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Tag: Courts

  • North Carolina Supreme Court says bar owners’ COVID-19 lawsuits can continue

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    RALEIGH, N.C. — The North Carolina Supreme Court issued favorable rulings Friday for bars and their operators in litigation seeking monetary compensation from the state for COVID-19 restrictions first issued by then-Gov. Roy Cooper that shuttered their doors and, in their view, treated them unfairly compared to the way restaurants were regulated.

    The majority decisions by the justices mean a pair of lawsuits — one filed by several North Carolina bars and their operators and the second by the North Carolina Bar and Tavern Association and other private bars — remain alive, and future court orders directing the state pay them financial damages are possible.

    As a way to ease the spread of coronavirus, Cooper — a Democrat who left office last December and is now running for U.S. Senate — issued a series of executive orders that closed bars starting in March 2020. By that summer, bars still had to remain closed, but restaurants and breweries could serve alcohol during certain hours. Later in 2020, bars could serve alcoholic drinks in outdoor seating, with time limits later added, but the plaintiffs said it was unprofitable to operate. All temporary restrictions on bars were lifted in May 2021.

    Lawyers defending Cooper have said the orders in the ninth-largest state were based on the most current scientific studies and public health data available at a time when thousands were ill and dying and vaccines weren’t widely available.

    On Friday, the court’s five Republican justices in one lawsuit agreed it could continue to trial, rejecting arguments from state attorneys that the litigation must be halted based on a legal doctrine that exempts state government from most lawsuits. That decision largely upheld a Court of Appeals decision from two years ago that had affirmed a trial judge’s order to allow the action filed by Tiffany Howell, seven other individuals and nine businesses to be heard.

    “We acknowledge that the COVID-19 pandemic was a chaotic period of time,” Chief Justice Paul Newby wrote in the prevailing opinion. “It is important to remember, however, that the Governor was not the only person facing uncertainty. Small business owners across the state dutifully shuttered their doors and scaled back operations without knowing exactly when they could open or operate fully again.”

    A broader group of plaintiffs — the North Carolina Bar and Tavern Association and private bars — that sued separately but made similar claims received a favorable ruling last year from a Court of Appeals panel that reversed a trial judge’s decision to dismiss the lawsuit.

    Friday, the same five justices ruled that the Court of Appeals shouldn’t have allowed the association to sue based on claims its members’ constitutional rights for equal treatment were violated.

    But the plaintiffs can return to a trial judge now and present evidence on the claim that their right under the state constitution to earn a living was violated, Associate Justice Phil Berger Jr. wrote in the majority opinion. A trial judge had previously dismissed the case.

    The association and the private bars “sufficiently alleged unconstitutional interference, and thus have a right to seek discovery to prove those allegations are true,” Berger wrote.

    The Supreme Court’s two Democratic justices opposed decisions made by the majority in both cases and said the lawsuits should be dismissed. Associate Justice Allison Riggs wrote that the Bar and Tavern Association failed to signal it had evidence of a more reasonable plan to contain the virus’ impact than what Cooper chose.

    Writing the dissent in the Howell case, Associate Justice Anita Earls said the majority “grants itself a roving license to second-guess policy choices, reweigh trade-offs, and displace decisions appropriately made by the political branches.”

    The state Attorney General’s Office, which represented Cooper in both cases, said Friday it was reviewing the decisions. Through a spokesperson, Cooper’s Senate campaign declined to comment.

    The Bar and Tavern Association called the decision in its case a “major victory” because the lawsuit can proceed on so-called “fruits of their own labor” claims in the state constitution. ”From the beginning, we never asked for special treatment, only equal treatment,” association President Zack Medford said.

    Chuck Kitchen, a lawyer representing plaintiffs in the Howell case, also praised the ruling in their litigation.

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  • Milwaukee judge caught on body cam denying that she hid an immigrant wanted by ICE

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    MILWAUKEE — MILWAUKEE (AP) — A Milwaukee judge charged with obstructing a federal agency and concealing a wanted person who was in the country illegally told police days after the incident in her courtroom that “I didn’t do anything that they’re saying.”

    The comments were captured on body camera footage by Milwaukee police inside Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan’s home three days before her arrest in April. Dugan told officers she was not aware of a criminal investigation into her conduct.

    Dugan was indicted in May and faces charges of concealing an individual to prevent arrest, a misdemeanor, and obstruction, which is a felony. Prosecutors say she escorted Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, 31, and his lawyer out of her courtroom through a back door on April 18 after learning that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents had arrived to arrest him for being in the country without permanent legal status.

    Four days later, on April 22, Dugan called police to her house about a flyer from an anti-government group family members had received at their homes and workplaces.

    Her conversation with officers, as captured on their body cameras, was released by police to The Associated Press on Friday. It was first reported by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

    Dugan tells police that she didn’t know the person in her courtroom that day was in the country illegally and she denied giving him special treatment.

    “It’s all lies,” Dugan told officers. She later said, “I didn’t do anything that they’re saying.”

    Dugan has pleaded not guilty and is fighting to have the charges against her thrown out. The charges against her underscore a clash between Donald Trump’s administration and local authorities over the Republican president’s sweeping immigration crackdown.

    Democrats have accused the Trump administration of trying to make an example of Dugan to chill judicial opposition.

    Dugan has not publicly commented on the allegations.

    She told police that she didn’t know Flores-Ruiz’s immigration status.

    “I don’t know if he’s an illegal immigrant, which is what they’re claiming,” Dugan said. “I’m not supposed to know that. When they come in front of me, I’m not supposed to know that.”

    Dugan denied hiding Flores-Ruiz who federal agents came into her courtroom to arrest.

    “I did not hide this migrant in the jury room or in my chambers,” she said. “I had him leave out the back door, which I do when the circumstances warrant it.”

    Video from the hallway showed Flores-Ruiz and his attorney leaving through a side door about 12 feet (3.6 meters) from the main entrance.

    According to an FBI affidavit, witnesses heard Dugan say something to the effect of “wait, come with me” before ushering Flores-Ruiz and his attorney out through the door typically used only by deputies, jurors, court staff and in-custody defendants, the affidavit alleges.

    In her motion to dismiss, Dugan argued that her conduct amounted to directing people’s movement in and around her courtroom, and that she enjoys legal immunity for official acts she performs as a judge.

    Dugan told Milwaukee police that she directed federal agents “down the hall to the administrative offices. What happened after that is their business.”

    Agents arrested Flores-Ruiz outside the courthouse after a brief foot chase.

    “We live in very difficult times,” Dugan told the officers. “We all know that. Very difficult.”

    Dugan’s defense attorneys released a statement noting that her comments to police came before she was aware of the criminal investigation.

    “Her comments reinforced that she did nothing wrong in this matter and treated the misdemeanor case like any other in her courtroom,” her attorneys said in the statement.

    Dugan could face up to six years in prison and a $350,000 fine if convicted on both counts.

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  • Why Diddy’s Legal Team Is Still on the Offensive

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    Near the peak of the intrigue surrounding Sean “Diddy” Combs last year, a purported memoir by Kim Porter, the late mother of four of his children, rose to the top of the Amazon best-seller list. Kim’s Lost Words recounted a supposed array of startling sexual adventures and violence, and ended with Porter seeming to predict her own murder at her partner’s hands. It was independently published by Chris Todd, a little-known but enthusiastic peddler of celebrity conspiracy; Amazon quickly pulled the book, which a friend of Porter’s described to me at the time as “all lies.”

    In the lead-up to his trial this spring on sex trafficking and racketeering charges, Combs was primarily fighting his criminal case, but his lawyers also began combatting the cottage industry of media projects that had sprung out of the allegations against him. Following his acquittal on the most severe counts he faced—he was convicted on two prostitution charges and remains in jail ahead of his sentencing in October—he has ratcheted up that offensive. Combs last week amended a defamation complaint he had filed in January to seek at least $100 million in damages from Todd affiliate Courtney Burgess, an itinerant social media player who advertises ties to the music industry, as well as Burgess’s attorney and the parent company of a news outlet that aired Burgess’s claims.

    According to Combs’s suit, Burgess, lawyer Ariel Mitchell, and Nexstar Media’s NewsNation undertook a scheme to broadcast lies about the mogul. Mitchell said in an interview with the outlet in September that “there already have been tapes leaking around Hollywood, being shopped around to individuals in Hollywood,” and the host replied, “It sounds like there was probably a lot of hidden cameras as well.” Burgess has claimed that Porter provided him with a draft of her memoir as well as videos depicting Combs sexually assaulting inebriated celebrities and minors, and he has said that he was the source of the memoir edited and published by Todd. (Todd previously told me, “I stand by this book 100%”; when reached now for comment on the book’s removal from Amazon, he suggested I interview Burgess. Mitchell didn’t return a request for comment on her or Burgess’s behalf; her attorney recently moved to dismiss the suit against her. Nexstar declined to comment.)

    “Anybody who read about the trial as it was going on,” Combs’s attorney Teny Geragos said in an interview this week, “will know by now that none of what was publicly alleged or part of these conspiracy theories prior to the trial are true.”

    Geragos said that Combs’s efforts to push back on the prevailing social media chatter should be considered separate from his criminal fight—an attempt to protect his legacy and family. “After the sentencing,” she said, “we will continue to focus on clearing out all the misinformation that was spread about him.” Combs has also sued NBCUniversal and Peacock over their documentary Diddy: The Making of a Bad Boy, in which the R&B singer Al B. Sure! claims that Porter, with whom he had a child, was murdered. (The Los Angeles coroner’s office said in early 2019 that Porter’s death resulted from lobar pneumonia. A representative for Peacock didn’t return a request for comment, but the company has moved to dismiss the suit.)

    Simultaneously, an effort to secure a pardon for Combs is apparently underway. Another of his attorneys, Nicole Westmoreland, recently told CNN, “It’s my understanding that we’ve reached out and had conversations in reference to a pardon.” Donald Trump, a regular companion of Combs’s in the New York ’90s, has seemed to enjoy toying with the idea, telling Newsmax, “I was very friendly with him. I got along with him great and he seemed like a nice guy.”

    Still, Trump added, “When I ran for office, he was very hostile,” noting how that would make pardoning Combs “more difficult to do.”

    Geragos declined to comment on any effort to secure a pardon. For his part, Marc Agnifilo, Combs’s lead attorney, said in an interview with CBS News that he has “nothing to do with a possible pardon” and has “had conversations with nobody.”

    To a large degree, Burgess’s and Mitchell’s claims reflected the overall tenor of the discussion around Combs since he was first accused of sexual and physical abuse by his ex-girlfriend Casandra “Cassie” Ventura in November 2023. (Combs and Ventura quickly settled Ventura’s lawsuit. Combs denied any wrongdoing in connection to Ventura’s claims but apologized after video surfaced of him beating her in the hallway of a hotel.) Combs’s decades of fame and his bountiful photographs with other celebrities made him a natural subject for the legions of streamers, podcasters, and social media personalities who have proliferated in recent years. The terms “Diddy parties” and “freak-offs” became catch-all slang for sexual deviance. When the verdict in Combs’s trial arrived last month, the YouTuber Armon Wiggins poured baby oil on himself amid the celebrations, a reference to the product frequently invoked by prosecutors for having been stocked by Combs. (Wiggins soon issued an Instagram apology for the stunt.)

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    Dan Adler

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  • Musk’s X reaches tentative settlement with former Twitter workers in $500M lawsuit

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    SAN FRANCISCO — Elon Musk’s X has reached a tentative settlement with former employees of the company then known as Twitter who’d sued for $500 million in severance pay.

    The parties disclosed the deal in a Wednesday court filing asking for a scheduled Sept. 17 hearing in the case to be postponed. The San Francisco federal appeals court on Thursday agreed to postpone the hearing so that both sides could finalize the settlement agreement.

    The terms of the settlement were not disclosed. The proposed class action lawsuit by former Twitter employees Courtney McMillan and Ronald Cooper, who said the company failed to pay them and other fired workers severance they were owed.

    Musk took over the social media platform in 2022 and let thousands of employees go, eliminating entire teams dedicated to trust and safety, human rights and making the site accessible to people with disabilities. Other lawsuits, including one filed by Twitter executives including former CEO Parag Agrawal, are still pending.

    The billionaire’s approach to gutting Twitter’s workforce served as a template for his months-long leadership of President Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, as it cut tens of thousands of federal workers earlier this year.

    An email announcing a “deferred resignation offer” to federal workers, promising pay through September without having to work, was titled “Fork in the Road,” echoing a similar email Musk sent to the Twitter workforce in 2022.

    Musk’s drawn-out legal battles with more than 2,000 former Twitter workers were also a precursor to the court battles the Trump administration is now fighting over federal downsizing, though the circumstances are different.

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  • Prosecutors say Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’ request for acquittal or new trial should be swiftly rejected

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    NEW YORK — Federal prosecutors are urging a federal judge to quickly reject Sean “Diddy” Combs ’ request that he throw out a jury verdict or order a new trial after a jury convicted the music maven of two prostitution-related charges.

    Prosecutors said in papers filed shortly before midnight Wednesday that Combs masterminded elaborate sexual events for two ex-girlfriends between 2008 and last year that involved hiring male sex workers who sometimes were required to cross multiple state lines to participate.

    A jury in July exonerated the Bad Boy Records founder of racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking charges that carried the potential penalty of a mandatory 15 years in prison up to life behind bars. But it convicted him of two lesser Mann Act charges that prohibit interstate commerce related to prostitution.

    The Mann Act charges each carry a potential penalty of 10 years behind bars. Combs has been denied bail despite his lawyers’ arguments that their client should face little to no additional jail time for the convictions. Prosecutors said he must serve multiple years behind bars.

    Combs has been in a federal jail in Brooklyn since his September arrest at a Manhattan hotel. Sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 3.

    Prosecutors wrote that Combs’ attorneys were mistaken when they contended in a submission to the judge late last month that the Mann Act was unduly vague and violates his due process and First Amendment rights.

    “Evidence of the defendant’s guilt on the Mann Act counts was overwhelming,” prosecutors wrote.

    They noted that the multiday, drug-fueled sexual marathons that Combs demanded of his girlfriends involved hiring male sex workers and facilitating their travel across multiple states for what became known as “freak-offs” or “hotel nights.”

    Prosecutors said he then used video recordings he made of the sexual events to threaten and coerce the girlfriends to continue participating in the sometimes weekly or monthly sexual meetings.

    “At trial, there was ample evidence to support the jury’s convictions,” prosecutors said.

    They said Combs “masterminded every aspect” of the sexual meetups, paying escorts to travel across the country to participate and directing the sexual activity that took place between the men and his girlfriends “for his own sexual gratification” while sometimes joining in.

    Casandra “Cassie” Ventura, an R&B artist who dated Combs from 2008 through 2018, testified during the trial that Combs sometimes demanded the sexual meetups with male escorts every week, often leaving her too exhausted to work on her music career. She said she participated in hundreds of “freak-offs.”

    A woman who testified under the pseudonym “Jane” said she participated in “hotel nights” when she dated Combs from 2021 to last September and that the events sometimes lasted multiple days and required her to have sex with male sex workers, even when she was not well.

    Both women testified that Combs had threatened to release videos he made of the encounters as a way of controlling their behavior.

    “During these relationships, he asserted substantial control over Ventura and Jane’s lives. Specifically, he controlled and threatened Ventura’s career, controlled her appearance, and paid for most of her living expenses, taking away physical items when she did not do what he wanted,” prosecutors wrote.

    “The defendant similarly paid Jane’s $10,000 rent and threatened her that he would stop paying her rent if she did not comply with his demands,” they said.

    In their submission requesting acquittal or a new trial, Combs’ lawyers argued that none of the elements normally used for Mann Act convictions, including profiting from sex work or coercion, existed.

    “It is undisputed that he had no commercial motive and that all involved were adults,” the lawyers said. “The men chose to travel and engage in the activity voluntarily. The verdict confirms the women were not vulnerable or exploited or trafficked or sexually assaulted.”

    The lawyers said that Combs, “at most, paid to engage in voyeurism as part of a ‘swingers’ lifestyle” and argued that “does not constitute ‘prostitution’ under a properly limited definition of the statutory term.”

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  • Rhode Island Judge Frank Caprio, whose empathy in court earned him fame online, dies at 88

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    PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Frank Caprio, a retired municipal judge in Rhode Island who found online fame as a caring jurist and host of “ Caught in Providence,” has died. He was 88.

    His official social media accounts said Wednesday that he “passed away peacefully” after “a long and courageous battle with pancreatic cancer.”

    Caprio billed his courtroom as a place “where people and cases are met with kindness and compassion.” He was known for dismissing tickets or showing kindness even when he handed out justice.

    Last week, Caprio posted a short video on Facebook about how he had “a setback,” was back in the hospital and was asking that people “remember me in your prayers.”

    Caprio’s show was filmed in his courtroom and featured his folksy humor and compassion. Clips from the show have had more than 1 billion views on social media.

    During his time on the bench, Caprio developed a persona at odds with many TV judges — more sympathetic and less confrontational and judgmental.

    In his bite-sized segments on YouTube, Caprio is often seen empathizing with those in his courtroom. Many of the infractions are also relatively minor, from failing to use a turn signal to a citation for a loud party.

    Caprio also used his fame to address issues like unequal access to the judicial system.

    “The phrase, ‘With liberty and justice for all’ represents the idea that justice should be accessible to everyone. However it is not,” Caprio said in one video. “Almost 90% of low-income Americans are forced to battle civil issues like health care, unjust evictions, veterans benefits and, yes, even traffic violations, alone.”

    Caprio’s upbeat take on the job of a judge drew him millions of views. His most popular videos have been those where he calls children to the bench to help pass judgment on their parents. One shows him listening sympathetically to a woman whose son was killed and then dismissing her tickets and fines of $400.

    In another clip, after dismissing a red-light violation for a bartender who was making $3.84 per hour, Caprio urged those watching the video not to duck out on their bills.

    “If anyone’s watching I want them to know you better not eat and run because you’re going to get caught and the poor people who are working hard all day for three bucks an hour are going to have to pay your bill,” he said.

    His fame reached as far as China, where clips of his show have been uploaded to social media in recent years. Some fans there posted about his death, recalling and praising the humanity he showed in his rulings.

    His family described Caprio “as a devoted husband, father, grandfather, great grandfather and friend.”

    “Beloved for his compassion, humility, and unwavering belief in the goodness of people, Judge Caprio touched the lives of millions through his work in the courtroom and beyond,” the family wrote online. “His warmth, humor, and kindness left an indelible mark on all who knew him.”

    State and local politicians mourned his passing and celebrated his life.

    “Judge Caprio not only served the public well, but he connected with them in a meaningful way, and people could not help but respond to his warmth and compassion,” Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee said in a statement. “He was more than a jurist — he was a symbol of empathy on the bench, showing us what is possible when justice is tempered with humanity.”

    Robert Leonard, who co-owned a restaurant with Caprio, said he was “going to be sorely missed” and was “all around wonderful.”

    “There is nothing he wouldn’t do for you if he could do it,” Leonard said.

    Caprio retired from Providence Municipal Court in 2023 after nearly four decades on the bench.

    According to his biography, Caprio came from humble beginnings, the second of three boys growing up in the Federal Hill neighborhood of Providence, Rhode Island.

    “I hope that people will take away that the institutions of government can function very well by exercising kindness, fairness, and compassion in their deliberations. We live in a very contentious society,” he said in 2017. “I would hope that people will see that we can dispense justice without being oppressive.”

    ___

    LeBlanc, an Associated Press journalist who retired in January, was the primary writer of this obituary. Associated Press writers Michael Casey in Boston, Audrey McAvoy in Honolulu and Ken Moritsugu in Beijing contributed.

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  • Prosecutors link LA contract to Smartmatic ‘slush fund’ as voting tech firm battles Fox in court

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    MIAMI (AP) — Smartmatic, the elections-technology company suing Fox News for defamation, is now contending with a growing list of criminal allegations against some of its executives — including a new claim by federal prosecutors that a “slush fund” for bribing foreign officials was financed partly with proceeds from the sale of voting machines in Los Angeles.

    The new details about the criminal case surfaced this month in court filings in Miami, where the company’s co-founder, Roger Pinate, and two Venezuelan colleagues were charged last year with bribing officials in the Philippines in exchange for a contract to help run that country’s 2016 presidential elections. Pinate, who no longer works for Smartmatic, has pleaded not guilty.

    To buttress the case, federal prosecutors are seeking to introduce evidence they argue shows that some of the nearly $300 million the company was paid by Los Angeles County to help modernize its voting systems was diverted to a fund controlled by Pinate through the use of overseas shell companies, fake invoices and other means.

    Smartmatic itself hasn’t been charged with breaking any laws, nor have U.S. prosecutors accused Smartmatic or its executives of tampering with election results. Similarly, they haven’t accused Los Angeles County officials of wrongdoing, or said whether they were even aware of the alleged bribery scheme. County officials say they weren’t.

    But the case against Pinate is unfolding as Smartmatic is pursuing a $2.7 billion lawsuit accusing Fox of defamation for airing false claims that the company helped rig the 2020 U.S. presidential election. Fox says it was legitimately reporting newsworthy allegations.

    Smartmatic said the Justice Department’s new filing was filled with “misrepresentations” and is “untethered from reality.”

    “Let us be clear: Smartmatic wins business because we’re the best at what we do,” the company said in a statement. “We operate ethically and abide by all laws always, both in Los Angeles County and every jurisdiction where we operate.”

    Fox questions Smartmatic’s dealings in LA

    Still, Fox has gone to court to try to get more information about L.A. County’s dealings with Smartmatic. The network has long tried to leverage the bribery allegations to undermine Smartmatic’s narrative about its business prospects – a key component in calculating any potential damages — and portray it as a scandal-plagued company brought low by its own legal problems, not Fox’s broadcasts.

    South Florida-based Smartmatic was founded more than two decades ago by a group of Venezuelans who found early success working for the government of the late Hugo Chavez, a devotee of electronic voting. The company later expanded globally, providing voting machines and other technology to help carry out elections in 25 countries, from Argentina to Zambia.

    It was awarded its contract to help with Los Angeles County elections in 2018. The contract, which Smartmatic continues to service, gave the company an important foothold in what was then a fast-expanding U.S. voting-technology market.

    But Smartmatic has said its business tanked after Fox News gave President Donald Trump’s lawyers a platform to paint the company as part of a conspiracy to steal the 2020 election.

    Fox itself eventually aired a piece refuting the allegations after Smartmatic’s lawyers complained, but it has aggressively defended itself against the defamation lawsuit in New York.

    “Facing imminent financial collapse and indictment, Smartmatic saw a litigation lottery ticket in Fox News’s coverage of the 2020 election,” the network’s lawyers said in a court filing.

    Smartmatic has disputed Fox’s characterization in court filings as “lies” and “another attempt to divert attention from its long-standing campaign of falsehoods and defamation.”

    LA clerk deposed about trip, gifted meal

    As part of its effort to investigate Smartmatic’s work in Los Angeles, Fox has sued to force LA County Clerk Dean Logan to hand over public records about his dealings with Smartmatic’s U.S. affiliate.

    Fox’s lawyers also questioned Logan in a deposition about a dinner a Smartmatic executive bought for him at the members-only Magic Castle club and restaurant in Los Angeles and a Smartmatic-paid trip that Logan made to Taiwan in 2019 to oversee the manufacturing of equipment by a Smartmatic vendor. U.S. prosecutors claim that vendor was deeply involved in the alleged kickback scheme in the Philippines. The five-day trip included business class airfare, hotel and numerous meals as well as time for sightseeing, Fox said.

    “The trip’s itinerary demonstrates that the trip was not a financial inspection or audit. It was a boondoggle,” Fox said in court filings.

    Logan, who did not report the gifts in his financial disclosures, said in his 2023 deposition that the meal at the Magic Castle was a “social occasion” unrelated to business and that he was not required to report the trip to Taiwan because his visit was covered by the contract.

    Mike Sanchez, a spokesman for Logan’s office, said in a statement that the bribery allegations are unrelated to the company’s work for L.A. County and that the county had no knowledge of how the proceeds from its contract would be used. All of Smartmatic’s work has been evaluated for compliance with the contract’s terms, Sanchez added, and as soon as Pinate was indicted he and the other defendants were banned from conducting business with the county.

    As for the trip to Taiwan, Sanchez said another county official joined Logan for the trip and the two conducted several on-site visits and conducted detailed reviews of electoral technology products that were required prior the start of their manufacturing. Logan’s spouse accompanied him on the trip, but at the couple’s own expense, the spokesman added.

    “Unfortunately, this is an attempt to use the County as a pawn in two serious legal actions to which the County is not a party,” Sanchez said.

    Smartmatic has settled two other defamation lawsuits it brought against conservative news outlets Newsmax and One America News Network over their 2020 U.S. election coverage. Settlement terms weren’t disclosed.

    Prosecutors claim bribe paid in Venezuela

    U.S. prosecutors in Miami have also accused Pinate of secretly bribing Venezuela’s longtime election chief by giving her a luxury home with a pool in Caracas. Prosecutors say the home was transferred to the election chief in an attempt to repair relations following Smartmatic’s abrupt exit from Venezuela in 2017 when it accused President Nicolas Maduro ‘s government of manipulating tallied results in elections for a rubber-stamping constituent assembly.

    Smartmatic has denied the bribery allegations, saying it ceased all operations in Venezuela in 2017 after blowing the whistle on the government and has never sought to secure business there again.

    “There are no slush funds, no gifted house,” the company said. Instead, it accused Fox of engaging in “victim-blaming” and attempts to use “frivolous” court filings “to smear us further, twisting unproven Justice Department allegations.”

    ___

    Peltz reported from New York.

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  • Oregon man pleads guilty following fatal crash with college softball team bus

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    An Oregon man has pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree manslaughter following a fatal crash with a bus carrying a community college softball team that left a player and the team’s head coach dead, according to court documents filed Wednesday.

    The petition to enter a guilty plea, filed in Coos County Circuit Court, shows Dowdy also pleaded guilty to three counts of third-degree assault, five counts of fourth-degree assault, one count of driving under the influence and one count of driving with a suspended license.

    The attorney listed for Dowdy in court records, Jennifer Leigh Leseberg, did not immediately respond to requests seeking comment.

    Dowdy was driving his pickup truck on April 18 when he crossed a center line and crashed into a bus carrying 10 members of the Umpqua Community College softball team, state police said.

    Jami Strinz, 46, described on the school’s website as the head softball coach, was driving the Chevrolet Express bus. Police said she was later declared dead at a hospital.

    Kiley Jones, 19, was pronounced dead at the scene. The freshman from Nampa, Idaho, played first base, according to the athletics department’s website.

    The team was traveling from a game in Coos Bay, according to a statement from the school.

    The other eight occupants of the bus received moderate to serious injuries, according to police.

    Dowdy also was injured and was admitted to a hospital, state police said. It wasn’t immediately clear what type of injuries he had. The Coos County Jail roster shows he was booked on April 21.

    Dowdy’s sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 11.

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  • Prosecutors link LA contract to Smartmatic ‘slush fund’ as voting tech firm battles Fox in court

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    MIAMI — Smartmatic, the elections-technology company suing Fox News for defamation, is now contending with a growing list of criminal allegations against some of its executives — including a new claim by federal prosecutors that a “slush fund” for bribing foreign officials was financed partly with proceeds from the sale of voting machines in Los Angeles.

    The new details about the criminal case surfaced this month in court filings in Miami, where the company’s co-founder, Roger Pinate, and two Venezuelan colleagues were charged last year with bribing officials in the Philippines in exchange for a contract to help run that country’s 2016 presidential elections. Pinate, who no longer works for Smartmatic, has pleaded not guilty.

    To buttress the case, federal prosecutors are seeking to introduce evidence they argue shows that some of the nearly $300 million the company was paid by Los Angeles County to help modernize its voting systems was diverted to a fund controlled by Pinate through the use of overseas shell companies, fake invoices and other means.

    Smartmatic itself hasn’t been charged with breaking any laws, nor have U.S. prosecutors accused Smartmatic or its executives of tampering with election results. Similarly, they haven’t accused Los Angeles County officials of wrongdoing, or said whether they were even aware of the alleged bribery scheme. County officials say they weren’t.

    But the case against Pinate is unfolding as Smartmatic is pursuing a $2.7 billion lawsuit accusing Fox of defamation for airing false claims that the company helped rig the 2020 U.S. presidential election. Fox says it was legitimately reporting newsworthy allegations.

    Smartmatic said the Justice Department’s new filing was filled with “misrepresentations” and is “untethered from reality.”

    “Let us be clear: Smartmatic wins business because we’re the best at what we do,” the company said in a statement. “We operate ethically and abide by all laws always, both in Los Angeles County and every jurisdiction where we operate.”

    Still, Fox has gone to court to try to get more information about L.A. County’s dealings with Smartmatic. The network has long tried to leverage the bribery allegations to undermine Smartmatic’s narrative about its business prospects – a key component in calculating any potential damages — and portray it as a scandal-plagued company brought low by its own legal problems, not Fox’s broadcasts.

    South Florida-based Smartmatic was founded more than two decades ago by a group of Venezuelans who found early success working for the government of the late Hugo Chavez, a devotee of electronic voting. The company later expanded globally, providing voting machines and other technology to help carry out elections in 25 countries, from Argentina to Zambia.

    It was awarded its contract to help with Los Angeles County elections in 2018. The contract, which Smartmatic continues to service, gave the company an important foothold in what was then a fast-expanding U.S. voting-technology market.

    But Smartmatic has said its business tanked after Fox News gave President Donald Trump’s lawyers a platform to paint the company as part of a conspiracy to steal the 2020 election.

    Fox itself eventually aired a piece refuting the allegations after Smartmatic’s lawyers complained, but it has aggressively defended itself against the defamation lawsuit in New York.

    “Facing imminent financial collapse and indictment, Smartmatic saw a litigation lottery ticket in Fox News’s coverage of the 2020 election,” the network’s lawyers said in a court filing.

    Smartmatic has disputed Fox’s characterization in court filings as “lies” and “another attempt to divert attention from its long-standing campaign of falsehoods and defamation.”

    As part of its effort to investigate Smartmatic’s work in Los Angeles, Fox has sued to force LA County Clerk Dean Logan to hand over public records about his dealings with Smartmatic’s U.S. affiliate.

    Fox’s lawyers also questioned Logan in a deposition about a dinner a Smartmatic executive bought for him at the members-only Magic Castle club and restaurant in Los Angeles and a Smartmatic-paid trip that Logan made to Taiwan in 2019 to oversee the manufacturing of equipment by a Smartmatic vendor. U.S. prosecutors claim that vendor was deeply involved in the alleged kickback scheme in the Philippines. The five-day trip included business class airfare, hotel and numerous meals as well as time for sightseeing, Fox said.

    “The trip’s itinerary demonstrates that the trip was not a financial inspection or audit. It was a boondoggle,” Fox said in court filings.

    Logan, who did not report the gifts in his financial disclosures, said in his 2023 deposition that the meal at the Magic Castle was a “social occasion” unrelated to business and that he was not required to report the trip to Taiwan because his visit was covered by the contract.

    Mike Sanchez, a spokesman for Logan’s office, said in a statement that the bribery allegations are unrelated to the company’s work for L.A. County and that the county had no knowledge of how the proceeds from its contract would be used. All of Smartmatic’s work has been evaluated for compliance with the contract’s terms, Sanchez added, and as soon as Pinate was indicted he and the other defendants were banned from conducting business with the county.

    As for the trip to Taiwan, Sanchez said another county official joined Logan for the trip and the two conducted several on-site visits and conducted detailed reviews of electoral technology products that were required prior the start of their manufacturing. Logan’s spouse accompanied him on the trip, but at the couple’s own expense, the spokesman added.

    “Unfortunately, this is an attempt to use the County as a pawn in two serious legal actions to which the County is not a party,” Sanchez said.

    Smartmatic has settled two other defamation lawsuits it brought against conservative news outlets Newsmax and One America News Network over their 2020 U.S. election coverage. Settlement terms weren’t disclosed.

    U.S. prosecutors in Miami have also accused Pinate of secretly bribing Venezuela’s longtime election chief by giving her a luxury home with a pool in Caracas. Prosecutors say the home was transferred to the election chief in an attempt to repair relations following Smartmatic’s abrupt exit from Venezuela in 2017 when it accused President Nicolas Maduro ‘s government of manipulating tallied results in elections for a rubber-stamping constituent assembly.

    Smartmatic has denied the bribery allegations, saying it ceased all operations in Venezuela in 2017 after blowing the whistle on the government and has never sought to secure business there again.

    “There are no slush funds, no gifted house,” the company said. Instead, it accused Fox of engaging in “victim-blaming” and attempts to use “frivolous” court filings “to smear us further, twisting unproven Justice Department allegations.”

    ___

    Peltz reported from New York.

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  • Q&A: Can Trump hold a census in the middle of a decade and exclude immigrants in the US illegally?

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    President Donald Trump on Thursday instructed the Commerce Department to have the Census Bureau start work on a new census that would exclude immigrants who are in the United States illegally from the head count which determines political power and federal spending.

    The census will be based on “modern day facts and figures and, importantly, using the results and information gained from the Presidential Election of 2024,” the Republican president said on his social media platform.

    Experts said it was unclear what exactly Trump was calling for, whether it was changes to the 2030 census or a mid-decade census, and, if so, whether it would be used for a mid-decade apportionment, which is the process of divvying up congressional seats among the states based on the population count.

    Here’s some answers to questions Thursday’s post raises:

    Can Trump do this?

    It would be extremely difficult to conduct a mid-decade census, if not impossible, according to experts.

    Any changes in conducting a U.S. census would require alterations to the Census Act and approval from Congress, which has oversight responsibilities, and there likely would be a fierce fight.

    The federal law governing the census permits a mid-decade head count for things like distributing federal funding, but it can’t be used for apportionment or redistricting and must be done in a year ending in 5. Additionally, the 14th Amendment says that “the whole number of persons in each state” are to be counted for the numbers used for apportionment, and the Census Bureau has interpreted that to mean anybody residing in the United States regardless of legal status. Federal courts have repeatedly supported that interpretation, though the Supreme Court has blocked recent efforts to change that on procedural rather than legal grounds.

    “He cannot unilaterally order a new census. The census is governed by law, not to mention the Constitution,” said Terri Ann Lowenthal, a former congressional staffer who consults on census issues.

    Then there is the question of logistics. The once-a-decade census is the biggest non-military undertaking by the federal government, utilizing a temporary workforce of hundreds of thousands of census takers. It can take as much as 10 years of planning.

    “This isn’t something that you can do overnight,” said New York Law professor Jeffrey Wice, a census and redistricting expert. “To get all the pieces put together, it would be such a tremendous challenge, if not impossible.”

    Has this ever been done before?

    A mid-decade census has never been conducted before.

    In the 1970s, there was interest in developing data from the middle of the decade for more accurate and continuous information about American life, and a mid-decade census was considered. But the funding from Congress never came through, said Margo Anderson, a professor emerita at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee who has written extensively on the history of the census.

    Decades later, those wishes for continuous data would develop into the American Community Survey, the annual survey of American life based on responses from 3.5 million households.

    In his first term, President Donald Trump, a Republican, unsuccessfully tried to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census form and signed orders which would have excluded people in the U.S. illegally from the apportionment figures and mandate the collection of citizenship data through administrative records.

    The attempt was blocked by the Supreme Court, and both orders were rescinded when Democratic President Joe Biden arrived at the White House in January 2021, before the 2020 census figures were released by Census Bureau.

    Any attempt at a repeat would guarantee legal challenges.

    “The census isn’t just a head count. It is meant to reflect America as it is – not as some would prefer it to be — and determines how critical resources are allocated,” ACLU Voting Rights project director Sophia Lin Lakin said in a statement. “Nobody should be erased from it. We won’t hesitate to go back to court to protect representation for all communities.”

    What is a census used for?

    Besides being used to divvy up congressional seats among the states and redraw political districts, the numbers derived from the once-a-decade census are used to guide the distribution of $2.8 trillion in annual government spending.

    The federal funding is distributed to state and local governments, nonprofits, businesses and households, paying for health care, education, school lunch programs, child care, food assistance programs and highway construction, among other things.

    Why is Trump doing this?

    A Republican redistricting expert had written that using citizen voting-age population instead of the total population for the purpose of redrawing congressional and legislative districts could be advantageous to Republicans and non-Hispanic whites.

    Critics believe the writings of Republican redistricting expert Tom Hofeller inspired the first Trump administration’s attempt at restricting the apportionment count and guided legislation introduced this year by Republican lawmakers to add a citizenship question to the 2030 census questionnaire. Trump has been open about his intent to increase the number of Republican seats in Congress and maintain the GOP majority in next year’s midterm elections.

    Even though redistricting typically occurs once every 10 years following the census, Trump is pressuring Republicans in Texas to redistrict again, claiming they are “entitled” to five additional Republican seats. Trump’s team is also engaged in similar redistricting discussions in other GOP-controlled states, including Missouri and Indiana.

    Some critics see the effort as part of Trump’s wider effort to control the federal statistical system, which has been considered the world’s gold standard.

    Last Friday, Trump fired the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Erika McEntarfer, after standard revisions to the monthly jobs report showed that employers added 258,000 fewer jobs than previously reported in May and June. The revisions suggested that hiring has severely weakened under Trump, undermining his claims of an economic boom.

    “Trump is basically destroying the federal statistical system,” Anderson said. “He wants numbers that support his political accomplishments, such as he sees them.”

    ___

    Follow Mike Schneider on the social platform Bluesky: @mikeysid.bsky.social

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  • A timeline of the Menendez brothers’ double-murder case

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    LOS ANGELES — After serving nearly 30 years in prison for killing their parents, the Menendez brothers will plead their case in front of a panel of California state parole board commissioners starting Thursday.

    Erik and Lyle Menendez were sentenced in 1996 to life in prison for fatally shooting their father, Jose Menendez, and mother, Kitty Menendez, in their Beverly Hills mansion in August 1989. They were 18 and 21 at the time.

    For years after their convictions, the brothers filed petitions for appeals of their cases that were denied. But the brothers became eligible for parole after a Los Angeles judge in May reduced their sentences from life in prison without the possibility of parole to 50 years to life, marking the closest they’ve been to freedom since their convictions.

    Even if the board grants their parole, it could still be months before the brothers walk free — if at all. If the board grants each brother’s parole, the chief legal counsel has 120 days to review the case. Then, Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom has 30 days to affirm or deny the parole.

    Here’s a look at their case over the last three decades:

    ___

    March 1990: Lyle Menendez, then 21, is arrested. A few days later, Erik Menendez, 18, turns himself in. They are charged with first-degree murder.

    July 1993: The Menendez brothers go on trial, each with a separate jury. Prosecutors argued that they killed their parents for financial gain. The brothers’ attorneys don’t dispute the pair killed their parents, but argued that they acted out of self-defense after years of emotional and sexual abuse by their father.

    January 1994: Both juries deadlock.

    October 1995: The brothers’ retrial begins, this time with a single jury. Much of the defense evidence about alleged sexual abuse is excluded during the second trial.

    March 1996: Jurors convict both brothers of first-degree murder.

    July 1996: The brothers are sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

    February 1998: A California appeals court upholds the brothers’ conviction, and three months later, the state Supreme Court agrees.

    October 1998: The brothers file habeas corpus petitions with the California Supreme Court. After they are denied the next year, they file petitions in federal district court, which are also denied.

    September 2005: The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals denies their habeas corpus appeal.

    May 3: Attorneys for the Menendez brothers ask the court to reconsider the convictions and life sentences in light of new evidence from a former member of the boy band Menudo, who said he was raped by Jose Menendez when he was 14. In addition, they submit a letter that Erik wrote to his cousin before the killings about his father’s abuse.

    Sept. 19: Netflix releases the crime drama “ Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, ” a nine-episode series about the killings.

    Oct. 4: Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón says his office is reviewing new evidence in the case.

    Oct. 16: Multiple generations of family members of the Menendez brothers hold a news conference pleading for their release from prison. The relatives say the jurors who sentenced them to life without parole in 1996 were part of a society that was not ready to hear that boys could be raped.

    Oct. 24: Prosecutors say they will petition the court to resentence the brothers, and that it could lead to their release.

    Nov. 18: California Gov. Gavin Newsom says he would not decide on granting the brothers clemency until after the newly elected district attorney has a chance to review the case.

    Nov. 25: A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge holds a hearing regarding the request for resentencing but says he needs more time to make a decision, delaying the resentencing hearings.

    Dec. 3: Nathan Hochman is sworn into office as the new district attorney of LA County.

    Feb. 21: Hochman says his office will oppose a new trial for the Menendez brothers. He cast doubt on the evidence of sexual abuse. The following week, Newsom orders the state parole board to conduct a “comprehensive risk assessment” to determine whether the brothers have been rehabilitated and if they would pose a danger to the public if released.

    March 10: Hochman says his office won’t support resentencing the brothers because they have repeatedly lied about why they killed their parents.

    April 11: A judge denies prosecutors’ request to withdraw their resentencing petition. The following week, resentencing hearings scheduled are delayed due to disputes among prosecutors and the brothers’ lawyers, who say they will ask to remove Hochman’s office from the case.

    May 9: Hochman’s office remains on the case as the judge again denies prosecutors’ request to withdraw their resentencing petition.

    May 13: Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Michael Jesic reduces the brothers’ sentences from life without parole to 50 years to life. They are immediately eligible for parole because they committed the crime under the age of 26. The state parole board must still decide whether to release them from prison.

    Aug. 21 and 22: Erik and Lyle Menendez are scheduled to have their hearings with the California state parole board. They will take place virtually.

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  • A timeline of the Menendez brothers’ double-murder case

    [ad_1]

    LOS ANGELES — After serving nearly 30 years in prison for killing their parents, the Menendez brothers will plead their case in front of a panel of California state parole board commissioners starting Thursday.

    Erik and Lyle Menendez were sentenced in 1996 to life in prison for fatally shooting their father, Jose Menendez, and mother, Kitty Menendez, in their Beverly Hills mansion in August 1989. They were 18 and 21 at the time.

    For years after their convictions, the brothers filed petitions for appeals of their cases that were denied. But the brothers became eligible for parole after a Los Angeles judge in May reduced their sentences from life in prison without the possibility of parole to 50 years to life, marking the closest they’ve been to freedom since their convictions.

    Even if the board grants their parole, it could still be months before the brothers walk free — if at all. If the board grants each brother’s parole, the chief legal counsel has 120 days to review the case. Then, Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom has 30 days to affirm or deny the parole.

    Here’s a look at their case over the last three decades:

    ___

    March 1990: Lyle Menendez, then 21, is arrested. A few days later, Erik Menendez, 18, turns himself in. They are charged with first-degree murder.

    July 1993: The Menendez brothers go on trial, each with a separate jury. Prosecutors argued that they killed their parents for financial gain. The brothers’ attorneys don’t dispute the pair killed their parents, but argued that they acted out of self-defense after years of emotional and sexual abuse by their father.

    January 1994: Both juries deadlock.

    October 1995: The brothers’ retrial begins, this time with a single jury. Much of the defense evidence about alleged sexual abuse is excluded during the second trial.

    March 1996: Jurors convict both brothers of first-degree murder.

    July 1996: The brothers are sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

    February 1998: A California appeals court upholds the brothers’ conviction, and three months later, the state Supreme Court agrees.

    October 1998: The brothers file habeas corpus petitions with the California Supreme Court. After they are denied the next year, they file petitions in federal district court, which are also denied.

    September 2005: The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals denies their habeas corpus appeal.

    May 3: Attorneys for the Menendez brothers ask the court to reconsider the convictions and life sentences in light of new evidence from a former member of the boy band Menudo, who said he was raped by Jose Menendez when he was 14. In addition, they submit a letter that Erik wrote to his cousin before the killings about his father’s abuse.

    Sept. 19: Netflix releases the crime drama “ Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, ” a nine-episode series about the killings.

    Oct. 4: Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón says his office is reviewing new evidence in the case.

    Oct. 16: Multiple generations of family members of the Menendez brothers hold a news conference pleading for their release from prison. The relatives say the jurors who sentenced them to life without parole in 1996 were part of a society that was not ready to hear that boys could be raped.

    Oct. 24: Prosecutors say they will petition the court to resentence the brothers, and that it could lead to their release.

    Nov. 18: California Gov. Gavin Newsom says he would not decide on granting the brothers clemency until after the newly elected district attorney has a chance to review the case.

    Nov. 25: A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge holds a hearing regarding the request for resentencing but says he needs more time to make a decision, delaying the resentencing hearings.

    Dec. 3: Nathan Hochman is sworn into office as the new district attorney of LA County.

    Feb. 21: Hochman says his office will oppose a new trial for the Menendez brothers. He cast doubt on the evidence of sexual abuse. The following week, Newsom orders the state parole board to conduct a “comprehensive risk assessment” to determine whether the brothers have been rehabilitated and if they would pose a danger to the public if released.

    March 10: Hochman says his office won’t support resentencing the brothers because they have repeatedly lied about why they killed their parents.

    April 11: A judge denies prosecutors’ request to withdraw their resentencing petition. The following week, resentencing hearings scheduled are delayed due to disputes among prosecutors and the brothers’ lawyers, who say they will ask to remove Hochman’s office from the case.

    May 9: Hochman’s office remains on the case as the judge again denies prosecutors’ request to withdraw their resentencing petition.

    May 13: Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Michael Jesic reduces the brothers’ sentences from life without parole to 50 years to life. They are immediately eligible for parole because they committed the crime under the age of 26. The state parole board must still decide whether to release them from prison.

    Aug. 21 and 22: Erik and Lyle Menendez are scheduled to have their hearings with the California state parole board. They will take place virtually.

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  • In Kenya’s capital, a new Rastafari temple shows the movement’s endurance

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    NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — At a recent opening of the newest Rastafari place of worship just outside Kenya’s capital, some of the faithful gathered to sing rhythmic songs, read Scripture and exchange teachings on the appropriate way to live.

    The rare event — opening a tabernacle made of wooden poles and roofed with iron sheets — illustrated the community’s expanding ranks in a country where until recently Rastafari was not considered a legitimate religion.

    Things changed in 2019 with a court ruling in favor of a petitioner who cited discrimination when her school demanded that she cut her dreadlocks, often preferred by those who follow the Rastafari religion.

    The student’s refusal to cut her locks had resulted in her expulsion from school, but the High Court ruled Rastafari was a legitimate religion that should be protected, a ruling later affirmed by the Supreme Court.

    A history of the religion

    Across the world, the faithful are known as Rastafarians, members of the movement launched in 1930 with the coronation in Ethiopia of Ras Tafari Mekonnen as Emperor Haile Selassie I. Rastafarians believe Selassie was the final incarnation of the biblical Jesus, and during his reign many Rastafarians made pilgrimage to the Horn of Africa nation. For Rastafarians, Ethiopia was a symbol of pride for its unbroken resistance to colonizers and Selassie was Jah, the deity.

    Selassie was removed from power in a 1974 coup by a military junta. He died a year later. But the movement inspired by his rise to power in Ethiopia survives in countries ranging from the United States to Ghana.

    A religious minority in Kenya

    It is unclear how many people identify as Rastafari in Kenya, a country dominated by Christians and Muslims. At least 30 Rastafarians came to the tabernacle opening in Ruai, some 25 kilometers (15 miles) east of Nairobi, last month.

    In Kenya, the movement is set up under three “mansions” or branches: Nyabinghi, Bobo Ashanti and The Twelve tribes of Israel. The “mansions” represent small groups of Rastafarians who meet to worship together. Unlike traditional places of worship that are housed in architect-designed permanent structures, a Rastafari tabernacle is built with wooden poles, roofed with iron sheets and decorated in the unmistakable Rastafari colors of red, yellow and green.

    Rastafarians around the world have a reputation for their unique Afrocentric spirituality, and they are generally known to be peace advocates. They oppose oppression and gravitate to music and art. The Jamaican reggae singer Bob Marley was a famous Rastafari.

    There are challenges, including those that stem from misunderstandings about the religion. Across East Africa, Rastafarians are often stereotyped as lazy and indulging in prohibited substances like marijuana. Known to Rastafarians as ganja, marijuana is an important item in religious ceremonies.

    Rastafarians share their experience practicing the faith

    The community has been growing in Kenya, attracting mostly young people.

    Ng’ang’a Njuguna, a Rastafari elder in the Nyabinghi mansion of Kenya, describes Rastafari as not just a religion but a way of life.

    “It is a spiritual way of life,” he said. “That is why we connect with nature, we connect with animals, we connect with every living being because Rastafari is all about the spiritual world.”

    Fedrick Wangai, 26, is one of the newest members. He converted six years ago in what he described as his emancipation from Western religion.

    “I grew up in a Christian setup and I ended up questioning the faith because it was made by the white man who was the colonial master of my forefathers,” he said. “Growing up for me in that religion was very difficult for me because I believe it brought division to the Black people.”

    Christine Wanjiru, a 58-year-old who became a Rastafarian in 1994, making her one of the oldest members of her community, recalled that being one once was difficult as it often attracted discrimination and stigma.

    “Back then, there was a lot of stigma and discrimination against Rastafari,” she said. “Most people never saw Rastafari as a good thing or a spiritual thing, from family members to the government, the police, all round. But we endured and we are here today.”

    She added, however, that since then “more brethren have received this light and have come to Rastafari.”

    Ng’ang’a Njuguna, an elder in the Nyabinghi mansion, says the movement has been growing largely because of interest from young Kenyans.

    “They have that fire, they like how Rasta people carry themselves, how Rasta people live,” he said. “Our diet, art and skills.”

    ___

    Associated Press writer Rodney Muhumuza in Kampala, Uganda, contributed to this report.

    ___

    Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

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  • Ex-San Jose cop pleads to on-duty indecent exposure, sexual battery, road rage

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    SAN JOSE — A former San Jose police officer who gained notoriety in 2022 after he was caught masturbating while working a family disturbance call has pleaded no contest to indecent exposure, along with separate instances of groping women both on- and off-duty, and a subsequent road rage episode while he was out of custody for the previous charges.

    Matthew Dominguez, 35, entered the plea to Judge Benjamin Williams in a San Jose courtroom on Tuesday. Under the terms of a plea agreement with the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office, he will be technically sentenced to three years and two months in prison, though because of credit for the year and nine months he has spent at the Santa Clara County Main Jail, he won’t spend any additional time in custody.

    Dominguez was granted supervised release pending his scheduled Sept. 25 sentencing, and in the intervening weeks is expected to resolve two sets of misdemeanor DUI charges in San Mateo County before returning to Santa Clara County court. As part of the plea agreement, Dominguez will voluntarily surrender his police certification with the state Commission Peace Officer Standards and Training, which had temporarily suspended his licensing pending the outcome of the criminal case.

    He also pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor stemming from a Palo Alto traffic stop in which he reportedly refused to submit to alcohol screening. That occurred just a week before his Nov. 17, 2023 road rage arrest, and those cases and the San Mateo County DUI arrests all occurred months after his four-year stint with the San Jose Police Department ended under the cloud of the sexual misconduct charges.

    “A police officer’s presence should ensure safety and care. Matthew Dominguez abused that notion to harm his victims and he undermined the badge he wore by doing so,” Deputy District Attorney Jason Malinsky said Tuesday. “Today he is being held accountable for his crimes in and out of uniform.”

    Dominguez’s attorney, Daniel Mayfield, said his client’s mental health began suffering after joining SJPD in 2018 and that he received counseling and medical treatment while in jail. Dominguez was the subject of court hearings to evaluate his mental competence that ended with him being deemed fit for trial.

    “This was a very sad situation,” Mayfield said in a statement. “We believe that a settlement in this case was in the interest of all parties, and Mr. Dominguez has expressed his profound condolences to the victims in these cases.”

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    Robert Salonga

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  • Feds say 8 Tren de Aragua gang members among 30 people charged in Colorado gun, drug-trafficking cases

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    Federal prosecutors charged 30 people with largely gun and drug-trafficking crimes after a months-long investigation in metro Denver, a mix of federal and local officials announced at a news conference Monday.

    Those charged include eight people who investigators believe are members of the Venezuelan gang Tren De Aragua, U.S. Attorney Peter McNeilly said. He said he considers three of the eight gang members to be “leaders.” Two of the leaders were arrested July 30 in Colombia, court records show.

    McNeilly could not say how many Tren de Aragua gang members remain in Colorado, whether the local members were taking direction from leaders in Venezuela, or how many of the 30 people arrested in the operation were Venezuelan nationals.

    David Olesky, a special agent in charge with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, said the federal charges against eight gang members “diminished” Tren de Aragua’s “influence and capabilities” in the Denver area.

    The federal investigation started in October when Arapahoe County Sheriff Tyler Brown sought federal assistance to deal with rising crime at the Ivy Crossing apartments on Quebec Street. The subsequent investigation involved at least 40 undercover operations and branched out significantly from the apartment complex.

    Federal investigators seized or purchased 69 guns during the investigation, according to court records. Twenty-seven of those guns were connected through ballistics to 67 “separate shooting events,” said Brent Beavers, Denver special agent in charge for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

    Court records show those incidents included drive-by shootings, an attempted carjacking and a shootout between two large groups, among others.

    “By removing these firearms from the street, we’ve disrupted a dangerous cycle of violence, prevented further harm to our community and sent a clear message to criminal networks,” Beavers said.

    The defendants in the federal cases announced Monday were not charged in connection with those shootings.

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    Shelly Bradbury

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  • Man who allegedly impersonated ICE agent to rob Philly auto shop will face federal charges

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    The man who allegedly posed as an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer to rob an auto repair shop in Northeast Philly has racked up two additional charges in federal court.

    Robert Rosado, 54, was apprehended by local authorities earlier this summer following the June 8 robbery of a mechanic shop in Mayfair. Identifying himself as an ICE agent, Rosado allegedly told employees he would be taking undocumented workers into custody and stole about $1,000 from the shop. He also zip-tied the hands of a woman on the premises before he left the scene in an unmarked white van, prosecutors said. 

    MORE: Rapper Skrilla arrested for allegedly assaulting police officer while filming music video in Kensington

    Investigators later traced the car’s license plate information back to Rosado and connected him to two additional properties where they found a fake badge and zip ties.

    Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner announced six felony and six misdemeanor charges against Rosado at a news conference June 23. But the case has since graduated to the national stage. Federal prosecutors said Monday that the defendant will face additional charges of impersonating a federal officer and robbery interfering with interstate commerce. The crimes come with a maximum sentence of 23 years in prison and a $500,000 fine.

    The investigation involved FBI agents with the bureau’s violent crimes task force in Philadelphia, as well as the Philadelphia Police Department. 

    Follow Kristin & PhillyVoice on Twitter: @kristin_hunt
     | @thePhillyVoice
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    Have a news tip? Let us know.

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    Kristin Hunt

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  • Maryland tax on digital ads violated Big Tech’s free speech, judges say

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    ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Maryland’s first-in-the-nation tax on digital advertising violated the Constitution, a federal appeals court says, because blocking Big Tech from telling customers about the tax violates the companies’ right to free speech.

    Supporters say Maryland needed to overhaul its tax methods in response to significant changes in how businesses advertise. The tax focuses on large companies that make money advertising on the internet such as Meta, Google and Amazon, who say they’re being unfairly targeted.

    The ongoing legal fight is being watched by other states that are considering taxes for online ads. Maryland estimated the tax could raise about $250 million a year to help pay for a sweeping K-12 education measure.

    Maryland’s law says the companies must not only pay the tax, but avoid telling customers how it affects pricing, with no line items, surcharges or fees, said the appeals court Friday in siding with trade associations fighting the tax.

    Judge Julius Richardson cited the Colonial-era Stamp Act, which helped spark the Revolutionary War, and wrote that “criticizing the government — for taxes or anything else — is important discourse in a democratic society.”

    The plaintiffs contended Maryland lawmakers were trying to insulate themselves from criticism and political accountability by forbidding companies from explaining the tax to their customers.

    “A state cannot duck criticism by silencing those affected by its tax,” the judge wrote.

    The unanimous ruling by the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reverses a decision by U.S. District Judge Lydia Kay Griggsby and sends the case back to her with instructions to consider an appropriate remedy in light of the panel’s decision.

    Trade groups praised the decision.

    “Maryland tried to prevent criticism of its tax scheme, and the Fourth Circuit recognized that tactic for what it was: censorship,” said Paul Taske, co-director of the NetChoice Litigation Center, said in a statement.

    Maryland Comptroller Brooke Lierman, who is the defendant in the case, and the Maryland attorney general’s office, who is representing the state, declined to comment Monday.

    The law has been challenged in multiple legal venues, including Maryland Tax Court, where the case is ongoing.

    The law imposes a tax based on global annual gross revenues for companies that make more than $100 million globally.

    Under the law, the tax rate is 2.5% for businesses making more than $100 million in global gross annual revenue; 5% for companies making $1 billion or more; 7.5% for companies making $5 billion or more and 10% for companies making $15 billion or more.

    The Maryland General Assembly, which is controlled by Democrats, overrode a veto of the legislation in 2021 by then-Gov. Larry Hogan, a Republican.

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  • Newsmax to pay $67M to Denver’s Dominion Voting Systems to settle defamation case over 2020 election claims

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    The conservative network Newsmax will pay $67 million to settle a lawsuit accusing it of defaming a Denver-based voting equipment company by spreading lies about President Donald Trump’s 2020 election loss, according to documents filed Monday.

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    Nicholas Riccardi

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  • YouTube to begin testing a new AI-powered age verification system in the U.S.

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    YouTube on Wednesday will begin testing a new age-verification system in the U.S. that relies on artificial intelligence to differentiate between adults and minors, based on the kinds of videos that they have been watching.

    The tests initially will only affect a sliver of YouTube’s audience in the U.S., but it will likely become more pervasive if the system works as well at guessing viewers’ ages as it does in other parts of the world. The system will only work when viewers are logged into their accounts, and it will make its age assessments regardless of the birth date a user might have entered upon signing up.

    If the system flags a logged-in viewer as being under 18, YouTube will impose the normal controls and restrictions that the site already uses as a way to prevent minors from watching videos and engaging in other behavior deemed inappropriate for that age.

    The safeguards include reminders to take a break from the screen, privacy warnings and restrictions on video recommendations. YouTube, which has been owned by Google for nearly 20 years, also doesn’t show ads tailored to individual tastes if a viewer is under 18.

    If the system has inaccurately called out a viewer as a minor, the mistake can be corrected by showing YouTube a government-issued identification card, a credit card or a selfie.

    “YouTube was one of the first platforms to offer experiences designed specifically for young people, and we’re proud to again be at the forefront of introducing technology that allows us to deliver safety protections while preserving teen privacy,” James Beser, the video service’s director of product management, wrote in a blog post about the age-verification system.

    People still will be able to watch YouTube videos without logging into an account, but viewing that way triggers an automatic block on some content without proof of age.

    The political pressure has been building on websites to do a better job of verifying ages to shield children from inappropriate content since late June when the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a Texas law aimed at preventing minors from watching pornography online.

    While some services, such as YouTube, have been stepping up their efforts to verify users’ ages, others have contended that the responsibility should primarily fall upon the two main smartphone app stores run by Apple and Google — a position that those two technology powerhouses have resisted.

    Some digital rights groups, such as the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the Center for Democracy & Technology, have raised concerns that age verification could infringe on personal privacy and violate First Amendment protections on free speech.

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  • Epic Games wins partial victory in Australian court against Google and Apple

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    MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Epic Games, the company behind the popular online game Fortnite, on Tuesday won a partial victory in an Australian court. The case was brought by U.S. billionaire chief executive Tim Sweeney, who claimed that Google and Apple engaged in anti-competitive conduct in running their app stores.

    Federal Court Justice Jonathan Beach upheld key parts of Epic’s claim that the tech giants breached Australian competition laws by misusing their market power against app developers and using restrictive trade practices.

    Google and Apple ’s dominance of the app market had the effect of substantially lessening competition and breached Australian law, Beach found.

    But the judge rejected some of Epic’s claim including that Google and Apple engaged in unconscionable conduct as defined by Australian law.

    Sweeney is also challenging Google and Apple’s dominance in the app markets through the courts in the United States and Britain.

    The litigation began in August 2020 when Apple’s App Store and Google’s Play Store expelled Fortnite because Epic installed a direct payment feature in the extraordinarily popular game.

    The court ruled both companies pressured app developers including Epic through contracts and technology to sell their products through the two dominant app stores.

    Epic said that the ruling will allow its Epic Games Store and Fortnite to come to Apple’s operating system iOS in Australia.

    “An Australian court just found that Apple and Google abuse their control over app distribution and in-app payments to limit competition,” Epic said in a statement.

    “There are 2,000+ pages of findings that we’ll need to dig into to fully understand the details,” the statement added. “This is a WIN for developers and consumers in Australia!”

    Apple said the company “faces fierce competition in every market where we operate.”

    “We welcome the Australian court’s rejection of some of Epic’s claims, however, we strongly disagree with the Court’s ruling on others,” Apple said in a statement.

    Google said it would review the judgment. Google and Apple could potentially appeal the ruling before the Federal Court full bench.

    “We disagree with the court’s characterisation of our billing policies and practices, as well as its findings regarding some of our historical partnerships, which were all shaped in a fiercely competitive mobile landscape on behalf of users and developers,” a Google statement said.

    Beach has yet to release a 952-page judgment on Epic’s case against Apple or his 914-page judgment on the case against Google.

    The judge gave an oral summary of his findings during a 90-minute hearing Tuesday.

    Lawyers will return to court on a date yet to be set to argue what Epic is entitled to in terms of damages.

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