Eric Swensen in today’s Progress reports that UVa professor Louis Bloomfield has referred 122 students to UVa’s Honor Committee on charges of plagiarism and multiple submission. Bloomfield caught the students by using software that analyzed every paper submitted and compares it to other papers. All the students were in his popular How Things Work course.
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News and meta-news about Charlottesville, VA, since 2001.
Jock writes: “I want to jump in the ocean. I want to jump into the beautiful Caribbean sea and wash off the circumstances of the prison for us,” Michael Spicer said today after High Court Justice Kenneth Benjamin acquitted him of all charges. “Justice has been done.”
According to the website for Court TV, this morning Judge Benjamin aborted the trial against Michael Spicer, and his friends Alexander Benedetto and Evan George. Police had charged them with participating in the murder of Louis McMillan in January 2000.
“You are discharged,” Benjamin said after he directed the jury to enter verdicts of not guilty in each case. “You are free to go. Step out of the box.”
The Judge called the case against Spicer “less than thin,”
referring to the .003 grams of sand that the prosecution claimed put Spicer on the rocky shoreline where the victim’s body was found. He blasted prosecutors Theodore Guerra and Terrence Williams for attempting to trump up additional charges at the last minute. His rebuke reminded the prosecutors that they are “ministers of justice” and advised that such legal maneuvers never be attempted again.
Spicer and three friends have been in jail awaiting trial for over a year. The trial had been postponed at the prosecution’s request, twice.
A fourth defendant, William Labrador, still faces the jury because of the testimony of Jeffrey Plante, a convicted con artist who has been housed and protected from U.S. extradition by Tortola authorities while the case was pending. Plante asserted he overheard Labrador confess, while in prison.
Spicer said of Labrador: “He’s kept there by the word of a con man who lied about him and lied about me.” Spicer told reporters he was confident Labrador would be cleared as well, and predicted:
“I’ll be home in America tomorrow I believe.” Woo-hoo! Keep reading to see Jock’s full write-up.
The good news is that the ten-acre forest fire at Humpback Rock started earlier in the week is finally under control. The bad news is that it turns out that it was caused by a Piper Cub that crashed into the mountain, killing the pilot. Remember the Cessna that crashed into a house in Wintergreen in early April? Turns out that was caused by “pilot error.” It’s been recommended that he lose his license. WVIR is the source of all this airplane news.
18-year-old Jamie Poindexter has been arrested, charged with the murder of 28-year-old UVa graduate student Alison Meloy. Poindexter, who lives next door to Meloy, has also been charged with robbery and grand larceny. WVIR had the story on their 11 o’clock broadcast.
At a March Board of Supervisors meeting, taxpayer after taxpayer stood up at the microphone and asked that they not get a part of the county’s $1.2M budget surplus. The County had intended to provide tax refunds after last year’s surplus, giving the average resident $30 of the $1.4M refund. But everybody speaking that night said that there are far better uses for that much money than simply returning it. The result of this is that the real estate tax bills were sent out this weekend, and they give everybody the option of sending in a check for the amount of their refund. That’s a little backwards, but the concept is good. To read the full story, see Peter Savodnik’s piece in today’s Progress.
Sideblog
Police announced this afternoon that their investigation into what was initially believed to be a fatal fire on Rugby Avenue is now a homicide investigation. #
The Virginia Supreme Court has denied George Huguely’s appeal. His second-degree murder conviction will stand, WRIC reports. #
In a carefully worded story, and not citing specific sources, WTVR reports that forensic evidence belonging to Jesse Matthew Jr., the main suspect in the disappearance of Hannah Graham, matches forensic evidence collected during the investigation of Morgan Harrington’s 2009 murder. #
In the wake of Hannah Graham’s disappearance, and the evidence that came from private security footage, city officials are revisiting the question of installing security cameras on the downtown mall. #
Both Charlottesville Registrar Sheri Iachetta and former Electoral Board member Stephanie Commander have turned themselves in to the police on
foursix and four felony counts of embezzlement, respectively. #Ten years ago, the National Institutes of Health budget doubled and schools like the University of Virginia built massive new research facilities. A decade later, those buildings remain largely underutilized. NPR visits UVA in this story on the effect of federal binge and spurge spending in the sciences. #
In 2012, Council approved a new student housing complex on West Main—now some council members are questioning whether what they were shown matches what was built. #
The Architectural Review Board has approved a bike-themed mural on West Market, below the McGuffey Art Center, although at least one member expressed concerns that it might look like the bicyclists were riding away from Charlottesville’s downtown. #
City Police Chief Tim Longo is meeting with city leaders to work on protocols regarding the use of military surplus police weapons in Charlottesville. #
A 100-year-old Colonnades resident received military honors for her service in the WWII Women’s Army Corps #
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