Jose Garcia
Jose Garcia's JournalJudge grants Robert Kraft's request to suppress spa surveillance video
Source: CNN
(CNN) A Florida judge granted NFL team owner Robert Kraft's request to suppress surveillance video footage and other evidence in his prostitution solicitation case.
The ruling is a major blow to the case against Kraft, whose lawyers argued that the evidence was gathered illegally.
Kraft is one of dozens of spa patrons accused of receiving illicit massages at the Orchids of Asia spa in January.
He and other defendants pleaded not guilty to misdemeanor charges based on what authorities described as evidence collected from the recordings and other surveillance methods.
Read more: https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.cnn.com/cnn/2019/05/13/us/robert-kraft-spa-surveillance-video/index.html
Kentucky teen who sued over school ban for refusing chickenpox vaccination now has chickenpox
Source: NBC News
A northern Kentucky teenager banned from school for refusing the chickenpox vaccination due to his religious beliefs has come down with the childhood malady, his attorney said Wednesday.
Jerome Kunkel, a student at Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Assumption Academy, first started showing chickenpox symptoms last week and hopes to have recovered by next week, a lawyer for the 18-year-old told NBC News.
Kunkel and his family have no regrets about their decision to not be vaccinated.
"These are deeply held religious beliefs, they're sincerely held beliefs," family attorney Christopher Wiest said. "From their perspective, they always recognized they were running the risk of getting it, and they were OK with it."
Read more: https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/ncna1003271
Trump court pick confirmed despite no blue slip from Schumer, Gillibrand
Source: The Hill
The Senate on Wednesday confirmed President Trump’s pick for an influential circuit court despite neither home-state senator returning a blue slip.
Senators voted 54-42 on Joseph Bianco’s nomination to serve as a judge for the 2nd Circuit. Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin (W.Va.) and Doug Jones (Ala.) voted with Republicans to confirm him.
Bianco’s confirmation comes despite neither Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) nor Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) returning a blue slip on his nomination. He is Trump’s 38th appeals judge to be confirmed.
Bianco was confirmed unanimously to serve as a district court judge in 2005, but his current nomination had run into controversy because of his ties to the Federalist Society.
Read more: https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/442689-trump-court-pick-confirmed-despite-no-blue-slip-from-schumer-gillibrand
Biden wins endorsement of Florida Democrats in early show of force
TALLAHASSEE — In an early show of force, more than a third of Florida’s Democratic state legislators endorsed former Vice President Joe Biden in his bid for president.
The endorsements, from 23 of the Legislature’s 64 Democrats, were gathered over the past month by state Rep. Joseph Geller, a Broward County Democrat and longtime Biden supporter. Geller said Biden has the best shot at bridging a growing divide between progressive Democrats and those representing the party’s more moderate, traditional wing.
“It’s a diverse list of supporters that without question shows his support here,” Geller told POLITICO. “Not only do I think he can win, but I think he can unite the factions of the Democratic Party.”
Geller began collecting endorsements in early April, weeks before Biden officially announced his candidacy on April 25, according to endorsement sheets reviewed by POLITICO. The state-level lawmakers join former Florida U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy, who is also backing Biden's presidential bid.
More: https://www.politico.com/states/florida/story/2019/05/02/biden-wins-endorsement-of-florida-democrats-in-early-show-of-force-1005334
Democrats Have 20 Spots in the First Debate. There Are Now 21 Candidates.
During the 2016 presidential primary, leaders of the Democratic National Committee were frequently accused of showing favoritism toward Hillary Clinton over Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont. Perhaps as a result, party officials have tried to make the 2020 primary process appear more inclusive and transparent.
The first Democratic presidential debate showcases that effort: Candidates can gain access to the stage through grass-roots fund-raising, and in anticipation of a “historically large primary field,” officials decided to split the event across two nights in late June, so that as many as 20 candidates could take part.
But as of Thursday morning, when Senator Michael Bennet of Colorado announced his candidacy for president, those efforts at inclusion have been placed under strain. Mr. Bennet’s entrance ticks the number of Democratic candidates in the field up to 21, and additional candidates may still join, making it a real possibility that some will be left off the debate stage.
Only 17 candidates have so far qualified for the first debate, so cuts are not guaranteed. But with nearly two months to go, more candidates could very well meet the requirements.
More: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/02/us/politics/democratic-debates-candidates.html#click=https://t.co/cPuJmSP4Iu
Massachusetts judge, trial court officer accused of helping immigrant evade ICE officer
Source: WCVB-TV
BOSTON —
Federal authorities are charging a Massachusetts District Court judge and a trial court officer with obstruction of justice and other crimes, according to an indictment obtained by 5 Investigates.
Judge Shelley M. Richmond Joseph and Wesley MacGregor, the trial court officer, are accused of conspiring to prevent Immigration and Customs Enforcement from taking an immigrant into custody at Newton District Court on April 2, 2018.
The immigrant, who had been deported twice before, was arrested four days earlier for narcotics possession and being a fugitive from justice in Pennsylvania. When his fingerprints were taken, ICE became aware of the arrest.
ICE issued an order for a federal immigration detainer and sent an officer to the courthouse.
Read more: https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.wcvb.com/amp/article/massachusetts-judge-trial-court-officer-to-face-federal-charges-on-suspicion-of-helping-immigrant-evade-ice-officer/27271791
Officers at scene of Beto O'Rourke's 1998 DWI crash say they believe he tried to flee
The former police officer who arrested Beto O’Rourke for driving drunk in 1998, along with the sergeant who signed the incident report, both say they believe now what they reported at the time: that O’Rourke tried to leave the scene of the wreck he caused.
O’Rourke admits he was intoxicated and says there is no justification for his actions, but he has denied that he tried to flee.
"Beto's DWI is something he has long publicly and openly addressed over the last 20 years at town halls, on the debate stage, during interviews and in Op-Eds, calling it a serious mistake for which there is no excuse," said O'Rourke spokesman Chris Evans. "This has been widely and repeatedly reported on."
Neither the investigating officer, Richard Carrera, nor his former supervisor, Gary Hargrove, specifically recalls the events of that night more than 20 years ago. But both of the former Anthony Police Department officers told The Texas Tribune they have no doubt the report they compiled and signed is accurate.
More https://www.texastribune.org/2019/04/24/beto-orourke-tried-flee-scene-1998-dwi-crash-officers-say/
'Devastating,' nonprofit says after bailing out Missouri man accused of killing wife
Hours after a nonprofit group bailed a Missouri man out of jail, he beat his wife so severely that she died five days later, police said, according to KMOV.
Samuel Lee Scott, 54, is accused of killing Marcia Johnson, 54, on April 9, KMOV reported. She died on April 14 — and two days later, Scott, of St. Louis, was charged with first-degree murder in connection to his wife’s death.
Prior to the murder charge, Scott had been booked into jail on April 5 on a misdemeanor domestic assault charge after he was accused of hitting his wife on “the right side of her face with his fist” in January, KTVI reported.
“While he was in jail, (his) wife got a restraining order against him which prohibited him from getting within 300 feet of her,” KSDK reported. “But one day later, his $5,000 bail was posted by The Bail Project and he went to her home ... around 7:45 p.m. At around 11 p.m., a friend of his wife brought her to the hospital after finding her bleeding from her head.”
More: https://amp.kansas.com/news/nation-world/national/article229408779.html?__twitter_impression=true
Avenatti accused of embezzling nearly $2 million that NBA player paid ex-girlfriend
Source: LA Times
When Hassan Whiteside of the Miami Heat wired $2.75 million to Michael Avenatti in January 2017, the pro basketball player intended most of the money to go to his former girlfriend, Alexis Gardner.
Avenatti was Gardner’s attorney. An actress and barista, she’d hired him just a few weeks before to negotiate a settlement of a potential lawsuit against Whiteside. It’s unclear what she would have alleged. Avenatti quickly struck a $3 million deal, and the $2.75 million was Whiteside’s first payment.
Avenatti, prosecutors say, was entitled to take just over $1 million in legal fees, leaving the rest for Gardner.
Instead, they allege, Avenatti hid Whiteside’s payment from her and immediately took $2.5 million to buy a share of a private jet.
Read more: https://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-pol-avenatti-hassan-whiteside-embezzlement-20190421-story.html?outputType=amp&__twitter_impression=true
Alan Garcia, former Peru president, dies from self-inflicted gunshot wound
Source: CNN
(CNN) Former Peruvian president Alan Garcia died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head as police were preparing to arrest him on corruption charges Wednesday.
His death was confirmed by current President Martin Vizcarra, who expressed his condolences over Twitter.
"Devastated by the death of former President Alan Garcia, I send my condolences to his family and loved ones," Vizcarra wrote.
Read more: https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.cnn.com/cnn/2019/04/17/americas/alan-garcia-peru-shoots-himself-intl/index.html
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