BURLEY — The family of a woman who died in the Burley jail is appealing after their $25 million lawsuit was dismissed.
People are also reading…
The Mini-Cassia Criminal Justice Center, Minidoka County, Cassia County and others are being sued for $25 million in federal court by the mother of a 44-year-old woman who died in jail on Jan. 24.
The suit says jail staff failed to check on him for 95 minutes after he was put in a holding cell to detox.
October 24, 1975-January 24, 2020
American journalist Danny Fenster, who was freed after nearly six months in jail in military-ruled Myanmar, arrived Tuesday in the United States for an emotional reunion with his family.Fenster, who was sentenced last week to 11 years of hard labor, was handed over Monday to former U.S. diplomat Bill Richardson, who helped negotiate the release. He is one of more than 100 journalists, media officials or publishers who have been detained since the military ousted the elected government of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi in February.It's been a "long time coming, a moment I had been imagining so intensely for so long," a bearded and shaggy-haired Fenster said after landing in New York. "Surpasses everything I had imagined."Fenster's family awaited his arrival in the lobby of an airport hotel and rushed outside to greet him as the SUV carrying him approached. His mother, Rose, embraced him in a long tight hug the moment he stepped out of the vehicle."It's over. There's nothing to be anxious about anymore," Fenster said later in an interview. "Any bitter, ill will, regret, anger spilled out on the tarmac when I got on that plane."His wife, Julianna, who is still in Myanmar, is set to reunite with him in Detroit.Late Monday, as Fenster, 37, transited through Qatar, he told reporters that he was physically OK and had not been starved or beaten while in custody. While jailed, he had told his lawyer that he believed he had COVID-19, although prison authorities denied that.Fenster, the managing editor of online magazine Frontier Myanmar, was convicted Friday of spreading false or inflammatory information, contacting illegal organizations and violating visa regulations. Days before his conviction, he learned he had been charged with additional violations that put him at risk of a life sentence.SEE MORE: Myanmar Court Sentences U.S. Journalist To 11 Years In PrisonIt "feels great to get Danny back home. It's worth the effort, worth everything we did," said Richardson, a former governor of New Mexico and past ambassador to the United Nations who helped negotiate the release through his foundation.Fenster's mother described the ordeal as a "nightmare" and the family expressed relief that it was over.It "feels great, he's safe, that's all we want," his father, Buddy, said.Fenster in a knit hat that he said was a gift from another prisoner joked that the first thing he would do is get a shave and a haircut.He also said he hoped his plight would help focus world attention on the suffering of the people of Myanmar, where the army has responded brutally to peaceful protests that opposed the generals' seizure of power. Security forces have killed more than 1,200 civilians and arrested about 10,000 others, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners. The takeover and the ensuing crackdown have drawn condemnation and sanctions from the United States and others.Richardson is known for negotiating the freedom of Americans detained in countries with which Washington has poor relations and when he visited Myanmar earlier this month, it raised hopes that he might win Fenster's release. But after that trip, he said his focus was on helping the Southeast Asian country manage the COVID-19 pandemic and speeding up the delivery of vaccines there and no mention of Fenster was made in his foundation's summary of the visit.In an interview with The Associated Press on Tuesday, Richardson said U.S. officials told him not to bring up Fester's case during his first meeting with military leaders. But he did so when he sensed there was an opportunity to negotiate the release during a private conversation with the commander-in-chief of the junta."Well, I raised it. I said, 'You should release him," Richardson explained, at which point talks deepened and he was told to return Monday for "a final negotiation."Later that day, according to Richardson's timeline, Fenster was free.SEE MORE: American Journalist Freed After Being Jailed In MyanmarRichardson said he made no promises in exchange for Fenster's freedom. "And they didn't ask me for anything," he said."I saw we had progress on the humanitarian issue, and I zeroed in on Danny and Aye Moe," Richardson said, referring to a former worker at his foundation who was also detained then released.The White House thanked Richardson for securing Fenster's release. "The United States welcomes the release of Danny Fenster from detention in Burma," White House deputy press secretary Andrew Bates said.Fenster had been in detention since his arrest at Yangon International Airport on May 24.The exact allegations against him were never clear, but much of the prosecution's case appeared to hinge on proving that he was employed by another online news site that was ordered closed this year during the
October crime report: Murder cases, mall shooting, drug busts and more
Did you miss any crime and court news from last month? Here's a collection of the crime reports, notable arrests and important court hearings to make sure you know what's going on.
A former Idaho gubernatorial candidate will face a jury trial on charges of murder and kidnapping in Colorado next week.
The Fremont County Prosecutor’s Office agreed Thursday to a change of venue in the scheduled jury trial for Chad Daybell.
Idaho Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin will face a hearing next week on whether she should be held in contempt of court for failing to comply with a judge's order in a public records lawsuit.
The City of Heyburn’s police chief has been placed on administrative leave, but city officials are declining to say much about the issue.
An intact bull elk with its head and antlers removed was found north of Ketchum. Officials want to know who did it.
At times the exchanges between the two attorneys grew heated, and Boyce cautioned Wood and Prior to refrain from personal attacks.
Newly released documents from the complex investigation of a woman accused of conspiring to kill her children and husband reveal sordid details of a cult-like belief system of “zombies” and “vibrations" plus a disintegrating marriage and an affair.
A former Idaho lawmaker charged with rape has been booked into a jail in Boise.
District Judge Steven Boyce granted a motion to change venue in Chad Daybell's murder case.
A former Twin Falls resident on trial in the 1984 killing of a 12-year-old Colorado girl wasn't even remotely considered a suspect to law enforcement until his obsession with the crime turned him into the suspect, prosecutors said.
A former state lawmaker made his first appearance in an Idaho courtroom on charges that he raped a young legislative intern earlier this year.
A woman who police say tried to kill her husband by putting a garbage bag over his head waived her preliminary hearing set for Friday.
Gilberto Rodriguez says he is innocent and did not kill Regina Krieger. A judge just sentenced him to spend the rest of his life in jail for the murder.
The Payette County Sheriff's Office says its investigating allegations that three young athletes were hazed by fellow football players at a southwestern Idaho high school.
A Pocatello man has been charged with two counts of voluntary manslaughter after police say his wife and another man were found shot to death inside his home.
A woman has been sentenced to a prison treatment program for what prosecutors said was her role in a violent kidnapping and torture case.
The fourth day of testimony in the trial of Steve Pankey, the 70-year-old Idaho man accused of the 1984 kidnapping and murder of 12-year-old Jonelle Matthews, ended with a tearful testimony from Pankey’s ex-wife.
Nearly two weeks after an east Idaho judge ruled that Chad Daybell’s murder trial should be moved to a new county, the Idaho Supreme Court has designated a new venue.
Bail was denied Wednesday for a former Silicon Valley mother arrested in Idaho after being accused of hosting alcohol-fueled parties for her teenage son and his friends.
Within the last month, three separate incidents have resulted in substantial damage to the facility located south of Hagerman on U.S. Highway 30.
A suspect is in custody after two people were killed and four injured — including a police officer — in a shooting at a shopping mall Monday in Boise, Idaho, police said.
The Boise Police Department said Monday evening that “an exchange of gunfire” between the suspect and an officer left the suspect hospitalized.
“I can’t even put into words how completely devastated and shattered I am.”
A Rupert man is charged with felony rape after police said he raped an 11-year-old girl who he had been assaulting for five years.
One of the victims of the Boise mall shooting was from Rupert.
“The noise, that was what made it the scariest. It was magnified like 100 times in the mall.”
“I’m devastated,” his 26-year-old daughter Yanet Padilla told the Idaho Statesman in a message. “I felt that I died when my husband told me what happened."
The man identified by police as the perpetrator of Monday’s fatal shooting at the Boise Towne Square mall was a felon and had been flagged by Idaho State Police in April on suspicion of illegally possessing firearms, according to public records.
More than 6,000 fentanyl pills were seized during a drug bust in south-central Idaho on Tuesday.
A man and a woman have been charged in connection with a Twin Falls home invasion robbery where police said a man was bound by a belt in his bedroom, struck and robbed.
In those chaotic moments, shoppers didn’t have a plan. But the store manager did. “Having her do that was a life saver.”
Jerome High School released students early on Friday morning because of a social media threat.
Steve Pankey, the former Twin Falls resident on trial for the 1984 murder of Jonelle Matthews, testified that he lied about the case to law enforcement over the years, out of bitterness against his former church, his former supervisor and police.
Lori Vallow’s attorney alleged in a motion that an employee with the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare manipulated her into contacting a lawyer with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and that that lawyer betrayed her trust.
Boise Police have identified the officer who fired at the suspect in Monday’s mall shooting.
A magistrate judge says there is enough evidence for a rape case against a former state lawmaker to move forward in court.
No charges will be filed against Heyburn Police Chief Dan Bristol after an Idaho State Police investigation report was sent to the Twin Falls County prosecutor.
