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Tag: investigation

  • A judge told Gov. Jared Polis not to comply with an ICE subpoena. Polis’ attorneys say he still wants to.

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    Gov. Jared Polis is still trying to find a way to comply with a federal immigration subpoena, four months after a Denver judge ruled that doing so would violate Colorado law.

    In repeated court filings, including one submitted Friday, Polis’ private attorneys have said they intend to turn over records on 10 businesses that employed several sponsors of unaccompanied children to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

    They’ve asked a Denver judge, who previously prohibited some state employees from complying with ICE’s subpoena, to dismiss the case and clear the way for them to turn over a more limited batch of records.

    The recent filings represent the second attempt by Polis to comply with the April immigration enforcement subpoena. The governor’s first attempt was blocked by District Court Judge A. Bruce Jones in June, after Jones sided with a senior state employee who’d sued Polis earlier that month to stop the state from fulfilling the subpoena.

    The employee, Scott Moss, argued that providing the requested records would violate state laws that limit what information can be shared with federal immigration authorities.

    But though Jones preliminarily sided with Moss, his ruling is complicated. He prohibited Polis from directing a specific division of the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment to comply with the subpoena. But he said he couldn’t prevent Polis from directing others to comply with the subpoena, even though Jones said doing so would still likely violate the law.

    The records that Polis now says he intends to turn over to ICE are in the custody of another labor department division not covered in Jones’ order.

    In an email Tuesday, Polis spokeswoman Shelby Wieman declined to comment on the case or why Polis is still seeking to provide records to ICE. She pointed to the administration’s recent legal filings.

    The administration has previously said it wanted to support ICE’s efforts to check on unaccompanied minors without legal status, though the governor’s office has not provided any evidence that it has sought assurances that ICE wasn’t seeking the information purely for immigration enforcement efforts.

    David Seligman, whose law firm has supported the case, criticized the governor’s decision to seek the lawsuit’s dismissal while indicating his intention to turn over records to ICE. While ICE wrote that it wanted detailed employment records so it could check on the well-being of unaccompanied children, Seligman and Moss, the employee who brought the lawsuit, have argued that the agency only wants the information so it can arrest and deport the children’s sponsors.

    “It is absolutely absurd that this governor would be going out of his way to comply with and cooperate with ICE in light of everything that we’re seeing right now,” Seligman said.

    Moss has since left the department, and Polis’ lawyers now argue that no one associated with the case has a legal standing to challenge compliance with the subpoena. They’ve also argued that they can turn over the records because the employers’ addresses and contact information can be found online.

    The records are only part of the broader swath of personal details that ICE initially requested, and they cover only six of the 35 sponsors for which ICE first sought records. The sponsors are typically family members of children without legal status, who care for the minors while their immigration cases proceed.

    The administration has similarly told ICE officials that it intends to comply with part of the subpoena once the lawsuit is concluded. In a July 11 email, Joe Barela, the head of the Department of Labor and Employment, wrote to a special agent in ICE’s investigative branch that the agency planned to “provide your office with the names and contact information for those 10 employers.”

    The labor department has already complied with three ICE subpoenas this year, including in one “erroneous” case that apparently ran afoul of state law.

    Jones must now rule on whether to dismiss the lawsuit or let it proceed. Between June and early September, Recht Kornfeld, the private law firm Polis hired to represent him in the lawsuit, has billed the state for more than $104,000, according to records obtained by The Denver Post through a public records request.

    The Colorado Attorney General’s Office has said it was unable to represent Polis because of legal advice it provided to the governor related to complying with the subpoena. The office has declined to characterize the nature of that advice.

    The subpoena was sent to the state labor department in April as part of what ICE described as essentially a welfare check of unaccompanied minors in the state. The subpoena sought employment and personal records for the children’s sponsors.

    Initially, administration officials decided not to comply with the subpoena because of the state’s laws limiting such contact. But Polis abruptly changed course and decided to turn over the records, prompting Moss to sue.

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    Seth Klamann

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  • Sexual assault, drugging trial begins for former owner of Grateful Dead-themed bars

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    Denver prosecutors on Tuesday opened their long-awaited criminal case against former business owner Jay Bianchi, who is accused of drugging and sexually assaulting three women at his Grateful Dead-themed bars between 2020 and 2024, as well as drugging another man and a woman during that time period.

    “This is not about character or lifestyles or choices the victims may have made,” said chief deputy DA Chris Curtis in his opening statements. “It’s not a memory test … (and) it’s absolutely not some kind of gigantic conspiracy against Jay Bianchi. So don’t get distracted. Focus on the evidence.”

    Bianchi, 56, was arrested in April 2024 and charged with three counts of sexual assault dating to Oct. 31, 2020, in the 700 block of East Colfax Avenue; one count of unlawful sexual contact, a misdemeanor, on Nov. 1, 2020, in the 900 block of West First Avenue; and three counts of felony sexual assault on April 7, 2024, in the same block of West First Avenue.

    He has pleaded not guilty on all counts.

    The first sexual assault, alleged by Bonnie Utter, took place following a Halloween party at Sancho’s Broken Arrow, formerly at 741 E. Colfax Ave., in 2020. Utter’s friend Kylie Heringer, who worked as a sound engineer for Bianchi, also alleged that Bianchi groped her the next day in his office at So Many Roads Brewery, formerly at 918 W. First Ave., and that Bianchi attempted to discredit the women with character assassination and coercion. Both of his businesses have since closed.

    The Denver Post is identifying Utter and Heringer because they previously agreed to speak to the newspaper about their experiences.

    Another woman identified during the proceedings alleged she was sexually assaulted by Bianchi in March 2024, and a man and a woman separately said that Bianchi drugged them — in the man’s case, for attempting to intervene in a conflict at Sancho’s. All will testify as part of the case, Curtis said.

    Bianchi, dressed in a black jacket with a maroon tie, sat expressionless most of Tuesday as he watched each witness and speaker, occasionally taking notes. His case has been delayed multiple times as more people have come forward to make claims against him. Bianchi, who has several past arrests and convictions for drug charges and assault, has denied those allegations in multiple interviews with The Denver Post. His past convictions and arrests were not mentioned on Tuesday.

    The trial, which could potentially last through mid-November, began Friday with a jury and evidence review that ran through Monday. On Tuesday, the first witnesses were called: a pair of police detectives and a former nurse from Denver Health who conducted a sexual-assault examination of Utter after she reported it on Nov. 1, 2020.

    Bianchi’s defense team on Tuesday vigorously maintained his innocence. In her opening statements, deputy state public defender Megan Jungsun Lee previewed a strategy that will cast the prosecutor’s witnesses and experts as tainted by misinformation and rumors on social media, as well as news reports in The Denver Post and Westword.

    “You will hear that during this time … that gossip, speculation assumptions were repeated again and again,” Lee said during opening statements. She also cast doubt on the years-long, on-and-off Denver Police Department investigation into the assaults, which she said had been compromised by the gossip-driven narrative and by news reports.

    “Ms. Utter was alert,” Lee said of the events before the alleged assault on Nov. 1, 2020, noting that defense witnesses saw Bianchi and Utter “cuddled up.” The pair was laughing and holding hands as they went downstairs to the basement at Sancho’s that night, Lee said.

    That’s where Utter said the assault took place. However, there was no evidence she was unable to make her own choices despite consuming alcohol, cocaine and cannabis that night, Lee said.

    “(Bianchi) did not hand her a drink, touch her drink, offer her food or offer her drugs,” Lee added. “There is no evidence he caused her any kind of fear or made any threat. She was fully capable of exercising her own free will.”

    The District Attorney’s Office spent much of Tuesday afternoon establishing the physical layout of So Many Roads with dozens of on-site photos, which included an unidentified substance in a baggie in Bianchi’s office, where Heringer’s assault allegedly took place.

    In March 2024, a woman alleged she was raped by Bianchi, also at So Many Roads Brewery, which was co-owned by Tyler Bishop. That bar closed the next month, having been the subject of Denver Police Department stings for underage drinking and drug sales. Bianchi had also been the subject of protests outside the brewery in June 2021, after Utter and Heringer came forward to discuss their experiences, first on social media and later with The Denver Post. Local musicians who felt they had been mistreated by Bianchi rallied during the protest.

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  • Man taken into custody after driving his car into security gate outside White House, authorities say

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    Man taken into custody after driving his car into security gate outside White House, authorities say

    Updated: 12:48 AM EDT Oct 22, 2025

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    A man was taken into custody late Tuesday after driving his car into a security barrier outside the White House, authorities said.The U. S. Secret Service said the man crashed into the security gate at a White House entrance at 10:37 p.m. on Tuesday. The man was immediately arrested by officers from the Secret Service’s uniformed division, the agency said.Investigators searched his car and deemed it to be safe, Secret Service officials said in a statement.Authorities did not immediately provide any additional information about the crash, the driver’s identity, or any potential motivation.

    WASHINGTON —

    A man was taken into custody late Tuesday after driving his car into a security barrier outside the White House, authorities said.

    The U. S. Secret Service said the man crashed into the security gate at a White House entrance at 10:37 p.m. on Tuesday. The man was immediately arrested by officers from the Secret Service’s uniformed division, the agency said.

    Investigators searched his car and deemed it to be safe, Secret Service officials said in a statement.

    Authorities did not immediately provide any additional information about the crash, the driver’s identity, or any potential motivation.

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  • $160K in damage caused at Florida golf course; police looking for suspect

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    Florida police are investigating after more than $160,000 in damage was caused to a golf course. Officers were called to the Club at Venetian Bay in New Smyrna Beach on Sunday morning after the general manager found deep tire marks and ruts torn into one of the greens. He said about 7,000 square feet of turf was damaged. A witness said they saw a truck doing donuts on the course at around 3:30 a.m. Sunday, but couldn’t get a tag number or description. Police said they’re still investigating, and no one has been arrested.Photos

    NEW SMYRNA BEACH, Fla. —

    Florida police are investigating after more than $160,000 in damage was caused to a golf course.

    Officers were called to the Club at Venetian Bay in New Smyrna Beach on Sunday morning after the general manager found deep tire marks and ruts torn into one of the greens.

    He said about 7,000 square feet of turf was damaged.

    A witness said they saw a truck doing donuts on the course at around 3:30 a.m. Sunday, but couldn’t get a tag number or description.

    Police said they’re still investigating, and no one has been arrested.

    Photos

    golf course damage

    golf course damage

    golf course damage

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  • I spent three months in jail because a prosecutor hid evidence of my fiance’s suicide (Opinion)

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    Tragically, in 2019, my fiancée took her own life. What began as one of the most heartbreaking, devastating experiences of my life, turned into an unending nightmare. The police arrested me after I called 911 because they believed we had been arguing. But then, with scant investigation, prosecutors immediately charged me with murder and imprisoned me for 72 days without bail.

    A jury eventually found me not guilty, but only after my attorney learned a prosecutor purposefully withheld evidence exonerating me. That may be unimaginable in America — but it happened to me. And when it did, I learned the hard truth: prosecutors (unlike almost any other lawyer or professional) enjoy absolute immunity, meaning both the wrongly accused and victims of crime have no recourse, and prosecutors cannot be sued for the damage they cause.

    I learned firsthand that when attorneys fail to fulfill their oaths of office, just like a doctor or police officer, the consequences can be dire – even life-ending. This becomes even more egregious when that failure is purposeful, yet not all attorneys are held equal under the law.

    I was wrongly incarcerated and prosecuted, even though the forensic pathologist refused to rule my fiance’s death a homicide. Only weeks after my arrest — while I remained behind bars — Denver’s own chief deputy crime lab director and the lead Denver homicide detective advised the prosecutor of their opinions that the death was not a homicide, but a suicide. Even though the prosecutor knew this critical information that would have exonerated me, the prosecutor purposefully withheld this information from myself and my defense team for nearly 8 months. I was eventually acquitted only after these opinions were forcibly revealed in response to a court order.

    Who was that prosecutor? Chief Deputy Dan Cohen from the Denver District Attorney’s office. The judge, clearly outraged, issued a sanction allowing my lawyer to cross-examine the witnesses about their favorable opinions — but otherwise faced no consequences. His law license remained intact, and his boss excused the behavior.

    Imagine my outrage and disappointment when I read a recent Denver Post article covering judges dismissing other cases in which Chief Deputy Daniel Cohen failed to disclose critical and favorable evidence to the accused. In the most recent case, this was again not a clerical oversight or an isolated misstep. In fact, the judge in the case ruled, “At this point in time, I can’t find that it’s anything other than willful given the number of times this issue has been addressed with this particular counsel.” The Post article pointed out that there have been at least seven other discovery violations committed by the Denver District Attorney’s Office since February of 2025.

    These are real Coloradan’s lives on the line. Yet the wrongly accused, like myself, have no recourse to hold prosecutors accountable.

    This story shows that even when judges grow frustrated with prosecutors’ misconduct, their tools are limited. They can allow broader cross-examination or dismiss a case — but they cannot punish the prosecutor. The repeated violations we see prove that these sanctions, while appropriate, do little to deter misconduct. And with Mr. Cohen still abusing his power five years after egregiously breaking the rules in my case, it’s clear the Denver District Attorney’s office isn’t imposing serious discipline either.

    Prosecutors are the most powerful lawyers in America. They decide who to criminally charge, when and what crimes to allege, whether to offer leniency, what evidence to turn over and what sentence to pursue. As I now personally understand, they have an immense amount of power to impact the lives and families of both the guilty and the innocent.

    Given this power, you’d expect prosecutors to be held to higher standards of accountability. Instead, the opposite is true. Misconduct is brushed off as business as usual, denied and excused at every turn, and much of it never comes to light.  Even when caught red-handed, prosecutors keep their jobs and their law licenses, shielded from any liability for damage they cause. In any other profession, mine included as an architect, such deliberate abuses would end a career.

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    Micah Kimball

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  • No corruption in Charlotte city government, outside investigation says

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    A third-party investigation released Tuesday turned up no evidence of corruption or unethical behavior on Charlotte City Council.

    Investigators looked into statements by at-large Councilwoman Victoria Watlington that alleged “unethical, immoral, and frankly, illegal activities occurring within City government.” And the city hired attorneys with the Cranfill Sumner law firm in July to conduct the investigation for a maximum cost of $25,000. The final cost was not immediately available.

    Council received a report on the investigation during a closed session meeting on Monday. It shared a five-page report with the public at a Tuesday news conference.

    Some processes and communications could be improved, the report found, but “these issues do not amount to misconduct or corruption.”

    “Over the past several months, our city has been under a lot of scrutiny,” Mayor Vi Lyles said. “These egregious allegations hurt our team, and we owed it to them to investigate.”

    Watlington allegations

    Council voted in closed session in May to pay Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Johnny Jennings a controversial $305,000 settlement, reportedly to avoid a lawsuit over comments from former Council member Tariq Bokhari.

    Watlington, a Democrat, issued a statement from her campaign email shortly after council approved the agreement. The email contained the quote “Power Corrupts … and Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely” and went on to allege unethical, immoral and illegal activity in city government.

    In a subsequent email two days later, Watlington said her concerns had nothing to do with financial or widespread corruption.

    Watlington told reporters at Tuesday’s news conference she stands by her previous statements, although the “power corrupts” quote was not interpreted how she had intended.

    “At the end of the day, it wasn’t about causing any kind of chaos,” Watlington said. “It was about making sure that we are raising the standard and that people know there’s something to look at here.”

    Investigation into alleged corruption in Charlotte government

    At the direction of City Council, the city attorney’s office contacted Cranfill Sumner to conduct an independent investigation into Watlington’s statements.

    Investigators Patrick Flanagan and Ariella Walsh spoke to Interim City Attorney Anthony Fox, the deputy city attorney, the city auditor, Lyles and all 11 council members. They also reviewed a host of documents, including emails between city leaders, city policies and an informal internal report on the matter by Fox and the city auditor.

    Their investigation covered Watlington’s complaints about the transition of former City Attorney Patrick Baker, the appointment of Fox, the Jennings settlement, council’s closed sessions and “related subsequent developments,” according to the report.

    In each instance, investigators found no evidence of unethical or illegal behavior. Findings on one issue — the leaking of closed meeting information to the public — remain inconclusive because the investigation could not trace the source of the leaks.

    “This does not diminish Councilmember Watlington’s belief in her concerns. While certain processes could have been handled more effectively, we did not uncover evidence of illegality or corruption within City government,” the report states.

    Watlington said she would have liked the report to include a detailed analysis of each of her concerns so she can better understand how investigators reached their conclusions, she said.

    Moving forward, city leaders will discuss how they can change their policies, ensure council members understand statutes governing their roles and adhere to their procedures, Watlington said.

    She does not have specific policy changes in mind, she said. Her priority will be honoring policies that already exist.

    This story was originally published October 14, 2025 at 2:31 PM.

    Nick Sullivan

    The Charlotte Observer

    Nick Sullivan covers the City of Charlotte for The Observer. He studied journalism at the University of South Carolina, and he previously covered education for The Arizona Republic and The Colorado Springs Gazette.

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    Nick Sullivan

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  • Mitt Romney’s sister-in-law dead after possible fall or jump from parking structure, authorities say

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    The sister-in-law of former Utah Sen. Mitt Romney, Carrie Elizabeth Romney, was found dead near a Santa Clarita shopping mall on Friday.

    Her cause of death remains under investigation. Investigators are speculating, however, that the 64-year-old Valencia resident fell or jumped from a five-story parking structure, according to L.A. County Sheriff’s Department spokesperson Nicole Nishida.

    Homicide investigators responded to the 24000 block of Town Center Drive near the Valencia Town Center shopping mall around 9 p.m. Friday, according to the Sheriff’s Department.

    The L.A. County medical examiner is still running tests to confirm the cause of death, Nishida said.

    Romney’s cause of death was listed as deferred on the medical examiner’s website. It could take months for toxicology tests to be completed and information to be updated.

    Mitt Romney served as the governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007 and was the Republican Party’s 2012 presidential nominee. He was elected U.S. senator from Utah in 2018 and left office at the end of his term in January.

    Carrie Elizabeth Romney appeared to be the wife of Mitt’s older brother, G. Scott Romney, an attorney who has supported Mitt on the campaign trail over the years.

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    Clara Harter

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  • 1 dead, 2 injured in shooting at Alcorn State

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    1 dead, 2 injured in shooting at Alcorn State University

    1 dead, 2 injured in Alcorn State University shooting; MBI investigating.

    Updated: 10:11 PM EDT Oct 11, 2025

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    The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation has been called in to investigate a shooting on the campus of Alcorn State University that left at least one person dead and two injured.According to MBI, the shooting happened around 6:30 p.m. Saturday near the Industrial Technology Building on campus. No arrests have been made at this time. Investigators are continuing to gather evidence, and MBI says details remain preliminary and could change as the investigation develops.

    The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation has been called in to investigate a shooting on the campus of Alcorn State University that left at least one person dead and two injured.

    According to MBI, the shooting happened around 6:30 p.m. Saturday near the Industrial Technology Building on campus.

    No arrests have been made at this time.

    Investigators are continuing to gather evidence, and MBI says details remain preliminary and could change as the investigation develops.

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  • FBI was working to identify Evergreen High School shooter at time of attack, sheriff says

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    The FBI was working to identify the person behind the Evergreen High School shooter’s social media accounts through search warrants when the attack happened, the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office said Friday.

    Sheriff’s officials released a lengthy statement Friday afternoon addressing “rumors” being circulated about the Sept. 10 school shooting that seriously injured two students.

    The families of victims Matthew Silverstone, 18, and a 14-year-old boy who has not been publicly identified previously said the teens confronted the shooter and tried to alert their classmates before they were shot.

    The shooter, 16-year-old Desmond Holly, died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

    In the wake of the shooting, FBI officials said the agency began investigating accounts later linked to Holly but did not identify him or take any further action before the attack.

    “During the assessment investigation, the identity of the account user remained unknown, and thus there was no probable cause for arrest or additional law enforcement action at the federal level,” FBI officials said in September.

    But that was not the whole picture, according to the sheriff’s office.

    The FBI’s New York office was in the process of obtaining and sending search warrants to social media companies for information about Holly’s accounts when the shooting happened, sheriff’s officials said Friday.

    “By law, these companies have up to 35 days to respond to each warrant, and typically two or three warrants are needed to determine who made a post and from where,” Jefferson County officials wrote. “That process was still underway when the shooting occurred. The FBI did not fail to act; this delay is a limitation of the current legal system.”

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    Katie Langford

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  • Des Moines police arrest 13-year-old suspect after chase and crash with stolen Amazon delivery van

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    Des Moines police have taken a 13-year-old into custody after the teen allegedly stole a delivery van.Police say an investigation began Wednesday afternoon when an Amazon delivery driver reported their van had been stolen from the 600 block of Walker Street. The van was later spotted by officers near Southeast 14th Street and Park Avenue.The stolen van fled from a traffic stop and crashed into a pick-up truck on Southeast 14th Street. Two occupants in the van ran from the crash but were taken into custody, according to police.The driver, a 13-year-old, was referred to juvenile court for charges of first-degree theft, second-degree theft and eluding.The passenger was not charged.

    DES MOINES, Iowa —

    Des Moines police have taken a 13-year-old into custody after the teen allegedly stole a delivery van.

    Police say an investigation began Wednesday afternoon when an Amazon delivery driver reported their van had been stolen from the 600 block of Walker Street. The van was later spotted by officers near Southeast 14th Street and Park Avenue.

    The stolen van fled from a traffic stop and crashed into a pick-up truck on Southeast 14th Street. Two occupants in the van ran from the crash but were taken into custody, according to police.

    The driver, a 13-year-old, was referred to juvenile court for charges of first-degree theft, second-degree theft and eluding.

    The passenger was not charged.

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  • House Republicans launch investigation into distribution of L.A. fire charity funds

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    WASHINGTON — Two House Republicans launched an investigation on Wednesday that will, in part, examine how a California charitable organization used a $500,000 grant that was meant to support victims of the deadly Palisades and Eaton fires, a move that is expanding congressional scrutiny over the response to the disaster.

    Reps. Kevin Kiley (R-Rocklin) and Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) sent a letter to the head of the California Volunteers Fund asking for financial records related to a $500,000 grant it received from the disaster-relief charity FireAid, which raised an estimated $100 million for fire victims through its flagship benefit concerts in January.

    “It is not publicly known how the California Volunteers Fund distributed this $500,000, or what individuals or entities received funds,” Kiley and Jordan wrote in a letter Wednesday to Dave Smith, the fund’s chief executive. “It is also unclear whether the state-based California Volunteers, run out of the Governor’s Office, received any of the FireAid-originated funds via the California Volunteers Fund.”

    Kiley and Jordan added that they want to examine all documents and communications related to the California fires between the California Volunteers Fund and California Volunteers, an entity that the charity supports and is housed within Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office.

    In their letter, they said FireAid has “come under scrutiny for diverting donations to nonprofits instead of providing direct relief to fire victims.”

    The California Volunteers Fund and the governor’s office did not immediately respond to a request seeking comment.

    The congressional inquiry into the distribution of disaster relief funds comes after months of pressure from Republican politicians, including President Trump, who have questioned FireAid’s methods and priorities. In July, Kiley called for an investigation into the charitable funds, urging the attorney general to open an investigation into the matter.

    Politically, the investigation comes as Newsom — whose office was mentioned several times in the letter — becomes a frequent political target of Trump and Republicans amid speculation that he could be eyeing a potential 2028 presidential run.

    In response to the criticism, FireAid commissioned two audit reports, including an independent review led by law firm Latham & Watkins that found no evidence of fraud or misuse of funds. The reports were sent to local and federal officials and the Department of Justice.

    “The law firm conducted an independent review of the charity, and shared conclusive findings affirming that FireAid has acted in accordance with mission, has strong accountability measures and aid is reaching affected communities,” the FireAid organization said in a statement about the review findings at the time.

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    Ana Ceballos

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  • SA Police Commissioner cleared over 1990s firearm incident

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    South Australia’s corruption watchdog has cleared Police Commissioner Grant Stevens of a discipline breach for accidentally discharging his firearm during a house raid in the early 1990s.

    Commissioner Stevens had revealed in July that when he was a senior constable stationed in the northern suburbs in the early 1990s, he accidentally discharged his firearm while attempting a raid on a suspected drug dealer’s property.

    The revelation came after The Sunday Mail published a story about the incident a week earlier, but only referred to a “high-ranking South Australian police officer”.

    In a rare public statement on Tuesday, Independent Commissioner Against Corruption (ICAC) Emma Townsend revealed her agency had launched an investigation in July to examine whether the December 1990 incident constituted a breach of discipline by Commissioner Stevens.

    The investigation “refuted” the “alleged breaches of discipline”, the ICAC said.

    “The allegations made regarding the conduct of the Commissioner of Police have been independently investigated and found to be without substance,” Ms Townsend stated.

    She said the firearm incident in question “was reported on the day it occurred, in accordance with the applicable procedures”.

    “It was thoroughly investigated in accordance with those procedures,” she said.

    “That investigation was appropriately documented. The investigation resulted in then-Senior Constable Stevens receiving additional training.

    “He was not otherwise subject to any disciplinary proceedings. This was an appropriate outcome.”

    The ICAC found the allegations made regarding the conduct of the commissioner were “without substance”. (ABC News: Che Chorley)

    In its June article about the firearm incident, The Sunday Mail reported there had been a second incident “several months” after the first in which the commissioner again accidentally fired his gun.

    But the commissioner strongly rejected that claim, insisting there had “only ever been one occasion that I have accidentally discharged my firearm” — a view that was upheld by the ICAC.

    “The second alleged incident involving the discharge of a firearm did not occur,” the commissioner said.

    Ms Townsend said the ICAC’s investigation obtained and examined “relevant documents and witness statements” and reviewed the police commissioner’s file from 1991.

    She said while such investigations were typically conducted by SA Police’s Internal Investigation Section, the circumstances in this particular case were different.

    “ICAC considered the fact that the matter involved the Commissioner of Police, SA Police’s highest-ranked police officer, and that the allegations had been the subject of media reporting,” Ms Townsend said.

    “In these circumstances, an independent investigation of the matter by ICAC was likely to promote and maintain public confidence in SA Police, and was consistent with the purposes of the PCD Act.”

    While SA Police said Commissioner Stevens would not be commenting on the matter, the commissioner previously said he did not find the revelations “damaging” and that he had never “shied away from” discussing the incident with other officers.

    “I’ve actually relayed the story on occasions over the last 34 years for different reasons to let other police officers understand how fragile circumstances can be,” he said.

    “It serves as a lesson to the community that policing has inherent risks in it, mistakes do happen.”

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  • Ethics board clears Denver airport CEO over flights costing as much as $19,000, but is ‘appalled’ by response

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    The Denver Board of Ethics has cleared Denver International Airport CEO Phil Washington of using his position for private gain when he flew himself and eight other executives to Madrid on a spring trip that cost about $18,000 per person.

    But the board members said in a written decision that even if Washington technically followed city policy, they were “appalled” by the amount of money he approved spending for an aviation conference — and by his “seemingly cavalier attitude in responding to this complaint.”

    The decision, issued Friday, came five months after CBS News Colorado revealed the cost of the tickets and other travel expenses after filing a request under the Colorado Open Records Act. Soon after the story came out in May, someone anonymously filed an ethics complaint about the report.

    “While the Board of Ethics believes that officers, officials, and employees of the City and County of Denver should be better stewards of public funds, the Board must apply the facts to the law as it stands,” according to the ruling document.

    In an interview with the board’s executive director, Washington said he wouldn’t have allowed the purchase of the airline tickets if he knew how much they would cost, according to the decision. But the board found that when Washington approved the expenses, the estimates he saw were mostly in line with the actual costs.

    “Mr. Washington’s statement that he was unaware of the actual costs of the airfare is concerning,” the members wrote in the statement.

    The airport’s travel policy allows employees to fly business class on flights longer than eight hours, and on this trip all nine flew business or first class. The group’s round-trip flights ranged in price from about $9,300 each for three officials to nearly $19,200 for the airport’s chief operating officer, Dave LaPorte. Washington’s flights cost about $12,000.

    The board also took issue with Washington saying it was a “once in a lifetime opportunity” to attend the Passenger Terminal Expo and Conference, since it happens annually. Washington said the higher-class seats were necessary so that the executives could “hit the ground running” when they arrived, even though almost none of them had speaking engagements until one to two days after they arrived in Madrid.

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    Elliott Wenzler

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  • Pedestrian killed in hit-and-run on Colfax Avenue in Denver

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    Denver police are investigating a fat hit-and-run crash on the east side of town that killed a pedestrian early Monday morning.

    The department announced the incident on X shortly before 1 a.m., saying a pedestrian had been struck and killed in the area of East Colfax Avenue and Trenton Street in Denver.

    The victim was pronounced dead at the scene, and delays in the area were expected as an investigation was launched.

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    John Aguilar

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  • Denver DA failed to disclose police records in as many as 756 criminal cases

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    The Denver District Attorney’s Office failed to share police records with defense attorneys in as many as 756 criminal cases since 2022, potentially violating court discovery rules, a probe by the office found.

    The prosecutors’ discovery software for years diverted Denver Police Department files that included a forward slash in the file name into an “error log that prosecutors were not aware of and could not access,” according to a statement from the office this week and notifications sent to defense attorneys in September.

    The misrouted files were not shared with defendants — a potential violation of discovery rules, which require prosecutors to disclose evidence to defendants during a criminal case. The district attorney’s office uncovered what it called a “technical issue” with the software as it reviewed its own practices amid mounting serious sanctions for discovery violations across Colorado.

    It was not immediately clear whether all of the files that were diverted into the error log were required to be disclosed to defendants, DA spokesman Matt Jablow said in a statement. But the office nevertheless notified defense attorneys and started the process of sharing all the files “out of caution and to avoid any delay,” he said.

    “The DA’s office produced the files, even though, in many of those cases… the information appears to have been produced in a different format, may not have been legally required to be produced, or both,” he said in the statement.

    Many of the misplaced files “contained information related to a defendant’s arrest, such as booking photos,” Jablow said. The error log issue most frequently impacted records that included dates in the file names, according to the notification sent to attorneys.

    The impact of the technical glitch will vary from case to case depending on the severity of the case, the information in the undisclosed files and how far along in the legal process the case is, said Colin McCallin, a criminal defense attorney and former prosecutor.

    Little is likely to change for defendants who have already pleaded guilty and served their sentences in less serious cases, like misdemeanors and petty offenses, he said. But there could be a bigger impact in ongoing prosecutions or more serious cases.

    “Obviously, if the evidence is exculpatory, if it suggests the person didn’t commit the crime, that is a big deal; that can lead to serious sanctions,” McCallin said. “…If it is a minor violation, like, ‘Oh, we didn’t get the person’s full criminal history or mugshot’ — that’s probably not going to be a big deal. I would imagine in most lower-level felony cases or misdemeanor cases, I don’t know if anything will happen at all. A lot of those folks will have moved on.”

    If the undisclosed material includes exculpatory evidence, it could prompt judges to dismiss cases or defendants to seek post-conviction relief, he added. Judges in ongoing cases might also consider sanctions against prosecutors for the discovery violations alone, regardless of what type of evidence was not disclosed, McCallin said.

    “It really does sound like this was a computer issue; it’s not like the DA’s office was sitting on evidence intentionally or purposely withholding evidence,” he said. “I don’t think anyone thinks that. But the problem is, it is still a discovery violation.”

    Angela Campbell, co-chair of the Denver chapter of the Colorado Criminal Defense Bar, said the district attorney’s public statements about the software issue have inappropriately minimized the potential impact of the discovery violations.

    “The Denver DA’s statement is concerning because it seems to fail to take accountability for the serious discovery violations committed by their office,” she said, adding that defense attorneys are just starting to investigate the missing files and it is too early to know the full impact of the misrouted records.

    “Nobody is saying that every single discovery violation was tantamount to a Brady violation — a failure to produce exculpatory evidence — but minimizing the discovery violations that occurred, first of all by saying, ‘Well, it was over 756 cases’ — they’re not just cases. These are 756 human beings,” she said. “People, presumably, who went to prison and endured serious consequences for what may or may not have been material discovery violations that would have impacted the cases. The truth is, right now, that I don’t think we know. And I don’t think they know.”

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    Shelly Bradbury

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  • New body camera video released in case of man stuck under Orlando police truck

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    Newly released body camera video shows the moment first responders worked to free a man from an unmarked Orlando police truck. We know from an arrest report that Detective Moulton was trying to pull a suspect over for having an unreadable license plate on Feb. 12. The driver, Dornell Bargnare, failed to navigate a turn onto Indiana Street, according to police. Driving onto a sidewalk and hitting 56-year-old Gerald Neal. Body camera footage released earlier this year shows the officer getting out of his truck. Chasing after the suspect. Not seeming to realize Neal was under his truck. In body camera video released to WESH 2 Thursday, you see first responders working to free Neal from underneath the truck. Based on the time on Moulton’s body camera video in the previously released footage compared to the time on the footage released Thursday, Neal was underneath the truck for about 15 minutes. Based on body camera video released earlier this year, it appeared the detective didn’t know someone was under his truck. “There was a guy under your truck,” another officer can be heard telling the detective. “Under my truck?” he says back to them. When they reply, “Yeah,” the detective asks, “Hiding?” Before saying, “OK, yeah, I’ll go check right now,”In the video released Thursday, you can see first responders working to revive Neal and talking about getting him to Orlando Regional Medical Center. But he wouldn’t survive. In an arrest warrant for Bargnare filed five days after the crash, it says his car struck Neal, but makes no mention of Neal being stuck under an officer’s truck. Bargnare was later charged with Vehicular Homicide on top of other charges.The Florida Highway Patrol was handling the investigation into Neal’s death and had handed over their findings to the state attorney’s office. The state attorney’s office told WESH 2 this week to expect a decision soon on whether more charges could be coming. That could potentially include charges for the detective involved. He is currently on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of an internal investigation, according to the Orlando Police Department.

    ORLANDO, Fla. —

    Newly released body camera video shows the moment first responders worked to free a man from an unmarked Orlando police truck.

    We know from an arrest report that Detective Moulton was trying to pull a suspect over for having an unreadable license plate on Feb. 12.

    The driver, Dornell Bargnare, failed to navigate a turn onto Indiana Street, according to police. Driving onto a sidewalk and hitting 56-year-old Gerald Neal.

    Body camera footage released earlier this year shows the officer getting out of his truck. Chasing after the suspect. Not seeming to realize Neal was under his truck.

    In body camera video released to WESH 2 Thursday, you see first responders working to free Neal from underneath the truck.

    Based on the time on Moulton’s body camera video in the previously released footage compared to the time on the footage released Thursday, Neal was underneath the truck for about 15 minutes.

    Based on body camera video released earlier this year, it appeared the detective didn’t know someone was under his truck.

    “There was a guy under your truck,” another officer can be heard telling the detective.

    “Under my truck?” he says back to them.

    When they reply, “Yeah,” the detective asks,

    “Hiding?” Before saying, “OK, yeah, I’ll go check right now,”

    In the video released Thursday, you can see first responders working to revive Neal and talking about getting him to Orlando Regional Medical Center. But he wouldn’t survive.

    In an arrest warrant for Bargnare filed five days after the crash, it says his car struck Neal, but makes no mention of Neal being stuck under an officer’s truck.

    Bargnare was later charged with Vehicular Homicide on top of other charges.

    The Florida Highway Patrol was handling the investigation into Neal’s death and had handed over their findings to the state attorney’s office.

    The state attorney’s office told WESH 2 this week to expect a decision soon on whether more charges could be coming. That could potentially include charges for the detective involved. He is currently on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of an internal investigation, according to the Orlando Police Department.

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  • Six people who tried to hang a banner on the Hollywood sign are arrested, officials say

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    Six people were arrested Sunday after they tried to hang a banner on the Hollywood sign, according to authorities.

    The group allegedly trespassed in the area of the landmark around noon and tried to hang a banner on one of the “O’s,” according to a Los Angeles Police Department Instagram post.

    The people were detained without incident, police said.

    It was unclear what sort of banner the group was trying to hang — or what message they were trying to send. A photo the LAPD shared on social media showed that the banner included what appears to be a green-and-white pill capsule, but the entire banner is not visible.

    L.A. city park rangers took over the investigation and the LAPD referred further questions to the agency, which didn’t immediately respond to a request for more information Wednesday.

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    Summer Lin

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  • Sephora to pay California cities for mishandling makeup mess

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    Sephora, shoppers’ go-to spot for celebrity makeup brands and skincare essentials, is facing a hefty fine from California cities for alleged improper disposal of its leftover products.

    The company, accused of mishandling hazardous waste at its retail locations, will pay nearly $78,000 to Sacramento County and to several California cities and counties. According to a news release from the Sacramento County district attorney’s office, the total settlement amount is $775,000.

    “Our office is committed to protecting both the public and the environment, and we will hold companies accountable to ensure they operate responsibly and within the law,” Dist. Atty. Thien Ho said in the release.

    Following an investigation, 24 city and district attorneys across the state filed a civil enforcement action. It alleged the makeup giant was mishandling damaged, returned and expired merchandise, which is considered hazardous waste according to state law.

    The complaint alleges that the company failed to determine which items that were thrown out were used, expired, recalled or damaged and didn’t keep records of test results and waste management. The materials were also allegedly improperly managed and transported.

    The judgment, settled in Sacramento County Superior Court, includes a $550,000 charge in civil penalties, $200,000 in cost recovery and $25,000 to the Environmental Enforcement and Training Account managed by the California Environmental Protection Agency.

    Sephora started in 1969 as a small perfume shop in France. Over the years, it cemented itself as one of makeup’s main retailers, serving hundreds of millions of customers and becoming a multibillion-dollar company.

    It operates over 2,700 stores in 35 countries worldwide, with over 100 locations in California. The company is still headquartered in France, with its U.S. arm operating out of San Francisco.

    It is not the only business to face an environmental lawsuit.

    In August, United Parcel Service Inc. and its affiliates were required to pay $1.7 million to settle a lawsuit filed by the district attorneys of 45 California counties.

    That complaint alleged that UPS sent improperly labeled hazardous waste to area landfills. The suit came after a years-long investigation at 140 UPS locations in California.

    The company had to pay $1.4 million in civil penalties, $140,000 in cost reimbursement and $205,000 that will go toward supplemental environmental projects, according to officials.

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    Cerys Davies

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  • Meet the Likely Next Targets of Trump’s Revenge Tour

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    Donald Trump escalated his revenge crusade last week, successfully pressuring his Justice Department to file charges against former FBI director James Comey—a longtime target of the president’s ire over his role in the Russia investigation that clouded Trump’s first term.

    But Comey, who was charged with a count of making a false statement to Congress and a count of obstruction of a congressional proceeding, is far from the only political foe whom Trump could use the DOJ against. “I think there’ll be others,” Trump told reporters last week. “These were corrupt, radical-left Democrats.” (Comey declared his innocence in a video posted after his indictment.)

    Who could be the next target of retribution from the Trump administration?

    Former FBI Director Christopher Wray

    In an NBC News interview on Sunday, Trump suggested that Comey successor Christopher Wray could face a similar prosecution. “I would certainly imagine” that the DOJ is investigating Wray, Trump told the outlet. “I would think they are doing that.”

    Trump tapped Wray to lead the FBI after firing Comey in 2017, seemingly over the latter’s refusal to bend to the president’s efforts to pressure him.

    But Wray himself would prove too independent for the president’s liking, continuing to oversee the inquiry into Russia’s interference in the 2016 election—an investigation that ensnared multiple figures in Trump’s orbit. In 2020, Trump reportedly mulled firing the FBI director, but stood down after then attorney general Bill Barr threatened to resign. And in 2021, Wray warned about right-wing extremism in the wake of the January 6 attack on the Capitol.

    Trump, of course, pardoned the violent Capitol rioters upon entering his second term in office, and referenced January 6 in weekend comments suggesting that Wray could face prosecution: Wray’s FBI “secretly placed, against all Rules, Regulations, Protocols, and Standards, 274 FBI Agents into the Crowd just prior to, and during, the January 6th Hoax,” Trump posted on social media, repeating an unfounded claim that federal agents were “probably acting as Agitators and Insurrectionists” that day.

    It isn’t clear what the DOJ would investigate Wray over, or what charges he would face, but Trump told NBC News on Sunday that the former director—whom he replaced with Kash Patel upon returning to office this year—“did a terrible job and we just found out about it.”

    “I think a lot of his service was very inappropriate,” Trump told NBC News. “But we haven’t gone beyond that.”

    New York Attorney General Letitia James

    Letitia James was among the targets Trump listed in a social media post directed at Pam Bondi, his attorney general, with the president demanding more aggressive investigations into his foes: “We can’t delay any longer,” Trump wrote on September 20.

    James—who has served as New York AG since 2019—sued Trump and his business for fraud in 2022 and ultimately emerged successful, though the massive fine a judge leveled against the now president and the Trump Organization was thrown out on appeal in August 2025. That same month, the DOJ opened an investigation into whether James’s office had violated Trump’s civil rights in the case. That came on top of a criminal mortgage-fraud investigation into James that the DOJ has been running in recent months. (James has denied any wrongdoing.)

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    Eric Lutz

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  • Marshall fire payments due by year’s end, but how Xcel’s $640 million settlement will be divvied up to remain secret

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    Marshall fire victims who joined the massive lawsuit against Xcel Energy are expected to receive their portion of the $640 million settlement before the end of the year, but the amount of money each plaintiff receives will not be publicly disclosed.

    Xcel and plaintiffs’ attorneys announced the settlement Wednesday, just one day before the start of jury selection in a two-month civil trial to determine blame for the 2021 wildfire that killed two people and destroyed more than 1,000 homes in Boulder County.

    The full terms of the settlement will not be released, though private corporations involved in the litigation may need to disclose their payouts to shareholders. The individual homeowners who participated in the lawsuit will be required to sign nondisclosure agreements, said Paul Starita, a lawyer at Singleton Schreiber, one of the firms that represented homeowners.

    Teleport Communications America and Qwest Corporation, two co-defendants in the lawsuit, will contribute an undisclosed amount toward the settlement total.

    Not every person or company among the more than 4,000 plaintiffs will receive the same amount of money, Stirata said. The amount each receives will depend on the level of damages.

    Plaintiffs whose houses burned to the ground would be in line to receive more money than people who suffered smoke and soot damage, he said. People who rented housing or owned rental properties were also parties to the lawsuit, as were some people who only evacuated and sued for the nuisance. And claims involving deaths would be compensated with a higher amount.

    Attorneys figured out months ago what percentage of any settlement or jury award each plaintiff should receive, because those dollar figures were part of the mediation and settlement negotiations, Stirata said.

    “You add up all of those figures and the defendant pays you that lump sum and you give that to your clients,” he said. “It’s a fair settlement.”

    Payments should start being distributed within 60 days and be complete by the end of the year, Stirata said.

    The lawyers will also get a cut of the settlement as their payment for taking on the case. Each firm sets its own fee for the clients it accepted, Sirata said. He declined to reveal what percentage Singleton Schreiber will receive.

    A large chunk of the settlement will go to the 200 insurance companies that sued Xcel to compensate for the massive property damage claims they paid in the fire’s aftermath. In a legal filing ahead of the trial, those insurance firms said they suffered $1.7 billion in losses. It is not known what settlement amount they agreed to.

    The Target Corporation was a plaintiff as well because its store in Superior was closed for months due to fire damage. The city of Boulder, Boulder County and the Boulder Valley School District were also plaintiffs.

    The Dec. 30, 2021, Marshall fire was the most devastating wildfire in Colorado history, costing more than $2 billion in damages.

    The fire ignited first on the property of the Twelve Tribes religious cult, which has a compound on Eldorado Drive, near the Marshall Mesa Open Space. That ignition was caused by smoldering embers left over from a Dec. 24 burn-pit fire on the property.

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    Noelle Phillips

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