National Roundup

Ohio
No new charge for man was on the lam for years

SANDUSKY, Ohio (AP) - A prosecutor says he won't file new escape-related charges against a man who disappeared from an Ohio prison camp in 1959 while serving time for manslaughter and was found this year in Florida.

Frank Freshwaters could serve up to 20 years on his original charge, and Erie County Prosecutor Kevin Baxter says that allows for "sufficient penalty." Baxter says he also had to consider legal limitations and whether evidence exists to prosecute the decades-old escape.

Investigators say Freshwaters was found living off Social Security benefits under an alias at a weathered trailer in rural Brevard County. The 79-year-old widower now awaits a parole board decision about possible release from an Ohio prison facility.

The Akron man was imprisoned in 1959 after hitting a man with a vehicle and violating probation.

Alabama
Muslim flight attendant says she was wrongly suspended

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) - A Muslim flight attendant for ExpressJet says she was wrongly suspended from her job last month because she refused to serve alcohol to passengers, citing her religious beliefs.

Charee Stanley, a Detroit-based flight attendant for ExpressJet, filed a discrimination complaint Tuesday with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

The airline had agreed to give Stanley a religious accommodation, saying she could work out an arrangement with the other flight attendant on duty so they could serve alcohol instead. She was suspended only after a colleague complained, said Lena Masri, an attorney with the Michigan chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

Stanley, 40, has worked for the Atlanta-based airline for nearly three years and during that time converted to Islam, Masri said. Stanley approached a supervisor in June after learning that her faith forbids not just consuming alcohol but also serving it.

When the co-worker complained, Stanley was put on unpaid leave for a year, Masri said.

"She was placed on unpaid leave for following the instructions that ExpressJet airlines gave her," Masri said.

Masri claimed the complaint against Stanley was discriminatory, with the employee noting Stanley carried a book with "foreign writings" and wore a head scarf.

A spokeswoman for ExpressJet said in an emailed statement that it could not comment on specific personnel matters.

New Hampshire
Mother jailed for fleeing with child in custody fight

HAVERHILL, N.H. (AP) - A mother who fled the country with her daughter more than a decade ago amid a custody dispute with her ex-husband reported to jail Monday.

Genevieve Kelley pleaded guilty in June to misdemeanor charges of custodial interference for taking her then-8-year-old daughter out of the country in 2004. Additional felony charges of custodial interference and witness tampering were dropped.

Under a plea deal, Kelley will serve 10 months in county jail. Her current husband, Scott Kelley, pleaded guilty to the same charges and was sentenced to five months.

The judge staggered the sentences - with Scott Kelley going first - so their 10-year-old son wouldn't be without a parent.

Grafton County Correctional Facility officials confirmed Monday that Kelley arrived at the jail as scheduled and was taken into custody.

Scott and Genevieve Kelley said they took the girl to protect her after accusing her father, Mark Nunes, of abuse. Nunes was investigated but never charged.

Genevieve Kelley surrendered to authorities in November. Scott Kelley was arrested in Atlanta in April, when he and the daughter, 19-year-old Mary Nunes, arrived on a flight from Costa Rica.

Mary Nunes said in a legal motion that her mother and Scott Kelley took her away from Mark Nunes to protect her. She said Scott Kelley was "the only man" she considered to be her father.

Genevieve Kelley's lawyer has said Mary Nunes intends to return to New Hampshire to live with the Kelleys when they've completed their jail terms.

California
Guard says he did not touch inmate found dead in cell

DUBLIN, Calif. (AP) - One of three California jail guards arrested on suspicion of murder in the death of an inmate proclaimed his innocence and said he never touched the 31-year-old man.

Rafael Rodriguez said the guard uniform he wore the night authorities say he and two other officers entered inmate Michael Tyree's cell was clean, showing no signs that he made contact with the inmate.

His arrest on Thursday on suspicion of murder in the death of Tyree is the first time he has been on the other side of the law, he said. Two other officers, Jereh Lubrin and Matthew Farris, were also arrested and placed in protective custody in Alameda County's Santa Rita Jail as an added precaution.

Well-groomed and wearing a red jail jumpsuit, Rodriguez acknowledged that he had been inside Tyree's pod to search it but maintained that no one forced Tyree to take his pills or laid a hand on him, as alleged. He said the Santa Clara County sheriff's investigation is relying on hearsay from inmates and making things up.

Sgt. James Jensen, a spokesman for the sheriff's office, said in response to Rodriguez's claims that there's "enough evidence to arrest the three correctional officers, including Rafael Rodriguez. If we felt we did not have enough evidence, we would not have made the arrest."

The county medical examiner concluded the mentally ill man died of massive internal bleeding caused by blunt force trauma.

Florida
Court rejects punishment for circuit judge

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) - The Florida Supreme Court is rejecting a proposed punishment for a Broward County circuit judge who was charged after hitting a parked deputy sheriff's car outside the county courthouse.

Judge Lynn Rosenthal had agreed to a 90-day suspension without pay that was proposed by investigators. But the Supreme Court on Tuesday said a full hearing was needed to determine punishment.

The court stated it wanted more information about Rosenthal making misleading statements to investigators and destroying evidence. Investigators say she refused to submit to a blood and urine sample.

Rosenthal was charged with DUI. A state attorney reduced the charges to reckless driving. She has maintained she was given an incorrect dose of a sleep aid. Rosenthal also said she had lapse in judgment due to a "personal family crisis."

Published: Wed, Sep 09, 2015