenberg said on Wednesday that after the trial, Kelly was placed on suicide watch but that has ended.

Louisiana
Officer’s lawsuit in protest injury goes to court
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Louisiana’s highest court was set to hear arguments Wednesday in a police officer’s 2016 lawsuit over injuries he received during protests in Baton Rouge over a Black man’s shooting death by police.

At one point, the federal lawsuit had reached the U.S. Supreme Court. Now, federal judges want the Louisiana Supreme Court to weigh in on whether the officer has a valid legal complaint under Louisiana law.

The suit says the unidentified officer suffered serious brain and facial injuries when he was hit by a rock or some other projectile. It says the object was thrown by an unidentified protester and that Black Lives Matter leader DeRay McKesson is legally liable for the injuries.

A federal district judge threw out the lawsuit. It was revived by a divided panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans. McKesson went to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Although the case involves arguments on who is liable for damages that occur during activities protected by the First Amendment, the U.S. Supreme Court sidestepped a constitutional ruling in November, saying matters of state law need to be settled first. The 5th Circuit then sent the case to the state Supreme Court with two key questions: Can McKesson be held liable under state law for the officer’s injury by an unknown third party? Also, are “professional rescuers,” such as firefighters or police officers, barred from collecting damages for injuries suffered while performing their risky duties?

The officer, identified in the court record as John Doe, was injured during one of a series of protests in Baton Rouge that followed the shooting death of Alton Sterling by police outside a convenience store.

New York
Giuliani associate decides not to testify at criminal trial
NEW YORK (AP) — An associate of Rudy Giuliani told a federal judge Wednesday that he will not testify at his own trial on charges alleging he used a Russian financier’s money to make donations to U.S. political candidates.

Lev Parnas made the announcement in Manhattan a day after prosecutors finished presenting evidence against him. He said he did so after consulting with his wife and family.

The Florida businessman and a codefendant, Andrey Kukushkin, have pleaded not guilty to all charges. Kukushkin also announced Wednesday that he will not testify. Shortly afterward, the defense rested.

Judge J. Paul Oetken told jurors to return Thursday for closing arguments in the two-week-old trial. Lawyers and the judge planned to spend Wednesday finalizing how laws will be explained to jurors before they begin deliberations.

Prosecutors say Parnas and Kukushkin conspired to use over $100,000 of a $1 million investment from a Russian financier to contribute to politicians who they thought could advance their business interests, including in an energy company and the legal marijuana industry.

After prosecutors finished their case Tuesday, defense lawyers asked the judge to conclude the government had failed to prove the charges. The judge did not immediately rule.

Parnas aided Giuliani’s efforts to try to convince Ukrainian officials to investigate President Joe Biden’s son when Biden was running for president.

Giuliani is not charged in the case, but he is under investigation in New York for whether he was required to register as an agent of a foreign government for actions he said he took in his capacity as a private attorney for then-President Donald Trump.

Illinois
Ex Chicago-area gynecologist sentenced for abusing patients
SKOKIE, Ill. (AP) — A former Chicago-area obstetrician/gynecologist has been sentenced to three years in prison after admitting that he sexually abused two of his former patients during exams.

Dr. Fabio Ortega, 75, was sentenced Tuesday after pleading guilty in Cook County Circuit Court to two counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse.

The charges stem from incidents in which the two women said Ortega sexually abused them during exams in 2017 and 2016 while he was employed with the NorthShore University HealthSystem, the Chicago Tribune reported.

Nine civil lawsuits involving similar accusations from other women have been consolidated in Cook County Circuit Court, said Tamara Holder, an attorney representing those women.

Some of those civil suits also name NorthShore and Swedish Covenant Hospital as defendants and allege that NorthShore failed to warn patients about allegations made against Ortega.

Ortega worked at Swedish before working at NorthShore, according to the suits, which allege that NorthShore permitted him to retire rather than fire him. Swedish has since become part of NorthShore.

NorthShore said in a statement Tuesday that it was unable to comment on any litigation related to Ortega. The health system has also declined to comment on the circumstances surrounding the end of his employment.

Ortega’s medical license was suspended in 2018 for “engaging in sexual misconduct with (a) patient of his practice,” according to the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation.

New Jersey
Judge reprimanded over comment deemed sexually suggestive
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — New Jersey’s Supreme Court has issued a public reprimand of a former municipal court judge after a judicial conduct panel concluded that he made a suggestive comment to a female defendant.

Judge Hector Rodriguez was serving in Franklin Township in Somerset County in December 2017 when he made the comment.

According to a state panel on judicial conduct that recommended that Rodriguez be sanctioned, the judge told the defendant she would be released on her own recognizance but she appeared confused and asked him if she needed to do anything else.

“Not that you can do in front of all these people,” Rodriguez said, according to the panel, which reviewed an audio recording of the exchange and interviewed court personnel who were present.

In response to the panel’s recommendation, Rodriguez argued that the comment wasn’t sexual in nature and that he instead meant the woman didn’t need to post bail to be released, a contention the Supreme Court rejected.

“Whether Respondent intended his words as a sexually suggestive remark, an attempt at humor, or something else, Respondent knew or should have known that his choice of words was inappropriate,” the court wrote last year.

The reprimand was included in an order by the court made public on Tuesday.

A message was left Tuesday with an attorney representing Rodriguez.

Maine
Newspaper: Lawsuits over deadly propane blast are settled
FARMINGTON, Maine (AP) — Two lawsuits filed in the aftermath of a thunderous propane explosion in Maine that killed a firefighter and injured others have been settled.

A court document filed this week indicates a lawsuit against two companies on behalf of the deceased firefighter and six injured firefighters was resolved, the Sun Journal reported.

Another lawsuit brought by the maintenance worker who evacuated the structure before the explosion was settled months ago, the newspaper said.

The propane blast on Sept. 16, 2019 in Farmington killed 68-year-old Fire Capt. Michael Bell and injured his brother, Fire Chief Terry Bell and five other firefighters along with Larry Lord, the building’s maintenance supervisor.

An investigation revealed that a company that was setting posts in the parking lot severed an underground propane line, allowing the gas to permeate the building over the course of several days.

The lawsuits blamed C.N. Brown Co. of South Paris and Techno Metal Post Maine of Manchester for the explosion.

Attorneys didn’t divulge the terms of the settlements.

Lord was credited with getting all the employees from Life Enrichment Advancing People Inc., or LEAP, out of the building before the explosion occurred while he and firefighters investigated the leak.

Lord was burned over 85% of his body and spent more than six months in hospitals and rehabilitation centers in Massachusetts.