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BELLEVILLE, Ill. (AP) - A southwestern Illinois judge whose colleague died of a cocaine overdose while the two were on a hunting trip is stepping down from the bench as he defends himself against federal heroin and gun charges.

St. Clair County Circuit Judge Michael Cook resigned Wednesday through his attorney by letter to the chief judge, John Baricevic. Baricevic says the letter is brief and doesn't offer a reason for Cook's departure.

Cook was charged last Friday with possessing heroin and having a gun while illegally using controlled substances. He's pleaded not guilty.

The Illinois Supreme Court now must pick Cook's replacement.

A fellow judge, Joe Christ, died of a cocaine overdose in March while with Cook at the Cook family's hunting cabin in western Illinois' Pike County. That probe continues.

 

An Illinois judge whose colleague died of a cocaine overdose while the two were on a hunting trip together has been charged with possession of heroin and guns.

St. Clair County Circuit Judge Michael Cook pleaded not guilty during a court appearance Friday in U.S. District Court in East St. Louis. KSDK reports he wore a t-shirt that read "Bad is my middle name" to today's hearing. Authorities say Cook and fellow judge Joe Christ were staying at the Cook family's hunting lodge in western Illinois' Pike County in March when Christ was found dead.

A coroner said Friday that Christ died of a cocaine overdose. Cook has not been charged in Christ's death.

DENVER (AP) - A federal judge in Denver is considering an injunction after ruling that nearly 250 Abercrombie & Fitch Co. and J.M. Hollister LLC clothing stores are unfriendly to the disabled.

The judge agreed in March with the Colorado Cross-Disability Coalition that the retailers that cater to a hip, young clientele limited access for customers in wheelchairs.

He said the only remedy under the Americans With Disabilities Act is an order to fix the problems, and individuals can't be compensated.

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of several Colorado customers who say they had trouble getting into stores and the sales countertops are too high.

The companies say they complied with all construction standards in effect at the time.

New Albany, Ohio-based Abercrombie & Fitch is the parent company of Hollister.

BELLEVILLE, Ill. (AP) - A judge in southwestern Illinois is considering an AIDS service organization's challenge of a city's decision to bar the group from running a needle-exchange program because of a zoning issue.

The Belleville News-Democrat reports that St. Clair County Circuit Judge Robert Haida took the matter under advisement after a hearing Monday. The judge will issue a written ruling.

The city sued in February, believing Bethany Place's needle-exchange program violates the type of operations allowed for that site under the city's zoning codes.

Bethany Place responded last month, arguing the city waited too long to complain.

The organization calls the city's move unfair and prejudicial to clients served by the program.

 

ST. LOUIS (AP) — The Missouri Supreme Court has suspended a St. Louis judge who let a clerk handle hundreds of cases while she was on vacation.

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The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that the unpaid six-month suspension of Associate Circuit Judge Barbara Peebles was ordered Friday. A one-page order says the court found Peebles "engaged in misconduct" but doesn't go into specifics.

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Peebles has been suspended with pay since August, when a judicial disciplinary commission voted to recommend her removal. A report by the Commission on Retirement, Removal and Discipline found Pebbles abdicated her duties to clerks, showed up late to work and tried to cover up the destruction or removal of a document.

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Peebles had been fighting the dismissal recommendation. It's been 20 years since a Missouri judge was removed from office.

 

 

WATERLOO, Ill. (AP) - A judge for the second time in four months has thrown out a lawsuit blaming a televangelist for a former employee's killings of his wife and two sons.

Associate Judge Richard Aguirre dismissed the suit Wednesday in Monroe County. Aguirre ruled that he can't see any way how Missouri-based Joyce Meyer Ministries could have foreseen that Christopher Coleman would kill his family.

Christopher Coleman killed his wife and sons at the Coleman's Columbia home in 2009. He was serving as Meyer's security chief. He's now serving a life sentence.

The lawsuit by Sheri Coleman's family says the ministry knew Christopher Coleman was unhappily married, did nothing to investigate threats against Coleman's family and didn't warn Sheri Coleman.

Attorneys behind the suit say they'll appeal.