Cherish murder trial opens


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Cherishsiliala Sheliah Tahuri-Wright loved pink and purple and liked singing and dancing.

The 3-year-old also spoke Samoan, Maori and English.

But yesterday in the High Court docket at Wanganui, Joanne Jasmine Tahuri, 57, stood trial accused of murdering her granddaughter, recognized merely as Cherish.

Opening for that prosecution, Ben Vanderkolk informed the court that Value was a normal child, although just a little clumsy at times, and had a history of asthma.

Tahuri was residing in Marton when her granddaughter came to go to with her mother on February 14, 2009.

Living with Tahuri was Cherish's 3-year-old cousin, described as having "some tough behaviours".

On the morning of February 17, 2009, among 10.30-11.30am, an employee of PEC, a factory on Station Rd in Marton, saw a child working along the road aside from Ahura St, wherever Tahuri lived.

He then noticed Tahuri come and take Value through the arm and pull her back toward Ahura St.

Mr Vanderkolk said Cherish was fatally assaulted within the time period among that sighting on Station Rd and when Tahuri known as her partner from the neighbour's telephone before midday.

When the neighbour asked Tahuri about the bruising on Cherish's encounter she replied that the cousin "did this".

The neighbour known as the police, who showed up at 12.15pm to discover Cherish with a powerful erratic pulse and blood on her teeth.

The constable described extensive bruising on Cherish's forehead, which Tahuri mentioned had happened when she fell in the weekend.

At 12.30pm Value was assessed by a doctor. She didn't respond, her pulse was weak and her breathing laboured.

Value was airlifted to Palmerston North Hospital then transferred to Wellington Hospital ,wherever she was operated on by a surgeon.

"She was alive, and he was attempting to conserve her existence," Mr Vanderkolk said.

Cherish's life help was turned off just following midnight on February 19, 2009.

Value died from blunt force impact and endured multiple bruising to her head and encounter, and a tear of the fine tissue of her inner upper lip.

Elizabeth Hall, for that defence, told the court docket that Tahuri and Value had a special bond and painted a image of closeness between the two.

She mentioned Tahuri supported her daughter and grandaughter financially and emotionally and was at Cherish's birth.

The trial continues today and is expected to take four weeks.


Indy group hears Strong case


In a way, life came complete circle Friday at the Leora Brown School in Corydon in a re-enactment with the 1800s meeting between previous Supreme Court Chief Justice Isaac Blackford and Polly Powerful, a slave who sued for her independence.

In 1816, the Indiana Constitution was formed, forbidding slavery. The exercise continued, nevertheless, till a young woman from the Vincennes area put the constitution to the test by suing for her independence. The case was appealed all the way to the Indiana Supreme Court, which ruled in Strong's favor on the courthouse in the state capitol of Corydon.

Close to 200 many years later on, a bus tour group in the Indiana Culture of Pioneers, dependent in Indianapolis, created a trip to the Brown college to look at the re-enactment. Among individuals seated in the crowd was Felesa Averitte, court reporter for Judge Tanya Walton Pratt, Indiana's first African American — male or female — federal judge who was recently confirmed by Congress to fill a vacancy for the U.S. Southern District of Indiana.

"I loved it," Averitte mentioned following getting photos inside the Leora Brown School. "It really is definitely an honor to be right here for this and see the production and visit the college. I told Judge Pratt she should have arrive, and she missed out. I'll have to bring her back again right here another time."

Maxine Brown, owner of the schoolhouse, wrote a new script for that re-enactment, which detailed the first time Powerful met Blackford. Powerful, performed for that very first time by University of Louisville student and Iraq War veteran Lanisha Gholston, 31, spoke about her existence like a slave and what her newfound independence meant to her.

During a question-and-answer session afterward, Brown said no one understands what happened towards the 22-year-old Vincennes native after the choice.

Blackford was performed by Harrison County veteran actor Lance Ponder.

The Harrison-Crawford Bar Association co-sponsored the event.

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Jury Convicts Man For Death Of Court Reporter Girlfriend


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SAN DIEGO -- A Carlsbad guy who claimed that he "snapped" and killed his on-again, off-again girlfriend last summer time when he discovered flirtatious text messages on her cell phone was convicted Monday of first-degree murder.

Jurors had been in their fourth day of deliberations once they reached their verdict against 41-year-old Jonathan Scott French, who maintained he was guilty of voluntary manslaughter, not murder.

The medical supplies salesman faces 26 years to life in state prison for the July 31 slaying of Jennifer Stark, a court reporter at the Vista Courthouse.

Retired Judge Peter Spinetta scheduled sentencing for July 12.

Jury foreman Scott Williford told reporters that French thought about what he was performing and took awhile to obtain up the nerve to destroy the 43-year-old victim.

"The evidence (showed) that he'd gone to her, used a knife, long gone via a number of drawers to discover the best knife, come back again, and there were a number of slits on her throat prior to he decided to destroy her," the juror mentioned.

Lead prosecutor Jeff Dusek mentioned the victim's loved ones has long gone through agony.

"Her mother and father, her children, her friends, her co-workers ... they experienced tremendously because of what happened," he mentioned. "It's something which could happen to any a single of us. By all accounts, Jennifer Stark must have been a fantastic lady, dating this fellow, also it pushed poor, it went real poor. It had been just agony for everyone; a ripple effect all through her whole life."

Stark's friend, Kate Powers, mentioned the responsible judgment means some closure for Stark's two teenage kids.

"This has been the most horrendous ordeal, for all people, her loved ones, her close friends, a lot of individuals in the community," she said. "We are pleased with the judgment. We skip Jenny. We think about her each and every evening. She must have been a stunning human getting that will be truly missed."

Dusek said French planned the murder and carried it out by beating and choking Stark and slicing her throat after they returned to her Carlsbad residence following a night of drinking and kissing.

Defense attorney Kenneth Kaminski told the jury that French killed Stark in the heat of passion and ought to be convicted of voluntary manslaughter.

French, testifying in his own defense, mentioned it wasn't anger that caused him to punch Stark after reading "flirtatious and suggestive" text messages from another guy.

"I just totally snapped," the accused said. "I went from zero to some thousand."

French mentioned he felt rage like he had never felt before and strike Stark, sending her towards the ground.

"I screamed at her, why?" the defendant testified.

French mentioned he hit Stark a few a lot more occasions and grabbed the unconscious lady by the neck. The accused mentioned he grabbed a knife, but didn't truly keep in mind slicing Stark's throat.

French claimed that things between him and Stark seemed to become going very well after the two got back again with each other pursuing a trip he took to Spain.

As they kissed in her house before the killing, the topic of a "goodbye" letter that he had written prior to his journey came up, the accused testified.

He testified that Stark told him that she experienced known as him twice concerning the letter while he was overseas, and pulled out her telephone to prove it.

French said he saw a name on the telephone -- Chris -- that he experienced never seen before, and questioned Stark about this.

When French yelled, "Are you still seeing him?" Stark responded, "What if I'm," the accused said upon questioning by his attorney.

Following he wiped out Stark, French mentioned he tried to reduce his wrists and stabbed himself within the leg in an try to kill himself. He said he drove close to till turning himself in on the Encinitas sheriff's substation.

On cross-examination, Dusek asked the accused why he wasn't successful at killing himself.

"There's a rage there," French mentioned. "It was not there anymore."

"Your intent was the same, wasn't it? Dusek asked.

"I just wasn't very prosperous at it," French answered.

"Why didn't you do it?" the prosecutor asked.

"It's harder to destroy yourself than you believe," the accused answered.

French said he and Stark experienced been via numerous break-ups and reconciliations from the time they met within the fall of 2006. The accused mentioned they purchased a home with each other, but it pushed into foreclosure when his actual estate appraisal business pushed south.

Stark's 15-year-old son discovered her lifeless body inside a swimming pool of blood inside a hallway upon returning house about 11 p.m.

Dr. Jonathan Lucas claimed that Stark suffered a minimum of 14 unique slice wounds to her neck -- which was fractured -- and was also beaten concerning the encounter and choked into unconsciousness.

The fatal blow was a 5 1/2-inch reduce towards the front from the victim's neck that went all the way to her spine, the deputy healthcare examiner said. He mentioned the wound pushed with the carotid artery and jugular vein and reduce throughout Stark's airway and esophagus.

The deputy healthcare examiner said Stark's nose was broken and she had 15 separate injuries -- which included 10 impact wounds -- on her face, along with bruises on her shoulder, collarbone, correct breast, arms, hands, feet and head.

Because Stark worked for that county court system, Spinetta -- a retired Contra Costa County judge -- was assigned to hear the situation in San Diego.


Driver found guilty of killing 'brother'


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A 26-YEAR-OLD Meander driver included in a fatal crash in 2008 has been so emotionally damaged through the dying of his buddy - and passenger - that he struggled to give his lawyer instructions ahead of his trial, Launceston's Supreme Court heard yesterday.

Damien Wesley Marshall Reeves was yesterday found responsible of leading to 25-year-old David Kearnes's death by dangerous driving.

Jurors deliberated for much less than 25 minutes prior to returning the unanimous verdict in the end of Reeves's two-day trial.

The crash occured on a Highland Lakes Street bend, 2.five kilometres aside from Deloraine at 7.30pm on December 4.

Mr Kearnes was killed immediately when Reeves' black Holden Commodore left the road and slammed right into a big tree.

His speed was estimated at 126 kmh about the bend.

Reeves's brother was critically injured in the crash.

In her pre-sentencing submissions yesterday, Reeves's defence lawyer Tamara Jago, SC, told the court the father- of-two was "completely and utterly devastated" by the death from the buddy he considered a brother.

"He has recurring nightmares (about the crash) and says he has become a very different individual because the accident," she said.

Ms Jago mentioned Reeves often discovered himself crying and experienced become very withdrawn.

"He frequently goes to Mr Kearnes's grave, where he will just sit and reflect and wish to have that afternoon all over once again," she said.

Reeves's seriously pregnant partner broke down in tears as the responsible verdict was study towards the court.

Ms Jago mentioned the scaffolding site manager could not comprehend "how it had all gone so horribly wrong".

Chief Justice Ewan Crawford remanded him in custody forward of his sentencing tomorrow.


Man tried to bring loaded Magnum into Fulton courthouse


A Florida guy attempted to provide a loaded handgun through a protection checkpoint in the Fulton County Courthouse, authorities announced Wednesday.

Douglas Fitzgerald, 43, of Cantonment, was transporting a .44-caliber Magnum with six hollow stage bullets inside a leather tote that he placed about the scanner, Fulton County Sheriff Ted Jackson said inside a statement issued Wednesday.

The event occured on Might 13. Fitzgerald was jailed, and has since been launched on an $8,000 bond. He was charged with carrying a concealed weapon, transporting a deadly weapon and carrying a pistol without a license, based on the sheriff.

Fitzgerald, when confronted by deputies, initially denied bringing a weapon to the courthouse , but later on said he had forgotten it was inside his bag, based on the Fulton Sheriff's Office.

Courthouse security may be an issue in Fulton because 2005, when Brian Nichols, a suspect in custody, beat a deputy and grabbed her gun, then killed a judge, a court reporter, an additional deputy and, later on, a federal agent.

Jackson recently re-opened several courthouse entrances that he had closed for security factors following judges raised concerns concerning the long lines for that public.

This really is at least the 2nd current event in Atlanta involving a gun in a protection checkpoint.

On Saturday, an off-duty Delta Air Lines pilot was arrested after he tried to provide a loaded Taurus .38 special through airport security.

Matthew Lamar McDaniel, 32, had a permit to carry a concealed handgun, according to the report, but it is illegal for most individuals to carry one into secured areas of airports. He also told police he experienced forgotten it had been in his bag.

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Burnley man accused of flashing spree

 
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A 26 year old man appeared prior to Burnley Magistrates, accused of a string of "flashing" and sex offences.

Andrew Brennand faces eight costs of exposure and three of sexual touching.

His case will be heard in the town's crown court.

The defendant, of Marton Drive, Burnley, was remanded in custody following the hearing was adjourned till June 16.