National Roundup

New Jersey
Doctor convicted in $200M health fraud scheme

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) - An elderly doctor accused of accepting kickbacks as part of a $200 million bribes-for-test referrals scheme run by a New Jersey blood testing lab has been convicted on all counts.

Federal prosecutors say jurors deliberated for just over four hours Monday before finding 79-year-old Bernard Greenspan guilty of crimes including violating federal anti-kickback laws. The River Edge resident faces a lengthy prison term when he's sentenced June 20.

Prosecutors say Greenspan accepted about $200,000 in bribes from employees and associates of Parsippany-based Biodiagnostic Laboratory Services from March 2006 to April 2013.

Prosecutors say Greenspan's referrals alone generated more than $3 million in revenue for the company.

North Carolina
Authorities want mental exam of man in mother's decapitation

ZEBULON, N.C. (AP) - North Carolina prosecutors will seek a mental evaluation of an 18-year-old man charged with decapitating his mother at a home east of Raleigh.

Eighteen-year-old Oliver Funez was charged with first-degree murder Monday after a deputy responding to a 911 call saw the man walk out of a home in Zebulon with his mother's head in one hand and what appeared to be a large knife in the other hand.

Deputies found the body of 35-year-old Yesenia Funez Beatriz Machado in the home.

Franklin County District Attorney Mike Waters told WRAL-TV on Tuesday it could take weeks to months to determine Funez's mental state.

He was ordered held on Tuesday. His next court appearance is scheduled March 14.

Pennsylvania
School board member under fire for racial slur

SPRING GROVE, Pa. (AP) - A Pennsylvania politician who apologized for criticizing a church that wished Muslims a "blessed Ramadan" is under fire again - this time for a slur referring to Mexicans on his Twitter page.

Spring Grove school board member Matthew Jansen insisted his Twitter account was hacked and he was not responsible for the slur in a response to an illegal immigration article on Feb. 6.

More than 50 people attended Monday night's school board meeting to demand his resignation, some holding signs reading "Jansen resign now" and "No place for hate."

Jansen acknowledged in February that he might have used the slur previously, but he would never use that language now. He said he's had a change of heart since the uproar over his Muslim criticism last summer. The tweet was deleted shortly after it was posted.

School board president Cindy Huber gave a statement before the public-comment portion of Monday's meeting explaining that the board can't force a member to resign and distancing the board from Jansen's personal social media activity.

After the meeting, Jansen said he will not resign.

Last June, Jansen called St. Paul's United Church of Christ, in Dallastown, to complain about a message on its sign "Wishing a blessed Ramadan to our Muslim neighbors." The Rev. Christopher Rodkey said the caller termed the sign "despicable" and referred to Islam as a "godless" and "pagan" religion. Jansen, who also was an elected delegate to the Republican National Convention, also posted a photo of the sign on social media with the church's phone number.

He apologized for what he called "venting" and later attended a worship service and dined at a Harrisburg mosque.

He told members of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community that his remarks were part of a "knee-jerk reaction."

Ohio
Judge OKs new Cleveland police policies on the mentally ill

CLEVELAND (AP) - New Cleveland police policies aimed at steering people with mental health issues toward treatment instead of jail have been approved by the federal judge overseeing reforms of the police department.

In some cases involving people having a mental health or substance abuse crisis, officers with specialized training will be allowed to refer those individuals to hospitals and treatment facilities rather than arrest them for minor crimes.

Cleveland.com reports the judge's order says the new policy gives such officers "appropriate discretion" in those cases.

It's one of the key provisions in a court-monitored reform agreement between Cleveland and the U.S. Department of Justice. The agreement was reached in 2015, after a federal investigation concluded officers showed a pattern and practice of using excessive force on people, including the mentally ill.

Maryland
Supreme Court justice family apologizes to family of slave

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) - The family of the chief justice who presided over the Supreme Court 160 years ago apologized to the family of a slave who tried to sue for his freedom.

Charley Taney on Monday apologized for the words written by his great-great-grand-uncle Roger Brooke Taney in the U.S. Supreme Court's Dred Scott decision. Roger Taney wrote that African Americans could not have rights of their own and were inferior to white people.

Charley Taney stood outside the Maryland State House on Monday and apologized to Lynne Jackson, the great-great-granddaughter of Dred Scott, whose lawsuit prompted the decision. Jackson accepted the apology for her family and for "all African Americans."

Monday marked the 160-year anniversary of the decision. The apology took place in front of a statue of Roger Brooke Taney.

Rhode Island
Ex-hoops coach seeks new trial for embezzlement

SOUTH KINGSTOWN, R.I. (AP) - A former boxing promoter, ex-college basketball coach and founder of a Rhode Island-based sport institute is seeking a new trial after he was convicted of embezzlement.

Jurors convicted Dan Doyle, of the Institute for International Sport, of counts including embezzlement, forgery and obtaining money under false pretenses.

Prosecutors said Doyle, of West Hartford, Connecticut, stole more than $1 million to pay for items including college tuition and wedding expenses for his children.

The Providence Journal reports his lawyer on Monday argued for a new trial, saying prosecutors failed to prove Doyle embezzled money from the institute.

The attorney general's office says a decision is expected within 30 days.

Doyle was once a boxing promoter for Sugar Ray Leonard and the head men's basketball coach at Trinity College in Connecticut.

Published: Wed, Mar 08, 2017