National Roundup

Kentucky Sentencing reset for October in Iraqi terror case BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (AP) -- Sentencing has been reset for Oct. 2 in the case of an Iraqi man who pleaded guilty to terrorism charges in Kentucky. U.S. District Judge Thomas B. Russell ordered the new date after both prosecutors and defense attorneys requested a delay. Waad Ramadan Alwan had been set for sentencing in federal court in Bowling Green on April. 3. Alwan pleaded guilty to 23 terrorism-related charges in December. A co-defendant, 24-year-old Mohanad Shareef Hammadi, faces trial July 30 on charges he tried to funnel weapons and cash to Al-Qaida operatives in Iraq and that he lied to get into the United States as a refugee. The FBI arrested the pair in May in Bowling Green. Kentucky Jury hits hospital with $1.45 million verdict LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) -- A jury in Lexington has awarded the estate of a man $1.45 million in punitive damages from St. Joseph Hospital for its role in the 1999 death of James Milford Gray. The verdict handed down this week came after a three-week trial. Gray's estate sued the hospital, two doctors, a physician's assistant and three nurses in 2000, accusing them of failing to pay proper attention to the 39-year-old man's symptoms or results of blood tests that indicated his life was in danger. The suit also accused St. Joseph of turning away uninsured or under-insured people. St. Joseph and its attorneys have fought the lawsuit for 12 years. The latest trial was the result of appeals St. Joseph spokesman Jeff Murphy told the Lexington Herald-Leader the hospital plans to appeal . Massachusetts Ex-Mass. student sues college over roommate's sex BOSTON (AP) -- A Roman Catholic college in Massachusetts is disputing claims by a former student who says the school refused her request for a new dorm room after she complained that her roommate was having too much sex feet away from her as she tried to sleep. Lindsay Blankmeyer says in a lawsuit that she suffered from depression and attention deficit disorder before she enrolled at Stonehill, but was driven into a suicidal depression after school officials wouldn't give her reasonable housing alternatives. Blankmeyer says her roommate also had online sex in front of her. Stonehill says Blankmeyer never told staff that her concerns involved her roommate's sexual activity. The college says it tried to resolve the dispute through mediation and offered Blankmeyer "multiple options" for housing, including a private dorm room. North Carolina Judge removes Durham County prosecutor from office DURHAM, N.C. (AP) -- Durham County's top prosecutor was stripped of her job Friday for job performance that raised public doubts about a fair justice system, making her the second district attorney in state history to lose her job for that reason. Superior Court Judge Robert Hobgood ordered that Durham District Attorney Tracey Cline, 48, be permanently removed because her public statements criticizing Durham Senior Resident Judge Orlando F. Hudson Jr. undermined public confidence in the judicial system. "By recklessly making blatantly false allegations against Judge Hudson in the public records, totally lacking in factual support, attacking his mortality, honesty and asserting that he is corrupt, Tracey E. Cline has crossed the line of protected free speech under the First Amendment," Hobgood said Friday as he read his 12-page order into the record. From the bench, Hobgood terminated Cline's state salary, effective immediately. Cline left the courtroom without speaking, shaking her head "no" when a reporter asked if she wanted to comment. Her lawyer quickly filed notice of appeal. She was suspended last month after accusing Hudson of misconduct. Other judges ruled her accusations were meritless. Cline launched an acrimonious effort to remove Hudson from overseeing criminal cases involving her office after the judge determined the Durham DA's office had withheld or destroyed evidence that could have helped defendants accused of child rape and murder. Hudson ordered the charges dismissed. Cline accused Hudson of causing crime victims to be "emotionally and repeatedly raped by this court's rulings." Cline wrote in court filings that Hudson had the "reprobate mind of a monarch" and was responsible for "kidnapping the rights of victims and their families, holding these rights for hostage." In hundreds of pages of court filings, Cline alleged Hudson was part of a wide-ranging conspiracy of defense lawyers, court personnel and a news reporter to make her appear incompetent. Cline testified she was right to push back against the county's most senior judge, though her words may have not been the most prudent, because it was her duty to pursue justice for crime victims. "A good prosecutor can't fear failing if it's the right thing to do," Cline testified Monday. However, she stood by her view that all of her statements were accurate. Cline was elected in November 2008 after a couple of interim, appointed Durham prosecutors succeeded disgraced Durham DA Michael Nifong. He was disbarred for misconduct in prosecuting three members of the Duke University lacrosse team falsely accused of raping a stripper. A New Hanover County district attorney was the only other district attorney removed the same way, about 20 years ago. That removal was sparked by a racial slur. Nebraska Court: Tax flavored malt beverages as liquor LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) -- The Nebraska Supreme Court has ruled that sweetened malt beverages known to critics as "alcopops" should be taxed as hard liquor instead of beer. The ruling means the state can tax malt beverages at $3.75 per gallon, instead of the 31-cent-per-gallon tax imposed on beer. Critics say the beverages are aimed at young customers because of their sweet taste. The Nebraska Liquor Control Commission classified brewed malt beverages as beer in 2006, to align the state's alcoholic beverage policies with federal rules. The court said the commission exceeded its authority when it classified the beverages as beer, but acknowledged that the Legislature could change the definition. Lawmakers are scheduled to vote on a bill that would classify such beverages as beer. Published: Mon, Mar 5, 2012