National Roundup

Idaho Mom gets 25 years in prison in son's death BOISE, Idaho (AP) -- The mother of a boy whose body was found in an Idaho canal with rocks stuffed in his pockets has been sentenced to 25 years in prison for aiding in his death. Melissa Jenkins sobbed in a Boise courtroom as she told the boy's father, Charles Manwill, that she would repent for Robert's death for the rest of her life. Earlier Friday, Jenkins' boyfriend, 38-year-old Daniel Ehrlick, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the boy's death in 2009. Ehrlick was convicted of first-degree murder in June. Authorities say Ehrlick killed the 8-year-old boy, then stuffed rocks in the boy's pants pockets and dumped his body in an irrigation canal. Montana State Supreme Court tackles ditch dispute HELENA, Mont. (AP) -- The Montana Supreme Court is sorting out a very unfriendly dispute among neighbors over an irrigation ditch. The latest water fight to hit the high court flared up in 2009 when Nataliya Seidel-Joukova of the eastern Montana town of Musselshell built a bridge over an irrigation ditch to improve access to her recently subdivided property. But the neighboring Cooley Ranch argued the bridge made maintenance of their diversion ditch impossible. The fight quickly landed in court after "spirited discussion" led to broken eyeglasses for one participant. The high court last week overruled a lower court decision by ordering the bridge removed. But in a long dissent from one justice says the high court wrongly required neighbors in such situations to be reasonable with one another when sorting out ditch easements. Connecticut Lawyer in state treasury scandal gets 2 years NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) -- A corporate lawyer has been sentenced to two years in prison for his role in the 1990s Connecticut state treasurer's bribery scandal. Charles Spadoni was sentenced Friday on an obstruction of justice conviction in U.S. District Court in New Haven. Prosecutors sought a prison term of nearly three years for Spadoni, who argued that he shouldn't receive more than 16 months. Spadoni, of West Chester, Pa., is the former vice president and general counsel for Boston-based Triumph Capital Group Inc. He was accused of getting former state Treasurer Paul Silvester to invest $200 million of state pension money with Triumph Capital by giving $1 million job contracts to Silvester's associates. Spadoni was sentenced in 2003 to three years in prison on numerous convictions, but nearly all were reversed by a federal appeals court in 2008. Arizona County pays retired judge $100K to settle claim PHOENIX (AP) -- Maricopa County has settled a claim with a retired superior court judge. It's the first of several claims filed by county officials who say they were harmed by prosecutions and lawsuits initiated by Sheriff Joe Arpaio and former County Attorney Andrew Thomas. The Arizona Republic reports the county paid $100,000 to retired Superior Court Judge Kenneth Fields to settle his claim that Arpaio and Thomas retaliated against him for adverse rulings and named him in a federal civil racketeering suit. The allegations included abuse of process, malicious prosecution, defamation, slander and libel. Public records show Fields had initially asked for $1.75 million, but settled for $100,000. Hawaii Marijuana grower found guilty in Oahu murder HONOLULU (AP) -- Jurors have reached a guilty verdict in the murder trial of a marijuana grower charged with dismembering a Mililani man's body and throwing it in the trash. News reports say 27-year-old Joshua Williams was found guilty of second-degree murder Thursday after about two days of deliberation. Williams was on trial for the April 2010 disappearance and death of his partner in an indoor marijuana-growing operation. The remains of victim 24-year-old Jamil Khan were never found. Williams has also been found guilty of first-degree commercial promotion of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia, second-degree arson and auto theft. South Dakota Court: Docs can discuss mother-fetus relationship SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) -- It is legal for South Dakota to require doctors to tell a woman seeking an abortion that she has a legal relationship with her unborn child, a federal appeals court ruled Friday. The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said U.S. District Judge Karen Schreier was incorrect when she ruled it was unconstitutional for doctors to be required to tell patients there is a relationship between mother and fetus. But the court said Schreier was correct in striking down parts of the state's abortion law that require doctors to tell patients that undergoing the procedure increases the likelihood of suicide. Planned Parenthood, which runs the state's only abortion clinic in Sioux Falls, sued the state after its 2005 law was passed and Schreier had temporarily prevented it from taking effect. The 8th Circuit overruled that order in 2008 and the state began enforcing the law. In August 2009, Schreier ruled that doctors must make the biological disclosure "that the abortion will terminate the life of a whole, separate, unique, living human being," which the 8th Circuit said was required. But she also at the time ruled in favor of Planned Parenthood in saying pregnant women do not need to be told that they have an existing relationship with the fetus abortion or that abortion increases the likelihood of suicide. Montana Woman challenges medical marijuana law HELENA, Mont. (AP) -- A Lincoln woman who is on probation is asking a judge to allow her to continue to use medical marijuana despite a new state law that prohibits probationers from being registered medical marijuana cardholders. The Independent Record reported Friday that attorney Chris Lindsey filed the motion in District Court in Helena on behalf of Hiedi Fields seeking a hearing on the matter. Lindsey argued that Fields "has a well-documented history of chronic pain and spasticity" and a poor response to narcotics. In a June ruling that prevented parts of a medical marijuana revision passed by the 2011 Legislature from taking effect, District Judge James Reynolds said challenges by probationers should be made on a case-by-case basis. About 1,000 medical marijuana cardholders are under Department of Corrections supervision. Published: Tue, Sep 6, 2011