Tag: criminal law

Police/Fire

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In news taken from the logs of Cape Ann’s police and fire departments:

ROCKPORT

Monday, March 18

1:22 p.m.: The Fire Department was dispatched to a Pigeon Hill Street address to conduct an investigation after a report of smoke.

When it was determined the smoke was emanating from the Lanesville section of Gloucester, the Gloucester Fire Department was notified about the situation, said Rockport Fire Chief Mark Wonson.

Medical alarms were reported at addresses on Arens Road at 8:45 a.m. and Mt. Pleasant Street at 1:21 p.m. Both later proved to be false.

12:31 p.m.: A medical emergency ambulance transport was conducted from a Gap Head Road address.

MANCHESTER

Monday, March 18

5:58 p.m.: Suspicious activity was reported at a Harold Street address.

5:28 p.m.: A report was made about an alleged fraud/scam at a Raymond Street address.

Lost and found property was reported on Central Street at 10 a.m. and 5:24 p.m.

Traffic stops were conducted at the intersection of Pine Street and Greenbrier Road at 11:34 a.m. and on Pine Street at 11:56 a.m. Both drivers were issued a written warning.

9:03 a.m.: A police investigation was conducted at a Lincoln Street address.

8:53 a.m.: An animal complaint was made at a Rockwood Heights Road address.

GLOUCESTER

Sunday, March 10

9:54 p.m.: A crash with property damage only in the vicinity of 51 Main St. resulted in the arrest of a 27-year-old Gloucester woman on charges of driving under the influence of liquor and using an electronic device while driving, first offense. The crash report said the driver of a 2022 Jeep called police to say she had struck a parked Toyota on Main Street while texting on her cell phone. Police arrived and were flagged down by the driver. The resident failed several field sobriety tests and a portable breath test showed she had a blood alcohol content above the legal limit of 0.08%, the report said. She was arrested and police had the vehicle towed. Her license was seized and she was issued a notice that her license was suspended. The driver was described as cooperative during the incident.

2:47 p.m.: Police took a report of prescription medication stolen from a Main Street residence.

1:37 p.m.: A caller reported two young girls vandalizing property in in Clark Cemetery on Centennial Avenue. The girls were picked up by their parents.

12:34 p.m.: A vehicle theft was reported on Taylor Street, along with at least three car breaks. While the officer was responding to the initial address, he was stopped by neighbors saying their cars had been broken into overnight, rummaged through, but nothing was missing from them. One woman told police when she came out in the morning to her vehicle in her driveway, she noticed her glove box had been rummaged through and she found items on the seat floor and floor mat, though nothing appeared missing. Another neighbor said his vehicle had been broken into and rummaged through overnight. The resident of Staten Street said when he came out in the morning, he noticed his passenger side door was cracked open, the glove box had been gone through and the visors were down. Nothing appeared missing and the car break was not caught on surveillance camera. Both said their vehicles had been unlocked overnight. Another woman on Taylor Street said she had parkedin her driveway around 8 p.m. and locked her car. She noted that there was a spare key fob in the center console, but its key was dead. Around 8 a.m., her brother contacted her thinking she was out because her vehicle was not in her driveway, the report said. When she came out to check, her vehicle was gone. Yet another neighbor told police his vehicle had been broken into and his glove box rummaged through. He told police his vehicle had been unlocked and nothing was missing. The stolen vehicle was entered into the National Crime Information Center database and police put out a broadcast to be on the lookout for the vehicle.

11:56 p.m.: A crash with property damage only was reported on Fuller Street.

11:31 a.m.: Police responded to a report of an assault at the Cape Ann YMCA on Gloucester Crossing Road. A caller reported being assaulted during a pickup game and punches were thrown. The case was under investigation and an officer was to review surveillance video at a later date.

10:16 a.m.: A city ordinance violation was reported on Thatcher Road. A caller reported a refrigerator had been left for the trash in front of the home with the door still attached — the violation .

8:50 a.m.: A caller to 911 told police he was trying to dock his boat at Gloucester Marine Railways but there appeared to be two people there engaged in drug activity inside a black sedan on the lot. Police were dispatched but were unable to locate the vehicle in question.

8:40 a.m.: A Mason Street resident reported damage to his front windshield and hood. Police found the windshield had been broken and multiple construction bricks were located on the ground around the vehicle. The resident said he did not have any suspects in mind. After further inspection, it appeared the neighbor’s chimney was damaged and missing several bricks. The night had been extremely windy and it appeared the chimney could have been damaged by the wind, the report said. Police spoke with the neighbor, who was understanding and spoke with the resident with the damaged vehicle and police said the pair would work to come up with a resolution.

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March 20, 2024
Terry Nichols Fast Facts | CNN

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CNN
—

Here is a look at the life of convicted Oklahoma City bombing conspirator Terry Nichols.

Birth date: April 1, 1955

Birth place: Lapeer County, Michigan

Birth name: Terry Lynn Nichols

Father: Robert Nichols, farmer

Mother: Joyce Nichols

Marriages: Marife (Torres) Nichols (1990-2003, divorced); Lana (Osentoski) Nichols (1981-1989, divorced)

Children: with Marife Nichols: Christian and Nicole; with Lana Nichols: Joshua

Education: Attended Central Michigan University

Military service: US Army, 1988-1989

The FBI accused Nichols of helping build the bomb and arrange a getaway car for Timothy McVeigh after the bombing.

Nichols’ defense attorneys painted Nichols as a family man who had little to do with the bombing.

Nichols was not in Oklahoma City on the day of the bombing but was at home in Kansas. Prosecutors said Nichols helped McVeigh make the bomb the day before.

Nichols and McVeigh shared a fondness for guns, interest in survivalist training and a distrust of the US government.

Nichols learned how to mix fuel and fertilizer to make bombs while growing up on a farm. His father, a farmer, used such bombs to blow up tree stumps.

Nichols’ wife Marife complained at Nichols’ trial of being jealous of her husband’s close relationship with McVeigh.

May 24, 1988 – Enlists in the Army at the age of 33.

1988 – Meets McVeigh while in basic training at Fort Benning.

May 1989 – Is given a hardship discharge so he can go home to take care of his son Joshua.

Fall 1993 – McVeigh lives with the Nichols brothers, Terry and James, in their farmhouse.

March 1994 – Takes a job as a farmhand in Kansas.

Fall 1994 – Quits his job as a farmhand to go into business with McVeigh, selling guns and military surplus.

October 1994 – Along with McVeigh, steals blasting caps and other explosives materials from a quarry in Kansas.

November 5, 1994 – Reportedly robs Arkansas gun dealer Roger Moore to finance the purchase of bomb materials.

November 1994-January 1995 – Makes a trip to the Philippines where his wife Marife and daughter Nicole are living. Before leaving on the trip, Nichols gives his ex-wife Lana letters and instructions for McVeigh, which are to be read if he doesn’t return from the Philippines.

April 19, 1995 – A bomb explodes at the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, killing 168 people.

April 21, 1995 – Nichols surrenders to Kansas police when he hears they are looking for him.

December 23, 1997 – Is found guilty on federal charges of conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction and on eight counts of involuntary manslaughter.

June 4, 1998 – Federal Judge Richard Matsch sentences Nichols to life in prison without parole after the federal jury is unable to decide on the death penalty or a life sentence.

September 13, 1999 – A federal judge rejects Nichols’ request for a new federal trial.

September 5, 2001 – The Oklahoma County District Attorney announces that Nichols will face a state trial for his role in the bombing. District Attorney C. Wesley Lane says he is going forward with the trial because he is concerned the federal conviction will be overturned.

March 22, 2004 – Nichols’ state trial opens.

April 20, 2004 – Michael Fortier testifies that McVeigh asked him to help build the bomb because “Terry was backing out.” Fortier was sentenced to 12 years in prison as part of a plea deal for testifying against McVeigh and Nichols.

May 26, 2004 – Nichols is found guilty in Oklahoma state court on 161 counts of murder. The jury spent five hours deliberating before announcing the verdict.

June 11, 2004 – The jury in Nichols’ state trial says it is deadlocked over a sentence of life in prison or death by lethal injection.

August 9, 2004 – District Judge Steven Taylor sentences Nichols to 161 consecutive life terms, without the possibility of parole.

April 1, 2005 – The FBI finds residual bomb making material in Nichols’ former residence, not detected in previous searches.

May 4, 2005 – In a letter written from his Colorado prison cell, Nichols names Arkansas gun dealer Roger Moore as the man who supplied him and McVeigh with bomb components. Moore denies any involvement.

March 16, 2009 – Files a 39-page handwritten lawsuit against the Colorado prison where he is staying for violating his religious and dietary needs. In the lawsuit Nichols requests 100% whole-grain foods, fresh raw vegetables and fruit, a wheat bran supplement and digestive bacteria and enzymes.

February 2010 – Goes on a fast, protesting the processed foods he is being served in prison.

August 12, 2010 – US District Judge Christine M. Arguello dismisses Nichols’ lawsuit over prison food.

November 28, 2011 – Jannie Coverdale, grandmother of two victims of the Oklahoma City bombing, reveals she has been corresponding with Nichols for several years and that he apologized and asked for her forgiveness, which he received. In copies of the letters published in The Oklahoman, Nichols admits he knew there was to be a bombing but didn’t know the federal building was the target and that the building would be occupied.

July 13, 2015 – Nichols files a motion asking the court to force the FBI to turn over approximately 10 firearms, belonging to him, that were seized after the bombings. Nichols suggests in the motion that the FBI turn the guns over to his family so the firearms can be sold to help provide financial support for his children.

April 15, 2016 – Judge Matsch orders the government to destroy the firearms belonging to Nichols, and that the fair market value of $6,922 be applied to his court ordered restitution of $14.5 million.

March 9, 2017 – Evidence from Nichols’ state trial is transferred to the Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum.

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March 15, 2024
Healey wipes away prior marijuana convictions

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BOSTON — With the stroke of a pen, Gov. Maura Healey is moving to wipe away the prior pot convictions of hundreds of thousands of Massachusetts residents.

On Wednesday, Healey signed a “first-in-the-nation” executive order that, if approved by the Governor’s Council, would grant a blanket pardon to those with previous misdemeanor convictions for possession of marijuana, which has been legal for more than seven years.

Healey, who estimates the pardon will impact “hundreds of thousands” of people, says those with misdemeanor pot charges on their records from prelegalization days face restricted access to jobs, housing and education.

“The reason we’re doing this is simple, justice requires it,” the first-term Democrat told reporters at a briefing. “Massachusetts decriminalized possession for personal use back in 2008, legalized it in 2016, yet thousands of people are still living with convictions on their records.”

If Healey’s order is approved by the council, those with previous convictions wouldn’t need to apply for pardons — which would be done automatically — but would be able to request a “certificate” from the state verifying the pardon.

The pardons won’t apply to convictions after March 13, and would exclude charges such as possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, distribution, trafficking, or operating a motor vehicle under the influence or convictions outside the state, including federal court, the Healey administration said.

Attorney General Andrea Campbell, the state’s top law enforcement officer, was among those who praised the move. She said it will improve racial justice, with data showing that blacks and other minorities have been “disproportionately” charged with marijuana possession in the state prior to legalization.

“These pardons will transform the lives of thousands, remove barriers allowing them to live with economic dignity, and right past wrongs and stigma that these individuals have faced,” she said in remarks.

Voters legalized marijuana more than seven years ago, but people previously arrested with the drug are still being haunted by past convictions.

A 2008 ballot question made possessing an ounce or less of marijuana a civil offense, punishable by a $100 fine. Four years later, voters approved its medical use.

Then, in 2016, nearly 54% of voters at the ballot box approved legalized recreational marijuana.

Marijuana advocates say voters have made clear over the years that possession of small amounts should not be illegal, and people with old convictions should get a second chance.

Other states where recreational marijuana is legal have taken similar steps to seal or expunge criminal records en masse.

California wiped away past marijuana convictions under a bill signed by Gov. Jerry Brown in 2018. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed an expungement bill in 2019 that allowed an estimated 150,000 people to have previous convictions sealed.

In 2022, President Biden issued a presidential proclamation pardoning many federal offenses for simple marijuana possession offenses. Biden has expanded that pardon to include more offenses and has called for a review of the classification of marijuana, which remains illegal under federal law.

But clearing records of past convictions, even in places where pot is legal, remains controversial. Washington state, which legalized pot in 2012, wrangled for several years to pass a pot expungement bill amid opposition from prosecutors.

In Massachusetts, law enforcement officials and even some lawmakers have pushed back on efforts to retroactively wipe away previous convictions.

Proposals to grant blanket pardons for pot convictions have been filed in the past several sessions only to languish due to lack of support.

A 2018 law allowed Massachusetts residents with previous convictions for offenses that are no longer illegal — including marijuana possession — to have those records expunged from their records. But advocates say since then few people have benefited from the changes.

In some cases, judges refuse to sign off on expungement of previous marijuana possession convictions, even if the individual’s records have been sealed.

Under state law, expungement requests must be deemed to be “in the interest of justice” but the interpretation of what that might be is generally left up to judges.

Pauline Quirion, a lawyer and director of the criminal records sealing project at Greater Boston Legal Services, said anyone who undergoes state Criminal Offender Record Information checks for housing or work can be turned down if they have marijuana charges in their past.

“In practice, any criminal record, no matter how old or how minor, creates barriers to jobs and other opportunities,” she said. “Pardons especially matter where record sealing simply is not enough because an employer or occupational licensor is granted access to the record by state law.”

Christian M. Wade covers the Massachusetts Statehouse for North of Boston Media Group’s newspapers and websites. Email him at cwade@cnhinews.com.

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By Christian M. Wade | Statehouse Reporter

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March 14, 2024
Police/Fire

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In news taken from the logs of Cape Ann’s police and fire departments:

ROCKPORT

Monday, March 11

7:03 p.m.: A burglar alarm reported at a Phillips Avenue address was later determined to be false.

Medical emergencies: Individuals were taken to the hospital by ambulance from Main Street at 6:41 a.m., Granite Street at 12:45 p.m. and Rowe Point at 1:13 p.m.

12:48 p.m.: After a report was made about an animal on Smith Street, Animal Control was notified.

9:42 a.m.: After a well-being check, an ambulance transport was refused at a Granite Street address.

9:19 a.m.: After a motor vehicle stop on Granite Street, a verbal warning was issued.

MANCHESTER

Monday, March 11

2:11 p.m.: A report was made about a motor vehicle crash at the intersection of School and Pleasant Streets.

11:36 a.m.: Assistance was provided to a citizen on Central Street.

11:31 a.m.: After a motor vehicle stop on the northbound lanes of Route 128 near Exit 53, a verbal warning was issued.

11:22 a.m.: An animal complaint was made at a Beach Street address.

11:18 a.m.: A report of an alleged fraud/scam was made at a Desmond Avenue address.

9:26 a.m.: A motor vehicle crash was reported on Central Street.

4:42 a.m.: The Fire Department was dispatched to a Beach Street address.

GLOUCESTER

Tuesday, March 5

9:46 p.m.: Police responded to a past break in on Spring Street.

Crashes with property damage only: at 6:47 p.m. at Cape Ann Medical Center on Blackburn Drive; at 3:03 p.m. at East Veterans School on Webster Street.

12:38 p.m.: Police responded to a parking complaint at Gloucester Fire Headquarters on School Street.

12:14 p.m.: Police responded to a disturbance on Gloucester Crossing Road.

11:34 a.m.: A resident came to the Main Street station and filed a report of harassment.

11:08 a.m.: Larceny was reported on Fernwood Lake Avenue.

3:26 a.m.: Peace was restored after a disturbance at the Action shelter on Main Street.

1:02 a.m.: Four juveniles face a charge of being minors in possession of alcohol, after officers came across a car parked with all its doors open at the Dun Fudgin Boat Ramp on Leslie O. Johnson Road, according to the police report. An officer found the driver standing by the front passenger door while the three others were walking around the boat ramp parking lot. As the officer notified dispatch, three juveniles took off toward the high school nearby. A juvenile who said he was the driver asked if he was in trouble. While speaking with driver, police saw a 12-pack of Arnold Palmer Spiked malt beverage outside the driver’s side door. The driver told police the 12-pack was not his, and since he had been driving, he did not drink. The officer also saw a large marijuana smoking pipe, an open Smirnoff Ice six pack on the back passenger floor, and another large smoking pipe and two marijuana grinders with some leafy green material believe to be marijuana. Police asked the driver for his license, and he said he only had a learner’s permit, which was not on him. Other officers arrived to the front of the school and apprehended two juveniles without incident. They were brought back to the boat ramp. The juveniles said they had been out driving and hanging around since they had no school in the morning. They were asked to contact their parents to take custody of them. The officer told the parent of one juvenile he planned to file a complaint against the juvenile on a charge of being a minor in possession of alcohol. Another parent arrived and took custody of two of the juveniles. He was told his son would be summonsed on a charge of being a minor in possession. The driver, listed in the log as 16, was told he would be summonsed on charges of being a junior operator driving from 12 a.m. to 5 a.m. without a parent in the vehicle, having an open container in a vehicle and being a minor in possession of alcohol. Police planned to charge the juvenile who ran away with being a minor in possession of alcohol. Police had the vehicle towed and disposed of the alcohol and the large marijuana smoking pipes and grinders. The report was forwarded to the Community Impact Unit for followup.

Monday, March 4

10:18 p.m.: A crash with property damage only was reported on Centennial and Emerson avenues.

9:42 p.m.: A caller reported a small baggie containing a white substance, possibly drugs, was in the first parking spot to the left of the 7-Eleven off Maplewood Avenue. Police found this to be crushed breath mint.

9:15 p.m.: A disturbance was reported at Ocean Crest Seafoods on Commercial Street. An intoxicated man was on a fishing vessel and a possible fight was reported to have taken place with no weapons involved. The man was given a courtesy ride to the train station.

6:13 p.m.: A crash with property damage only was reported to police at the station.

2:31 p.m.: A vehicle was towed after a crash with property damage only on Main and Prospect streets.

2:27 p.m.: A 29-year-old Gloucester resident of no known address was arrested on Lincoln Avenue on a charge of distribution of a Class C drug. Police noticed a man pacing back and forth and checking his cell phone. An officer and a detective followed the man to Lincoln Avenue where he met another man and they walked into the bus stop. Police said as they drove by they could see the 29-year-old hand the other man a small object and the man hand the 29-year-old cash. Police approached the men in the bus stop and separated them. The man said he had just purchased 20 Klonopin pills for $100. Police retrieved the pills from his sweatshirt pocket. Police asked him how he contacted the 29-year-old and he said he uses his cell phone and showed police four recent calls. The detective found the 29-year-old clutching $100 in his right hand and he was arrested and charged. Police searched the suspect and reported finding over a dozen needles, tourniquets and other drug paraphernalia. Police found the suspect had a Clonazepam prescription bottle with 29 pills that had been filled yesterday. Police said it appeared the suspect was selling the medication to control seizures. He was taken to the Rockport Police Department for booking.

1:33 p.m.: Debris in the roadway was reported on Middle and Pleasant streets. The call was referred to another agency.

1:01 p.m.: An abandoned vehicle was reported at the Water Treatment Station on Russell Avenue. Police located a silver BMW on the side of the road, and a query found the vehicle was uninsured. Police had the vehicle towed and planned to file a criminal complaint against the owner, a 57-year-old resident, on a charge of having an uninsured vehicle on a public way.

9:15 a.m.: A man reported he had left a black electric scooter unattended on the train station platform on Railroad Avenue while he went to a nearby convenience store, but when he returned, it was gone. He was told by others on the platform that a man with a cat on his shoulders made off with it, riding toward Maplewood Avenue. The scooter was described as having “Hot Shot” written on the side, one light at the front and a fingerprint reader which starts it. He estimated the scooter cost about $700. Police were unable to locate anyone matching the description.

8:26 a.m.: A crash with property damage only was reported on Duncan and Rogers streets.

2:35 a.m.: No action was required for a report of a disturbance on Bass Avenue.

Sunday, March 3

8:47 p.m.: No action was required for a report of a vehicle repossessed on Gould Court.

7:17 p.m.: The Fire Department was assisted with a call from Mansfield Court.

4:31 p.m.: A holdup alarm was reported at the Curiseport Gloucester on Rowe Square.

3:51 p.m.: An unwelcome guest was reported at the Cape Ann Marina and Motel complex on Essex Avenue.

1:13 p.m.: Police took a report of harassment from Millett Street.

8:10 a.m.: A crash with property damage only at Beacon Marine Basin on East Main Street was under investigation.

Saturday, March 2

8:54 p.m.: Police could not locate a report of a crash with property damage only at the Flannagan Service Station.

4:59 p.m.: A crash with property damage only was reported at 15 Washington St.

3:22 p.m.: The Fire Department was assisted with a call from Main Street.

2:52 p.m.: Harassment was reported at a café on Main Street.

9:55 a.m.: Police planned to file a criminal complaint against a 21-year-old Peabody man charging him with assault and battery on a police officer during a prisoner transport to Middleton Jail. During the ride from the Rockport Police Department where he had been booked, the man became confrontational, the report said, swearing at the officers because he was not allowed to use his vape pen, which infuriated the man. He swore at officers and became agitated when he did not get much of a response from officers, the report said. As they pulled onto the highway, the officer who was a passenger saw the man had unbuckled his seatbelt and flipped his handcuffs in front of him. The officer driving was able to get off the highway at Exit 54 and pull into a dirt lot. The man continued to be confrontational and pounded on the glass in the cruiser. The officer in back got out and ordered the man to get out of the cruiser and face away from him, but the man refused. Police were able to get the man handcuffed behind his back and continue on to the jail as the man hurled insults at the officers. He again managed to unbuckle his seatbelt, flip his handcuffs in front of him, slam on the cage, all while screaming and insulting officers, the report said. The man then began untying his shoelaces and the cruiser pulled over at Exit 47 in Beverly around 10:13 a.m. The officer in back told the man that for everyone’s safety, they needed to take his shoes and glasses. When the officer went to remove the man’s glasses, the report said the man lifted his cuffed hands and swatted at the officer’s hands and grabbed his wrists. The officer was able to break away. The officer was eventually able to remove the man’s glasses, which were placed with his belongings. Police told him he would be charged with assault and battery on a police officer, and the man continued insulting officers, slamming on the cage, and ducking down in the back seat. At the jail, police said the man continued to be confrontation and refused to comply with simple commands, and kept pulling away before he went through intake at the jail.

9:36 a.m.: Fraud was reported on Mt. Pleasant Avenue.

9:05 a.m.: A disturbance was reported on Veterans Way.

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March 12, 2024
Notable US Supreme Court Decisions Fast Facts | CNN

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CNN
—

Here’s a look at some of the most important cases decided by the US Supreme Court since 1789.

1803 – Marbury v. Madison
This decision established the system of checks and balances and the power of the Supreme Court within the federal government.

Situation: Federalist William Marbury and many others were appointed to positions by outgoing President John Adams. The appointments were not finalized before the new Secretary of State James Madison took office, and Madison chose not to honor them. Marbury and the others invoked an Act of Congress and sued to get their appointed positions.

The Court decided against Marbury 6-0.

Historical significance: Chief Justice John Marshall wrote, “An act of the legislature repugnant to the constitution is void.” It was the first time the Supreme Court declared unconstitutional a law that had been passed by Congress.

1857 – Dred Scott v. Sandford
This decision established that slaves were not citizens of the United States and were not protected under the US Constitution.

Situation: Dred Scott and his wife Harriet sued for their freedom in Missouri, a slave state, after having lived with their owner, an Army surgeon, in the free Territory of Wisconsin.

The Court decided against Scott 7-2.

Historical significance: The decision overturned the Missouri Compromise, where Congress had prohibited slavery in the territories. The Dred Scott decision was overturned later with the adoption of the 13th Amendment, abolishing slavery in 1865 and the 14th Amendment in 1868, granting citizenship to all born in the United States.

1896 – Plessy v. Ferguson
This decision established the rule of segregation, separate but equal.

Situation: While attempting to test the constitutionality of the Separate Car Law in Louisiana, Homer Plessy, a man of 1/8 African descent, sat in the train car for whites instead of the blacks-only train car and was arrested.

The Court decided against Plessy 7-1.

Historical significance: Justice Henry Billings Brown wrote, “The argument also assumes that social prejudice may be overcome by legislation and that equal rights cannot be secured except by an enforced commingling of the two races… if the civil and political rights of both races be equal, one cannot be inferior to the other civilly or politically. If one race be inferior to the other socially, the Constitution of the United States cannot put them upon the same plane.” The Court gave merit to the “Jim Crow” system. Plessy was overturned by the Brown v. Board of Education decision. In January 2022 Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards granted a posthumous pardon to Homer Plessy. The pardon comes after the Louisiana Board of Pardons voted unanimously in November 2021 in favor of a pardon for Plessy, who died in his 60s in 1925.

1954 – Brown v. Board of Education
This decision overturned Plessy v. Ferguson and granted equal protection under the law.

Situation: Segregation of the public school systems in the United States was addressed when cases in Kansas, South Carolina, Delaware and Virginia were all decided together under Brown v. Board of Education. Third-grader Linda Brown was denied admission to the white school a few blocks from her home and was forced to attend the blacks-only school a mile away.

The Court decided in favor of Brown unanimously.

Historical significance: Racial segregation violates the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment.

1963 – Gideon v. Wainwright
This decision guarantees the right to counsel.

Situation: Clarence Earl Gideon was forced to defend himself when he requested a lawyer from a Florida court and was refused. He was convicted and sentenced to five years for breaking and entering.

The Court decided in favor of Gideon unanimously.

Historical significance: Ensures the Sixth Amendment’s guarantee to counsel is applicable to the states through the 14th Amendment’s due process clause.

1964 – New York Times v. Sullivan
This decision upheld the First Amendment rights of freedom of speech and freedom of the press.

Situation: The New York Times and four African-American ministers were sued for libel by Montgomery, Alabama, police commissioner L.B. Sullivan. Sullivan claimed a full-page ad in the Times discussing the arrest of Martin Luther King Jr., and his efforts toward voter registration and integration in Montgomery were defamatory against him. Alabama’s libel law did not require Sullivan to prove harm since the ad did contain factual errors. He was awarded $500,000.

The Court decided against Sullivan unanimously.

Historical significance: The First Amendment protects free speech and publication of all statements about public officials made without actual malice.

1966 – Miranda v. Arizona
The decision established the rights of suspects against self-incrimination.

Situation: Ernesto Miranda was convicted of rape and kidnapping after he confessed, while in police custody, without benefit of counsel or knowledge of his constitutional right to remain silent.

The court decided in favor of Miranda 5-4.

Historical significance: Upon arrest and/or questioning, all suspects are given some form of their constitutional rights – “You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided for you. Do you understand the rights I have just read to you? With these rights in mind, do you wish to speak to me?”

1973 – Roe v. Wade
This decision expanded privacy rights to include a woman’s right to choose pregnancy or abortion.

Situation: “Jane Roe” (Norma McCorvey), single and living in Texas, did not want to continue her third pregnancy. Under Texas law, she could not legally obtain an abortion.

The Court decided in favor of Roe 7-2.

Historical significance: Abortion is legal in all 50 states. Women have the right to choose between pregnancy and abortion.

1974 – United States v. Nixon
This decision established that executive privilege is neither absolute nor unqualified.

Situation: President Richard Nixon’s taped conversations from 1971 onward were the object of subpoenas by both the special prosecutor and those under indictment in the Watergate scandal. The president claimed immunity from subpoena under executive privilege.

The Court decided against Nixon 8-0.

Historical significance: The president is not above the law. After the Court ruled on July 24, 1974, Richard Nixon resigned on August 8.

1978 – Regents of the U. of California v. Bakke
This decision ruled that race cannot be the only factor in college admissions.

Situation: Allan Bakke had twice applied for and was denied admission to the University of California Medical School at Davis. Bakke was white, male and 35 years old. He claimed under California’s affirmative action plan, minorities with lower grades and test scores were admitted to the medical school when he was not, therefore his denial of admission was based solely on race.

The Court decided in Bakke’s favor, 5-4.

Historical significance: Affirmative action is approved by the Court and schools may use race as an admissions factor. However, the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment works both ways in the case of affirmative action; race cannot be the only factor in the admissions process.

2012 – National Federation of Independent Business et al v. Sebelius, Secretary of Health and Human Services et al

Situation: The constitutionality of the sweeping health care reform law championed by President Barack Obama.

The Court voted 5-4 in favor of upholding the Affordable Care Act.

Historical significance: The ruling upholds the law’s central provision – a requirement that all people have health insurance or pay a penalty.

2013 – United States v. Windsor
This decision ruled that the Defense of Marriage Act, which defined the term “marriage” under federal law as a “legal union between one man and one woman” deprived same-sex couples who are legally married under state laws of their Fifth Amendment rights to equal protection under federal law.

Situation: Edith Windsor and Thea Spyer were married in Toronto in 2007. Their marriage was recognized by New York state, where they lived. Upon Spyer’s death in 2009, Windsor was forced to pay $363,000 in estate taxes, because their marriage was not recognized by federal law.

The court voted 5-4 in favor of Windsor.

Historical significance: The court strikes down section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act, ruling that legally married same-sex couples are entitled to federal benefits.

2015 – King et al, v. Burwell, Secretary of Health and Human Services, et al

Situation: This case was about determining whether or not the portion of the Affordable Care Act which says subsidies would be available only to those who purchase insurance on exchanges “established by the state” referred to the individual states.

The Court ruled 6-3 in favor of upholding the Affordable Care Act subsidies.

Historical significance: The court rules that the Affordable Care Act federal tax credits for eligible Americans are available in all 50 states, regardless of whether the states have their own health care exchanges.

2015 – Obergefell et al, v. Hodges, Director, Ohio Department of Health, et al.

Situation: Multiple lower courts had struck down state same-sex marriage bans. There were 37 states allowing gay marriage before the issue went to the Supreme Court.

The Court ruled 5-4 in favor of Obergefell et al.

Historical significance: The court rules that states cannot ban same-sex marriage and must recognize lawful marriages performed out of state.

2016 – Fisher v. University of Texas

Situation: Abigail Fisher sued the University of Texas after her admission application was rejected in 2008. She claimed it was because she is white and that she was being treated differently than some less-qualified minority students who were accepted. In 2013 the Supreme Court sent the case back to the lower courts for further review.

The Court ruled 4-3 in favor of the University of Texas. Justice Elena Kagan recused herself from the case, presumably because she dealt with it in her previous job as solicitor general.

Historical Significance: The court rules that taking race into consideration as one factor of admission is constitutional.

2020 – Bostock v. Clayton County, Georgia

Situation: Gerald Bostock filed a lawsuit against Clayton County for discrimination based on his sexual orientation after he was terminated for “conduct unbecoming of its employees,” shortly after he began participating in a gay softball league. Two other consolidated cases were also argued on the same day.

The 6-3 opinion in favor of the plaintiff, written by Justice Neil Gorsuch and joined by Chief Justice John Roberts, states that being fired “merely for being gay or transgender violates Title VII” of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Historical Significance: Federal anti-bias law now protects people who face job loss and/or discrimination based on their sexual orientation or gender identity.

2022 – Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization

Situation: Mississippi’s Gestational Age Act, passed in 2018 and which greatly restricts abortion after 15 weeks, is blocked by two federal courts, holding that it is in direct violation of Supreme Court precedent legalizing abortion nationwide prior to viability, which can occur at around 23-24 weeks of pregnancy, and that in an “unbroken line dating to Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court’s abortion cases have established (and affirmed and re-affirmed) a woman’s right to choose an abortion before viability.” The court said states may “regulate abortion procedures prior to viability” so long as they do not ban abortion. “The law at issue is a ban,” the court held. 

Mississippi appeals the decision to the Supreme Court.

The 6-3 opinion in favor of the plaintiff, written by Justice Samuel Alito states that “Roe was egregiously wrong from the start…Its reasoning was exceptionally weak, and the decision has had damaging consequences. And far from bringing about a national settlement of the abortion issue, Roe and Casey have enflamed debate and deepened division.”

In a joint dissenting opinion, Justices Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan heavily criticized the majority, closing: “With sorrow – for this Court, but more, for the many millions of American women who have today lost a fundamental constitutional protection – we dissent.”

Historical Significance: The ruling overturns Roe v. Wade and there is no longer a federal constitutional right to an abortion, leaving abortion rights to be determined by states.

1944 – Korematsu v. United States – The Court ruled Executive Order 9066, internment of Japanese citizens during World War II, is legal, 6-3 for the United States.

1961 – Mapp v. Ohio – “Fruit of the poisonous tree,” evidence obtained through an illegal search, cannot be used at trial, 6-3 for Mapp.

1967 – Loving v. Virginia – Prohibition against interracial marriage was ruled unconstitutional, 9-0 for Loving.

1968 – Terry v. Ohio – Stop and frisk, under certain circumstances, does not violate the Constitution. The Court upholds Terry’s conviction and rules 8-1 that it is not unconstitutional for police to stop and frisk individuals without probable cause for an arrest if they have a reasonable suspicion that a crime has or is about to occur.

2008 – District of Columbia v. Heller – The Second Amendment does protect the individual’s right to bear arms, 5-4 for Heller.

2010 – Citizens United v. FEC – The Court rules corporations can contribute to PACs under the First Amendment’s right to free speech, 5-4 for Citizens United.

2023 – Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard together with Students for Fair Admissions v. University of North Carolina – Colleges and universities can no longer take race into consideration as a specific basis in admissions. The majority opinion, written by Justice John Roberts, claims the court is not expressly overturning prior cases authorizing race-based affirmative action and suggests that how race has affected an applicant’s life can still be part of how their application is considered.

2024 – Donald J. Trump v. Norma Anderson, et al – The Court rules former President Donald Trump should appear on the ballot in Colorado in a decision that follows months of debate over whether Trump violated the “insurrectionist clause” included in the 14th Amendment.

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March 12, 2024
Saddam Hussein Trial Fast Facts | CNN

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CNN
—

Here is some background information about the trials and execution of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.

Hussein was charged with premeditated murder, imprisonment and the deprivation of physical movement, forced deportation and torture.

Seven other defendants stood trial with Hussein: Barzan Hassan, Taha Yassin Ramadan, Awad al-Bandar, Abdullah Ruwaid, Ali Dayem Ali, Mohammed Azzawi Ali and Mizher Ruwaid.

July 8, 1982 – Residents of the Shiite Muslim town of Dujail, Iraq, fire on Hussein’s motorcade. In retaliation, about 150 residents are executed.

March 19, 2003 – The second Gulf War begins, code named Operation Iraqi Freedom.

December 14, 2003 – The US Department of Defense announces Hussein has been captured in a cellar, or “spider hole,” at a farmhouse in Tikrit on December 13, 2003.

June 30, 2004 – The Coalition turns over legal control of Hussein and 11 other former top Iraqi officials to the interim Iraqi government, but they remain in the physical custody of the US for security reasons.

July 1, 2004 – Hussein makes his first appearance in court at his arraignment and is charged with a variety of crimes, including the invasion of Kuwait and the gassing of the Kurds. He pleads not guilty.

November 2004 – Hussein’s family fires his chief lawyer Mohammed al-Rashdan, accusing him of using the trial to seek personal fame. Rashdan is replaced by Ziad al-Khasawneh.

July 7, 2005 – Hussein’s chief lawyer Khasawneh resigns because he says the American defense team is trying to take over the case.

July 17, 2005 – The Iraqi Special Tribunal (IST) files the first criminal charges against Hussein for the 1982 massacre of 148 people in Dujail. Other charges will be heard at separate trials.

August 23, 2005 – Hussein confirms that he has fired all his previous lawyers and is now solely represented by Khalil Dulaimi.

September 6, 2005 – Iraqi President Jalal Talabani says Hussein has confessed via videotape, audiotape, and signed confessions, to giving the order to gas thousands of Kurds in the late 1980s.

September 8, 2005 – Chief attorney Dulaimi denies that Hussein has confessed to ordering executions and waging a campaign against Kurds in which thousands of people are said to have been killed.

October 19, 2005 – Hussein’s trial begins in Baghdad. He and seven other co-defendants appear before Chief Judge Rizgar Amin and plead not guilty to the torture and murder of Iraqi citizens in Dujail in 1982.

October 20, 2005 – The lawyer for Bandar, Saadoun al-Janabi, is kidnapped and murdered one day after he appears in court for the opening of the trial.

November 8, 2005 – Adel al-Zubeidi, a lawyer for one of Saddam’s co-defendants, Ramadan, is killed and another lawyer wounded during a drive-by shooting.

December 27, 2005 – Three more lawyers join the defense team: Saleh al-Armoti, Ibrahim al-Mulla and Tayseer al-Mudather.

January 15, 2006 – Chief Judge Amin resigns after complaints that he is too lax with the defendants in the trial.

January 23, 2006 – Iraqi officials name Chief Judge Raouf Rasheed Abdel-Rahman to replace Amin.

January 29, 2006 – Judge Abdel-Rahman warns defendants that he won’t tolerate political speeches in the courtroom. Hassan, Hussein’s half-brother, tests the judge by calling the court the “daughter of a whore.” Hassan is then forcibly removed from the courtroom. In response, several members of the defense team leave the courtroom in protest.

February 2, 2006 – Hussein, his seven co-defendants and their defense team boycott the proceedings and plan to stay away from the trial until Judge Abdel-Rahman is removed from the court.

April 4, 2006 – Hussein and six co-defendants are charged by the Iraqi High Criminal Court with genocide relating to the Anfal campaign against Iraqi Kurds in the late 1980s. This will be a separate trial from the current one relating to the 1982 Dujail massacre.

May 15, 2006 – Judge Abdel-Rahman formally charges Hussein and seven other defendants with crimes against humanity. Hussein refuses to enter a plea.

June 21, 2006 – Defense attorney Khamis al-Ubaidi is kidnapped from his home by men dressed in Iraqi police uniforms, and murdered. Ubaidi had been defending Hussein and his half-brother, Hassan. In response, all seven defendants in the trial said they will go on a hunger strike until their attorneys are put under international protection.

July 27, 2006 – Court adjourns to deliberate a verdict in the Dujail trial.

August 21, 2006 – A new trial against Hussein begins. He and six co-defendants are being tried on genocide charges for their role in the 1980s campaign, Operation Anfal, in which 100,000 Kurds were killed. If convicted, they could face the death penalty.

September 19, 2006 – Chief Judge Abdullah al-Amiri is removed from the case after telling Hussein that he wasn’t a dictator.

September 20, 2006 – New Chief Judge Mohammad Orabi Majeed Al-Khalefa replaces Amiri.

November 5, 2006 – Hussein is sentenced to death by hanging for the 1982 Dujail massacre. Co-defendants Hassan and Bandar receive death sentences. Former Vice President Ramadan is sentenced to life in prison. Abdullah Ruwaid, Dayem Ali and Mizher Ruwaid receive 15-year sentences. Azzawi Ali is acquitted for lack of evidence.

December 26, 2006 – An appellate chamber of the Iraqi High Tribunal upholds Hussein’s death sentence. Judge Aref Shaheen reads the decision of the court and says it is the final word in the case. Therefore, Hussein’s execution must take place before January 27, 2007, under Iraqi law.

December 30, 2006 – Hussein is hanged a few minutes after 6:00 a.m. Baghdad time.

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March 12, 2024
Haverhill man charged in North Andover murder

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NORTH ANDOVER — A Haverhill man has been arrested and charged with murdering another Haverhill man, Essex County District Attorney Paul F. Tucker and North Andover Police Chief Charles Gray announced Monday.

Derick Moncion, 22, is charged with shooting and killing 21-year-old Jaeby Ortiz Ruiz early Sunday, Tucker said.

The victim’s body was discovered by police in the area of Riverview Street in North Andover on Sunday, authorities said.

A warrant charging Moncion with murder was applied for and granted Monday afternoon and he was subsequently taken into custody Monday evening, according to a statement from Tucker’s office.

Monchion is expected to be arraigned Tuesday morning in Lawrence District Court.

The investigation is ongoing and being conducted by members of the Essex County District Attorney’s Office State Police Detective Unit and detectives from the North Andover Police Department, Lawrence Police Department and Haverhill Police Department.

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By Jill Harmacinski jharmacinski@eagletribune.com

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March 11, 2024
Detained Americans Fast Facts | CNN

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CNN
—

Here’s a look at some recent cases of foreign governments detaining US citizens. For information about missing Americans, see Robert Levinson Fast Facts or POW/MIA in Iraq and Afghanistan Fast Facts.

Afghanistan

Ryan Corbett
August 2022 – Corbett, a businessman whose family lived in Afghanistan for more than a decade prior to the collapse of the Afghan government, returns to Afghanistan on a 10 day trip. Roughly one week into his visit, he was asked to come in for questioning by the local police. Corbett, his German colleague, and two local staff members were all detained. All but Corbett are eventually released. The Taliban has acknowledged holding Corbett, and he has been designated as wrongfully detained by the US State Department.

China

Mark Swidan
November 13, 2012 – Swidan, a businessman from Texas, is arrested on drug related charges by Chinese Police while in his hotel room in Dongguan.

2013 – Swidan is tried and pleads not guilty.

2019 – Convicted of manufacturing and trafficking drugs by the Jiangmen Intermediate People’s Court in southern Guangdong province and given a death sentence with a two-year reprieve.

April 13, 2023 – The Jiangmen Intermediate People’s Court denies Swidan’s appeal and upholds his death penalty.

Kai Li
September 2016 – Kai Li, a naturalized US citizen born in China, is detained while visiting relatives in Shanghai.

July 2018 – He is sentenced to 10 years in prison for espionage following a secret trial held in August 2017.

Iran

Karan Vafadari
December 2016 – Karan Vafadari’s family announces that Karan and his wife, Afarin Niasari, were detained at Tehran airport in July. Vafadari, an Iranian-American, and Niasari, a green-card holder, ran an art gallery in Tehran.

March 2017 – New charges of “attempting to overthrow the Islamic Republic and recruiting spies through foreign embassies” are brought against Vafadari and Niasari.

January 2018 – Vafadari is sentenced to 27 years in prison. Niasari is sentenced to 16 years.

July 2018 – Vafadari and Niasari are reportedly released from prison on bail while they await their appeals court rulings.

Russia

Paul Whelan
December 28, 2018 – Paul Whelan, from Michigan, a retired Marine and corporate security director, is arrested on accusations of spying. His family says he was in Moscow to attend a wedding.

January 3, 2019 – His lawyer, Vladimir Zherebenkov, tells CNN Whalen has been formally charged with espionage.

January 22, 2019 – At his pretrial hearing, Whelan is denied bail. Whelan’s attorney Zherebenkov tells CNN that Whelan was found in possession of classified material when he was arrested in Moscow.

June 15, 2020 – Whelan is convicted of espionage and sentenced to 16 years in prison.

August 8, 2021 – State news agency TASS reports that Whelan has been released from solitary confinement in the Mordovian penal colony where he is being held.

Evan Gershkovich
March 30, 2023 – Evan Gershkovich, a Wall Street Journal reporter, is detained by Russian authorities and accused of spying. The Wall Street Journal rejects the spying allegations.

April 3, 2023 – The Russian state news agency TASS reports Gershkovich has filed an appeal against his arrest.

April 7, 2023 – Gershkovich is formally charged with espionage.

April 10, 2023 – The US State Department officially designates Gershkovich as wrongfully detained by Russia.

April 18, 2023 – The Moscow City Court denies his appeal to change the terms of his detention. Gershkovich will continue to be held in a pre-trial detention center at the notorious Lefortovo prison until May 29.

Saudi Arabia

Walid Fitaihi
November 2017 – Dual US-Saudi citizen Dr. Walid Fitaihi is detained at the Ritz Carlton hotel in Riyadh along with other prominent Saudis, according to his lawyer Howard Cooper. Fitaihi is then transferred to prison.

July 2019 – Fitaihi is released on bond.

December 8, 2020 – Fitaihi is sentenced to six years in prison for charges including obtaining US citizenship without permission.

January 14, 2021 – A Saudi appeals court upholds Fitaihi’s conviction but reduces his sentence to 3.2 years and suspends his remaining prison term. Fitaihi still faces a travel ban and frozen assets.

Syria

Austin Tice
August 2012 – Tice disappears while reporting near the Syrian capital of Damascus. The Syrian government has never acknowledged that they have Tice in their custody.

September 2012 – A 43-second video emerges online that shows Tice in the captivity of what his family describe as an “unusual group of apparent jihadists.”

Majd Kamalmaz
February 2017 – Kamalmaz is detained at a checkpoint in Damascus. The Syrian government has never acknowledged Kamalmaz is in its custody.

Cuba

Alan Gross
December 2009 – Alan Gross is jailed while working as a subcontractor on a US Agency for International Development project aimed at spreading democracy. His actions are deemed illegal by Cuban authorities. He is accused of trying to set up illegal internet connections on the island. Gross says he was trying to help connect the Jewish community to the internet and was not a threat to the government.

March 12, 2011 – Gross is found guilty and sentenced to 15 years in prison for crimes against the Cuban state.

April 11, 2014 – Ends a hunger strike that he launched the previous week in an effort to get the United States and Cuba to resolve his case.

December 17, 2014 – Gross is released as part of a deal with Cuba that paves the way for a major overhaul in US policy toward the island.

Egypt

16 American NGO Employees
December 2011 – Egyptian authorities carry out 17 raids on the offices of 10 nongovernmental organizations. The Egyptian general prosecutor’s office claims the raids were part of an investigation into allegations the groups had received illegal foreign financing and were operating without a proper license.

February 5, 2012 – Forty-three people face prosecution in an Egyptian criminal court on charges of illegal foreign funding as part of an ongoing crackdown on NGOs. Among the American defendants is Sam LaHood, International Republican Institute country director and the son of US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood.

February 15, 2012 – The US State Department confirms there are 16 Americans being held, not 19 as the Egyptian government announced.

February 20, 2012 – South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham and Arizona Senator John McCain meet with top Egyptian military and political leaders in Cairo.

March 1, 2012 – Some of the 43 detainees including American, Norwegian, German, Serbian and Palestinian activists leave Cairo after each post two-million Egyptian pounds bail.

April 20, 2012 – CNN is told Egyptian officials have filed global arrest notices with Interpol for some of the Americans involved in the NGO trial.

June 4, 2013 – An Egyptian court sentences the NGO workers: 27 workers in absentia to five-year sentences, 11 to one-year suspended jail sentences, and five others to two-year sentences that were not suspended, according to state-run newspaper Al Ahram. Only one American has remained in Egypt to fight the charges, but he also left after the court announced his conviction.

Iran

UC-Berkeley Grads
July 31, 2009 – Three graduates from the University of California at Berkeley, Sarah Shourd of Oakland, California, Shane Bauer, of Emeryville, California, and Joshua Fattal, of Cottage Grove, Oregon, are detained in Iran after hiking along the unmarked Iran-Iraq border in northern Iraq’s Kurdish region.

August 11, 2009 – Iran sends formal notification to the Swiss ambassador that the three American hikers have been detained. Switzerland represents the United States diplomatic interests in Iran since the United States and Iran do not have diplomatic relations.

October 2009 – The Iranian government allows a Swiss diplomat to visit the hikers at Evin Prison.

November 9, 2009 – Iran charges the three with espionage.

March 9, 2010 – The families of the three detained hikers speak by phone to the hikers for the first time since they were jailed.

May 20, 2010 – The detainees’ mothers are allowed to visit their children.

May 21, 2010 – The mothers are allowed a second visit, and the detained hikers speak publicly for the first time at a government-controlled news conference.

August 5, 2010 – Reports surface that Shourd is being denied medical treatment.

September 14, 2010 – Shourd is released on humanitarian grounds on $500,000 bail.

September 19, 2010 – Shourd speaks publicly to the press in New York.

November 27, 2010 – Two days after Thanksgiving, Fattal and Bauer are allowed to call home for the second time. Each call lasts about five minutes.

February 6, 2011 – Fattal and Bauer’s trial begins. Shourd has not responded to a court summons to return to stand trial.

May 4, 2011 – Shourd announces she will not return to Tehran to face espionage charges.

August 20, 2011 – Fattal and Bauer each receive five years for spying and three years for illegal entry, according to state-run TV. They have 20 days to appeal.

September 14, 2011 – A Western diplomat tells CNN an Omani official is en route to Tehran to help negotiate the release of Fattal and Bauer. Oman helped secure the release of Shourd in 2010.

September 21, 2011 – Fattal and Bauer are released from prison on bail of $500,000 each and their sentences are commuted. On September 25, they arrive back in the United States.

Saeed Abedini
September 26, 2012 – According to the American Center for Law and Justice, Saeed Abedini, an American Christian pastor who was born in Iran and lives in Idaho, is detained in Iran. The group says that Abedini’s charges stem from his conversion to Christianity from Islam 13 years ago and his activities with home churches in Iran.

January 2013 – Abedini is sentenced to eight years in prison, on charges of attempting to undermine the Iranian government.

January 16, 2016 – Iran releases four US prisoners including Abedini, Amir Mirzaei Hekmati, and Jason Rezaian, in exchange for clemency of seven Iranians imprisoned in the United States for sanctions violations.

Amir Mirzaei Hekmati
August 2011 – Amir Mirzaei Hekmati travels to Iran to visit relatives and gets detained by authorities, according to his family. His arrest isn’t made public for months.

December 17, 2011 – Iran’s Intelligence Ministry claims to have arrested an Iranian-American working as a CIA agent, according to state-run Press TV.

December 18, 2011 – Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency broadcasts a video in which a young man says his name is Hekmati, and that he joined the US Marine Corps and worked with Iraqi officers.

December 19, 2011 – The US State Department confirms the identity of the man detained in Iran and calls for his immediate release.

December 20, 2011 – Hekmati’s family says that he was arrested in August while visiting relatives in Iran. The family asserts that they remained quiet about the arrest at the urging of Iranian officials who promised his release.

December 27, 2011 – Hekmati’s trial begins in Iran. Prosecutors accuse Hekmati of entering Iran with the intention of infiltrating the country’s intelligence system in order to accuse Iran of involvement in terrorist activities, according to the Fars news agency.

January 9, 2012 – An Iranian news agency reports that Hekmati is convicted of “working for an enemy country,” as well as membership in the CIA and “efforts to accuse Iran of involvement in terrorism.” He is sentenced to death.

March 5, 2012 – An Iranian court dismisses a lower court’s death sentence for Hekmati and orders a retrial. He remains in prison.

September 2013 – In a letter to US Secretary of State John Kerry, Hekmati says that his confession was obtained under duress.

April 11, 2014 – Hekmati’s sister tells CNN that Hekmati has been convicted in Iran by a secret court of “practical collaboration with the US government” and sentenced to 10 years in prison.

January 16, 2016 – Iran releases four US prisoners including Hekmati, Abedini, and Jason Rezaian, in exchange for clemency of seven Iranians indicted or imprisoned in the United States for sanctions violations.

Jason Rezaian
July 24, 2014 – The Washington Post reports that its Tehran correspondent and Bureau Chief Jason Rezaian, his wife Yeganeh Salehi and two freelance journalists were detained on July 22, 2014. An Iranian official confirmed to CNN that the group is being held by authorities.

July 29, 2014 – Iran releases one of three people detained alongside Rezaian, a source close to the family of the released detainee tells CNN. The released detainee is the husband of an Iranian-American photojournalist who remains in custody with Rezaian and his wife, according to the source.

August 20, 2014 – The Washington Post reports the photojournalist detained with Rezaian in July has been released. At her family’s request, the Post declines to publish her name.

October 6, 2014 – According to the Washington Post, Rezaian’s wife, Yeganeh Salehi, has been released on bail.

December 6, 2014 – During a 10-hour court session in Tehran, Rezaian is officially charged with unspecified crimes, according to the newspaper.

April 20, 2015 – According the Washington Post, Rezaian is being charged with espionage and other serious crimes including “collaborating with a hostile government” and “propaganda against the establishment.”

October 11, 2015 – Iran’s state media reports that Rezaian has been found guilty, but no details are provided about his conviction or his sentence. His trial reportedly took place between May and August.

November 22, 2015 – An Iranian court sentences Rezaian to prison. The length of the sentence is not specified.

January 16, 2016 – Iran releases four US prisoners including Rezaian, Hekmati, and Abedini, in exchange for the clemency of seven Iranians indicted or imprisoned in the United States for sanctions violations.

May 1, 2018 – Joins CNN as a global affairs analyst.

Reza “Robin” Shahini
July 11, 2016 – San Diego resident Reza “Robin” Shahini is arrested while visiting family in Gorgan, Iran. Shahini is a dual US-Iranian citizen.

October 2016 – Shahini is sentenced to 18 years in prison.

February 15, 2017 – Goes on a hunger strike to protest his sentence.

April 3, 2017 – The Center for Human Rights in Iran says Shahini has been released on bail while he awaits the ruling of the appeals court.

July 2018 – A civil lawsuit filed against the Iranian government on Shahini’s behalf indicates that Shahini has returned to the United States.

Xiyue Wang
July 16, 2017 – The semi-official news agency Fars News, citing a video statement from Iranian judicial spokesman Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejheie, reports that a US citizen has been sentenced to 10 years in prison after being convicted of spying. Princeton University identifies the man as Chinese-born Xiyue Wang, an American citizen and graduate student in history. According to a university statement, Wang was arrested in Iran last summer while doing scholarly research in connection with his Ph.D. dissertation.

December 7, 2019 – The White House announces that Wang has been released and is returning to the United States. Iran released Wang in a prisoner swap, in coordination with the United States freeing an Iranian scientist named Massoud Soleimani.

Michael White
January 8, 2019 – Michael White’s mother, Joanne White, tells CNN she reported him missing when he failed to return to work in California in July, after traveling to Iran to visit his girlfriend.

January 9, 2019 – Bahram Ghasemi, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman, says White “was arrested in the city of Mashhad a while ago, and within a few days after his arrest the US government was informed of the arrest through the Swiss Embassy in Tehran.” Ghasemi denies allegations that White, a US Navy veteran, has been mistreated in prison.

March 2019 – White is handed a 13-year prison sentence on charges of insulting Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei and for publicly posting private images, according to his attorney Mark Zaid.

March 19, 2020 – White is released into the custody of the Swiss Embassy on medical furlough. One condition of his release is that he must stay in Iran.

June 4, 2020 – White is released, according to White’s mother and a person familiar with the negotiations.

Baquer and Siamak Namazi
October 2015 – Siamak Namazi, a Dubai-based businessman with dual US and Iranian citizenship, is detained while visiting relatives in Tehran.

February 2016 – Baquer Namazi, a former UNICEF official and father of Siamak Namazi, is detained, his wife Effie Namazi says on Facebook. He is an Iranian-American.

October 2016 – The men are sentenced to 10 years in prison and fined $4.8 million, according to Iran’s official news channel IRINN. Iran officials say five people were convicted and sentenced for “cooperating with Iran’s enemies,” a government euphemism that usually implies cooperating with the United States.

January 28, 2018 – Baquer Namazi is granted a four-day leave by the Iranian government, after being discharged from an Iranian hospital. Namazi’s family say the 81-year-old was rushed to the hospital on January 15 after a severe drop in his blood pressure, an irregular heartbeat and serious depletion of energy. This was the fourth time Namazi had been transferred to a hospital in the last year. In September, he underwent emergency heart surgery to install a pacemaker.

February 2018 – Baquer Namazi is released on temporary medical furlough.

February 2020 – Iran’s Revolutionary Court commutes Baquer Namazi’s sentence to time served and the travel ban on him is lifted.

May 2020 – According to the family, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) places a new travel ban on Baquer Namazi, preventing him from leaving the country.

October 26, 2021 – Baquer Namazi undergoes surgery to clear a “life-threatening blockage in one of the main arteries to his brain, which was discovered late last month,” his lawyer says in a statement.

October 1, 2022 – Baquer Namazi is released from detention and is permitted to leave Iran “to seek medical treatment abroad,” according to a statement from UN Secretary General spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric.

March 9, 2023 – Siamak Namazi makes a plea to President Joe Biden to put the “liberty of innocent Americans above politics” and ramp up efforts to secure his release, in an interview with CNN from inside Iran’s Evin prison.

September 18, 2023 – Siamak Namazi is freed, along with four other Americans as part of a wider deal that includes the United States unfreezing $6 billion in Iranian funds.

North Korea

Kenneth Bae
December 11, 2012 – US officials confirm that American citizen Kenneth Bae has been detained in North Korea for over a month.

April 30, 2013 – North Korea’s Supreme Court sentences Bae to 15 years of hard labor for “hostile acts” against the country.

October 11, 2013 – Bae meets with his mother in North Korea.

January 20, 2014 – A statement is released in which Bae says that he had committed a “serious crime” against North Korea. Any statement made by Bae in captivity is sanctioned by the North Korean government. The country has a long history of forcing false confessions.

February 7, 2014 – The State Department announces that Bae has been moved from a hospital to a labor camp.

November 8, 2014 – The State Department announces that Bae and Matthew Miller have been released and are on their way home.

Jeffrey Fowle
June 6, 2014 – North Korea announces it has detained US citizen Jeffrey Edward Fowle, who entered the country as a tourist in April. Fowle was part of a tour group and was detained in mid-May after leaving a bible in a restaurant.

June 30, 2014 – North Korea says that it plans to prosecute Fowle and another detained American tourist, Matthew Miller, accusing them of “perpetrating hostile acts.”

October 21, 2014 – A senior State Department official tells CNN that Fowle has been released and is on his way home.

Aijalon Gomes
January 25, 2010 – Aijalon Mahli Gomes, of Boston, is detained in North Korea after crossing into the country illegally from China.

April 7, 2010 – He is sentenced to eight years of hard labor and ordered to pay a fine of 70 million North Korean won or approximately $600,000.

July 10, 2010 – Gomes is hospitalized after attempting to commit suicide.

August 25-27, 2010 – Former US President Jimmy Carter arrives in North Korea, with hopes of negotiating for Gomes’ release.

August 27, 2010 – Carter and Gomes leave Pyongyang after Gomes is granted amnesty for humanitarian purposes.

Kim Dong Chul
October 2015 – Kim Dong Chul, a naturalized American citizen, is taken into custody after allegedly meeting a source to obtain a USB stick and camera used to gather military secrets. In January 2016, Kim is given permission to speak with CNN by North Korean officials and asks that the United States or South Korea rescue him.

March 25, 2016 – A North Korean official tells CNN that Kim has confessed to espionage charges.

April 29, 2016 – A North Korean official tells CNN that Kim has been sentenced to 10 years of hard labor for subversion and espionage.

May 9, 2018 – Trump announces that Kim Dong Chul, Kim Hak-song and Kim Sang Duk, also known as Tony Kim, appear to be in good health and are returning to the United States with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

May 10, 2018 – The three freed American detainees arrive at Joint Base Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland.

Kim Hak-song
May 7, 2017 – The state-run Korean Central News Agency reports that US citizen Kim Hak-song was detained in North Korea on May 6 on suspicion of “hostile acts” against the regime. The regime describes Kim as “a man who was doing business in relation to the operation of Pyongyang University of Science and Technology.”

May 9, 2018 – Trump announces that Kim Hak-song, Kim Dong Chul and Kim Sang Duk, also known as Tony Kim, appear to be in good health and are returning to the United States with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

May 10, 2018 – The three freed American detainees arrive at Joint Base Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland.

Kim Sang Duk
April 22, 2017 – US citizen Kim Sang Duk, also known as Tony Kim, is detained by authorities at Pyongyang International Airport for unknown reasons. Kim taught for several weeks at Pyongyang University of Science and Technology.

May 3, 2017 – State-run Korean Central News Agency reports that Kim is accused of attempting to overthrow the government.

May 9, 2018 – Trump announces that Tony Kim, Kim Hak-song and Kim Dong Chul appear to be in good health and are returning to the United States with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

May 10, 2018 – The three freed American detainees arrive at Joint Base Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland.

Euna Lee and Laura Ling
March 2009 – Journalists Euna Lee and Laura Ling are arrested while reporting from the border between North Korea and China for California-based Current Media.

June 4, 2009 – They are sentenced to 12 years in prison on charges of entering the country illegally to conduct a smear campaign.

August 4, 2009 – Former US President Bill Clinton travels to Pyongyang on a private humanitarian mission to help secure their release.

August 5, 2009 – Lee and Ling are pardoned and released.

Matthew Miller
April 25, 2014 – North Korea’s news agency reports that Matthew Todd Miller was taken into custody on April 10. According to KCNA, Miller entered North Korea seeking asylum and tour up his tourist visa.

June 30, 2014 – North Korea says that it plans to prosecute Miller and another detained American tourist, Jeffrey Fowle, accusing them of “perpetrating hostile acts.”

September 14, 2014 – According to state-run media, Miller is convicted of committing “acts hostile” to North Korea and sentenced to six years of hard labor.

November 8, 2014 – The State Department announces Miller and Kenneth Bae have been released and are on their way home.

Merrill Newman
October 26, 2013 – Merrill Newman of Palo Alto, California, is detained in North Korea, according to his family. Just minutes before his plane is to depart, Newman is removed from the flight by North Korean authorities, his family says.

November 22, 2013 – The US State Department says North Korea has confirmed to Swedish diplomats that it is holding an American citizen. The State Department has declined to confirm the identity of the citizen, citing privacy issues, but the family of Newman says the Korean War veteran and retired financial consultant has been detained since October.

November 30, 2013 – KCNA reports Newman issued an apology to the people of North Korea, “After I killed so many civilians and (North Korean) soldiers and destroyed strategic objects in the DPRK during the Korean War, I committed indelible offensive acts against the DPRK government and Korean people.” His statement ends: “If I go back to (the) USA, I will tell the true features of the DPRK and the life the Korean people are leading.”

December 7, 2013 – Newman returns to the United States, arriving at San Francisco International Airport. North Korea’s state news agency reports Newman was released for “humanitarian” reasons.

Eddie Yong Su Jun
April 14, 2011 – The KCNA reports that US citizen Eddie Yong Su Jun was arrested in November 2010 and has been under investigation for committing a crime against North Korea. No details are provided on the alleged crime.

May 27, 2011 – Following a visit from the US delegation which includes the special envoy for North Korean human rights, Robert King, and the Deputy Assistant Administrator of the US Agency for International Development, Jon Brause, to North Korea, Yong Su Jun is released.

Otto Frederick Warmbier
January 2, 2016 – Otto Frederick Warmbier, a University of Virginia college student, is detained in North Korea after being accused of a “hostile act” against the government.

February 29, 2016 – The North Korean government releases a video of Warmbier apologizing for committing, in his own words, “the crime of taking down a political slogan from the staff holding area of the Yanggakdo International Hotel.” It is not known if Warmbier was forced to speak.

March 16, 2016 – Warmbier is sentenced to 15 years of hard labor for crimes against the state, a North Korean official tells CNN.

June 13, 2017 – Warmbier is transported back to the United States via medevac flight to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center. There, doctors say that he has suffered severe brain damage. Doctors say Warmbier shows no current signs of botulism, which North Korean officials claim he contracted after his trial.

June 19, 2017 – Warmbier’s family issues a statement that he has died.

April 26, 2018 – Warmbier’s parents file a wrongful death lawsuit against the North Korean government charging that the country’s regime tortured and killed their son, according to lawyers for the family.

December 24, 2018 – A federal judge in Washington awards Warmbier’s parents more than half a billion dollars in the wrongful death suit against the North Korean government. North Korea did not respond to the lawsuit – the opinion was rendered as a so-called “default judgment” – and the country has no free assets in the US for which the family could make a claim.

Russia

Trevor Reed
2019 – While visiting a longtime girlfriend, Trevor Reed is taken into custody after a night of heavy drinking according to state-run news agency TASS and Reed’s family. Police tell state-run news agency RIA-Novosti that Reed was involved in an altercation with two women and a police unit that arrived at the scene following complaints of a disturbance. Police allege Reed resisted arrest, attacked the driver, hit another policeman, caused the car to swerve by grabbing the wheel and created a hazardous situation on the road, RIA stated.

July 30, 2020 – Reed is sentenced to nine years in prison for endangering “life and health” of Russian police officers.

April 1, 2021 – The parents of Reed reveal that their son served as a Marine presidential guard under the Obama administration – a fact they believe led Russia to target him.

April 27, 2022 – Reed is released in a prisoner swap.

June 14, 2022 – Reed tells CNN that he has filed a petition with the United Nations (UN), declaring that Russia violated international law with his detention and poor treatment.

Brittney Griner
February 17, 2022 – Two-time Olympic basketball gold medalist and WBNA star Brittney Griner is taken into custody following a customs screening at Sheremetyevo Airport. Russian authorities said Griner had cannabis oil in her luggage and accused her of smuggling significant amounts of a narcotic substance, an offense the Russian government says is punishable by up to 10 years in prison.

July 7, 2022 – Griner pleads guilty to drug charges in a Russian court.

August 4, 2022 – Griner is found guilty of drug smuggling with criminal intent and sentenced by a Russian court to 9 years of jail time with a fine of one million rubles (roughly $16,400).

October 25, 2022 – At an appeal hearing, a Russian judge leaves Griner’s verdict in place, upholding her conviction on drug smuggling charges and reducing only slightly her nine-year prison sentence.

November 9, 2022 – Griner’s attorney tells CNN she is being moved to a Russian penal colony where she is due to serve the remainder of her sentence.

December 8, 2022 – US President Biden announces that Griner has been released from Russian detention and is on her way home.

Turkey

Serkan Golge
July 2016 – While on vacation in Turkey, Serkan Golge is arrested and accused of having links to the Gulenist movement. Golge is a 37-year-old NASA physicist who holds dual Turkish-US citizenship.

February 8, 2018 – Golge is sentenced to 7.5 years in prison.

September 2018 – A Turkish court reduces Golge’s prison sentence to five years.

May 29, 2019 – The State Department announces that Golge has been released.

Andrew Brunson
October 2016 – Andrew Brunson, a North Carolina native, is arrested in Izmir on Turkey’s Aegean coast, where he is pastor at the Izmir Resurrection Church. Brunson, an evangelical Presbyterian pastor, is later charged with plotting to overthrow the Turkish government, disrupting the constitutional order and espionage.

March 2018 – A formal indictment charges Brunson with espionage and having links to terrorist organizations.

October 12, 2018 – Brunson is sentenced to three years and one month in prison but is released based on time served.

Venezuela

Timothy Hallett Tracy
April 24, 2013 – Timothy Hallett Tracy, of Los Angeles, is arrested at the Caracas airport, according to Reporters Without Borders. Tracy traveled to Venezuela to make a documentary about the political division gripping the country.

April 25, 2013 – In a televised address, newly elected President Nicolas Maduro says he ordered the arrest of Tracy for “financing violent groups.”

April 27, 2013 – Tracy is formally charged with conspiracy, association for criminal purposes and use of a false document.

June 5, 2013 – Tracy is released from prison and expelled from Venezuela.

Joshua Holt
May 26, 2018 – Joshua Holt and his Venezuelan wife, Thamara Holt, are released by Venezuela. The two had been imprisoned there since 2016. The American traveled to Venezuela to marry Thamara in 2016, and shortly afterward was accused by the Venezuelan government of stockpiling weapons and attempting to destabilize the government. He was held for almost two years with no trial.

“Citgo 6”

November 2017 – After arriving in Caracas, Venezuela, for an impromptu business meeting, Tomeu Vadell and five other Citgo executives – Gustavo Cardenas, Jorge Toledo, Alirio Zambrano, Jose Luis Zambrano and Jose Angel Pereira – are arrested and detained on embezzlement and corruption charges. Citgo is the US subsidiary of the Venezuelan oil and natural gas company PDVSA. Five of the six men are US citizens; one is a US legal permanent resident.

December 2019 – The “Citgo 6” are transferred from the detention facility, where they have been held without trial for more than two years, to house arrest.

February 5, 2020 – They are moved from house arrest into prison, hours after Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido met with US President Donald Trump

July 30, 2020 – Two of the men – Cárdenas and Toledo – are released on house arrest after a humanitarian visit to Caracas by former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson and a team of non-government negotiators.

November 27, 2020 – The six oil executives are found guilty and are given sentences between 8 to 13 years in prison.

April 30, 2021 – The men are released from prison to house arrest.

October 16, 2021 – The “Citgo 6,” all under house arrest, are picked up by the country’s intelligence service SEBIN, just hours after the extradition of Alex Saab, a Colombian financier close to Maduro.

March 8, 2022 – Cardenas is one of two detainees released from prison. The other, Jorge Alberto Fernandez, a Cuban-US dual citizen detained in Venezuela since February 2021, was accused of terrorism for carrying a small domestic drone. The releases take place after a quiet trip to Caracas by a US government delegation.

October 1, 2022 – US President Biden announces the release and return of Toledo, Vadell, Alirio Zambrano, Jose Luis Zambrano, and Pereira.

Matthew Heath

September 2020 – Is arrested and charged with terrorism in Venezuela.

June 20, 2022 – Family of Heath state that he has attempted suicide. “We are aware of reports that a US citizen was hospitalized in Venezuela,” a State Department spokesperson says. “Due to privacy considerations, we have no further comment.”

October 1, 2022 – US President Biden announces the release and return of Heath.

Airan Berry and Luke Denman

May 4, 2020 – Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro says two American “mercenaries” have been apprehended after a failed coup attempt to capture and remove him. Madura identifies the captured Americans as Luke Denman, 34, and Airan Berry, 41. On state television, Maduro brandishes what he claims are the US passports and driver’s licenses of the two men, along with what he says are their ID cards for Silvercorp, a Florida-based security services company.

May 5, 2020 – Denman appears on Venezuelan state TV. He is shown looking directly at the camera recounting his role in “helping Venezuelans take back control of their country.”

August 7, 2020 – Prosecutors announce that Berry and Denman have been sentenced to 20 years in prison.

December 20, 2023 – It is announced that the US has reached an agreement to secure the release of 10 Americans, including Berry and Denman, held in Venezuela.

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March 7, 2024
Police/Fire

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In news taken from the logs of Cape Ann’s police and fire departments:

GLOUCESTER

Friday, Feb. 23

9:11 p.m.: A Poplar Street resident reported a male called her with specific personal information, demanded money be sent via Cash App and threatened to show up and ambush the house. The caller believed it may be a friend playing a prank but was unsure. The caller was advised to lock her doors and call 911 if anyone shows up and to call back with any further information.

8:57 p.m.: Police planned to file a complaint against a 23-year-old Gloucester resident with two counts of assault and battery and threatening to commit a crime and breaking and entering with intent to commit a felony. This after dispatch reported an assault involving a man making threats of having a knife running away. Police spoke to a resident who said a man broke into the apartment. Another man said the person came in through the screen door and began to punch him. The attacker reportedly hit a woman sitting next to him on the couch. The person who was attacked said the man stated he was going to stab him. The victim was able to use his foot to create distance before the man fled. Those in the apartment said they did not need medical attention. The attacker was said to be wearing a red hooded sweatshirt, a blue mask, black pants and black shoes. Police searched for the man, who was known to those who were attacked, but were unable to find him.

4:18 p.m.: A Prospect Street resident told police he had returned to his apartment after 10 days away and saw blankets on his bed that did not belong to him, a package of Gambler cigarette filter tubes and bag labeled “APP Sampler” containing miscellaneous electronics that can be checked out of the library, the report said. The resident said his doors were locked when he left and when he returned. He said a Dell Laptop, a 10-inch Samsung tablet and a can of powdered Gatorade were stolen. Neighbors described two men who were seen in the building who might have broken into the apartment. Police planned to view surveillance footage to see if someone had entered the apartment during the resident’s absence. Police were not able to speak with the two men because they were believed to be homeless. A copy of the report was forwarded to detectives for follow up.

3:02 p.m.: A disturbance was reported on Burhan Street.

1:42 p.m.: Debris in the roadway was reported on Staten and Perkins streets.

11:11 a.m.: Police took a report of a larceny at Sheedy Park on Pleasant Street.

10:46 a.m.: Peace was restored after a report of stolen property on Pearl Street. A resident of the housing complex said that on Feb. 22 she was supposed to have a package with a knife set costing $89.99 and a blanket costing $49 delivered via FedEx, which told her the package had been delivered to the foyer. Police told her to contact the company from which she ordered the goods and submit a claim through FedEx.

10:05 a.m.: Officers responded to a report of an assault at the Subway restaurant on Railroad Avenue.

8 a.m.: Police responded to a parking complaint at City Hall on Dale Avenue.

3:32 a.m.: Police could not locate suspicious activity reported on Pleasant Street.

ROCKPORT

Friday, March 1

3:48 a.m.: Mini beat conducted on Main Street.

Building and area checks conducted throughout town throughout the morning.

Thursday, Feb. 29

Traffic stops were made on Mount Pleasant Street at 6:18 a.m., Granite Street at 9:58 a.m.. and Thatcher Road at 6:48 and 11:09 a.m. and 7:48 p.m.. Officers issued three written warnings and two verbal warnings.

5:52 p.m.: A person on Alpine Court was spoken to about a report received by police.

Medical emergencies: Individuals were taken to a hospital by ambulance from Jerden’s Lane at 11:41 a.m., Parker Street at 12:57 p.m., and Pigeon Hill Street at 5:33 p.m.

Assistance was given to other agencies by police on Main Street at 3:12 and 4:25 p.m.

Wellness checks: Calls were made by police to residents all over town at 9:47 a.m. and an officer visited Granite Street at 2:04 p.m.

Mini beats: Officers walked Main Street at 3:11 and 3:49 a.m.; Broadway at 7:02 a.m.; South Street and Jerden’s Lane at 7:11 a.m.; Curtis Street at 9:50 a.m.; Jerden’s Lane at 7:11, 8:51 and 11:14 a.m.; and Railroad Avenue and Main Street at 11:30 a.m.

Public Works notified of bad road conditions all over town at 12:08 and 2:36 a.m.

Wednesday, Feb.28

Mini beats were conducted on Main Street at 6:33 a.m., Jerden’s Lane at 7:10 and 8:41 a.m., Broadway at 6:21 p.m., Main Street and Railroad Avenue at 6:58 and 9:10 p.m., and Railroad Avenue at 11:10 p.m.

Traffic stops were conducted on School Street at 6:25 a.m., Thatcher Road at 6:56 a.m., T Wharf at 6:01 p.m., Broadway at 7:11 p.m., and Thatcher Road at South Street at 9:33 p.m. Officers issued verbal warnings to the five drivers.

7:03 p.m.: A person was taken to a hospital by ambulance from King Street.

Assistance was given to individuals on Greystone Lane at 8:10 a.m. and Main Street at 3:09 p.m.

1:51 p.m.: A party on Sandy Bay Terrace was spoken to about noise after a complaint was lodged.

10:24 a.m.: Police wellness check calls were to made to residents all over town.

9:34 a.m.: A driver was given a verbal warning for operating a vehicle erratically on Main Street.

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March 3, 2024
Police/Fire

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In news taken from the logs of Cape Ann’s police and fire departments:

ROCKPORT

Tuesday, Feb. 27

11:32 p.m.: A medical emergency ambulance transport was refused at a Marmion Way address.

Citizens were assisted on Story Street at 12:43 p.m. and at the intersection of Granite Street and Breakwater Avenue at 9:52 p.m.

5:48 p.m.: Lost and found property was reported at a Main Street address.

Traffic stops were conducted on Thatcher Road at 7:11 a.m., Broadway at 9:50 a.m., Mt. Pleasant Street at 6:41 and 10:43 a.m., Cleaves Street at 11:15 a.m., Granite Street at 1:17 p.m. and Dock Square at 1:45 p.m. Officers issued four verbal warnings, two written warnings and a civil infraction.

12:03 a.m.: After a medical alarm was reported, services were rendered at a Millbrook Park address.

Monday, Feb. 26

Medical emergencies: Individuals were taken by ambulance to a hospital from Main Street at 6:27 p.m. and Lattof Farm Circle at 9:05 p.m.

4:50 p.m.: A report was made about alleged larceny/forgery/fraud at a Smith Road address.

Traffic stops were conducted on Broadway at 6:25 a.m., Mt. Pleasant St. at 2:05 p.m., and Thatcher Road at 2:27 p.m. Officers issued a verbal warning and two written warnings, respectively.

10:08 a.m.: A police wellness check was conducted at a Main Street address.

10:01 a.m.: An individual was assisted on Phillips Avenue.

9:27 a.m.: The Fire Department was dispatched to a Granite Street address for a chimney fire. The fire was extinguished within minutes after firefighters arrived on the scene.

6:52 a.m.: After a motor vehicle stop on Broadway, a verbal warning was issued.

Sunday, Feb. 25

5:45 p.m.: A report was made about lost and found property at a Granite Street address.

2:10 p.m.: After a report of an odor at a Thatcher Road address, the Fire Department was dispatched.

8:43 a.m.: A fire alarm was reported at a Marmion Way address. It later was determined to be a false alarm.

7:12 a.m.: After an alarm was reported, the Fire Department provided assistance at a Main Street address.

ESSEX

Tuesday, Feb. 27

Animal complaints were lodged on Apple Street at 11:26 a.m. and Haskell Court at 4:52 p.m.

Monday, Feb. 26

11:58 p.m.: A noise complaint was made at a Grove Street address.

11:33 p.m.: A welfare check was conducted at Belcher Street address.

8:04 p.m.: A utility request was made at an Essex Reach Road address.

Citizens were assisted on John Wise Avenue at 11:38 a.m. and 3:41, 4:35 and 4:46 p.m.

2:49 p.m.: Police conducted a community policing call at a Story Street address.

12:38 p.m.: A police investigation was conducted at a John Wise Avenue address.

12:17 p.m.: A traffic hazard was reported on John Wise Avenue.

Sunday, Feb. 25

9:46 p.m.: A medical ambulance transport was conducted at a Lebaron Road address.

4:20 p.m.: A person was reported missing from a Lufkin Street address.

3:20 p.m.: A report of a fire at a Southern Avenue address later proved to be a false alarm.

2:44 p.m.: Erratic operation of a motor vehicle on John Wise Avenue was reported.

12:47 p.m.: Suspicious activity was reported on John Wise Avenue.

MANCHESTER

Tuesday, Feb. 27

11:13 p.m.: A welfare check was conducted at an Old Essex Road address.

6:51 p.m.: The Fire Department was dispatched to a Proctor Street address.

2:50 p.m.: A disabled motor vehicle was reported at the intersection of Route 128 and School Street.

1:51 p.m.: A traffic hazard was reported near the intersection of Route 128 and School Street.

Monday, Feb. 26

9:38 p.m.: Suspicious activity was reported on Filias Circle.

Complaints were lodged about animals on Alpine Road at 2:23 p.m., Raymond Street at 5:03 p.m., Beach Street at 6:13 p.m. and at White Beach at 6:25 p.m.

Lost and found property reported on Central Street at 5:24 and 5:45 p.m.

Verbal warnings were given to drivers during traffic stops at the intersection of School and Vine Streets at 11:21 a.m., at the intersection of Lincoln and Vine Streets at 11:35 a.m., on Summer Street at 12:32 p.m. and on Beach Street at 5:13 p.m.

12:44 a.m.: A welfare check was made at a Summer Street address.

Sunday, Feb. 25

8:16 p.m.: Officers participated in a community policing event.

12:44 p.m.: Police provided assistant to a citizen on Summer Street.

Friday, Feb. 23

3:10 p.m.: A complaint was made about an animal on Beach Street.

10:26 a.m.: Police assisted a citizen on Central Street.

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February 29, 2024
Iraq Prison Abuse Scandal Fast Facts | CNN

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CNN
—

Here’s some background information about the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal which took place during the Iraq war.

Abu Ghraib prison was a US Army detention center for captured Iraqis from 2003 to 2006. An investigation into the treatment of detainees at the prison was prompted by the discovery of graphic photos depicting guards abusing detainees in 2003.

The facility was located 20 miles west of Baghdad on 280 acres.

At the height of the scandal, the prison held as many as 3,800 detainees.

Most of the detainees lived in tents in the prison yards.

The abuses took place inside the prison in cell blocks 1A and 1B.

Eleven US soldiers were convicted of crimes relating to the Abu Ghraib scandal. Seven of those were from Maryland-based 372nd Military Police Company. A number of other service members were not charged but reprimanded.

November 2003 – A detainee dies during an interrogation at Abu Ghraib.

January 2004 – Spc. Joseph M. Darby discovers photos on a CD-ROM of Iraqi prisoners being abused. He reports the abuse to superiors, prompting an investigation.

April 4, 2004 – Maj. Gen. Antonio Taguba releases his report to Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez about misconduct in the 800th Military Police Brigade.

April 28, 2004 – “60 Minutes II” broadcasts graphic photos of Iraqi detainees being humiliated and tortured.

April 30, 2004 – The New Yorker publishes an article by Seymour Hersh reporting details in the Taguba report on the abuses at Abu Ghraib.

April 30, 2004 – Taguba’s report detailing his investigation of the 800th Military Police Brigade is released.

Taguba’s report states that the following abuses happened in this incident:
– Punching, slapping and kicking detainees; jumping on their naked feet.
– Videotaping and photographing naked male and female detainees.
– Forcibly arranging detainees in various sexually explicit positions for photographing.
– Forcing detainees to remove their clothing and keeping them naked for several days at a time.
– Forcing naked male detainees to wear women’s underwear.
– Forcing groups of male detainees to masturbate themselves while being photographed and videotaped.
– Arranging naked male detainees in a pile and then jumping on them.
– Positioning a naked detainee on a box, with a sandbag on his head, and attaching wires to his fingers, toes, and penis to simulate electric torture.
– Writing “I am a Rapest (sic)” on the leg of a detainee accused of rape, and then photographing him naked.
– Placing a dog chain or strap around a naked detainee’s neck and having a female soldier pose for a picture.
– A male MP guard having sex with a female detainee.
– Using military working dogs (without muzzles) to intimidate and frighten detainees, and in at least one case biting and severely injuring a detainee.
– Taking photographs of dead Iraqi detainees.

May 4, 2004 – Gen. George W. Casey Jr. announces that in the past 16 months, the US Army has conducted more than 30 criminal investigations into misconduct by US captors during both Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom.

May 5, 2004 – US President George W. Bush records interviews with Al Arabiya and US-sponsored Al-Hurra networks expressing his disgust with the mistreatment of Iraqi detainees.

May 6, 2004 – During a joint news conference with King Abdullah II of Jordan, Bush expresses remorse “for the humiliation suffered” by Iraqi prisoners at the hands of US troops.

May 6, 2004 – The Justice Department announces that it is looking into three suspicious deaths of detainees, two in Iraq and one in Afghanistan, and the involvement of the CIA and contractors in the deaths.

May 7, 2004 – US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld testifies before the Senate and House Armed Services Committees. “These events occurred on my watch…as Secretary of Defense, I am accountable for them and I take full responsibility…there are other photos – many other photos – that depict incidents of physical violence towards prisoners, acts that can only be described as blatantly sadistic, cruel and inhuman.”

May 10, 2004 – Bush views some of the photos at the Pentagon and announces his firm support for Rumsfeld.

May 12, 2004 – Rumsfeld testifies before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee.

August 24, 2004 – An independent commission headed by former US Secretary of Defense James Schleslinger reports that what took place at the prison was due largely to “sadism” on the part of officers working the night shift, but that responsibility for the mistreatment of prisoners went higher up the chain of command, back to Washington, DC.

August 25, 2004 – The Fay-Jones report on the Abu Ghraib scandal finds 44 instances of abuse, some of which amounted to torture.

February 15, 2006 – A new set of graphic photographs and video from Abu Ghraib are aired on the Australian television network SBS’s program “Dateline.” The photos are reportedly from the same period in 2003 that the previous photos were shot, not new incidents.

June 1, 2006 – Sgt. Santos Cardona, an Army dog handler, is found guilty of two of five counts against him, including aggravated assault and unlawfully using his dog to threaten detainees. He is sentenced to 90 days hard labor and a reduction of rank. He must also forfeit $600 of pay per month for a year.

September 1, 2006 – Control of Abu Ghraib is handed over to the Iraqis after all of the detainees are transferred elsewhere.

February 2008 – A documentary about the Abu Ghraib scandal by Oscar-winning director Errol Morris, “Standard Operating Procedure,” debuts at the Berlin Film Festival.

June 30, 2008 – Former detainees of Abu Ghraib prison file a lawsuit against CACI Premier Technology, a military contractor who supplied the army with interrogators.

February 21, 2009 – Abu Ghraib reopens after major renovations which include a new gym, barber shop, sewing room, outdoor recreational areas, a library, and computer room. Its name is changed to Baghdad Central Prison.

September 2009 – Saleh et al v. Titan Corporation et al, a federal class action lawsuit alleging abuse at Abu Ghraib by civilian contractors from CACI International is dismissed by a federal appeals court.

2012 – Defense contractor Engility Holdings Inc. agrees to pay 71 former detainees at Abu Ghraib and other sites $5.28 million to settle a lawsuit filed in 2008.

April 2014 – Iraq closes the prison due to security concerns.

March 20, 2015 – US District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein orders the Defense Department to release photos that show detainees being abused in detention centers in Iraq and Afghanistan.

January 18, 2017 – Hellerstein rules that the government must release an estimated 2,000 additional photos of prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib and other military facilities in Iraq and Afghanistan.

August 23, 2019 – The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals allows a 2008 lawsuit filed by former detainees against CACI Premier Technology to move forward. The court denied CACI’s request to immediately appeal a lower court’s ruling that the company can be sued and is not immune from civil suit as a government contractor.

June 28, 2021 – The US Supreme Court denies CACI Premier Technology’s petition, clearing the way for the 2008 lawsuit to proceed.

Spc. Megan Ambuhl
372nd Military Police Company
October 30, 2004 – As part of a plea deal, Ambuhl pleads guilty to one charge of dereliction of duty. She is discharged from the Army without prison time.

Sgt. Javal S. Davis
372nd Military Police Company
February 1, 2005 – Pleads guilty as part of a plea agreement.
February 5, 2005 – Is sentenced to six months in a military prison.
Late May 2005 – Is released after serving approximately three months.

Pfc. Lynndie England
372nd Military Police Company
May 2, 2005 – England pleads guilty to reduced charges as part of a pretrial agreement.
May 4, 2005 – A mistrial is declared after she pleads guilty but then states that she did not know her actions were wrong.
September 21, 2005 – England’s second court-martial trial begins at Fort Hood, Texas.
September 26, 2005 – England is found guilty of four counts of maltreating detainees, one count of conspiracy and one count of committing an indecent act.
September 27, 2005 – Is sentenced to three years in prison and given a dishonorable discharge.
March 2007 – Is released from military prison after serving half of her 36-month sentence.
2009 – Her biography, “Tortured: Lynndie England, Abu Ghraib and the Photographs that Shocked the World,” is published.

Staff Sgt. Ivan “Chip” Frederick II
372nd Military Police Company
October 20, 2004 – Pleads guilty to conspiracy, dereliction of duty, maltreatment of detainees, assault, and committing an indecent act under a plea agreement.
October 21, 2004 – Is sentenced to eight years in prison and also sentenced to a forfeiture of pay, a dishonorable discharge and a reduction in rank to private.
October 1, 2007 – Is paroled after serving approximately three years in a military prison.

Spc. Charles Graner
372nd Military Police Company
January 14, 2005 – Graner is found guilty of nine of 10 counts under five separate charges.
January 15, 2005 – Graner is sentenced to 10 years in prison, downgraded to the rank of private with loss of pay, and receives a dishonorable discharge.
August 6, 2011 – Graner is released from prison.

Spc. Sabrina Harman
372nd Military Police Company
May 16, 2005 – Is found guilty on six of the seven charges for her role in the Abu Ghraib prison abuse scandal.
May 17, 2005 – Sentenced to six months in prison. Harman is demoted to private, and receives a bad conduct discharge after she finishes the sentence.

Lt. Col. Steven L. Jordan
Director, Joint Interrogation and Debriefing Center during the fall of 2003. Jordan is the only officer charged with prisoner abuse.
April 28, 2006 – Charged with eight counts, including disobeying an order, dereliction of duty, cruelty, false statements, fraud and interfering with an investigation.
August 28, 2007 – Acquitted of charges that he failed to control soldiers who abused detainees, but is found guilty of disobeying a general’s command not to talk about allegations of abuse at the prison. On August 29, he is sentenced with a reprimand.
January 10, 2008 – Cleared of all wrongdoing, and the conviction and reprimand are removed from his record.

Brig. Gen. Janis Karpinski
Commander of the Army Reserve’s 800th Military Police Brigade, in charge of all 12 Iraqi detention facilities, including Abu Ghraib.
May 5, 2005 – She is demoted from brigadier general to colonel by President Bush after an extensive investigation and is cited for two of four allegations against her, dereliction of duty and shoplifting. The probe clears her of “making a material misrepresentation to an investigating team” and “failure to obey a lawful order.”

Col. Thomas Pappas
Commander of the 205th Military Intelligence Brigade.
May 2006 – Reprimanded, fined, and relieved of command after using muzzled dogs inside interrogation rooms.

Lt. Col. Jerry L. Phillabaum
Commander, 320th MP Battalion.
April 2004 – He is reprimanded and relieved of command of the 320th Military Police Battalion for his role in the scandal.

Spc. Jeremy Sivits
372nd Military Police Company
May 19, 2004 – Sivits pleads guilty as part of a pretrial agreement with prosecutors that leaves him open to testify against other soldiers charged in the scandal. He is sentenced to a year of confinement, discharge for bad conduct, and is demoted.

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February 28, 2024
Driver pleads guilty after crash kills Andover woman

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ANDOVER — A Milford woman pleaded guilty Monday to negligent operation of a motor vehicle following an accident that killed a 78-year-old woman in 2022.

Margaret Silvestri, 23, will serve 2½ years of probation, perform 100 hours of community service and lose her driver’s license for 2½ years, according to court documents.

Francyne Fuller of Andover was struck at the intersection of Elm and Whittier streets on April, 27, 2022, about 4:20 p.m. She was rushed to Lawrence General Hospital with critical injuries and later pronounced dead.

In Lawrence District Court on Monday, Erin Fuller King – Fuller’s daughter – described the important roles her mom played in her community and in her family. She said while the outcome did not bring “justice,” her mother would not have wanted Silvestri to go to jail.

“And this is why we are standing here today, without a trial, without a jury, with nothing but a paltry slap on the wrist,” King said in a victim impact statement.

“Not because I think this is what is fair or just, but because I think this is what my mother would have wanted,” the daughter said.

Silvestri stopped after the accident and cooperated with law enforcement, according to police. She was 21 at the time.

Silvestri was also found responsible for two civil violations, an equipment violation and an unsafe operation offense.

The complaint against Silvestri was filed in December 2022. She originally faced a charge of motor vehicle homicide by negligent operator, according to court documents.

In her statement, King described a traumatic series of events as friends and family members searched for Fuller after the accident, including her home, only to eventually learn of her death.

“It was dark. Her new Toyota was still parked in her garage,” King said. “Her salad was on the counter, ready for dinner when she arrived home from her evening walk. No sign of my mother. My heart was exploding out of my chest as doubt and terror began to consume every cell of my body.”

Silvestri will also be required to take a Brains at Risk class.

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By Teddy Tauscher | ttauscher@eagletribune.com

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February 27, 2024
Haverhill High students learn from live, virtual concentration camp tours

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HAVERHILL — Students at Haverhill High School are the first in the nation to engage in live, narrated tours of two Nazi concentration camps – Auschwitz and Auschwitz-Birkenau, where unimaginable atrocities took place during World War II.

Anyone can watch documentaries and read books about the horrors perpetrated by the Nazis in their quest to eradicate the Jewish people of Europe, but short of visiting Auschwitz in person, local teachers say these live tours are the next best thing while also allowing students to ask questions of a knowledgeable tour guide.

Through a partnership with the Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation for Genocide Education, the school is introducing these broadcasts as part of the freshman world history curriculum that calls for the study of genocide, not only the one that killed 6 million Jews in Europe during World War II but also genocides in Armenia, Rwanda and Cambodia.

On Monday in the UMass Lowell iHub in the Harbor Place building on Merrimack Street, more than a dozen high school seniors were among the first to participate in a live broadcast from Auschwitz where more than 1.1 million men, women and children lost their lives.

Their tour guide, a woman from Poland, interspersed her walking tour of the Auschwitz camp with real images of prisoners waiting to be executed in one inhumane way or another.

A camera followed the guide through cramped former military barracks once packed with prisoners who were forced to sleep on hard floors before eventually being led to underground chambers where they were exterminated with poisonous gas. Images of prisoners crammed into tight quarters were overlaid onto the now-empty death buildings.

Meghan DeLong, the district’s history coach, told a crowd that included various school and city officials that Haverhill is the first school district in the country to bring this experiential learning to students “in order to combat hatred in the world and to prevent future genocides.”

During an intermission, several students talked about their impressions of the broadcast. Some of them had enrolled in a course titled “Holocaust and Crimes Against Humanity”.

“It’s like you’re actually there visiting Auschwitz,” said senior Lucas Harvey. “What surprised me is how many people they put into such small spaces.”

Senior Asil Nguyen said the live, narrated tour featured more intense images than she expected.

“My knowledge of the death camps was not as detailed as this,” she said. “I participated in an earlier tour with a different guide and I was crying.”

Senior Shea Kelley said what he saw on the video screen was a lot to deal with emotionally.

“It’s all crammed together in small spaces with unsanitary conditions, it’s terrible to see,” he said.

The guide continued her tour at Auschwitz II-Birkenau, about two miles from Auschwitz, and talked about how train cars overloaded with prisoners arrived before the people were led into underground gas chambers under the guise of taking showers.

“Here, I learned how to starve and how to suffer,” a survivor of the death camp said in a recorded interview shown on two large video screens.

“Trains from across Europe arrived here,” the tour guide said while walking the same path. “The gas chambers operated day and night in the summer of 1944.”

“By the time Germany entered Hungary in March of 1944, the gas chambers and crematoria were operating at full capacity,” a prerecorded voice said. “In the spring of 1944, a special ramp was built to shorten the distance to the gas chambers. Those selected who were fit to work were abused, enslaved and exploited.”

By fall 1944, the Nazi SS stopped the exterminations and began to deconstruct their crematorium, the tour guide said, and when the Nazis realized they were defeated, they tried to destroy all evidence of their crimes while continuing to kill Jews until the camps were liberated by Soviet forces in January 1945.

The tour guide noted that as the Nazis left Auschwitz, they took many prisoners to other camps, which were subsequently liberated, but left behind about 7,500 of the weakest and sickest, who required months of medical care.

The screen was overlaid with images of what the gas chambers looked like when they were intact, with images of the rubble that remains today.

Tom Jordan, recently retired dean of history at Haverhill High, told the tour guide that there is an increasing number of Americans who seem open to the idea that the Holocaust did not happen as is stated and is “an exaggeration.”

He asked what documentation or other evidence is used to prove that the Holocaust did occur.

The tour guide noted the existence of the death camps’ remnants, including the crematoriums, along with the testimony of survivors, the contents of a museum at Auschwitz created by former prisoners, and other evidence.

“Unfortunately, we have the lies that people spread and it can spread stronger than the truth,” she said.

History teacher Ted Kempinksi said he became aware of these tours during a visit last summer to Auschwitz where he attended a professional development program on how technology is changing Holocaust education.

“The Auschwitz Foundation was doing a presentation on this very tour we saw today,” he said. “I asked the question, ‘How can I bring this to Haverhill.’”

Kempinksi said he brought the idea back to Haverhill and learned that DeLong had already applied for a grant that allowed the school to revise its curriculum to incorporate these tours.

“A tour like this is a real privilege,” high school senior David Martinez told the crowd. “To see it live humanizes the stories in a way I don’t think you can really understand through textbooks or documentaries. You feel a real connection and it’s very moving.”

Rabbi Ashira Stevens, spiritual leader of Temple Emanu-El in Haverhill, said that in the 20th century, baseless hatred led to the systematic persecution and mass murders of millions of people, including 6 million Jews throughout Europe, and that baseless hatred in the form of antisemitism and bigotry is on the rise throughout the country.

She added that the hate speech in the news and on social media is “frightfully reminiscent of the time leading up to the Holocaust.”

“We must continue to teach about what led to the Holocaust and how utterly horrific, devastating and far reaching it was,” Stevens said.

The rabbi said the collaboration between the Auschwitz Foundation and Haverhill Public Schools will offer students a powerful opportunity to witness the horrors of the Holocaust, see firsthand the conditions at Auschwitz-Birkenau, and learn about the ideologies that led to the atrocities committed by the Nazis.

To conclude the event, the educators presented a glass memento to Wojciech Soczewica, director general of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation in recognition of the partnership with Haverhill Public Schools.

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By Mike LaBella | mlabella@ieagletribune.com

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February 27, 2024
Surge in police warnings drives increase in traffic violations

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Massachusetts drivers racked up nearly 40% more traffic violations last year than they did in 2020, driven in large part by a substantial increase in warnings issued by law enforcement, new data show.

Altogether, motorists across the state received nearly 1.08 million violations in 2023, up from just fewer than 776,000 in 2020, according to figures presented Tuesday by the state board in charge of maintaining driving violation records.

Merit Rating Board Director Sonja Singleton told fellow members of the group, which is part of the state Registry of Motor Vehicles, that more than six in 10 of the violations counted last year were, in fact, warnings. About one-quarter were civil violations, and the remainder were criminal violations.

In addition to making up a majority of the violations counted, warnings also grew at a much faster rate than civil or criminal offenses, the data show.

The MRB counted about 429,000 warnings in 2020 and 683,000 in 2023 â a nearly 60% increase. Civil violations increased about 14% over the same span, while criminal violations grew about 12 percent in that period.

But state officials did not offer much explanation or insight into why warnings have grown so much more than other kinds of violations. Asked to detail any possible reasons behind the trends, a Department of Transportation official deferred comment to law enforcement.

One potential factor behind the overall growth in violations is traffic. Far more drivers were on the road in 2023 than in 2020, when many businesses, schools and other facets of public life were closed for extended periods due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Higher volumes could translate into more violations.

Another contributor to the increase â but not the cause of all of it â is a change in state law.

The state in 2020 began implementing a new distracted driving ban that permits motorists to make only a single tap or swipe on a device to activate its hands-free mode while behind the wheel.

That year, which was affected by the pandemic, police issued more than 29,600 citations for violations of the new distracted driving law, according to data Singleton presented Tuesday. The number of citations continued to increase in each subsequent year to more than 44,000 in 2021, 51,000 in 2022 and nearly 54,000 in 2023.

âTheyâre really trying to do a lot of awareness around distracted driving, but we still continually see those numbers increase,â Singleton said during the board meeting.

As is the case with all violations more broadly, the majority of distracted driving citations are recorded as warnings. About 40,000, or roughly 75%, of the distracted driving citations in 2023 consisted of warnings.

While enforcement continues to ramp up, distracted driving did not crack the top three most commonly issued violations in 2023, according to Singletonâs presentation. That list was topped by speeding, with about 275,000 total violations; inspection sticker issues, with about 105,000 violations; and failure to stop or yield, with nearly 98,000 violations.

A single citation can cover multiple violations.

The state in recent years has also more fully embraced electronic citations over paper-only versions.

In 2020, paper citations outnumbered their electronic counterparts 323,328 to 265,501, but the trend flipped in 2021 and the gap has continued to widen.

Last year, more than three-quarters of the 808,000 total citations issued were electronic rather than paper. Singleton said the Massachusetts State Police are now fully operating with e-citations, as are 290 out of 351 municipal police departments.

âWe are still getting a lot of paper [citations], but you can see that the decrease â itâs exactly what we want to see,â Singleton said.

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By Chris Lisinski | State House News Service

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February 24, 2024
Ratko Mladic Fast Facts | CNN

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CNN
—

Here is a look at the life of Ratko Mladic, former leader of the Bosnian Serb army, sentenced to life in prison for genocide and other war crimes.

Birth date: March 12, 1942

Birth place: Kalnovik, Yugoslavia (now Bosnia and Herzegovina)

Birth name: Ratko Mladic

Father: Nedja Mladic

Mother: Stana Mladic

Marriage: Bosiljka Mladic

Children: Darko and Ana

1965 – Graduates from a military academy and joins the Communist Party.

1992 – As a commander in the Bosnian Serb army, Mladic leads the siege of Sarajevo.

July 1995 – Mladic spearheads an attack on the town of Srebrenica. Approximately 8,000 Muslim men and boys are killed.

1995 – Mladic is indicted by the UN-established International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) for war crimes and atrocities.

July 1996 – An international warrant is issued for his arrest.

1996-2001 – He takes refuge in Belgrade with the protection of Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic.

2001 – Mladic goes into hiding after Milosevic is arrested.

October 12, 2007 – Serbian officials offer one million euros for information leading to the capture of Mladic.

May 26, 2011 – Mladic is arrested in Serbia.

July 4, 2011 – Mladic refuses to enter a plea so the presiding judge enters not guilty pleas to all counts against him.

May 16, 2012 – Mladic’s trial begins. He’s charged with two counts of genocide, nine crimes against humanity and war crimes.

January 28, 2014 – He refuses to testify at the genocide trial of former Bosian Serb Leader Radovan Karadzic and denounces the ICTY court as “satanic.”

October 23, 2014 – The ICTY announces that the court will hear details about a mass grave investigators believe has ties to Mladic.

December 7, 2016 – During closing arguments, prosecutors recommend a life sentence for Mladic.

December 15, 2016 – Mladic’s trial is adjourned. Three UN judges begin deliberating on his fate. The process could take up to a year.

November 22, 2017 – Mladic is sentenced to life in prison after being found guilty of genocide and crimes against humanity.

March 22, 2018 – Appeals his conviction and sentence.

August 25-26, 2020 – Mladic’s appeal hearing takes place.

June 8, 2021 – A UN court upholds Mladic’s conviction and life sentence.

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February 23, 2024
Bill to legalize marijuana passes in NH House

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CONCORD â Legalized marijuana in New Hampshire is one step closer to becoming a reality.

The House of Representatives heard a bill on Thursday sponsored by Rep. Erica Layon, a Republican from Derry, on the avenues for legalizing recreational marijuana, as well as regulating and taxing the substance.

âEvery single person in a seat here can find a reason to vote against the amendment and to vote against the bill,â Layon said. âBut the question is, do we have a net benefit to the state by passing this? and I truly do.â

The bill passed 239 to 141 and will move onto the House Finance Committee from here, working its way to the Senate.

While in favor of the bill, Rep. Jonah Wheeler, a Democrat from Hillsborough, said this bill was unfair largely in part because it does not allow provisions for people to grow their own marijuana plants. He said of one of the major amendments to the bill that it restricts the true ability for people to access cannabis.

â[The amendment] takes the bill which would legalize recreational use and private sale of cannabis and makes it an agency store model, restricting recreational use and private sale,â Wheeler said. âThat is not the free market, nor is it a good way to legalize.â

The bill restricts the sale of marijuana to 15 stores and retailers approved by the state. To Wheeler, this limits peopleâs access unjustly. He also expressed concern that national and international companies would buy the locations which would restrict the free market even more.

Layon pushed back on these claims, saying there are provisions in the bill to adjust the number of stores in the state based on demand.

âAfter this has been launched and after we know what it looks like [to sell cannabis] here in New Hampshire in a lawful way, I believe that this is a path where we can move forward and then we can figure out what needs to be done and what needs to be tweaked in the future to make this the best model,â she said.

A provision of the bill would also allow for police officers and law enforcement officials to be trained to recognize when people are driving while under the influence. Layon said this alone should be a reason for people to vote in favor.

If this seems familiar, thatâs because in April 2023, the House passed legislation to legalize cannabis use in New Hampshire, only for it to fail in the Senate.

Gov. Chris Sununu said in a 2023 press release that he would support the legalization of cannabis throughout New Hampshire under certain conditions, but such a bill had yet to cross his desk. In 2017, Sununu historically was the first governor in New Hampshireâs history to decriminalize carrying small amounts of marijuana.

At the hearing on Thursday, Layon said she understood peopleâs hesitance to legalize the drug, but nothing good could come from waiting longer.

âCannabis is here,â Layon said. âThe question is whether or not we provide an outlet for people who are currently turning to the streets a way to buy it in the state.â

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By Katelyn Sahagian | ksahagian@northofboston.com

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February 22, 2024
Atlanta Courthouse Shootings Fast Facts | CNN

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CNN
—

Here’s some background information about Brian Nichols and the Atlanta courthouse shootings. On March 11, 2005, 33-year-old Nichols escaped from the Fulton County Courthouse while on trial for rape, and killed four people.

Birth date: December 10, 1971

Birth place: Baltimore, Maryland

Birth name: Brian Gene Nichols

Children: with Sonya Meredith: a son, March 8, 2005; with Stephanie Jay: Jasmine Jay, 1992

Judge Rowland Barnes, 64, Fulton County Superior Court Judge

Julie Brandau, 46, court reporter

Hoyt Teasley, 43, sheriff’s deputy

David Wilhelm, 40, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent

1995 – Moves to Atlanta with his family.

1996-1999 – Is on probation from 1996 to 1999 for a felony drug case in Cobb County, Georgia. He is arrested with a small amount of marijuana.

Summer 2004 – Is charged with the rape of his former girlfriend.

8:45 a.m. – While being escorted to his retrial for the rape and other charges, Nichols attacks a sheriff’s deputy when she removes his handcuffs, in a struggle that lasts about three minutes and is caught on surveillance video. He takes the key to a lock box where her gun is stored.

Nichols retrieves the gun, changes clothes and crosses a sky bridge into the next building and heads for the courtroom.

Nichols then goes to Judge Rowland Barnes’ private chambers, tears out the phone lines, takes three hostages and asks about the judge’s whereabouts. He leaves a number of times, finally returning with another deputy taken hostage.

8:55 a.m. – Seizes the second deputy’s gun and enters the courtroom from behind the bench, fires a single shot into Barnes’ head, then shoots and kills court reporter Julie Brandau.

Nichols goes down the stairwell, leaves through an emergency exit and sets off an emergency alarm.

On Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, witnesses say he fires multiple shots into the abdomen of another sheriff’s deputy, Hoyt Teasley.

9:05 a.m. – Nichols first steals a dark SUV (2001 Mazda Tribute), drives fewer than three blocks and crashes through the gate of another parking deck.

9:07 a.m. – A tow truck driver, Deronte Franklin, says that after he directs police into the deck, Nichols comes back down and steals his truck at gunpoint.

9:14 a.m. – Nichols then drives to another deck about six blocks away where Almeta Kilgo, an employee of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, says he stole her 2004 Mercury Sable. She says she escaped after refusing Nichols’ order to stay in the car.

9:15 a.m. – Atlanta Police Command staff are notified at APD Communications that a Fulton County deputy has been shot.

9:16 a.m. – Nichols carjacks a blue Isuzu Trooper from Sung Chung, at 250 Spring St.

9:19 a.m. – The tow truck (1999 Ford F-350) stolen at 9:07 a.m. is recovered at a parking deck at 98 Cone St.

9:20 a.m. – Nichols drives a couple more blocks to another deck, Centennial Parking, 130 Marietta St., where he steals the car of AJC reporter Don O’Briant, a green 1997 Honda Accord. He says Nichols orders him into the trunk and pistol-whips him when he refuses. O’Briant manages to run away.

9:30 a.m. (approx.) – Police say they believe Nichols moved unnoticed across the street through a crowd gathering for a college basketball tournament, making his escape on a MARTA subway train to the Lenox area. Officials say nothing about Nichols’ whereabouts for the next 13 hours.

9:45 a.m. – The Atlanta Police Department takes command of the crime scene.

By about 7 p.m. – Authorities announce they are offering a $60,000 reward for information leading to Nichols’ capture.

10:40 p.m. – Nichols attempts to rob a couple at an apartment on Lenox Road, getting into a scuffle before fleeing.

Sometime later but less than five minutes away on foot, Nichols encounters US ICE Agent David Wilhelm and he shoots and kills Wilhelm, taking his gun, his badge and his blue Chevrolet pickup.

11 p.m. – An AJC employee finds O’Briant’s green Honda Accord on a different level of the same downtown parking garage, Centennial Parking.

About 2:30 a.m. – Ashley Smith returns from running an errand to her apartment in Duluth, about 20 miles northeast of Atlanta. Nichols forces his way into her apartment at gunpoint and binds her hands and feet.

Smith says as they spoke for hours about religion and family, Nichols began to relax, and eventually unbound her hands and feet.

After 6 a.m. – Smith says she followed Nichols so he could hide the truck and then took him back to the apartment in her car. She says that Nichols did not take any weapons on the trip, and that she had her cell phone but did not call police.

About 6:30 a.m.-7 a.m. – Construction workers arrive at David Wilhelm’s home, find his body and call police, who put out an alert for the blue Chevrolet pickup truck.

Smith says Nichols allowed her to leave to visit her daughter. Nichols gives her money, saying he was going to stay at her apartment for a “few days.”

About 9:50 a.m. – Smith dials 911 and within minutes, a SWAT team converges on the building.

About 11:24 a.m. – Nichols is taken into custody after surrendering by waving a white t-shirt or towel.

READ MORE: Hostage says she gained trust of Atlanta killings suspect

March 15, 2005 – Nichols makes his first court appearance after being captured.

May 5, 2005 – A Fulton County grand jury indicts Nichols on 54 counts, including four counts of felony murder. District Attorney Paul Howard says the state will seek the death penalty.

May 17, 2005 – Nichols pleads not guilty to all 54 counts.

September 27, 2005 – Smith’s book, “Unlikely Angel,” is published by Zondervan/Harper Collins. The book recounts the seven hours she spent as Nichols’ hostage.

February 8, 2006 – Superior Court Judge Hilton Fuller rules that Nichols’ trial will take place at the Fulton County Courthouse, the scene of some of the crimes.

November 9, 2006 – Judge Fuller rules that cameras will be allowed in the courtroom, though he leaves open the possibility of some restrictions once the trial begins.

October 15, 2007 – Jury selection begins.

October 17, 2007 – Judge Fuller suspends jury selection indefinitely due to lack of state funding for the defense.

January 30, 2008 – Judge Fuller announces he is stepping down from the case due to the perception by many that he is biased.

July 10, 2008 – The trial resumes and jury selection begins. Nichols pleads not guilty by reason of insanity.

September 17, 2008 – A jury of eight women and four men (six black females, two white females, two black males, one white male and one Asian male) is selected.

September 22, 2008 – Opening statements begin.

November 7, 2008 – After 12 hours of deliberation, a jury finds Nichols guilty on all 54 counts. The jurors reject the defense attorneys’ claim that Nichols suffers from mental illness.

December 13, 2008 – Superior Court Judge James Bodiford sentences Nichols to life in prison without parole, the maximum for all counts, a day after the jury deadlocks on a death penalty sentence.

READ MORE: Jury deadlocked on penalty for Atlanta courthouse shooter

August 18, 2015 – Smith’s book, “Unlikely Angel,” is published by HarperCollins/William Morrow as “Captive: The Untold Story of the Atlanta Hostage Hero.”

September 18, 2015 – The film “Captive” is released by Paramount Pictures and is an adaption of Smith’s book. It stars David Oyelowo as Nichols and Kate Mara as Smith.

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February 21, 2024
Spain Train Bombings Fast Facts | CNN

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CNN
—

Here’s a look at the March 2004 bombings of commuter trains in Spain, which killed 193 people and injured more than 1,800. The bombings are the deadliest terrorist attack in Spain’s history.

On March 11, 2004, 10 bombs in backpacks and other small bags exploded on four commuter trains. One bomb did not explode and was defused. The police did controlled explosions of three other bombs.

ETA, a Basque group labeled a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union, and al Qaeda were the original suspects cited by the Spanish government.

Through anonymous phone calls to Basque media outlets, ETA vehemently denied involvement.

Islamic militants who were based in Spain but inspired by al Qaeda were designated later as the prime suspects.

March 11, 2004 – Coordinated attacks including 10 bombs on four commuter trains at three different stations kill 191 people and wound more than 1,800.

March 13, 2004 – An al Qaeda claim of responsibility is made via video tape by a man speaking in Arabic with a Moroccan accent.

March 13, 2004 – Five people are arrested in connection to the case 60 hours after the bombings. Three of those arrested are Moroccans, and two are Indian. Prepaid phone cards and a cell phone from backpacks found at the bombing site link the five to the investigation.

March 14, 2004 – The Spanish Interior Ministry releases the names of five people detained in connection with the attacks. The men are identified as Jamal Zougam, Mohamed Bekkali, Mohamed Cahoui, Vinay Kohly and Sureh Komar.

March 18, 2004 – Spanish authorities arrest four North Africans in connection with the bombings. The radio report says three were arrested in the Madrid suburb of Alcala de Henares and the other North African was arrested in northern Spain. They are: Abderrahim Zbakh, Farid Oulad Ali and Mohamed El Hadi Chedadi, whose brother, Said Chedadi, was indicted last September by a Spanish judge for links to al Qaeda.
– The fourth suspect is not identified but is described as being of Arab descent.
– The fifth suspect is a Spanish citizen who goes by the name of Jose Emilio Suarez Trashorras. He is arrested in northern Spain.

March 19, 2004 – Spain’s National Court charges five suspects in connection with the bombings and remands them into custody after an all-night court session. The Court also releases Ali Amrous, an Algerian man held in connection with the Madrid terror attacks and suspected of being an al Qaeda member.

March 22, 2004 – Spanish state radio reports four new arrests in the Madrid bombings.

March 24, 2004 – A Spanish judge charges two more suspects, Naima Oulad and Rafa Zouhier, in the train bombings, bringing the total number of people charged in the attacks to 11.

March 25, 2004 – A Spanish judge charges a Moroccan man, Faisal Alluch, with collaborating with a terrorist group in connection with the train bombings, boosting the number to 12 suspects who have been charged in the case.

March 30, 2004 – Spanish Interior Minister Angel Acebes names a Moroccan terrorist group, Moroccan Islamist Combat Group (GICM), as the principal focus in the investigation.

March 30, 2004 – Moroccan Fouad El Morabit, who had been released without charges, is rearrested. Court sources also confirm the latest arrest in the case, a man identified as Otman el Gnaout.

March 30, 2004 – Basel Ghayoun, a Syrian man, is charged in the bombings. Hamid Ahmidan of Morocco is charged with collaborating with a terrorist group and a count of drug possession. Three other men are released.

March 31, 2004 – A Spanish National Court judge issues international arrest warrants for six more suspects as the investigation focuses on the GICM. The Interior Ministry says five of the men sought are Moroccans. They include two brothers and a man who is related to other Moroccans previously arrested. The sixth man sought is Tunisian.

March 31, 2004 – Arraignments begin for two men, Antonio Toro Castro of Spain and Mustafa Ahmidam from Morocco.

April 2, 2004 – A bomb found under high-speed rail tracks between Madrid and Seville appears to be made of the same explosives used in the March 11 attacks.

April 2, 2004 – A Spanish judge releases without charges two Syrian men who had been detained in connection with the March 11 Madrid train bombings. He also frees a Moroccan man but orders him to report daily to police until further notice.

April 3, 2004 – Seven suspected terrorists kill themselves and a policeman when they set off an explosion in a suburb of Madrid as police attempt to enter a building. The suspects are presumed to be involved in the train bombings. Fingerprints at the scene later result in more arrests, including Saswan Sabagh.

April 3, 2004 – Spanish authorities arrest two more people but the identities of the two are not released.

April 7, 2004 – A National Court judge charges two more Moroccan suspects, Abdelilah El Fuad and Rachid Adli, in the March 11 Madrid train bombings.

April 12, 2004 – Spanish police arrest three more suspects. One of the three was identified as Morabit, who has now been detained three times. The other two are not identified.

May 6, 2004 – Brandon Mayfield, an American attorney, is taken into custody by the FBI in connection with the attacks. His fingerprints were found on a bag containing detonators of the kind used in the attacks, in close proximity to the blast site. The Spanish Interior Ministry spokesman said the plastic bag was found inside a stolen van left near the Alcala train station, from which the three bombed trains departed. US sources are calling him a material witness, not formally charging him with a crime as of yet, and state that he is a follower of Islam.

November 2004 – Spanish lawmakers launch an inquiry into the train bombings.

January 2005 – Spain’s interior minister says Spanish officials have made 66 arrests in the train bombing investigation.

April 11, 2006 – Twenty-nine people are indicted in a Spanish court in connection with the bombings. Five men are charged with planning and carrying out the plot, and a sixth is named as a “necessary collaborator.” The rest are charged with supporting roles.

February 15, 2007 – Start date of trial for 29 defendants. Seven defendants are considered prime suspects, and they each could face sentences of about 38,000 years in prison for mass murder, if convicted.

March 11, 2007 – For the third anniversary of the bombing, King Juan Carlos and Queen Sophia dedicate a memorial for the victims at the Atocha station. It is a glass cylinder which opens into a meditation chamber.

June 4, 2007 – One of the 29 defendants in the Madrid train bombings trial, Brahim Moussaten, has been cleared of all charges and is now a free man, a court spokeswoman tells CNN.

October 31, 2007 – Verdicts are read for the remaining 28 defendants. Three men are found guilty of the most serious charges and sentenced to thousands of years in prison. However, under Spanish law, they will serve only 40 years. Eighteen defendants are found guilty of lesser charges. Seven defendants are acquitted, including alleged mastermind Rabei Osman.

July 17, 2008 – Four defendants, Basel Ghalyoun, Mouhannad Almallah Dabas, Abdelilah el-Fadual al-Akil and Raúl González, have their convictions overturned. The acquittal of Osman is also upheld.

December 18, 2008 – A criminal court in Morocco convicts Abdelilah Ahriz of belonging to a terrorist group involved in the train bombings and sentences him to 20 years in prison. Prosecutors originally requested that Ahriz be given a life sentence, saying DNA sampling proved his involvement in preparing the train bombings.

May 12, 2009 – Ten of the 14 suspected Islamic militants accused of assisting the three suspects are acquitted by Spain’s anti-terrorism court. The ruling gives the remaining four sentences between two and nine years for falsifying documents or being part of a terrorist group.

January 13, 2010 – A Spanish court convicts five men accused of Islamic terrorist activities, including aiding fugitives from the Madrid train bombings of 2004 and planning other attacks. Their sentences, on charges of collaborating or belonging to an Islamic terrorist group, range from five to nine years in prison.

February 2011 – Spain’s Supreme Court overturns the lower court’s conviction of the five men convicted in January 2010 for Islamic terrorist activities that included aiding fugitives from the Madrid train bombings and planning other attacks.

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February 21, 2024
Rick Perry Fast Facts | CNN Politics

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Here is a look at the life of former US Secretary of Energy and former Texas Governor Rick Perry.

Birth date: March 4, 1950

Birth place: Paint Creek, Texas

Birth name: James Richard Perry

Father: Joseph Ray Perry, a farmer

Mother: Amelia (Holt) Perry

Marriage: Anita (Thigpen) Perry (November 6, 1982-present)

Children: Sydney and Griffin

Education: Texas A&M University, B.S., 1972

Military Service: US Air Force, 1972-1977, Captain

Religion: Methodist

Is an Eagle Scout.

Met his wife, Anita, in elementary school.

Has devoted years to supporting psychedelic-assisted therapies.

Is the longest-serving governor in Texas history.

1972-1977 – Serves in the US Air Force flying transport planes.

1977 – Returns to Texas to live and work on his father’s farm.

1978 – Forms JR Perry Farms with his father.

1985-1991 – Member of the Texas House of Representatives as a Democrat from the 64th District.

1989 – Switches to the Republican Party.

1991-1999 – Commissioner of the Texas Department of Agriculture.

1999-2000 – Lieutenant Governor of Texas.

December 21, 2000 – Perry is sworn in as governor after George W. Bush resigns to become president of the United States.

November 5, 2002 – Perry is elected to a four-year term.

November 7, 2006 – Is reelected governor.

2008 – Perry’s book “On My Honor: Why the American Values of the Boy Scouts Are Worth Fighting For” is published.

November 2, 2010 – Perry is elected for a third term in office.

August 13, 2011 – Declares his candidacy for president during a speech in South Carolina.

January 19, 2012 – Suspends his presidential campaign and endorses Newt Gingrich.

July 8, 2013 – Announces that he will not run for reelection as Texas governor in 2014.

August 15, 2014 – A grand jury indicts Perry on charges of coercion of a public servant and abuse of his official capacity. He allegedly threatened to veto funding for a statewide public integrity unit run by Travis County District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg unless she resigned following her arrest on a drunk driving charge. She stayed in office, and he later vetoed the funding.

August 19, 2014 – Perry voluntarily appears at the Travis County Court house to be booked and fingerprinted and to have his mug shot taken. He pleads not guilty to charges of coercion of a public servant and abuse of official capacity. The next day he makes the first of six campaign style stops across New Hampshire.

November 18, 2014 – A state district judge in Texas denies a defense motion to have two felony charges dismissed against Perry.

January 15, 2015 – Delivers his farewell address as governor.

June 4, 2015 – Announces he is running for president at a rally in Addison, Texas.

July 24, 2015 – A Texas appeals court dismisses one of two criminal charges against Perry. The court agrees with the argument from Perry’s legal team that a Texas law concerning “coercion of a public servant” violates Perry’s First Amendment freedom of speech rights. The court is allowing a charge related to abuse of power to move forward.

September 11, 2015 – Suspends his campaign for the presidency.

January 25, 2016 – Perry endorses Ted Cruz.

February 24, 2016 – The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals drops charges against Perry alleging he abused his power while in office.

August 30, 2016 – Perry is revealed as one of the members of the upcoming 23rd season of reality television dance competition “Dancing with the Stars” on ABC.

September 27, 2016 – Is eliminated from “Dancing With The Stars.”

November 22, 2016 – Returns to “Dancing With The Stars” for the season finale. Perry dances with Vanilla Ice during a live performance of “Ice Ice Baby.”

December 13, 2016 – President-elect Donald Trump announces he has selected Perry to be his nominee for energy secretary.

January 19, 2017 – Perry says that he regrets recommending the elimination of the Department of Energy during a presidential debate in 2012.

March 2, 2017 – Perry is confirmed as energy secretary with a 62-37 vote in the Senate.

July 26, 2017 – Perry’s office acknowledges that he was the target of a prank call on July 19. During the 20-minute call from Russian pranksters, real names Vladimir Krasnov and Aleksey Stolyarov, respectively, one pretends to be Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman.

February 5, 2019 – Is named the designated survivor for Trump’s second State of the Union address. As the one member of the Cabinet remaining outside the House chamber during the speech in case disaster strikes, Perry will remain in an undisclosed location.

October 10, 2019 – House Democrats issue a subpoena to Perry for documents related to the Trump administration’s contacts with Ukraine as part of the ongoing House impeachment inquiry.

October 17, 2019 – Perry says he plans to resign in a video posted to YouTube.

November 20, 2019 – Ambassador to the EU Gordon Sondland testifies that he, along with special envoy for Ukraine Kurt Volker and Perry, worked with Giuliani on Ukraine at the “express direction” of Trump and against their better judgment. Sondland also tells lawmakers that he had discussed the investigation in a July 19 email sent to several top US officials, including Perry. In response, the Department of Energy releases a statement denying Sondland’s claims, saying he “misrepresented both Secretary Perry’s interaction with Rudy Giuliani and direction the Secretary received from President Trump.”

December 1, 2019 – Perry resigns as US Secretary of Energy.

January 1, 2020 – Perry is appointed as a director of the general partner that controls Energy Transfer LP, a pipeline company.

February 17, 2021 – In a blog post on House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s website, Perry is quoted as saying “partly rhetorically,” that “Texans would be without electricity for longer than three days to keep the federal government out of their business.” Millions of Texans lost power as the state experienced a massive failure brought on by a historic freeze and a power grid that – unlike the other 47 contiguous states – is separated from the rest of the country and is not under federal regulatory oversight, which prevents Texas from being able to borrow power from other states.

December 17, 2021 – January 6 House committee investigators believe that a November 4 text pushing “strategy” to undermine the presidential election came from Perry, three sources familiar with the investigation tell CNN. First presented on the House floor December 14, the text was included in about 6,000 documents turned over to the committee by former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows. Perry denies being the author.

Moments from Rick Perry’s career

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February 21, 2024
Oil Spills Fast Facts | CNN

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CNN
—

Here’s a look at oil spill disasters. Spill estimates vary by source.

1. January 1991 – During the Gulf War, Iraqi forces intentionally release 252-336 million gallons of oil into the Persian Gulf.

2. April 20, 2010 – An explosion occurs on board the BP-contracted Transocean Ltd. Deepwater Horizon oil rig, releasing approximately 168 million gallons of oil in the Gulf of Mexico.

3. June 3, 1979 – Ixtoc 1, an exploratory well, blows out, spilling 140 million gallons of oil into the Bay of Campeche off the coast of Mexico.

4. March 2, 1992 – A Fergana Valley oil well in Uzbekistan blows out, spilling 88 million gallons of oil.

5. February 1983 – An oil well in the Nowruz Oil Field in Iran begins spilling oil. One month later, an Iraqi air attack increases the amount of oil spilled to approximately 80 million gallons of oil.

6. August 6, 1983 – The Castillo de Bellver, a Spanish tanker, catches fire near Cape Town, South Africa, spilling more than 78 million gallons of oil.

7. March 16, 1978 – The Amoco Cadiz tanker runs aground near Portsall, France, spilling more than 68 million gallons of oil.

8. November 10, 1988 – The tanker Odyssey breaks apart during a storm, spilling 43.1 million gallons of oil northeast of Newfoundland, Canada.

9. July 19, 1979 – The Atlantic Empress and the Aegean Captain tankers collide near Trinidad and Tobago. The Atlantic Empress spills 42.7 million gallons of oil. On August 2, the Atlantic Empress spills an additional 41.5 million gallons near Barbados while being towed away.

10. August 1, 1980 – Production Well D-103 blows out, spilling 42 million gallons of oil southeast of Tripoli, Libya.

Union Oil Company
January 28, 1969 – Inadequate casing leads to the blowout of a Union Oil well 3,500 feet deep about five miles off the coast of Santa Barbara, California. About three million gallons of oil gush from the leak until it can be sealed 11 days later, covering 800 square miles of ocean and 35 miles of coastline and killing thousands of birds, fish and other wildlife.

The disaster is largely considered to be one of the main impetuses behind the environmental movement and stricter government regulation, including President Richard Nixon’s signing of the National Environmental Policy Act, the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency in 1970. It also inspired Wisconsin Senator Gaylord Nelson to found the first Earth Day.

Exxon Valdez
March 24, 1989 – The Exxon Valdez runs aground on Bligh Reef in Prince William Sound, Alaska, spilling more than 11 million gallons of oil.

March 22, 1990 – Captain Joseph Hazelwood is acquitted of all but one misdemeanor, negligent discharge of oil. Hazelwood is later sentenced to 1,000 hours of cleaning around Prince William Sound and is fined $50,000.

July 25, 1990 – At an administrative hearing, the Coast Guard dismisses charges of misconduct and intoxication against Captain Joseph Hazelwood, but suspends his captain’s license.

October 8, 1991 – A federal judge approves a settlement in which Exxon and its shipping subsidiary will pay $900 million in civil payments and $125 million in fines and restitution. Exxon says it has already spent more than $2 billion on cleanup.

September 16, 1994 – A federal jury orders Exxon to pay $5 billion in punitive damages to fishermen, businesses and property owners affected by the oil spill.

November 7, 2001 – The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit rules that the $5 billion award for punitive damages is excessive and must be cut.

December 6, 2002 – US District Judge H. Russel Holland reduces the award to $4 billion.

December 22, 2006 – The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals reduces the award to $2.5 billion.

June 25, 2008 – The US Supreme Court cuts the $2.5 billion punitive damages award to $507.5 million.

June 15, 2009 – The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals orders Exxon to pay $470 million in interest on the $507.5 million award.

BP Gulf Oil Spill
April 20, 2010 – An explosion occurs aboard BP-contracted Transocean Ltd Deepwater Horizon oil rig stationed in the Gulf of Mexico. Of the 126 workers aboard the oil rig, 11 are killed.

April 22, 2010 – The Deepwater Horizon oil rig sinks. An oil slick appears in the water. It is not known if the leak is from the rig or from the underwater well to which it was connected.

April 24, 2010 – The US Coast Guard reports that the underwater well is leaking an estimated 42,000 gallons of oil a day.

April 28, 2010 – The Coast Guard increases its spill estimate to 210,000 gallons of oil a day.

May 2, 2010 – President Barack Obama tours oil spill affected areas and surveys efforts to contain the spill.

May 4, 2010 – The edges of the oil slick reach the Louisiana shore.

May 26, 2010 – BP starts a procedure known as “top kill,” which attempts to pump enough mud down into the well to eliminate the upward pressure from the oil and clear the way for a cement cap to be put into place. The attempt fails.

June 16, 2010 – BP agrees to create a $20 billion fund to help victims affected by the oil spill.

July 5, 2010 – Authorities report that tar balls linked to the oil spill have reached the shores of Texas.

July 10, 2010 – BP removes an old containment cap from the well so a new one can be installed. While the cap is removed, oil flows freely. The new cap is finished being installed on July 12.

July 15, 2010 – According to BP, oil has stopped flowing into the Gulf.

August 3, 2010 – BP begins the operation “static kill” to permanently seal the oil well.

August 5, 2010 – BP finishes the “static kill” procedure. Retired Adm. Thad Allen says this will “virtually assure us there’s no chance of oil leaking into the environment.”

January 11, 2011 – The National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling releases their full report stating that the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon rig launched the worst oil spill in US history, 168 million gallons (or about 4 million barrels).

September 14, 2011 – The final federal report is issued on the Gulf oil spill. It names BP, Transocean and Halliburton as sharing responsibility for the deadly explosion that resulted in the April 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

January 26, 2012 – A federal judge in New Orleans rules that Transocean, the owner of the Deepwater Horizon rig, is not liable for compensatory damages sought by third parties.

January 31, 2012 – A federal judge in New Orleans rules that Halliburton is not liable for some of the compensatory damages sought by third parties.

March 2, 2012 – BP announces it has reached a settlement with attorneys representing thousands of businesses and individuals affected by the 2010 oil spill.

April 18, 2012 – Court documents are filed revealing the March 2, 2010 settlement BP reached with attorneys representing thousands of businesses and individuals affected by the oil spill. A federal judge must give preliminary approval of the pact, which BP estimates will total about $7.8 billion.

April 24, 2012 – The first criminal charges are filed in connection with the oil spill. Kurt Mix, a former engineer for BP, is charged with destroying 200-plus text messages about the oil spill, including one concluding that the undersea gusher was far worse than reported at the time.

November 15, 2012 – Attorney General Eric Holder announces that BP will plead guilty to manslaughter charges related to the rig explosion and will pay $4.5 billion in government penalties. Separate from the corporate manslaughter charges, a federal grand jury returns an indictment charging the two highest-ranking BP supervisors on board the Deepwater Horizon on the day of the explosion with 23 criminal counts.

November 28, 2012 – The US government issues a temporary ban barring BP from bidding on new federal contracts. The ban is lifted on March 13, 2014.

December 21, 2012 – US District Judge Carl Barbier signs off on the settlement between BP and businesses and individuals affected by the oil spill.

January 3, 2013 – The Justice Department announces that Transocean Deepwater Inc. has agreed to plead guilty to a violation of the Clean Water Act and pay $1.4 billion in fines.

February 25, 2013 – The trial to determine how much BP owes in civil damages under the Clean Water Act begins. The first phase of the trial will focus on the cause of the blowout.

September 19, 2013 – In federal court in New Orleans, Halliburton pleads guilty to destroying test results that investigators had sought as evidence. The company is given the maximum fine of $200,000 on the charge.

September 30, 2013 – The second phase of the civil trial over the oil spill begins. This part focuses on how much oil was spilled and if BP was negligent because of its lack of preparedness.

December 18, 2013 – Kurt Mix, a former engineer for BP, is acquitted on one of two charges of obstruction of justice for deleting text messages about the oil spill.

September 4, 2014 – A federal judge in Louisiana finds that BP was “grossly negligent” in the run-up to the 2010 disaster, which could quadruple the penalties it would have to pay under the Clean Water Act to more than $18 billion. Judge Carl Barbier of the US District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana also apportions blame for the spill, with “reckless” BP getting two thirds of it. He says the other two main defendants in the more than 3,000 lawsuits filed in the spill’s wake, Transocean and Halliburton, were found to be “negligent.”

January 15, 2015 – After weighing multiple estimates, the court determines that 4.0 million barrels of oil were released from the reservoir. 810,000 barrels of oil were collected without contacting “ambient sea water” during the spill response, making BP responsible for a maximum of 3.19 million barrels.

January 20-February 2, 2015 – The final phase of the trial to determine BP’s fines takes place. The ruling is expected in a few months.

July 2, 2015 – An $18.7 billion settlement is announced between BP and five Gulf states.

September 28, 2015 – In a Louisiana federal court, the city of Mobile, Alabama, files an amended complaint for punitive damages against Transocean Ltd., Triton Asset Leasing, and Halliburton Energy Services, Inc., stating that “Mobile, its government, businesses, residents, properties, eco-systems and tourists/tourism have suffered and continue to suffer injury, damage and/or losses as a result of the oil spill disaster.” As of April 20, 2015, Mobile estimated the losses had exceeded $31,240,000.

October 5, 2015 – BP agrees to pay more than $20 billion to settle claims related to the spill. It is the largest settlement with a single entity in the history of the Justice Department.

November 6, 2015 – The remaining obstruction of justice charge against Kurt Mix is dismissed as he agrees to plead guilty to the lesser charge of “intentionally causing damage without authorization to a protected computer,” relating to deletion of a text message, a misdemeanor. He receives six months’ probation and must complete 60 hours of community service.

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February 21, 2024