Court Digest

North Carolina
Judge throws out lawsuit from police shooting

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — A federal judge has thrown out a lawsuit that accused a North Carolina police officer of needlessly escalating a 2019 standoff before fatally shooting a Black man.

Senior U.S. District Judge Graham Mullen on Friday threw out the lawsuit filed in June 2020 by Deborah Franklin, the mother of Danquirs Franklin, who was shot and killed by Charlotte-Mecklenburg police Officer Wende Kerl outside a Burger King restaurant, news outlets reported.

The federal lawsuit claimed Kerl panicked, violated her training and “shocked” the other officer on the scene when she opened fire on Franklin outside the restaurant on March 25, 2019.

In his ruling, Mullen said Kerl probably made errors on the day of the shooting. But under the law, the judge said, they were reasonable ones, making Kerl immune to the claims in the lawsuit.

Franklin appeared to be complying with orders to lay down his weapon when Kerl shot him, according to video and a report by District Attorney Spencer Merriweather. However, Merriweather ruled the Franklin shooting was legally justified, saying his office couldn’t prove that Kerl and the Burger King manager didn’t have a reasonable fear for their safety given Franklin’s erratic behavior and the fact that he was armed.

Pennsylvania
Man gets 2 consecutive life terms without parole in slayings

DOYLESTOWN, Pa. (AP) — A man convicted of first-degree murder in the shooting deaths of two men at a Philadelphia-area campground two years ago was sentenced to two consecutive life terms without possibility of parole.

Jurors in Bucks County deliberated for about seven hours last week before convicting Miles Jones of two first-degree murder counts in the October 2019 deaths at Homestead Family Campgrounds in West Rockhill Township.

Jones, 42, was also convicted of weapons offenses and more than a dozen counts of recklessly endangering another person, one for each other person present at the annual gathering of friends and relatives at the campground.

Prosecutors said an early morning argument began between Jones and his girlfriend, and he was persuaded to leave to calm down but returned with a 9mm handgun and shot Eric Braxton and Arthur Hill. Braxton, 41, was a teacher at a Philadelphia charter school and Hill, 46, worked with troubled juveniles in Norristown.

Common Pleas Judge Diane Gibbons imposed the life terms on the murder convictions Thursday and also sentenced Jones to maximum terms on the other counts of which he was convicted, the Bucks County Courier Times reported.

She criticized the defendant’s self-defense assertion during trial, calling it a “lie” and saying both victims had good intentions the night they were killed.

“They acted immediately to help, and it cost them their lives,” Gibbons said.

She added, “This defendant took each man’s life, and then came to court two years later and tried to take their character.”

Gibbons also said Jones, who declined to address the court, had shown no compassion or remorse for the slayings.

“It amazes me, after all this time, after all these years, you have absolutely nothing to say to them,” Gibbons said.

Jones had faced the possibility of capital punishment, but prosecutors said they decided against that after talking to the victims’ families.

Georgia
Man admits illegally shipping turtles and venomous snakes

VALDOSTA, Ga. (AP) — A Florida man has admitted that he illegally shipped turtles and venomous snakes from his home in south Georgia.

Ashtyn Michael Rance of Miami on Thursday pleaded guilty to one count of wildlife trafficking and one count of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, federal prosecutors said in a news release.

Rance, 35, accepted $3,300 to ship three eastern box turtles and 16 spotted turtles from his home in Valdosta to a customer in Florida, knowing that they would ultimately be shipped to China, prosecutors said. He shipped the 19 turtles in February 2018, illegally labeling the box “Live Tropical Fish.”

Several months later, in May 2018, he agreed to send a package of 15 Gaboon vipers from Valdosta to Florida. The label on the box said it contained harmless reptiles and ball pythons, when it really contained venomous snakes, prosecutors said. China was the ultimate destination for the snakes.

That same month, law enforcement agents executed a search warrant at Rance’s home in Valdosta. They found a Bushmaster Carbine .223 caliber rifle and a Mossberg 12-gauge shotgun. Rance has a previous felony conviction and isn’t allowed to have a gun, prosecutors said.

The federal Lacey Act prohibits transporting wildlife between states if the wildlife is illegal under state laws, and also prohibits falsely labeling a package containing wildlife. Rance admitted that his holding and possessing the reptiles violated Georgia laws, prosecutors said.

“Trafficking venomous or endangered wildlife through the mail clearly puts the delivery couriers and the public at risk and can harm the boxed animals,” said Peter D. Leary, the U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Georgia.

Rance is set to be sentenced Feb. 23 in Valdosta. He faces up to five years in prison on the wildlife trafficking charge and up to 10 years on the gun charge, as well as a $250,000 fine for each charge.

Massachusetts
American, JetBlue ask court to toss U.S. lawsuit against deal

BOSTON (AP) — American Airlines and JetBlue Airways asked a federal judge Monday to dismiss a government lawsuit aimed at blocking deal that lets the two airlines cooperate on service in the Northeast.

Lawyers for the airlines said there is no evidence that letting the airlines work together has led to higher fares or reduced service. They said the airlines have already added new routes in the Northeast, creating more competition against Delta and United in the region.

The case is pending in federal district court in Boston.

Under the Trump administration, the Transportation Department allowed American and JetBlue to work together in setting schedules and service in New York and Boston. But shortly after the Biden administration came into power, the Justice Department began taking a new look at the deal.

In September, the Justice Department sued to block the American-JetBlue agreement, saying it will hurt consumers by reducing competition in key air-travel markets. They also argued the deal would make JetBlue less willing to compete against American in other parts of the country.


New Jersey
Release of mother, son charged in 1990s slayings blocked

FREEHOLD, N.J. (AP) — An appellate court has ordered a mother and son charged in the decades-old murders of two relatives in New Jersey to remain behind bars to allow prosecutors time to appeal a judge’s order granting their release as they await a retrial.

Superior Court Judge Joseph W. Oxley ordered the release of 69-year-old Dolores Morgan and 49-year-old Ted Connors from the Monmouth County Jail, but an appellate judge issued a stay of that order Friday afternoon, the Asbury Park Press reported.

Their first trial ended in a mistrial after jurors were unable to reach a unanimous verdict following a week of deliberations in the murders of Morgan’s daughter and husband in Long Branch. Prosecutors allege that Morgan, then known as Dolores Connors, orchestrated both killings during meetings in the kitchen of the family home.

Ana Mejia, 25, was stabbed 22 times in her Long Branch apartment in December 1994 while her two children, ages 1 and 3, were present, authorities said. Nicholas Connors, 51, was shot three times in the head in May 1995 as he lay on the couch watching television in the family home.

A prosecution witness alleged in testimony that Morgan feared that Mejia, arrested in a state police cocaine sting, would provide evidence against her and her son. The murders remained unsolved until a cold case squad revived the investigation in 2017. The defendants, who now live in Delray Beach, Florida, were arrested in January 2020.

Defense attorneys Jason Seidman, representing Connors, said the prosecution’s case was predicated “on the word of a snitch who got the deal of a lifetime.”

“She’s waited a long time to hug her husband and her son, breathe fresh air, eat real food and have a night’s sleep without 10 people screaming,” Seidman said.

Attorney Jonathan Petty, representing Connors, said his client had been incarcerated for 645 days and “has a 4-year-old and a 6-year-old that he’s watching grow up in pictures.’’ After the judge ordered his release, Petty said, “”He said to me, ‘The next time I see my daughter, you won’t be showing me a picture.’”

“It’s the state’s position they murdered two people,” Assistant Monmouth County Prosecutor Meghan Doyle said. “It’s our obligation to keep the people safe, and that’s exactly what we’re doing.”


Tennessee
Father convicted, sentenced to life in daughter’s slaying

MARYVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A Tennessee man convicted of killing his 5-month-old daughter has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Tony Lee Light, 33, was sentenced Friday after Blount County jurors found him guilty of first-degree murder during the perpetration of child abuse and of second-degree murder, The Daily Times reported.

Light suffocated his daughter, Aida Light, in 2011 because she wouldn’t stop crying, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors argued against parole, saying the girl “had a whole life ahead of her,” that was “snuffed out” by her father.

Defense attorney Mack Garner said Light deserved the possibility of parole in part due to a confession that showed he felt remorse. Garner said he’ll study the law and consult with Light before deciding whether to ask for a new trial.

Minnesota
Landlord fined for ‘horrific’ rental conditions

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A Hennepin County district judge has fined a north Minneapolis landlord $133,500 for what he called horrific conditions in his rental properties.

The Star Tribune reports Judge Patrick Robben ruled Thursday that landlord Steven Meldahl operated in bad faith by telling tenants that they were not allowed to contact city inspectors, violating the rights of 267 families who rented his properties.

“Infestations suggestive of biblical plague proportions — squirrels, mice, rats, gnats,” the judge said

Robben levied a fine of $500 per family.

He also issued a permanent injunction preventing Meldahl from engaging in illegal and deceptive practices, and gave him until Dec. 15 to comply with all housing correction notices.

David Shulman, Meldahl’s attorney, declined to comment.

The case was brought by Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, who praised the tenants for stepping forward to testify during an eight-day trial in May.

Ellison filed the case against Meldahl and his business, S.J.M. Properties Inc., in September 2019 and immediately secured a temporary injunction to stop Meldahl from barring tenants from contacting health and safety inspectors.