New York
Report details new allegations of Moonves' sexual misconduct
A report by CBS lawyers outlines more allegations of sexual misconduct by longtime chief Les Moonves, The New York Times reported.
The report alleges that Moonves destroyed evidence and misled investigators as he attempted to protect his reputation and severance payments. It says investigators had received "multiple reports" about a network employee who was "on call" to perform oral sex on Moonves.
"A number of employees were aware of this and believed that the woman was protected from discipline or termination as a result of it," it cited the report as saying. "Moonves admitted to receiving oral sex from the woman, his subordinate, in his office, but described it as consensual."
It said, the woman did not respond to the investigators' requests for an interview.
The report was prepared by lawyers the network hired to determine if Moonves violated the terms of his employment agreement, the newspaper reported Tuesday.
Messages left with CBS early Tuesday morning were not immediately returned.
The 59-page report is to be presented to CBS's board of directors before the company's annual meeting next week, it said.
It says Moonves could be denied his $120 million severance package after he had to quit in September amid numerous allegations of sexual misbehavior.
As part of his contract with CBS he was required to fully cooperate with the network's investigation.
Moonves stepped down following a story by The New Yorker that included a second round of ugly sexual misconduct accusations against the powerful television executive. He is one of many important figures in entertainment to be felled by sexual misconduct allegations.
California
U.S. law against encouraging illegal immigration struck down
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - A U.S. appeals court struck down a federal immigration law Tuesday that opponents warned could be used to criminalize a wide range of statements involving illegal immigration.
The law made it a felony for people to encourage an immigrant to enter or live in the U.S. if they know the person would be doing so illegally.
The law violates the First Amendment because it criminalizes a substantial amount of protected speech, a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said.
The statute, for example, would make it illegal for a grandmother to urge her grandson to ignore limits on his visa by encouraging him to stay in the U.S., Judge A. Wallace Tashima said.
In addition, a speech addressed to a crowd that encouraged everyone in the country illegally to stay here could also lead to a criminal prosecution, Tashima said.
"Criminalizing expression like this threatens almost anyone willing to weigh in on the debate," he said.
A message to the Justice Department was not immediately returned.
Attorneys for the government argued that the law only prohibited conduct and a very narrow band of speech that was not protected by the U.S. Constitution. They also said it had not been used against "efforts to persuade, expressions of moral support, or abstract advocacy regarding immigration."
The law preceded the Trump administration, but it posed a greater threat now given the administration's hard line on immigration, said Kari Hong, who teaches immigration law at Boston College Law School.
Hong co-authored a brief in the case that encouraged the 9th Circuit to apply the law narrowly. She said in a phone interview on Tuesday that the law was a danger to attorneys advising immigrants about how to obtain legal residency and public officials who promote so-called sanctuary policies that limit cooperation with federal immigration authorities.
"What this decision does is make clear that statements of encouragement that immigrants are welcome will not be subject to criminal prosecution," she said.
The ruling came in the case of an immigration consultant in San Jose, Evelyn Sineneng-Smith, who was convicted of fraud after prosecutors said she falsely told immigrants they could obtain permanent residency under a program she knew had expired.
Sineneng-Smith was also convicted of two counts of encouraging or inducing an immigrant to remain in the country for financial gain. Sineneng-Smith appealed those convictions as unconstitutional, and the 9th Circuit panel in Tuesday's ruling overturned them.
Ohio
Officer who fatally shot 2-year-old boy won't get back job
CLEVELAND (AP) - An arbitrator says the white officer who was fired after fatally shooting a 12-year-old black boy playing with a pellet gun won't get back his job with Cleveland police.
Timothy Loehmann was cleared in the shooting of Tamir Rice but was fired in May 2017 for failing to disclose to Cleveland that he'd been previously forced out by another department.
Loehmann challenged his firing in an arbitration process. The police union confirmed Tuesday that Loehmann lost that challenge.
An attorney for the union, Henry Hilow, says it is considering appealing that decision.
Loehmann shot Tamir Rice within seconds of a cruiser skidding to a stop outside a Cleveland recreation center in November 2014.
The boy's mother, Samaria Rice, has said she hopes Loehmann won't work as a police officer again.
Delaware
After 4 decades in prison, flawed testimony sets man free
DOVER, Del. (AP) - Nearly forty years after a teen girl was raped in Delaware, the man convicted will be released after the FBI and U.S. Department of Justice determined testimony was "invalid."
The News Journal cites court documents that say dismissing the indictment against 56-year-old Elmer Daniels is the "most just outcome." The Superior Court has to accept the state's motion.
In 1980, FBI Special Agent Michael Malone testified at Daniels' trial that hair evidence linked him to the assault. Authorities say that testimony "exceeded the limits of science."
The state cannot retry the case, because the evidence was destroyed after Daniels appealed to the Delaware Supreme Court and lost. Prosecutors had no other suspects and could not find the victim.
The state's filing would also remove Daniels from the sex offender registry.
Published: Thu, Dec 06, 2018
