Anesthesia killed Vegas woman in cosmetic surgery (AP)

LAS VEGAS – A husband and wife who performed an illegal buttocks enhancement surgery that resulted in a Las Vegas woman's death are expected to plead guilty to manslaughter despite an autopsy report that shows the death was accidental.

Elena Caro, 42, died from an allergic reaction to the tumescent anesthesia commonly used in cosmetic surgery procedures, Clark County Coroner Mike Murphy said Friday.

But it is unlikely that Ruben Matallana-Galvas and Carmen Torres-Sanchez would be able to successfully fight the criminal case against them because the death occurred during an illegal operation in which proper safety procedures were not followed, according to Matallana-Galvas' defense attorney, Scott Coffee. The couple will plead guilty to reduced charges when they return to court Thursday under a plea deal, he said

Matallana-Galvas knows his makeshift medical office did not have the proper tools to care for Caro, Coffee said.

"The doctor didn't take the actions that we hope he would take in light of the bad reaction," he said. "He feels terrible for what happened and he wants to take responsibility for what he did."

Matallana-Galvas and Torres-Sanchez are charged with multiple crimes for Caro's death, including second-degree murder and practicing medicine without a license. They pleaded not guilty in May and were scheduled to stand trial in February.

But prosecutors have been working to avoid trial by persuading the husband and wife to plead guilty to manslaughter and practicing without a medical license. Matallana-Galvas attempted to go along with the deal during a hearing last week. He withdrew his not guilty plea and pleaded guilty, but the agreement was dropped when Torres-Sanchez refused to plead guilty. She apparently changed her mind and is expected to take the deal at the hearing scheduled for Thursday.

Under the plea deal, Matallana-Galvas and Torres-Sanchez could each serve up to nine years, Coffee said. A lawyer representing Torres-Sanchez could not be reached for comment.

The husband and wife conducted the procedure on Caro in a temporary medical clinic in the back of a Las Vegas tile shop and were not licensed to practice medicine anywhere in the United States.

Coffee said the autopsy report did not come as a surprise.

"The case is pretty much exactly what we thought it was from the beginning, which is it's a medical procedure where no one intended to do harm to this woman whatsoever," he said.

Josh Tomsheck, a former Clark County chief deputy district attorney, said the autopsy report wouldn't bother him if he was prosecuting the case.

"It's not going to be an issue for the state," he said. "They are saying essentially that there was a felony committed and during the course of that felony the person died. It doesn't matter whether it's intentional or accidental."

Dr. Julio Garcia, a plastic surgeon in Las Vegas of 24 years, said valid medical practitioners know they might be held accountable if a patient is not treated after reacting badly to anesthesia.

"You should monitor them for at least two or three hours after the procedure," he said. "You don't want to do the procedure and leave because the patient could have an adverse reaction, like that patient did."

Tumescent anesthesia is used to make a specific part of a patient's body numb. Unlike general anesthesia, it does not put the patient to sleep.

"It decreases the pain and it decreases the bruising," said Dr. Jeffrey Roth, a Las Vegas plastic surgeon who also uses general anesthesia on patients to ensure they don't feel any pain and monitors their progress with the help of a certified anesthetist. "In other words, we are not going to do surgery in the back of a tile shop."

Caro was found roaming the streets in agony less than four hours after Matallana-Galvas and Torres-Sanchez injected her buttocks with a gel substance on April 9. She was taken to a hospital, where she died that day.

Matallana-Galvas and Torres-Sanchez allegedly cleared out their medical office after treating Caro and headed to McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas, where they attempted to flee to their native Colombia, according an arrest report. The husband and wife had purchased plane tickets to return to Colombia on April 22 but were trying to catch an earlier flight. They were arrested at the airport.

Matallana-Galvas told detectives that Caro walked away from his office after the procedure. He said he was a homeopathic doctor in Colombia and did not have the proper equipment to perform the buttocks procedure.

Caro was married and had a teenage daughter. A week before her death, she had received facial Botox injections from Matallana-Galvas. When no problems arose, she returned for the buttocks injection.

Botox and similar types of injections are minimally invasive but are still considered cosmetic surgery, according to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons.

Roth said patients who seek cosmetic surgery need to ensure they are receiving proper care.

"The whole tragedy of this whole thing was that this poor woman went to somebody who was not licensed," Roth said. "This poor lady may have saved a few dollars, but it cost her her life."

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Woman accused in dragging death pleads not guilty (AP)

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – A woman accused of dragging a tow truck driver to his death in Colorado has pleaded not guilty to the charges against her.

Detra Farries heard a dozen charges Friday, including felony hit and run, vehicular manslaughter, vehicular homicide, and leaving the scene of an accident in the Feb. 23 death of 35-year-old Allen Rose.

The judge cut her bond in half, from $50,000 to $25,000, but she remains in the El Paso County Jail. Trial was set for Nov. 7.

Authorities say Rose was preparing to tow an illegally parked SUV in Colorado Springs when someone got in the vehicle and drove away. Investigators say Rose tried to chase down the SUV but got tangled in the dangling tow cable and was dragged for more than a mile.

Prosecutors say Farries ignored Rose's attempts to flag her down.

Farries told police she didn't know she was being towed.

The death inspired a new state law this year that requires tow truck drivers to place a large warning sticker on the driver's side window stating that the vehicle is under tow before hitching it up. Drivers passing by a car about to be towed are required to move over a lane for the safety of the tow operator, just like vehicles must give room to police cruisers pulling someone over.

Sen. John Morse, the Democratic leader in the state Senate, says the signs are needed because towing is an "inherently dangerous job."

Farries' lawyers told a judge in May that witnesses saw the tow-truck driver run after Farries' GMC with a knife.

Farries' public defenders also told the court that Farries had limited ability to see behind her because her vehicle had broken and obscured mirrors.

Ron Archuleta, manager of Absolute Towing in Colorado Springs, said the law fell short when he tried on July 8 to tow a vehicle parked on private property. Archuleta said he stuck a warning sticker on the car and the driver ran up and tried to take back his vehicle.

Archuleta called Colorado Springs police, who issued 57-year-old Nenad Cebic a summons for a road law violation, police spokesman Steve Noblitt said. Noblitt didn't have Cebic's hometown but said Cebic was visiting from Wyoming. A phone listing for Cebic could not be found.

Archuleta said he plans to pursue civil action to recover the $75 towing fee that was never paid.

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Information from: KRDO-TV, http://www.krdo.com/

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Information from: KRDO-TV, http://www.krdo.com/

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Trial set for woman in Maryland yoga shop killing (AP)

ROCKVILLE, Md. – A trial date has been set for a woman charged with killing a coworker who suspected her of stealing from an upscale yoga clothing shop in Maryland.

A judge Friday set Oct. 24 for the trial of Brittany Norwood. The trial is estimated to take eight days.

Defense attorney Douglas Wood said he's open to negotiations on a possible plea deal but is preparing for a trial.

Norwood is charged with murder in the March death of Jayna Murray at the Lululemon Athletica store. Police say Norwood killed Murray after Murray found suspected stolen merchandise in Norwood's bag.

Police say Norwood tried to conceal the homicide by tying herself up and blaming the attack on two masked men who she said entered the store after it closed.

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Records: Pregnant woman recants ID of rape suspect (AP)

CENTRAL FALLS, R.I. – A pregnant woman who police say was raped after three men kicked in her door and while her 9-year-old was nearby has recanted her story about the only suspect arrested in the case, according to court records.

The records indicate there was an "identification issue" pertaining to the 22-year-old man charged in the case.

Police say three armed men kicked in the door of the women's third-floor Central Falls apartment on Saturday while the 27-year-old woman was asleep with her son. The woman, who is seven months pregnant, was threatened at gunpoint, and one of the men raped her in a bathroom, police Capt. James Mendonca said.

The boy was in the bedroom during the rape and "might have overheard something," he said. The alleged victim told WLNE-TV that her son saw "everything."

The men also took a game system and television set from the apartment, but the woman refused to tell police whether any firearms or drugs were stolen, Mendonca said. He said the stolen items have not been recovered.

The woman reported the attack to authorities at 3:10 a.m. Saturday, according to Mendonca. She suffered minor scrapes and abrasions and was taken to a hospital, where a rape kit was used to gather evidence.

No one came to the door at the victim's Central Falls apartment on Tuesday afternoon.

Central Falls police Col. Joseph Moran declined to comment on the court papers.

The man who was arrested is facing charges of felony sexual assault, felony assault with a dangerous weapon, using a dangerous weapon during commission of a violent crime, breaking and entering and possession of a firearm without a license. He was released on bail after appearing in Providence District Court on Monday and agreed to DNA testing.

He was on probation from a misdemeanor charge of receiving stolen property under $500. He pleaded no contest to that offense in July 2010.

He is due back in Providence District Court on July 11 for a probation violation hearing. He has a pre-arraignment conference on the sexual assault case on August 29. No attorney had filed an appearance for him as of Tuesday.

A telephone number listed for him has been disconnected, and no one answered the door at his apartment on Tuesday.

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Ohio woman guilty of charges tied to deputy death (AP)

SPRINGFIELD, Ohio – A woman has pleaded guilty to charges related to a New Year's Day trailer park gunfight that left dead a western Ohio sheriff's deputy and the man who shot her.

Clark County prosecutor Andy Wilson says Maria Blessing pleaded guilty Monday in Springfield to obstruction of justice and a weapons-related complicity charge and could get up to five years in prison.

Authorities had accused Blessing of helping Michael Ferryman get the gun they say he used to kill Deputy Suzanne Hopper and injure another officer at a trailer park near Springfield, 50 miles west of Columbus.

The deputy was married and had two children. Ferryman was killed in the shootout.

Blessing turned herself in to authorities in Ravenna in northeast Ohio when she was indicted in April. Her attorney hasn't returned calls seeking comment.

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Ohio woman gets over 3 years in terror funds case (AP)

TOLEDO, Ohio – A woman who pleaded guilty with her husband in a plot to ship money to a Mideast terrorist group did it to make money and not for political purposes, a federal judge said after sentencing her to more than three years in prison Wednesday.

Amera Akl told the judge that she knew up to $1 million would be going to Hezbollah, a Lebanese group the U.S. government lists as a terrorist organization.

But her attorney maintained that she took part because she was in financial trouble. "Her real goal was to keep some, as much of the money that she could," said attorney Sanford Schulman.

An FBI informant approached Akl with an offer to send money to Hezbollah and give her a share for helping transport it, federal prosecutors said. She then brought her husband into the plan and they both had a role in making arrangements, said Justin Herdman, an assistant U.S. attorney.

"She never resisted this proposal," Herdman said. "She never walked away."

Akl, 38, and her husband, Hor Akl, planned for a year how to send the money overseas, prosecutors said.

The informant provided the couple with $200,000 for the first shipment that was to be hidden in an SUV before they were arrested a year ago.

Mrs. Akl's role was vital, Herdman said, noting that she put on rubber gloves to handle the money and shopped for auto parts where they could hide the money. "She did it for greed," Herdman said.

Akl's attorney acknowledged she took the bait, but he insisted she was not a terrorist.

"She's an easy target," Schulman said. "She's not the Hezbollah you and I imagine."

The Akls, dual citizens of the United States and Lebanon, both pleaded guilty in May to conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization. Hor Akl also pleaded guilty to money laundering, bankruptcy fraud and perjury charges.

Both agreed to a plea deal to avoid a possible 40-year sentence.

U.S. District Judge James Carr sentenced Amera Akl to three years and four months, six months short of the maximum.

The judge told Akl that the couple's three children now will go through school with classmates who will look at them differently and subject them to ridicule. "That's the real shame," he said, shaking his head.

The judge asked her several questions about whether she knew where the money was going and how much she intended to keep.

"We were going keep some of the money," she said.

Akl sat with her husband before the hearing. He leaned forward and looked down when the judge announced her sentence. A date has not been set for his sentencing. He faces up to seven years.

"Money is the lifeblood of terrorist organizations, and stopping the flow is a key component to choking off these organizations," said Steven Dettelbach, the U.S. attorney for the northern Ohio.

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Woman charged in pregnant mother's death arraigned (AP)

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – A south-central Kentucky woman has pleaded not guilty to charges that she killed a pregnant woman and took her baby last spring.

Warren County Deputy Circuit Clerk Teresa Render said 33-year-old Kathy Michelle Coy of Morgantown appeared in court Friday and entered not guilty pleas to murder, tampering with physical evidence, resisting arrest and two counts of kidnapping.

Judge John Grise set a pretrial hearing in Coy's case for Sept. 19.

The remains of 21-year-old Jamie Stice were found in Warren County on April 14, less than a day after she was last seen leaving her home with Coy. A detective has said Coy was arrested after showing up at a Bowling Green hospital with a newborn baby but no sign of having given birth.

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Woman pleads not guilty to abducting granddaughter (AP)

KNIGHTSEN, Calif. – A woman accused of snatching her infant granddaughter from her son's Northern California home and taking a cab 350 miles to her home in Los Angeles County has pleaded not guilty to kidnapping and burglary charges.

The Contra Costa Times reports that Ericka Gallego also waived her right to a speedy trial during the Thursday hearing.

Authorities say Gallego took a bus and a cab to her son's home in the Contra Costa County community of Knightsen last month and took his 4-month-old daughter, Ramy Amadea Gallego. They say she apparently told friends she was pregnant and had held a baby shower.

Gallego was later arrested in her home in El Monte, where she had taken the baby.

She is due in court again on June 28.

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Information from: Contra Costa Times, http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/ap/ap_on_re_us/storytext/us_baby_far_from_home/41812266/SIG=111sktnr8/*http://www.contracostatimes.com

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Atty in NYC cops' rape trial: Woman 'got it wrong' (AP)

NEW YORK – There's no DNA evidence, conflicting medical testimony and an accuser with patchy memories in a case against two police officers charged with the rape of a woman they were summoned to help, a defense lawyer emphasized Friday in urging jurors to acquit them.

"The evidence was not there," lawyer Joseph Tacopina said in his closing argument. He represents Officer Kenneth Moreno, accused of sexually assaulting a semi-conscious, drunken woman while fellow Officer Franklin Mata allegedly stood watch in December 2008. Both officers face rape and other charges and deny the allegations.

Mata's lawyer and prosecutors are due to give their summations next week.

The officers were called to help the woman get out of a taxi and into her Manhattan apartment. They took her keys and returned to her apartment three times within the next four hours — at her urging, they said — without telling dispatchers where they were. Moreno even admitted making a bogus 911 call about a sleeping vagrant to provide a pretext for one of the visits.

The woman, who has a corporate job in fashion, had been out celebrating an impending promotion. She acknowledged she didn't remember much of the night but testified that she passed out and awoke briefly to being raped. She said she was too intoxicated to fight back.

"(Her) story is not reliable. She blacked out, folks," Tacopina told jurors. "She tried to connect the dots and got it wrong."

Moreno testified that the woman made sexual overtures on his final visit and he lay alongside her in bed for a while, but they didn't have sex. Mata told jurors he was napping in her living room while the others were in the bedroom, but he didn't believe Moreno had violated the woman because he "wouldn't do something like that."

When the woman confronted Moreno in a secretly taped conversation several days after the encounter, he repeatedly denied they'd had sex — but he also said "yes" twice when she asked whether he'd used a condom. He testified that he was just trying to pacify her.

There's no DNA evidence in the case, and experts debated the significance of an internal mark found during an examination of the woman the next day. A forensic examiner who testified for prosecutors said the mark could be a result of a rape; a gynecologist who testified for the defense said it was negligible, and he didn't interpret it as a sign of a rape.

The woman, now 29, has sued the city for $57 million over the incident, a fact Tacopina also underscored in his summation. She told jurors last month she sued because she wanted to hold the officers "accountable for what they did to me."

Moreno, 43, has been an officer for 17 years. Mata, 29, has been on the force for about five years. They have been suspended until a police department review after their trial.

If convicted, they could face up to 25 years in prison.

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Jennifer Peltz can be reached at http://twitter.com/jennpeltz

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