"Court overturns convictions in Amish hair attacks" by Amanda Lee Myers | Associated Press August 28, 2014
CINCINNATI — Personal conflict, not religion, was the driving motive behind beard- and hair-cutting attacks targeting Amish, an appeals court panel ruled Wednesday in overturning the hate-crime convictions of 16 men and women.
A panel of the US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit sided with arguments by attorneys for the Amish defendants, who were convicted two years ago in five attacks in 2011. The attacks were in apparent retaliation against Amish who had defied or denounced the authoritarian style of Sam Mullet Sr., leader of the Bergholz community in eastern Ohio.
See: The Amish Conspiracy
In a deeply divided decision, two of the three judges on the panel concluded that the jury received incorrect instructions about how to weigh the role of religion in the attacks. They also said prosecutors should have had to prove that the assaults would not have happened but for religious motives.
‘‘When all is said and done, considerable evidence supported the defendants’ theory that interpersonal and intra-family disagreements, not the victims’ religious beliefs, sparked the attacks,’’ the judges wrote.
They said it was unfair to conclude that ‘‘because faith permeates most, if not all, aspects of life in the Amish community, it necessarily permeates the motives for the assaults in this case.’’
Church leaders, ‘‘whether Samuel Mullet or Henry VIII, may do things, including committing crimes or even creating a new religion, for irreligious reasons,’’ they wrote.
Mullet has served nearly three years of his 15-year sentence, while seven other men in the community are serving between five and seven years in prison. The other eight Amish convicted in the attacks served one year in prison and have returned to their communities or are about to be released from two-year sentences.
Defense lawyer Wendi Overmyer said she probably would seek the release of Mullet and the seven other men as the government considers its options.
‘‘Sam and the rest of the defendants pose no danger to the community, they don’t pose a flight risk,’’ she said. ‘‘They’re needed at their homes.’’
Amish, who live in rural communities, dress and live simply and shun many aspects of the modern age such as electricity, refrigeration, and computers. They do not drive and often get around in horse-drawn buggies.
They believe the Bible instructs women to let their hair grow long and men to grow beards once they marry. Cutting it is considered shameful and doing so forcibly is considered offensive.
In a strong dissenting opinion of the Sixth Circuit’s ruling, Judge Edmund A. Sargus Jr. wrote that religion was a clear motive for the 2011 attacks and that the hate-crime convictions were appropriate, especially against Mullet.
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Getting time to give myself and the Globe a buzz.
"Father of student: fatal flight was to see sights" Associated Press August 27, 2014
CLEVELAND — A small rented airplane crashed and burned shortly after takeoff Monday, killing all four college students aboard who were taking a sightseeing flight around Cleveland after the first day of classes.
The four men killed were students at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, and three of them were members of the varsity wrestling team, school officials said Tuesday.
The wrestlers were identified as 20-year-old Lucas Marcelli of Massillon, Ohio; 18-year-old Abraham Pishevar of Rockville, Md.; and 18-year-old John Hill of St. Simons, Ga. The fourth student was the 20-year-old pilot, William Felten of Saginaw, Mich.
The Ohio State Highway Patrol said the plane had been rented by Felten for four hours. No flight plan was filed.
The plane crashed in Willoughby Hills shortly after taking off from the Cuyahoga County Regional Airport about 10 p.m. Monday. An explosion followed. The four men were trapped inside the wreckage.
The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board will be investigating the crash.
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"Ohio driver accused of hot-bus punishment resigns" | Associated Press August 29, 2014
LEBANON, Ohio — A school bus driver has resigned after being accused of making elementary-age students sit with the windows up in hot weather as a punishment.
Lebanon school officials had placed driver Benjamin Spaulding on administrative leave after hearing complaints about what happened Monday afternoon. They say the seven-year driver resigned just before a scheduled disciplinary hearing Wednesday in the southwest Ohio city.
Spaulding’s listed phone number was not in service Thursday.
Police were investigating complaints that Spaulding pulled the bus over Monday because students were unruly, the Hamilton-Middletown Journal-News reported. He ordered them to close windows, then left them inside for a yet-undetermined time before returning to finish his route, officials said. The temperature was about 90 degrees Monday afternoon.
Police Sergeant Dave Gehringer said that the investigation was still in its early stages, and that it was too soon to say whether Spaulding would face charges.
Lebanon police said in a press release that investigators do not believe any students suffered any physical harm, but Gehringer said investigators want to hear from parents.
School officials said students from an elementary school and an intermediate school were aboard.
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"Police: 911 botches call about child locked in car" | The Tampa (Fla.) Tribune August 28, 2014
TAMPA — A 911 dispatcher is in trouble over his response to a mother who called for help after her 10-month-old son accidentally locked himself in her car, police said.
Shana Dees said she put her son Jack in his car seat Saturday afternoon and when she went to move a shopping cart, Jack hit the lock button on the keychain remote, The Tampa Tribune reported. She called 911 because it was hot inside the car and was shocked by the dispatcher’s response.
‘‘We won’t be able to try and gain access to the car unless the child is in some kind of distress,’’ Dees said the dispatcher told her. ‘‘And by that point, they may just smash your windows.’’ Then he hung up.
A Tampa police spokeswoman said the dispatcher should have sent an officer and fire rescue to the scene.
An off-duty officer at a store called 911 again and got help from another dispatcher.
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Related: Maryland Mother Murdered Children in Middle School Parking Lot
"Death of Conn. toddler left in hot car ruled a homicide
The death of a 15-month-old Connecticut boy who was left in a hot car in July has been ruled a homicide. The office of the state medical examiner determined that Benjamin Seitz died of hyperthermia after he was left in the car. The toddler’s father, Kyle Seitz of Ridgefield, was supposed to take his son to day care July 7, but went to work and left him in the car as temperatures climbed into the upper 80s. He took the boy to the hospital after later finding him in the car. A police investigation into the death is continuing. Captain Jeff Kreitz of the Ridgefield police told WTNH-TV Thursday that detectives plan to meet with prosecutors to discuss the medical examiner’s findings."
