Pennsylvania
Probe of AG may expand to include firing of staff
NORRISTOWN, Pa. (AP) - A criminal investigation of Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane may expand to include the firing of a staff prosecutor following his grand jury testimony.
A three-judge panel Monday has referred the matter to Montgomery County's district attorney to determine if Kane should be charged with retaliation and official oppression.
District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman is already reviewing grand jury findings that Kane unlawfully leaked secret material from a 2009 investigation.
The judges are leaving it up to Ferman to decide whether to investigate this month's firing of staff prosecutor James Barker.
The judges had initially weighed whether to try Kane for contempt of court for firing Barker, who had testified in the leak investigation.
Kane's lawyer says Barker's firing wasn't retaliatory, but part of a staff reorganization.
Florida
Judge agrees to transfer lawsuit against university
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) - A federal judge is moving a high-profile lawsuit against Florida State University from an Orlando federal court to one in Tallahassee.
Erica Kinsman filed a lawsuit against FSU earlier this year. The former FSU student says the university failed to respond to her allegations that she was sexually assaulted by ex-Seminoles quarterback Jameis Winston.
FSU has denied the allegations, but attorneys for the school also argued that the lawsuit should be transferred to the Northern District of Florida.
Kinsman argued she could not get a fair trial in Tallahassee. She also said she was fearful of her safety.
But Senior U.S. District Judge Gregory Presnell in a Monday order said his court has no jurisdiction over FSU.
Winston was cleared of wrongdoing by FSU following a hearing last year. A Florida prosecutor chose not to press charges against Winston, who is expected to be a top pick in the NFL draft.
California
State high court overturns man's death sentence
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - The California Supreme Court has overturned a Redding man's death sentence.
The high court ruled Monday that Paul Gordon Smith Jr. didn't receive a proper sentencing trial. The unanimous court said an expert was improperly barred from testifying that Smith would be less of a danger to escape on San Quentin's Death Row than he was in the Shasta County jail awaiting trial. The jury was told of Smith's several attempts to escape from jail and violent attitude toward guards. A prison expert was barred from telling the jury that security is tighter at San Quentin.
Smith was convicted of torturing and killing 20-year-old Lori Sinner during a 1998 camping trip. The court upheld Smith's murder conviction. Smith could face another penalty-trial or be sentenced to life in prison.
Wyoming
Man pleads guilty for plotting to murder parents
CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) - A Wyoming State Penitentiary inmate has pleaded guilty to trying to hire someone to kill his mother and stepfather so he could collect life insurance money and inherit their house.
Andrew Silicani of Cheyenne pleaded guilty Monday in federal court to four counts of using the mail in his unsuccessful plan to hire someone to carry out the murders. He faces up to 40 years at sentencing this summer.
A confidential source told prison staff in November that Silicani had asked if the source would be willing to kill Silicani's mother and stepfather. The source directed Silicani to an FBI agent posing as a hit man.
The 23-year-old Silicani told a judge in Cheyenne that writing the letters was a judgment error that he would take back if he could.
Nebraska
Judge orders competency exam after rant
MADISON, Neb. (AP) - A competency evaluation has been ordered after a courtroom rant by a Norfolk woman charged with trying to burn down a mobile home in Norfolk last October.
Norfolk radio station KNEN reports that 27-year-old Cassie Zoubek represented herself Monday at a Madison County District Court hearing on pretrial motions.
Zoubek already has pleaded not guilty to an arson charge, but she told Judge James Kube that she was going to plead guilty to that charge and to one of being a habitual criminal. Zoubek then ranted about what she said was a corrupt court system, including in her wide-ranging comments a reference to the number of tattoos she has.
Madison County Attorney Joe Smith then asked Kube to order a competency evaluation for Zoubek. The judge granted the request.
Virginia
Defense seeks light sentence in terror case
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - A Virginia woman who lied to federal investigators about supporting the Islamic State militant group was a gullible loner who got ensnared online in a radical cause without fully understanding the seriousness of her actions, her lawyers said in court papers Monday.
Heather Elizabeth Coffman's attorneys recommended a prison sentence of three years and 10 months, which is the low end of a guideline range that extends up to four years and nine months. Coffman, 30, will be sentenced in federal court on May 11 on a single count of making a materially false statement about an offense involving terrorism. She pleaded guilty in February.
Defense attorneys said that since her Nov. 14 arrest, Coffman has thought about her behavior and told her probation officer: "I now realize, once I put my head back in reality, that ISIS is not great people."
According to an affidavit filed by an FBI agent, Coffman's Facebook posts supporting the extremist organization prompted an undercover investigation. The FBI says she talked about making arrangements for a man she identified as her husband to train and fight with the group in Syria. The FBI says Coffman offered to make similar arrangements for the undercover agent and his fictitious friend.
The defense sentencing memo provides the first public glimpse into how Coffman, a single mom who worked for 10 years as a sales clerk at a jewelry store, got caught up in terrorism.
Published: Tue, Apr 28, 2015
