State's high court won't reconsider baby death case appeal
National News
Ohio's Supreme Court has declined to reconsider an appeal by a former high school cheerleader charged with killing and burying her newborn baby.
The court declined in February to hear Brooke Skylar Richardson's appeal after a lower court ruled doctors can testify in the Warren County case. The state Supreme Court declined Wednesday to reconsider the appeal.
Richardson's attorneys wanted prosecutors barred from presenting testimony from an obstetrics-gynecology practice's staff, citing physician-patient privilege.
A lower court ruled public interest in detecting crimes to protect society outweighed doctor-patient privilege in the case.
Prosecutors say the now 19-year-old buried the full-term baby shortly after giving birth in 2017.
She has pleaded not guilty to charges including aggravated murder.
Richardson's attorney, Charles H. Rittgers, says the defense is prepared to go to trial.
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Texas Adopts Statewide Texting-While-Driving Ban
Effective September 1, 2017, Texas will become the 47th state to pass a statewide ban on texting while driving. Governor Abbott’s signing of House Bill 62 is an effort to unify Texas under a uniform ban and remedy the “patchwork quilt of regulations that dictate driving practices in Texas.”
The bill specifically prohibits drivers from reading, writing, or sending an electronic message on a device unless the vehicle is stopped. That includes texting and emailing. It does not, however, prohibit dialing a number to call someone, talking on the phone using a hands-free device, or using the phone’s GPS system.
Violations would be punishable by a fine ranging from $25 to $99, to be set by each municipality. Although penalties could rise to as much as $200 for repeat offenders.
Studies have found that a driver’s reaction time is half as much when a driver is distracted by sending or reading a text message. According to state officials, in 2015 more than 105,000 traffic accidents in Texas involved distracted driving, leading to at least 476 fatalities.