Minnesota
Filings about Prince estate under seal
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - The judge handling the case over Prince's estate has ruled that certain documents dealing with special administrator fees and the sale of real estate can remain under seal.
Bremer Trust, the special administrator overseeing the estate, asked for permission to keep some documents sealed because they contain confidential, sensitive information that's protected by attorney-client privilege.
Judge Kevin Eide granted that request in an order made public Wednesday, citing the documents' confidential nature. He added that the special administrator intends to file redacted documents with the court.
Documents show legal bills for sorting out Prince's estate are already in the millions, with the biggest share - $1.9 million - going to the Stinson Leonard Street law firm.
Prince died on April 21 of a drug overdose. He was 57.
Ohio
Ex-NFL player sentenced to prison for theft from charities
CLEVELAND (AP) - A former Cleveland Browns wide receiver who pleaded guilty to stealing over $100,000 from two charities to finance gambling debts and personal expenses has been sentenced to 21 months in prison.
A federal judge in Cleveland on Wednesday also ordered 68-year-old Reggie Rucker to pay $110,000 in restitution. Rucker pleaded guilty earlier to wire fraud and false statements after FBI investigators found he had routinely made withdrawals from a charity's account at casino ATMs in Cleveland and Las Vegas.
Rucker played 11 NFL seasons. He was executive director for a Cleveland-based charity created by NFL great Jim Brown to help inner-city youth and had a lead role with an anti-gang violence group.
Rucker's attorney says Rucker's gambling addiction was related to football-related brain injuries that caused a loss of impulse control.
Wisconsin
Man sentenced on charges of wanton endangerment
ELKINS, W.Va. (AP) - A West Virginia man accused of pointing a gun at police officers before being shot and wounded has been sentenced.
Local news outlets report that 26-year-old Preston Lane Burrows entered a plea Friday and was sentenced to five years in prison on charges of wanton endangerment involving a firearm.
While incarcerated, Burrows must undergo drug and alcohol treatment, mental health treatment and anger management classes.
West Virginia State Police said in a news release that in May 2015, officers from the Elkins Police Department responded to a disturbance call. Upon arrival, officers encountered Burrows, who they say pointed a handgun at them. Burrows was shot by the officers and taken to a hospital.
Based on Burrows' statements, State Police said they believe he pointed the gun because he wanted the officers to kill him.
Mississippi
Grand jury clears cop in chase shooting death
TUPELO, Miss. (AP) - A Mississippi grand jury has cleared a police officer in the death of a man killed at the end of a June 11 chase - during which the man made a live video saying he'd killed a cab driver.
District Attorney John Weddle says Officer Jason Whitenton shot 27-year-old Lyndarious Cortez Witherspoon after Witherspoon pointed a semi-automatic pistol at him.
Weddle told Mississippi news outlets that Witherspoon also shot himself in the head.
Witherspoon was accused of killing his pregnant girlfriend earlier that day.
Whitenton was one of two Tupelo police officers whom the Lee County grand jury declined to charge Monday. The other was Officer Tyler Cook.
Cook killed Antwun "Ronnie" Shumpert following a traffic stop on June 18.
The Shumpert family's lawyer has called for a federal investigation.
Ohio
Boys enter plea to misdemeanor in school shooting
HAMILTON, Ohio (AP) - Two Ohio students accused of failing to report that a classmate brought a loaded gun to school before he opened fire in the cafeteria have entered pleas in juvenile court.
The students entered "true" pleas Tuesday in Butler County Juvenile Court in Hamilton to misdemeanor charges of failure to report a crime. The judge said their pleas mean they relinquish their rights to a trial. They are to be sentenced Oct. 19.
The boys were charged after investigators determined they knew 15-year-old James Austin Hancock brought the gun to Madison Local Schools near Middletown. Two students were wounded by gunfire in the Feb. 29 shooting, and two others were hurt by shrapnel or while running away.
Hancock entered a true plea in April to four counts of attempted murder and inducing panic. He was sentenced to juvenile detention until he is 21 years old, when he will be free if he stays out of trouble.
It's not clear what his motive was. He said before sentencing that he wanted the victims to know they weren't targeted.
Rob Clevenger, director of the Butler County Juvenile Justice Center, said Wednesday the two boys face a range of sentencing options. The possibilities include a maximum of 90 days in a juvenile detention center, probation, counseling, community service and monetary fines, Clevenger said.
The Hamilton-Middletown Journal-News reports that both students will be allowed to return to Madison Local Schools this fall and that their cellphones, confiscated during the criminal investigation, will be returned to them.
The Associated Press generally doesn't identify juveniles charged with a crime, but Hancock's name was widely reported.
Delaware
Cemetery mystery solved as human remains are found
STANTON, Del. (AP) - A mystery involving a Delaware pet cemetery has now been solved. A 21-acre graveyard the SPCA hoped to sell for nearly $10 million contains about 1,600 buried animals, and as it turns out, one human.
Some had said it was "absurd" to think sculptor Maurine Ligon was buried next to her dog. But some remembered her ashes being scattered there in 1980. When brush was removed, they found the headstone of "Ms. Ligon" and her pet collie, "Lady."
Delaware law allows the sale of land including buried pets, but not buried people, unless their remains will be forever protected. That's difficult with scattered ashes.
The News Journal of Wilmington reports that the group's director Tiffany Briddell formally promised to protect Ms. Ligon's burial site, potentially complicating a sale.
Published: Thu, Aug 04, 2016
