Missouri
Defense team in teen death plans World Cup event
MISSOULA, Mont. (AP) — The Montana law firm representing a man charged with killing a German exchange student in his garage announced plans to host a live showing of the World Cup soccer match between the U.S. and Germany on Thursday morning.
Paul Ryan & Associates is representing Markus Kaarma, who is charged with shooting 17-year-old Diren Dede in May. Kaarma argues the shooting was in self-defense because the boy was in his garage.
Dede played soccer at Big Sky High School in Missoula and with a club team in Missoula. His former team in Hamburg played a charity match to help his family pay for Dede’s funeral.
Ryan told the Missoulian on Tuesday the game’s showing at a park has nothing to do with Kaarma’s defense, and he’s considering canceling it after realizing people might make that connection.
“Honestly, that didn’t cross my mind,” Ryan said. “We were just excited about the game and we wanted to provide this to the community. I hope it doesn’t turn into something negative. It’s just a weird timing of the two teams that match up. It doesn’t have anything to do with our case. Hopefully, people can forget about those things and watch a soccer game. We just did it as a community event.”
“This really was the idea of the girls in our office — they are so excited about the game,” Ryan said.
Kaarma is charged with deliberate homicide in Dede’s shooting death.
Prosecutors alleged Kaarma set a trap to catch whoever had been breaking into his garage after thieves took marijuana, credit cards and a cellphone. He told a hairdresser that he had been waiting up nights to shoot a kid because he was frustrated about the thefts while neighbors said he was behaving strangely in the hours before the shooting, court records said.
Two teens who had been arrested prior to the shooting later confessed to being responsible for the theft of the marijuana and other items, court records said. Those teens said Dede had nothing to do with the break-ins, court records said.
Massachusetts
Report: Teen was ‘psychotic’ after attack on staffer
SALEM, Mass. (AP) — The Massachusetts teenager charged with killing his math teacher appeared to be “psychotic” after he allegedly attacked a female clinician at a Department of Youth Services detention center in Boston earlier this month, according to court documents.
The documents, a request by the state Department of Youth Services to have 15-year-old Philip Chism undergo a psychiatric evaluation following the June 2 incident, were released Tuesday by a Superior Court judge in response to a motion by The Salem News.
Chism was armed with a pencil when he followed the woman into a staff bathroom and choked, stabbed, and punched her, according to authorities. The woman turned down medical treatment.
Chism was “out of touch with reality” and “yelling, screaming incoherently (and) foaming at the mouth while being restrained by staff,” according to the psychologist-written petition to have him committed to Worcester Recovery Center and Hospital for 30 days of mental health evaluation and treatment.
He has not been charged in connection with the alleged attack on the worker.
His lawyer refused comment.
The documents also outline the security measures put in place at the Worcester facility, including constant one-on-one observation, with a male staff member even accompanying him to the bathroom.
Chism has pleaded not guilty to robbing, raping and killing 24-year-old Danvers High School teacher Colleen Ritzer after following her into a restroom last October. He was 14 at the time and had recently moved to Massachusetts from Tennessee.
Pennsylvania
NFL to remove damages cap on concussions
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The NFL agreed Wednesday to remove a $675 million cap on damages from thousands of concussion-related claims after a federal judge questioned whether there would be enough money to cover as many as 20,000 retired players.
A revised settlement agreement filed in federal court in Philadelphia also eliminates a provision that barred anyone who gets concussion damages from the NFL from suing the NCAA or other amateur football leagues.
In January, U.S. District Judge Anita Brody had denied preliminary approval of the deal because she worried the money could run out sooner than expected. The settlement, negotiated over several months, is designed to last at least 65 years and cover retired players who develop Lou Gehrig’s disease, dementia or other neurological problems believed to be caused by concussions suffered during their pro careers.
More than 4,500 former players have filed suit, some accusing the league of fraud for its handling of concussions. They include former Dallas Cowboys running back Tony Dorsett and Super Bowl-winning Chicago Bears quarterback Jim McMahon, who suffers from dementia.
“This agreement will give retired players and their families immediate help if they suffer from a qualifying neurocognitive illness, and provide peace of mind to those who fear they may develop a condition in the future,” plaintiffs’ lawyers Christopher Seeger and Sol Weiss said in a statement.
The original settlement included $675 million for compensatory claims for players with neurological symptoms, $75 million for baseline testing and $10 million for medical research and education.
The revised settlement eliminates the cap on overall damage claims but retains the payout formula for individual retirees. A young retiree with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig’s disease, would receive $5 million, a 50-year-old with Alzheimer’s disease would get $1.6 million, and an 80-year-old with early dementia would get $25,000.
Even with the cap removed, both sides said they believe the NFL will spend no more than about $675 million to ex-players.
Brody will decide later whether to accept the new settlement terms.
Critics of the deal have said the league, with annual revenues topping $9 billion, was getting off lightly. Lawyers for the plaintiffs said the settlement avoids the risk of a protracted legal battle.
The proposal does not include an admission from the NFL that it hid information from players about head injuries.
“Today’s agreement reaffirms the NFL’s commitment to provide help to those retired players and their families who are in need, and to do so without the delay, expense and emotional cost associated with protracted litigation,” NFL Senior Vice President Anastasia Danias said in a statement.
