Court Roundup

Oklahoma
Man acquitted of murder in toddler shooting death

MUSKOGEE, Okla. (AP) — A Muskogee County jury has acquitted a 22-year-old man charged with first-degree murder in the shooting death of a 2-year-old boy.
The jury deliberated less than 30 minutes Tuesday before finding Elbert “Lee” Meeks not guilty in the Dec. 21, 2011, shooting death of Ja’Cion Logan.
The Muskogee Phoenix reports that Meeks was greeted by cheering supporters when he left the courthouse Tuesday. He has maintained his innocence since his arrest.
Prosecutors argued that the child was shot as Meeks tried to force his way into the home of the boy’s grandmother.
But Meeks’ attorney, Roger Hilfiger, showed jurors computer records that indicated that Meeks was looking at social media websites on a laptop at the time of the fatal shooting.

Washington
Husband accused of killing woman at movie theater

YAKIMA, Wash. (AP) — Police say a woman who was fatally shot last week while leaving a Union Gap theater was killed by her husband with the help of his co-worker.
The two men appeared in court Tuesday in Yakima and a judge set bail for both at $2 million as prosecutors prepare possible charges in the death of 45-year-old Cynthia Kelley-Munzanreder. She was shot Thursday evening as she left the theater with her husband John J. Munzanreder.
The Yakima Herald-Republic reports police believe he shot his wife and then threw the gun to a co-worker hiding in bushes who fled.
Both men worked at a car dealership. The other man, 21-year-old Juan Pablo Ibanez-Cortes, was questioned and told police where to find the gun apparently used in the shooting.

California
Nursing firm is found guilty in wrongful death

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — A Sacramento Superior Court jury has returned verdicts of wrongful death and elder abuse against the nation’s largest assisted living company.
The Sacramento Bee reports the trial now enters the punitive-damages phase for Emeritus Corp, a Seattle-based company with annual revenue of $1 billion.
A suit was filed on behalf of Joan Boice, an 82-year-old resident with Alzheimer’s disease who died shortly after leaving an Emeritus facility in Auburn five years ago. When she left, the newspaper says, Boice had at least four major bedsores that were listed as significant factors in her cause of death.
Plaintiffs attorneys argued that understaffing and lack of training represented a strategy on Emeritus’ part to cut costs.
An Emeritus spokesperson says the company stands behind the quality of care it provides.

Indiana
Nursing home patient’s family sues over death

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (AP) — Relatives of an 88-year-old Indiana woman who died after being attacked by another nursing home resident say the home’s owners lied about her injuries.
Betty Riley’s family filed a complaint Monday with the Indiana Department of Insurance against the Marion County Health and Hospital Corp. and American Senior Communities accusing them of neglect in Riley’s 2011 death at Summit City Nursing and Rehabilitation in Fort Wayne.
The complaint says Riley died of brain injuries after being shoved down, but nursing home officials told her relatives she had a stroke and fell. State health officials later cited the nursing home for inadequate supervision.
The companies issued a statement Tuesday saying they cooperated in state and local investigations of the death but could not comment further because of pending litigation.

New York
Neighbor gets summonses for laughing loudly

ROCKVILLE CENTRE, N.Y. (AP) — A Long Island man says he didn’t know it was a crime to laugh.
Robert Schiavelli of Rockville Centre was slapped with two summonses for “disturbing the peace.”
Police responded to his home on Feb. 12 and Feb. 13 after receiving complaints from his next-door-neighbor that his loud laughs could be heard across the driveway.
The 42-year-old was charged with acting “in such a manner as to annoy, disturb, interfere with, obstruct, or be offensive to others.”
At his arraignment Tuesday, a judge declined to dismiss the charges.
Schiavelli told the New York Post his neighbor often taunts him due to his disability. He learned to deal with it by laughing him off.
Schiavelli suffers from seizures and neurological impairments.
The neighbor didn’t respond to requests for comment.