State briefs 5/13/04

Court hears arguments on abuse reporting

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Prosecutors and a defense attorney each warned of broad social consequences Wednesday while alternately urging the state Supreme Court to affirm or overturn a state law allowing charges against certain people for failing to report suspected child abuse or neglect. The Supreme Court is considering whether to uphold the decision of a Greene County judge, who declared the law unconstitutionally vague last September and dismissed charges against a Springfield emergency room nurse for not reporting possible abuse in the high-profile case of Dominic James.

Hotel seeks to overturn boxing match judgment

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- A brain-damaged boxer who won a $13.7 million judgment against the hotel that hosted his bout shouldn't get anything, because the liability rested with the promoter and boxer, the hotel's attorney argued Wednesday before the Missouri Supreme Court. Boxer Fernando Ibarra suffered a career-ending knockout during a nationally televised Jan. 29, 1999, International Boxing Federation fight against Ratanachai Vorapin at the Regal Riverfront Hotel in St. Louis.

-- From wire reports