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Court revives suit against Facebook over TV host’s image

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A federal appeals court has revived a Philadelphia newscaster’s lawsuit against Facebook over the unauthorized use of her image in advertisements for dating sites and sex-related products that ran on the site. A divided panel concluded that Facebook is not immune from Fox 29 host Karen Hepp’s claim that the advertisements violated her right to control her public image and reputation. U.S. Circuit Judge Thomas Hardiman, writing for the 2-1 majority, said the suit falls under the narrow carveout for intellectual property claims under Section 230 of the ...

Prosecutor charged with violently raping woman in her residence

HARRISBURG (AP) — An elected county prosecutor in Pennsylvania was charged Wednesday with violently raping a woman he knew through work, leaving her home only after she told him she would not call police, authorities said. Somerset County District Attorney Jeffrey Lynn Thomas, 36, was accused of attacking the woman in her Windber home Saturday. He was charged with rape, indecent and simple assault, strangulation and criminal trespassing. The Republican’s lawyer, Ryan Tutera, said that he was not guilty and that Thomas’ wife was working to get him bailed out of the Cambria ...

Turnpike’s $104M in unpaid tolls draws scrutiny

HARRISBURG (AP) — Pennsylvania senators grilled turnpike executives over their efforts to collect unpaid tolls that amounted to $104 million last year during a hearing Wednesday prompted by an Associated Press report last week regarding some 11 million rides that generated no revenue for the debt-hobbled agency. Transportation Committee Chairman Wayne Langerholc, R-Cambria, scolded the turnpike brass for not alerting him to the growing problem that he said “should have been a red flag within your department.” “Why was this not shared with us until a Right-to-Know (Law) ...

Pennsylvania high court OKs ‘comfort dogs’ for witnesses

Canines in the courtroom? The Pennsylvania Supreme Court says yes — under certain conditions. A trial witness may be accompanied by a “comfort dog” if the animal will help yield reliable, complete and truthful testimony, the justices ruled Wednesday in a precedent-setting opinion that established a “balancing test” for Pennsylvania judges confronted with such a request. Ruling unanimously in a murder case, the Supreme Court pointed to other states that allow witnesses to testify with the help of emotional support dogs. The justices said it’s permissible, as long as steps ...

Defense seeks to bar capital punishment in girl’s 2018 death

HOLLIDAYSBURG (AP) — Defense attorneys are asking a Pennsylvania judge to bar prosecutors from seeking the death penalty against a man charged in the 2018 smothering death of a 16-month-old child, citing a psychiatrist’s conclusion that he was only 19 and had the brain development of a juvenile. Drue Burd, now 22, of Altoona was in Blair County Court on Tuesday as attorneys argued the motion by the public defender’s office, The (Altoona) Mirror reported. Burd was charged with criminal homicide, aggravated assault, strangulation and related charges in the May 2018 death of ...

Justices ponder victim rights amendment that has been on the border

HARRISBURG (AP) — Questions about the legality and practical effect of a victims’ rights amendment to the Pennsylvania Constitution that has been in limbo for almost two years dominated oral arguments in the state Supreme Court on Tuesday. The justices could act to put the ballot question into the constitution, upholding unofficial tallies that showed it being approved in 2019 by a ratio of 3 to 1, or could kill it because it bundled together various provisions that opponents say are insufficiently related. The amendment spells out 15 rights for victims, including notification ...