National Roundup

Iowa Judge overturns conviction for sexual assault IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) - A judge has overturned the conviction of an imprisoned former University of Iowa student accused of sexually assaulting a woman in the middle of campus. Judge Douglas Russell ruled Wednesday that Evan Pfeifer didn't get a fair trial in 2012 because a prosecutor committed misconduct and his defense lawyer gave him ineffective counsel. Pfeifer is charged with assaulting another student during a late-night encounter on the university's Pentacrest lawn in October 2010. Then an 18-year-old freshman, he contends the sex was consensual. A jury found him guilty and he was sentenced to 10 years. Russell says a prosecutor asked improper questions of two witnesses that bolstered the alleged victim's credibility. He says Pfeifer's trial attorney should have objected to that testimony, and done more to question the woman's claims. Ohio Prosecutor and judge crash bikes on the same day COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - An Ohio prosecutor and a judge are recovering from injuries suffered in separate bike accidents on the same day. In an added twist, the prosecutor was riding a bike that once belonged to the judge. The Columbus Dispatch reports Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O'Brien was training for a triathlon last week when he crashed after riding over a traffic-calming device. The 66-year-old O'Brien has broken ribs and a partially collapsed lung. O'Brien was riding a bike that once belonged to Franklin County Municipal Court Judge Paul Herbert. The 54-year-old Herbert was treated and released at a hospital after his own accident Sunday on a brand new bike. Herbert joked that maybe his old bike wanted him back on it. Virginia Man who defaced monument gets community service RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - A man must perform 100 hours of community service after pleading guilty to defacing a Confederate monument in Richmond, Virginia. Media outlets report that 39-year-old Joseph Weindl of Richmond pleaded guilty Thursday to defacing a public monument. A Richmond General District Court judge suspended a 90-day jail sentence and ordered community service. Weindl also must pay $200 in restitution. Police say Weindl spray-painted an "L'' on the base of a monument honoring Confederate President Jefferson Davis on June 28. Weindl's attorney, Daniel Watkins, said earlier this week that his client regrets the action. Confederate symbols have been the focus of debate since the June 17 massacre at an African-American church in Charleston, South Carolina. Authorities say the accused gunman had posed in photographs with the Confederate battle flag. Pennsylvania Judge won't cut sentence for teen in torture death GREENSBURG, Pa. (AP) - A judge has refused to reduce the life sentence for a then-juvenile who was the catalyst in the torture death of a mentally disabled Pennsylvania woman. Angela Marinucci, who is now 21, was granted a new sentencing hearing last week under a U.S. Supreme Court ruling outlawing mandatory life sentences for juvenile offenders. Marinucci was 17 when she egged on her boyfriend, then-25-year-old Ricky Smyrnes, and five others to torture 30-year-old Jennifer Daugherty in the dingy Greensburg apartment most of the group shared in February 2010. The two men who actually killed Daugherty, Smyrnes and Melvin Knight, are on death row for first-degree murder. Marinucci was also convicted of first-degree murder but couldn't face the death penalty because of her age. The others involved in the Westmoreland County case are serving decades in prison. Nebraska Woman gets new shot at suit over discrimination OMAHA, Neb. (AP) - The Nebraska Supreme Court has given a former eye clinic worker a new shot at convincing a jury that she was discriminated against based on a perceived disability. Cindy Marshall's lawsuit says EyeCare Specialties of Lincoln fired her in 2012 because it perceived her as disabled after learning she once completed substance abuse treatment and because of medical conditions that make her hands tremble and causes red marks on her skin. A Lancaster County judge entered a judgment for the clinic, saying that Marshall failed to prove the clinic discriminated against her. But the high court Thursday said Marshall presented evidence that the clinic reprimanded her for failing to bandage the marks on her arms and that a jury should be allowed to decide whether the clinic discriminated against her. California Deputy who shot boy carrying toy gun cleared SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Authorities found that no civil rights violations occurred in connection with the fatal shooting of a 13-year-old boy by a Sonoma County sheriff's deputy. The San Francisco Chronicle reports the FBI and the U.S. attorney's office said that their investigation into the 2013 shooting death of Andy Lopez didn't uncover civil rights violations committed by Deputy Erick Gelhaus. Gelhaus fired eight times at Andy, who had been holding a replica AK-47. Andy had been on his way to a friend's house after school when Gelhaus and a deputy trainee spotted him with the plastic weapon. Investigators said the plastic gun didn't have an orange tip, which helps officers distinguish it as a replica. Andy's family has filed a federal lawsuit alleging civil rights violations that is pending. Iowa Former ballplayer struck by foul wins $1M award DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) - A jury has awarded more than $1 million to a former high school baseball player who sued Davenport Assumption High School because he was injured by a foul ball while in a dugout, awaiting his turn at bat. Spencer Ludman filed the lawsuit in April 2013, alleging that the school was at fault because the dugout didn't protect him. A Scott County jury ruled in his favor on Monday after a trial that began June 22. Ludman's skull was fractured on July 7, 2011, while playing for Muscatine High School in a game at Assumption. His attorney Steve Crowley said Thursday that the 22-year-old Ludman now must take anti-seizure medication. Assumption's attorney, Lori Cole Magerko, says her client probably will appeal. Published: Mon, Jul 06, 2015