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Tag: retrial

  • Man found guilty a 2nd time in retrial for ‘execution style’ double murder in Montgomery Co. – WTOP News

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    A West Virginia man was again found guilty in the 2018 killing of two people who were found shot in the head inside a running vehicle in Montgomery County, Maryland.

    Ashley Dickinson, left, and Joshua Frazier, right, were found dead inside a vehicle in 2018. (Courtesy Montgomery County State’s Attorney’s Office)

    A West Virginia man was again found guilty in the 2018 killing of two people who were found shot in the head inside a running vehicle in Montgomery County, Maryland.

    Gregory Jones, 32, was convicted Friday by a jury in the deaths of Ashley Dickinson and Joshua Frazier, who were found shot “execution style” on Feb. 15, 2018, in Burtonsville.

    Jones was first found guilty and sentenced to two life terms in prison without parole in 2021. That conviction was overturned on appeal due to the testimony of the state’s firearms expert and new case law that sets limits on the use of firearms identification testimony.

    Jones again faces two potential life sentences in prison without parole plus an additional 40 years, the Montgomery County State’s Attorney’s Office said in a news release.

    How investigators zeroed in on a suspect

    Dickinson and Frazier were found dead inside a running vehicle, where investigators found 9 mm shell casings inside.

    Charging documents said Frazier was planning to meet someone in the Silver Spring area to collect $900 that was owed to him. Records from Frazier’s phone indicated he was in contact with someone with a D.C. area code that he was supposed to meet.

    Two days after Dickinson and Frazier were found dead, Gregory Jones’ cousin Tyshon Jones was shot and killed by sheriff’s deputies in a West Virginia nightclub. Charging documents said that Tyshon and another person fired their weapons after a fight in the club and that video evidence shows Gregory was in the nightclub.

    Investigators recovered 9 mm bullets from the club shooting that police used to link Gregory to the shooting in Burtonsville. Investigators also found that Tyshon had texted and called the same number that Frazier did about the debt owed to him.

    Montgomery County police arrested Gregory in the killing of Frazier and Dickinson the following month.

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    © 2025 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.

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    Sam Delgado

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  • Daughter of ex-intelligence official found guilty in retrial for 2020 stabbing death of friend – WTOP News

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    A D.C. woman was again found guilty of second-degree murder on Thursday in connection to the fatal stabbing of a 24-year-old Bethesda man in 2020.

    A D.C. woman was again found guilty of second-degree murder on Thursday in connection to the fatal stabbing of a 24-year-old Bethesda man in 2020.

    In Montgomery County Circuit Court on Thursday, 32-year-old Sophia Negroponte, the daughter of former director of national intelligence John Negroponte, was found guilty in a retrial.

    In January 2024, the Maryland appeals court tossed out Negroponte’s conviction and ordered a new trial. Three judges with the Appellate Court of Maryland said the trial court made a mistake in letting the jury hear “contested portions of the video interrogation” and allowing a prosecution’s expert to weigh in on Negroponte’s credibility.

    The case began in February 2020, when first responders arrived at a home in the 400 block of West Montgomery Avenue after a report of a stabbing. Inside, they found 24-year-old Yousuf Rasmussen, of Bethesda, fatally stabbed in the neck.

    According to court documents, Negroponte and Rasmussen got into a physical altercation during an “alcoholic rage” after a night of heavy drinking. During this time, court documents state that Negroponte stabbed Rasmussen.

    Negroponte and Rasmussen were longtime friends, with Negroponte even describing Rasmussen as her best friend in interviews with police.

    In 2024, experts for the defense testified Negroponte and Rasmussen’s blood alcohol levels were higher than 0.08.

    “We look forward to Negroponte finally being held accountable for her actions,” Montgomery County State’s Attorney John McCarthy said.

    In a written statement from 2023, the Rasmussen family remembered Yousuf as “a kind and gentle soul,” and thanked officials and the community for their support through their grief.

    Negroponte faces up to 35 years in prison and is scheduled for sentencing on Feb. 19.

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    © 2025 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.

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    Ciara Wells

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  • Harvey Weinstein retrial in NYC tentatively set for November

    Harvey Weinstein retrial in NYC tentatively set for November

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    NEW YORK — A judge on Friday tentatively scheduled Harvey Weinstein’s planned retrial on rape and sexual assault charges to begin on Nov. 12.

    Weinstein wore an American flag pin on his jacket during a brief appearance at a courthouse in Manhattan, which was delayed by about a half hour.

    The former Hollywood movie mogul’s pretrial hearing in Manhattan criminal court was scheduled to address issues related to evidence in the case, including text messages.

    At a hearing last week, prosecutors said they anticipated a November retrial. They told Judge Curtis Farber that they were still actively pursuing new claims against Weinstein, though they conceded that they hadn’t yet brought any findings to a grand jury.

    Weinstein denies sexually assaulting anyone.

    New York’s highest court threw out Weinstein’s 2020 conviction earlier this year, ruling that the original trial judge unfairly allowed testimony against him based on allegations that weren’t part of the case.

    The conviction had been considered a landmark in the #MeToo movement, an era that began in 2017 amid numerous allegations of sexual misconduct against the once powerful studio boss behind “Pulp Fiction” and “Shakespeare in Love.”

    Weinstein had been convicted of rape in the third degree for an attack on an aspiring actress and of forcing himself on a TV and film production assistant in 2006. He has denied any wrongdoing.

    Prosecutors have said one of the accusers in that case, Jessica Mann, is prepared to testify against Weinstein again. Gloria Allred, a lawyer for the second accuser, Mimi Haley, said last week that her client hadn’t yet decided whether to participate in the retrial.

    The Associated Press does not generally identify people alleging sexual assault unless they consent to be named, as Haley and Mann did.

    Weinstein, 72, is jailed on Rikers Island. His attorney, Arthur Aidala, has complained that Weinstein hasn’t been getting proper care in jail for diabetes, macular degeneration and fluid in his lungs and heart.

    Weinstein also was convicted in Los Angeles in 2022 of another rape and is still sentenced to 16 years in prison in California. In an appeal filed there last month, his lawyers argued he didn’t get a fair trial in that case.

    Copyright © 2024 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.

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    AP

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  • Harvey Weinstein to appear before judge in same courthouse where Trump is on trial

    Harvey Weinstein to appear before judge in same courthouse where Trump is on trial

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    NEW YORK — Harvey Weinstein is expected to appear before a judge Wednesday afternoon in the same New York City courthouse where former President Donald Trump is on trial.

    Weinstein is awaiting a retrial on rape charges after his 2020 conviction was tossed out. Wednesday’s court hearing will address various legal issues related to the upcoming trial, which is tentatively scheduled for some time after Labor Day.

    Weinstein’s original trial was held in the same courtroom where Trump is on trial now, but the two men are unlikely to bump into each other. Weinstein is in custody and will be brought to and from the courtroom under guard. He will be appearing in a courtroom on a different floor than where Trump is currently on trial.

    Weinstein was convicted of rape in the third degree for an attack on Jessica Mann, an aspiring actor, and of sexually assaulting Miriam Haley, a former TV and film production assistant.

    But last month New York’s highest court threw out those convictions after determining that the trial judge unfairly allowed testimony against him based on allegations from other women that weren’t part of the case. Weinstein, 72, has maintained that any sexual activity was consensual.

    The New York ruling reopened a painful chapter in America’s reckoning with sexual misconduct by powerful figures. The #MeToo era began in 2017 with a flood of allegations against Weinstein.

    Last week, prosecutors asked Judge Curtis Farber to remind Weinstein’s lawyers not to discuss or disparage potential witnesses in public ahead of the retrial.

    Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office argued that Weinstein’s lead attorney, Arthur Aidala, made statements meant to intimidate Haley earlier this month.

    Speaking outside of court on May 1, Aidala said Haley lied to the jury about her motive in coming forward and that his team planned an aggressive cross-examination on the issue “if she dares to come and show her face here.”

    Aidala didn’t respond to an email seeking comment Tuesday about Bragg’s request.

    Haley has said she does not want to go through the trauma of testifying again, “but for the sake of keeping going and doing the right thing and because it is what happened, I would consider it.”

    Her attorney, Gloria Allred, declined to comment until after she attends Wednesday’s proceedings.

    The Associated Press does not generally identify people alleging sexual assault unless they consent to be named, as both Haley and Mann have.

    Weinstein, who had been serving a 23-year sentence in New York, was also convicted in Los Angeles in 2022 of another rape and is still sentenced to 16 years in prison in California.

    Copyright © 2024 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.

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    AP

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