Metro Briefs

DISTRICT

Man gets 35 years in toddler’s death

A Southeast man has been sentenced to 35 years in prison in the death of his girlfriend’s 2 1/2-year-old daughter.

Sedley Randolph, 23, was sentenced Friday in D.C. Superior Court after being convicted in January of beating the girl.

According to trial evidence, Randolph was taking care of Zion Tolbert on June 28, 2007. When the child’s mother returned home, she found her daughter not breathing. The toddler died a short time later.

An autopsy showed that the girl suffered severe internal abdominal injuries. An investigation found that several people had seen Randolph previously mistreat the child.

MARYLAND

SEVERN

Police shoot man carrying gun

Anne Arundel County police say a Severn-area man was shot after officers responded to a domestic disturbance.

Police said Friday that two officers repeatedly ordered the unidentified man to drop the weapon and he was shot when he did not comply. The man was taken to the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore. His condition was not immediately available.

Police said two women fled the home and the man who was shot later came out of the house carrying a firearm.

BALTIMORE

Jury notes not disclosed in trial

A judge has found that six jury notes were not disclosed to lawyers during the trial of two men who were convicted in the near-beheadings of their three young relatives.

The findings make it more likely that Policarpio Espinoza and Adan Canela will get a new trial, which would be their third overall.

The two illegal immigrants from Mexico were sentenced to life in prison for the deaths of a 9-year-old boy, his 8-year-old sister and their 10-year-old cousin.

On appeal, lawyers for Espinoza and Canela argued that Baltimore Circuit Judge David Mitchell violated a rule that says attorneys should be notified promptly about notes from the jury.

BALTIMORE

Drug dealer convicted in witness slaying

A Baltimore drug dealer has been convicted of using a contraband cell phone from jail to orchestrate the killing of a witness, who had testified against him.

Patrick Byers, 23, now faces the possibility of the death penalty after being convicted on eight of the nine counts in a federal indictment. Byers was acquitted of one handgun charge.

His co-defendant, Frank Goodman, 23, was convicted Friday on all seven counts he faced and could get a life sentence.

Jurors deliberated for a day and a half before deciding that Byers was responsible for the death of Carl Lackl, who has identified Byers as the gunman in a previous slaying.

Mr. Lackl, a 38-year-old single father, was gunned down in a drive-by shooting outside his home in Rosedale, a suburb east of Baltimore.

SALISBURY

Incumbent wins by one vote

Incumbent candidate Shanie Shields has won the Salisbury District 1 City Council race after a count of five remaining absentee ballots by city and Wicomico County Board of Elections officials.

Miss Shields edged out challenger Cynthia Polk in Friday’s final count. Miss Polk contest the results.

The final five absentee votes counted by the board left the race at 133-132. Both women have had the lead at one time since the April 7 election.

Miss Shields led by three votes on Election Night, but Miss Polk pulled ahead by one vote after the first count of absentee ballots last week. The candidates were tied after a count Monday.

Miss Shields first won the District 1 seat in 2005 by four votes.

VIRGINIA

RICHMOND

Kaine heads overseas to promote business

Gov. Tim Kaine is traveling to Israel, Dubai and Morocco to promote Virginia to business and government leaders.

Mr. Kaine, a Democrat, will leave Saturday for a weeklong trip as a guest of the Israeli and Moroccan governments and will meet with government leaders in both countries.

He plans to participate in round-table discussions in Israel with representatives from the life sciences and manufacturing industries. Mr. Kaine also will meet with three Israeli companies that have recently made investments in Virginia.

He will participate in a meeting with an economic development prospect in Dubai.

The governor will be joined on the trip by first lady Anne Holton and Virginia Secretary of Commerce and Trade Patrick Gottschalk.

It is Mr. Kaine’s fifth overseas marketing mission.

RICHMOND

Justices reject claim of double jeopardy

The Virginia Supreme Court has upheld a woman’s convictions in the hit-and-run death of a pedestrian in Richmond.

Kelly Dinelle Payne said her felony homicide and aggravated involuntary manslaughter convictions violated the constitution’s double-jeopardy clause, which prohibits being punished twice for the same crime. Payne was driving a truck that struck and killed 51-year-old Ashokkumar Patel in March 2006.

The Supreme Court unanimously ruled that there was no double jeopardy because each offense requires proof of an element that the other does not, and lawmakers intended each offense to be punished separately.

Payne was sentenced to 46 years. She previously had served time in Tennessee for the hit-and-run death of a 13-year-old girl.

WILLIAMSBURG

W&M tuition, fees to rise 5.4 percent

The College of William & Mary will increase its in-state undergraduate tuition and mandatory fees by 5.4 percent for 2009-2010.

Tuition and fees for Virginia residents will be $10,800 in a measure approved Friday by the Board of Visitors.

The school faces drastic state budget cuts, but the tuition increase is lower than expected because of an infusion of $3.8 million in federal economic stimulus funding for the fiscal year that starts July 1.

The total cost for in-state undergraduates - tuition, fees, room and board - will be $19,302, or 5.6 percent more than last year.

The increases will support need-based financial aid, higher operating expenses, utility rate increases, and building and grounds maintenance.

RICHMOND

Justices reject noise ordinance

The Virginia Supreme Court has struck down a Virginia Beach noise ordinance.

The court unanimously ruled Friday that the city law prohibiting what it calls “unreasonably loud, disturbing and unnecessary noise” is unconstitutionally vague.

The ruling is a victory for the owners of the Peppermint Beach Club, an oceanfront nightspot. They said the ordinance is unclear about how much noise is too much, leaving that question up to the subjective judgment of police officers and inviting selective prosecution.

The court agreed, ruling that the law fails to give fair notice about what level of noise is illegal.

From wire dispatches and staff reports