CONVICTED CHILD KILLER SENTENCED TO DEATH
from the article by Chris Paschenko – The Galveston County Daily News

A convicted child killer should be put to death, a jury decided Monday in the county’s first death penalty hearing since the mid-1990s.

The jury of seven women and five men that convicted Travis James Mullis on March 11 of capital murder in the stomping death of his 3-month-old son, Alijah, deliberated about three hours before reaching a unanimous decision in favor of the death penalty.

The man called a monster by prosecutors took his infant son from his Alvin mobile home to an isolated berm near Galveston’s East Beach in the early morning hours of Jan. 29, 2008.

MULLIS CONVICTED IN STOMPING DEATH OF INFANT SON
from the article by Harvey Rice – The Houston Chronicle

Few were surprised when a Galveston County jury took only an hour on Friday to convict Travis James Mullis of capital murder for stomping his 3-month-old son to death more than two years ago.

As the verdict was read, Mullis, 24, sat with his hand over his mouth, as he had for most of the five-day trial, betraying no emotion.

The defense asked that the jury be polled, and state District Judge John Ellisor asked each juror whether he or she agreed with the guilty verdict. Each said yes.

CHRISTOPHER PAUCHAY TO BE RELEASED FROM PRISON
from the article by J. Warren, The StarPhoenix

Christopher Pauchay, the man who went to prison following the freezing deaths of his two young daughters, will be released from prison in less than two weeks.

Click Here To Read Christopher Pauchay’s Sentencing Decision

Pauchay, 26, will be out on statutory release with several conditions imposed by the Parole Board of Canada. He must abstain from alcohol and drugs and also report all relationships with women to his parole supervisor.

Pauchay will be released Jan. 25 when he has served two-thirds of his sentence. By law, offenders who are not likely to commit serious offenses must be released after serving two-thirds of their sentence.

DOMINIC BARBARA, LAWYER IN DIANE SCHULER CASE, LOSES LAW LICENSE IN BILLING FLAP
from the article by Timothy O’Connor – Lower Hudson Valley.com

The lawyer for the family of the wrong-way driver who killed herself and seven others in a crash on the Taconic State Parkway is going to lose his law license for 18 months for billing and bookkeeping irregularities.

The Second Appellate Division of the state Supreme Court made the ruling in the wake of a grievance committee finding that Dominic Barbara had committed four acts of professional misconduct.

Barbara represents Daniel Schuler, who denies medical findings that his wife, Diane Schuler, was drunk and high when she drove south in the northbound lanes of the Taconic parkway and crashed into a car carrying three men from Yonkers.

DISGRACED DOCTOR A COWARD TO THE END
from an article by Michelle Mandel – The Toronto Sun

His broken victims were there, his disgusted peers were present as well.

But a coward to the end, Dr. Charles Smith was a no-show at the disciplinary hearing that stripped the discredited pathologist of his license to practice medicine.

Disgraceful. Dishonorable. Unprofessional. Incompetent. He was labelled all of those things by the College of Physicians and Surgeons Tuesday after his lawyer indicated that he was pleading no contest to their charges.

But it’s not enough. Revoking his medical license is hardly much of a punishment when Smith hasn’t tried to re-register since it expired under a cloud of controversy in August 2008.

JENNIFER PETKOV PLEADS GUILTY TO ASSAULT, GETS PROBATION
from an article by Jonathan Oosting | MLive.com

Jennifer Petkov, the 33-year-old Trenton resident who gained international infamy last year after she admitted to taunting her dying 7-year-old neighbor, on Tuesday agreed to a plea deal that will require her to move from her home on Detroit Street.

The News Herald reports Petkov pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault and battery in a case involving another neighbor, Tana Boling, who she allegedly tried to run over with her car.

Feb. 1, News Herald:

Wayne County Circuit Judge Carole Youngblood sentenced Petkov to 18 months probation with the following conditions: psychological evaluation with treatment, if recommended; substance abuse evaluation with treatment, if recommended; anger management; no contact with Bowling or the five block area of Detroit Street, Washington, Cleveland, Park Place or Roerig.

LUCAS PETERSON PLEADS GUILTY TO MANSLAUGHTER
from an article by Art Hovey – The Lincoln (NE) Journal Star

As recently as September, it appeared that Lucas Peterson might never be punished for the methamphetamine-fueled rage that resulted in the death of his infant daughter, Trista, almost four years ago in a Pleasant Dale apartment.

On Thursday, he pleaded guilty to manslaughter.

Prosecutors used the leverage of a Nebraska Supreme Court ruling in their favor in obtaining a plea bargain agreement.

Peterson, 25, also acknowledged his guilt in unlawful burial and could face as many as 25 years in prison at his Feb. 28 sentencing. An original charge of child abuse resulting in death could have meant a life sentence.

MOTHER PLEADS GUILTY TO KILLING INFANT DAUGHTER
from the article by James Halpin – The Fayetteville (NC) Observer

A Spring Lake woman pleaded guilty Monday to second-degree murder in the death of her 11-month-old daughter, whose skeletal remains were discovered stuffed in a diaper box in the attic of the family home, according to the Harnett County district attorney.

Johni Michelle Heuser, 28, was sentenced to between 11 and 15 years in prison after pleading guilty to murdering Harmony Jade Creech in 2007.

Though the cause of the child’s death remains undetermined, prosecutors contended there was evidence of starvation.

Heuser had been charged with first-degree murder, but in entering the plea Monday, she removed the possibility of the death penalty.