National Roundup

California Lawyer: 'Jeopardy!' burglary suspect a prostitute SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- The lawyer for a San Francisco woman charged with breaking into the hotel room of "Jeopardy!" host Alex Trebek says his client is a prostitute, not a thief. The San Francisco Examiner reports that attorney Mark Jacobs says his client, 56-year-old Lucinda Moyers, is a prostitute and was in a downtown San Francisco hotel to meet a john on July 26. Prosecutors say Moyers stole $650, a bracelet and other items from a hotel room where Trebek was staying with his wife. The cash and bracelet were not recovered. Moyers has pleaded not guilty to felony charges of burglary and possession of stolen property. Trebek says he chased Moyers out of his room and tore his Achilles tendon. Jacobs says Moyers was not in Trebek's room. New York Billionaire Soros' ex-girlfriend files $50M suit NEW YORK (AP) -- The former girlfriend of billionaire financier George Soros has accused him of reneging on a promise to buy her an apartment in New York City and has filed at $50 million lawsuit. Adriana Ferreyr filed the suit in Manhattan court on Wednesday. The 28-year-old Brazilian soap opera star alleges that the 80-year-old Soros gave the $1.9 million apartment on the Upper East Side of Manhattan to a new girlfriend. Soros' lawyer William Zabel tells the New York Post the lawsuit is frivolous, without merit and an attempt to extract money from his client. Ferreyr's lawyer Robert Hantman says it will be up to the court to decide. Ferreyr is attending Columbia University. The couple met in 2006. Washington Barefoot Bandit movie deal worth as much as $1.3M EVERETT, Wash. (AP) -- The young Washington state man dubbed the Barefoot Bandit after a cross-country crime spree brought him folk outlaw status has reportedly signed a movie deal worth as much as $1.3 million with 20th Century Fox. The Daily Herald reports (http://bit.ly/roMbAj) that the money will be used to help pay the minimum $1.4 million that 20-year-old Colton Harris-Moore owes in restitution to the victims of his two-year-long crime spree. Seattle entertainment lawyer Lance Rosen negotiated the deal on Harris-Moore's behalf. He says it's an unusual amount of money to be paid for anyone's life story rights. Harris-Moore pleaded guilty in June to seven federal felony charges. Sentencing is set for October. He still faces state court charges. California Detective testifies in gay student murder trial LOS ANGELES (AP) -- A police detective stood by his testimony that a California teenager charged in the shooting death of his gay classmate was influenced by a local street gang and white supremacy beliefs. Simi Valley Detective Dan Swanson defended his expertise on white supremacy and hate crime when he testified for the prosecution in the trial of Brandon McInerney, 17, who is charged with first-degree murder and hate crime in the killing of 15-year-old Larry King, the Ventura County Star reported Wednesday. Prosecutors allege McInerney was driven by white supremacist, anti-gay beliefs when he shot King in the head in an Oxnard junior high classroom in 2008. Defense attorney Scott Wippert questioned why Swanson thinks McInerney was a member of a street gang when the young man wasn't charged with a gang crime. Swanson said he evaluated every influence in McInerney's life and found that the Silver Strand Locals, which the detective considered to be a gang, and white supremacists were his primary influences. "Since both of those groups have a history of committing acts of violence, that is the influence I testified that I believe spoke to Brandon," Swanson said. Wippert questioned Swanson's expertise on white supremacy by noting that he has testified on the subject in only two other cases. Swanson said he has been studying the topic for more than a decade. McInerney, who was 14 at the time of the shooting, is being tried as an adult. North Dakota Trial scheduled in murder of Somali immigrant JAMESTOWN, N.D. (AP) -- Authorities say a man and woman from Jamestown will go on trial next year for the murder of an 18-year-old Somali immigrant. KSJB radio reports that the jury trial for Leron Howard and Janelle Cave is scheduled for Feb. 6-17 in Stutsman County District Court. The 34-year-old Howard and 22-year-old Cave pleaded not guilty to all charges in July. They are being held in the Stutsman County Corrections Center, each on $450,000 bond. Howard and Cave are accused of murder and criminal conspiracy in the death of Abdi Ali Ahmed. Ahmed's body was found in a ditch on April 30 near Spiritwood. Authorities say he had been stabbed and suffered blunt force trauma. New York Court reverses conviction of former NYC newsman WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. (AP) -- An appeals court has reversed the attempted-assault conviction of a former New York City cable TV newsman. The 2009 conviction, involving a domestic dispute, ended Dominic Carter's career at New York 1, where he was an influential political anchor. Carter served 19 days in jail. The Appellate Division says Carter should not have been tried. It says a town judge in Rockland County originally agreed to dismiss the case if Carter stayed out of trouble for a year. The appeals court says the judge should not have changed his mind. The decision does not get into the circumstances of the case. Carter's wife said he hit her, then she recanted. The judge called her revised story preposterous. South Carolina Man sentenced to 2 life terms on sex convictions GREENVILLE, S.C. (AP) -- A 59-year-old man has been sentenced to two life terms in prison after a Greenville County jury convicted him on several charges of criminal sexual conduct involving two girls. The Greenville News reported (http://bit.ly/n6WSQ6) that Marshall Dewitt McGaha was sentenced Wednesday on charges of criminal sexual conduct with a minor, a lewd act on a child and illegal conduct toward a child. McGaha maintained his innocence in the two-day trial and told Circuit Judge Gary Hill he wants to appeal the conviction. McGaha's attorney Tom Hoskinson said in court McGaha stayed was living in a Greenville home with the girls, their grandmother and their great-grandmother. Hoskinson said the girls did not reveal the abuse until their grandmother was trying to evict McGaha from the home. Published: Fri, Aug 12, 2011