National Roundup

California
Court upholds $319M verdict in ‘Millionaire’ case
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A federal appeals court on Monday upheld a $319 million verdict over profits from the TV game show “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” and rejected Walt Disney Co.’s request for a new trial.
A jury decided in 2010 that Disney hid the show’s profits from its creators, London-based Celador International. The ruling Monday by a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found no issues with the verdict or with a judge’s rulings in the case.
“I am pleased that justice has been done,” Celador Chairman Paul Smith said in a statement.
Disney did not immediately comment on the decision.
The ruling comes more than two years after the jury ruled in Celador’s favor after a lengthy trial that featured testimony from several top Disney executives. Celador sued in 2004, claiming Disney was using creative accounting to hide profits from the show, which first ran in the United States from August 1999 to May 2002 and was a huge hit for ABC.
The jury found that Celador was owed $269.2 million, and a judge later added $50 million in interest to the judgment.
The appeals court determined the verdict was not “grossly excessive or monstrous” and that it was not based on speculation or guesswork.

Wisconsin
Homeowners suing over gas pipeline spill
JACKSON, Wis. (AP) — Homeowners sued Monday over a massive gasoline spill in southeastern Wisconsin this summer that has contaminated many of their wells, their attorneys said.
A total of 150 families who own property in the Jackson area filed the lawsuit in Washington County Circuit Court against the pipeline owner and operator, the attorneys said. The homeowners allege they suffered economic and emotional damage.
A section of 10-inch pipe in West Shore’s Milwaukee-to-Green Bay line ruptured July 17 in Jackson, spilling an estimated 54,600 gallons of gasoline in a few minutes.
Many of the homeowners have been unable to use water from their wells, which have tested positive for cancer-causing benzene, the attorneys said. The homeowners are asking for compensation for their losses, including the establishment of a medical monitoring fund for early cancer screening. The homeowners also are seeking punitive damages.
Messages left for the pipeline owner, West Shore Pipe Line Co. of Illinois, and operator, Buckeye Partners L.P. of Houston, were not immediately returned Monday.
Other families still plan to join the lawsuit, said attorney Daniel Rottier, president of Habush Habush & Rottier S.C. of Milwaukee, which is representing the homeowners along with the law offices of Peter G. Angelos of Baltimore, Md.
The 98-mile pipeline provides fuel for northeastern Wisconsin and parts of Michigan. The line has since reopened.

Oklahoma
Mental exam is ordered for bomb scheme suspect
MIAMI, Okla. (AP) — A judge has ordered a mental evaluation for an Illinois man accused of plotting to bomb dozens of churches in northeastern Oklahoma.
Gregory Weiler had been set for a preliminary hearing Monday, but a judge delayed that until Dec. 17 so Weiler can have a competency evaluation. He was arrested after workers found the ingredients for Molotov cocktails in a trash bin at a hotel in Miami (MY’-am-uh).
An affidavit claims that investigators found instructions for making Molotov cocktails, a list of 48 churches and a written outline of Weiler’s plan to plant bombs.
The Miami News-Record reports that Weiler will be taken to a state hospital in Vinita for a psychological evaluation.
Weiler’s relatives have said that he has struggled with mental illness and substance abuse.

New Jersey
Test: Mom who decapitated her toddler used PCP
CAMDEN, N.J. (AP) — Toxicology tests show a New Jersey woman who decapitated her 2-year-old son and then killed herself in August had smoked PCP-laced marijuana.
The Camden County Prosecutor’s released the test results Monday showing 34-year-old Chevonne Thomas had used the drug before killing her son and putting his head in a freezer.
The woman had suffered from mental illness and had twice lost custody of her son because of drug use. It was believed from the Aug. 22 tragedy that she was using the drug known as “wet,” which is linked to violence in some users.
The same drug was linked to another horrific crime in Camden weeks later. In that case, authorities say a man broke into a home where he attacked a sleeping girl, then fatally stabbed her 6-year-old brother.

Connecticut
Acquitted blogger sues officials of state for $50M
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — A blogger who urged readers to “take up arms” against Connecticut officials is suing state government leaders for $50 million after being acquitted of threatening and inciting violence charges.
Harold “Hal” Turner of North Bergen, N.J., filed the lawsuit in federal court in Newark, N.J., on Nov. 21 claiming he was falsely arrested, wrongfully imprisoned and maliciously prosecuted. A jury acquitted him last year.
Turner was arrested after a June 2009 blog posting suggesting Connecticut officials “obey the Constitution or die” and urging readers to “take up arms.” The posting was in response to legislation to give lay people of Roman Catholic churches more control over parish finances. The bill was withdrawn.
The lawsuit names prosecutors and other Connecticut officials. The state attorney general’s office declined to comment.

New York
Sex scion pleads to masturbating in NY City park
NEW YORK (AP) — The 60-year-old son of sex research pioneer Dr. William H. Masters has admitted masturbating in Central Park.
William H. Masters III pleaded guilty Monday to misdemeanor public lewdness. He was arrested in May after a New York police officer reported seeing him expose his genitals and masturbate.
Defense lawyer Irwin Rochman tells the New York Post his client has been in counseling.
Masters avoids jail time. But if the Southampton resident gets arrested again he’ll face up to 90 days in jail.
Masters also is charged with exposing himself to a sheriff’s deputy and another woman on a Michigan river in September. That case is pending.
Masters’ father was part of the Masters and Johnson sex research team. He and Virginia Johnson conducted interviews and observed sex acts. They wrote the 1966 best-seller “Human Sexual Response.”