Georgia
Judge kicks MLK estate lawyer off ownership case
ATLANTA (AP) — A judge has ruled that a lawyer for the estate of Martin Luther King Jr. cannot participate in a dispute over the ownership of King’s Bible and Nobel Peace Prize.
Judge Robert McBurney issued the order last week.
The Estate of Martin Luther King Jr. Inc. is controlled by King’s sons. It is locked in a court battle with the slain civil rights leader’s daughter over the Bible and Nobel Peace Prize medal.
Bernice King’s lawyers asked the judge to disqualify the estate’s lawyer, William Hill, and his firm because he was appointed by a judge to help resolve a similar 2008 dispute between the King children and the entities they control.
Lawyers for both sides did not immediately return emails seeking comment Monday morning.
Massachusetts
‘Whitey’ Bulger says man didn’t do supposed hit
BOSTON (AP) — A Boston man who has spent more than 30 years in prison for a killing he says he didn’t commit has an unusual ally in his quest for exoneration — convicted mobster James “Whitey” Bulger.
Robert LaMonica was gunned down in Braintree in 1980. The now 62-year-old Fred Weichel was convicted the following year based largely on testimony from a teenager who said he saw the gunman jump into a waiting car and identified him as Weichel.
The Boston Globe reports that in a series of letters sent from jail last fall, Bulger wrote that the real killer was an unnamed friend of Weichel’s.
Bulger says he’s familiar with the slaying because he played an indirect role in it.
Weichel’s lawyer shared the information with the Globe.
New Hampshire
Lawsuit filed in 2012 death from keg explosion
PORTSMOUTH, N.H. (AP) — The sister of a man who was killed in a keg explosion at a New Hampshire brewery two years ago has filed a federal lawsuit against three companies involved in the manufacture and distribution of the keg.
The Portsmouth Herald reports M. Christina Kettering says the keg was negligently designed and didn’t feature adequate safety warnings. She also says a device installed in the keg to prevent overpressurization failed to work as designed.
Benjamin Harris of Newington was emptying a plastic keg with pressurized air at Portsmouth’s Redhook Ale Brewery when it blew apart in April 2012, killing him. Kettering’s suit was filed in federal court in Concord on April 1.
Keg maker Plastic Kegs of America, distributor Satellite Logistics Group, and safety device maker Medway Plastics Corporation deny the allegations. They suggest Harris, or others are to blame.
The defendants say Harris’ “comparative negligence” bars the lawsuit because he was, or should have been aware of “the nature and risks of the keg” and that he assumed those risks. Redhook is not named as a defendant.
A jury trial has been scheduled for Sept. 1, 2015.
Arizona
Trial for former Phoenix Suns player delayed
PHOENIX (AP) — The trial of former Phoenix Suns player Richard Dumas on charges that he stole merchandise from Luke Air Force Base’s exchange store has been postponed.
The trial was set to begin Monday in Maricopa County Superior Court, but a judge reset it for May 27 so prosecutors could seek a new indictment.
Dumas pleaded not guilty in December to eight felony charges of organized retail theft.
Authorities say Dumas stole about $800 worth of merchandise from the Air Force base’s exchange store while working with a janitorial service there in 2012.
Police say Dumas was seen on store surveillance cameras taking cigarettes, alcohol, food, DVDs and shoes.
Dumas played for the Suns from 1992 to 1995 and helped the team reach the NBA finals in 1993.
Mississippi
Federal appeals court dismisses Miss. appeal
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A federal appeals court panel has overturned a lower court’s ordered granting an appeal hearing in a Mississippi robbery and aggravated assault case.
WTVA-TV in Tupelo reports Yasmin Hughes, now 24, is serving 30 years in prison after he was convicted of a three-count indictment in the 2006 robbery and shooting of two people in their home.
Court documents say Hughes and Adrion Webster walked up to the home claiming to have run out of gas and asked to use the phone.
When the homeowner turned his back to go back inside the home, he was shot three times and his wife was shot once when she came to the door to see what had happened.
In his appeal, Hughes argued he had no knowledge prior to the robbery and shootings that they would take place.
He argued there was no evidence to prove he was an accomplice to the crime until after it had occurred.
The state Court of Appeals and the Mississippi Supreme Court upheld his conviction.
Hughes appealed to federal court, and a district court judge in Mississippi granted his request for a hearing.
The State of Mississippi appealed to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans.
A three-judge panel of the 5th Circuit found the Mississippi federal judge had no jurisdiction over the case. The panel said Hughes didn’t provide any evidence to support his arguments that decisions by the state courts were wrong.
New York
Fulton County man fights to keep his big cats
MAYFIELD, N.Y. (AP) — A state appeals court has given a Fulton County man 30 days to get rid of his cats: three tigers and two leopards.
The Gloversville Leader-Herald reports that the state Supreme Court Appellate Division on Thursday upheld a lower court ruling against Steven Salton of Mayfield. Salton claimed the town Zoning Board was incorrect in determining his animals were part of a business.
Salton’s attorney tells the newspaper that Salton will now seek a variance from the town Planning Board, which has to approve all home businesses.
Salton owns the big cats under an operation called Natasha’s Helping Hand. He has an exhibitor license.
Neighbors have complained about the noise and potential danger posed by the proximity to the animals. The neighborhood is zoned residential.
