National Roundup

 Maryland

Parents allegedly locked up their autistic twin sons 
ROCKVILLE, Md. (AP) — A Maryland couple is accused of keeping their autistic, 22-year-old twin sons locked in a basement room at night with no furniture and only a tiny window for light.
John and Janice Land are facing vulnerable adult abuse and false imprisonment charges and are free on bond, online court records show.
They couldn’t be reached early Tuesday for comment. No phone number is listed for the home, and no defense attorney is listed in online court records.
Montgomery County police went to the couple’s Rockville home Thursday to serve an unrelated search warrant, according to a court document. Once inside, officers allegedly saw a basement room that was locked from the outside with a dead bolt. When an officer opened the door, the twin boys were found inside.
Both parents allegedly told police their sons were non-verbal and have run away in the past. Police say John Land acknowledged he installed the deadbolt on one door and a padlock on a second door to ensure the boys did not get out of the room. Police say he told them he locks his sons in the room from about 10 p.m. to 4:45 a.m.
Police say the room contained no furniture and smelled strongly of urine. Police say the one light in the room did not function and was covered up and the one small window was not large enough for the men to fit through in an emergency.
Police say John Land told them they boys’ furniture was removed recently because the boys had soiled it. The boys’ mother said they intended to purchase new furniture when they could save up the money, police said.
Police did not say in a court document if John Land said how long he had been locking the boys in, but Janice Land allegedly told police the boys had been using the room as their bedroom for the past six years and the deadbolt was there when they moved in. Her husband said she was aware the twins were locked in the room, but she denied any knowledge that the men were locked in.
 
Montana
District judge censured over rape comments 
HELENA, Mont. (AP) — The Montana Supreme Court on Tuesday publicly reprimanded a judge who gave a lenient sentence to a rapist after suggesting the 14-year-old victim shared some of the responsibility for the crime.
District Judge G. Todd Baugh of Billings appeared before the court in Helena, where one of the justices read a censure statement prepared in advance.
The censure is a public declaration by the high court that a judge is guilty of misconduct.
“It’s a process basically to publicly reprimand them for their conduct bringing dishonor on their position and the court’s judicial system,” Smith said.
The judge sent Stacey Dean Rambold to prison for just 30 days last year after he pleaded guilty to sexual intercourse without consent.
Rambold was a 47-year-old business teacher at Billings Senior High School at the time of the 2007 rape. The victim was one of his students. She committed suicide while the case was pending trial.
Baugh said during Rambold’s sentencing in August that the teenager was “probably as much in control of the situation as the defendant” and that she “appeared older than her chronological age.”
Under state law, children younger than 16 cannot consent to sexual intercourse.
After a public outcry, Baugh apologized for the comments and acknowledged the short prison sentence violated state law. He attempted retroactively to revise it but was blocked when the state filed its appeal.
The Supreme Court ordered Baugh to be censured on the recommendation of the Judicial Standards Commission, and also ordered him to be suspended for 31 days. Chief Justice Mike McGrath wrote in the order that Baugh had eroded confidence in the court system.
The last Montana judge was censured by the Supreme Court was District Judge Jeffrey Langton of Hamilton in 2005. Langton had pleaded guilty to a drunk-driving charge, then was placed on probation for violating the terms of his sentence.
Rambold has been free since last fall after serving the original sentence. After his release, Rambold registered as a sex offender and was to remain on probation through 2028.
Prosecutors appealed Baugh’s sentence, and the Supreme Court in April ordered a new sentencing in the case by a different judge. The re-sentencing is to take place on Sept. 26 by District Judge Randal Spaulding of Roundup.
Baugh, who is the son of former Washington Redskins quarterback “Slingin’” Sammy Baugh, plans to retire when his term expires in December after three decades on the bench.

Pennsylvania
Hospitalized Nazi guard suspect, 89, gets bail 
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A judge in Philadelphia has granted bail to an 89-year-old Nazi war crimes suspect who’s been hospitalized while awaiting extradition to Germany.
The ruling Monday reverses a decision that denied bail to Johann Breyer of Philadelphia.
Breyer can now await the outcome of his extradition fight at home on $100,000 personal recognizance bail.
But it’s not clear how long he’ll be hospitalized. Defense lawyers say his health was deteriorating in jail after his arrest last month.
Breyer has lived in Philadelphia since 1952. He admits serving as an Auschwitz guard in 1944 but denies killing anyone.
German authorities hope to try him on charges of aiding in the deaths of more than 200,000 Jews killed at the death camp.
 
Maine
Man guilty of cliff push faces date for sentencing 
ROCKLAND, Maine (AP) — Prosecutors and a defense attorney for a man convicted of bashing his wife’s head with a rock and pushing her off a cliff say the man’s sentencing will likely take place next month.
A Maine jury convicted 71-year-old Charles Black of six felonies on Monday. The top charge of attempted murder carries a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison. Defense attorney Walter McKee says he expects sentencing sometime in late August.
Prosecutors say Black hit his then-wife Lisa Zahn on the head with a rock before pushing her off 800-foot Maiden Cliff in April 2011. Investigators say the couple had been arguing about Black spending some of Zahn’s inheritance money and an affair he had.
Both tumbled down the mountainside and were hospitalized for more than a week
Breyer’s lawyers didn’t immediately return messages Tuesday seeking comment.