ReportWire

Tag: Juries

  • Final preparations for trial of man accused of attempting to assassinate Trump

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    FORT PIERCE, Fla. — A man charged with trying to assassinate President Donald Trump last year in South Florida is set to represent himself during a pretrial conference on Tuesday, as final preparations are made for trial.

    Barring any delays, jury selection is scheduled to begin Sept. 8 in Fort Pierce federal court for the case against Ryan Routh. U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon signed off on Routh’s request to represent himself in July but said court-appointed attorneys need to remain as standby counsel.

    The trial will begin nearly a year after prosecutors say a U.S. Secret Service agent thwarted Routh’s attempt to shoot Trump as he played golf. Routh, 59, has pleaded not guilty to charges of attempting to assassinate a major presidential candidate, assaulting a federal officer and several firearm violations.

    Prosecutors have said Routh methodically plotted to kill Trump for weeks before aiming a rifle through the shrubbery as Trump played golf on Sept. 15, 2024, at his West Palm Beach country club. A Secret Service agent spotted Routh before Trump came into view. Officials said Routh aimed his rifle at the agent, who opened fire, causing Routh to drop his weapon and flee without firing a shot.

    Law enforcement obtained help from a witness who prosecutors said informed officers that he saw a person fleeing. The witness was then flown in a police helicopter to a nearby interstate where Routh was arrested, and the witnesses confirmed it was the person he had seen, prosecutors have said.

    The judge on Tuesday unsealed prosecutor’s 33-page list of exhibits that could be introduced as evidence at the trial. It says prosecutors have photos of Routh holding the same model of semi-automatic rifle found at Trump’s club.

    The document also lists numerous electronic messages sent from a cellphone investigators found in Routh’s car. One message dated about two months before his arrest is described as Routh requesting a “missile launcher.” It says that in August 2024, the month before his arrest, Routh sent messages seeking “help ensuring that (Trump) does not get elected” and offering to pay an unnamed person to use flight tracking apps to check the whereabouts of Trump’s airplane.

    The exhibit list cites evidence from Routh’s phone of an electronic “chat about sniper concealment” during President John F. Kennedy’s assassination. And it lists internet searches for how long gunpower residue stays on clothing and articles on U.S. Secret Service responses to assassination plots.

    Routh was a North Carolina construction worker who in recent years had moved to Hawaii. A self-styled mercenary leader, Routh spoke out to anyone who would listen about his dangerous, sometimes violent plans to insert himself into conflicts around the world, witnesses have told The Associated Press.

    In the early days of the war in Ukraine, Routh tried to recruit soldiers from Afghanistan, Moldova and Taiwan to fight the Russians. In his native Greensboro, North Carolina, he had a 2002 arrest for eluding a traffic stop and barricading himself from officers with a fully automatic machine gun and a “weapon of mass destruction,” which turned out to be an explosive with a 10-inch-long fuse.

    In 2010, police searched a warehouse Routh owned and found more than 100 stolen items, from power tools and building supplies to kayaks and spa tubs. In both felony cases, judges gave Routh either probation or a suspended sentence.

    In addition to the federal charges, Routh also has pleaded not guilty to state charges of terrorism and attempted murder.

    ___

    AP journalist Russ Bynum in Savannah, Georgia, contributed.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    ___

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

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

    January 1994: Both juries deadlock.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    ___

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

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

    January 1994: Both juries deadlock.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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  • Potential jurors in subway chokehold death trial are asked about their own transit use

    Potential jurors in subway chokehold death trial are asked about their own transit use

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    NEW YORK — Potential jurors’ own subway-riding experiences came into focus Friday in the case against a white U.S. Marine Corps veteran charged with killing a troubled Black man on a subway train.

    No jurors have yet been chosen for the manslaughter trial of Daniel Penny, who put Jordan Neely in a chokehold that, medical examiners said, killed him. But in a Manhattan case that concerns perceptions of safety in the nation’s largest subway system, the jury pool so far is full of people with a mix of comfort levels with riding the trains.

    Most of the roughly 20 potential panelists who underwent questioning Friday were at least occasional subway riders, and many said they’d seen people have outbursts. Some said the episodes hadn’t left them feeling personally threatened or harassed, but several said they had.

    One recalled an unsettling subway-riding moment years ago when he and a woman sitting near him were approach by a disheveled man who was upset that she was ignoring him. The prospective juror got off the train, he said, as another man stood up as if poised to intervene.

    Another potential jury member said he’d seen things on the subway that made him nervous in recent years. A third said he hadn’t ridden the subway throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, and while he wasn’t afraid of the underground, he’d “heard of some criminal violence” there.

    And after a prosecutor explained that Penny isn’t charged with an intentional killing and asserts he was protecting himself and other subway riders, a fourth prospective juror had had enough.

    “This all seems incredibly complicated,” he said, and soon after asked to be excused. His request hadn’t been decided by the time court broke for the day.

    Jury selection is set to continue Monday in the case, which has become a crucible for opinions about public safety, mental illness, the line between intervention and vigilantism, and the role of race in how people perceive all of it.

    Some demonstrators have rallied to decry Penny, others to defend him. Some prominent Democratic officials went to Neely’s funeral, while high-profile Republican politicians portrayed Penny as a hero who confronted Neely to protect others. Penny’s legal defense fund has raised millions of dollars.

    Prospective members of the anonymous jury were asked whether they or their loved ones had served in the military, taken martial arts or self-defense training, or had problems with drug addiction, mental illness or homelessness.

    Neely had once been familiar to some subway riders for his Michael Jackson impersonations. But relatives have said he struggled with mental health problems after his mother was killed and was found stuffed in a suitcase in 2007.

    Over the years, Neely became homeless and developed a history of drug use, disruptive behavior and arrests, including a guilty plea to assaulting a stranger in 2021.

    On May 1, 2023, Neely boarded a subway and began shouting and acting erratically, witnesses said.

    Neely’s family and supporters have said he was only appealing for help, not menacing anyone.

    Other passengers differed on whether he was a danger. Some told police he was frightening people by making sudden movements and statements about being willing to die or go to jail. Yet at least one witness described Neely’s behavior as “like another day, typically, in New York,” according to a court filing.

    Penny, who told officers that Neely threatened “to kill everybody,” put an arm around his neck. With two other riders helping to pin Neely to the floor, the Marine veteran held him around the neck for more than three minutes, until his body went limp.

    Penny later told detectives in an interview that he was “just trying to de-escalate,” not to injure or kill Neely.

    City medical examiners determined that he died from compression of the neck. Penny’s lawyers have indicated they plan to argue that he wasn’t applying pressure in a way that could have killed Neely, and that his death could have been caused by other factors, including the use of the synthetic cannabinoid known as K2.

    Noting Neely’s mental health problems, K2 use and conduct on the train, prosecutor Dafna Yoran probed prospective jurors about whether they might think he brought his death on himself.

    “You don’t really know what the person’s going to do on K2,” one potential panelist responded, adding: “Not that I would think he deserved it.”

    “Under the law, all life is equal,” the prosecutor reminded the group, emphasizing that anyone selected as a juror will have to judge the evidence, not Neely’s history — or Penny’s.

    The 25-year-old former Marine was discharged in 2021 and has since taken college classes, his lawyers have said.

    “You can be grateful” for his service, Yoran told the prospective jurors. “Can you understand that you are not here to judge the defendant as a person?”

    “Law is law,” one responded. “And if the evidence proves itself correct, then it is what it is.”

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  • Man charged in NYC subway chokehold death set to stand trial

    Man charged in NYC subway chokehold death set to stand trial

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    NEW YORK — To some New Yorkers, he’s the white vigilante who choked an innocent Black man to death on the subway. To others, he’s the U.S. Marine Corps veteran whose attempt to subdue a mentally ill man ended in tragedy.

    A Manhattan jury will soon have its say on Daniel Penny, who is charged with manslaughter for placing Jordan Neely in a fatal chokehold on May 1, 2023. Jury selection in Penny’s trial begins Monday.

    The court proceedings, which are expected to last six weeks, will shed light on a killing that was a flashpoint in the nation’s debate over racial injustice and crime.

    Neely’s death also divided a city grappling with what to do about people experiencing mental health crises in a transit system where some subway straphangers still don’t feel safe, despite a drop in violent crime rates.

    “There is simply no reason for Jordan Neeley to be dead today,” David Giffen, executive director of the Coalition for the Homeless, told The Associated Press on Wednesday. “So many systems failed Jordan and contributed to his death.”

    Penny, 25, has been free on a $100,000 bond. He faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted of second-degree manslaughter and up to four years if convicted of criminally negligent homicide.

    Witnesses said Neely — a 30-year-old former Michael Jackson street impersonator struggling with drug addiction, mental illness and homelessness — had been shouting, throwing things and acting erratically on a subway train in Manhattan when Penny approached him.

    With the help of two other passengers, Penny pinned Neely to the ground and placed him in a chokehold for more than three minutes until Neely’s body went limp and he lost consciousness. The medical examiner’s office ruled the death a homicide caused by compression of the neck.

    The encounter sparked nearly two weeks of protests before Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office brought an indictment.

    Meanwhile, millions of dollars in donations poured in from across the country to help Penny cover his legal costs, including from prominent conservative personalities and Republican candidates for president.

    Penny’s lawyers have argued that the Long Island native didn’t intend to kill Neely, just to hold him down long enough for police to arrive, as he was concerned for the safety of others.

    “If Danny is convicted, his conviction will have a chilling effect on every New Yorker’s right and duty to stand up for each other,” Penny’s lawyer Steven Raiser said Wednesday. “Our sincerest hope is that New Yorkers selected for this jury will stand up for Danny just like Danny stood up for them back on that train over a year ago today.”

    Penny, who served four years in the Marines before being discharged in 2021, claimed that Neely shouted “I’m gonna’ kill you” and that he was “ready to die” or go to jail for life.

    But Neely’s family and supporters have said he was simply crying out for help. They said his mental health deteriorated after his mother’s body was found stuffed in a suitcase in the Bronx and he testified at her boyfriend’s murder trial.

    Some witnesses, including a freelance journalist who captured video of some of the altercation, also said Neely had been acting aggressively and frightening people but hadn’t attacked anyone before Penny pulled him to the floor.

    Neely’s surviving family members say they’ve been anticipating this moment and intend to attend the trial.

    “I just want to look into his face and wonder why he would do something like that,” said Mildred Mahazu, Neely’s 85-year-old aunt and primary caretaker after his mother died. “Jordan was somebody’s child. He was loved by his family.”

    Neely’s uncle, Christopher Neely, agreed.

    “Justice for Jordan is all we think about,” the 45-year-old Manhattan resident said. “We can’t let Jordan’s name be added to the list of Black people killed by a racist white person with no justice.”

    Prosecutors argued in court filings that Penny’s actions were unwarranted, reckless and negligent, even if he didn’t have the intention to kill.

    They’ve focused on recorded statements Penny made to police in which he describes Neely as a “crackhead,” touts his armed forces experience and demonstrates to officers the submission technique he used.

    “I just put him out. I just put him in a chokehold,” Penny said, according to a transcript of the recordings included in court filings. “He was threatening everybody.”

    “I’m not trying to kill the guy,” Penny said at another point to police. “I’m just trying to deescalate the situation.”

    Bragg’s office declined to comment beyond what its said in court filings. Prosecutors, in pretrial hearings, sought to exclude evidence about Neely’s medical and psychological history, including his record of substance abuse. The judge hadn’t released his ruling on that request as of Friday.

    Raiser said Penny’s defense will offer up other potential causes for Neely’s death, including high levels of the synthetic cannabinoid known as K2 that were identified in toxicology reports.

    They’ll also argue that video shared widely on social media proves Penny was not applying pressure consistently enough to render Neely unconscious, much less kill him, he said.

    “If he was applying that kind of pressure, Mr. Neely would have been rendered unconscious long before the video, circulating online, ever started,” Raiser said.

    In January, Penny’s lawyers lost their bid to have the case dismissed outright. Then earlier this month, Judge Maxwell Wiley rejected their request to prevent jurors from hearing Penny’s statements to police, as well as body camera footage from officers who initially responded.

    Penny’s attorneys argued that police should have read Penny his Miranda rights sooner and that his questioning at the police station amounted to an illegal arrest.

    But Wiley, in a written ruling, determined that Penny’s statements were admissible. The judge said Penny had waived his rights against self-incrimination in the interrogation room and willingly spoke to officers without a lawyer present.

    As for Christopher Neely, he hopes what’s not lost in the trial is the memory of his late nephew.

    “I want people to remember his strengths and his conquests to greatness and his conquering of fears,” he wrote. “I want people to remember that mental health is a serious issue and that it needs tenderness, not spontaneous rage. Most importantly, I want people to know that Jordan Neely was supremely loved and still is.”

    ___

    Follow Philip Marcelo at twitter.com/philmarcelo.

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  • Judge delays order in antitrust case requiring Google to open up its app store

    Judge delays order in antitrust case requiring Google to open up its app store

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    SAN FRANCISCO — A federal judge on Friday delayed an order requiring Google to open up its Android app store to more competition until an appeals court decides whether to block the shake-up because of legal questions surrounding a jury’s verdict that branded Google as an illegal monopolist.

    The delay granted during a court hearing in San Francisco comes less than two weeks after U.S. District Judge James Donato issued a decision that would have forced Google to make sweeping changes to its Play Store for Android smartphones starting Nov. 1.

    The mandated changes included a provision that would have required Google to make its library of more than 2 million Android apps available to any rivals that wanted access to the inventory and also distribute the alternative options in its own Play Store.

    Google requested Donato’s order be stayed until the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals could examine the handling of a monthlong trial that led to the December 2023 verdict, which framed the Play Store as an illegal monopoly that stifles innovation and drives up consumer prices.

    In Friday’s hearing, Donato scoffed at the notion that Google could succeed in overturning the trial verdict. “The verdict in this case was amply supported by a mountain of evidence about Google’s anti-competitive conduct,” the judge said.

    But he decided the Ninth Circuit should be given a chance to consider a postponement until a panel of judges can decide can consider Google’s appeal of the 2023 trial focused on antitrust claims lodged by video game maker Epic Games.

    Donato said he wouldn’t be surprised if the Ninth Circuit imposes an even longer delay on his ruling, “but that is for someone else to decide.”

    In a statement, Google said it was pleased Donato hit the pause button while it tries to extend the delay even further.

    “These remedies threaten Google Play’s ability to provide a safe and secure experience and we look forward to continuing to make our case to protect 100 million U.S. Android users, over 500,000 U.S. developers and thousands of partners who have benefited from our platforms,” Google said.

    Epic pointed to Donato’s critical comments about the merits of Google’s appeal in a statement that described the stay as a “procedural step.”

    It’s unclear how long the Ninth Circuit will take to decide on Google’s request for a permanent stay of Donato’s ruling while its appeals unfolds — a process that could take more than a year.

    In 2021, the Ninth Circuit delayed a provision of another federal judge’s order mandating that Apple allow links to alternative payment systems with apps made for the iPhone as part of another antitrust case brought by Epic.

    Although Apple avoided being labeled an illegal monopolist in a trial involving the iPhone app store, it unsuccessfully fought the provision requiring the company to allow alternative payment links within apps. But delaying that requirement preserved Apple’s exclusive control of a payment system that has generated commissions ranging from 15% to 30% on some e-commerce occurring within apps. Apple exhausted its avenue of appeals in the U.S. Supreme Court earlier this year.

    Google also pockets billions of dollars annually from a similar commission system within its Play Store for Android phones — a setup that is allowed to continue as long as Google can prevent Donato’s ruling from taking effect.

    In its arguments for delaying Donato’s order, Google said it wasn’t being given enough time to make the drastic changes it framed as “a Herculean task creating an unacceptable risk of safety and security failures within the Android ecosystem.” In its Friday statement, Epic blasted Google’s tactics as “fearmongering.”

    Google also argued the shake-up would saddle it with unreasonable costs, a contention Donato also brushed aside during Friday’s hearing.

    “I don’t want to be glib about it, but the expense that Google might incur appears to be a drop in the bucket compared to the profits it reaps annually from the Play Store,” Donato said.

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  • An ex-politician faces at least 20 years in prison in killing of Las Vegas reporter

    An ex-politician faces at least 20 years in prison in killing of Las Vegas reporter

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    LAS VEGAS — A former Las Vegas-area Democratic elected official was sentenced Wednesday to serve at least 28 years in Nevada state prison for killing an investigative journalist who wrote articles critical of his conduct in office two years ago and exposed an intimate relationship with a female coworker.

    A judge invoked sentencing enhancements for elements including use of a deadly weapon, laying in wait and the age of the reporter to add eight years to the minimum 20-year sentence that a jury set in August after finding Robert Telles guilty of murder.

    Telles, 47, testified in his defense and denied stabbing Las Vegas Review-Journal reporter Jeff German to death in September 2022. But evidence against him was strong — including his DNA beneath German’s fingernails.

    At the time, Telles was the elected administrator of a county office that handles unclaimed estate and probate property cases. He has been jailed without bail since his arrest several days after the attack.

    Telles’ defense attorney, Robert Draskovich, has said Telles intends to appeal his conviction.

    German was 69. He was a respected reporter who spent 44 years covering crime, courts and corruption in Las Vegas.

    Telles lost his primary for a second term in office after German’s stories in May and June 2022 described turmoil and bullying at the Clark County Public Administrator/Guardian office and a romantic relationship between Telles and a female employee. His law license was suspended following his arrest.

    Police sought public help to identify a person captured on neighborhood security video driving a maroon SUV and walking while wearing a broad straw hat that hid his face and an oversized orange long-sleeve shirt. Prosecutor Pamela Weckerly showed footage of the person wearing orange slipping into the side yard where German was stabbed, slashed and left dead.

    At Telles’ house, police found a maroon SUV and cut-up pieces of a straw hat and a gray athletic shoe that looked like those worn by the person seen on neighborhood video. Authorities did not find the orange long-sleeve shirt or a murder weapon.

    Telles testified for several rambling hours at his trial, admitting for the first time that reports of the office romance were true. He denied killing German and said he was “framed” by a broad conspiracy involving a real estate company, police, DNA analysts, former co-workers and others. He told the jury he was victimized for crusading to root out corruption

    “I am not the kind of person who would stab someone. I didn’t kill Mr. German,” Telles said. “And that’s my testimony.”

    But evidence against Telles was strong — including his DNA beneath German’s fingernails. Prosecutor Christopher Hamner said Telles blamed German for destroying his career, ruining his reputation and threatening his marriage.

    Telles told the jury he took a walk and went to a gym at the time German was killed. But evidence showed Telles’ wife sent text messages to him about the same time killed asking, “Where are you?” Prosecutors said Telles left his cellphone at home so he couldn’t be tracked.

    The jury deliberated nearly 12 hours over three days before finding Telles guilty. The panel heard pained sentencing hearing testimony from German’s brother and two sisters, along with emotional pleas for leniency from Telles’ wife, ex-wife and mother, before deciding that Telles could be eligible for parole.

    Clark County District Court Judge Michelle Leavitt was able to add up to eight years to Telles’ sentence for using a deadly weapon in a willful, deliberate, premeditated killing; because German was older than 60 years old; and for lying in wait before the attack.

    District Attorney Steve Wolfson said he was “hopeful and confident” the judge would impose a sentence that could keep Telles behind bars for the rest of his life.

    “This defendant has shown absolutely no remorse, no acceptance of responsibility,” said the Democratic elected regional prosecutor. “And in fact, his behavior is such that I believe he is an extreme danger to the community if he is ever released.”

    German was the only journalist killed in the U.S. in 2022, according to the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists. The nonprofit has records of 17 media workers killed in the U.S. since 1992.

    Katherine Jacobsen, the U.S., Canada, and Caribbean program coordinator at the committee, said in August that Telles’ conviction sent “an important message that the killing of journalists will not be tolerated.”

    Telles’ attorney, Robert Draskovich, has said Telles intends to appeal his conviction.

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  • Jurors in trial of Salman Rushdie’s attacker likely won’t hear about his motive

    Jurors in trial of Salman Rushdie’s attacker likely won’t hear about his motive

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    MAYVILLE, N.Y. — MAYVILLE, N.Y. (AP) —

    Jurors picked for the trial of a man who severely injured author Salman Rushdie in a knife attack likely won’t hear about the fatwa that authorities have said motivated him to act, a prosecutor said Friday.

    “We’re not going there,” District Attorney Jason Schmidt said during a conference in preparation for the Oct. 15 start of Hadi Matar’s trial in Chautauqua County Court. Schmidt said raising a motive was unnecessary, given that the attack was witnessed and recorded by a live audience who had gathered to hear Rushdie speak.

    Potential jurors will nevertheless face questions meant to root out implicit bias because Matar, of Fairview, New Jersey, is the son of Lebanese immigrants and practices Islam, Judge David Foley said. He said it would be foolish to assume potential jurors had not heard about the fatwa through media coverage of the case.

    Matar, 26, is charged with attempted murder for stabbing Rushdie, 77, more than a dozen times, blinding him in one eye, as he took the stage at a literary conference at the Chautauqua Institution in August 2022.

    A separate federal indictment charges him with terrorism, alleging Matar was attempting to carry out a fatwa, a call for Rushdie’s death, first issued in 1989.

    Defense attorney Nathaniel Barone sought assurances that jurors in the state trial would be properly vetted, fearing the current global unrest would influence their feelings toward Matar, who he said faced racism growing up.

    “We’re concerned there may be prejudicial feelings in the community,” said Barone, who also has sought a change of venue out of Chautauqua County. The request is pending before an appellate court.

    Rushdie spent years in hiding after the Ayatollah Khomeini issued the fatwa over his novel “The Satanic Verses,” which some Muslims consider blasphemous. Rushdie slowly began to reemerge into public life in the late 1990s, and he has traveled freely over the past two decades.

    The author, who detailed the attack and his recovery in a memoir, is expected to testify early in Matar’s trial.

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  • Nevada high court orders dismissal of Chasing Horse sex abuse case but says charges can be refiled

    Nevada high court orders dismissal of Chasing Horse sex abuse case but says charges can be refiled

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    LAS VEGAS (AP) — The Nevada Supreme Court has ordered the dismissal of a sprawling sex abuse indictment against Nathan Chasing Horse, while leaving open the possibility of charges being refiled in a case that sent shockwaves throughout Indian Country and led to more criminal charges in the U.S. and Canada.

    Proceedings in the 18-count criminal case have been at a standstill for more than a year while the former “Dances with Wolves” actor challenged it. The full seven-member court’s decision, issued Thursday, reverses earlier rulings upholding the charges by a three-member panel of the high court and a state judge.

    Kristy Holston, the chief deputy public defender representing Chasing Horse, had argued that a definition of grooming presented to the grand jury without expert testimony tainted the state’s case. Holston said prosecutors also failed to provide the grand jury with evidence that could have cast a doubt on the allegations against Chasing Horse, including what she described as inconsistent statements made by one of the victims.

    The high court agreed.

    “The combination of these two clear errors undermines our confidence in the grand jury proceedings and created intolerable damage to the independent function of the grand jury process,” the court said in its scathing order.

    The ruling directs the judge overseeing the case in Clark County District Court to dismiss the indictment without prejudice, meaning charges against Chasing Horse can be refiled. But the order for dismissal won’t take effect immediately, as prosecutors also have the option to ask the high court to reconsider within 25 days.

    “The allegations against Chasing Horse are indisputably serious, and we express no opinion about Chasing Horse’s guilt or innocence,” the order says.

    Holston declined to comment. District Attorney Steve Wolfson, in a statement Thursday, described the court’s decision as “only a minor setback.”

    “My office is committed to resurrecting the charges in this case,” Wolfson said, “and we will not rest until we obtain justice on behalf of the victims in this matter.”

    Chasing Horse is charged with sexual assault of a minor, kidnapping and child abuse. He has pleaded not guilty.

    The 48-year-old has been in custody since his arrest last January near the North Las Vegas home he is said to have shared with five wives. He is unlikely to be released from custody, even after the high court’s decision, because he faces charges in at least four other jurisdictions, including U.S. District Court in Nevada and on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation in Montana.

    Chasing Horse is best known for portraying Smiles A Lot in the 1990 film “Dances with Wolves.” But in the decades since starring in the Oscar-winning movie, authorities said, he built a reputation as a self-proclaimed medicine man among tribes and traveled around North America to perform healing ceremonies.

    He is accused of using that position to gain access to vulnerable girls and women starting in the early 2000s, leading a cult and taking underage wives. Authorities have said one of the wives was offered to Chasing Horse as a “gift” when she was 15, while another “became a wife” after turning 16.

    Chasing Horse also is accused of recording sexual assaults and arranging sex with the victims for other men who allegedly paid him.

    His legal issues have been unfolding at the same time lawmakers and prosecutors around the U.S. are funneling more resources into cases involving Native women, including human trafficking and murders. Chasing Horse was born on the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota, which is home to the Sicangu Sioux, one of the seven tribes of the Lakota nation.

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  • Memphis man gets life sentence for killing rapper Young Dolph

    Memphis man gets life sentence for killing rapper Young Dolph

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    MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Justin Johnson was found guilty of murder in the death of rapper Young Dolph on Thursday after the jury heard testimony from a co-defendant that the killing was part of a feud between rival record labels.

    Jurors deliberated for just under four hours before finding Johnson guilty of murder, conspiracy to commit murder and being a felon in possession of a gun. Shelby County Criminal Court Judge Jennifer Mitchell sentenced Johnson to life in prison.

    Cornelius Smith testified that rapper Yo Gotti’s brother, Anthony “Big Jook” Mims, had put out a $100,000 hit on Young Dolph and had also put bounties on all the artists at Young Dolph’s record label, Paper Route Empire. Smith said he and co-defendant Johnson set out on the morning of Nov. 17, 2021, “looking for somebody” and “didn’t know who we were going to catch.”

    They knew that Young Dolph and some of his artists were participating in a Thanksgiving turkey giveaway, so they were heading in that direction when they saw Young Dolph’s car. They followed him to a Memphis cookie shop and opened fire in broad daylight, Smith said. Young Dolph was hit 22 times and died at the scene.

    Deputy District Attorney Paul Hagerman, in opening statements, told jurors that Young Dolph, whose real name was Adolph Thornton Jr., was determined to make it on his own as an artist, and also with his own label.

    “Trying to make it on your own can create enemies,” Hagerman said.

    He noted that Cocaine Muzik Group (now known as Collective Music Group), a rival record label founded by Yo Gotti, wanted Young Dolph to work for them, but he turned them down. Young Dolph later wrote diss tracks directed at the label, its artists, and its “number two person,” Big Jook. Big Jook was shot and killed outside a restaurant earlier this year.

    In addition to Smith’s testimony, prosecutors presented a mountain of circumstantial evidence, including from surveillance cameras and Johnson’s own cell phone.

    Johnson had pleaded not guilty, and defense attorney Luke Evans said in closing arguments that the videos only prove that someone wearing similar clothing to Johnson shot Young Dolph. Evans told the jury Smith would say anything to try to save himself.

    “Cornelius Smith is lying from start to finish,” Evans said.

    Smith is also charged with murder and conspiracy to commit murder and has pleaded not guilty.

    Evans also noted that Smith’s fingerprints were found in the getaway car but Johnson’s were not. And he said there was “no proof that Justin Johnson got a penny,” while Smith testified he received $800 before he was arrested and his defense attorney later received another $50,000.

    Hagerman countered that the video and cell phone evidence corroborated Smith’s story. They included calls between Smith and Johnson shortly before the killing and a call between Johnson and Big Jook immediately after.

    Also testifying was Jermarcus Johnson, who pleaded guilty in June 2023 to three counts of serving as an accessory after the killing by helping Smith and Justin Johnson, his half-brother. Jermarcus Johnson has acknowledged helping the two communicate by cellphone while they were on the run from authorities. He has not been sentenced.

    Hernandez Govan, whom Smith identified as a go-between with Big Jook, has pleaded not guilty to organizing the killing.

    Young Dolph began his career by releasing numerous mixtapes, starting with 2008′s “Paper Route Campaign.” His multiple studio albums include his 2016 debut “King of Memphis.” He also collaborated on other mixtapes and albums with fellow rappers Key Glock, Megan Thee Stallion, T.I., Gucci Mane, 2 Chainz and others.

    Young Dolph had three albums reach the top 10 on the Billboard 200, with 2020′s “Rich Slave” peaking at No. 4.

    ____

    Loller contributed from Nashville, Tenn.

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  • Nevada high court orders lower court to dismiss Chasing Horse sex abuse case

    Nevada high court orders lower court to dismiss Chasing Horse sex abuse case

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    LAS VEGAS — The Nevada Supreme Court has ordered the dismissal of a sprawling sex abuse indictment against Nathan Chasing Horse, while leaving open the possibility of charges being refiled in a case that sent shockwaves throughout Indian Country and led to more criminal charges in the U.S. and Canada.

    The full seven-member court’s decision, issued Thursday, reverses earlier rulings upholding the charges by a three-member panel of the high court and a state judge. Proceedings in the 18-count criminal case have been at a standstill for more than a year while the former “Dances with Wolves” actor challenged it.

    Kristy Holston, the deputy public defender representing Chasing Horse, had argued that some evidence presented to the grand jury, including an improper definition of grooming that was presented without expert testimony, had tainted the state’s case. Holston said prosecutors also failed to provide the grand jury with exculpatory evidence, including inconsistent statements made by one of the victims.

    The high court agreed.

    “The combination of these two clear errors undermines our confidence in the grand jury proceedings and created intolerable damage to the independent function of the grand jury process,” the court said in its scathing order.

    Holston declined to comment further. Prosecutor Stacy Kollins did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment.

    The ruling directs the judge overseeing the case in Clark County District Court to dismiss the indictment without prejudice, meaning the charges can be refiled.

    “The allegations against Chasing Horse are indisputably serious, and we express no opinion about Chasing Horse’s guilt or innocence,” the order says.

    Chasing Horse’s lawyer had also had argued that the case should be dismissed because, the former actor said, the sexual encounters were consensual. One of his accusers was younger than 16, the age of consent in Nevada, when the alleged abuse began, authorities said.

    The 48-year-old has been in custody since his arrest last January near the North Las Vegas home he is said to have shared with five wives. He also faces criminal sexual abuse charges in at least four other jurisdictions, including U.S. District Court in Nevada and on the Fort Perk Indian Reservation in Montana.

    Chasing Horse is best known for portraying Smiles A Lot in the 1990 film “Dances with Wolves.” But in the decades since starring in the Oscar-winning movie, authorities said, he built a reputation as self-proclaimed medicine man among tribes and traveled around North America to perform healing ceremonies.

    He is accused of using that position to gain access to vulnerable girls and women starting in the early 2000s.

    Las Vegas police arrested Chasing Horse in January 2023. The arrest helped law enforcement agencies in two countries corroborate long-standing allegations against the former actor.

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  • Man convicted of sending his son to rob and kill rapper PnB Rock gets 31 years to life

    Man convicted of sending his son to rob and kill rapper PnB Rock gets 31 years to life

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    LOS ANGELES — A man convicted of sending his 17-year-old son into a restaurant to rob and kill rapper PnB Rock was sentenced Monday to 31 years to life in prison.

    Judge Connie Quinones handed down the sentence to Freddie Trone, 42, in Los Angeles County Superior Court. A jury on Aug. 7 found Trone guilty of one count of murder, two counts of robbery and one count of conspiracy to commit robbery.

    Both sides at Trone’s trial agreed that the teen walked into Roscoe’s Chicken & Waffles in South Los Angeles in September 2022 and shot the Philadelphia hip-hop star, whose legal name is Rakim Allen, while robbing him of his jewelry as he ate with the mother of his 4-year-old daughter.

    The prosecution said he was acting on his father’s orders, while the defense, which plans to appeal, said Trone was only an accessory after the fact.

    “I want to extend my deepest condolences to the family, friends, and fans of Rakim Allen,” District Attorney George Gascón said in a statement. “His life was cut short by an act of violence that no family should have to endure.”

    Trone’s attorney, Winston McKesson, said he disagreed with the judge. He said she declined at sentencing to give the reasons why his client was a “major participant” in the crime, as usually occurs.

    He told The Associated Press after the sentencing there was no evidence that Trone was part of planning a killing, nor evidence he knew his son was armed. McKesson said a gun found with Allen was not sufficiently explained at trial, and the jury violated the judge’s instructions by doing its own investigating with the evidence, including slowing down video they were shown in real time. He plans to file a notice of appeal.

    Deannea Allen, the rapper’s mother, traveled from their hometown of Philadelphia to give a statement in the Compton courtroom.

    “I do not understand how a parent could directly put their child in danger. I just can’t comprehend it. That one action had a ripple effect, and it has ruined many lives,” Deannea Allen said, according to Rolling Stone. “Rakim was the shining light in our family. He was a star to us.”

    Trone’s now-19-year-old son was also charged with murder but is in the custody of the juvenile system. A judge has found that he is not currently competent to stand trial.

    The AP does not typically name minors who are accused of crimes.

    PnB Rock was best known for his 2016 hit “Selfish” and for guest appearances on other artists’ songs such as YFN Lucci’s “Everyday We Lit” and Ed Sheeran’s “Cross Me” with Chance the Rapper. He was 30.

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  • A ‘Trump Train’ convoy surrounded a Biden-Harris bus. Was it political violence?

    A ‘Trump Train’ convoy surrounded a Biden-Harris bus. Was it political violence?

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    AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A Texas jury will soon decide whether a convoy of supporters of then-President Donald Trump violently intimidated former Democratic lawmaker Wendy Davis and two others on a Biden-Harris campaign bus when a so-called “Trump Train” boxed them in for more than an hour on a Texas highway days before the 2020 election.

    The trial, which began on Sept. 9, resumes Monday and is expected to last another week.

    Attorneys for the plaintiffs argued that six of the Trump Train drivers violated state and federal law. Lawyers for the defendants said they did not conspire against the Democrats on the bus and that their actions are protected speech.

    Here’s what else to know:

    What happened on Oct. 30, 2020?

    Dozens of cars and trucks organized by a local Trump Train group swarmed the bus on its way from San Antonio to Austin. It was the last day of early voting in Texas for the 2020 general election, and the bus was scheduled to make a stop in San Marcos for an event at Texas State University.

    Video recorded by Davis shows pickup trucks with large Trump flags aggressively slowing down and boxing in the bus as it tried to move away from the Trump Train. One defendant hit a campaign volunteer’s car while the trucks occupied all lanes of traffic, slowing the bus and everyone around it to a 15 mph crawl.

    Those on the bus — including Davis, a campaign staffer and the driver — repeatedly called 911 asking for help and a police escort through San Marcos, but when no law enforcement arrived, the campaign canceled the event and pushed forward to Austin.

    San Marcos settled a separate lawsuit filed by the same three Democrats against the police, agreeing to pay $175,000 and mandate political violence training for law enforcement.

    Davis testified that she felt she was being “taken hostage” and has sought treatment for anxiety.

    In the days leading up to the event, Democrats were also intimidated, harassed and received death threats, the lawsuit said.

    “I feel like they were enjoying making us afraid,” Davis testified. “It’s traumatic for all of us to revisit that day.”

    What’s the plaintiffs’ argument?

    In opening statements, an attorney for the plaintiffs said convoy organizers targeted the bus in a calculated attack to intimidate the Democrats in violation of the “Ku Klux Klan Act,” an 1871 federal law that bans political violence and intimidation.

    “We’re here because of actions that put people’s lives in danger,” said Samuel Hall, an attorney with the law firm Willkie Farr & Gallagher. The plaintiffs, he said, were “literally driven out of town by a swarm of trucks.”

    The six Trump Train drivers succeeded in making the campaign cancel its remaining events in Texas in a war they believed was “between good and evil,” Hall said.

    Two nonprofit advocacy groups, Texas Civil Rights Project and Protect Democracy, also are representing the three plaintiffs.

    What’s the defense’s argument?

    Attorneys for the defendants, who are accused of driving and organizing the convoy, said they did not conspire to swarm the Democrats on the bus, which could have exited the highway at any point.

    “This was a political rally. This was not some conspiracy to intimidate people,” said attorney Jason Greaves, who is representing two of the drivers.

    The defense also argued that their clients’ actions were protected speech and that the trial is a concerted effort to “drain conservatives of their money,” according to Francisco Canseco, a lawyer for three of the defendants.

    “It was a rah-rah group that sought to support and advocate for a candidate of their choice in a very loud way,” Canseco said during opening statements.

    The defense lost a bid last month to have the case ruled in their favor without a trial. The judge wrote that “assaulting, intimidating, or imminently threatening others with force is not protected expression.”

    ___

    Lathan is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.

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  • Ahmaud Arbery’s family is still waiting for ex-prosecutor’s misconduct trial after 3 years

    Ahmaud Arbery’s family is still waiting for ex-prosecutor’s misconduct trial after 3 years

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    SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — Three years after a former Georgia district attorney was indicted on charges alleging she interfered with police investigating the 2020 killing of Ahmaud Arbery, the case’s slow progression through the court system has sputtered to a halt, one the presiding judge insists is temporary.

    Jackie Johnson was the state’s top prosecutor for coastal Glynn County in February 2020, when Arbery was chased by three white men in pickup trucks who had spotted him running in their neighborhood. The 25-year-old Black man died in the street after one of his pursuers shot him with a shotgun.

    Johnson transferred the case to an outside prosecutor because the man who initiated the deadly chase, Greg McMichael, was her former employee. But Georgia’s attorney general says she illegally used her office to try to protect the retired investigator and his son, Travis McMichael, who fired the fatal shots.

    Both McMichaels already have been convicted and sentenced to prison in back-to-back trials for murder and federal hate crimes. So has a neighbor, William “Roddie” Bryan, whose cellphone video of the shooting triggered a national outcry over Arbery’s death. A court heard their first appeals six months ago.

    The criminal misconduct case against Johnson has moved at a comparative crawl since a grand jury indicted her on Sept. 2, 2021, on a felony count of violating her oath of office and a misdemeanor count of hindering a police officer.

    While the men responsible for Arbery’s death are serving life sentences, the slain man’s family has insisted that justice won’t be complete until Johnson stands trial.

    “It’s very, very important,” said Wanda Cooper-Jones, Arbery’s mother. “Jackie Johnson was really part of the problem early on.”

    Johnson has pleaded not guilty and denied wrongdoing. After losing reelection in 2020, she told The Associated Press that she immediately recused herself in the handling of Arbery’s killing because of Greg McMichael’s involvement.

    Dozens of Black Lives Matter and Black Panther protesters gather outside the Glynn County Courthouse where the trial of Travis McMichael, his father, Gregory McMichael, and William “Roddie” Bryan is held, Nov. 22, 2021, in Brunswick, Ga. (AP Photo/Stephen B. Morton, File)

    Johnson’s case has stalled as one of her attorneys, Brian Steel, has spent most of the past two years in an Atlanta courtroom defending Grammy-winning rapper Young Thug against racketeering and gang charges. Jury selection in the case took 10 months, prosecutors began presenting evidence last November and they are still calling witnesses.

    Senior Judge John R. Turner, who was assigned to Johnson’s case, insists there is nothing he can do but wait.

    “If anyone’s concerned that the case is being shuffled under the rug, I can guarantee you it’s not,” Turner told the AP in a phone interview. “It’s moving at a snail’s pace, but it will move forward eventually.”

    After Arbery was killed, Greg McMichael told police that he and his son had armed themselves and chased the Black man, suspecting he was a fleeing criminal. Bryan, who didn’t know any of the men, made a similar assumption after seeing them pass his home and joined in his own truck.

    The indictment against Johnson alleges she told police they shouldn’t arrest Travis McMichael. It also accuses her of “showing favor and affection” to Greg McMichael by calling on George Barnhill, a district attorney in a neighboring judicial circuit, to advise police about how to handle the shooting.

    Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr appointed Barnhill four days later to take over as outside prosecutor. Carr has said he picked Barnhill without knowing he already had advised police that he saw no grounds for arrests in Arbery’s death.

    Barnhill stepped aside after a few weeks, but not before he sent a letter to police captain arguing the McMichaels acted legally and Arbery was killed in self-defense.

    After Johnson was charged, she reported to jail for booking and was released without having to post bond. Her attorneys waived a formal reading of the charges before a judge and she has yet to appear in court. The judge denied legal motions by Johnson’s lawyers to dismiss the case last November. Court records show no further developments over the past 10 months.

    “Securing an indictment is just one step in our ongoing pursuit of justice for Ahmaud Arbery and his family,” Carr said in a statement. “We have never stopped fighting for them, and we look forward to the opportunity to present our case in court.”

    Johnson’s attorneys, Steel and John Ossick, did not respond to emails and a phone message seeking comment. They have argued in court filings there is “not a scintilla of evidence” that she hindered police.

    Prosecutors responded with a court filing that listed 16 calls between phones belonging to Johnson and Greg McMichael in the weeks following the shooting.

    Two legal experts who aren’t involved in the case said there is no deadline for Johnson to stand trial. She hasn’t been jailed, so there is little pressure to expedite her case.

    Steel’s prolonged absence because of the Atlanta gang trial likely isn’t the only factor slowing the case, Atlanta defense attorney Don Samuel said.

    Courts remain saddled with a backlog of cases since the COVID-19 lockdowns, he said. And the attorney general’s office has a limited staff of criminal prosecutors with their own busy caseloads.

    Samuel also questioned whether prosecutors have a strong case against Johnson. Even if she opposed charging the McMichaels in Arbery’s death, he said, prosecutors haven’t accused her of taking bribes or similar blatant corruption.

    District attorneys “have a huge amount of discretion to make decisions about what cases to pursue,” Samuel said. “The notion that we’re going to start prosecuting DAs for prosecuting or not prosecuting strikes me as really being on the edge of propriety.”

    Danny Porter, the former district attorney for Gwinnett County in metro Atlanta, said prosecutors like Johnson have a legitimate role in advising police on whether or not to arrest suspects before an investigation is complete.

    As for Johnson’s recommendation in 2020 that the attorney general replace her with another prosecutor who concluded Arbery’s killing was justified, Porter said: “I don’t think that’s a violation of the law, though it might have made them mad.”

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  • Man convicted of trying to arrange the murder of a federal prosecutor

    Man convicted of trying to arrange the murder of a federal prosecutor

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    BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — A jury has convicted a man of trying to arrange the murder of a federal prosecutor in Alabama.

    Jurors on Thursday convicted Michael Roman Black, 32, of making a threat to murder a federal official, solicitation to commit murder and making false statements to a federal agent.

    Federal prosecutors wrote in a news release that Black, while incarcerated in Hoover, told another inmate about his plan to have one of the federal prosecutors working on his case murdered by two associates “on the outside.” Federal prosecutors said he shared details of who he planned to contact and that he would have them shoot the prosecutor in her car.

    Black faces up to 20 years in prison on the solicitation charge, 10 years in prison for the charge of making a threat and five years for the charge of making a false statement. He will be sentenced in December.

    A defense lawyer listed for Black did not immediately return an email seeking comment.

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  • Hunter Biden enters surprise guilty plea to avoid tax trial months after his gun conviction

    Hunter Biden enters surprise guilty plea to avoid tax trial months after his gun conviction

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    LOS ANGELES (AP) — President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter, pleaded guilty Thursday to federal tax charges, a surprise move meant to spare his family another painful and embarrassing criminal trial after his gun case conviction just months ago.

    Hunter Biden’s decision to plead guilty to misdemeanor and felony charges without the benefits of a deal with prosecutors caps a long-running saga over his legal woes that have cast a shadow over his father’s political career. It came hours after jury selection was supposed to begin in the case accusing him of failing to pay at least $1.4 million in taxes.

    The president’s son was already facing potential prison time after his June conviction on felony gun charges in a trial that aired unflattering and salacious details about his struggles with a crack cocaine addiction. The tax trial was expected to showcase more potentially lurid evidence as well as details about Hunter Biden’s foreign business dealings, which Republicans have seized on to try to paint the Biden family as corrupt.

    “I will not subject my family to more pain, more invasions of privacy and needless embarrassment,” Hunter Biden said in an emailed statement after he entered his plea. “For all I have put them through over the years, I can spare them this, and so I have decided to plead guilty.”

    Although President Joe Biden’s decision to drop out of the 2024 presidential election muted the potential political implications of the tax case, the trial was expected to carry a heavy emotional toll for the president in the final months of his five-decade political career.

    “Hunter put his family first today, and it was a brave and loving thing for him to do,” defense attorney Abbe Lowell told reporters outside the federal courthouse in Los Angeles.

    Hunter Biden, 54, quickly responded “guilty” as the judge read out each of the nine counts. He showed no emotion as he walked out the courthouse holding his wife’s hand. He ignored questions shouted at him by reporters before climbing into an SUV and driving off.

    The charges carry up to 17 years behind bars, but federal sentencing guidelines are likely to call for a much shorter sentence. He faces up to $1.35 million in fines. Sentencing is set for Dec. 16 in front of U.S. District Judge Mark Scarsi, who was nominated to the bench by former President Donald Trump.

    He faces sentencing in the Delaware case on Nov. 13 — the week after the general election. Those charges are punishable by up to 25 years in prison, though he is likely to get far less time or avoid prison entirely.

    More than 100 potential jurors had been brought to the courthouse Thursday to begin the process of picking the panel to hear the case alleging a four-year scheme to avoid paying taxes while spending wildly on things like strippers, luxury hotels and exotic cars.

    Prosecutors were caught off guard when Hunter Biden’s lawyer told the judge Thursday morning that Hunter wanted to enter what’s known as an Alford plea, under which a defendant maintains their innocence but acknowledges prosecutors have enough evidence to secure a conviction.

    Special counsel David Weiss’ team objected to such a plea, telling the judge that Hunter Biden “is not entitled to plead guilty on special terms that apply only to him.”

    “Hunter Biden is not innocent. Hunter Biden is guilty,” prosecutor Leo Wise said.

    After a break in the hearing, Hunter Biden’s lawyers said he had decided to plead guilty to all nine charges.

    Last year, it had looked like he was going to be spared prison time under a deal with prosecutors that would have allowed him to plead guilty to misdemeanor tax offenses. Prosecutors would have recommended two years of probation and he would have escaped prosecution on a felony gun charge as long he stayed out of trouble for two years.

    But the agreement imploded after a judge questioned unusual aspects of it, and Hunter Biden was subsequently indicted in the two cases. The defense has accused special counsel Weiss of caving to political pressure to indict the president’s son after Trump and other Republicans blasted what they described as a “sweetheart deal.”

    The indictment brought last year grew out of an investigation into Hunter Biden’s taxes that began in 2018 under the Trump administration. Hunter Biden confirmed the existence of the investigation in December 2020 — the month after his father won the election — saying he learned about it for the first time the previous day.

    Prosecutors alleged that Hunter Biden lived lavishly while flouting the tax law, spending his cash on things like strippers and luxury hotels — “in short, everything but his taxes.”

    The charges in both the gun and tax cases stemmed from a period in Hunter Biden’s life in which he struggled with drug and alcohol abuse before becoming sober in 2019. His lawyers had been expected to argue that his substance abuse struggles affected his decision-making and judgment, so he could not have acted “willfully,” or with intention to break the tax law.

    “As I have stated, addiction is not an excuse, but it is an explanation for some of my failures at issue in this case,” Hunter Biden said in a statement. “When I was addicted, I wasn’t thinking about my taxes, I was thinking about surviving. But the jury would never have heard that or know that I had paid every penny of my back taxes including penalties.”

    His decision to plead guilty came after the judge issued some unfavorable pre-trial rulings for the defense, including rejecting a proposed defense expert lined up to testify about addiction. Scarsi had also placed some restrictions on what jurors would be allowed to hear about the traumatic events that Hunter Biden’s family, friends and attorneys say led to his drug addiction.

    Hunter Biden’s attorneys had asked Scarsi to also limit prosecutors from highlighting details of his expenses that they say amount to a “character assassination,” including payments made to strippers or pornographic websites.

    Prosecutors had also planned to introduce evidence about Hunter Biden’s overseas business dealings, including his work for a Romanian businessman who prosecutors said in court papers sought to “influence U.S. government policy” while Joe Biden was vice president.

    ___

    Lauer reported from Philadelphia. AP writer Zeke Miller contributed from Washington.

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  • Jury deliberating fate of ex-politician accused of killing Las Vegas investigative reporter

    Jury deliberating fate of ex-politician accused of killing Las Vegas investigative reporter

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    LAS VEGAS (AP) — A jury began deliberating Monday in the trial of a former Las Vegas-area Democratic politician accused of killing an investigative journalist who prosecutors said the official blamed for writing stories that destroyed his career, ruined his reputation and threatened his marriage.

    “And he did it because Jeff wasn’t done writing,” prosecutor Christopher Hamner said during closing arguments of defendant Robert Telles and the reporter, Jeff German. “It’s like connecting the dots.”

    Jurors deliberated for about four hours before breaking for the evening, to return Tuesday.

    Earlier, they sent the judge a note seeking more note paper and a court technician to show them how to zoom in on laptop video while in the jury room. They remained an hour past the court’s usual 5 p.m. end time.

    Telles lost his Democratic primary for a second term after German’s first stories for the Las Vegas Review-Journal in May 2022 about Telles’ conduct heading an obscure county office that handles unclaimed estates. The reports described turmoil and bullying in Telles’ workplace and a romantic relationship between Telles and a female employee.

    The day before German was stabbed to death, Telles learned that Clark County officials were about to provide German with email and text messages that Telles and the woman shared, in response to the reporter’s request for public records. Another story was in the offing, Hamner said.

    “The murder is the very next day … about 15 hours later,” prosecutor Pamela Weckerly said as she presented to the jury a timeline and videos of Telles’ maroon SUV leaving the neighborhood near his home a little after 9 a.m. on Sept. 2, 2022, and driving on streets near German’s home a short time later.

    The SUV driver was seen wearing a bright orange outfit similar to one worn by a person captured on camera walking to German’s home and slipping into a side yard.

    “That person stays, lying in wait,” Weckerly said, playing again a video from a neighbor’s home showing German’s garage door rise and German walk into the side yard where he was attacked just after 11:15 a.m.

    A little more than two minutes elapse, then the figure in orange emerges and walks down a sidewalk. German does not reappear.

    The prosecutor said the killing was first-degree murder because evidence showed it was willful, deliberate and premeditated. While prosecutors did not have the murder weapon, she said evidence was clear that one was used.

    Weckerly also focused on a text message from Telles’ wife, which he failed to answer, asking, “Where are you?” about 45 minutes before evidence showed German was killed.

    Hamner and Weckerly told the jury they believe Telles didn’t respond because he left his cellphone — and its ability to track him — at home.

    German’s body was found the next day, and Telles’ DNA was found beneath German’s fingernails. When asked about the DNA, Telles said he believed it was planted.

    None of German’s blood or DNA was found on Telles, in his vehicle or at his home, defense attorney Robert Draskovich said Monday, urging the jury to, “Ask yourself what is missing.”

    Draskovich introduced a new clip of video for the first time, zeroing in on a view of a maroon SUV like Telles,’ seen through the passenger window with the shadowed silhouette of a driver at the wheel. The image was prosecution evidence that had not been shown to the jury.

    That driver was not Telles, the lawyer said, noting that his client is completely bald.

    The jury heard again about cut-up pieces of a broad straw hat and a gray athletic shoe found at Telles’ house that looked like ones worn by the person wearing the orange shirt, which was never found.

    “You are the sole judges of the facts,” Draskovich told the jury during his closing arguments before the panel was pared to 12, broke for lunch and began just before 2 p.m. to deliberate whether they all believe Telles murdered German.

    “I’m not crazy. I’m not trying to avoid responsibility,” Telles told the jury on Friday to end his second and final round of self-guided testimony in his defense. “I didn’t kill Mr. German, and I’m innocent.”

    The testimony came the day German would have turned 71. Originally from Milwaukee, he was a respected journalist who spent 44 years covering crime, courts and corruption in Las Vegas.

    Telles, 47, is an attorney who practiced civil law before he was elected in 2018. His law license was suspended following his arrest several days after German was killed. He faces up to life in prison if he is found guilty.

    Jurors have been attentive throughout the trial, watching Telles in the witness box and the defense table. He sat Monday with his brow creased and his eyes slightly squinted at computer images in front of him as Weckerly and Hamner spoke.

    In his testimony, he had named office colleagues, real estate agents, business owners and police he accused of “framing” him for German’s killing. He said it was retaliation for his crusading effort to root out corruption he saw in his office of about eight employees handling probate property cases.

    “I am not the kind of person who would stab someone. I didn’t kill Mr. German,” Telles said Thursday. “And that’s my testimony.”

    Where Telles was when German was killed remained a central focus during the trial, as Weckerly and Hamner presented 28 witnesses and hundreds of pages of photos, police reports and video.

    Telles and five other people testified during trial for the defense. No Telles family members were called to the stand or identified in the trial gallery.

    About a dozen German family members sat silently together in the hushed courtroom on Monday. They declined as a group to comment to The Associated Press.

    The killing drew widespread attention. German was the only journalist killed in the U.S. in 2022, according to the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists. The nonprofit has records of 17 media workers killed in the U.S. since 1992.

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  • Montana asbestos clinic seeks to reverse $6M in fines, penalties over false claims

    Montana asbestos clinic seeks to reverse $6M in fines, penalties over false claims

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    BILLINGS, Mont. — A health clinic in a Montana town that was polluted with deadly asbestos will ask a federal appeals court on Wednesday to reverse almost $6 million in fines and penalties after a jury determined it submitted hundreds of false claims on behalf of patients.

    The jury verdict came last year in a lawsuit brought by Texas-based BNSF Railway, which separately has been found liable over contamination in Libby, Montana, that’s sickened or killed thousands of people. Asbestos-tainted vermiculite was mined from a nearby mountain and shipped through the 3,000-person town by rail over decades.

    After BNSF questioned the validity of more than 2,000 cases of asbestos-related diseases found by the clinic, a jury last year said 337 of those cases were based on false claims, making patients eligible for Medicare and other benefits they shouldn’t have received.

    Asbestos-related diseases can range from a thickening of a person’s lung cavity that can hamper breathing to deadly cancer. Exposure to even a minuscule amount of asbestos can cause lung problems, according to scientists. Symptoms can take decades to develop.

    BNSF alleged the clinic submitted claims based on patient X-ray evidence that should have been corroborated by a health care provider’s diagnosis, but were not. Clinic representatives argued they were acting in good faith and following the guidance of federal officials who said an X-ray reading alone was sufficient diagnosis of asbestos disease.

    Judge Dana Christensen ordered the clinic to pay $5.8 million in penalties and damages. BNSF would get 25% of the money because it brought the lawsuit on behalf of the government. Federal prosecutors previously declined to intervene in the false claims case and there have been no criminal charges brought against the clinic.

    Clinic attorney Tim Bechtold said in court filings that the judge overseeing the lawsuit gave the seven-person jury erroneous instructions, essentially pre-determining the verdict. Attorneys for BNSF urged the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to affirm last year’s ruling.

    Arguments from the two sides were scheduled for 9 a.m. local time on Wednesday in Portland, Oregon.

    The judgment prompted clinic officials to file for bankruptcy, but the bankruptcy case was later dismissed at the request of government attorneys. They said the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services was the main funding source for the clinic but also its primary creditor, therefore any costs associated with the bankruptcy would come at taxpayers’ expense.

    The clinic has certified more than 3,400 people with asbestos-related disease and received more than $20 million in federal funding, according to court documents.

    Under a provision in the 2009 federal health law, victims of asbestos exposure in the Libby area are eligible for taxpayer-funded services including Medicare, housekeeping, travel to medical appointments and disability benefits for those who can’t work.

    The Libby area was declared a Superfund site two decades ago following media reports that mine workers and their families were getting sick and dying due to hazardous asbestos dust from vermiculite that was mined by W.R. Grace & Co.

    BNSF is itself a defendant in hundreds of asbestos-related lawsuits. In April, a federal jury said the railway contributed to the deaths of two people who were exposed to asbestos decades ago by tainted mining material was shipped through Libby.

    The jury awarded $4 million each in compensatory damages to the estates of the two plaintiffs, who died in 2020. Jurors said asbestos-contaminated vermiculite that spilled in Libby’s downtown rail yard was a substantial factor in the plaintiffs’ illnesses and deaths.

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  • Montana asbestos clinic seeks to reverse $6M in fines, penalties over false claims

    Montana asbestos clinic seeks to reverse $6M in fines, penalties over false claims

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    BILLINGS, Mont. — A health clinic in a Montana town that was polluted with deadly asbestos will ask a federal appeals court on Wednesday to reverse almost $6 million in fines and penalties after a jury determined it submitted hundreds of false claims on behalf of patients.

    The jury verdict came last year in a lawsuit brought by Texas-based BNSF Railway, which separately has been found liable over contamination in Libby, Montana, that’s sickened or killed thousands of people. Asbestos-tainted vermiculite was mined from a nearby mountain and shipped through the 3,000-person town by rail over decades.

    After BNSF questioned the validity of more than 2,000 cases of asbestos-related diseases found by the clinic, a jury last year said 337 of those cases were based on false claims, making patients eligible for Medicare and other benefits they shouldn’t have received.

    Asbestos-related diseases can range from a thickening of a person’s lung cavity that can hamper breathing to deadly cancer. Exposure to even a minuscule amount of asbestos can cause lung problems, according to scientists. Symptoms can take decades to develop.

    BNSF alleged the clinic submitted claims based on patient X-ray evidence that should have been corroborated by a health care provider’s diagnosis, but were not. Clinic representatives argued they were acting in good faith and following the guidance of federal officials who said an X-ray reading alone was sufficient diagnosis of asbestos disease.

    Judge Dana Christensen ordered the clinic to pay $5.8 million in penalties and damages. BNSF would get 25% of the money because it brought the lawsuit on behalf of the government. Federal prosecutors previously declined to intervene in the false claims case and there have been no criminal charges brought against the clinic.

    Clinic attorney Tim Bechtold said in court filings that the judge overseeing the lawsuit gave the seven-person jury erroneous instructions, essentially pre-determining the verdict. Attorneys for BNSF urged the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to affirm last year’s ruling.

    Arguments from the two sides were scheduled for 9 a.m. local time on Wednesday in Portland, Oregon.

    The judgment prompted clinic officials to file for bankruptcy, but the bankruptcy case was later dismissed at the request of government attorneys. They said the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services was the main funding source for the clinic but also its primary creditor, therefore any costs associated with the bankruptcy would come at taxpayers’ expense.

    The clinic has certified more than 3,400 people with asbestos-related disease and received more than $20 million in federal funding, according to court documents.

    Under a provision in the 2009 federal health law, victims of asbestos exposure in the Libby area are eligible for taxpayer-funded services including Medicare, housekeeping, travel to medical appointments and disability benefits for those who can’t work.

    The Libby area was declared a Superfund site two decades ago following media reports that mine workers and their families were getting sick and dying due to hazardous asbestos dust from vermiculite that was mined by W.R. Grace & Co.

    BNSF is itself a defendant in hundreds of asbestos-related lawsuits. In April, a federal jury said the railway contributed to the deaths of two people who were exposed to asbestos decades ago by tainted mining material was shipped through Libby.

    The jury awarded $4 million each in compensatory damages to the estates of the two plaintiffs, who died in 2020. Jurors said asbestos-contaminated vermiculite that spilled in Libby’s downtown rail yard was a substantial factor in the plaintiffs’ illnesses and deaths.

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