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Tag: Legal settlements

  • Man to receive almost $18 million for wrongful NY conviction

    Man to receive almost $18 million for wrongful NY conviction

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    A man who was freed in 2015 after spending a quarter-century in prison for an infamous tourist killing will receive nearly $18 million in legal settlements from the city and state of New York, his attorneys confirmed Friday.

    Lawyers for Johnny Hincapie said it marks one of the largest settlements for a wrongful conviction in New York City history.

    The Colombian-born Hincapie was among a group of young men accused of fatally stabbing Utah tourist Brian Watkins on a subway station platform in 1990. Eighteen years old at the time and with no criminal history, Hincapie said he was coerced to falsely confess to the notorious Labor Day crime.

    Despite recanting his false confession, as well as other exculpatory evidence, Hincapie was convicted of felony murder and sentenced to 25 years-to-life in prison. He ultimately served 25 years, three months and eight days before his conviction was dropped.

    In a statement released Friday, Hincapie said he hasn’t lost sight of what happened to Watkins that day, calling the man’s death “tragic.”

    “I have never forgotten the loss his family suffered,” he said. “I am fortunate that my innocence has finally been acknowledged by my city and my state and I look forward to the next chapter of my life with my family.”

    Attorney Gabriel P. Harvis, who represented Hincapie with fellow lawyer Baree N. Fett, credited Hincapie with pursuing his education while behind bars and for being a model inmate. Hincapie, who is now 50, earned his GED, associates, bachelor’s and master’s degrees while in prison.

    “He really is the last victim in this case because it took so long for him to finally have his innocence recognized,” Harvis told The Associated Press. He said the large settlement is a recognition of his client’s “innocence and of his qualities as a person.”

    Harvis has said previously that Hincapie “suffered severe emotional and mental anguish and pain as a result of being punished for crimes he did not commit.”

    Hincapie is now living in Florida with his family and has two young children, Harvis said.

    Under the settlements, the city will provide $12.8 million and the state $4.8 million. Nick Paolucci, spokesperson for the New York City Law Department, said in a written statement the settlement “resolves a longstanding civil case involving a horrific crime. Based on the findings of the DA (District Attorney) and our review, this agreement is fair and in the best interest of all parties.”

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  • $10M settlement announced in heat death of Georgia student

    $10M settlement announced in heat death of Georgia student

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    ATLANTA — The parents of a Georgia high school basketball player who collapsed while practicing outdoors in sweltering heat and later died announced Tuesday that they have agreed to a $10 million settlement with the school district.

    As part of the settlement, the Clayton County school system agreed to rename the gymnasium at Elite Scholars Academy for Imani Bell, who was a 16-year-old junior at the school when she died. A ceremony was set to be held Tuesday afternoon to commemorate that renaming, the family’s lawyers said.

    Imani’s father, Eric Bell, called the renaming of the gym a “great honor,” but said the settlement is “bittersweet.”

    “We’d trade everything to have her back here with us,” he said in a phone interview.

    Imani collapsed on Aug. 13, 2019, after running up the football stadium steps during required conditioning drills for the girls’ basketball team, her family said in the wrongful death lawsuit filed against administrators at the school. The temperature was in the high 90s Fahrenheit (more than 35 degrees Celsius) at the time and the area was under a heat advisory.

    Imani died later that day from heat-related cardiac arrest and kidney failure, the lawsuit said. An autopsy done by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation found that she had no preexisting conditions and her death was due solely to heatstroke caused by strenuous physical exertion in extreme temperatures, the family’s lawyers said.

    Two coaches, Larosa Walker-Asekere and Dwight Palmer, were indicted in July 2021 on charges including murder and child cruelty in Imani’s death. That criminal case is ongoing.

    Imani’s parents filed a wrongful death lawsuit in February 2021. Online court records show that suit was settled last month. An attorney for the family, L. Chris Stewart, said the significant settlement amount sends a message to other school districts.

    “It sends a nationwide message to every school district and every athletic program … that the lives of our children matter over athletics, and every district needs to realize that no child should die from heat exhaustion,” he said. “We salute Clayton County for sending that message nationwide.”

    The family has started the Keep Imani Foundation, which their lawyers said will be funded in part by funds from the settlement. Eric Bell said it will offer scholarships for students and will help schools get cold tubs to help prevent heat stroke deaths.

    Bell said he wants to send a message to school officials: “Keep educating coaches, keep educating students about the dangers of heat and humidity, and try to be prepared for a situation like this.”

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  • Wife of Texas man killed by police in Arizona settles suit

    Wife of Texas man killed by police in Arizona settles suit

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    PHOENIX — The widow of an unarmed Texas man fatally shot by police outside his suburban Phoenix hotel room in 2016 has agreed to settle her wrongful death lawsuit.

    A notice of settlement filed Tuesday in federal court in Arizona shows that Laney Sweet, the wife of Daniel Shaver, and her two children will receive $8 million from the city of Mesa.

    A probate court has approved the settlement’s terms and appointed a temporary conservator.

    In exchange, all of Sweet’s legal claims will be dismissed with prejudice.

    In a statement released by her attorneys, Sweet acknowledged the settlement will help her family financially. But “no amount of money can undo the transgressions that cruelly removed Daniel from his family’s lives forever.”

    “This settlement does nothing to cure the blatant lack of accountability by all involved since the night of Daniel’s death, which stands as an irredeemable blight on the criminal justice system,” Sweet said.

    Spokeswomen for the city of Mesa and the Mesa Police Department declined to comment Wednesday.

    Sweet first filed a lawsuit in 2017 against both parties seeking $75 million in damages. She contended Shaver had not provoked the killing and it could have been avoided if officers had investigated more.

    The city settled with Shaver’s parents in a similar lawsuit last year for an undisclosed amount.

    In January 2016, Mesa police officers went to the hotel after getting a call that someone there was pointing a gun out a window.

    They ordered Shaver, 26, from Granbury, Texas, to exit his hotel room, lie face-down in a hallway and refrain from making sudden movements — or he risked being shot.

    Then-Officer Philip Brailsford shot Shaver as the man lay on the ground outside his hotel room and was ordered to crawl toward officers.

    Brailsford was charged with murder in Shaver’s death, but a jury acquitted him of the charge.

    Although no gun was found on Shaver’s body, two pellet rifles related to his pest-control job were later found in his room.

    The detective investigating the shooting had agreed Shaver’s movement was similar to reaching for a pistol, but has said it also looked as though Shaver was pulling up his loose-fitting basketball shorts that had fallen down as he was ordered to crawl toward officers.

    Mesa initially fired Brailsford, but he was later rehired to apply for a pension and then took medical retirement.

    The U.S. Department of Justice opened a civil rights violation investigation against Brailsford. In March 2018, the Mesa Police Department revealed the DOJ had subpoenaed the department for all documents about the shooting.

    The investigation is still ongoing, according to Sweet and her attorneys who called for the DOJ to “swiftly proceed.”

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  • Missouri summer camp operators sued over abuse settlement

    Missouri summer camp operators sued over abuse settlement

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    A Tennessee man filed a lawsuit Friday claiming that operators of the Kanakuk Camps in Branson, Missouri, lied to him and his parents while persuading them to sign a settlement over sexual abuse by a camp counselor.

    Logan Yandell, 27, of Hendersonville, Tennessee, and his parents reached a confidential settlement with Kanakuk in 2010 that included a non-disclosure agreement after Yandell was abused by Peter Newman, who is serving two life sentences for sexually abusing multiple children while working for the Christian summer camps.

    The lawsuit names Kanakuk Ministries, Kanakuk CEO Joe White, Kanakuk Heritage Inc., Westchester Fire Insurance Company and a John Doe.

    A statement from Kanakuk said the company just received the lawsuit on Friday and does not comment on pending litigation.

    “We will respond further if or when appropriate,” the company said. “In the meantime, we continue to pray for all who have been affected by Pete Newman’s behavior.

    Yandell was sexually abused while attending the summer camp and other activities between 2005 and 2008.

    The lawsuit alleges that Kanakuk officials claimed they did not know about Newman’s sexual abuse of children prior to his arrest but the Yandell family later learned that wasn’t true.

    In December 2021, the conservative online news outlet The Dispatch reported that Newman’s supervisor, Will Cunningham, recommended in 2003 that Newman be fired because of reports of child sexual abuse, including participating in several activities with children while nude, “counseling” them in a hot tub and sleeping alone with children.

    The lawsuit filed Friday contains an affidavit from Cunningham confirming that he wanted Newman fired. Instead, White overruled the suggestion and promoted Newman to camp director, according to the lawsuit.

    The family would not have signed the settlement and non-disclosure agreement if they had known that Kanakuk officials had lied to them, Brian Kent, one of the family’s attorneys, said Friday.

    He said company officials took advantage of the family.

    “Knowing that the Yandells were really trying to deal with making sure their child is OK and getting him better, this was a clear effort by Joe White and Kanakuk to advise them this is something they should do. And they lied to them in order to get them to sign.”

    The lawsuit is not a class action but Kent said it’s possible more of Newman’s victims will file similar lawsuits because of the new information.

    The Associated Press generally does not name victims of sexual abuse but Yandell is named in the lawsuit and has publicly discussed his case.

    One of the reasons the family decided to file the lawsuit 12 years after signing the settlement was to allow Yandell to “get his voice back and have his voice heard,” Kent said.

    Newman is serving two life sentences plus 30 years in state prison after his 2010 sentencing on seven felony counts of sexually abusing boys while he was a Kanakuk counselor. The number of victims is believed to be in the hundreds, according to the lawsuit.

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  • Gabby Petito family settles $3M suit in killing by fiance

    Gabby Petito family settles $3M suit in killing by fiance

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    ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The families of Gabby Petito and Brian Laundrie have reached a $3 million settlement in a wrongful death lawsuit filed after authorities concluded he strangled her during a cross-country trip in August 2021.

    The settlement was signed Thursday by Sarasota County Circuit Judge Hunter W. Carroll. A lawyer for Petito’s parents said whatever money is received will go to the Gabby Petito Foundation dedicated to locating missing people and curbing domestic violence.

    “The Petito family lost their daughter and they were also denied the opportunity to confront her killer,” said attorney Patrick Reilly in an email. “No amount of money is sufficient to compensate the Petito family for the loss of their daughter, Gabby, at the hands of Brian Laundrie.”

    The lawsuit involving the estates of Petito and Laundrie, filed in May, claimed Laundrie was liable for damages because he caused her death. A separate lawsuit, still pending in Sarasota, claims Laundrie’s parents wrongly concealed that he confessed to killing Petito before he returned home in September 2021 to Florida from their trip out West in a converted van.

    Christopher and Roberta Laundrie denied that claim.

    Petito’s disappearance on the trip and the subsequent discovery of her slain body Sept. 19, 2021 in a Wyoming national park became a national obsession, which continued during the weekslong search for Laundrie in a swampy Florida nature preserve.

    His remains were found there in October 2021 and investigators say he died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound and left a note confessing to Petito’s slaying, according to the FBI.

    It’s highly unlikely Laundrie’s estate has $3 million. Reilly called it “an arbitrary number” but that the Petito foundation would benefit from whatever amount is collected.

    “Joseph Petito and Nichole Schmidt wish to turn their personal tragedy into a positive,” Reilly said.

    The Petito family has also filed a $50 million wrongful death lawsuit against police in Moab, Utah, where the couple got into a physical altercation but were allowed by officers to resume their journey despite clear danger signs of domestic violence. The city has declined comment on that lawsuit.

    Petito, 22, had been in regular contact with her parents and posted frequently on social media about their travels, including YouTube, Instagram and TikTok. The couple had a regular following before the murder mystery took hold.

    The FBI says Laundrie sent text messages from Petito’s cellphone to her parents and others in an effort to pretend she was still alive. He was also charged with illegally using one of her credit cards before his remains were discovered in the Florida nature preserve.

    Petito and Laundrie were engaged to be married. Both grew up in Blue Point, New York, but moved to North Port, Florida, in 2019 where his parents live. That’s where they began the van trip that ended with both of them dead.

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  • Walmart offers to pay $3.1 billion to settle opioid lawsuits

    Walmart offers to pay $3.1 billion to settle opioid lawsuits

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    Walmart proposed a $3.1 billion legal settlement on Tuesday over the toll of powerful prescription opioids sold at its pharmacies, becoming the latest major drug industry player to promise major support to state, local and tribal governments still grappling with a crisis in overdose deaths.

    The retail giant’s announcement follows similar proposals on Nov. 2 from the two largest U.S. pharmacy chains, CVS Health and Walgreen Co., which each said they would pay about $5 billion.

    Most of the drugmakers that produced the most opioids and the biggest drug distribution companies have already reached settlements. With the largest pharmacies now settling, it represents a shift in the opioid litigation saga. For years, the question was whether companies would be held accountable for an overdose crisis that a flood of prescription drugs helped spark.

    With the crisis still raging, the focus now is on how the settlement dollars — now totaling more than $50 billion — will be used and whether they will help curtail record numbers of overdose deaths, even as prescription drugs have become a relatively small portion of the epidemic.

    Bentonville, Arkansas-based Walmart said in a statement that it “strongly disputes” allegations in lawsuits from state and local governments that its pharmacies improperly filled prescriptions for the powerful prescription painkillers. The company does not admit liability with the settlement, which would represent about 2% of its quarterly revenue.

    “Walmart believes the settlement framework is in the best interest of all parties and will provide significant aid to communities across the country in the fight against the opioid crisis, with aid reaching state and local governments faster than any other nationwide opioid settlement to date,” the company said in a statement.

    Lawyers representing local governments said the company would pay most of the settlement over the next year if it is finalized.

    New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a release that the company would have to comply with oversight measures, prevent fraudulent prescriptions and flag suspicious ones.

    Some government lawyers suggested Walmart has acted more responsibly than other pharmacies when it came to opioids.

    “Although Walmart filled significantly fewer prescriptions for opioids then CVS or Walgreens, since 2018 Walmart has been the most proactive in trying to monitor and control prescription opioid diversion attempted through its pharmacies,” Nebraska Attorney General Doug Peterson said in a statement.

    The deals are the product of negotiations with a group of state attorneys general, but they are not final. The CVS and Walgreens deals would have to be accepted first by a critical mass of state and local governments before they are completed.

    Walmart’s plan would have to be approved by 43 states by Dec. 15, and local governments could sign on by March 31, 2023. Each state’s allocation depends partly on how many local governments agree.

    “Companies like Walmart need to step up and help by ensuring Pennsylvanians get the treatment and recovery resources they need,” Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro, who last week was elected governor of his state, said in a statement. “This deal with Walmart adds to the important progress we’ve already achieved through our settlements with the opioid manufacturers and distributors – and we’re not done yet.”

    The share of Walmart’s proposed settlement going to Native American tribes is $78 million, to be divided among all the federally recognized tribes, said Robins Kaplan, a law firm representing tribes.

    After governments used funds from tobacco settlements in the 1990s for purposes unrelated to public health, the opioid settlements have been crafted to ensure most of the money goes to fighting the crisis. State and local governments are devising spending plans now.

    Opioids of all kinds have been linked to more than 500,000 deaths in the U.S. over the past two decades.

    In the 2000s, most fatal opioid overdoses involved prescription drugs such as OxyContin and generic oxycodone. After governments, doctors and companies took steps to make them harder to obtain, people addicted to the drugs increasingly turned to heroin, which proved more deadly.

    In recent years, opioid deaths have soared to record levels, around 80,000 a year. Most of those deaths involve illicitly produced version of the powerful lab-made drug fentanyl, which is appearing throughout the U.S. supply of illegal drugs.

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  • Family of man fatally shot by police to get $3M settlement

    Family of man fatally shot by police to get $3M settlement

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    VALLEJO, Calif. — A San Francisco Bay Area city will pay the mother of a 21-year-old man shot and killed by police in 2017 nearly $3 million to settle a wrongful death and federal civil rights lawsuit.

    The family of Angel Ramos filed the lawsuit against the city of Vallejo as well as Vallejo Police Officer Zach Jacobsen, who killed Ramos, the East Bay Times reported.

    “There will never be a dollar amount high enough to measure the value of Angel’s life and what our family lost,” Angel’s sister Antoinette Saddler said in a statement. “We have experienced pain, terror and anxiety that no words can ever explain, and no family should ever have to experience.”

    On Jan. 23, 2017, Jacobsen and his partner responded to a 911 call about a disturbance at a home. According to a report by the officers, Jacobsen said he saw two men fighting on a second-story balcony and began shouting at them to stop but they didn’t. Jacobsen said Ramos was holding a knife and he opened fire to save the other man’s life.

    An autopsy revealed that Jacobsen shot Ramos from the first floor and that Ramos was shot at the base of his neck, and three times in the chest. At the time of his death, Ramos had a blood alcohol level of .26 — just over three times the legal limit.

    Although Jacobsen claims Ramos had a knife, Ramos’ family and the other person in the fight have said that Ramos wasn’t armed. A knife at the scene was never found.

    Ramos’ family and their attorney, Melissa Nold, are still upset about the original press release sent by the Vallejo Police Department on the night of Angel Ramos’ death stating that he was armed with a knife.

    Nold said it “was patently untrue and calculated to conceal the truth. To date, the City of Vallejo has never issued a retraction of their fabrication that Angel was ‘holding a knife’ when he was shot.”

    In April 2018, a board of review convened by the Vallejo Police Department cleared Jacobsen, saying the officer used reasonable force when he shot Ramos. The board also said, however, that Jacobsen should have activated his body-worn camera, the newspaper reported.

    In December, a judge said that he found sufficient evidence to hold a trial, and denied several claims filed by the City of Vallejo, including a motion for summary judgment.

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  • California settles with firm in Volkswagen emissions scandal

    California settles with firm in Volkswagen emissions scandal

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    SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California on Monday settled a lawsuit against a German company stemming from the emissions scandal that tarred Volkswagen in 2015 and Fiat Chrysler two years later.

    German auto supplier Bosch will pay $25 million to settle allegations by the state and California Air Resources Board under a court complaint and settlement agreement, both filed Monday. A judge will need to sign off on the settlement.

    Volkswagen and Fiat Chrysler installed “defeat devices” in nearly 100,000 diesel passenger vehicles sold in California, the state said previously. The devices made it seem like the vehicles were meeting emissions requirements as they were undergoing testing, but on the road they actually polluted at many times the legal limit.

    The settlement stems from some Volkswagen and Fiat Chrysler diesel vehicles sold in the U.S. from model year 2016 and earlier.

    The complaint filed Monday said Bosch knew or should have known that the automakers were violating environmental and consumer protection laws, and that Bosch broke consumer protection laws through its marketing of Volkswagen and Fiat Chrysler vehicles and its own diesel components.

    “Bosch violated consumer trust when it gave Volkswagen and Fiat Chrysler the technology they needed to skirt state and federal emissions tests,” Attorney General Rob Bonta said in announcing the settlement.

    The Air Resources Board’s executive officer, Steven Cliff, said the company’s technology “was at the heart of the automobile emissions cheating scandals at Volkswagen and Fiat Chrysler and that has led directly to increased emissions and unhealthful air, especially in neighborhoods suffering from persistent air pollution.”

    Bosch said in a statement that it “neither acknowledges the validity of the claims … nor does it concede any liability.” But it said its “robust compliance systems, as well as its full cooperation” aided the settlement. It also said that since 2015, the company’s “already existing extensive compliance policies and procedures have been substantially enhanced.”

    Aside from the $25 million, the settlement requires Bosch to make changes in its policies and procedures and to tell state officials if it discovers that a manufacturer will use or has used cheating technology.

    California previously settled with Volkswagen for nearly $1.5 billion in environmental mitigation payments, investments in zero-emissions technology and other damages. The company also was required to buy back at least 85% of affected vehicles or make emissions modifications on those vehicles.

    Fiat Chrysler paid more than $78 million and similarly was required to bring at least 85% of the affected vehicles into compliance.

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  • California settles with firm in Volkswagen emissions scandal

    California settles with firm in Volkswagen emissions scandal

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    SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California on Monday settled a lawsuit against a German company stemming from the emissions scandal that tarred Volkswagen in 2015 and Fiat Chrysler two years later.

    German auto supplier Bosch will pay $25 million to settle allegations by the state and California Air Resources Board under a court complaint and settlement agreement, both filed Monday. A judge will need to sign off on the settlement.

    Volkswagen and Fiat Chrysler installed “defeat devices” in nearly 100,000 diesel passenger vehicles sold in California, the state said previously. The devices made it seem like the vehicles were meeting emissions requirements as they were undergoing testing, but on the road they actually polluted at many times the legal limit.

    The settlement stems from some Volkswagen and Fiat Chrysler diesel vehicles sold in the U.S. from model year 2016 and earlier.

    The complaint filed Monday said Bosch knew or should have known that the automakers were violating environmental and consumer protection laws, and that Bosch broke consumer protection laws through its marketing of Volkswagen and Fiat Chrysler vehicles and its own diesel components.

    “Bosch violated consumer trust when it gave Volkswagen and Fiat Chrysler the technology they needed to skirt state and federal emissions tests,” Attorney General Rob Bonta said in announcing the settlement.

    The Air Resources Board’s executive officer, Steven Cliff, said the company’s technology “was at the heart of the automobile emissions cheating scandals at Volkswagen and Fiat Chrysler and that has led directly to increased emissions and unhealthful air, especially in neighborhoods suffering from persistent air pollution.”

    Bosch said in a statement that it “neither acknowledges the validity of the claims … nor does it concede any liability.” But it said its “robust compliance systems, as well as its full cooperation” aided the settlement. It also said that since 2015, the company’s “already existing extensive compliance policies and procedures have been substantially enhanced.”

    Aside from the $25 million, the settlement requires Bosch to make changes in its policies and procedures and to tell state officials if it discovers that a manufacturer will use or has used cheating technology.

    California previously settled with Volkswagen for nearly $1.5 billion in environmental mitigation payments, investments in zero-emissions technology and other damages. The company also was required to buy back at least 85% of affected vehicles or make emissions modifications on those vehicles.

    Fiat Chrysler paid more than $78 million and similarly was required to bring at least 85% of the affected vehicles into compliance.

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  • Settlement reached in suits over FBI posing as AP reporter

    Settlement reached in suits over FBI posing as AP reporter

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    WASHINGTON — The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press will get a $145,000 settlement following a pair of lawsuits filed after an FBI agent posed as a reporter for The Associated Press and created a fake story.

    The long-running Freedom of Information Act cases led to appeals court decisions that will help bolster access to public records, said Adam Marshall, an attorney for the group. The cases also shed light on FBI agents posing as members of the media, a tactic that free press advocates say undermines media credibility and blurs lines between law enforcement and the press.

    The agency failed to follow its own rules over such undercover operations when an agent posed as an AP reporter and sent a link to a fake story in an investigation in Washington state in 2007, according to documents uncovered in the lawsuit filed along with The Associated Press.

    Then-FBI Director James Comey called the technique “proper and appropriate” under FBI guidelines at the time, though he said it would require higher-level approvals when the incident came to light seven years later, in 2014. No actual story was published and it led to an arrest, he maintained.

    The agent posing as an AP reporter sent a link to the fake article to a 15-year-old suspected of making bomb threats at a high school. When the teen clicked the link, a tracking tool revealed his computer’s location and helped agents confirm his identity.

    The FBI declined to comment Friday.

    Kathleen Carroll, then executive editor of the AP, said in 2014 that the FBI’s “unacceptable tactics undermine AP and the vital distinction between the government and the press.” A letter signed by two dozen news organizations called the revelations “inexcusable” and the Reporter’s Committee specifically called out the use of the AP’s name as “cover for delivery of electronic surveillance software.”

    Lauren Easton, an Associated Press spokeswoman, declined additional comment Friday.

    The lawsuits were filed as part of an effort to get records about FBI news-media impersonations, and eventually resulted in important court decisions about how far agencies must go in searching for requested documents and the standards they must meet in order to withhold documents, Marshall said. The settlement will cover attorney’s fees and costs.

    “This has shown that there are significant, concerning and ongoing issues with respect to federal law enforcement impersonation of the press in the United States,” Marshall said. The cases have also “shown that the Reporters Committee and The Associated Press were committed to finding out as much as we could about what happened here for the public to know.”

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  • Kansas City to pay $5M after police killing of Black man

    Kansas City to pay $5M after police killing of Black man

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    KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas City will pay $5 million to settle a lawsuit filed by the family of an unarmed Black man who was fatally shot by a police officer in 2019.

    The Kansas City Board of Police Commissioners approved the settlement with the family of Terrance Bridges Jr. in a closed meeting earlier this week, The Kansas City Star reported.

    Bridges, 30, was shot and killed after officers responded to a reported carjacking.

    Police had contended he was resisting arrest and was shot during a struggle with the officer, identified in police records as Dylan Pifer. The officer told investigators he feared for his life because he thought Bridges was pulling a gun from a sweatshirt.

    Bridges’ family and civil rights activists said he was not armed, not resisting, did not pose a threat to the officer and was not involved in the carjacking.

    Tom Porto, an attorney representing the family, said in a statement the settlement represents the police department’s acknowledgement of the tragic and significant loss to Bridges’ family.

    “Despite this tragedy, we recognize that police officers have difficult jobs and are frequently faced with making split-second life or death decisions,” Porto said. “The family is grateful that they are now able to put this matter behind them.”

    Pifer, who is still on the police force, was not charged in the killing.

    A year after Bridges’ death, Pifer was with Sgt. Matthew T. Neal as Neal injured a 15-year-old boy by slamming his face into the pavement after stopping a car the teenager was in.

    Neal left the department after pleading guilty last week to third-degree assault. He was placed on four years’ probation. Pifer was not charged.

    The Kansas City police commissioners agreed in January 2021 to pay $725,000 to settle an excessive use of force lawsuit in that case.

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  • Men exonerated in Malcolm X killing to receive $36 million

    Men exonerated in Malcolm X killing to receive $36 million

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    NEW YORK — The city of New York is settling lawsuits filed on behalf of two men who were exonerated last year for the 1965 assassination of Malcolm X, agreeing to pay $26 million for the wrongful convictions which led to both men spending decades behind bars.

    The state of New York will pay an additional $10 million. David Shanies, an attorney representing the men, confirmed the settlements on Sunday.

    “Muhammad Aziz, Khalil Islam, and their families suffered because of these unjust convictions for more than 50 years,” said Shanies said in an email. “The City recognized the grave injustices done here, and I commend the sincerity and speed with which the Comptroller’s Office and the Corporation Counsel moved to resolve the lawsuits.”

    Shanies said the settlements send a message that “police and prosecutorial misconduct cause tremendous damage, and we must remain vigilant to identify and correct injustices.”

    Last year, a Manhattan judge dismissed the convictions of Aziz, now 84, and Islam, who died in 2009, after prosecutors said new evidence of witness intimidation and suppression of exculpatory evidence had undermined the case against the men. Then-District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. apologized for law enforcement’s “serious, unacceptable violations of law and the public trust.”

    The New York City Law Department, through a spokesperson, said Sunday it “stands by” Vance’s opinion that the men were wrongfully convicted and the financial agreement “brings some measure of justice to individuals who spent decades in prison and bore the stigma of being falsely accused of murdering an iconic figure.”

    Shanies said over the next few weeks the settlement documents will be signed and the New York court that handles probate matters will have to approve the settlement for Islam’s estate. The total $36 million will be divided equally between Aziz and the estate of Islam.

    Aziz and Islam, who maintained their innocence from the start in the 1965 killing at Upper Manhattan’s Audubon Ballroom, were paroled in the 1980s.

    Malcolm X gained national prominence as the voice of the Nation of Islam, exhorting Black people to claim their civil rights “by any means necessary.” His autobiography, written with Alex Haley, remains a classic work of modern American literature.

    Near the end of Malcolm X’s life, he split with the Black Muslim organization and, after a trip to Mecca, started speaking about the potential for racial unity. It earned him the ire of some in the Nation of Islam, who saw him as a traitor.

    He was shot to death while beginning a speech Feb. 21, 1965. He was 39.

    Aziz and Islam, then known as Norman 3X Butler and Thomas 15X Johnson, and a third man were convicted of murder in March 1966. They were sentenced to life in prison.

    The third man, Mujahid Abdul Halim — also known as Talmadge Hayer and Thomas Hagan — admitted to shooting Malcolm X but said neither Aziz nor Islam was involved. The two offered alibis, and no physical evidence linked them to the crime. The case hinged on eyewitnesses, although there were inconsistencies in their testimony.

    Attorneys for Aziz and Islam said in complaints that both Aziz and Islam were at their homes in the Bronx when Malcolm X was killed. They said Aziz spent 20 years in prison and more than 55 years living with the hardship and indignity attendant to being unjustly branded as a convicted murderer of one of the most important civil rights leaders in history.

    Islam spent 22 years in prison and died still hoping to clear his name.

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  • Western states propose deal over beleaguered Rio Grande

    Western states propose deal over beleaguered Rio Grande

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    ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — New Mexico, Texas and Colorado have negotiated a proposed settlement that they say will end a yearslong battle over management of one of the longest rivers in North America, but the federal government and two irrigation districts that depend on the Rio Grande are objecting.

    New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas on Tuesday announced that the states had brokered a deal following months of negotiations. While the terms remain confidential, his office called it “a comprehensive resolution of all the claims in the case.”

    “Extreme drought and erratic climate events necessitate that states must work together to protect the Rio Grande, which is the lifeblood of our New Mexico farmers and communities,” Balderas said in a statement. “And I’m very disappointed that the U.S. is exerting federal overreach and standing in the way of the states’ historic water agreement.”

    Attorneys with the U.S. Department of Justice and irrigation districts that serve farmers downstream of Elephant Butte reservoir argued that the proposal would not be a workable solution. The river is managed through a system of federal dams and canals under provisions of a water-sharing agreement that also involves Mexico.

    The case has been pending before the U.S. Supreme Court for nearly a decade. Texas has argued that groundwater pumping in southern New Mexico has reduced river flows, limiting how much water makes it across the border. New Mexico argues that it has been shorted on its share of the river.

    New Mexico and the other states plan in the coming weeks to submit their motion to move the proposed settlement forward, opening the door for federal officials and the irrigation districts to respond.

    Another hearing has been scheduled for January.

    The battle over the Rio Grande has become a multimillion-dollar case in a region where water supplies are dwindling due to increased demand along with drought and warmer temperatures brought on by climate change.

    So far, New Mexico has spent roughly $21 million on lawyers and scientists over the last nine years.

    Last fall, the special master overseeing the case presided over the first phase of trial, which included testimony from farmers, hydrologists, irrigation managers and others. More technical testimony was expected to be part of the next phase, which has now been put off.

    Earlier this year, some of the river’s stretches in New Mexico marked record low flows, resulting in some farmers voluntarily fallowing fields to help the state meet downstream water-sharing obligations.

    In the Elephant Butte Irrigation District, officials recently warned farmers that they can likely expect another late start to the irrigation season in 2023 and that allotments will be low again since the system depends less on summer rains and more on spring runoff from snowmelt in southern Colorado and northern New Mexico.

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  • Western states propose deal over beleaguered Rio Grande

    Western states propose deal over beleaguered Rio Grande

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    ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — New Mexico, Texas and Colorado have negotiated a proposed settlement that they say will end a yearslong battle over management of one of the longest rivers in North America, but the federal government and two irrigation districts that depend on the Rio Grande are objecting.

    New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas on Tuesday announced that the states had brokered a deal following months of negotiations. While the terms remain confidential, his office called it “a comprehensive resolution of all the claims in the case.”

    “Extreme drought and erratic climate events necessitate that states must work together to protect the Rio Grande, which is the lifeblood of our New Mexico farmers and communities,” Balderas said in a statement. “And I’m very disappointed that the U.S. is exerting federal overreach and standing in the way of the states’ historic water agreement.”

    Attorneys with the U.S. Department of Justice and irrigation districts that serve farmers downstream of Elephant Butte reservoir argued that the proposal would not be a workable solution. The river is managed through a system of federal dams and canals under provisions of a water-sharing agreement that also involves Mexico.

    The case has been pending before the U.S. Supreme Court for nearly a decade. Texas has argued that groundwater pumping in southern New Mexico has reduced river flows, limiting how much water makes it across the border. New Mexico argues that it has been shorted on its share of the river.

    New Mexico and the other states plan in the coming weeks to submit their motion to move the proposed settlement forward, opening the door for federal officials and the irrigation districts to respond.

    Another hearing has been scheduled for January.

    The battle over the Rio Grande has become a multimillion-dollar case in a region where water supplies are dwindling due to increased demand along with drought and warmer temperatures brought on by climate change.

    So far, New Mexico has spent roughly $21 million on lawyers and scientists over the last nine years.

    Last fall, the special master overseeing the case presided over the first phase of trial, which included testimony from farmers, hydrologists, irrigation managers and others. More technical testimony was expected to be part of the next phase, which has now been put off.

    Earlier this year, some of the river’s stretches in New Mexico marked record low flows, resulting in some farmers voluntarily fallowing fields to help the state meet downstream water-sharing obligations.

    In the Elephant Butte Irrigation District, officials recently warned farmers that they can likely expect another late start to the irrigation season in 2023 and that allotments will be low again since the system depends less on summer rains and more on spring runoff from snowmelt in southern Colorado and northern New Mexico.

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  • Credit Suisse pays $495M tied to mortgage-backed securities

    Credit Suisse pays $495M tied to mortgage-backed securities

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    Credit Suisse has agreed to pay $495 million as part of a settlement with the U.S. over a yearslong dispute tied to mortgage-backed securities, an investment vehicle that played a central role in the 2008 financial crisis

    Credit Suisse has agreed to pay $495 million as part of a settlement with the U.S. over a yearslong dispute tied to mortgage-backed securities, an investment vehicle that played a central role in the 2008 financial crisis.

    The Swiss bank said that some of the transactions were prior to 2008.

    The New Jersey Attorney General, which announced the settlement Monday, filed a lawsuit in 2013 alleging more than $3 billion in damages citing the involvement of Credit Suisse.

    “This agreement in principle holds Credit Suisse accountable for the loss of billions of dollars that helped put the nation in financial crisis,” said First Assistant Attorney General Lyndsay Ruotolo. “It has taken more than a decade of investigation and litigation to reach this historic result, but we never wavered in our resolve to get here. The recovery Credit Suisse has agreed to pay reflects the magnitude of harm it inflicted on the public and underscores New Jersey’s commitment to vigorously pursue cases, no matter the challenges, to protect the financial interests of the investing public.”

    Credit Suisse said Monday that the settlement allows the bank to resolve its only remaining mortgage-backed securities matter involving claims by a regulator, the largest it faced.

    Credit Suisse has run into a series of troubles in recent years, including bad bets on hedge funds and a spying scandal involving UBS. Also, a Swiss court fined the bank more than $2 million in June for failing to prevent money laundering linked to a Bulgarian criminal gang more than 15 years ago.

    In July Credit Suisse CEO Thomas Gottstein announced that he was resigning after 2-1/2 years in the job.

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  • Judge: ITG is liable for Florida tobacco settlement payments

    Judge: ITG is liable for Florida tobacco settlement payments

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    DOVER, Del. — Cigarette manufacturer ITG Brands assumed liability for tobacco settlement payments to the state of Florida when it acquired four brands from Reynolds American in 2015, a Delaware judge has ruled.

    Vice Chancellor Lori Will ruled Friday that, as a result, ITG must compensate Reynolds American for losses due, granting summary judgment in favor of Reynolds.

    Reynolds sold the Kool, Winston, Salem and Maverick brands to ITG in 2014 to gain federal regulators’ approval of its acquisition of Lorillard Inc.

    Before the sale closed, Reynolds American affiliate R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. was making payments under a preexisting settlement agreement with Florida for reimbursement of smoking-related health care costs. After closing, Reynolds stopped making payments for the four brands it no longer owned.

    The asset purchase agreement required ITG to use reasonable best efforts to join the Florida settlement and make annual payments to Florida for sales of the brands it acquired from Reynolds. ITG has yet to join the settlement agreement with Florida or make any payments.

    Florida sued Reynolds and ITG and obtained a judgment requiring Reynolds to continue making payments based on ITG’s brands, unless and until ITG joined the Florida settlement agreement.

    “That judgment on Reynolds amounts to over $170 million to date and tens of millions of dollars more each year into perpetuity,” Will noted. The “unambiguous terms” of the asset purchase agreement support Reynold’s arguments that ITG agreed to assume the liability imposed by the Florida judgment and must indemnify Reynolds, she concluded.

    The ruling comes in a long-running legal battle between Reynolds and ITG, both based in North Carolina. In 2017, a different Court of Chancery judge concluded that ITG’s obligation to use its best efforts to try to reach a tobacco settlement agreement with Florida did not end when the sale closed.

    Last year, Reynolds asked ITG to compensate Reynolds Tobacco for what it had paid and will pay due to the Florida judgment, but ITG refused. In subsequent litigation, ITG argued unsuccessfully that it had fulfilled its reasonable best efforts obligation and was not required to indemnify Reynolds for the payment liability to Florida.

    Last year, in the settlement of a lawsuit brought by the state of Minnesota, ITG agreed that it had assumed obligations under that state’s tobacco settlement agreement to make payments for sales of the four brands it acquired from Reynolds. ITG agreed to make payments to Minnesota for 2021 and all future years, while payment liabilities for the period from 2015 to 2020 were split between ITG and Reynolds.

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  • Chinese billionaire Richard Liu settles US rape allegation

    Chinese billionaire Richard Liu settles US rape allegation

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    MINNEAPOLIS — Chinese billionaire and JD.com founder Richard Liu agreed to settle a lawsuit filed by a former University of Minnesota student who alleged he raped her in her Minneapolis apartment after a night of dinner and drinks with wealthy Chinese executives in 2018, attorneys for both sides announced Saturday.

    Richard Liu, who stepped down as the CEO of Beijing-based e-commerce company JD.com this year amid increased government scrutiny of China’s technology industry, has denied raping the woman, Jingyao Liu.

    In a joint statement released Saturday night, attorneys for both sides said: “The incident between Ms. Jingyao Liu and Mr. Richard Liu in Minnesota in 2018 resulted in a misunderstanding that has consumed substantial public attention and brought profound suffering to the parties and their families. Today, the parties agreed to set aside their differences, and settle their legal dispute in order to avoid further pain and suffering caused by the lawsuit.”

    A settlement amount was not disclosed. The settlement was announced just two days before a trial was set to begin in a Minneapolis courtroom.

    Richard Liu was arrested on suspicion of felony rape in August 2018, but prosecutors said the case had “profound evidentiary problems” and declined to file criminal charges.

    Jingyao Liu sued Richard Liu in 2019, saying he and the other businessmen coerced her to drink alcohol at a group dinner, and that he forced himself on her in his vehicle and later raped her in her apartment.

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  • Chinese billionaire Richard Liu settles US rape allegation

    Chinese billionaire Richard Liu settles US rape allegation

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    MINNEAPOLIS — Chinese billionaire and JD.com founder Richard Liu agreed to settle a lawsuit filed by a former University of Minnesota student who alleged he raped her in her Minneapolis apartment after a night of dinner and drinks with wealthy Chinese executives in 2018, attorneys for both sides announced Saturday.

    Richard Liu, who stepped down as the CEO of Beijing-based e-commerce company JD.com this year amid increased government scrutiny of China’s technology industry, has denied raping the woman, Jingyao Liu.

    In a joint statement released Saturday night, attorneys for both sides said: “The incident between Ms. Jingyao Liu and Mr. Richard Liu in Minnesota in 2018 resulted in a misunderstanding that has consumed substantial public attention and brought profound suffering to the parties and their families. Today, the parties agreed to set aside their differences, and settle their legal dispute in order to avoid further pain and suffering caused by the lawsuit.”

    A settlement amount was not disclosed. The settlement was announced just two days before a trial was set to begin in a Minneapolis courtroom.

    Richard Liu was arrested on suspicion of felony rape in August 2018, but prosecutors said the case had “profound evidentiary problems” and declined to file criminal charges.

    Jingyao Liu sued Richard Liu in 2019, saying he and the other businessmen coerced her to drink alcohol at a group dinner, and that he forced himself on her in his vehicle and later raped her in her apartment.

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  • Chinese billionaire Richard Liu, founder of JD.com, settles lawsuit over alleged rape of ex-Minnesota student in 2018

    Chinese billionaire Richard Liu, founder of JD.com, settles lawsuit over alleged rape of ex-Minnesota student in 2018

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    Chinese billionaire Richard Liu, founder of JD.com, settles lawsuit over alleged rape of ex-Minnesota student in 2018

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  • Ex-PG&E execs to pay $117M to settle lawsuit over wildfires

    Ex-PG&E execs to pay $117M to settle lawsuit over wildfires

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    OAKLAND, Calif. — Former executives and directors of Pacific Gas & Electric have agreed to pay $117 million to settle a lawsuit over devastating 2017 and 2018 California wildfires sparked by the utility’s equipment, it was announced Thursday.

    The settlement was announced by the PG&E Fire Victim Trust, which was established to handle claims filed by more than 80,000 victims of deadly wildfires ignited by PG&E’s rickety electrical grid. The trust’s lawsuit, filed last year, alleged that former officers and board members neglected their duty to ensure the utility’s equipment wouldn’t kill people.

    The complaint was an offshoot of a $13.5 billion settlement that PG&E reached with the wildfire victims while the utility was mired in bankruptcy from January 2019 through June 2020.

    As part of that deal, PG&E granted the victims the right to go after the utility’s hierarchy leading up to and during a series of wind-driven wildfires that killed more than 100 people and destroyed more than 25,000 homes and businesses, including the 2018 Camp Fire, which killed 85 people and destroyed much of the town of Paradise in Butte County.

    PG&E pleaded guilty to 84 felony counts of involuntary manslaughter for causing the fire and was fined $4 million, the maximum penalty allowed.

    All told, PG&E has been blamed for more than 30 wildfires since 2017 that wiped out more than 23,000 homes and businesses and killed more than 100 people.

    Those sued by the fire trust included two of PG&E’s former chief executives, Anthony Earley and Geisha Williams, who were paid millions of dollars during their terms, and former board members. They were covered by liability insurance secured by the utility, the trust has said.

    PG&E is the nation’s largest utility, with an estimated 16 million customers in central and Northern California.

    In a statement, PG&E said the settlement is “another step forward in PG&E’s ongoing effort to resolve issues outstanding from before its bankruptcy and to move forward focused on our commitments to deliver safe, clean and reliable energy to our customers, and to continue the important work of reducing risk across our energy system.”

    The settlement money won’t go to fire victims. Instead, under a bankruptcy court order, the money will be used to satisfy “the vast majority” of claims made by federal agencies, such as the U.S. Forest Service, that helped fight the blazes and assist the victims, said a statement from Frank M. Pitre, lead attorney for the trust.

    That means the money won’t have to come out of funds earmarked for the trust, which has paid out $4.9 billion to victims.

    The trust has said it faces a huge shortfall because half of the promised settlement consisted of PG&E stock that has consistently traded at less than what was hoped for when the deal was struck toward the end of 2019.

    The stock closed Thursday at $12.38 a share on the New York Stock Exchange, down more than 30 cents.

    Would-be investors might be spooked by PG&E’s continuing wildfire woes. In June, the company pleaded not guilty to involuntary manslaughter and other charges it faces after its equipment sparked the Zogg Fire, which killed four people and destroyed hundreds of homes in Northern California two years ago.

    Also earlier this year, PG&E agreed to pay more than $55 million to avoid criminal prosecution for two other major wildfires sparked by its aging Northern California power lines. But the company didn’t acknowledge wrongdoing in those cases.

    And last week, federal investigators seized a utility transmission pole and attached equipment in a criminal probe into what started the Mosquito Fire in the Sierra Nevada foothills.

    The fire that broke out on Sept. 6 destroyed nearly 80 homes and other buildings. The fire, which has burned nearly 120 square miles (311 square kilometers), was 85% contained Thursday.

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