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Tag: Trial

  • Vanessa Bryant and family settle claims over Kobe Bryant crash site photos for $28.5 million

    Vanessa Bryant and family settle claims over Kobe Bryant crash site photos for $28.5 million

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    The family of the late Kobe Bryant has agreed to a $28.5 million settlement with Los Angeles County to resolve the remaining claims in a lawsuit over deputies and firefighters sharing grisly photos of the NBA superstar, his 13-year-old daughter and others killed in a 2020 helicopter crash, attorneys and court filings said Tuesday.

    The figure includes a newly agreed upon payment from the county of $13.5 million along with the $15 million a federal jury awarded Bryant’s widow, Vanessa Bryant, at a trial in August.

    Kobe Bryant Crash Photos
    Vanessa Bryant, center, Kobe Bryant’s widow, leaves a federal courthouse with her daughter, Natalia, left, and soccer player Sydney Leroux in Los Angeles on Aug. 24, 2022.

    Jae C. Hong / AP


    While the initial $15 million was awarded to only Vanessa Bryant, the rest of the $28.85 million will be distributed to her three surviving daughters, Natalia, Bianka and Capri, CBS Los Angeles explained.

    The agreement resolves any future claims by them, related issues pending in state court, and other costs. A proposed settlement order, which a judge must approve, was filed Tuesday in federal court.


    Vanessa Bryant, LA County settle remaining legal claims

    01:11

    “Today marks the successful culmination of Mrs. Bryant’s courageous battle to hold accountable those who engaged in this grotesque conduct,” Bryant’s attorney Luis Li said in a statement. “She fought for her husband, her daughter, and all those in the community whose deceased family were treated with similar disrespect. We hope her victory at trial and this settlement will put an end to this practice.”

    Mira Hashmall, the attorney representing L.A. County, called the statement “fair and reasonable” adding, “We hope Ms. Bryant and her children continue to heal from their loss.”

    Kobe Bryant, the former Lakers star, five-time NBA champion and member of the Basketball Hall of Fame, was traveling with Gianna and seven others to a youth basketball game when the helicopter they were aboard crashed into hills in Calabasas west of Los Angeles on Jan. 26, 2020.

    FILE PHOTO: FILE PHOTO: A fan poses by a mural of late Kobe Bryant, who perished one year ago alongside his daughter and seven others when their helicopter crashed into a hillside, in Los Angeles
    A fan poses in January 2021 by a mural of late Kobe Bryant, who perished a year before along with his daughter and seven others when their helicopter crashed into a hillside in Los Angeles.

    Mario Anzuoni / REUTERS


    Deputies and firefighters responding to the crash scene shot phone photos of the bodies and the wreckage, which Hashmall argued at trial were an essential part of assessing the situation.

    But the pictures were shared, mostly among employees of the county sheriff’s and fire departments, including some who were playing video games and attending an awards banquet. They were also seen by some of their spouses and in one case by a bartender at a bar where a deputy was drinking.

    Li told jurors that the close-up photos had no official or investigative purpose and were mere “visual gossip” shared out of a gruesome curiosity.

    Hashmall argued that the sheriff acted swiftly and appropriately when he ordered the photos deleted.

    Vanessa Bryant tearfully testified during the 11-day trial that news of the photos compounded her still-raw grief a month after losing her husband and daughter and that she still has panic attacks at the thought that they might still be out there and her daughters might someday see them online.

    The verdict in her favor was erroneously read as $16 million in court, but was later amended to $15 million.

    Federal safety officials blamed pilot error for the crash itself.

    Chris Chester, Vanessa Bryant’s co-plaintiff at the trial, was also awarded $15 million at trial, and reached his own settlement with the county in September for nearly $5 million more.

    His wife and daughter were among the other crash victims, CBS L.A. says.

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  • Witness testimony ends in Murdaugh case as jurors prepare to visit crime scene

    Witness testimony ends in Murdaugh case as jurors prepare to visit crime scene

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    Testimony ended Tuesday in the South Carolina double murder trial of Alex Murdaugh, as the court prepared to bring jurors to the scene of the killings Wednesday.

    The judge has agreed with a defense request to let jurors ride 40 minutes to see the sprawling Colleton County property where the Murdaughs lived.

    Murdaugh’s former law partner testified earlier Tuesday that he is past his anger over millions of dollars stolen from the firm.

    Ronnie Crosby had a testy exchange with defense attorney Dick Harpootlian as prosecutors got a chance to reply to the defense’s case, including by rebutting their experts who suggested two different shooters killed Murdaugh’s wife and son with two different weapons.

    Prosecutors brought Crosby back to the stand to talk more about Murdaugh stealing millions of dollars from his clients and the firm the Murdaugh family founded more than a century ago. Prosecutors contend Murdaugh thought he was about to get caught stealing and killed 52-year-old Maggie Murdaugh and 22-year-old Paul Murdaugh near kennels on June 7, 2021, to buy time to cover up the money trail.

    During cross-examination, Harpootlian asked Crosby, who often represents accident victims, if going through trauma can cause people to forget details or get times wrong. Prosecutors have pounded Murdaugh for various inconsistencies and lies, including not saying he was at the kennels the night of the killing when he could be heard heard on video recorded by his son.

    “You’re trying to take me somewhere you probably don’t want to,” Crosby said, starting a tense exchange between the attorneys.

    “You’re angry at him for stealing your money,” Harpootlian said.

    “I have had anger with him, extreme anger, Mr. Harpootlian, because what he did with my law firm, my partners, his clients, our clients — what he did to his family. What he did to so many people,” Crosby said, bristling. “But you can’t walk around with anger.”

    Harpootlian then asked Crosby if he thought Murdaugh killed his wife and son.

    “I don’t have an opinion. I don’t have the benefit of the materials you have,” Crosby said.

    Murdaugh is awaiting trial on about 100 other charges including financial crimes. Murdaugh, who has been disbarred, admitted to the thefts, which could carry decades in prison, on the stand last week.

    Prosecutors also called back to the stand the pathologist who did the autopsies on the victims and their expert who studied the crime scene.

    Kenneth Kinsey said a defense expert who measured the angles of the shots and concluded they were fired closer to the ground or by someone well shorter than the 6-foot-4 (1.93-meter) Murdaugh didn’t take into account the shooter and Maggie Murdaugh were both moving and the gun could have been fired from different positions.

    “I think his intentions were well, but his methods were flawed,” Kinsey said.

    The defense also used their experts to suggest there were two shooters, based in part on common sense that the victims stopped using their cellphones within seconds of each other. Both victims appeared to be surprised with their hands down.

    Kinsey testified his opinion was also based on being certain the fatal shotgun wound to Paul Murdaugh was fired from down low and headed up through the head instead of downward with the gun pressed against his head. The defense expert suggested a blast with the weapon’s barrel would have stunned the shooter with bone fragments, blood and other gore, delaying the time the shooter could have gone after Maggie Murdaugh.

    Dr. Ellen Riemer testified Tuesday that she stood by the findings of her autopsy that the fatal shot was fired upward. A defense expert said Riemer failed to shave hair from Paul Murdaugh’s wound or X-ray his brain after it was blown from his body to confirm her findings.

    “The reason you did not take X-rays of the brain was you already reached you conclusion,” Harpootlian said.

    “I did not because I felt comfortable with my determination,” Riemer said. “I don’t always take X-rays of every organ.”

    The prosecution also called back cellphone expert Paul McManigal, a sergeant with the Charleston County Sheriff’s Office.

    The goal was to refute a defense expert who said moving an iPhone causes its backlight to come on. Maggie Murdaugh’s iPhone was found on the side of the road outside of the property, and the backlight came on nearly two minutes before GPS data showed Alex Murdaugh’s SUV pass by.

    McManigal said he tested a similar iPhone in his office last week and determined the backlight comes on with a gentle movement, but not as often with a violet movement.

    Defense attorney Phillip Barber asked if McManigal took any notes or videotaped his experiments.

    “So, you’re alone in your office, throwing the phone around, taking no measurements, recording nothing over the weekend, and you come in here and testify as an expert as to what the phone would do?” Barber said.

    Defense attorneys asked that the jury be able to visit the scene of the killings to help them understand how small the storage room is where Paul Murdaugh was killed and the distance between the two bodies. Prosecutors were against the visit, saying the scene looks different than it did in June 2021 as trees and vegetation has grown and no one has lived on the property since the killings.

    Judge Clifton Newman is allowing only the jury, attorneys from both sides, security and police, and a court reporter to come. He banned drones from flying over. Once the jury leaves, one reporter, photographer and videographer will be able to see the property.

    Murdaugh Killings
    Evidence shown in Alex Murdaugh’s trial for murder shows the Colleton County property where the Murdaughs lived, at the Colleton County Courthouse in Walterboro, S.C. on Thursday, Feb. 2, 2023. The judge has agreed with a defense request to let jurors ride 40 minutes to see the sprawling property. The exact date and time of the jury trip has not been scheduled because it is dependent on how many witnesses the prosecution calls in its reply case. (Andrew J. Whitaker/The Post And Courier via AP, Pool)

    Andrew J. Whitaker / AP


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  • Defense rests in Alex Murdaugh murder trial

    Defense rests in Alex Murdaugh murder trial

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    Defense rests in Alex Murdaugh murder trial – CBS News


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    The defense rested its case in the double murder trial of former lawyer Alex Murdaugh, who is accused of killing his wife and one of his sons. The defense’s final witness was one of Murdaugh’s brothers. Nikki Battiste has the latest.

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  • Judge suggests jail to hinder Sam Bankman-Fried’s electronics use

    Judge suggests jail to hinder Sam Bankman-Fried’s electronics use

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    A federal judge showed growing impatience Thursday with FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried’s use of the internet while on bail, suggesting that incarceration might eventually be the most effective way to prevent him from communicating on electronic devices in ways that can’t be traced.

    Judge Lewis A. Kaplan did not immediately change a $250 million bail package that lets Bankman-Fried live with his parents in Palo Alto, California, while preparing for trial on charges that he cheated investors and looted customer deposits at FTX, his cryptocurrency trading platform.

    But he raised the possibility for the first time that jail might be the only way to ensure Bankman-Fried won’t outfox the government by using electronic devices in ways that can’t be tracked.

    “There is a solution, but it’s not one anybody’s proposed yet,” Kaplan said as Bankman-Fried sat passively at the defense table. He then noted that there may be many devices in Bankman-Fried’s family home that the government will not be tracking, even with any new rules imposed on his bail conditions.

    “Why am I being asked to set him loose in this garden of electronic devices?” he asked prosecutors.

    Claims of encrypted messages sent

    Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicolas Roos said a more “drastic alternative” would be to ban Bankman-Fried’s use of all electronic devices, but he added that it would be difficult for him to prepare for a trial tentatively set for October if that were to occur.

    The judge noted that Bankman-Fried, according to prosecutors, “has done things that suggests to me that maybe he has committed or attempted to commit a federal felony while on release.”

    Kaplan was alluding to a claim by prosecutors that Bankman-Fried sent an encrypted message over the Signal texting app on January 15 to the general counsel of FTX US.


    FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried pleads not guilty to fraud

    05:37

    According to prosecutors, the message said: “I would really love to reconnect and see if there’s a way for us to have a constructive relationship, use each other as resources when possible, or at least vet things with each other. I’d love to get on a phone call sometime soon and chat.”

    Federal prosecutors have told Kaplan that Bankman-Fried’s communications indicate he may be trying to influence a witness with incriminating evidence against him.

    “Too much room for circumvention”

    On Thursday, prosecutors asked Kaplan to more severely limit Bankman-Fried’s use of electronic devices and the internet, including banning him from messaging applications and requiring the installation of a device-monitoring program on his cellphone and computer.

    A day earlier, they wrote in court papers that his “behavior shows that the existing conditions leave too much room for circumvention of restrictions aimed at preventing inappropriate conduct, including contacting witnesses and accessing cryptocurrency assets.”

    They described Bankman-Fried as “a technologically sophisticated person with both the ability and the inclination to seek workarounds of more narrowly drawn bail conditions.”

    Mark Cohen, Bankman-Fried’s lawyer, called the proposals by prosecutors “draconian” and said they would make it hard for lawyers and the defendant to prepare for trial. But he soon found himself on the defensive as Kaplan noted his client’s apparent bail violations, including accessing an encrypted internet site to watch the Super Bowl.

    The judge mocked Bankman-Fried’s use of an encrypted method to watch the game, noting that it was on any television. Cohen responded that there wasn’t a TV in the house.

    “I think we understand your comments today, your honor, that there is no margin for error,” Cohen said. “That if there are any violations, we will be at a very different proceeding.”

    Of the eventual bail restrictions, the judge said: “I want this to be tight, not just tight in characterization, but tight in fact.”

    Bankman-Fried has been confined with electronic monitoring to his parents’ home since his December arrest on charges that he cheated investors and that diverted their deposits, in part to finance political donations and make risky trades at Alameda Research. He has pleaded not guilty.

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  • Jury clears Elon Musk of wrongdoing related to 2018 Tesla tweets

    Jury clears Elon Musk of wrongdoing related to 2018 Tesla tweets

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    Elon Musk in court for Tesla tweet trial


    Elon Musk testifies in civil trial over 2018 tweets about Tesla going private

    03:48

    A jury has decided Elon Musk didn’t deceive investors with tweets in 2018.

    The verdict by the nine jurors was reached after less that two hours of deliberation following a three-week trial.

    The trial pitted Tesla investors represented in a class-action lawsuit against Musk, who is CEO of both the electric automaker and the Twitter service he bought for for $44 billion a few months ago.

    In 2018, Musk tweeted that he had the financing to take Tesla private even though it turned out he hadn’t gotten an iron-clad commitment for an aborted deal that would have cost $20 billion to $70 billion to pull off.

    It’s a major vindication for Musk, whose integrity was at stake as well part of a fortune that has established him as one of the world’s richest people. He could have been saddled with a bill for billions of dollars in damages had the jury found him liable for the 2018 tweets that had already been deemed falsehoods by the judge presiding over the trial.

    After three hours of arguments wrapped up Friday, a nine-person jury began its deliberations in the civil case centered on two tweets Musk posted Aug. 7, 2018 about a Tesla buyout that never happened.


    Elon Musk testifies in lawsuit brought by Tesla investors

    05:10

    The first tweet, posted just before he boarded his private jet, Musk declared he had “funding secured” to take Tesla private. A few hours later, Musk sent another tweet indicating that the deal was imminent.

    The tweets caused Twitter’s stock to surge during a 10-day period covered by the lawsuit before falling back after Musk abandoned a deal in which he never had a firm financing commitment, based on evidence presented during the three-week trial.

    During roughly eight hours on the stand earlier in the trial, Musk insisted he believed he had lined up the funds from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund to take Tesla private after eight years as a publicly held company. He defended his initial August 2018 tweet as well-intentioned and aimed at ensuring all Tesla investors knew the automaker might be on its way to ending its run as a publicly held company.

    “I had no ill motive,” Musk testified. “My intent was to do the right thing for all shareholders.”


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  • Judge continues deliberations on evidence of possible motive in Alex Murdaugh trial

    Judge continues deliberations on evidence of possible motive in Alex Murdaugh trial

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    Just hours before the June 2021 murder of Murdaugh’s wife Maggie and their son Paul, Murdaugh was questioned by a colleague about nearly $800,000 that he was supposed to have handed over from the settlement of a case, according to testimony from Jeanne Seckinger, the chief financial officer for Park Law Group, Murdaugh’s former firm. Seckinger said they suspected Murdaugh kept the money. 

    “I told him I had reason to believe that he had received the funds himself and that I needed proof that he had not,” Seckinger said, later adding that they “made him resign.” 

    But the jury did not hear that revelation — at least not yet. It was the judge who listened before deciding whether to allow the confrontation about the missing money be part of the prosecution’s case. He plans to continue these hearings without the jury as the legal teams await his final ruling on financial evidence as a whole.

    In opening statements, prosecutors argued Murdaugh killed his wife and son to distract from or mask a “storm” of alleged financial crimes that were about to be revealed. Defense argued Alex had no motive to kill his family and are trying to prevent any of the financial information being presented to the jury. 

    Earlier this week, in front of the jury, a family friend, Rogan Gibson, identified Murdaugh’s voice in a video recorded by his son Paul, minutes before he and his mother were killed.

    “Do you recognize Paul’s voice?” a prosecutor asked. 

    “Yes sir,” Gibson responded. 

    “Do you recognize Maggie’s voice?” the prosecutor asked. 

    “Yes sir,” Gibson said. 

    “Do you recognize Alex’s voice?” the prosecutor asked. 

    “Yes sir,” Gibson said. 

    “One-hundred percent?” the prosecutor asked. 

    “Yes sir,” Gibson responded. 

    This contradicts Murdaugh’s earlier claims to law enforcement he was nowhere near the kennels that night. 

    The defense asked Gibson if he could think of any reason why Murdaugh would brutally murder his wife and son, to which he replied no. But then prosecutors asked Gibson if he was aware of any problems in Murdaugh’s finances, to which he also replied no. 

    The jury returns midday Friday as prosecutors continue their case. 

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  • Trial underway in Alex Murdaugh murder case

    Trial underway in Alex Murdaugh murder case

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    Trial underway in Alex Murdaugh murder case – CBS News


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    Opening statements were made Wednesday in the trial of Alex Murdaugh, the disgraced South Carolina attorney accused of fatally shooting his wife and son. Prosecutors said cellphone evidence will place Murdaugh at the scene of the murders.

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  • Elon Musk set to face trial over his Tesla tweets

    Elon Musk set to face trial over his Tesla tweets

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    While still grappling with the fallout from a company he did take private, beleaguered billionaire Elon Musk is now facing a trial over a company he didn’t.

    Long before Musk purchased Twitter for $44 billion in October, he had set his sights on Tesla, the electric automaker where he continues to serve as CEO and from which he derives most of his wealth and fame. Musk claimed in an August 7, 2018, tweet that he had lined up the financing to pay for a $72 billion buyout of Tesla, which he then amplified with a follow-up statement that made a deal seem imminent.

    But the buyout never materialized and now Musk will have to explain his actions under oath in a federal court in San Francisco. The trial, which begins on Tuesday with jury selection, was triggered by a class-action lawsuit on behalf of investors who owned Tesla stock for a 10-day period in August 2018.

    SEC fine

    Musk’s tweets back then fueled a rally in Tesla’s stock price that abruptly ended a week later, after it became apparent that he didn’t have the funding for a buyout after all. That resulted in him scrapping his plan to take the automaker private, culminating in a $40 million settlement with U.S. securities regulators that also required him to step down as the company’s chairman.

    Musk has since contended he entered that settlement under duress and maintained he believed he had locked up financial backing for a Tesla buyout during meetings with representatives from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.

    The trial’s outcome may hinge on the jury’s interpretation of Musk’s motive for tweets that U.S. District Judge Edward Chen has already decided were a falsehood.

    Chen dealt Musk another setback on Friday, when he rejected Musk’s bid to transfer the trial to a federal court in Texas, where Tesla moves its headquarters in 2021. Musk had argued that negative coverage of his Twitter purchase had poisoned the jury pool in the San Francisco Bay Area.

    Musk’s leadership of Twitter — where he has gutted the staff and alienated users and advertisers — has proven unpopular among Tesla’s current stockholders, who are worried he has been devoting less time steering the automaker at a time of intensifying competition. 

    Those concerns contributed to a 65% percent decline in Tesla’s stock last year that wiped out more than $700 billion in shareholder wealth — far more than the $14 billion swing in fortune that occurred between the company’s high and low stock prices during the Aug. 7-17, 2018 period covered in the class-action lawsuit.

    Tesla shares slump

    The lawsuit is based on the premise that Tesla’s shares wouldn’t have traded at such a wide range if Musk hadn’t dangled the prospect of buying the company for $420 per share. Tesla’s stock has split twice since then, making that $420 price worth $28 on adjusted basis now. The shares closed last week at $122.40, down from its November 2021 split-adjusted peak of $414.50.

    After Musk dropped the idea of a Tesla buyout, the company overcame a production problem, resulting in a rapid upturn in car sales that caused its stock to soar and minted Musk as the world’s richest person until he bought Twitter. Musk dropped from the top spot on the wealth list after the stock market’s backlash to his handling of Twitter.


    Elon Musk sells off billions in Tesla stock following Twitter takeover

    02:42

    The trial is likely to provide insights into Musk’s management style, given the witness list includes some of Tesla’s current and former top executives and board members, including luminaries such as Larry Ellison, Oracle co-founder, as well as James Murdoch, the son of media mogul Rupert Murdoch. 

    The drama also may shed light on Musk’s relationship with his brother, Kimbal, who is also on the list of potential witnesses who may be called during a trial scheduled to continue through Feb. 1.

    With Tesla vehicle sales slowing and its stock price tumbling, the company on Friday sharply slashed prices on several versions of its cars, making some models eligible for a new federal tax credit that could help spur buyer interest.

    The company dropped prices nearly 20% in the U.S. on some versions of the Model Y SUV, its top seller. That cut will make more versions of the Model Y eligible for a $7,500 electric-vehicle tax credit that will be available through March. Tesla also reduced the base price of the Model 3, its least expensive model, by about 6%.

    “We believe all together these price cuts could spur demand/deliveries by 12%-15% globally in 2023 and shows Tesla and Musk are going on the ‘offensive’ to spur demand in a softening backdrop,” Wedbush analyst said in a recent report. 

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  • Sam Bankman-Fried, FTX founder, pleads not guilty

    Sam Bankman-Fried, FTX founder, pleads not guilty

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    Sam Bankman-Fried, FTX founder, pleads not guilty – CBS News


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    Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX, pleaded not guilty to charges that he defrauded customers out of billions of dollars. His trial is set for October.

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  • Tory Lanez found guilty of shooting Megan Thee Stallion

    Tory Lanez found guilty of shooting Megan Thee Stallion

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    Tory Lanez found guilty of shooting Megan Thee Stallion – CBS News


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    A jury in Los Angeles found rapper Tory Lanez guilty on all 3 counts in the 2020 shooting that wounded music star Megan Thee Stallion. CBS News legal contributor Jessica Levinson joins Catherine Herridge with more on the breaking news.

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  • Tory Lanez Found Guilty of Shooting Megan Thee Stallion

    Tory Lanez Found Guilty of Shooting Megan Thee Stallion

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    On Friday, a Los Angeles jury found the rapper Tory Lanez guilty of shooting Megan Thee Stallion. Megan accused Lanez of shooting her in the feet in July 2020 following an argument between them that took place in an SUV, and prosecutors brought gun and assault charges against the Canadian rapper. During eight days of testimony, Megan offered an emotional account of the night of the fight and said that Lanez offered her and her former friend and assistant Kelsey Harris, who was also in the car, $1 million not to speak out. Lanez’s attorneys tried to position Harris as the shooter, and Lanez declined to testify. Lanez faces up to 22 years and 8 months in prison after being convicted on all three counts in the case.

    In a statement, Los Angeles district attorney George Gascón pointed to the backlash Megan has received since going public with her accusation. “You showed incredible courage and vulnerability with your testimony despite repeated and grotesque attacks that you did not deserve,” he said. “You faced unjust and despicable scrutiny that no woman should ever face and you have been an inspiration to others across La County and the nation.”

    “The jury got it right,” Megan’s attorney Alex Spiro said. “I am thankful there is justice for Meg.”

    In her testimony last week, Megan largely repeated what she’s said in interviews and on social media about what happened on the night of the shooting. In her telling, an ongoing conflict over the course of an evening–the group had been coming from a pool party at Kylie Jenner’s home–escalated after Lanez said in the car that he had had sexual relationships with both Megan and Harris. She said the argument turned towards the state of the two rappers’ careers. “Tory was basically telling me I wasn’t shit,” she testified, “and I said, ‘Actually, You ain’t shit. This is where you at in your career. This is where you at with your music.’ And I feel like that really rubbed him the wrong way.” Then, according to Megan, she exited the vehicle, and Lanez yelled, “Dance, bitch!” and began shooting at her.

    During his cross-examination of Megan, Lanez’s attorney George Mgdesyan tried to discredit her account by eliciting an admission that she lied in an interview with Gayle King when she said that she hadn’t had a sexual relationship with Lanez. Mgdesyan also asked why Megan had initially said she had stepped on glass, which Megan addressed in her testimony. “This was the height of police brutality and George Floyd, and if I said this man just shot me, I didn’t know if they might shoot first and ask questions later,” she told the jury. “In the Black community, in my community,” she continued, “it’s not really acceptable to be cooperating with police officers.” Megan also testified that as a woman in her industry, “people have a hard time believing you anyway.”

    The defense effort was not enough to sway a jury against Megan’s account of the night. As prosecutor Alexander Bott said during his closing remarks on Wednesday: “If you believe Megan, that’s enough.”

    Mgdesyan said Friday evening that Lanez may file an appeal. “We are shocked by the verdict. There was not sufficient evidence to convict Mr. Peterson,” the attorney said in a statement, Page Six reported. “We believe this case was not proven beyond a reasonable doubt. We will be exploring all options including an appeal.”

    The jury’s decision marked the end of a trial surrounded by online contention and, in some cases, the proliferation of false rumors about the case. On Thursday, just after the jury began deliberating, several prominent hip-hop outlets and bloggers sent out tweets claiming that a verdict had been reached finding Lanez not guilty on two charges, only to retract them after it quickly emerged that the jury was on lunch break. An NBC News report this week explored how a crop of gossip bloggers had shaped the tenor of social media discussion around the trial. “It’s been very clear, as I’ve seen entertainment and gossip spaces commenting on the case, that she has been set up as someone who is out for herself, lying, and problematic in all these ways,” Catherine Knight Steele, a University of Maryland communications professor, told the outlet. “This points to the way that mis- and disinformation, and misogynoir, is trafficked because of its profitability, even in the Black community. It’s profitable for these sites to traffic in the most vile stereotypes about Black women.”

    The dynamic in some ways echoed Megan’s description of the attacks she said she has faced since accusing Lanez. “If I would have known that coming out and speaking my truth would come with people agreeing with me being shot,” she testified last week, “if I would have known, I would have started to lose my confidence.”

    Lanez is scheduled to be sentenced on January 27. He could also be deported following his conviction.

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  • Verdict reached in Tory Lanez’s trial on charges of shooting Megan Thee Stallion

    Verdict reached in Tory Lanez’s trial on charges of shooting Megan Thee Stallion

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    A Los Angeles jury reached a verdict Friday in the trial of rapper Tory Lanez, who is accused of shooting Megan Thee Stallion in the feet in 2020. Lanez, whose real name is Daystar Peterson, could face more than 22 years in prison and deportation back to Canada if convicted on all counts.

    The Los Angeles County Superior Court said the verdict would be read shortly. 

    Lanez, 30, has been charged with discharging a firearm with gross negligence, assault with a semiautomatic firearm and carrying a loaded, unregistered firearm in a vehicle.

    Megan Thee Stallion, whose real name is Megan Pete, testified that Lanez shot at her feet five times following a party in the Hollywood Hills on July 12, 2020. She also told the court that the shooting was preceded by an argument between Megan and Lanez that got heated, especially when they began attacking each other’s music careers.

    “I feel like that really rubbed him the wrong way,” she said during her testimony, according to The Associated Press. “He kept yelling and cursing.”

    She got out of the vehicle and tried to walk away when Lanez leaned out and opened fire, she said, leaving the back of her feet wounded. At one point, he yelled “Dance, b—-!” she testified. She eventually got back into the car, which was pulled over shortly after, CBS Los Angeles reported. 

    Megan Thee Stallion arrives at court
    Megan Thee Stallion, whose legal name is Megan Pete, makes her way to the courthouse in Los Angeles on Dec. 13, 2022, to testify in the trial of rapper Tory Lanez for allegedly shooting her in 2020.

    Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images


    She said that, despite the shooting, she agreed to get back in the vehicle with Lanez, his bodyguard and a third person because she was wearing a thong bikini and also felt like her manager would know what to do if she was able to get in touch with him, according to CBS Los Angeles.

    She said she needed surgery to remove bullet fragments in her feet.

    She also testified that Lanez had offered her $1 million to keep quiet about the incident since he was on probation, but a lawyer for Lanez stated that wasn’t true. 

    In an April interview with “CBS Mornings” co-host Gayle King, Megan Thee Stallion described what led up to the shooting and how she reacted.

    “The argument was with the two people in the back seat,” she said. “So I asked the driver to pull the car over. Like, I’m done with this. And I should have stayed out of the car. Like, I should have not got back in the car. And they was like, ‘Megan, just get back in the car. We’re almost there.’ And, like, just, ‘Get back in.’ So I get back in the car. It’s… getting worse.”

    As the argument escalated, Megan Thee Stallion said she got out of the car, and that’s when, she told King, that Lanez fired a gun at her several times.

    “So I get out of the car and it’s like everything happens so fast,” Megan Thee Stallion told King. “And all I hear is this man screaming. And he said, ‘Dance, b—-!’ And he started shooting. And I’m just like, ‘Oh, my God.’ Like, he shot a couple of times. And I was so scared.”

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  • Why Tory Lanez’s Fate Comes Down to Megan Thee Stallion’s Testimony

    Why Tory Lanez’s Fate Comes Down to Megan Thee Stallion’s Testimony

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    Over eight days of testimony, the details of a fight between rappers Megan Thee Stallion and Tory Lanez have unfurled in a Los Angeles courtroom. In 2020, Lanez allegedly shot Megan in the feet as an argument between the two escalated. At the time, Megan’s star was already on the rise, and the tabloid-ready circumstances—the altercation took place in Hollywood Hills after a pool party at Kylie Jenner’s home—helped fuel more than two years of combative discussion on social media. Megan’s career has scaled further heights in the years since the incident, and when she appeared at the trial last week to testify on behalf of the prosecution, supporters stood outside the courthouse with signs reading “I Stand With Megan.” Lanez has pleaded not guilty on the gun and assault charges he faces over the alleged shooting. On Wednesday, he declined to testify as his defense team rested its case.

    Delivering his closing remarks on Wednesday, prosecutor Alexander Bott sought to refocus some of the chaos. “If you believe Megan and what she said last Tuesday, this case is over,” he told the jury, as Law & Crime reported. “We’re done. If you believe Megan, that’s enough.” Megan’s testimony last week largely echoed the account of the alleged shooting she has given on social media and in interviews. “Tory was basically telling me I wasn’t shit,” she told jurors, “and I said, ‘Actually, You ain’t shit. This is where you at in your career.” Megan claimed that as she exited the SUV they were in, Lanez said, “Dance, bitch!” and began shooting at her.

    The trial proceedings have sometimes been scattered and contradictory. Prosecutors said Megan’s former bodyguard Justin Edison would testify, but he never appeared, and authorities couldn’t track him down in time for the case’s conclusion. Megan’s former friend and assistant Kelsey Harris, who was present in the SUV on the night of the alleged shooting, testified that she never saw Lanez with a gun, but prosecutors played a recording of a statement she had previously made to them in which she said Lanez was the shooter. Lanez’s lawyer George Mgdesyan said in his opening statement that a romantic quarrel between Megan and Harris over Lanez ran parallel to arguments they had had over the rapper DaBaby and the Brooklyn Nets player Ben Simmons, but these purported conflicts didn’t come up in testimony.

    In news reports, Megan’s own testimony rang the loudest, especially as it related to the backlash she said she received after going public with the alleged shooting. In his closing statement on Wednesday, Bott quoted from Megan’s testimony: “If I would have known that coming out and speaking my truth would come with people agreeing with me being shot, if I would have known, I would have started to lose my confidence.”

    “Megan Pete is a liar,” Mgdesyan said during his closing statement on Wednesday, using the rapper’s birth name, according to Law & Crime. “She lied about everything in this case.” Mgdesyan asked why Megan hadn’t publicly shared that she’d had sex with Lanez. Citing the rapper’s Grammys and Billboard chart achievements, he said that Lanez had in fact gotten the worst of the backlash. “You know who it’s been bad for?” Mgdesyan said, pointing at Lanez. “That man right there.”

    Mgdesyan acknowledged that Megan had been shot on the night in question, so he tried to sway jurors toward the theory that Harris was the shooter. He repeatedly pointed to Harris’s invocations of her Fifth Amendment rights, according to Law & Crime, as a way of arguing that she was covering for herself. Bott addressed Harris’s contradictory statements in his remarks on Wednesday: “Something happened to Kelsey.”

    “Maybe she took one of those bribes,” he reportedly went on—a reference to Megan’s testimony last week that Lanez offered her and Harris $1 million not to say anything about the alleged shooting. (In her testimony, Harris denied taking a bribe.)

    A jury began deliberating after the closing statements. Lanez faces 22 years in prison if convicted on all counts.

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    Dan Adler

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  • Harvey Weinstein accuser Ambra Battilana Gutierrez talks about facing him in court: “It’s a feeling of being powerful again”

    Harvey Weinstein accuser Ambra Battilana Gutierrez talks about facing him in court: “It’s a feeling of being powerful again”

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    One day after a jury in Los Angeles found former film producer Harvey Weinstein guilty of rape and sexual assault, one of his first  accusers to go public, Ambra Battilana Gutierrez, joined “CBS Mornings” in her first broadcast interview since his conviction.

    Gutierrez went to police in New York seven years ago and was asked to wear a wire by authorities to obtain evidence against Weinstein.

    “In 2015, when I worked with the police, they were able to put it on tape and had him saying what he did to me,” she said on “CBS Mornings” Tuesday. “It was recorded, and there was video footage on security cameras.”

    Gutierrez, a model, said police tried to help her but Weinstein was able to avoid charges at the time.

    “The police tried to help me, they tried to do as much as they could,” she said. “But he was so powerful, he was able to just make me not believable.”

    Gutierrez said she had to leave New York and “go somewhere else,” adding that “it wasn’t easy.” Weinstein was later tried and convicted in New York on charges involving two other women. 

    Facing him in court in his Los Angeles trial gave Gutierrez a sense of strength.

    “It’s a feeling of being powerful again,” she said.

    Even so, she worried Weinstein would walk. She said her Catholic upbringing taught her to forgive people, but that she never saw “regret in his eyes.”

    “It felt unbelievable when I was there on the stand, looking at him,” she said.

    Weinstein, 70, was found guilty Monday on charges of rape and sexual assault against one of four accusers. Weinstein was already serving a 23-year prison sentence for rape and sexual assault that is under appeal after a New York jury convicted him in 2020. He could get up to 24 years in California when he’s sentenced.

    The allegations brought against Weinstein in Los Angeles directly involved four women. All were referred to as Jane Doe in court, and an additional four appeared in court to testify. Two accusers remained anonymous. 

    Weinstein, once a powerful Hollywood mogul and co-founder of the entertainment company Miramax, which produced movies like “Pulp Fiction” and “Shakespeare in Love,” became the focus of a myriad of allegations that helped spark the rise of the #MeToo movement five years ago.

    More than 80 women have come forward with accusations of sexual assault and misconduct against Weinstein stretching back several decades. Many of them spoke out on the heels of 2017 reports by The New York Times and New Yorker that initially exposed the allegations and shared some women’s stories — including Gutierrez’s.

    Meanwhile, Gutierrez said she is working to push forward the Survivors Act in New York state and any other laws that can help accusers of sexual assault.

    “I am at a point where I know my story is relevant, and will help other people.”

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  • Judge orders accused Paul Pelosi attacker to stand trial

    Judge orders accused Paul Pelosi attacker to stand trial

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    Judge orders accused Paul Pelosi attacker to stand trial – CBS News


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    The man accused of attacking House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband Paul Pelosi with a hammer is ordered to stand trial. This comes as investigators reveal he had a list of future targets that included Hollywood superstar Tom Hanks and California Gov. Gavin Newsom. Scott MacFarlane reports.

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  • The Megan Thee Stallion – Tory Lanez Trial Explained

    The Megan Thee Stallion – Tory Lanez Trial Explained

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    Even if you haven’t been paying attention over the past few years to the Megan Thee Stallion and Tory Lanez beef, you’ve undoubtedly heard about this underlying national drama that’s slowly coming to a boil. On July 12, 2020, Los Angeles police reported a woman suffering from a foot injury and a man being arrested on a weapons allegation after the cops had responded to a call about shots being fired in the area.

    Prosecutors claim that Megan Pete – AKA Megan Thee Stallion – was shot by Daystar Peterson, known as Tory Lanez. Two long years and a glut of diss-tracks later, Megan is suing Tory for “great bodily injury” after shooting her in the foot. Lanez pleaded “not guilty” in November 2020…but oh boy does it only get messier from here.

    So. The trial began this week and a battle of he-said-she-said has commenced. If you’ve missed the past few days of drama and conflicting statements…don’t you worry.

    Here’s everything you need to know:

    • The defense, led by George Mgdesyan, is arguing that the altercation was caused by Megan’s jealousy of longtime former friend, Kelsey Harris.
      • Both Megan and Harris have had relationships with Tory Lanez
      • Lanez claims the women have always had jealousy issues…citing Megan sleeping with Harris’ exes Ben Simmons and DaBaby
    • Kelsey Harris and Tory Lanez both tested positive for gun residue
      • Harris is set to testify in support of Megan (at some point)
      • Defense seems to imply that Harris was the shooter
    • Prosecution, led by Alexander Bott, argues that Lanez shot Megan because she insulted his music abilities

    There have been many accusations from Lanez that Megan Thee Stallion is lying about being shot…despite X-Rays showing bullet fragments in her foot. Kelsey Harris also texted Megan’s bodyguard that morning “Help. Tory shot Meg.” So there’s that.

    Only time will tell what the verdict is…but we’re hoping this brings some closure for Megan Thee Stallion, who has been open about her mental health struggles amongst this chaos.

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    Jai Phillips

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  • Kim Kardashian and Kanye West settle divorce; rapper will pay $200,000 per month in child support

    Kim Kardashian and Kanye West settle divorce; rapper will pay $200,000 per month in child support

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    Kim Kardashian and Ye have reached a settlement in their divorce, averting a trial that had been set for next month, court documents filed Tuesday showed.

    The former couple and their attorneys filed documents asking for a judge’s approval of terms they have agreed on, including $200,000 per month child support payments from Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, to Kardashian.

    The two will have joint custody, and neither will pay the other spousal support, according to the documents filed in Los Angeles Superior Court.

    The judge declared the two legally single at Kardashian’s request in March, ending their eight-year marriage, but issues of property and custody remained that were to be worked out in a trial starting Dec. 14.

    The two have four children whose ages range from 3 to 9 years old.

    Kardashian and Ye will equally split the expenses for the kids’ private security and private school, including college, according to the settlement proposal.

    They will also each pay their own debts the settlement said. The two had a pre-nuptial agreement and kept their property largely separate.

    The couple began dating in 2012 and had their first child in 2013. West proposed later that year using the giant screen at the empty waterfront ballpark of the San Francisco Giants, and the two married May 24, 2014, in a ceremony at a Renaissance fortress in Florence, Italy.

    The two appeared to be headed for a cordial split with agreed-upon terms when Kardashian first filed for divorce in February of 2021. Neither discussed the split publicly until early this year, when Ye started lashing out on social media against Kardashian, her family, and then-boyfriend Pete Davidson. Among his complaints were that he was not being allowed to make major parenting decisions and was being excluded from birthday parties and other events for their children.

    Ye, who has fired two lawyers since the divorce filing, also raised several technical issues and demands, including seeking the right to question any new husband of Kardashian’s under oath, which Judge Steve Cochran promptly rejected.

    The settlement comes soon after several companies have cut ties with Ye over offensive and antisemitic remarks that have further eroded an already withering public image.

    His latest lawyer, Nicholas Salick, did not immediately reply to a request for comment on the settlement.

    It was the third marriage for Kardashian, the reality TV superstar, businesswoman and influencer, and the first marriage for the rap and fashion mogul Ye. Theirs was one of the most closely followed celebrity unions in recent decades.

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  • Jury says it is deadlocked in Danny Masterson rape trial

    Jury says it is deadlocked in Danny Masterson rape trial

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    Jurors at the rape trial of “That ’70s Show” star Danny Masterson said Friday that they are deadlocked, but a judge told them they have not deliberated long enough for her to declare a mistrial.

    The jury told Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Charlaine Olmedo that after nearly three days of deliberations, they could not reach a unanimous verdict on any of the three rape counts against the actor.

    Olmedo had already agreed to allow jurors Thanksgiving week off. She stopped their discussions Friday and told them to return and resume deliberations on Nov. 28.

    Masterson, 46, is charged with the rape of three women, including a former girlfriend, in his Hollywood Hills home between 2001 and 2003.

    He has pleaded not guilty, and the defense said the acts were consensual.

    Masterson, 46, did not testify during the trial. His lawyer presented no defense testimony and instead focused on inconsistencies in the accounts of the three accusers, who he said changed their stories over time and spoke with each other before going to police.

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  • Allen Weisselberg testifies in Trump organization trial

    Allen Weisselberg testifies in Trump organization trial

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    Allen Weisselberg testifies in Trump organization trial – CBS News


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    CBS News Reporter Graham Kates talks about Allen Weisselberg’s testimony today in the Trump organization trial. The former CFO talks Trump’s involvement in a tax fraud scheme.

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  • Elizabeth Holmes asks for leniency for her Theranos crimes

    Elizabeth Holmes asks for leniency for her Theranos crimes

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    Disgraced Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes is casting herself as a Silicon Valley scapegoat who overcame an abusive relationship to become a loving mother in an effort to avoid a lengthy prison sentence for duping investors in her failed blood-testing company.

    In an 82-page document filed late Thursday, Holmes’ lawyers tried to persuade U.S. District Judge Edward Davila that sending Holmes to prison is unnecessary, partly because she has already been stigmatized by intense media coverage that turned her into a “caricature to be mocked and vilified.”

    If Davila decides to send her to prison, Holmes’ lawyers argued she should be sentenced to no more than 18 months — a fraction of the maximum of 20 years she is facing after being convicted on four felony counts of investor fraud and conspiracy earlier this year.

    “We acknowledge that this may seem a tall order given the public perception of this case — especially when Ms. Holmes is viewed as the caricature, not the person,” the filing said.

    Prosecutors are expected to seek a much harsher sentence when they file their own sentencing recommendations ahead of Holmes’ scheduled Nov. 18 sentencing. Holmes, 38, will learn her fate in the same San Jose, California courtroom where her high-profile trial cast a glaring spotlight on Silicon Valley’s penchant for hype and hubris.

    Bogus promises

    After starting Theranos as a 19-year-old, Holmes proceeded to raise nearly $1 billion from investors swayed by what turned out to be bogus promises.

    Holmes became lionized as a visionary while touting a compact device that was supposed to be able to scan for hundreds of diseases and other potential health problems with a few drops of blood taken with a finger prick. Theranos’ tests instead produced wildly unreliable results, flaws that Holmes tried to conceal until the problems were exposed in the media and regulatory audits.

    Although Holmes’ convictions were limited to about $140 million of the investments in Theranos, legal experts say the magnitude of just those losses make it unlikely that her push for a relatively short prison sentence or home confinement will succeed.

    Two former federal prosecutors, Duncan Levin and Amanda Kramer, told The Associated Press that Holmes seems likely to get a sentence of nine years to 17 years, although both acknowledged Davila has the discretion to be more lenient.

    “There is an argument to be made, particularly in white collar cases, that you don’t need a very long prison sentence to deter people who never have been in prison,” Kramer said.

    Holmes’ lawyer repeatedly hammered on that point in the memo to Davila. “Ms. Holmes is no danger to the public,” the filing asserted. “She has no criminal history, has a perfect pretrial services compliance record, and is described by the people who know her repeatedly as a gentle and loving person who tries to do the right thing.”

    Mother to a 1-year-old

    The filing also cited her motherhood to a 1-year-old son she had with her current partner, William “Billy” Evans, shortly before the start of last year’s trial. Former Theranos lab director Adam Rosendorff, a key prosecution witness in that trial, said he understood that Holmes was pregnant when he was summoned back to court last month for further sworn testimony in Holmes’ failed bid for a new trial.

    Neither Holmes nor Evans responded when asked if she was pregnant again after that Oct. 17 hearing, and pregnancy wasn’t mentioned in the sentencing memo.

    Evans was among more than 130 people who submitted letters to Davila extolling Holmes’ character. One came from Sen. Cory Booker, a Democrat from New Jersey, who described Holmes as a friend who “holds onto the hope that she can make contributions to the lives of others, and that she can, despite mistakes, make the world a better place.”

    Silicon Valley crackdown

    In their memo, Holmes’ lawyers also pointed out some of her past trauma, echoing Holmes’ testimony about being raped while she was still a student at Stanford. After that, Holmes testified she endured years of emotional and sexual abuse that affected her decision-making while in a romantic relationship with Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani, who was also Theranos’ chief operating officer.

    Balwani, 57, was convicted on 12 felony counts of investor and patient fraud in July during separate trial. He is scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 7. His lawyers have denied Holmes’ abuse accusations.

    The documents also asserted that Holmes was unfairly singled out by a federal government looking to crack down on Silicon Valley excesses, suggesting part of the reason may have been because she became a successful woman in a technology industry that has been dominated by men. Although she once was worth $4.5 billion based on the value of her stake in privately held Theranos, the lawyers stressed she never sold any shares in the company and now has few future prospects.

    “Ms. Holmes will never be able to seek another job or meet a new friend without the negative caricature acting as a barrier,” the filing said.

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