COURT SIDES WITH FAMILY OF UTAH BOY KILLED BY BEAR: SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The Utah Supreme Court has sided with a family that sued the state after a bear killed their 11-year-old son at a campground in 2007.
The court ruled Friday that a lower court erred in deciding the state was not at fault. The justices found that a bear shouldn't be considered part of the "natural condition on the land" as the lower court ruled.
The ruling sends the case back to a lower court.
The family argued before the Supreme Court that Division of Wildlife Services workers should've warned them when they arrived at a campground in American Fork Canyon on Father's Day 2007 that the site had been abandoned earlier that day because of a non-fatal bear attack.
Sam Ives was asleep that night when the bear ripped through his tent, pulled him out and killed him.
NJ MAN WHO CONFESSED TO '90 SLAYING GETS 30 YEARS: MAYS LANDING, N.J. (AP) — A guilt-ridden New Jersey man who confessed this year to having killed a teenager 23 years ago was sentenced Friday to 30 years in prison, after telling the victim's relatives: "You deserve to see me suffer."
Steven Goff, 41, will have to serve at least half that sentence before being eligible for parole for his conviction on a charge of aggravated manslaughter.
Goff turned up at a police station in April to confess to the crime. He said he could no longer live with the guilt of having killed 15-year-old Frederick Hart and leaving him to die in woods behind their homes in Galloway Township in May 1990.
In court Friday, The Press of Atlantic City reports that Goff told the victim's family: "I wanted to give you your justice. You deserve to see me suffer."
His attorney had said Goff turned himself in because he wanted to get the killing "off his chest." A friend told The Associated Press, shortly after the confession, that Goff had been haunted by nightmares in which he would see the victim's mother staring at him.
"He said it's been gnawing at him for years," said the friend, Alan Rickel, who spoke with Goff after he was jailed.
Goff was a high school senior at the time of the killing, and his victim a freshman. A motive was not given, though Goff said at his plea hearing he was in a rage when he killed Hart.
Mich. judge: Detroit bankruptcy move is illegal
DETROIT (AP) — A judge is ordering Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder to withdraw Detroit's bankruptcy petition, saying the state is illegally trampling the rights of pensioners.
However, the decision is unlikely to have any effect on the bankruptcy. That's because once a bankruptcy filing is made, it generally trumps other litigation in state courts.
Ingham County Judge Rosemarie Aquilina's decision Friday came in a lawsuit filed by Detroit pensioners. The judge had planned an emergency hearing Thursday, but Detroit then filed for bankruptcy protection.
The judge says plaintiffs in the case were "blindsided."
The attorney general's office says it will take Aquilina's order to the state appeals court.
DOG MAULS LITTLE GIRL IN VENTURA: VENTURA (AP) — Ventura police say a 5-year-old girl was mauled by a large Rottweiler dog as she walked down Main Street with a parent.
A Police Department statement says multiple 911 calls reported the attack at 7:23 p.m. Thursday.
Witnesses told authorities the girl was walking past the leashed dog outside a coffee shop when it lunged, bit into the child's abdomen, lifted her off the ground and shook her violently. Police say the dog's owner had to pry its mouth open to release the child.
The victim was taken to Ventura County Medical Center for treatment of several puncture wounds and bruising. Her name was withheld.
The dog was seized for quarantine by animal control authorities.
ARSONIST ORDERED TO PAY $8.9M FOR CHURCH FIRE: LOS ANGELES (AP) — Los Angeles County prosecutors say a convicted arsonist has been ordered to pay $8.9 million in restitution and serve an 18-year sentence for setting a church fire in Hacienda Heights.
Deputy District Attorney Renee Rose says 35-year-old Gregory Yusuke Shiga was sentenced Friday for the fire at St. John Vianney Catholic Church.
Investigators say the April 16, 2011, fire was started after saturated rolls of toilet paper were placed around the church during a break-in.
The walls and ceiling were also soaked with accelerant before the blaze was lit.
PELOSI WON'T SAY IF SAN DIEGO MAYOR SHOULD RESIGN: WASHINGTON (AP) — House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi won't say if she thinks the mayor of San Diego should resign over allegations he has repeatedly groped women.
San Diego Mayor Bob Filner is a fellow California Democrat and onetime House colleague. But Pelosi told reporters Friday she won't make judgments about the accusations.
She was asked whether Filner should step down. Pelosi says what happens in San Diego should be left to city residents and says she is not fully informed about the situation.
The 70-year-old Filner has rejected calls to resign and says he is not guilty. Even so, the mayor apologized for his behavior this week after the allegations became public. He said he failed to respect some female employees and at times intimidated them.
A jury found Shiga guilty of aggravated arson and other crimes on July 9.
TEEN DIES IN 16-STORY FALL FROM ALA. BEACH CONDO: ORANGE BEACH, Ala. (AP) — A Louisiana teenager is dead after falling 16 stories into the pool at a beachfront condominium in Alabama.
Orange Beach police say 18-year-old Challenge Talbot of Thibodaux, La., was found dead about 3:45 a.m. Friday.
Authorities say Talbot fell from a balcony on the 16th floor at Turquoise Place Condominiums and landed in the water.
A couple walking by the pool found the body. Police say there were no witnesses, but they're still investigating.
Authorities plan an autopsy.
