National Roundup

New York
Donoghue named U.S. attorney for Eastern District
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. Attorney Richard Donoghue will continue as the chief prosecutor for the Eastern District of New York, a region that includes Brooklyn, Queens and Long Island.

Donoghue was appointed to the position by U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions in January and like his counterpart in Manhattan has not been formally nominated by Republican President Donald Trump.

Without a presidential nomination, judges were free to choose a U.S. attorney to serve until a permanent appointee is confirmed.

In a statement released Thursday, the court announced that Chief Judge Dora Irizarry and the other Eastern District judges were keeping Donoghue in the position. He’ll be sworn in on Friday.

Last week, Manhattan federal judges voted to keep U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman as chief prosecutor of an office that oversees over 220 prosecutors.

Indiana
Officials warn of increase in jury duty scam reports
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Federal courts officials are warning that a growing number of Indiana residents are falling prey to a nationwide jury duty scam threatening people with arrest if they don’t pay up.

The Southern District of Indiana says it has received a surge of phone calls from people victimized by those scams and says it’s “of the utmost importance” to alert the public about them.

Courts officials say the callers in the scam pose as U.S. marshals or other government officials and tell victims they’re about to be arrested for not appearing for jury duty, but can avoid arrest by paying a so-called “fine.”

Officials say government employees would never contact someone to demand payment or personal information over the phone or email.

Connecticut
Lawmakers approve 1st African-American chief justice
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — In a historic vote, Connecticut lawmakers unanimously confirmed Associate Justice Richard Robinson as the next chief justice of the Connecticut Supreme Court. He becomes the first African-American to hold the judicial branch’s top job.

The Senate on Thursday voted 36-0 in favor of Robinson’s nomination, with one top Republican lauding him as “a man of the people” who has remained grounded while having a “stellar career” as an attorney, superior court judge and associate justice. The House of Representatives unanimously approved Robinson’s nomination on Monday.

Robinson, 60, was Democratic Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s second chief justice nominee this session. Associate Justice Andrew McDonald, a former Democratic state senator and Malloy’s former legal counsel, would have been the nation’s first openly gay chief justice of a state Supreme Court if confirmed. He was narrowly rejected by the Senate in March.

Some of McDonald’s supporters, including Malloy, accused opponents of blocking the nomination for political reasons and because McDonald is openly gay. Opponents vehemently denied the accusations, claiming McDonald has been an “activist jurist.” McDonald has denied that charge.

While he didn’t bring up McDonald by name, Senate Republican leader Len Fasano on Thursday praised Robinson for his “methodology” in reaching legal decisions, saying it differentiates him from “other potential candidates” for the chief justice position. Fasano had opposed McDonald.

Robinson is “not in an isolated bubble,” said Sen. John Kissel, R-Enfield, a co-chairman of the Judiciary Committee. “He is not in some ivory tower.”

Robinson replaces former Chief Justice Chase Rogers, who retired in February. Superior Court Judge Steven Ecker was confirmed Thursday to succeed Robinson on the state’s highest court.


New York
Lawsuit: Shkreli led campaign to ruin reputation
NEW YORK (AP) — A former executive for “Pharma Bro” Martin Shkreli’s pharmaceutical company alleges the convicted felon ruined her professional reputation because she wouldn’t pledge her loyalty to him following his arrest.

Eve Costopoulos claims Shkreli led a “campaign of harassment and character assassination” in her lawsuit filed in federal court in Manhattan Thursday. She contends the attacks were driven by Shkreli’s efforts to retain control of his pharmaceutical company after he stepped down as CEO in December 2015 due to his arrest for fraud.

Shkreli was convicted last year on charges that he had been running a Ponzi scheme.

Costopoulos is seeking damages to be determined by a jury at trial.

The New York Post reports Shkreli’s lawyer did not immediately return a request for comment.

North Dakota
Mom found dead with 3 kids may have struggled with finances
GRAND FORKS, N.D. (AP) — Court records indicate a woman who, along with her three children, died of gunshot wounds at her home in North Dakota may have been struggling with financial problems.

Police discovered Astra Volk, 35, and her children, 14-year-old Tyler Talmage, 10-year-old Aidan Talmage and 6-year-old Arianna Talmage at their home in Grand Forks after a school requested a welfare check Thursday morning.

Police have not officially classified the killings as murder-suicide, but said they are not looking for any suspects and that they found a gun in the house with the bodies.

Grand Forks County court documents show a collection agency won three civil judgments totaling about $3,750 against an Astra F. Volk in the last six months of 2017 for unpaid medical bills.

A woman by the same name set up a GoFundMe account April 25 seeking money to help pay off medical bills she said were brought about in part for treatment for mental illness. The woman said she was working full-time but that her wages had been garnished.

The fundraising account had been deleted Friday.

Paula Stevens, 58, who lives two doors down from the house where the four were found, said Thursday that the family had moved into the house just a couple of months earlier.

Stevens said the house “sat empty forever” until it was recently renovated. She said the woman was living there as a renter, but that she rarely saw the family because the woman worked odd hours and the long winter kept the kids indoors.