Boston Herald - Boston Herald

Boy, 13, charged in 'wrestling' death of girl, 5

Associated Press — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 21:52:00 -0400

NEW ORLEANS — A 13-year-old boy from a New Orleans suburb was charged with second-degree murder in the death of his 5-year-old half-sister after investigators said he told them he repeatedly struck her with wrestling moves imitated from TV.

"The 13-year-old reported he started to wrestle with the victim and practiced 'WWE' style wrestling moves on the 5-year-old," Col. John Fortunato of the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office said in a news release Tuesday.

Va. cabbie pursues charges after anti-Muslim rant

Associated Press — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 19:37:00 -0400

McLEAN, Va. — For the second time in as many months, a Muslim civil rights group is pursuing criminal charges on behalf of a taxicab driver who was subjected to an anti-Islamic rant caught on tape.

In the most recent case, an Ashburn, Va., woman unleashed a string of expletives and called 911 to report she was afraid for her life because she said her cabbie, Abdikar Aden of Alexandria, was "very Muslim."

Aden says the woman also poked him repeatedly in the back.

3 more plead guilty in probe of Pilot Flying J

Associated Press — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 18:16:48 -0400

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Three more employees of the truck stop chain owned by the Cleveland Browns' owner and Tennessee's governor pleaded guilty Tuesday in what authorities call a scheme to cheat trucking firms out of rebates.

Regional sales manager Kevin Clark pleaded guilty to mail fraud in federal court in Knoxville. Local media reported that account manager Holly Radford and salesman Jay Stinnett entered similar pleas later in the day.

NTSB rules in 2011 Mayo Clinic helicopter crash

Associated Press — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 14:39:50 -0400

MIAMI — Federal officials investigating a helicopter crash that a killed Mayo Clinic heart surgeon and technician say financial pressures likely contributed to the pilot's decision to continue flying through deteriorating weather.

The National Transportation Safety Board published its probable cause report about the crash late Monday. The board found no evidence that the helicopter or pilot E. Hoke Smith of SK Logistics in St. Augustine were experiencing any problems.

Girl who lost feet in lawnmower gets prosthetics

Associated Press — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 14:17:24 -0400

TAMPA, Fla. — A toddler whose feet were amputated after her father accidentally backed over her with a riding lawnmower is taking her first steps on her new prosthetic test legs.

Ireland Nugent has been in a wheelchair and has undergone seven surgeries since the April 11 accident. She was fitted with her new legs Monday and promptly took off walking as soon as they were on.

Woman pleads not guilty in buttocks-injection case

Associated Press — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 13:47:00 -0400

JACKSON, Miss. — A Mississippi woman has pleaded not guilty to killing a woman by giving silicone injections as a buttocks enhancement.

Tracey Lynn Garner entered the plea Tuesday in Hinds County Circuit Court.

Judge Winston Kidd says he'll consider Garner's request to be released on bond. Kidd also extended a gag order to prevent attorneys from discussing charges against Garner.

The 53-year-old is charged with two counts of depraved heart murder, each punishable by life in prison.

Attorney: Judge in gay sex trial should step down

Associated Press — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 13:14:27 -0400

VERO BEACH, Fla. — The attorney for an 18-year-old Florida teen who was charged with a felony for having sexual contact with her 14-year-old girlfriend is asking the judge to remove himself from the case.

Attorney Julia Graves said she is concerned that Circuit Judge Robert Pegg is biased against the defendant because she is gay.

Kaitlyn Hunt was charged with lewd and lascivious battery on a child in February. Gay-rights advocates say Hunt is being unfairly targeted for what would be considered a common romance if it involved straight people.

Virginia site of Pocahontas rescue will be preserved

Associated Press — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 08:53:17 -0400

GLOUCESTER, Va. — The site where archaeologists and historians believe Pocahontas rescued English Capt. John Smith from death will be preserved under a new agreement.

But Native Americans say that event is just a footnote for the 57-acre site in Tidewater Virginia. They say the real story is that it was the center of a complex, sprawling empire ruled by Pocahontas' father, Chief Powhatan (pow-ah-'TAN)

Naval Academy moves ahead on sexual assault case

Associated Press — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 05:14:41 -0400

ANNAPOLIS, Md. — The U.S. Naval Academy's superintendent has decided to move ahead with proceedings in a sexual assault case involving football players and a female midshipman.

The academy announced Monday that Vice Adm. Michael Miller has decided to send the case to Article 32 proceedings. That is the military equivalent of a preliminary hearing or grand jury investigation.

The woman says the assault took place at an off-campus house in Annapolis last year.

Woman charged in 2nd buttocks-enhancement death

Associated Press — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 05:13:43 -0400

JACKSON, Miss. — A Mississippi woman has been charged in a second death related to giving buttocks-enhancing injections without being trained or licensed.

The state attorney general's office says 53-year-old Tracey Lynn Garner of Jackson, formerly known as Morris Garner, was arrested Thursday and charged with one count of depraved heart murder. Conviction carries a potential life sentence.

The release says Garner injected "a silicone substance" into Marilyn Hale of Selma, Ala., on Jan. 13, 2010, and Hale later died.

More possible Zimmerman jurors asked to return

Associated Press — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 22:36:03 -0400

SANFORD, Fla. — Potential jurors' views on race were the focus of questioning Monday in the second week of jury selection for the Florida murder trial of George Zimmerman in the fatal shooting of Trayvon Martin.

A defense attorney questioned a potential juror extensively about her views on the racially charged case and whether she was bothered by protests led by civil rights leaders after Zimmerman's shooting last year of the unarmed 17-year-old Martin.

Ex-North Carolina Gov. Jim Holshouser dies at 78

Associated Press — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 17:23:22 -0400

RALEIGH, N.C. — Jim Holshouser, who was North Carolina's first Republican governor elected in the 20th century, has died. He was 78.

In a statement released by Gov. Pat McCrory's office, Holshouser's family said he had been in declining health before he died Monday at First Health of the Carolinas Medical Center in Pinehurst.

Holshouser was a state legislator who became North Carolina's youngest governor at age 38 when he was swept into office by President Richard Nixon's 1972 electoral landslide. He served a single term.

Public access fight over Manning docs in Md. court

Associated Press — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 16:54:21 -0400

BALTIMORE — A dispute over public access to court records in the case of Pfc. Bradley Manning has moved to a civilian court.

The New York-based Center for Constitutional Rights asked an Army court in 2012 for access to documents in the court-martial, which is being held at Fort Meade. In April, the military's highest court ruled it wasn't the right place for the dispute.

A government lawyer said Monday the issue is moot because the Army is now making pre-trial records available online and promises to continue to do so.

Jury: No medical negligence in penile implant

Associated Press — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 15:39:34 -0400

WILMINGTON, Del. — A jury in Delaware says there was no medical negligence in a penile implant procedure that the patient said left him with an 8-month erection.

The New Castle County Superior Court jury decided that urologist Dr. Thomas Desperito was not negligent in the procedure he performed in December 2009 on 44-year-old truck driver Daniel Metzgar.

W.Va. sheriff killing suspect denied bail

Associated Press — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 14:54:45 -0400

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — A man accused of gunning down a West Virginia sheriff has lost a bid for bail ahead of his first-degree murder trial.

Tennis Maynard's attorney argued at a Monday hearing that he's seen no evidence the slaying of Mingo County Sheriff Eugene Crum was premeditated. Maynard has pleaded not guilty.

Lawyer Richard Weston said Maynard had followed a mundane routine that April morning. The 37-year-old went food shopping, and had groceries in his vehicle when he was captured.

Man admits to backside slashings in northern Va.

Associated Press — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 14:39:49 -0400

FAIRFAX, Va. — A former day laborer has pleaded guilty to sneaking up on multiple women in northern Virginia and cutting their backsides with a razor blade or box cutter.

Johnny Guillen Pimentel pleaded Monday in Fairfax County Circuit Court to two counts each of malicious wounding and unlawful wounding. The attacks occurred over several months in 2011.

Court says jury should have final say in minimums

Associated Press — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 10:16:53 -0400

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court says a jury should have the final say on facts that can trigger mandatory minimum sentences in criminal trials.

The high court on Monday overturned the sentencing in Allen Alleyne's case in a 5-4 judgment. He was convicted of robbery and firearm possession in Richmond, Va. The jury said Alleyne's accomplice did not brandish a weapon, but the judge said he did, raising Alleyne's minimum sentence from five to seven years on that charge.

Man wanted in Tenn. shooting surrenders

Associated Press — Sun, 16 Jun 2013 13:15:21 -0400

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Authorities say a man accused of shooting his girlfriend and her three teenage daughters in a neighborhood near Nashville has surrendered to officials in Memphis.

Shelby County Sheriff's Office spokesman Earnest Moore told WSMV-TV (http://bit.ly/11ELcnG) that Earnest Moore, who also goes by Earnest Woodley, turned himself in around 4:20 a.m. Sunday.

Nashville police were expected to travel to Memphis and bring him back.

Attorney confident Zimmerman jury seated soon

Associated Press — Sat, 15 Jun 2013 04:26:03 -0400

SANFORD, Fla. — A defense attorney in George Zimmerman's murder trial said at the end of the first week of jury selection that he thinks a jury could be seated by the middle of next week.

After five days of the selection process, 29 potential jurors have passed through an initial round of questioning about what knowledge they have already gained through media and other means about the fatal shooting of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in a Sanford, Fla., gated community.

Fla. sports bar deck collapses, dozens into water

Associated Press — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 02:44:04 -0400

NORTH BAY VILLAGE, Fla. — A packed outdoor deck behind a popular Miami-area sports bar partially collapsed during the NBA Finals on Thursday night, sending dozens of patrons into the shallow waters of Biscayne Bay.

Miami-Dade Fire Chief David Downey said 24 people were taken to area hospitals. Many had cuts and bruises, though one person suffered a fracture, a fire official said. Two people were in serious condition.

Authorities said about 100 people were on the deck of Shucker's Bar & Grill in North Bay Village, north of Miami Beach, when it gave way.