Massachusetts
Police department says it lost 2 years of drug case evidence
FALL RIVER, Mass. (AP) — A police department in Massachusetts told prosecutors it lost at least two years of evidence for drug cases.
WPRI-TV reports that Fall River Interim Chief Paul Gauvin sent a letter to Bristol County District Attorney Thomas Quinn in late March, informing his office that controlled-buy logs for 2019 and 2020 are missing. The information was relayed to defense attorneys and Quinn said he’s now investigating the matter.
The district attorney’s office said it’s too early to estimate how many cases might be affected.
Gauvin wrote in the letter obtained by WPRI that the loss of evidence is “inexcusable and an embarrassment” to the Fall River Police Department.
Fall River police said they knew the log books were missing for nearly a year, but only notified the district attorney’s office last month after the information was requested in a court case.
The logs are kept to show how detectives purchased illegal drugs from suspected dealers by going undercover or using informants. The information is often used to obtain search warrants and support court cases.
The department said Wednesday that it’s “undetermined” if the log books were stolen and it’s investigating. The department plans to use a secure intranet system to record the information instead of log books.
Nebraska
State weighs bill to ban abortion if court overturns Roe
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska would immediately ban abortions if the U.S. Supreme Court ever overturns its 1973 decision to legalize the procedure under a bill that sharply divided lawmakers on Wednesday.
Lawmakers remained stuck on the measure and weren’t expected to take the first of three required votes on it until later Wednesday evening. If it passes, Nebraska would become the 14th state nationally to enact a so-called trigger law.
Supporters of the measure said it would ensure that Nebraska is among the first states to outlaw abortion if the court overturns Roe v. Wade, the landmark case that allowed the procedure.
“This is about ensuring our most precious and vulnerable people, the preborn, are protected,” said Sen. Joni Albrecht, the bill’s lead sponsor.
Opponents slammed the measure as an intrusion on women’s ability to make personal medical decisions.
“What are you all thinking?” asked Sen. Patty Pansing Brooks, of Lincoln. “I have a daughter, she’s 25 years old, and you all are not invited into her medical examination appointments.”
The debate comes ahead of an expected June ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which concerns a Mississippi law that bans abortions after 15 weeks or pregnancy. The court’s 1973 ruling, Roe v. Wade, allows state to regulate but not ban abortions up to the point of fetal viability, at roughly 24 weeks.
Nebraska became the first state to ban abortions after the 20th week of pregnancy in 2010, and the state outlawed a second-trimester abortion procedure in 2020 despite fervent protests from abortion-rights supporters.
The latest measure faces a tougher path, however, because of the current political make-up of Nebraska’s one-house, officially nonpartisan Legislature.
At least 33 votes are required to overcome a filibuster and force a vote on the bill. Republicans in the Legislature hold 32 seats and Democrats have 17. One Democratic lawmaker also typically opposes abortion, but he’s offset by a Republican who has voted in favor of abortion rights in recent years.
Another Republican lawmaker, state Sen. Robert Hilkemann, a retired Omaha doctor, said he was uncomfortable with parts of the measure that could expose physicians to felony charges in a situation where they end up terminating a pregnancy.
West Virginia
Gov. Justice repeatedly late paying mine safety penalties
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice has consistently missed deadlines in recent months to pay the U.S. government the millions of dollars he owes in penalties for unsafe working conditions at his coal mines, according to federal court documents.
The Republican governor — who owns dozens of companies and has been called the most wealthy man in all of West Virginia — was ordered to pay $5.1 million by a federal judge in April 2020.
That was after the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration brought a lawsuit against 23 of his companies, saying he failed to pay fees associated with hundreds of mine safety penalties between 2014 and 2019.
Since at least December, Justice has been late on payments, according to documents filed in the U.S. District Court in the Western District of Virginia. Payments have been made only after reminders and notices filed in court by the U.S. government.
U.S. Attorney Christopher Kavanaugh said Justice’s companies “have provided no reason for their noncompliance and have not complied despite the United States’ numerous inquiries,” according to a March 31 motion filed to compel Justice to make his required payment.
Congress relies on the enforcement of financial penalties to incentivize coal operators to comply with mandatory health and safety standards outlined in the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act, Kavanaugh said.
“If Defendants are allowed to ignore their obligations, it undermines the authority of this Court and removes the incentive of these defendants — and other mining companies — from complying with MSHA’s health and safety standards designed to protect the nation’s miners,” he said.
The April 2020 order states that Justice make an initial payment of around $212,909 by April 15, 2020, followed by monthly payments of a little more than $102,400 until his debt is paid off.
Payments are due on the first of the month. In court documents filed March 31, U.S. attorneys said Justice’s December payment, due Dec. 1, 2021, arrived Jan. 19, after the United States filed a “notice of non-compliance.” The January payment did not arrive until Jan. 28.
The February payment was made March 14, after several reminders. The U.S. filed another motion to compel Justice to pay March’s payment. Justice’s lawyer, Aaron Balla Houchens, said in court documents filed Monday that it had been paid.
Justice did not respond to a request from The Associated Press for comment.
