National Roundup

New York Request to stop collecting phone records rejected NEW YORK (AP) - A federal appeals court in New York has rejected the American Civil Liberties Union's effort to stop bulk collection of its phone records while a more limited collection system is put in place. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Thursday that Congress intended for data collection to continue during a six-month transition period before a new law takes effect. Earlier this year, the appeals court in Manhattan struck down the government's mass collection of Americans' phone records, finding Congress never authorized it. Congress then approved a more limited collection method due to take effect Nov. 29. The 2nd Circuit says an abrupt end to the current program would harm the public interest in surveilling terrorist threats. An ACLU lawyer did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Delaware Drug dealers urged to rat out competitors ELSMERE, Del. (AP) - Police in a Delaware town are calling on drug dealers to snitch on their competition. In a Facebook post Tuesday, Elsmere police tell dealers that if they'd like to get rid of competitors who are cutting into their sales, they can leave anonymous tips with names, addresses or phone numbers. Chief Laura Giles says her son, who goes to college in Texas, saw a department there using a similar tactic and suggested it to her. Giles says it's already working. Within 24 hours of posting the call for tipsters, Giles says the department has received two reports and investigations are underway. Florida @ROUND UP Briefs Headline:Shooter to invoke 'stand your ground' law TAMPA, Fla. (AP) - The lawyer for a retired police captain accused of shooting and killing a man during an argument at a movie theater says he'll use Florida's "stand your ground" self-defense law to have charges dismissed. The Tampa Bay Times reports the decision to pursue the strategy had been expected. Seventy-three-year-old Curtis Reeves was arrested in 2014 on a murder charge after the shooting death of 43-year-old Chad Oulson during an argument over texting in the theater. Reeves' lawyer, Richard Escobar, says video from the theater will prove Oulson attacked Reeves first and that Reeves acted in self-defense. If a judge determines the incident meets the "stand your ground" criteria, Reeves will be immune from criminal prosecution and civil action. Mississippi Police say woman cut pacemaker out of man's body GULFPORT, Miss. (AP) - A Mississippi woman is accused of cutting a pacemaker out of her dead boyfriend's chest and then stuffing his body in a trash can. The Sun Herald reports that 63-year-old Christy Lee Zarrella had a preliminary hearing Wednesday on charges of tampering with evidence, failure to report a death and desecration of a corpse. The paper says the decomposing remains of 87-year-old Edward A. Miller were found Oct. 22 in the backyard of a home Miller and Zarrella shared. Miller had been reported missing by a friend two weeks earlier. Quoting a police affidavit, the newspaper reports that Zarrella told investigators Miller died of natural causes and she panicked and put his body in a trash can. The affidavit said some kind of tool was used to clip the wires off Miller's pacemaker. Hawaii Cop accused of arresting kissing lesbians in store HONOLULU (AP) - The Honolulu Police Department opened an internal investigation Wednesday into allegations that an officer wrongfully arrested a vacationing lesbian couple after seeing them kissing in a grocery store. Courtney Wilson and Taylor Guerrero, who were visiting Hawaii from Los Angeles in March, said in a federal lawsuit filed Tuesday that they were harassed and arrested because the officer didn't like their public displays of affection in a Foodland store on Oahu's North Shore. They were walking through the aisles holding hands and at one point hugged and kissed, the lawsuit said: Officer Bobby Harrison, who was shopping in uniform, "observed their consensual romantic contact and, in a loud voice, ordered plaintiffs to stop and 'take it somewhere else.' " The women complied and continued shopping, the lawsuit said. When Harrison again saw them being affectionate with each other, he threatened to have them thrown out of the store. "We're used to people making remarks here and there," Wilson said of their two-year relationship. While the women were in the check-out line, Harrison grabbed Wilson by the wrist, and she started to call 911, she said. "He was bumping his belly against Courtney," Guerrero said. "He said, 'you girls don't know how to act. You don't know the difference between a motel and a grocery store.'" When Guerrero tried to get in between her girlfriend and the officer, he shoved her. She kicked him as she was falling, she said. "The whole situation got physical," Wilson said. "I got punched in the face by him." Because Harrison didn't have any handcuffs on him, store employees helped restrain the women, as customers watched. "You can't really blame them for not getting involved," Wilson said of the bystanders. Police earlier told The Associated Press that they couldn't comment on pending litigation, then later said they had opened the internal probe. Police department spokeswoman Michelle Yu said she would pass a message seeking comment from Harrison, a 26-year veteran, to his commander. He remains on full active duty. Foodland, which is not part of the lawsuit, apologized to the women, said their Honolulu attorney Eric Seitz. A Foodland spokeswoman didn't respond to requests for comment. The women were arrested and charged with felony assault on an officer. They spent three days in jail and each paid a bail bondsman $1,300 for bail that was set at $12,000 each, they said. They had to remain in Honolulu as a condition of their release. The charges were eventually dismissed, Seitz said. In the meantime, they had to stay with family friends or strangers they befriended. At one point thought they would have to go to a homeless shelter. They found jobs cleaning vacation rentals. The incident happened on the second day of their vacation, which was their first trip to Hawaii. Published: Fri, Oct 30, 2015