Tag Archives: trial and procedure

US

Prosecutors in Alex Murdaugh murder trial play recording of his first interview after bodies of his son and wife were found

Leave a comment



CNN
 — 

On the third day of the murder trial of disgraced South Carolina attorney Alex Murdaugh, prosecutors showed the court video of Murdaugh’s first interview with authorities after his wife and son were found killed.

In the interview, which had not been released publicly previously, Murdaugh described arriving at the scene where he could see the two bodies and told investigator he could see things were “bad” when he first pulled up to the home.

Murdaugh has pleaded not guilty to two counts of murder and two counts of possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime related to the deaths of his wife, Margaret, and son, Paul, who was 22 at the time of the June 7, 2021 crime. Opening statements for Murdaugh’s murder trial began earlier this week and is now in recess for the weekend, with the prosecution’s ninth witness still on the stand.

In the interview played in court on Friday, Murdaugh told investigators he had left home that night to go check on his mother, who is a late-stage Alzheimer’s patient.

Murdaugh said that after arriving and seeing the bodies, he tried to turn his son’s body over and then went over to his wife. He told investigators he touched both of them to try and take their pulse, adding he “tried to do it as limited as possible,” according to the video recording.

He said there was blood around his son’s body but that he didn’t see anything else around other than Paul’s cellphone. Murdaugh broke down several times during the interview.

Murdaugh said he called 911 and later his brothers and a good friend.

Colleton County, South Carolina, Sheriff’s Office Det. Laura Rutland, who was among the officers who interviewed Murdaugh hours after the bodies were found, testified on Friday she did not see footprints or knee prints in the blood near Paul’s body.

She also testified that she had seen Murdaugh’s hands and shirt that night and he was “clean,” telling the court she did not see any blood on him.

In the video recording played in court, Murdaugh was asked by another law enforcement officer if there had been any problems and Murdaugh responded,”Nothing that I know of,” but added there had been negative publicity following a boat accident that Paul, his son, was involved in.

At the time of his death, Paul Murdaugh was facing charges of boating under the influence, causing great bodily harm and causing death in connection to a 2019 boat crash that claimed the life of 19-year-old Mallory Beach, court records show.

Alex Murdaugh said in the recording there had been some “vile stuff’ online directed at his son and that Paul had been “punched and hit and just attacked a lot,” but acknowledge he had not witnessed those incidents.

Murdaugh then went on to allude about a man he recently had hired who Murdaugh said had allegedly shared a “freaky” story with Paul about getting drafted on an undercover team to “kill radical Black Panthers.”

“I really do not think that in all honesty that it’s him, but I think you oughta check it out,” Murdaugh continued, according to the recording.

Murdaugh also told investigators he owned about 20 or 25 guns.

During cross examination, defense attorney Jim Griffin questioned Rutland about how another agent collected the clothing that Murdaugh was wearing that night and asked her if she had followed proper protocol, seeming to question the integrity of the investigation.

Griffin also asked Rutland about notes in her report that night which said Murdaugh’s wife appeared to have strands of brown hair in her hands and fingers and that Paul appeared to have scratches on his face. Rutland told the court she noted what she observed.

The prosecution also called as their eighth witness another agent, who testified she collected samples from the two bodies and a ninth witness, also an agent, who is expected to resume testimony on Monday morning.

Read original article here

US

NYC bike path terror suspect found guilty on all counts

Leave a comment



CNN
 — 

Sayfullo Saipov was found guilty of murder by a federal jury for using a rented truck to fatally strike eight people on a New York City bike path on Halloween Day in 2017.

Jurors deliberated about six hours over two days in the case involving the deadliest terrorist attack New York had seen since 9/11 – which left six foreign tourists and two Americans dead.

The same jury will determine whether Saipov is sentenced to life in prison or the death penalty. The vote must be unanimous for the death penalty to be imposed. The penalty phase of the trial is scheduled to begin on February 6.

The trial was the first federal death penalty case heard during the administration of President Joe Biden, who had campaigned against capital punishment at the federal level.

Jury deliberations began Wednesday afternoon after Judge Vernon Broderick read them instructions.

Saipov had pleaded not guilty.

He was convicted Thursday in the Southern District of New York of counts of murder in aid of racketeering activity, assault with a dangerous weapon and attempted murder in aid of racketeering activity, attempted murder in aid of racketeering activity, provision of material support to ISIS, and violence and destruction of a motor vehicle.

In closing arguments, defense attorney David Patton did not dispute the facts of the attack Saipov is accused of committing. But the defense disputed the prosecution’s claim that Saipov was motivated to commit the attack to gain entry to ISIS. Patton argued that the attack was spurred by religious fervor to please his God and “ascend to paradise” in his religion.

Prosecutors told jurors that Saipov carried out the attack to become a member of the terrorist group.

“People who ISIS relies upon to conquer territory and kill non-believers, those are its soldiers. Of course they are part of ISIS. That is common sense,” prosecutor Amanda Leigh Houle said. “An organization engaged in a worldwide war needs its soldiers and its soldiers are part of the group.”

The charges stemmed from the 2017 attack in which Saipov drove a U-Haul truck into cyclists and pedestrians on Manhattan’s West Side bike path. He then crashed the vehicle into a school bus and left the truck while brandishing a pellet gun and paintball gun, authorities said at the time. He was shot by an NYPD officer and taken into custody, officials said.

Investigators said Saipov told them he planned the attack for about a year and was inspired by ISIS videos, according to a criminal complaint.

Saipov became radicalized by consuming extremist content during lengthy solo stints as a long-haul truck driver, his attorney said.

He grew up culturally Muslim in Uzbekistan but was not exposed to any significant amount of religious study, and his family members are not ISIS supporters, Patton said.

Saipov came to the United States from Uzbekistan in 2010 and was living in New Jersey before the attack. He lived with his wife and three children and drove for Uber, according to officials.

Saipov came to the US on a diversity immigrant visa, which allows people from countries with low recent immigration to apply for a visa and green card, according to the Department of Homeland Security. He later became a legal permanent resident, officials said.

Of the eight people killed in the attack, five were from Argentina, two were Americans, and one was from Belgium, police said.

The Argentinians were part of a group celebrating the 30th anniversary of their high school graduation in New York City.

Argentina’s Foreign Affairs Ministry identified them as Hernán Diego Mendoza, Diego Enrique Angelini, Alejandro Damián Pagnucco, Ariel Erlij and Hernán Ferruchi.

Nicholas Cleves, 23, from New York, and Darren Drake, 32, from New Milford, New Jersey, were the two Americans killed.

Ann-Laure Decadt, a 31-year-old Belgian woman, was also among those killed, according to a statement from her husband, Alexander Naessens. Decadt, a mother of two young sons, was on a trip to New York with her two sisters and her mother, Naessens said after the attack.

Read original article here

US

Tyre Nichols had ‘extensive bleeding caused by a severe beating,’ according to preliminary autopsy commissioned by family

Leave a comment



CNN
 — 

Tyre Nichols, the Black man who died two weeks ago after a confrontation with Memphis Police, suffered “extensive bleeding caused by a severe beating,” according to preliminary results of an autopsy commissioned by attorneys for his family.

“We can state that preliminary findings indicate Tyre suffered extensive bleeding caused by a severe beating, and that his observed injuries are consistent with what the family and attorneys witnessed on the video of his fatal encounter with police on January 7, 2023,” attorney Benjamin Crump said in a statement.

CNN has asked Crump for a copy of the autopsy commissioned by the family, but he said the full report is not yet ready. Officials have also not released Nichols’ autopsy.

Nichols, 29, was pulled over by Memphis officers on January 7 for alleged reckless driving, according to a police statement.

As officers approached the vehicle, a “confrontation” occurred and Nichols fled on foot, police said. The officers pursued him and they had another “confrontation” before he was taken into custody, police said. Nichols then complained of shortness of breath, was taken to a local hospital in critical condition and died three days later, police said.

Authorities have not publicly released video of the arrest. However, family attorneys who watched it on Monday described it as a heinous police beating that lasted three long minutes. Civil rights attorney Ben Crump said Nichols was tased, pepper-sprayed and restrained and compared it to the Los Angeles Police beating of Rodney King in 1991.

The Memphis Police Department has fired five officers, all of whom are Black, for violating policies on excessive use of force, duty to intervene and duty to render aid, the department said.

“The egregious nature of this incident is not a reflection of the good work that our officers perform, with integrity, every day,” Chief Cerelyn Davis said at the time.

In addition, two members of the city’s fire department were fired. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation announced an investigation into Nichols’ death and the US Department of Justice and FBI have opened a civil rights investigation.

The US Attorney overseeing the federal civil rights investigation said Wednesday he had met with Nichols’ family earlier this week and pledged his investigation into the case will be “thorough” and “methodical.”

“Our federal investigation may take some time, as these things often do, but we will be diligent and make decisions based on the facts and the law,” said Kevin Ritz, US Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee.

Nichols had worked with his father at FedEx for about nine months, his family said. He was fond of Starbucks, skateboarding in Shelby Farms Park and photographing sunsets, and he had his mother’s name tattooed on his arm. He also had Crohn’s disease, a digestive issue, and so was a slim 140 to 145 pounds despite his six-foot-three-inch height, his mother said.

The January 10 death of Nichols follows a number of recent, high-profile cases involving police using excessive force toward members of the public, particularly young Black men. Crump has previously represented the families of George Floyd, Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown and Breonna Taylor.

Rev. Al Sharpton, the civil rights figure and president of the National Action Network (NAN), said in a statement he will deliver the eulogy for Nichols at his funeral in Memphis next week.

The family and attorneys viewed footage of the incident on Monday and said they were disturbed by what it showed.

“He was defenseless the entire time. He was a human piñata for those police officers. It was an unadulterated, unabashed, nonstop beating of this young boy for three minutes. That is what we saw in that video,” attorney Antonio Romanucci said. “Not only was it violent, it was savage.”

“What I saw on the video today was horrific,” Rodney Wells, Nichols’ stepfather, said Monday. “No father, mother should have to witness what I saw today.”

Crump described the video as “appalling,” “deplorable” and “heinous.” He said Ravaughn Wells, Nichols’ mother, was unable to get through viewing the first minute of the footage after hearing Nichols ask, “What did I do?” At the end of the footage, Nichols can be heard calling for his mother three times, the attorney said.

Nichols fled from the police, his stepfather said, because he was afraid.

“Our son ran because he was scared for his life,” Wells said Monday. “He did not run because he was trying to get rid of no drugs, no guns, no any of that. He ran because he was scared for his life. And when you see the video, you will see why he was scared for his life.”

Video of the incident could be released this week or next week, Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy told CNN’s Laura Coates on Tuesday night, but he wants to make sure his office has interviewed everyone involved before releasing the video so it doesn’t have an impact on their statements.

“A lot of the people’s questions about what exactly happened will, of course, be answered once people see the video,” Mulroy said, noting he believes the city will release enough footage to show the “entirety of the incident, from the very beginning to the very end.”

Prosecutors are trying to expedite the investigation and may be able to make a determination on possible charges “around the same time frame in which we contemplate release of the video,” Mulroy said.

The Memphis Police Department identified the officers terminated as Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, Desmond Mills, Jr., and Justin Smith.

The fire department employees who were fired were part of Nichols’ “initial patient care,” and were relieved of duty “while an internal investigation is being conducted,” department Public Information Officer Qwanesha Ward told CNN’s Nadia Romero.

Asked Tuesday what those Fire Department employees did or didn’t do, Romanucci told CNN there were “limitations” on how much he could say.

“During a period of time before the EMS services arrived on scene, Fire is on scene. And they are there with Tyre and the police officers prior to EMS arriving,” he said.

The Memphis Police Association, the union representing the officers, declined to comment on the terminations beyond saying that the city of Memphis and Nichols’ family “deserve to know the complete account of the events leading up to his death and what may have contributed to it.”

One of the five officers terminated after Nichols’ death was a defendant in a civil federal lawsuit in 2016 in which a Shelby County Correctional Center inmate claimed to have been beaten and had his civil rights violated. The lawsuit was later dismissed.

Demetrius Haley, who was a correctional officer at the time, was one of three Shelby County correctional officers accused by the plaintiff of bringing them to a restroom to be searched. The lawsuit, which was filed when the plaintiff was an inmate, alleges the officers accused the inmate of trying to flush contraband.

According to the complaint, “Haley and McClain hit (the plaintiff) in the face with punches.” It goes on to say the plaintiff was picked up and slammed face first into a sink by a third correctional officer, then thrown to the floor, after which they allege they “blacked out” and woke up in a medical unit.

CNN has reached out to the attorneys who represented Haley in the lawsuit. CNN has also reached out to the Shelby County Correctional Center for comment on Haley’s previous position.

According to court documents, Haley filed an answer to the complaint requesting that it be dismissed. The document does say Haley and another correctional officer did search the inmate after they “observed smoke” and assert the inmate did try to flush contraband down a toilet, but Haley denied the other claims.

Haley and another defendant later filed a motion asking the judge to dismiss the case because the plaintiff had not exhausted his administrative remedies. That motion was granted and the case was dismissed in 2018.

Haley was hired by the Memphis Police Department in August 2020, police said.



Read original article here

US

Snapchat video sent by Paul Murdaugh the night he was killed considered critical part of case, prosecutors say

Leave a comment



CNN
 — 

Paul Murdaugh sent a Snapchat video to several friends just minutes before he was killed, according to a motion filed by the South Carolina state attorney prosecuting Alex Murdaugh, the disgraced former lawyer standing trial starting this week in the killing of his wife and son.

Margaret “Maggie” Murdaugh, 52, and their youngest son, Paul Murdaugh, 22, were found shot to death on the family’s property in June 2021.

Alex Murdaugh has denied he was involved in their deaths and pleaded not guilty to the murder charges.

Jury selection began Monday. The trial could last up to three weeks, attorneys for the defense and prosecution have said.

Three generations of the Murdaugh family had served as prosecuting attorneys in coastal South Carolina, but a series of deaths and allegations of embezzlement and insurance fraud brought the family legacy crashing down, capturing the nation’s attention.

The reference to the video in the filing, obtained by CNN affiliate WCSC, appears to be the first mention of the Snapchat video from prosecutors who intend to use it as evidence in their case against Murdaugh.

Snapchat provided the recording as part of a search warrant, the filing said.

“Amongst other things, critical to the case is a video sent out to several friends at approximately 7:56 PM on the night of the murders,” said the filing.

“The contents of this video is important to proving the State’s case in chief,” reads the document, written by state prosecutors.

The document does not describe what the contents of the video are, and its importance to the case is unclear.

In October, CNN reported, prosecutors in court documents said the mother and son were killed between 8:30 p.m. and 10:06 p.m. in court documents. The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division previously reported the deaths occurred between 9 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.

Prosecutor Creighton Waters asked in the motion that a representative from Snapchat, the social media platform which provided the video, “testify in person that the video is a true and accurate record kept in the normal course of business activity.”

Judge Clifton Newman ruled in favor of the motion and issued a request to a Los Angeles, district court to compel a representative of Snapchat to attend the Murdaugh trial starting the first day of jury selection.

Read original article here

Entertainment

Rapper Young Thug, co-defendant ara accused of in-court drug transaction

Leave a comment



CNN
 — 

Grammy-winning rapper Young Thug and a racketeering co-defendant conducted a hand-to-hand drug transaction during a court hearing, prosecutors said in a motion filed in Atlanta.

Fulton County prosecutors say the alleged exchange was captured on courtroom surveillance video Wednesday.

The rapper, whose real name is Jeffery Lamar Williams, and Kahlieff Adams are charged with conspiracy to violate the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act and participation in criminal street gang activity, among other charges.

According to the motion seeking clarification of the record, Adams “stood up from his chair (…) and walked unattended” to Young Thug and gave him Percocet.

The motion said Young Thug tried to conceal his hand under the table. Sheriff’s deputies took the painkiller and searched Adams, who resisted. He was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital after “he appeared to ingest other items of contraband that he held on his person, in an effort to conceal the extent of his crimes within the courtroom.”

During the search of Adams, the deputies found Percocet, marijuana, tobacco, and other contraband, “wrapped in plastic and food seasonings to mask the odor of the marijuana,” the motion said.

Percocet is the brand name of a drug that mixes oxycodone, which is an opioid, and acetaminophen, which is the generic name for drugs such as Tylenol.

Keith Adams, one of Young Thug’s attorneys, told CNN on Friday, “The State is purposely misrepresenting and embellishing Wednesday’s events.”

He said Young Thug neither requested nor accepted the pill.

“As can be seen in the courtroom video footage, Mr. Williams IMMEDIATELY gave it to the courtroom deputy that was directly in front of him,” he wrote in a message.

Adams said an investigation cleared Young Thug of any wrongdoing and the responsible party was charged. He said the prosecutors’ allegations were “a blatant fabrication and disappointing.”

Teombre Calland, an attorney representing Kahlieff Adams, released a statement via text message to CNN affiliate WSB-TV saying: “On behalf of Mr. Adams, these allegations are simply that: mere statements made by the state in an effort to thwart the lengthiness of the jury selection process.”

CNN has reached out to Brian Steel, another Young Thug attorney, and Calland.

Young Thug won a Grammy Award in 2019 for his work with Childish Gambino and Ludwig Göransson on the hit song “This is America.”

The rapper was initially indicted in May on charges of conspiracy to violate the RICO Act and participation in criminal street gang activity.

A re-indictment filed on August 5 in Fulton County Superior Court accuses him of nine new charges, including participating in criminal street gang activity and violating the Georgia Controlled Substances Act.

He also was indicted on other charges of possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony and possession of a machine gun.

Jury selection is ongoing.

Read original article here

US

Alec Baldwin and armorer to be charged with involuntary manslaughter after fatal shooting of Halyna Hutchins on the set of ‘Rust’

Leave a comment



CNN
 — 

Actor Alec Baldwin, who fatally shot a cinematographer on the set of the Western movie “Rust” in 2021, and the film’s armorer, Hannah Gutierrez Reed, will each be charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter, prosecutors said Thursday.

The family of Halyna Hutchins, who was the film’s director of photography, thanked prosecutors for their decision.

“It is a comfort to the family that, in New Mexico, no one is above the law,” the family said in a statement released by attorney Brian J. Panish.

Baldwin has maintained he was not aware the gun he fired during a rehearsal contained a live round. His attorney called the prosecutors’ decision “a terrible miscarriage of justice.”

“This decision distorts Halyna Hutchins’ tragic death and represents a terrible miscarriage of justice. Mr. Baldwin had no reason to believe there was a live bullet in the gun – or anywhere on the movie set,” attorney Luke Nikas said.

“He relied on the professionals with whom he worked, who assured him the gun did not have live rounds. We will fight these charges, and we will win.”

Live updates: Alec Baldwin to be charged in fatal ‘Rust’ shooting

An attorney for Gutierrez Reed said he believes jurors will find his client not guilty.

“We were expecting the charges but they’re absolutely wrong as to Hannah – we expect that she will be found not guilty by a jury and she did not commit manslaughter,” attorney Jason Bowles said in a statement Thursday.

“She has been emotional about the tragedy but has committed no crime.”

Baldwin and Gutierrez Reed each face two counts of involuntary manslaughter so that a jury can decide which specific count may be more appropriate, New Mexico First Judicial District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies said.

If convicted, “they will only be sentenced to one count,” the prosecutor said.

In either case, a conviction is punishable by up to 18 months in jail and up to a $5,000 fine, prosecutors said.

But one count would involve a firearm enhancement, or added mandatory penalty, because a firearm was involved. In that case, the crime could be punishable by a mandatory five years in jail, prosecutors said.

The district attorney said she believed “Rust” had a “really fast and loose set,” citing “a lack of safety and safety standards” and “live rounds on set – they were mixed in with regular dummy rounds.”

“Nobody was checking those, or least they weren’t checking them consistently,” Carmack-Altwies said.

“And then they somehow got loaded into a gun, handed off to Alec Baldwin; he didn’t check it, he didn’t do any of the things that he was supposed to do to make sure that he was safe or that anyone around him was safe. And then he pointed the gun at Halyna Hutchins and he pulled the trigger.”

Hutchins was struck and killed by a live round of ammunition fired from a prop gun being held by Baldwin, who maintains he did not pull the gun’s trigger.

Director Joel Souza was also shot and injured. No charges will be filed against Souza in relation to the shooting.

In the summary of the postmortem investigation into Hutchins’ death – which was formally signed by the New Mexico chief medical investigator – the cause of death is listed as “gunshot wound of chest,” and the manner of death is listed as an “accident.”

“Review of available law enforcement reports showed no compelling demonstration that the firearm was intentionally loaded with live ammunition on set. Based on all available information, including the absence of obvious intent to cause harm or death, the manner of death is best classified as accident,” the report concluded.

An FBI forensics report said the weapon could not be fired during FBI testing of its normal functioning without pulling the trigger while the gun was cocked. The report also noted the gun eventually malfunctioned during testing after internal parts fractured, which caused the gun to go off in the cocked position without pulling the trigger.

The shooting has led to a whirlwind of finger-pointing and allegations of negligence from those involved.

In an interview with CNN in August, Baldwin placed responsibility for the tragedy on Gutierrez Reed, who served as the armorer and props assistant on the film, and assistant director Dave Halls, who handed him the gun.

Halls signed a plea agreement “for the charge of negligent use of a deadly weapon,” the district attorney’s office announced in its statement Thursday. Prosecutors said the terms of that deal include six months of probation.

On Thursday, Halls’ attorney Lisa Tarraco released a statement in defense of her client, who does not face charges in connection with the tragedy.

“Absent no charges at all, this is the best outcome for Mr. Halls and the case,” Tarraco said. “He can now put this matter behind him and allow the focus of this tragedy to be on the shooting victims and changing the industry so this type of accident will never happen again. “

In November, Baldwin filed suit against Gutierrez Reed and Halls and other individuals associated with the film, according to a cross-complaint obtained by CNN.

Through their respective attorneys, both Gutierrez Reed and Halls maintained they were not at fault and accused Baldwin of deflecting blame onto others.

Gutierrez Reed also sued the movie’s gun and ammunition supplier and its founder – who deny wrongdoing – and alleged a cache of dummy ammunition was sold with live rounds mixed in.

In October, Hutchins’ family reached an undisclosed settlement in a wrongful death lawsuit filed against Baldwin and others involved in producing the film.

Matthew Hutchins, widower of Halyna Hutchins, described her death as a “terrible accident” in a statement at the time of the settlement. Production on “Rust” was to resume this month with Matthew Hutchins joining as an executive producer on the film as part of the agreement.

Read original article here

US

An Army lieutenant pepper-sprayed by Virginia police during a traffic stop was awarded $3,600

Leave a comment



CNN
 — 

A US Army officer who was pepper sprayed, pushed to the ground and handcuffed by Windsor, Virginia, police officers during a 2020 traffic stop was awarded around $3,600 Tuesday in a lawsuit that was seeking $1 million in compensatory damages.

Second Lt. Caron Nazario, who is Black and Latino, filed the suit in 2021 claiming that the two police officers violated his rights guaranteed under the First and Fourth Amendments during the traffic stop.

On Tuesday, Nazario was awarded $2,685 in compensation for damages after a jury determined former Windsor police officer Joe Gutierrez assaulted the Army officer. The jury also determined that Officer Daniel Crocker must pay $1,000 in punitive damages for an illegal search of his vehicle, court documents show.

The jury however largely sided with the officers, finding Nazario didn’t prove other allegations in the suit, such as false imprisonment.

“We do think that there are appealable issues in this case, and we will take it up with the appropriate forum,” Nazario’s lawyer, Jonathan Arthur, told CNN affiliate WTVR outside the courthouse Tuesday.

Footage of the December 5, 2020, traffic stop – which was captured by several cameras, including both officers’ body cameras and Nazario’s phone – shows Nazario, who was in uniform, having guns pointed at him, being pepper-sprayed four times, wrestled to the ground and handcuffed.

The officers ultimately released Nazario and no charges were filed against him.

Crocker initiated the traffic stop after seeing a dark SUV “with dark tinted windows” and no license plate, police reports show. Nazario’s lawsuit said the vehicle was new and he didn’t have permanent plates yet, but he had “cardboard temporary plates” taped to the inside of the rear window.

In court, lawyers for the officers argued Nazario continued driving for 1.1 miles after Crocker initiated his lights and sirens and did not pull over at a number of potential locations, WTVR reported.

Nazario’s lawsuit said he wanted to stop in a safe, well-lit place and pulled over at a gas station in Windsor, which is about 30 miles west of Norfolk.

Gutierrez was fired in 2021 following an investigation into the use of force during the incident and Crocker remains on the force.

An attorney for Crocker commended the jury’s decision Tuesday.

“Thank you for a job well done, well-reasoned. They took a lot of time with this decision. They took half a day on Friday, they took the better part of the day today,” Richard Matthews, an attorney who represented Crocker, told WTVR.

Last year, Special Prosecutor and Commonwealth’s Attorney Anton Bell determined no charges should be filed against the officers in state court but formally referred the case to the US Attorney’s Office for a federal civil rights investigation.

Read original article here

Business

Twitter’s laid-off workers cannot pursue claims via class-action lawsuit, judge says

Leave a comment

Twitter

(TWTR) has secured a ruling allowing the social media company to force several laid-off workers suing over their termination to pursue their claims via individual arbitration rather than a class-action lawsuit.

US District Judge James Donato on Friday ruled that five former Twitter employees pursuing a proposed class action accusing the company of failing to give adequate notice before laying them off after its acquisition by Elon Musk must pursue their claims in private arbitration.

Donato granted Twitter’s request to force the five ex-employees to pursue their claims individually, citing agreements they signed with the company.

Twitter did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The San Francisco judge left for another day “as warranted by developments in the case” whether the entire class action lawsuit must be dismissed, though, as he noted three other former Twitter employees who alleged they had opted out of the company’s arbitration agreement have joined the lawsuit after it was first filed.

The lawyer who represents the plaintiffs, Shannon Liss-Riordan, said on Monday that she had already filed 300 demands for arbitration on behalf of former Twitter employees and would likely file hundreds more.

Those workers all claim they have not received the full severance package promised by Twitter before Musk took over. Some have also alleged sex or disability discrimination.

Last year, Donato had ruled that Twitter must notify the thousands of workers who were laid off after its acquisition by Musk following a proposed class action accusing the company of failing to give adequate notice before terminating them.

The judge said that before asking workers to sign severance agreements waiving their ability to sue the company, Twitter must give them “a succinct and plainly worded notice.”

Twitter laid off roughly 3,700 employees in early November in a cost-cutting measure by Musk, and hundreds more subsequently resigned.

In December last year, Twitter was also accused by dozens of former employees of various legal violations stemming from Musk’s takeover of the company, including targeting women for layoffs and failing to pay promised severance.

Twitter is also facing at least three complaints filed with a US labor board claiming workers were fired for criticizing the company, attempting to organize a strike, and other conduct protected by federal labor law.

Read original article here

US

Trump Org. fined $1.6 million after conviction for 17 felonies, including tax fraud

Leave a comment


New York
CNN
 — 

The Trump Organization was fined $1.6 million – the maximum possible penalty – by a New York judge Friday for running a decade-long tax fraud scheme, a symbolic moment because it is the only judgment for a criminal conviction that has come close to former President Donald Trump.

Two Trump entities, The Trump Corp. and Trump Payroll Corp., were convicted last month of 17 felonies, including tax fraud and falsifying business records.

Under New York law, the most the companies can be fined is about $1.6 million, a penalty the Trump Organization can easily afford.

Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass asked Judge Juan Merchan to make the Trump Org. pay the maximum fine, though he admitted that it will have a “minimal impact” on a multibillion-dollar company.

“We all know that these corporations cannot go to jail as Allen Weisselberg has,” Steinglass said Friday, referring to the Trump Organization’s long-time chief financial officer who was sentenced to five months in jail earlier this week as part of a deal he reached with prosecutors. “The only way to effectively deter such conduct is to make it as expensive as possible.”

New York District Attorney Alvin Bragg, a Democrat, told CNN that the fine against the Trump Org. is important but he also wants lawmakers to raise the fines for companies that break the law.

“It’s important regardless of who the defendant is, because it’s cheating and greed and cheating the taxpayers,” Bragg said. “It obviously becomes more consequential given that it involved the former president’s corporation and CFO. It sends a message – I hope it sends a message to New Yorkers that you know we’re one system of justice and that this kind of conduct, regardless of who you are, won’t be countenanced in Manhattan.”

But, Bragg said, the fine isn’t enough of a penalty.

“It isn’t sufficient. Plain and simple,” Bragg said, saying the law should “reflect what I think many of us see, particularly those who sat through the trial and saw the 13 year you know pattern of deep greed and misconduct laid bare, we should have stiffer penalties for conduct like that.”

The Trump Org. entities have 14 days to pay the fine.

The real estate business is not at risk of being dismantled because there is no mechanism under the law to dissolve the company. No individual will go to jail based on the jury’s verdict. However, a felony conviction could impact the Trump Organization’s reputation and ability to do business or obtain loans or contracts.

Trump and his family were not charged in this case, but the former president was mentioned repeatedly during the trial by prosecutors about his connection to the un-taxed benefits doled out to certain executives, including company-funded apartments, car leases and personal expenses. One prosecutor said Trump “explicitly sanctioned” tax fraud.

One of the jurors told CNN that the jury saw a “culture of fraud,” at the Trump Organization, but referred to Trump as a nondescript “Bob Smith” at times when talking about the company owner’s awareness of the crimes in relation to the charges.

Weisselberg last year pleaded guilty to 15 felonies related to the tax fraud scheme and agreed to testify truthfully against the company at trial.

He remained on paid leave at the Trump Organization, where he was compensated a little more than $1 million a year, until Tuesday when he was sentenced. Weisselberg received a severance package that one person familiar with the deal called “generous.”

Merchan, who sentenced Weisselberg, said at the time that but for the deal he would have given Weisselberg more time in jail after listening to the evidence at trial.

Merchan said he found most “offensive” a $6,000 payroll check Weisselberg had made out to his wife, who never worked for Trump, so she could become eligible for Social Security benefits.

A Trump Org. spokesperson said that Weisselberg “is a victim,” as is the company and former president.

“New York has become the crime and murder capital of the world, yet these politically motivated prosecutors will stop at nothing to get President Trump and continue the never ending witch-hunt which began the day he announced his presidency,” the spokesperson said. “We did nothing wrong and we will appeal this verdict.”

The Manhattan district attorney’s office continues to investigate the company’s business practices.

Prosecutors are conducting a wide-ranging investigation and in recent months their focus has returned to the company’s involvement in hush-money payments made to silence adult film star Stormy Daniels from going public with an affair with Trump just before the 2016 election, people familiar with the matter said. Trump has denied the affair.

Prosecutors are also looking into potential insurance fraud after new material came to light from the New York attorney general’s civil investigation into the accuracy of the Trump Organization’s financial statements, the people said.

The biggest threat currently facing the company could be New York Attorney General Letitia James’ $250 million civil lawsuit, which has alleged Trump, his three eldest children, Weisselberg and others defrauded lenders, insurers and tax authorities by inflating the value of multiple Trump Org. properties for more than a decade.

In addition to money, James, a Democrat, is seeking to permanently bar Trump and the children named in the lawsuit from serving as a director of a business registered in New York state. She is also seeking to cancel the Trump Organization’s corporate certificate, which if granted by a judge, could effectively force the company to cease operations in New York state.

The judge overseeing the lawsuit put an independent monitor in place to review the Trump Organization’s financial statements and business decisions. He recently denied motions to dismiss the case and said he considered sanctioning Trump’s attorneys. The trial is set for October.

Trump has denied wrongdoing and said the lawsuit is politically motivated.

This story has been updated with additional details.

Read original article here

US

Missouri carries out first known execution of an openly transgender person for 2003 murder

Leave a comment



CNN
 — 

Missouri carried out the first known US execution of an openly transgender person Tuesday when Amber McLaughlin, who was convicted of a 2003 murder and unsuccessfully sought clemency from the governor, was put to death by lethal injection.

“McLaughlin was pronounced dead at 6:51 p.m.,” the Missouri Department of Corrections said in a written statement. A spokesperson did not say if McLaughlin had a final statement.

McLaughlin’s execution – the first in the US this year – is unusual: Executions of women in the United States are already rare. Prior to McLaughlin’s execution, just 17 had been put to death since 1976, when the US Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty after a brief suspension, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. The non-profit organization confirmed McLaughlin is the first openly transgender person to be executed in the United States.

McLaughlin, 49, and her attorneys had petitioned Republican Gov. Mike Parson for clemency, asking him to commute her death sentence. Aside from the fact a jury could not agree on the death penalty, they say, McLaughlin has shown genuine remorse and has struggled with an intellectual disability, mental health issues and a history of childhood trauma.

But in a statement Tuesday, Parson’s office announced the execution would move forward as planned. The family and loved ones of her victim, Beverly Guenther, “deserve peace,” the statement said.

“The State of Missouri will carry out McLaughlin’s sentence according to the Court’s order,” Parson said, “and deliver justice.”

McLaughlin – listed in court documents as Scott McLaughlin – had not initiated a legal name change or transition and as a death-sentenced person, was kept at Potosi Correctional Center near St. Louis, which housed male inmates, McLaughlin’s federal public defender Larry Komp and the governor’s office have said.

McLaughlin was sentenced to death for Guenther’s November 2003 murder, according to court records.

The two were previously in a relationship, but they had separated by the time of the killing and Guenther had received an order of protection against McLaughlin after she was arrested for burglarizing Guenther’s home.

Several weeks later, while the order was in effect, McLaughlin waited for Guenther outside the victim’s workplace, court records say. McLaughlin repeatedly stabbed and raped Guenther, prosecutors argued at trial, pointing in part to blood spatters in the parking lot and in Guenther’s truck.

A jury convicted McLaughlin of first-degree murder, forcible rape and armed criminal action, court records show.

But when it came to a sentence, the jury was deadlocked.

Most US states with the death penalty require a jury to unanimously vote to recommend or impose the death penalty, but Missouri does not. According to state law, in cases where a jury is unable to agree on the death penalty, the judge decides between life imprisonment without parole or death. McLaughlin’s trial judge imposed the death penalty.

If Parson were to grant clemency, McLaughlin’s attorneys argued, he would not have subverted the will of the jury, since the jury could not agree on a capital sentence.

That, however, was just one of several grounds on which McLaughlin’s attorneys said Parson should grant her clemency, according to the petition submitted to the governor.

In addition to the issue of her deadlocked jury, McLaughlin’s attorneys pointed to her struggles with mental health, as well as a history of childhood trauma. McLaughlin has been “consistently diagnosed with borderline intellectual disability,” and “universally diagnosed with brain damage as well as fetal alcohol syndrome,” the petition said.

McLaughlin was “abandoned” by her mother and placed into the foster care system, and in one placement, had “feces thrust into her face,” according to the petition.

She later suffered more abuse and trauma, including being tased by her adoptive father, the petition said, and battled depression that led to “multiple suicide attempts.”

At trial, McLaughlin’s jury did not hear expert testimony about her mental state at the time of Guenther’s murder, the petition said. That testimony, her attorneys said, could have tipped the scales toward a life sentence by supporting the mitigating factors cited by the defense and rebutting the prosecution’s claim McLaughlin acted with depravity of mind – that her actions were particularly brutal or “wantonly vile” – the only aggravating factor the jury found.

A federal judge in 2016 vacated McLaughlin’s death sentence due to ineffective counsel, court records show, citing her trial attorneys’ failure to present that expert testimony. That ruling, however, was later overturned by the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals.

McLaughlin’s execution “would highlight all the flaws of the justice system and would be a great injustice on a number of levels,” Komp, her attorney, told CNN previously.

“It would continue the systemic failures that existed throughout Amber’s life where no interventions occurred to stop and intercede to protect her as a child and teen,” Komp said. “All that could go wrong did go wrong for her.”

Read original article here