$1M BAIL FOR MAN ACCUSED IN BABY-FREEZER CASE: TACOMA, Wash. (AP) — Bail was set at $1 million Tuesday for a 25-year-old Washington man accused of putting his 6-week-old daughter in a 10-degree freezer for about an hour to stop her crying.
Doctors believe the baby will survive but it's too soon to know potential complications, Pierce County Prosecutor Mark Lindquist said.
The child's core temperature fell to 84 degrees in the freezer, prosecutors said. She also had a broken arm and leg and a head injury, medical staff determined.
Tyler James Deutsch pleaded not guilty to charges of child assault, criminal mistreatment and interfering with the reporting of domestic violence. He was represented by a public defender.
According to court papers, Deutsch gave Pierce County sheriff's officers several accounts but finally said he put the child in the freezer Saturday afternoon "because he was tired and she was crying."
Deutsch said he fell asleep, awoke as the baby's 22-year-old mother returned to their trailer in Roy, Wash., and was removing the baby from the freezer as the mother came in, according to the prosecutor's account.
Deutsch said little at Tuesday's arraignment other than to answer "yes" to Pierce County Court Commissioner Meagan Foley's questions about his address and the spelling of his name, The News Tribune reported.
The baby was clothed when the mother left, charging papers said, but wore only a diaper when she was removed from the freezer.
The man is accused of taking a phone away when the mother tried to call for help. She took the child and got neighbors to call 911, authorities said.
POLICE: NM DRIVER DROVE DRUNK WHILE HAVING SEX: ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A New Mexico man faces multiple charges after police say he was having sex with a woman while driving drunk and crashed, ejecting the woman from the vehicle.
The Albuquerque Journal 25-year-old Luis Briones was found with one shoe on and his shorts on inside-out Monday night after he wrecked his Ford Explorer in Albuquerque.
Police say Briones' female passenger was found naked outside the SUV after being ejected. She had deep cuts to her face and head.
Authorities allege Briones tried to drive away after the crash and leave his passenger behind, but a witness grabbed his keys from the ignition. He also allegedly tried to hide from responding officers behind a cactus.
Briones is charged with aggravated DWI, reckless driving and evading police.
DISNEY WORLD PATRON FINDS GUN ON RIDE: LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) — A Walt Disney World patron on a ride with her grandson found a loaded gun on her seat, officials said Wednesday.
Officials said that the woman found the pistol on the Dinosaur ride at Animal Kingdom. The woman turned over the loaded weapon to a park attendant, who then contacted her manager and authorities.
The gun's owner, Angelo Lista, told authorities he discovered his gun was missing several minutes after leaving the ride. He has a concealed weapons permit.
Lista told authorities he didn't know Disney World patrons weren't allowed to bring guns. He said he thought the security checkpoint at the entrance to the Florida theme park was only so that guards could check bags for bombs or explosives. Patrons do not walk through metal detectors nor are they subject to patdowns.
Disney World prohibits patrons from bringing weapons of any kind on its property.
LIBERACE MOVIE IS HBO'S BIGGEST SINCE 2004: NEW YORK (AP) — A healthy number of HBO subscribers were curious about Michael Douglas' performance as Liberace in the TV movie "Behind the Candelabra."
The Nielsen company said the 2.4 million people who tuned in to the movie's premiere over the Memorial Day weekend represented the network's biggest audience for one of its original movies since "Something the Lord Made" in 2004. Another 1.1 million people saw a repeat of the Liberace movie that began right after the first airing.
Dancing ruled over singing last week on the broadcast networks, depending on which audience you followed. ABC's two "Dancing With the Stars" airings last week had around 15 million viewers, the most-watched program on television. Among the younger demographic that are attractive to advertisers, however, NBC's "The Voice" was more popular.
FLA. MAN EXECUTED FOR RAPE AND MURDER OF GIRL, 10: STARKE, Fla. (AP) — A convicted child molester condemned for the 1990 rape and murder of a 10-year-old Florida girl has been executed at the Florida State Prison.
Florida Gov. Rick Scott's office said 56-year-old inmate Elmer Carroll was pronounced dead at 6:12 p.m. Wednesday at the prison in Starke.
Carroll had been convicted of first-degree murder and sexual battery in the rape and strangling death of Christine McGowan. The girl lived with her family next door to a halfway house for homeless men where Carroll was staying in Apopka.
During Carroll's two decades on death row, his lawyers argued he was too mentally ill to stand trial or be subjected to the death penalty. The U.S. Supreme Court denied that petition.
MARINES: HUMAN ERROR TO BLAME FOR DEADLY ACCIDENT: RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — A military investigation has determined human error was to blame for a March mortar explosion that killed seven U.S. Marines during a live-fire training exercise in Nevada.
1st Lt. Oliver David, a spokesman at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina, said in a press release Wednesday that a Marine operating a 60 mm mortar tube and ammunition "did not follow correct procedures, resulting in the detonation of a high explosive round at the mortar position."
The investigation initiated by Brig. Gen. James Lukeman, the commanding general of the Camp Lejeune-based 2nd Marine Division, also determined that the mortar team involved in the accident had not conducted "appropriate preparatory training" leading up to the nighttime live-fire exercise.
The Marines did not release a copy of the investigative report and declined to provide any further details about the nature of the deadly mistake. Officials also would not say whether changes to training procedures were enacted as a result of the review.
