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Tag: criminal law

  • Elizabeth Holmes’ request for a new trial is denied | CNN Business

    Elizabeth Holmes’ request for a new trial is denied | CNN Business

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    CNN
     — 

    A federal judge has denied Elizabeth Holmes’ request for a new trial, according to court filings on Monday, paving the way for the founder of failed blood testing startup Theranos to be sentenced later this month.

    The decision comes weeks after an October 17 hearing held in San Jose, during which Judge Edward Davila had Adam Rosendorff, one of the government’s key witnesses, take the stand again. The hearing was to address concerns from Holmes’ defense team, which claimed Rosendorff had shown up at her home after the trial concluded asking to speak with her and expressed regrets about his testimony.

    At that hearing in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, Rosendorff, a former Theranos lab director, reaffirmed the truthfulness of his testimony at Holmes’ trial and said that the government did not influence what he said.

    In his decision on Monday, Davila denied all three of Holmes’ motions requesting a new trial. A sentencing hearing, previously scheduled for last month, is now set for November 18.

    Holmes, once hailed as a tech industry icon for her company’s promises to test for a range of conditions with just a few drops of blood, was found guilty in January on four charges of defrauding investors. Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani, her ex-boyfriend and former COO at Theranos, was convicted in a separate trial in July. Both face up to 20 years in prison as well as a fine of $250,000 plus restitution for each count.

    In September, Holmes’ defense team filed a motion asking for a new trial, after claiming that Rosendorff arrived at Holmes’ home on August 8. According to that court filing, Rosendorff did not interact with Holmes but did speak to her partner Billy Evans, who recounted the exchange in an email to Holmes’ lawyers shortly after.

    In Evans’ email, he wrote that Rosendorff “said when he was called as a witness he tried to answer the questions honestly but that the prosecutors tried to make everybody look bad.” The former Theranos lab director also “said he felt like he had done something wrong,” Evans wrote.

    Davila wrote in his order Monday that the court “finds that the statements Dr. Rosendorff made to Mr. Evans do not stand for any of the proposed meanings that Defendant would want and, even if they did, they would not be material to the issues” at trial.

    “Accordingly, a new trial is not warranted based on the ‘newly discovered’ evidence of Dr. Rosendorff’s statements to Mr. Evans,” Davila wrote.

    In a sworn declaration filed with the court on September 21, Rosendorff wrote that he stands by his testimony in the trials of Holmes and Balwani “in every respect.”

    During the hearing last month, Holmes and Evans were present as Rosendorff was asked by a defense lawyer about his decision to visit Holmes’ home. He responded that in the weeks and months following Holmes’ conviction he “started to feel increasingly distressed and uncomfortable at the prospect that a young child, an infant child, would spend their formative years without a mother in their life.” (Holmes has one child with Evans.)

    Rosendorff said that when he visited Holmes’ residence in August, he rang the doorbell and spoke briefly to Evans, who asked him to leave. He went to his car and started to drive away, he testified, but Evans motioned for him to roll down his window; he did, and they had a conversation, Rosendorff said, in which he “expressed sympathy for the rank and file employees at Theranos.”

    When asked by the defense lawyer whether he had said the prosecution was trying to make everyone look bad, Rosendorff said that the prosecution was trying to paint “an angry picture of Elizabeth Holmes. To the extent other people looked bad it was because of their association with Elizabeth.”

    He said he did not recall telling Evans that he felt he had done something wrong, as Evans had written in his email to Holmes’ lawyers after their interaction.

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  • Prosecutors use Oath Keepers leader’s own words against him in heated cross-examination | CNN Politics

    Prosecutors use Oath Keepers leader’s own words against him in heated cross-examination | CNN Politics

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    CNN
     — 

    In a tense, head-to-head exchange with Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes, prosecutors used Rhodes’ own words from texts, speeches and interviews to suggest to the jury that the militia leader misled them when he testified he was unaware of other members’ activities on January 6, 2021, and was appalled by the violence that day.

    Rhodes is the first of the five defendants charged with seditious conspiracy in federal court in Washington, DC, to testify.

    In his two-day testimony, Rhodes told the jury that he wasn’t involved in the specifics of planning for January 6, and that he had no knowledge of plans for the so-called quick reaction force that the group set up in Virginia to quickly move weapons into Washington, as prosecutors have alleged.

    Prosecutor Kathryn Rakoczy, however, showed the jury Signal messages in which Rhodes told other members that “We WILL have a QRF” on January 6 because “this situation calls for it” and was part of group messages where members shared photographs of routes the QRF could use to enter the city.

    “The buck stopped with you in this operation,” Rakoczy said to Rhodes, reading the leader’s messages aloud.

    “I’m responsible for everything everyone else did?” Rhodes responded.

    “You’re in charge, right?” Rakoczy said.

    “Not if they do something off mission,” he shot back.

    “That’s convenient,” Rakoczy said, smiling.

    The militia leader also told prosecutors that he “hoped to avoid” conflict and was only concerned about a civil war breaking out after Joe Biden became president – leading to a chiding question from Rakoczy about how “the civil war will be on [January] 21st and not on the sixth?”

    “I don’t condone the violence that happened” on January 6, Rhodes testified. “Anyone who did assault a police officer that day should be prosecuted for it.”

    Rakoczy pointed to statements Rhodes made in a secretly recorded conversation in the days after January 6 where he said he wished the Oath Keepers had brought rifles to the Capitol that day.

    “If he’s not going to do the right thing, and he’s just going to let himself be removed illegally, then we should have brought rifles,” Rhodes said in the recording prosecutors again played for the jury.

    “We could have fixed it right then and there,” Rhodes said of the Capitol attack, according to the recording. “I’d hang f**king Pelosi from the lamppost.”

    After playing the recording, Rakoczy asked Rhodes, “That’s what you said four days after the assault at the Capitol, right?”

    “Yeah, after a couple drinks and I was pissed off,” Rhodes testified.

    Rhodes and the other four defendants have pleaded not guilty to the seditious conspiracy charges.

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  • Family fears for life of rapper they say was violently arrested after encouraging Iranians to protest | CNN

    Family fears for life of rapper they say was violently arrested after encouraging Iranians to protest | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    “Someone’s crime was that her hair was flowing in the wind. Someone’s crime was that he or she was brave and were outspoken.”

    These lyrics could cost Iranian rap artist Toomaj Salehi his life. In any other country he could have easily rapped about the day-to-day problems facing his countrymen without consequence.

    But because he lives in Iran, Salehi’s fate is quite different.

    The 32-year-old underground dissident rapper was violently arrested last Saturday along with two of his friends, his uncle said, and now faces accusations of crimes that are punishable by death, according to Iranian state media.

    As many as 14,000 people in Iran have been arrested including journalists, activists, lawyers and educators during protests that have rocked the country since September, according to a top United Nations official.

    The unrest was sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini, the 22-year-old Kurdish Iranian woman who died on September 16 after being detained by “morality police” and taken to a “re-education center,” allegedly for not wearing her hijab properly.

    “I woke up at two o’clock in the morning with a phone call from Toomaj’s friend saying ‘our whereabouts have been leaked,’” Salehi’s uncle Eghbal Eghbali told CNN in an interview. “Since then we have been worried about what has happened to Toomaj.”

    Eghbali says he found out through Salehi’s friends later that morning that about 50 people raided his nephew’s residence in Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari Province, in southwestern Iran.

    The rapper is accused of “propagandistic activity against the government, cooperation with hostile governments and forming illegal groups with the intention of creating insecurity in the country,” state-run IRNA said, quoting the Esfahan province judiciary.

    Salehi’s uncle said his nephew is currently detained in a prison in the city of Isfahan, and that he has information he was tortured. Salehi is a resident of Shahin Shahr, about 20km north of Isfahan.

    “We still do not know anything about Toomaj’s health condition. The family has tried very hard to even just hear his voice, but no one has given us any information about Toomaj,” he said. “We don’t even know if Toomaj and his friends are alive or not.”

    Salehi’s friends who were arrested with him over the weekend, boxing champion Mohammad Reza Nikraftar and kickboxer Najaf Abu Ali, also haven’t been heard from since, Eghbali said.

    “The accused played a key role in creating, inviting and encouraging riots in Isfahan province and in the city of Shahin Shahr,” a spokesperson for Isfahan Province Judiciary, Seyyed Mohammad Mousavian said according to IRNA.

    After his arrest, a short video clip of what appears to be Salehi blindfolded emerged on state-backed news agency, the Young Journalists Club (YJC). Salehi appears to be under duress voicing remorse for remarks he made on social media.

    Salehi’s uncle was adamant that the man in the video was not his nephew, adding that the government had political objectives in releasing the short clip. Eghbali also rejects the government’s claim that his nephew was running away at the time of his arrest.

    “Absolutely not,” Eghbali said. “Because where Toomaj was living or where we are in Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari Province, basically we have no way to the border. This is a very crackbrained claim. Anyone who knows the geography of Iran will not believe such claim.”

    Since the beginning of the nationwide protests which started in mid-September, Salehi, who IRNA said was also detained in September 2021, has been calling for Iranians to protest against the government.

    “None of us have different color blood,” Salehi posted on Instagram. “Don’t forget our amazing union and do not allow them to create division between us, in this bloody and sad heaven.”

    Salehi, who himself is of Bakhtiari ethnic background, has long rapped about Iran’s multi-ethnic makeup, encouraging unity among Iranians of different ethnic backgrounds.

    “Stand with us, we stood by you for years,” Salehi raps in his song “Meydoone jang” which translates as “The Battlefield.”

    “It’s not enough to be rebellious, we have revolutionary roots. Arab, Assyrian, Armenian, Turkmen, Mazandari, Sistani, Baluch, Talysh, Tatar, Azeri, Kurd, Gilaki, Lor, Farsi and Qashqai, we are the unity of rivers: we are the sea.”

    Iranian rap artist Toomaj Salehi was arrested last Saturday alongside two of his friends.

    Days before his arrest, Salehi posted videos of himself alongside protesters on the street on Instagram. Since then, his fans, Iranians in the diaspora, as well as musicians and activists, have called for his release.

    “A lot of rappers have come out and supported him,” Iranian rapper, songwriter and activist Erfan Paydar told CNN. “Toomaj’s bravery of protesting in the streets encouraged others to get out there and speak up and made people think ‘if he’s willing to go out there and he’s not scared, then maybe we shouldn’t be.’”

    Paydar said that Salehi recently shared a message with his trusted friends which was to be released in the event he was arrested. “You will go forward according to my operation. You are my most trusted person,” the message reads.

    “The priority is with the students and workers, you will cover all calls for protests, you will not support any party or group, do not write much about the prisoners unless their condition worsens and they have no voice. Concentrate on attack not defense.”

    Security forces have arrested several musicians and artists including two other rappers who were involved in protests – Emad Ghavidel from Rasht and Kurdish rapper Saman Yasin from Kermanshah.

    Ghavidel was released on bond and described in an Instagram post how he was tortured and had his teeth smashed. Yasin was subjected to severe mental and physical torture during his time in custody, according to Hengaw, and sentenced to death in a sham trial.

    “Toomaj’s mother was a political prisoner,” Salehi’s uncle who lives in Germany told CNN. “She has passed away a long time ago…if my sister was still alive, she would become Toomaj’s voice. The same as I am Toomaj’s voice. The same as many who are on the streets [in Iran] are the voice of Toomaj.”

    Since the death of Mahsa Amini in custody, protesters across Iran have coalesced around a range of grievances with the regime. Meanwhile, Iranian authorities have been stepping up efforts to end the uprising. Around 1,000 people have been charged in the Tehran province for their alleged involvement in the protests, state news agency IRNA reported last week.

    The trials of those accused will be heard in public over the coming days, IRNA said, citing Ali Al-Qasi Mehr, chief justice of Tehran province.

    Iranian media said last weekend that the trials for several demonstrators had started the previous week.

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  • What critics of progressive prosecution get wrong about crime spikes and the reform movement | CNN

    What critics of progressive prosecution get wrong about crime spikes and the reform movement | CNN

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    Washington
    CNN
     — 

    Joaquin Ciria knows firsthand the power of the so-called progressive prosecutor movement, which seeks to make the US criminal legal system less harsh and more ethical.

    In 1991, he was convicted of first-degree murder for the shooting death of his friend, Felix Bastarrica. Despite flaws in the case against Ciria – including the fact that the jury never heard from alibi witnesses – the Black 29-year-old was sentenced to 31 years to life in prison.

    Ciria wasn’t released until April of this year. His salvation was an investigation by the San Francisco District Attorney’s Innocence Commission – a group of experts working to revisit claims of wrongful conviction. If a majority votes to vacate the conviction, the group takes its findings to the DA, who makes the final decision. The DA who secured Ciria’s release: Chesa Boudin.

    Ciria, now 61, holds a tremendous amount of reverence for Boudin, who in June was booted out of office in a historic, widely-watched recall election.

    “He’s not afraid,” Ciria told CNN, referring to Boudin. “He don’t play politics with people’s lives.”

    At a time when fears about crime have prompted intense political scrutiny of Boudin and other progressive prosecutors – last week, Republicans in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives filed articles of impeachment against Larry Krasner, asserting that the Philadelphia DA’s policies are a threat to public safety – some have argued that the former San Francisco DA’s recall illustrates that the movement is out of touch with voters’ concerns.

    But the claim that reform-minded prosecutors’ approach is fueling violent crime is false, per recent research. Further, some experts say, to focus overmuch on Boudin’s fate is to disregard progressive prosecutors who are successfully plowing ahead with ambitious agendas as midterm elections loom – and even to diminish the value of efforts to reshape a system that disproportionately disadvantages people of color.

    “Less punitive prosecutors are a form of harm reduction, not the solution,” the legal observer Josie Duffy Rice noted earlier this year. “The paradox of prosecutors is this – they have the power to cause a lot of problems, but not enough power to solve them.”

    She added, “Prosecutors are still prosecutors. But having someone in office who practices some level of restraint is necessary. It will not fix deeper-rooted problems in San Francisco or anywhere. That’s not the job. But it will reduce harm.”

    Speaking with CNN, James Forman Jr., a Yale University law professor and the author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning 2017 book, “Locking Up Our Own: Crime and Punishment in Black America,” echoed some of Rice’s sentiments.

    “For most of my lifetime, the only way you became a prosecutor was by saying that you were going to lock up more people – and for longer and in worse conditions – than your opponent,” said Forman, who used to be a public defender. “The idea that there’s a new generation of people who are saying things like, ‘Let’s talk about decriminalizing low-level offenses. Let’s talk about restorative justice. Let’s ask ourselves if a long prison sentence is justified in all of these cases. Let’s look at old convictions to see if they were obtained using false information’ – we need people asking these questions throughout the system. And one place we need them is in the prosecutor’s office.”

    As the country prepares for key DA races – including in San Francisco, Arizona’s Maricopa County (Phoenix) and Minnesota’s Hennepin County (Minneapolis) – reformist prosecutors and their supporters insist that the movement to rethink the criminal legal system must continue.

    The freedom of people like Ciria may depend on it.

    While some argue that Boudin’s recall spells doom for progressive prosecutors elsewhere, such predictions might be rash.

    For one thing, a number of factors made the election somewhat unique and, in consequence, difficult to draw sweeping conclusions from.

    “Boudin clearly struggled as a politician, including at one point saying that a person had committed murder during what appeared to be a ‘temper tantrum.’ And unlike normal elections, recalls do not pit two candidates against each other, and thus may reflect people’s views of the person more than their policies,” the Fordham University law professor John Pfaff wrote for Slate in July.

    He continued, “Not to mention that it is risky to draw big conclusions from low-turnout elections, something even those pushing a bigger narrative concede. And San Francisco voters were wary of Boudin from the start: By the end of the city’s ranked choice voting process in 2019, he barely won, edging out the much more moderate Suzy Loftus 50.8 percent to 49.2 percent.”

    Plus, though some progressive prosecutors are embattled – remember the campaign against Krasner, or the backlash from certain quarters against Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg – others are experiencing success.

    For instance, in August, in Chittenden County – Vermont’s most populous county – the reformer Sarah George prevailed in her primary. In Contra Costa, California, the progressive-leaning DA Diana Becton won reelection in June. And the month before, in Durham, North Carolina, the reformer Satana Deberry handily won her primary.

    Boudin summarized why his recall wasn’t a meaningful bellwether moment.

    “Since my recall, there have been (at least) three major successes for the criminal legal reform movement,” he told CNN. “One, the failure of the recall against (the Los Angeles County DA) George Gascón. Two, the reelection of Sarah George in Vermont. And three, the ouster of an extremely conservative, reactionary, 10-year incumbent in Tennessee (Amy Weirich) by a progressive reform Democrat (Steve Mulroy).”

    Like the former San Francisco DA, George is “really optimistic” about the future of progressive prosecution.

    “Around the same time that Chesa’s recall was successful, there were other progressive DAs in California up for reelection against more tough-on-crime people. They won,” she told CNN. “So, I feel really good about the movement. I think that it’s definitely growing.”

    Experts CNN spoke with say that, in the run-up to the midterm elections, it’s important not to lose sight of the fundamental value of attempts to reimagine the country’s criminal legal system.

    “It’s hard to find people anymore who haven’t been impacted by our legal system, who haven’t seen up close the ways it doesn’t work,” Miriam Krinsky, the executive director of the group Fair and Just Prosecution, told CNN. “They’ve seen it affect a loved one or a friend or a colleague or a neighbor or some other member of their circle.”

    She paid special attention to the fact that the traditional tough-on-crime approach disproportionately burdens people of color.

    “We know that racial disparities are present at every stage of the criminal system: who gets stopped, who gets arrested, what their treatment is post-arrest, who gets prosecuted, for how long they end up behind bars and, in the most extreme cases, for whom the death penalty is sought and when it’s imposed,” Krinsky added.

    Lara Bazelon, a law professor at the University of San Francisco and the chair of the Innocence Commission, put some of these sentiments a little bit more bluntly.

    “Before the commission existed, no DA in San Francisco’s history had ever agreed to exonerate anyone,” she told CNN. “Instead, they fought tooth and nail to keep innocent people locked up – which is absolutely shameful, particularly in a city that says that it’s progressive.”

    Bazelon went on, “I don’t believe that going back to the days of tough on crime is going to make us safe. And I think that there are stacks and stacks of academic and empirical studies that prove that point.”

    It’s worth reiterating that progressive prosecution is no panacea for crime.

    “There’s no single thing that’s going to undo 50 years of harshness built across 50 states and 3,000 counties and every single institution in our criminal system,” Forman, the Yale law professor, said.

    In short, pushback must come from every quarter: judges who won’t lock up people merely because they’re poor, legislatures that are prepared to revisit long sentences for a wide range of offenses, public defender’s offices that receive more money, prosecutor’s offices that take a progressive approach to the law.

    Forman explained that, in the future, he’d like to see progressive prosecutors commit to shrinking the size and scope of their offices – because if they’re successful, they’re going to find ways to reduce crime that don’t rely on policing and prison.

    “I actually think that victory will be when they’re not needed,” he said. “Now, we know that such a world is probably never going to exist, because every country in the world for all of history has had crimes. But if we set that as a goal, as a dream, we can measure success by whether we’re taking steps in that direction.”

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  • Sri Lanka cricket star Danushka Gunathilaka charged with alleged rape in Australia | CNN

    Sri Lanka cricket star Danushka Gunathilaka charged with alleged rape in Australia | CNN

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    Sydney
    CNN
     — 

    Sri Lanka international cricket player Danushka Gunathilaka has been charged with rape after he was arrested at his team’s hotel late on Saturday night, according to Australian police.

    At a news conference in Sydney on Sunday, New South Wales Police Commander Jayne Doherty said Gunathilaka, 31, has been charged with four counts of “sexual intercourse without consent” against a 29-year-old woman in the city whom he met online.

    Police allege Gunathilaka “assaulted [the woman] a number of times while performing sex acts upon her,” Doherty said.

    The cricketer has been refused bail and will appear in a Sydney court on Monday, she added.

    The arrest came just hours after Sri Lanka lost a T20 World Cup match against England.

    Gunathilaka, who was earlier ruled out of the tournament due to injury, made his international debut in 2015. Since then, the left-handed batsman has played in eight test matches, 47 one-day internationals (ODI) and 46 T20I games for his country.

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  • Putin signs law to mobilize Russian citizens convicted of serious crimes | CNN

    Putin signs law to mobilize Russian citizens convicted of serious crimes | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a law to conscript citizens with unexpunged or outstanding convictions for murder, robbery, larceny, drug trafficking and other serious crimes under the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation to be called up for military service to mobilize.

    This makes it possible to mobilize hundreds of thousands of people who have been sentenced to probation or have recently been released from colonies who were previously forbidden to serve.

    The only group of criminals exempted from the decree are those who committed sex crimes against minors, treason, spying or terrorism. Also excluded are those convicted of the attempted assassination of a government official, hijacking an aircraft, extremist activity and illegal handling of nuclear materials and radioactive substances.

    President Vladmir Putin said Friday that the Kremlin had already mobilized an additional 18,000 soldiers above its goal of 300,000 to fight in its war in Ukraine from the general male population of Russia.

    Earlier this week, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced that all partial mobilization activities, including summons deliveries, had been suspended after officials said the draft’s target of recruiting 300,000 personnel had been met.

    Moscow has mobilized a surplus of 18,000 soldiers alongside its goal of 300,000 to fight in its invasion of Ukraine, according to Putin.

    However, Putin’s partial mobilization order will only end when the Russian President signs in an official decree. Until then, he reserves the right to recruit more people into military conscription in the future.

    The head of Russia’s notorious Wagner forces, Yevgeny Prigozhin, has apparently summoned prisoners from Russian jails to join the mercenary group in fighting the Kremlin’s war in Ukraine.

    The amendments signed by Putin are unrelated to these alleged recruitments. Instead, the law applies to prisoners who were conditionally convicted or released from colonies. These people usually must remain under the supervision of the authorities for eight to ten years until the conviction is canceled.

    They are not allowed to leave their place of residence and must comply with various restrictions.

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  • Mother seeks further investigation into death of sons who died after firefighters failed to properly search burning home | CNN

    Mother seeks further investigation into death of sons who died after firefighters failed to properly search burning home | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    The mother of two boys who died following a house fire in Michigan earlier this year is pushing for an independent investigation after two firefighters were accused of lying about properly searching for survivors.

    Zyaire Mitchell, 12, and his brother Lamar, 9, died soon after a fire at their home in Flint on May 28.

    Several weeks later, an investigation led by the fire department found two firefighters tasked with the initial search of the room the children were in lied about properly sweeping for victims. Almost seven minutes later, the children were found by other firefighters. Both later died at a hospital from smoke inhalation, their mother said. State fire investigators ruled faulty electrical wiring caused the fire.

    In his July report, Flint Fire Department Chief Raymond Barton determined the two firefighters — Daniel Sniegocki and Michael Zlotek — should be terminated from the department, “due to the nature of the incident in question, and the actions or lack of action possibly contributing to the loss of life of two victims.”

    But instead, the city accepted the resignation of one of the firefighters and a second was “disciplined,” Barton said in August, without elaborating on what disciplinary actions were taken. On Friday, the city provided CNN with a copy of a letter sent to Zlotek dated July 28 detailing his two-week suspension.

    Barton refused to comment further on the investigation or its outcomes when contacted by CNN on Saturday.

    Attorney Robert Kenner, who is representing the boys’ mother, said he thinks there is an indication of racial bias in the way the investigation has been handled because the children were Black.

    “I can’t say in good faith that these firemen intentionally failed at their responsibility because these boys were African Americans, I would never say that,” Kenner said. “I think the way it was handled subsequent to the boys being found was a disparity in how others have been treated.”

    Speaking at a press conference Friday, the boys’ mother, Crystal Cooper, said, “Only if I could just give six minutes, my babies would still be here with me. I just want justice for them. They didn’t deserve this. Every day is a struggle knowing that I won’t see them anymore.”

    Kenner accused the city of a coverup and on Friday called for another investigation.

    “There was an investigation by a Chief Raymond Barton and, what he found, was that two firemen — Daniel Sniegocki and Michael Zlotek — fabricated and lied on a report and said that they checked the room,” Kenner said. “Based on what they said, the chief did his own investigation and what was uncovered was they couldn’t have checked the room, they didn’t even mention anything about a bed, the location of the bed, the location of items.”

    “No parent should ever have to go through this,” the attorney added. “No parent. So, what we’re calling for, we’re calling for a thorough investigation, an earnest investigation, no cover-ups, no change in documents. We’re calling for the truth.”

    Kenner on Saturday told CNN the decision not to terminate the firefighters came from the office of Flint Mayor Sheldon Neeley.

    A representative of Flint Firefighters Local 352 told The Flint Journal that the two firefighters are being scapegoated in the matter because they failed to search a small room on the second floor of the home due to extreme heat and low visibility.

    CNN has reached out to the union for comment.

    “The mayor is in a hotly contested race right now and made the decision not to terminate based on political reasons,” Kenner claimed. “He’s tied to the fire union and didn’t want to upset the union or other constituents.”

    Neeley is facing former Mayor Karen Weaver in the election on Tuesday.

    Neeley, the mayor, told CNN, “There is absolutely no truth to the allegation that there is a cover up.”

    “We continue to lift this family in prayer, and we are sad to see their pain shamefully exploited,” he added.

    CNN has attempted to contact Zlotek and Daniel Sniegocki for comment.

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  • Oath Keepers leader testifies 2020 election was ‘unconstitutional,’ paints himself as anti-violence | CNN Politics

    Oath Keepers leader testifies 2020 election was ‘unconstitutional,’ paints himself as anti-violence | CNN Politics

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    CNN
     — 

    Stewart Rhodes, the leader of the right-wing Oath Keepers who prosecutors say called for a “bloody revolution” to keep then-President Donald Trump in power, painted himself as an anti-racist Libertarian who believed the 2020 election was unconstitutional as he testified in his own defense on Friday.

    Rhodes is the first of the five defendants charged with seditious conspiracy in federal court in Washington, DC, to testify.

    The courtroom was packed during his testimony, and Rhodes choked up several times discussing his family, suicide rates among veterans and other subjects highlighted by his lawyer, Phillip Linder. He spoke directly to the jury and appeared very comfortable on the stand.

    Rhodes explained to the jury that he didn’t believe either Trump or Joe Biden won in 2020 because the election itself was “unconstitutional.”

    “I believe the election was unconstitutional, and that made it invalid,” Rhodes testified. “You really can’t have a winner of an unconstitutional election.”

    Rhodes told the jury that, as he saw it, election laws in several states were changed by “executive fiat” and not through the state legislature.

    “In multiple states especially in the swing states … you had them putting in new rules in direct violation” of state laws, Rhodes said.

    “Everyone kept focusing on the computers” and other theories of voter fraud, Rhodes said, instead of the constitutional issues, which they needed to discuss before figuring out “whether there’s fraud on the ground.”

    Rhodes did not detail any specific laws that were changed. CNN has found no evidence of widespread fraud in the 2020 election.

    Prosecutors have alleged that Rhodes wanted Trump to remain in power and that the militia leader supported a “bloody revolution” to secure the presidency.

    Rhodes told the jury Friday how he was honorably discharged from the military and went on to study law at Yale, focusing his attention on the Bill of Rights – which Rhodes called “the crown jewel of our Constitution” – and protecting civilian rights in the wake of the 9/11 terror attacks.

    Rhodes, a self-described Libertarian, testified that he founded the Oath Keepers in 2009 to “reach, change and inspire” people about what rights the Constitution afforded them.

    Pushing back on what he saw as narratives that the Oath Keepers were racist or white nationalists, Rhodes said the organization traveled to various cities for racial justice protests, claiming the group protected “minority business owners” in Ferguson, Missouri.

    “Frankly we kind of embarrassed the police, Rhodes testified, “because we showed them how to do it right, protecting the business owners while still respecting the rights of the protesters.”

    Oath Keepers rules, Rhodes claimed, specifically bar any member who “advocates for the overthrow of the United States.”

    During the first several weeks of the seditious conspiracy trial against the far-right organization, prosecutors presented evidence that the Oath Keepers stockpiled weapons at a hotel in Virginia on January 6 as part of a so-called quick reaction force. Prosecutors alleged that the five defendants intended to use those weapons in case called upon by Trump to stop the transfer of power to Biden.

    Rhodes told the jury that wasn’t the case and claimed that the QRF’s were set up at an event the Oath Keepers attended to “respond in case there is an emergency,” including if his men were ever injured.

    The Oath Keepers also used QRFs every time they provided security, Rhodes said, including several events in Washington, DC. After the election, Rhodes testified he was concerned Antifa would “attack the White House,” and claimed the leftist organization was threatening to “drag Trump out” if the president refused to concede.

    In November, “I was concerned that this might actually happen,” Rhodes told the jury, citing his rhetoric on a recorded meeting prosecutors showed the jury in which Rhodes allegedly said that “there’s going to be a fight.”

    If Antifa did try to attack the White House, Rhodes said that “President Trump could use the Insurrection Act, declare this an insurrection, and use myself and other veterans to protect the White House.”

    No such attack at the White House occurred.

    Rhodes is expected to continue his testimony on Monday.

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  • Children among 10 feared dead in Iran crackdown, Amnesty says | CNN

    Children among 10 feared dead in Iran crackdown, Amnesty says | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    Up to 10 people, including children, are feared to have been killed Friday in a crackdown on protests by Iranian security forces in the southeast of the country, human rights watchdog Amnesty International said.

    In several Twitter posts Friday, Amnesty said security forces had fired live ammunition at “peaceful protesters from the rooftops of the governor’s office and several other buildings” in the city of Khash in Sistan and Baluchestan province.

    The province, neighboring Pakistan and Afghanistan, is home to members of the long-oppressed predominantly Sunni Muslim Baluch ethnic minority and has a history of unrest.

    The violence Friday comes amid nationwide protests against the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish women who died after being detained by morality police in Tehran.

    Large-scale demonstrations have also taken place recently in Zahedan, the state capital of Sistan and Baluchestan, following the alleged rape of a Baluch girl by the police chief.

    Authorities removed the head of police in Zahedan last week, but protests continued and on Thursday, a high ranking Shia cleric was shot dead by masked gunmen in Zahedan, according to state news agency IRNA.

    According to state media and activists, protests against authorities turned violent Friday in several cities across southeast Iran, including Khash. One video from the city posted by state media showed plumes of smoke rising from a building.

    In its reports, Amnesty cited witnesses and footage it had obtained from various sources.

    The group said it was “gravely concerned about further bloodshed amid internet disruptions and reports of authorities bringing more security forces to Khash from Zahedan.”

    “Iran’s authorities must immediately rein in security forces. Member states of the UN must immediately raise concerns with Iran’s ambassadors and support the establishment of an independent investigative mechanism by the UN Human Rights Council,” Amnesty said.

    The Coordinating Council of Iranian Teachers’ Trade Associations (CCITTA) also tweeted on Friday that at least 16 protesters were killed, and dozens more were injured after Iranian security forces opened fire on protesters in Khash.

    CNN cannot independently verify the death tolls provided by either Amnesty or the CCITTA. A precise death toll is impossible for those outside Iran’s government to confirm. Numbers vary by opposition groups, international rights organizations, and local journalists.

    A video shared with CNN by the activist outlet IranWire from Khash appears to show several protesters wounded and unconscious on the ground, after loud gunshots rang out in the background.

    Meanwhile, the country’s semi-official Fars News Agency posted images on Twitter showing charred cars and damaged buildings, with a caption that blamed the damage on “rioters.”

    During Friday’s “unrest in Khash, several people were killed and injured,” Fars said in the tweet.

    “The governorate, the building of Jihad Agriculture and several other government buildings, several kiosks and police cars, people’s private cars, and almost all banks were set on fire by rioters,” Fars added.

    Fars claimed the protests in Khash took place after Friday prayers at a Sunni mosque in the area.

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  • Exclusive: DOJ mulling potential special counsel if Trump runs in 2024 | CNN Politics

    Exclusive: DOJ mulling potential special counsel if Trump runs in 2024 | CNN Politics

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    Washington
    CNN
     — 

    As Donald Trump inches closer to launching another presidential run after the midterm election, Justice Department officials have discussed whether a Trump candidacy would create the need for a special counsel to oversee two sprawling federal investigations related to the former president, sources familiar with the matter tell CNN.

    The Justice Department is also staffing up its investigations with experienced prosecutors so it’s ready for any decisions after the midterms, including the potential unprecedented move of indicting a former president.

    In the weeks leading up to the election, the Justice Department has observed the traditional quiet period of not making any overt moves that may have political consequences. But behind the scenes, investigators have remained busy, using aggressive grand jury subpoenas and secret court battles to compel testimony from witnesses in both the investigation into Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election and his alleged mishandling of national security documents kept at his Palm Beach home.

    Now federal investigators are planning for a burst of post-election activity in Trump-related investigations. That includes the prospect of indictments of Trump’s associates – moves that could be made more complicated if Trump declares a run for the presidency.

    “They can crank up charges on almost anybody if they wanted to,” said one defense attorney working on January 6-related matters, who added defense lawyers have “have no idea” who ultimately will be charged.

    “This is the scary thing,” the attorney said.

    Trump and his associates also face legal exposure in Georgia, where Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis is investigating Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election in the Peach State and expects to wrap her probe by the end of the year.

    Indicting an active candidate for the White House would surely spark a political firestorm. And while no decision has been made about whether a special counsel might be needed in the future, DOJ officials have debated whether doing so could insulate the Justice Department from accusations that Joe Biden’s administration is targeting his chief political rival, people familiar with the matter tell CNN.

    Special counsels, of course, are hardly immune from political attacks. Both former special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation and special counsel John Durham’s investigation into the origins of the FBI’s Russia probe came under withering criticism from their opponents.

    The Justice Department declined to comment for this story.

    The Justice Department has brought in a brain trust for high-level advice on the Trump investigations, according to people familiar with the moves.

    Top Justice officials have looked to an old guard of former Southern District of New York prosecutors, bringing into the investigations Kansas City-based federal prosecutor and national security expert David Raskin, as well as David Rody, a prosecutor-turned-defense lawyer who previously specialized in gang and conspiracy cases and has worked extensively with government cooperators.

    Rody, whose involvement has not been previously reported, left a lucrative partnership at the prestigious corporate defense firm Sidley Austin in recent weeks to become a senior counsel at DOJ in the criminal division in Washington, according to his LinkedIn profile and sources familiar with the move.

    The team at the DC US Attorney’s Office handling the day-to-day work of the January 6 investigations is also growing – even while the office’s sedition cases against right-wing extremists go to trial.

    A handful of other prosecutors have joined the January 6 investigations team, including a high-ranking fraud and public corruption prosecutor who has moved out of a supervisor position and onto the team, and a prosecutor with years of experience in criminal appellate work now involved in some of the grand jury activity.

    Taken together, the reorganization of prosecutors indicates a serious and snowballing investigation into Trump and his closest circles.

    The decision of whether to charge Trump or his associates will ultimately fall to Attorney General Merrick Garland, whom President Joe Biden picked for the job because his tenure as a judge provided some distance from partisan politics, after Senate Republicans blocked his Supreme Court nomination in 2016.

    Attorney General nominee Merrick Garland at his confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

    Several former prosecutors believe the facts exist for a potentially chargeable case. But Garland will have to navigate the politically perilous and historic decision of how to approach the potential indictment of a former President.

    In March, Garland avoided answering a CNN question about the prospect of a special counsel for Trump-related investigations, but said that the Justice Department does “not shy away from cases that are controversial or sensitive or political.”

    “What we will avoid and what we must avoid is any partisan element of our decision making about cases,” Garland said. “That is what I’m intent on ensuring that the Department decisions are made on the merits, and that they’re made on the facts and the law, and they’re not based on any kind of partisan considerations.”

    Garland’s tough decisions go beyond Trump. The long-running investigation of Hunter Biden, son of the president, is nearing conclusion, people briefed on the matter say. Also waiting in the wings: a final decision on the investigation of Florida Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz, after prosecutors recommended against charges.

    It likely won’t take long after the midterms for focus to shift to the 2024 presidential race. That could incentivize top DOJ officials to make crucial charging decisions as quickly as possible, including whether to bring charges against Trump himself or other top political activists, other sources familiar with the Justice Department’s inner workings say.

    “They’re not going to charge before they’re ready to charge,” one former Justice Department official with some insight into the thinking around the investigations said. “But there will be added pressure to get through the review” of cases earlier than the typical five-year window DOJ has to bring charges.

    Matters could also be complicated by the situation in Georgia, where Willis is investigating Trump’s efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election there. Willis has said she’s aiming for a special grand jury to wrap up its investigative work by the end of the year.

    Willis has observed her own version of a quiet period around the midterm election and is seeking to bring witnesses before the grand jury in the coming weeks. Sources previously told CNN indictments could come as soon as December.

    Key Trump allies, including South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham and former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows are among witnesses that have tried to fight off subpoenas in the state probe into efforts to interfere with the Georgia 2020 election.

    How those disputes resolve in Georgia – including whether courts force testimony – could improve DOJ’s ability to gather information, just as the House Select Committee’s January 6 investigation added to DOJ’s investigative leads from inside the Trump White House.

    The months leading up to the election have provided little respite from the political and legal activity around the investigations. The DC US Attorney’s Office–which is still shouldering the bulk of the January 6 investigations–has dealt with burnout in its ranks, as prosecutors are taking to trial or securing guilty pleas from more than 800 rioters who were on the grounds of the Capitol and still look to charge hundreds more.

    Trump has also foiled the DOJ’s efforts to keep things quiet in the weeks leading up to the election, leading to a steady barrage of headlines related to the investigation.

    Trump’s legal team successfully put in place a complicated court-directed process for sorting through thousands of documents seized from Mar-a-Lago, to determine whether they’re privileged and off limits to investigators. But the Justice Department and intelligence community have had access for weeks to about 100 records marked as classified that Trump had kept in Florida.

    The outcome of the intelligence review of those documents may determine if criminal charges will be filed, according to one source familiar with the Justice Department’s approach.

    Yet in both investigations, under-seal court activity never subsided, with the Justice Department trying to force at least five witnesses around Trump to secretly provide more information in their grand jury investigations in Washington, DC, CNN has previously reported.

    On Tuesday a federal judge ordered Trump adviser Kash Patel to testify before a grand jury investigating the handling of federal records at Mar-a-Lago, according to two people familiar with the investigation.

    Judge Beryl Howell of the DC District Court granted Patel immunity from prosecution on any information he provides to the investigation— another significant step that moves the Justice Department closer to potentially charging the case.

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  • Man arrested in connection with 42-year-old homicide cold case using new DNA technology | CNN

    Man arrested in connection with 42-year-old homicide cold case using new DNA technology | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department has arrested a man in connection with the killing of 25-year-old Sandra DiFelice, nearly 42 years after her death.

    Paul Nuttall, 64, was arrested on charges of “open murder” with the use of a deadly weapon, sexual assault with the use of a deadly weapon and burglary while in possession of a deadly weapon, police said in a statement Monday.

    In Nevada, a person accused of murder will generally be charged with “open murder,” meaning a general allegation of murder which includes, “Murder in the First Degree and all necessarily included offenses. These would include Murder in the Second Degree and possibly Voluntary Manslaughter and Involuntary Manslaughter based upon the specific facts of the case,” according to Clark County’s website.

    CNN has reached out to Nuttall’s public defender but has not yet heard back.

    DiFelice was allegedly brutally raped and murdered inside her home on December 26, 1980, according to police.

    In February 2021, DiFelice’s daughter – who at the time of the incident was three years old and at her grandparents’ house – called cold case detectives at the police department to ask for an update on the investigation.

    Detectives reviewed the investigation, and “upon a review of that investigation, in conjunction with our DNA forensics lab, they were able to determine that there was additional evidence that could be submitted for processing using new DNA technology. During that processing of the evidence, DNA recovered from under the fingernails of Sandra DiFelice identified the suspect of Sandra DiFelice’s murder as Paul Nuttall,” Lt. Jason Johansson said during a news conference.

    Nuttall was originally named as a person of interest during the initial stages of the investigation, police said during the news conference. Authorities said his fingerprint was found in DiFelice’s home, but it was determined that Nuttall knew DiFelice’s roommate and that explained why his fingerprint was there, police said during the news conference.

    Nuttall is currently in custody at the Clark County Detention Center, according to online records.

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  • Paul Pelosi suspect charged with attempting to kidnap House speaker and attempted murder | CNN Politics

    Paul Pelosi suspect charged with attempting to kidnap House speaker and attempted murder | CNN Politics

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    CNN
     — 

    The man alleged to have attacked Paul Pelosi, husband of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, has been charged with a litany of crimes, including assault, attempted murder and attempted kidnapping, following last week’s break-in at the couple’s San Francisco home, the US attorney’s office and San Francisco district attorney announced on Monday.

    David DePape, 42, was charged with one count of “attempted kidnapping of a US official,” according to the US attorney’s office for the Northern District of California. That charge relates to Nancy Pelosi, who DePape told police he planned to “hold hostage,” according to an FBI affidavit also unsealed on Monday.

    The attempted kidnapping charge carries a maximum of 20 years in prison.

    DePape also was charged with one count of assault of an immediate family member of a US official with the intent to retaliate against the official. That charge relates to a crime allegedly committed against Paul Pelosi and carries a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison.

    The federal charges against DePape are in addition to state charges, which the San Francisco district attorney said later Monday include “attempted murder, residential burglary, assault with a deadly weapon, elder abuse, false imprisonment of an elder, as well as threats to a public official and their family.”

    Based on current state charges, DePape is facing 13 years to life in prison, San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins said. She said DePape is expected in court for his arraignment Tuesday.

    Jenkins said at her news conference that the Pelosi attack was “politically motivated”.

    “Yes, it appears as though this was, based on his statements and comments that were made in that house during his encounter with Mr. Pelosi, that this was politically motivated,” Jenkins said.

    CNN reported earlier Monday that Paul Pelosi was interviewed this weekend at the hospital by investigators and was able to provide details of the attack, according to two law enforcement sources and a source familiar with the matter.

    Among those conducting the interview were FBI and local law enforcement investigators.

    The court filing related to the federal charges against DePape reveal the most detailed account yet of Paul Pelosi’s 911 call while the incident was unfolding.

    “Pelosi stated words to the effect of there is a male in the home and that the male is going to wait for Pelosi’s wife. Pelosi further conveyed that he does not know who the male is. The male said his name is David,” an FBI agent said in a sworn affidavit that was unsealed Monday.

    Paul Pelosi called 911 at 2:23 a.m. Pacific Time on Friday, and police arrived at his house eight minutes later, according to the affidavit unsealed Monday.

    Hear details from Paul Pelosi’s coded 911 call that led to his rescue

    “When the door was opened, Pelosi and DePape were both holding a hammer with one hand and DePape had his other hand holding onto Pelosi’s forearm,” the affidavit said. “Pelosi greeted the officers. The officers asked them what was going on. DePape responded that everything was good. Officers then asked Pelosi and DePape to drop the hammer.”

    At that moment, DePape allegedly pulled the hammer away and swung it, striking Paul Pelosi in the head. Pelosi “appeared to be unconscious on the ground” after the blow, the affidavit said.

    Paul Pelosi was later taken to the hospital and underwent a “successful surgery to repair a skull fracture and serious injuries to his right arm and hands,” according to a previous press release from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office. They said they expect Paul Pelosi to make a full recovery.

    A source familiar with the matter provided CNN with more information about the attack on Paul Pelosi and the extent of his injuries in the wake of the federal criminal complaint.

    The source said that DePape struck Pelosi twice in the head. Pelosi needed surgery for a skull fracture and also had serious injuries to his hands and right arm, which led to his shirt being cut off at the hospital to treat his arm, the source said.

    Paul Pelosi was sleeping in boxer shorts and a pajama top in the third-floor bedroom of his San Francisco house, the source said, when authorities allege that DePape broke in.

    CNN has previously reported that Pelosi managed to keep the line open with 911, the dispatcher could hear a conversation in the background, and that Pelosi was talking in code to help the authorities understand what was happening.

    “DePape was prepared to detain and injure Speaker Pelosi when he entered the Pelosi residence in the early morning of October 28, 2022,” the FBI agent said in the affidavit. “DePape had zip ties, tape, rope, and at least one hammer with him that morning.”

    DePape has not yet had any court appearances related to the attack.

    According to the criminal complaint filed in court, DePape confessed in an interview with local police that he intended to find the House speaker and hold her hostage.

    The FBI affidavit filed with the complaint said: “DePape stated that he was going to hold Nancy hostage and talk to her. If Nancy were to tell DePape the ‘truth,’ he would let her go, and if she ‘lied,’ he was going to break ‘her kneecaps.’”

    “DePape was certain that Nancy would not have told the ‘truth,’” the FBI affidavit said.

    US House of Representatives Speaker, Nancy Pelosi (R), with her husband Paul Pelosi (C), attend a Holy Mass for the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul lead by Pope Francis in St. Peter's Basilica.

    ‘Where is Nancy?’: Assailant shouted before attacking Pelosi’s husband, source says

    The affidavit further stated DePape told police that Nancy Pelosi was the “leader of the pack” of lies promoted by the Democratic Party. DePape told police that other members of Congress would see that there are consequences to their actions when Pelosi, with broken kneecaps, would get “wheeled into” the House chamber, according to the affidavit.

    The interview was conducted by the San Francisco Police Department on Friday, the day of the attack, according to court filings. DePape was read his Miranda rights before he spoke with the police and confessed to his intentions to kidnap the top-ranking House Democrat, according to the filings.

    The federal charges unsealed Monday also further debunk a conspiracy theory about the Pelosi attack that was previously shared on Twitter by its billionaire owner Elon Musk.

    The conspiracy theory claimed, among other things, that Paul Pelosi knew his attacker. Musk tweeted a link to an article promoting the theory on Sunday, though he later deleted it.

    The FBI affidavit, unsealed Monday alongside the federal charges, says Pelosi told a 911 dispatcher during his call that “he does not know who the male is” that invaded his home.

    scott galloway smerconish iso 10 29 2022

    Galloway explains how the attack on Paul Pelosi complicates Musk’s vision for Twitter

    Furthermore, the affidavit said San Francisco Police Department officers interviewed Pelosi in the ambulance on the way to hospital, and he said, “He had never seen (David) DePape before.”

    Earlier on Monday, San Francisco Police Department chief William Scott told CNN’s Ana Cabrera that Paul Pelosi didn’t know the suspect. The police chief said the wave of conspiracies about the case were “baseless” and “damaging” to the ongoing investigation.

    This story has been updated with additional developments.

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  • A man has been arrested and charged with murder in the 2017 killings of 2 teen girls in Indiana, authorities say | CNN

    A man has been arrested and charged with murder in the 2017 killings of 2 teen girls in Indiana, authorities say | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    A man has been arrested in the 2017 killings of Abigail Williams, 13, and Liberty German, 14, in Delphi, Indiana, authorities said Monday.

    Richard M. Allen, of Delphi, was arrested on two counts of murder, Indiana State Police Superintendent Doug Carter said at a news conference.

    “The arrest of Richard M. Allen of Delphi on two counts of murder is sure a major step in leading to the conclusion of this long term and complex investigation,” Carter said.

    “This investigation is far from complete,” the superintendent said. “And we will not jeopardize its integrity by releasing or discussing documents or information before the appropriate time.”

    “While I know you are all expecting final details today concerning this arrest, today is not that day,” he said.

    “We are going to continue a very methodical and committed approach to ensure that if any other person had any involvement in these murders in any way, that person or persons will be held accountable.”

    Allen pleaded not guilty during an initial hearing, Carroll County Prosecuting Attorney Nick McLeland said at the news conference.

    Abby and Libby set out on a hike at the Delphi Historic Trails during a day off from school on February 13, 2017 – but never returned.

    A massive search began after the teens failed to meet Libby’s dad that afternoon for a ride home. Eighteen hours later, their bodies were found in the woods, close to an abandoned railroad bridge they’d been photographing during their hike.

    Abby posted a photo to Snapchat of the girls crossing the railroad bridge a short time before they were killed.

    But it was another image Libby captured that drew headlines across the country – a grainy, pixelated image of a man in a blue jacket and jeans on the bridge. Shortly after the killings, Indiana State Police released that image of the man they believed to be a suspect in the double homicide, CNN previously reported.

    State police also released an audio recording of the alleged killer saying the four words that continue to terrorize Delphi: “… guys … down the hill,” in the hopes the public might identify the suspect’s voice.

    In 2019, police released a new sketch and additional video from one of the girl’s cell phones.

    The killings devastated the Delphi community, which rallied to find the killer. Investigators received a dozen or more new tips every day, Carroll County Prosecutor Nicholas McLeland said in 2019.

    Libby’s grandparents, Mike and Becky Patty, issued a passionate appeal for help in 2021.

    “Realizing life goes on, life is busy, people forget,” they said in a letter to the public. “Please understand, at one time that was us also. But not now, we are stuck in time looking for a monster that murdered two young girls. We are only asking for one minute out of your day. If it was your child or loved one, would you think that is too much to ask?”

    In December 2021, detectives with the Carroll County Sheriff’s Office and Indiana State Police asked for the public’s help regarding the social media profile for “anthony_shots,” which was used from 2016 to 2017 on Snapchat, Instagram and possibly other social media sites, according to a state police news release.

    The catfish account “used images of a known male model and portrayed himself as being extremely wealthy and owning numerous sports cars,” the release said. “The creator of the fictitious profile used this information while communicating with juvenile females to solicit nude images, obtain their addresses, and attempt to meet them.”

    Investigators have identified the model pictured in the photos and said, “he is not a person of interest in the investigation.”

    Detectives, however, are seeking information about “the person who created the anthony_shots profile,” according to the news release.

    Last week, Cynthia Rossi, a friend of Abby and Liberty who grew up near them, told CNN that there was “a lot of hopefulness” that Monday’s announcement will provide closure to the case.

    “I’m glad that justice will be served, hopefully, that that’s what the news is, but a part of me will always have died with them that day, and a part of me will never fully find peace and justice,” Rossi said.

    Delphi resident Shirley Goyer said the town “is ready for the news” on Monday and many people will be present during the news conference in anticipation that police might have caught the person responsible for Abby’s and Liberty’s deaths.

    “There’s a lot of people that will be there. We’ve been waiting for this, so it’s a good thing that we’re finally getting to the end of it, I hope,” Goyer said.

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  • UPDATED: Dead subject identified, officers placed on leave after fatal officer-involved shooting early Sunday in Davenport

    UPDATED: Dead subject identified, officers placed on leave after fatal officer-involved shooting early Sunday in Davenport

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    The Iowa Department of Public Safety’s (DPS) Division of Criminal Investigations (DCI) investigated a fatal officer-involved shooting early Sunday in Davenport and identified the individual involved as 24-year-old Davenport resident Kenneth Jamel Carrol Jr.






    Davenport Police investigate a shooting incident early Sunday in the 3100 block of East Kimberly Road. 



    Thomas Geyer



    Three Davenport Police officers, two Iowa State Troopers and one Bettendorf Police officer discharged their weapons during the encounter with Carrol, and all six officers have been placed on Critical Incident Leave while the case is being investigated, according to a DPS news release.

    An autopsy of Carrol will take place at the Office of the Iowa State Medical Examiner. No law enforcement personnel were injured. The release states: “Per protocol, their [law enforcement personnel] names will not be released prior to being interviewed by the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation.”

    According to an earlier DPS news release, at 2:50 a.m. on Sunday, Oct. 30, 2022, multiple agencies were patrolling in the area of 5200 Grand Avenue when officers initiated a traffic stop and the driver failed to stop, which resulted in a pursuit.

    People are also reading…

    The pursuit ended after the vehicle became inoperable near Kimberly Road and Elmore Avenue — occupants then fled on foot. Officers exchanged gunfire with Carrol during the foot pursuit; as a result, Carrol was pronounced dead at the scene, according to the release.

    According to Scott County District Court and Iowa Department of Corrections electronic records, Carrol was discharged from probation on Oct. 2 for being a felon in possession of a firearm. At the time he was arrested for the gun charge he was on probation for convictions of theft, forgery and using a juvenile for an indictable offense.







    Davenport shooting incident



    Thomas Geyer



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  • Police arrest and name suspect in burglary of Arizona governor candidate Katie Hobbs’ campaign HQ | CNN Politics

    Police arrest and name suspect in burglary of Arizona governor candidate Katie Hobbs’ campaign HQ | CNN Politics

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    CNN
     — 

    The Phoenix Police Department has arrested a 36-year-old man in connection with a break-in at Democratic Arizona gubernatorial candidate Katie Hobbs’ campaign headquarters earlier this week.

    Daniel Mota Dos Reis was booked on one count of third-degree burglary, according to the department.

    On Wednesday night, a patrol officer saw a news story that included a surveillance image and recognized the man shown as a suspect who had been arrested earlier in the day in connection with a separate, unrelated commercial burglary, police said in a statement Thursday.

    “The officer researched the arrest and learned the suspect, 36-year-old Daniel Mota Dos Reis, was still in jail but would soon be released. The officer contacted the jail and was able to re-arrest Dos Reis,” according to the statement.

    CNN is working to identify an attorney for Dos Reis.

    Police earlier said in a statement that “items were taken from the property sometime during the night.”

    A source within the Hobbs campaign had told CNN that CCTV video showed the man they say broke into the campaign headquarters. The Hobbs campaign hasn’t been able to get a full inventory of what was taken, the source added.

    Hobbs, Arizona’s secretary of state, faces Arizona Republican gubernatorial nominee Kari Lake in next month’s midterms.

    Nicole DeMont, who manages Hobbs’ gubernatorial campaign, told CNN in a statement Wednesday that “Secretary Hobbs and her staff have faced hundreds of death threats and threats of violence over the course of this campaign. Throughout this race, we have been clear that the safety of our staff and of the Secretary is our number one priority.”

    “Let’s be clear: for nearly two years Kari Lake and her allies have been spreading dangerous misinformation and inciting threats against anyone they see fit,” DeMont continued. “The threats against Arizonans attempting to exercise their constitutional rights and their attacks on elected officials are the direct result of a concerted campaign of lies and intimidation.”

    DeMont said that intimidation “won’t work,” and expressed thanks to the Phoenix Police Department for keeping Hobbs and her team safe.

    Lake on Wednesday appeared to claim without evidence that Hobbs’ campaign was lying about the motivations behind the incident and said it “sounds like a Jussie Smollett part two,” in reference to the actor who was convicted of making false reports to police that he was the victim of a hate crime in January 2019.

    When asked by CNN if she had a response to DeMont’s claim that the incident was a “direct result of concerted campaign of lies and intimidation” by Lake and her allies, the Arizona GOP nominee shot back and said the statement was “absolutely absurd.”

    “And are you guys buying that? Are you really buying that? Because this sounds like a Jussie Smollett part two,” Lake said before launching into a lengthy attack on the media.

    This headline and story have been updated with additional developments.

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  • These are the women expected to testify against Harvey Weinstein at his second sexual assault trial | CNN

    These are the women expected to testify against Harvey Weinstein at his second sexual assault trial | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    Reporting five years ago on Harvey Weinstein’s alleged sexual abuse spurred women to speak publicly about their own experiences with sexual violence in what became known as the #MeToo movement.

    Now, in a Los Angeles courtroom, eight women are set to testify in a trial altogether similar to the one that led to Weinstein’s landmark conviction two years ago.

    Weinstein, the 70-year-old movie producer, has pleaded not guilty to 11 charges based on allegations of sexual assault at Los Angeles hotels between 2004 to 2013.

    Opening statements in the trial began Monday and one woman has already testified about her alleged assault. Three more women are expected to testify directly to the charges, and four other women are expected to testify as “prior bad acts” witnesses, meaning their testimony isn’t directly connected to a charge but can be considered as prosecutors try to show Weinstein had a pattern in his behavior.

    He was found guilty in New York in 2020 of first-degree criminal sexual act and third-degree rape and was sentenced to 23 years in prison. He has appealed.

    Here’s what we know about the women set to testify in the California case and the charges connected to their allegations based on comments from the prosecution, the defense and their testimony.

    Weinstein is charged with forcible oral copulation and forcible rape of Jane Doe 4 between September 1, 2004, and September 30, 2005.

    Jane Doe 4 has been identified as Jennifer Siebel Newsom, a filmmaker and the wife of California Gov. Gavin Newsom. In a statement, her attorneys confirmed she would be testifying against Weinstein in court.

    “Like many other women, my client was sexually assaulted by Harvey Weinstein at a purported business meeting that turned out to be a trap,” said Beth Fegan, one of Siebel Newsom’s attorneys. “She intends to testify at his trial to seek some measure of justice for survivors and as part of her life’s work to improve the lives of women.”

    Siebel Newsom is a Stanford University graduate who has written, directed and produced several documentaries, including “Miss Representation,” “The Mask You Live In” and “The Great American Lie.” During her time as California’s first partner, Siebel Newsom has advocated for working mothers and launched initiatives focused on closing the gender pay gap, among other efforts.

    In opening statements, prosecutor Paul Thompson said the assault occurred when Siebel Newsom was a “powerless actor trying to make her way in Hollywood.” Weinstein invited her to “discuss her career” at the Peninsula Hotel, and in a hotel room, he assaulted and raped her, the prosecutor said.

    Defense attorney Mark Werksman countered that Siebel Newsom had consensual sex with Weinstein because she wanted his help getting roles and producing films.

    Werksman also said Weinstein donated to two of Gov. Newsom’s political races and that Siebel Newsom took her husband to a Weinstein party. “She brought her husband to meet and party with the man who raped her. Who does that?” he asked.

    Siebel Newsom has written about the incident with Weinstein in vague terms. In October 2017, just a day after The New York Times published its bombshell report on Weinstein, she wrote an opinion editorial for the Huffington Post saying she believed the report because she had a similar experience with Weinstein.

    “I was naive, new to the industry, and didn’t know how to deal with his aggressive advances ― work invitations with a friend late-night at The Toronto Film Festival, and later an invitation to meet with him about a role in The Peninsula Hotel, where staff were present and then all of a sudden disappeared like clockwork, leaving me alone with this extremely powerful and intimidating Hollywood legend,” she wrote.

    Weinstein is charged with forcible oral copulation, sexual penetration by foreign object and forcible rape of Jane Doe 1 on or about February 18, 2013, in Los Angeles County, according to the indictment.

    Jane Doe 1 was a model and actress who was married, had three children and was living in Italy in 2013. She speaks Russian, Italian and English, but her English was not very good at the time, she said.

    She was the first witness to testify in the trial and said she was staying in a hotel for the Los Angeles Italia Film Festival when she got a call that Weinstein wanted to see her. She testified she had met him previously in Rome.

    He came to her hotel room and tried to rape her, she testified.

    “I wanted to die. It was disgusting. It was humiliating, miserable. I didn’t fight,” she testified in court. “I remember how he was looking in the mirror and he was telling me to look at him. I wish this never happened to me.”

    Years later, she told her daughter about the assault in an attempt to connect with her about a similar issue, she testified. Jane Doe 1 then went to the police in October 2017 because she promised her daughter she would, she testified.

    In the defense’s opening statements, Werksman said she had fabricated the story and argued there was no evidence he went to her hotel room. Under cross-examination, she acknowledged she had no evidence to show the jury that would prove she was with Weinstein that night and said she couldn’t remember everything about the incident.

    “I remember a lot but I forgot a lot also,” she said.

    Weinstein is charged with sexual battery by restraint of Jane Doe 2 on or about February 19, 2013, in Los Angeles County.

    Jane Doe 2 was a 23-year-old model and aspiring screenwriter who had been modeling since she was 12, Thompson said in opening statements.

    She alleges she was assaulted during the Los Angeles Italia Film Festival, according to Thompson. She met with Weinstein at a restaurant at the Montage hotel and told him she wanted to be a screenwriter, the prosecutor said. The meeting then moved to a space upstairs, and when Weinstein led her into a bathroom, another woman shut the door behind Jane Doe 2, the prosecutor said.

    While she was trapped inside with Weinstein, he allegedly undid her dress, groped her and masturbated, the prosecutor said.

    The next day, she went to a pre-scheduled meeting with a Weinstein Company employee and was advised to go on “Project Runway,” a Weinstein-produced reality TV show.

    Werksman, the defense attorney, said in opening statements that Jane Doe 2 fabricated her story and noted that she met with the Weinstein Company employee the next day.

    Weinstein is charged with sexual battery by restraint of Jane Doe 3 on or about May 11, 2010.

    Jane Doe 3 was a licensed massage therapist who often worked with celebrities and athletes, Thompson said.

    In 2010, she massaged Weinstein and then went to the restroom to wash her hands, and he followed her into the bathroom, backed her into a corner, groped her and masturbated, Thompson said.

    Weinstein had suggested Jane Doe 3 could write a book about her massage work, Thompson said, and afterward an aide to Weinstein paid her $200 for the massage and put her in touch with Miramax’s book division about a potential book deal.

    In contrast, Werksman argued that their sexual interaction was consensual and part of an arrangement. He said that Jane Doe 3 gave him four additional massages after the alleged assault.

    “She made a deal. Sex in exchange for something of value. Jane Doe 3 and Mr. Weinstein were friends with benefits,” Werksman argued.

    Weinstein is charged with four counts related to Jane Doe 5: forcible oral copulation and forcible rape between November 3 and November 9, 2009, and forcible oral copulation and forcible rape on or about November 5, 2010, according to the indictment.

    However, prosecutors did not mention her or her accusations in opening statements of the trial, and neither did the defense. The current status of these charges is not clear.

    “While we have no comment at this time, our office is tirelessly ensuring all of the victims in this case receive justice,” the district attorney’s office said.

    Like in his New York trial, Weinstein’s LA trial will feature testimony from several “prior bad acts” witnesses.

    There are four of these witnesses in this case, identified by their first name and initial. Each of these women alleged they were assaulted by Weinstein outside of LA jurisdiction.

    In all, the defense argued these witnesses were being used solely to “confuse and overwhelm” the jury. Werksman defended Weinstein’s actions as part of the “casting couch” culture at the time.

    The prosecution said the testimony from these women will prove Weinstein’s guilt on the charges.

    “Each of these women came forward independent of each other, and none of them knew one another,” Thompson told the jury.

    Ambra B. went to Weinstein’s office for a meeting in Manhattan in 2015 and he grabbed her breast and put his hand up her skirt, prosecutors said. She reported the incident to the NYPD, which then directed her to speak with him on the phone and at a hotel restaurant and secretly record their conversations, according to Thompson. No charges were filed against Weinstein.

    Werksman argued nothing on the recording was tantamount to a confession and dismissed her as someone playing a “junior G-man” in an undercover sting targeting Weinstein.

    Ashley M., a dancer in the movie “Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights,” was alone in a hotel room with Weinstein in 2003 and said he groped her and masturbated on her, according to Thompson.

    Werksman argued she did not resist or refuse the interaction at the time.

    Natassia M. met Weinstein and briefly interacted with him at an industry party for the 2008 British Academy of Film and Television Arts Awards and alleges he raped her at her hotel, according to Thompson.

    Werksman said there was no evidence of rape and notes they maintained contact for years afterward.

    Kelly S. was an actor in 1991 when, in a hotel room for the Toronto International Film Festival, Weinstein raped her, Thompson said. In 2008, at the same festival, she went to his hotel room with the intention of confronting him, and when he allegedly started groping her and masturbating, she left the room, the prosecutor said.

    Werksman attacked the idea that she didn’t confront him immediately upon seeing him again in 2008 and said she didn’t report the incident to police until 2018.

    Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly reported Harvey Weinstein was arrested in the alleged incident involving Ambra B.

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  • 3 more men found guilty in Whitmer kidnapping plot | CNN Politics

    3 more men found guilty in Whitmer kidnapping plot | CNN Politics

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    CNN
     — 

    A jury in Michigan has found three men guilty of providing material support for a terrorist act and two other state charges related to the 2020 plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

    Paul Bellar, Joseph Morrison and Pete Musico were also convicted of gang membership and felony possession of a firearm. Prosecutors alleged the men “engaged in the planning and training for an operation to attack the state Capitol building and kidnap government officials, including Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.” Providing material support is a felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison.

    In August, a federal jury found two men guilty of conspiring to kidnap Whitmer, a Democrat, in 2020.

    Adam Fox and Barry Croft face a maximum sentence of life in prison for the kidnapping conspiracy conviction. They were also convicted of one count of conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction. Their first trial ended in a mistrial.

    A sentencing date for the three men has been set for December 15.

    This story is breaking and will be updated.

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  • Man who sold gun used in Texas synagogue standoff sentenced to 95 months in prison | CNN

    Man who sold gun used in Texas synagogue standoff sentenced to 95 months in prison | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    The man who sold a pistol to a gunman who used it to hold four people hostage at a Colleyville, Texas, synagogue in an 11-hour standoff in January has been sentenced to 95 months in prison, the US attorney for the Northern District of Texas announced.

    Henry “Michael” Dwight Williams, who had been indicted in February, pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm in June. He was sentenced by Chief US District Judge David Godbey to seven years and 11 months in federal prison on Monday, court records show. CNN has reached out to Williams’ attorney, Suzy Vanegas, for comment.

    On January 15, FBI agents recovered a pistol from the Congregation Beth Israel synagogue, where Malik Faisal Akram, a British national, had held four people hostage before he was fatally shot by federal law enforcement agents, a criminal complaint states.

    Williams, who had previously been convicted of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, sold the semi-automatic Taurus G2C pistol to Akram on January 13, according to the complaint.

    The FBI tied Williams to Akram through cell phone records. When agents first interviewed Williams on January 16, he told them that he remembered meeting a man with a British accent, but that he couldn’t recall the man’s name, according to the release from the US attorney’s office.

    Agents reinterviewed Williams on January 24, after he was arrested on an outstanding state warrant. Williams then confirmed he sold Akram the handgun at an intersection in South Dallas. “This defendant, a convicted felon, had no business carrying – much less buying and selling – firearms,” US Attorney Chad Meacham said.

    “We are grateful to the FBI, which sprang into action as soon as the synagogue hostage crisis began, and to the agents who worked tirelessly to track the weapon from Mr. Akram to the defendant.”

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  • DOJ asks judge to force Trump White House lawyers to testify in Jan. 6 probe | CNN Politics

    DOJ asks judge to force Trump White House lawyers to testify in Jan. 6 probe | CNN Politics

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    CNN
     — 

    The Justice Department is asking a federal judge to force the top two lawyers from Donald Trump’s White House counsel’s office to testify about their conversations with the former President, as it tries to break through the privilege firewall Trump has used to avoid scrutiny of his actions on January 6, 2021, according to three people familiar with the investigation.

    The move to compel additional testimony from former White House counsel Pat Cipollone and deputy White House counsel Patrick Philbin just last week is part of a set of secret court proceedings. Trump has been fighting to keep former advisers from testifying before a criminal grand jury about certain conversations, citing executive and attorney-client privileges to keep information confidential or slow down criminal investigators.

    But the Justice Department successfully secured answers from top vice presidential advisers Greg Jacob and Marc Short over the past three weeks in significant court victories that could make it more likely the criminal investigation reaches further into Trump’s inner circle.

    Jacob’s testimony on October 6, which has not been previously reported, is the first identifiable time when the confidentiality Trump had tried to maintain around the West Wing after the 2020 election has been pierced in the criminal probe following a court battle. A week after Jacob spoke to the grand jury again, Short had his own grand jury appearance date, CNN reported.

    All four men previously declined to answer some questions about advice and interactions with Trump when they testified in recent months in the secret criminal probe. Trump lost the court battles related to Jacob and Short before the chief judge of the trial-level US District Court in Washington, DC, last month.

    Attorneys for the men whom the DOJ is seeking to compel have declined to comment for this story or haven’t responded to requests. Cipollone and Philbin didn’t respond to requests for comment. A spokesman for the Justice Department also declined to comment.

    All four men have been willing to be as cooperative as the law demands, leaving Trump’s team to handle the fight over certain details in the investigation, the sources say.

    The litigation around Cipollone and Philbin’s testimony may be important for investigators in the long run, given how close the pair was to the Trump leading up to and during the Capitol riot. Prosecutors are likely to aim for the grand jury to hear about their direct conversations with the then-President.

    The disputes – conducted under seal in court because they involve grand jury activity – may also spawn several more court fights that will be crucial for prosecutors as they work to bring criminal charges related to Trump’s post-election efforts.

    Witnesses the federal grand jury has subpoenaed, such as former White House officials Mark Meadows, Eric Herschmann, Dan Scavino, Stephen Miller and campaign adviser Boris Epshteyn, also could decline to describe their conversations with Trump or advice being given to him after the election, several sources familiar with the investigation say.

    Trump and his allies have used claims of confidentiality – both executive privilege and attorney-client privilege – with mixed results in multiple legal quagmires that surround the former President. Those include the January 6 federal criminal investigation, the Mar-a-Lago documents federal criminal investigation, Georgia’s Fulton County investigation of election meddling, and the House select committee probe of January 6 as well. Some of the privilege arguments Trump has raised have never been settled in federal court, and some of the fights could lead to the Supreme Court.

    Trump spokesman Taylor Budowich slammed the “weaponized” Justice Department in a statement and referred to the probes surrounding the former President as “witch hunts.”

    According to the sources, the Justice Department won a trial-level judge’s order at the end of September that said Jacob and Short must testify in response to certain questions over which Trump’s team had tried to claim presidential and attorney-client confidentiality.

    The sealed court case, stemming from the grand jury’s work, had been before the chief judge of the DC District Court, Beryl Howell. Howell refused to put on hold Jacob and Short’s testimony while Trump’s team appealed, a source said.

    The Trump team, meanwhile, took several days to respond to their loss before Howell in court. The Justice Department set a quick-turnaround subpoena date for Jacob, leaving him to head into the grand jury under subpoena on October 6, according to several sources.

    The DC Circuit Court of Appeals is still considering legal arguments from Trump’s defense lawyers and the Justice Department over his ability to make executive and attorney-client privilege claims.

    How that is resolved – either by the appeals court or even the Supreme Court, if Trump pursues it that far – could have significant consequences for the January 6 criminal investigation, and for multiple witnesses who may be refusing to share some of what they know because of Trump’s privilege claims.

    Among a large group of former top Trump officials, Jacob has been one of the most searing voices condemning the then-President’s actions after the election, especially regarding the pressure he and his election attorney, John Eastman, tried to place on then-Vice President Mike Pence to block the congressional certification of the presidential vote.

    Jacob has been a harsh critic of Eastman, who is also of interest to prosecutors, dating back to when Eastman tried to convince Pence’s office the vice president alone could override the vote. He told Eastman at the time the right-wing attorney was a “serpent in the ear” of the President, and wrote while Trump supporters stormed the Capitol on January 6, 2021, “thanks to your bulls**t, we are now under siege.”

    Jacob added to a parade of star witnesses at public House select committee hearings this summer, speaking candidly about his disgust with what he witnessed inside the White House complex from his high-ranking position administration.

    “There is almost no idea more un-American than the notion that any one person would choose the American President, and then unbroken historical practice for 230 years, that the vice president did not have such an authority,” Jacob testified in July.

    But what Jacob and Short knew of Trump’s conversations, they wouldn’t disclose to the House nor to the grand jury until this month.

    In a taped House select committee deposition, Cipollone answered many questions about what happened inside the West Wing on January 6 but declined to describe communications between him and Trump.

    Cipollone’s and Philbin’s roles as White House lawyers raise complicated legal questions about whether Trump can claim confidentiality over the legal advice they gave him, as well as whether a former president can assert executive privilege to hold off criminal investigators.

    President Joe Biden has repeatedly declined to assert executive privilege around January 6 information, essentially leaving the fight for Trump to wage opposite the Justice Department.

    While the courts will look at each situation individually, history isn’t on Trump’s side. Federal prosecutors investigating former Presidents Bill Clinton and Richard Nixon were able to overcome attorney-client privilege assertions for White House counsel as well as executive privilege assertions so the grand jury could hear closely guarded information.

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  • Harvey Weinstein’s 2nd sexual assault trial begins with eight accusers set to testify, prosecutors say | CNN

    Harvey Weinstein’s 2nd sexual assault trial begins with eight accusers set to testify, prosecutors say | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    Eight women who say they were sexually assaulted by movie producer Harvey Weinstein will testify at his criminal trial in Los Angeles over the coming weeks, prosecutors said in opening statements Monday.

    “Each of these women came forward independent of each other, and none of them knew one another,” prosecutor Paul Thompson told the jury, according to a pool report.

    Four of the women’s testimony will be directly connected to specific charges. These women include Jennifer Siebel Newsom, a filmmaker and the wife of California Gov. Gavin Newsom; Jane Doe 1, a model and actress who lived in Italy at the time; Jane Doe 2, a 23-year-old model and aspiring screenwriter; and Jane Doe 3, a licensed massage therapist, according to a pool report.

    The most recent indictment in the case indicated there were five women directly connected to charges. CNN is working to clarify the difference between that indictment and the prosecutors’ opening statements.

    In addition, four women will testify as “prior bad acts” witnesses, meaning their testimony isn’t related to a specific charge but can be used by the jury as prosecutors try to show Weinstein had a pattern in his actions. These women will testify about assaults outside of Los Angeles jurisdiction, Thompson said.

    Weinstein, 70, has pleaded not guilty to charges including rape and forcible oral copulation related to incidents dating from 2004 to 2013, according to the indictment.

    In court Monday, he appeared hunched over as he clambered from a wheelchair into a chair at the defense table. Wearing a suit and tie, he primarily looked at jurors throughout the proceedings.

    The trial in California is his second such sexual assault case since reporting by The New York Times and The New Yorker in 2017 revealed Weinstein’s alleged history of sexual abuse, harassment and secret settlements as he used his influence as a Hollywood power broker to take advantage of young women.

    At the time, Weinstein was one of the most powerful men in Hollywood and helped produce movies such as “Pulp Fiction,” “Clerks” and “Shakespeare in Love.”

    The revelations led to a wave of women speaking publicly about the pervasiveness of sexual abuse and harassment in what became known as the #MeToo movement.

    Weinstein was found guilty in 2020 in New York of first-degree criminal sexual act and third-degree rape and was sentenced to 23 years in prison. Yet he has maintained his innocence, and New York’s highest court agreed in August to hear his appeal in the case.

    In opening statements, Thompson outlined the women’s accusations and noted the similarities in their stories. The women will testify that Weinstein lured them into private meetings, often in hotel rooms, and then sexually assaulted them, Thompson said.

    “I’m shaking and I’m kind of being dragged to the bedroom,” he quoted one woman as saying, according to the pool report.

    Thompson also highlighted the women’s understanding of Weinstein’s imposing physical size as well as his power in Hollywood to make or break careers, the pool report said.

    “I was scared that if I didn’t play nice something could happen in the room or out of the room because of his power in the industry,” one woman said, according to Thompson.

    The women allegedly told friends and family members about their assaults, and those people may also be called to testify in the trial to confirm or deny such conversations.

    Notably, the licensed massage therapist told Mel Gibson, the famed actor and director, about her assault, Thompson said.

    The trial in Los Angeles comes two years after Weinstein was convicted in New York of similar charges featuring different women.

    The New York charges were based on testimony from Miriam Haley, who testified that Weinstein forcibly performed oral sex on her in 2006 at his Manhattan apartment, and from Jessica Mann, who testified that he raped her in 2013 during what she described as an abusive relationship.

    He did not testify in his own defense, but at his sentencing he offered an unexpected, rambling speech which oscillated between remorse, defense of his actions and confusion.

    “I’m not going to say these aren’t great people, I had wonderful times with these people, you know,” Weinstein said of the women who accused him of assault. “It is just I’m totally confused, and I think men are confused about all of these issues.”

    The former movie producer appeared in frail health during the trial and used a walker as he arrived to and left court each day. He used a wheelchair to arrive to the sentencing in March 2020 as well as in a court hearing in Los Angeles in July 2021. His attorneys have argued the lengthy prison sentence was a de facto life sentence due to his failing health.

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