Ohio
In rare reversal, court overturns cocaine filler case
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - Ohio's top court has ruled that sentences for suspects caught with cocaine can be based on the weight of the entire amount, which could include filler material such as baking soda.
The Ohio Supreme Court's 5-2 decision Monday overturned its own decision late last year, which held that sentences must be based on how much pure cocaine the suspects had.
The rare reversal came after the Wood County Prosecutor's Office asked the court to reconsider its December ruling.
The 2012 case stemmed from a drug sting near Toledo that netted an 11-year sentence for a man convicted of buying more than 100 grams of cocaine from an undercover informant.
Prosecutors have said the earlier decision would have delayed and shortened sentences for suspects caught with cocaine.
New York
Man threw gas on wife, set her on fire, killing her
SCHENECTADY, N.Y. (AP) - Authorities in New York say a man threw gasoline on his wife and set her on fire during an argument, killing her.
Police in Schenectady say a fire was reported Saturday morning at the home of Elizabeth Gonzales and Antonio Bargallo. A neighbor awoken by her screams used a blanket to put out the flames on her burning clothes.
Officials say the 48-year-old Gonzales told police her husband threw gas on her and set her ablaze. She was airlifted to a hospital, where she died Sunday morning.
The current charges against the 69-year-old Bargallo include attempted murder. Police say the charge likely will be upgraded to second-degree murder.
Texas
New owners of home find human remains in attic
HOUSTON (AP) - The new owners of a Houston bungalow have discovered human remains in an attic wall that may belong to the previous owner who went missing at least two years ago.
The residents were moving into the home Saturday when they found a gap in the wall and discovered bones.
Authorities are trying to determine if the remains are those of 61-year-old Mary Cerruti.
A bank foreclosed on her home in 2015 after mortgage payments had stopped. Liens on the property were settled, the house was cleaned out and it was later placed on the market.
Police Detective Jason Fay tells the Houston Chronicle that it's not clear if the victim was killed and placed in the wall, or may have tripped and fallen into the space.
Pennsylvania
Sandusky moved to a prison that is medium security
SOMERSET, Pa. (AP) - Former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky has been moved from a maximum-security prison to a medium-security facility in western Pennsylvania.
State prison officials say the 73-year-old was initially assigned to the State Correctional Institution-Greene because he was considered to be vulnerable given the nature of his child-sex abuse conviction, and his high profile.
But Sandusky has since been moved to SCI-Somerset, a medium-security prison about 70 miles southeast of Pittsburgh. That prison houses about 2,400 inmates.
Sandusky is serving 30 to 60 years in prison for his 2012 conviction on charges he molested several boys he met through The Second Mile, a charity he founded.
Ohio
OD survivors face misdemeanor charge in city
WASHINGTON COURT HOUSE, Ohio (AP) - An Ohio community is trying to fight the heroin epidemic by bringing a misdemeanor charge against drug users who are revived by emergency responders using an overdose antidote.
Authorities began using that strategy last month in Washington Court House, a Fayette County community roughly halfway between Cincinnati and Columbus. They're citing people with inducing panic if responders revive them with naloxone, police Chief Brian Hottinger said.
The misdemeanor charge is punishable by up to 180 days in jail and a $1,000 fine.
City Attorney Mark Pitstick told WSYX-TV that the strategy is aimed not at locking up more people, but at giving authorities a way to track who has overdosed and to try to offer assistance.
"We're here to help," Pitstick said. "We're not here to put them in jail."
At least seven people have been issued summonses for inducing panic, so far.
WSYX-TV said those it reached from that group declined to talk about their cases or the police approach.
City officials said that people who call 911 for an overdose or people who are with the drug user won't be charged.
The change in approach comes after a burst of overdoses in Fayette County in late January and early February, when there were 30 suspected overdoses, including six deaths, in a 10-day period, WCMH-TV reported.
Texas
4 Bandidos gang members indicted in death of man
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) - Four members of the Bandidos motorcycle gang have been indicted on charges they conspired to kill a man who was attempting to launch a Texas chapter of the Hell's Angels in Austin.
Federal authorities say the four include 47-year-old Johnny Romo, who holds a national position with the gang. The charges against him include murder in aid of racketeering.
Authorities say Romo and the others conspired to kill Anthony Benesh in a 2006 sniper attack as he stood outside an Austin restaurant.
Prosecutors say the Bandidos didn't want a rival gang to diminish their power and territory, and had threatened Benesh against starting a chapter.
The four men were indicted and taken into custody Thursday.
Rhode Island
97-year-old twins freeze to death after falling
BARRINGTON, R.I. (AP) - Two 97-year-old twin sisters apparently froze to death Saturday after they fell outside and were stranded overnight just steps from one of their Rhode Island homes.
Jean Haley, of Barrington, was trying to call for help and fell after noticing her sister, Martha Williams, of East Providence, had fallen also, Barrington Police said.
The sisters had returned to Haley's home from dinner Friday night with their 89-year-old sister.
They said Williams was going to her car to leave Haley's home when she fell in the driveway, near the rear of her vehicle. When Haley attempted to re-enter her home to call for help, police said she may have tripped on a rug in the garage and fallen.
A neighbor found the twin sisters the next morning. They were rushed to Rhode Island Hospital in Providence in critical condition, but died a short time later.
Published: Tue, Mar 07, 2017
