RAPPER GETS 15-TO-LIFE FOR ROAD RAGE KILLING
excerpts from an article by KCRA-TV, Sacramento, CA

LOS ANGELES — A Swedish hip-hop artist who ran down and killed a man at a Hollywood crosswalk was sentenced Thursday to 15 years to life in state prison.

David Moses Jassy, who also uses the name Dave Monopoly, was sentenced in Los Angeles County Superior Court for the Nov. 23, 2008, death of John Osnes.

Judge Michael Johnson denied defense motions for a new trial and to reduce Jassy’s second-degree murder conviction to manslaughter.

“In my mind, there is no question that this is a murder” and Jassy “deserves every bit of punishment,” the judge said.

FOUR DANIEAL KELLY SOCIAL-SERVICE WORKERS FOUND GUILTY
excerpts from an article by Nathan Gorenstein – The Philadelphia Inquirer

Two administrators and two caseworkers from a city-funded social service agency were convicted today of health care fraud and conspiracy charges stemming from the death of Danieal Kelly, the 14-year-old with cerebral palsy who died of bedsores and malnutrition at her mother’s apartment.

While the verdicts ended a month-long federal trial, they are not the final legal acts stemming from the West Philadelphia girl’s death in August 2006 and the ensuing investigations into the agency, MultiEthnic Behavioral Health Inc., and the city’s Department of Human Services.

BOY, 12, FACES GROWN UP MURDER CHARGES
excerpts from an article by Stephanie Chen – CNN News

On a chilly morning in February 2009, state police found 26-year-old Kenzie Houk in her bed with a bullet though her head. She was eight months pregnant.

The search for her killer ended with the most surprising murder suspect residents of Wampum, Pennsylvania, had ever seen: 11-year-old Jordan Brown, the son of the victim’s fiancé.

He is one of the youngest suspects in the country to be charged with homicide, legal experts say. There are two counts of homicide, one covering the fetus.

He pleaded not guilty to the charges in May.

TUCSON MOTHER WHO LET NEWBORN STARVE GETS 25 YEARS TO LIFE
excerpts from an article by Andrea Rivera and Kim Smith – The Arizona Daily Star

Feb 25, 2010–A Tucson mother of four had nothing to say Wednesday before she was formally sentenced to life in prison for starving her 6-week-old daughter to death.

Also in the same courthouse Wednesday, Terri Lynn Sullivan’s husband went on trial separately in the baby’s death. Scott D. Sullivan is charged with first-degree murder and child abuse in connection with Kimberlie Sullivan’s death in August 2008.

Terri Sullivan, 27, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder last month, agreeing to serve a life sentence with parole possible after 25 years.

ALL OFFICERS ACQUITTED IN MINEO ABUSE TRIAL
excerpts of an article by Kareem Fahim – The New York Times

A Brooklyn jury found three police officers not guilty on Monday of abusing a suspect in the Prospect Park subway station during an arrest, in a case that recalled some of the city’s most notorious police brutality episodes but never provoked as much public outcry or departmental reform.

Acquitting all three men on all counts, the jurors rejected Michael Mineo’s claims that Officer Richard Kern repeatedly rammed a baton between his buttocks, therefore making the charges that two other officers helped him cover up the abuse irrelevant.

“It’s been a long road and it’s finally over, thank God,” Officer Kern said afterward. “I’ll finally get a good night’s sleep. I’m glad the system works.”

BABY P’s STEPFATHER SCALDED IN PRISON ATTACK
excerpts from an article by the Daily Mail (United Kingdom) Staff

Steven Barker, the stepfather of abused infant Baby P has been scalded in an attack by a fellow prisoner.

Another inmate at Wakefield prison, where Barker is serving his 12-year jail term, hurled boiling water at Barker, leaving him screaming in pain.

Some reports claimed it had been a concoction of water and sugar, which sticks to the skin and intensifies burns in the same way as napalm bombs.

But the Ministry of Justice today said no sugar had been involved.

Barker who stands 6ft 4in, suffered excruciating burns to his face and arms and will be left scarred for life following the attack.

HOSTILE GRILLING OF MICHAEL MINEO IN TRIAL OF 3 OFFICERS
excerpts from an article by Kareem Fahim – The New York Times

Stuart London, a defense lawyer, wasted little time on pleasantries as he greeted Michael Mineo on the witness stand just after 10 a.m. Tuesday.

“Good morning, Mr. Mineo, how are you?” Mr. London said. “You didn’t get stoned today before you came to court, did you?”

A prosecutor immediately objected to the question, and Mr. Mineo, who prosecutors say was sodomized by a police officer in a Brooklyn subway station, hung his head. The exchange set the tone for a morning of hostile questions by defense lawyers and increasingly irritated responses from Mr. Mineo, who was scolded several times by the judge, Alan D. Marrus, as he volunteered information without being questioned.

CORONER SAYS REMAINS LIKELY KATIE STOCKTON’S BABIES
excerpts from an article by Matt Williams – The Rockford (IL) Register Star

Feb 04, 2010–Katie Stockton is the probable mother of two infants whose remains were found in the trunk of her impounded car, Winnebago County Coroner Sue Fiduccia said today.

Both infants, discovered Aug. 12 at an impound lot in South Beloit, are believed to be female and are not twins, the coroner said. It is unclear if the babies were born alive, and the cause of their deaths has not been identified.

“The DNA testing … is pointing that Katie Stockton is the mother,” Fiduccia said. “The investigation is continuing, and we are hoping that in this next phase of our forensic testing that we will be able to determine a cause of death.”