National Roundup

Montana
Court: Appeal of Indian land trust settlement nixed

HELENA, Mont. (AP) — The U.S. Supreme Court won’t consider a Colorado woman’s challenge of a $3.4 billion settlement between the federal government and Native American land trust beneficiaries.
The settlement was reached in 2009 following years of litigation in which Montana resident Elouise Cobell, who is now deceased, argued government officials mismanaged billions of dollars in land royalties held in trust for Native Americans.
Court records show Kimberly Craven’s petition asking the Supreme Court to review the settlement was denied Oct. 29. She had argued the settlement enriched the attorneys and the named plaintiffs led by Cobell.
The named plaintiffs’ attorneys said Wednesday that three other people have agreed to dismiss their appeals in exchange for having their attorneys’ fees and expenses paid, so settlement funds are closer to getting distributed.

New York
Trial under way for man charged in ‘07 slaying

UTICA, N.Y. (AP) — Testimony is under way in the murder trial of a man charged with killing a 29-year-old woman five years ago and dumping her body behind a central New York fire department.
Local media outlets report that a man testified Wednesday in a Utica court on how he nearly struck a lump in snow while sledding with his son behind the Deerfield fire station in early 2007. Buried in the snow was the body of 29-year-old Jennifer Bennett. Authorities say she had been strangled and her body dumped behind the fire hall.
In March, authorities charged Craig Ingersoll of Utica with second-degree murder and criminal sexual act in Bennett’s death. Officials say Ingersoll was charged after his DNA matched evidence from the crime scene.
Testimony began Wednesday and is scheduled to resume Thursday.

South Dakota
Judge makes documents order in dog raid suit

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — A federal judge is allowing some documents to be shielded from public view in a lawsuit stemming from a raid on a South Dakota dog breeder’s property, as she tries to prod attorneys to “make it a priority” to ready the two-year-old case for trial.
Hurley dog breeder Daniel Christensen is suing Turner County, the now-defunct Second Chance Rescue Center and the Humane Society of the United States for $5 million in damages over the Sept. 2, 2009, raid, which another judge ruled was illegal because search warrants weren’t properly obtained. Authorities seized 172 of Christensen’s dogs and charged him with that many counts of inhumane treatment of animals. Prosecutors eventually dropped the charges.
Attorneys on both sides in the federal lawsuit have clashed in written filings for more than two years. U.S. District Judge Karen Schreier on Wednesday granted the Humane Society a protective order allowing it to hand over internal emails and other documents to Christensen’s attorneys without having them made public, the Argus Leader reported.
The Humane Society had refused to release reams of documents and emails without the protection of confidentiality, saying that opening the documents to public scrutiny before any determination of wrongdoing could unfairly damage the group’s reputation and fundraising efforts. Christensen’s lawyer argued that the Humane Society didn’t deserve such protection.
“This case is a little more than two years old,” Schreier told lawyers Wednesday. “It needs to become a top priority for you all.”

Pennsylvania
Couple’s  organ lawsuit settled for $1.2 million

ERIE, Pa. (AP) — A federal judge has unsealed court documents showing an Ohio couple and their attorneys got $1.2 million to settle their lawsuit against a northwestern Pennsylvania hospital and the Center for Organ Recovery & Education.
The Erie Times-News reports Thursday that the judge unsealed the documents at the newspaper’s request, despite objections from UPMC Hamot, CORE and a CORE employee who were sued by Michael and Theresa Jacobs, of Bellevue, Ohio.
The Jacobs claim the hospital and the organ harvesting agency were responsible for hastening their 18-year-old son’s March 2007 death so his organs could be harvested after he sustained a head injury during a school snowboarding trip in New York.
A county prosecutor determined officials followed proper procedures and the defendants have acknowledged no wrongdoing in the settlement.

Iowa
Therapist faces charge of having affair with client

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A Des Moines therapist has been accused of having a romantic relationship with a client.
Forty-five-year-old Darla Krom is charged with sexual exploitation by a therapist.
Police say a 39-year-old woman began seeing Krom as part of couple’s therapy and continued as a client when the couple’s relationship ended.
Police say Krom and the woman began a physical relationship in April, then ended the therapy and began living together.
The Des Moines Register reports that Iowa law says a therapist must wait at least a year after therapy ends before beginning such a relationship with a former client because the former client is still considered “emotionally dependent” on the therapist.
A phone listed for Krom is no longer in service. Court records don’t list the name of her attorney.

Kansas
Murderer told to pay $18,000 crime victim fund

SALINA, Kan. (AP) — A central Kansas man in prison for killing his wife and trying to kill his sister-in-law has been ordered to pay thousands of dollars in legal bills when he is released.
On Wednesday, a Saline County judge ruled Michael Paulson will be responsible for more than $8,200 to the Board of Indigent Defense Services, more than $18,000 to the Crime Victim Fund and nearly $9,000 for court costs.
Paulson was convicted in July of second-degree murder in the 2010 stabbing death of Valerie Paulson. He also was convicted of attempted second-degree murder for injuring his sister-in-law, Jessie Putman. The restitution includes money for Putman's medical expenses.
The Salina Journal reports Paulson's attorney plans to appeal the restitution order. Paulson is also appealing his conviction.l