Judge tosses suit from man hit by officer's car
U.S. District Court Judge J. Randal Hall dismissed a lawsuit filed by a man who was hit by a narcotics officer's car.
Christopher D. Walton filed the federal lawsuit against Alonzo Bell and other Richmond County sheriff investigators. Investigator Bell claimed Mr. Walton was injured Oct. 3, 2005, when he tried to leap over the officer's car while fleeing. Mr. Walton and at least one independent witness said the car struck Mr. Walton as Investigator Bell tried to block him from exiting an apartment complex. Mr. Walton's leg was broken in the incident.
In an order released Tuesday, Judge Hall found that Investigator Bell accidentally hit Mr. Walton with his car while trying to prevent an escape. There was no violation of Mr. Walton's constitutional rights, the judge found.
Man sues, says peanut butter made him sick
A Wadley, Ga., man allegedly sickened by contaminated peanut butter has filed a federal lawsuit.
John Paul Williams sued ConAgra Foods Inc. in Jefferson County Superior Court, but the case was transferred to U.S. District Court this week.
Mr. Williams contends a jar of Peter Pan he bought in November 2006 was the cause of his illness and hospitalization. In February 2007, the Centers for Disease Control linked the peanut butter to cases of salmonella throughout the country. By March, 425 people became sick, and 71 needed hospitalization, according to the lawsuit.
2nd man is sentenced in air unit vandalism
A second young man who caused over $50,000 in damages by vandalizing a number of home air conditioning units pleaded guilty Wednesday.
Forster Trey Barger III, 17, will have to pay 17 property owners the out-of-pocket expenses for the damage he and Arthur O. Denovellis, 21, caused Aug. 1 through Oct. 29.
Judge Michael N. Annis said the men won't be responsible for any damages covered by insurance companies.
Mr. Denovellis, who was on probation for a prior felony conviction, was sentenced in February to three years in prison followed by 12 years on probation. Mr. Barger was sentenced Wednesday to 15 years on probation under the First Offender Act.
Security measures to be added to fort gates
Crews will begin reconstructing Fort Gordon's gates to add security measures this month.
From April 15 until June 30, Gate 2 will be open to inbound traffic only from 6 to 10 a.m., according to an Army news release. The gate will be open for outbound traffic only from 3:30 to 6:30 p.m.
After construction on Gate 2 is completed, crews will be move to Gates 3, 5 and 1. During non-peak hours, crews will route inbound and outbound traffic to one lane.
MCG, ASU made $1.2 billion in local impact
The Medical College of Georgia and Augusta State University produced a $1.2 billion economic impact in the Augusta area in fiscal year 2008, according to a newly released report.
The two institutions also produced 10,667 jobs, according to the report from the Selig Center for Economic Growth in the University of Georgia's Terry College of Business.
Together, the 35 institutions of the University System of Georgia had an economic impact of $12.1 billion on the state's economy.
The study also determined that Georgia's public higher education system is responsible for 108,405 full- and part-time jobs -- 2.6 percent of all the jobs in the state.
Historic North Augusta homes up for auction
Two historic North Augusta homes will be auctioned Monday by Aiken County.
Rosemary and Lookaway halls, the former homes of North Augusta founders Walter and James U. Jackson, will be auctioned separately at 11 a.m. at the Aiken County Judicial Center.
Rosemary Hall, located on Carolina Avenue, is listed with two mortgages totaling more than $1 million. Lookaway Hall, located on West Forest Avenue, lists a price of more than $800,000.
The homes were operated as a bed and breakfast when purchased by Rhonda and Larry Conner in February 2007, but went into pre-foreclosure in September.
Five percent of the winning bid must be paid by 1 p.m. on the day of the sale. Visit www.aikencounty.net for more information.
The Augusta Chronicle ©2010 Morris Communications, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Judge Michael N. Annis said the men won't be responsible for any damages covered by insurance companies. Why the hell not? Why should insurance companies pay for what these thugs did? Why should insurance companies have to hire lawyers to file criminal charges against these individuals, which some probalby won't even do? This is NOT JUSTICE Judge Annis - Please hold people fully acountable for their actions, especially against others. Shoplifters, thieves, vandals, etc. all cost the working class citizens so much more in higher bills for merchandise as well as insurance and THEY should be paying these bills even if that means working while in jails, etc.
Asitisinaug, Mike will never be confused with Learned Hand, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Anthony Alaimo, Randy Hall- or even Judge Judy.
Writing of Randy Hall, no one can make a legitimate claim that GWB did no good during his 8 years in office. He did appoint Randy Hall, a man of impeccable character, to the federal bench.
Judge Annis?? I gotta agree with Asitis...why shouldn't they be responsible for the entire cost of what they damaged? There's got to be something missing here, that was not clearly written in the article. Makes no sense.
They should be responsible for all of the damages plus the emotional stress. It really doesn't matter what the criminals are ordered to pay, do you really think any of it will be paid?
It's no different than if you had a gun stolen. If it is recovered it's property of the insurance company. In this case, it sounds like the families are receiving their deductible payments from the boys, but the insurance company would have to go after the boys to recover their payout.
If they made the two copper thieves re-pay the entire $50,000 in damages to the victims after they get out of jail, the victims will be waiting till a certain warm place freezes.
Asitisinaug , I agree 100% !! This is insane. We can only hope the insurance comanies will sue these theives to recovery their money so WE don't have to pay for with increased preminums.
The insurance company should pay for the damage and the low life thieves should have been ordered to repay the insurance company. If the thieves had been ordered to pay the owners for all the damage you can bet the insurance company would have refused to pay.
I agree that the insurance company should be paid back. Why should they take the lost when these thugs were out stealing? Judge Annis, this is just a slap on the hand for punishment, it will never get better until you Judge's start giving them what they deserve. I know you Mike and can't believe you would be so lenient. SusieQ
Susie, one of the perps gets a prison term, the other gets probation. Now, how long do you think it would take for the one out on probation to be able to pay back the insurance companies $25,000? And how long would it be before the insurance companies got $25,000 from the one sitting in jail right now?
Well --Little Lamb one was already on probation and what good did it do, he was out so he does it again and has someone with him that had a first charge with this incident. You don't think this Denovellis had any influence on Barger! So I think they should be punished more severely for their wrong-doings! Until our laws get tougher they will continue to do the crimes. Why should our insurance companies pay for their crimes. Put their ___ to work cleaning up the streets in Augusta and take the money and pay the bill. Eventually they will be paid. SusieQ
No here is whats STUPID.... I actually caught these idiots. The bottom line is BOTH of them will be back on the streets within the next year doing the same thing. Probation is a JOKE and a non violent criminal in Georgia serves NO TIME in prison. First Offender status needs to be looked at again. It basically gives these thugs a clean shot at a criminal act that they will get away with. Why not go out and steal $50,000 worth of copper wires and only receive probation. LOL......After he damaged the first house and continued to steal he is NO LONGER a first offender! Charge him on a case by case basis. Richmond County judges are funny! And the criminals know it too. A guy just told me the other night " I will be out before you finish your paperwork". WOW!
If I get your message right you are on the police force. I would like to take this opportunity to say "Thank You" for what you do. After reading your post' I agree they should be charge on a case to case basis. Thanks again for your service. SusieQ
blaqbird07, Remember that all cases are available to the public. SusieQ picked up on your position quickly. I'm not downing you but you may want to keep the personal side personal. All I'm saying is don't be a target by allowing some thug to find out who you are by simply looking up an incident report. You seem to be doing a GREAT job. Keep up the good work.