Alabama
Roy Moore says he was duped into appearing on comedy show
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) - Former U.S. Senate candidate Roy Moore says he didn't know he was dealing with comedian Sacha Baron Cohen when he agreed to appear on a television show, his lawyers wrote in court filings last month.
Moore in September filed a $95 million defamation lawsuit over his appearance on Baron Cohen's "Who is America?" In court filings, Moore argued the agreement he signed waiving legal claims from the appearance is unenforceable because of fraud.
Moore said he was told he was receiving an award for supporting Israel and instead was lampooned as a possible pedophile. Moore said the agreement he signed had "zero" mention of Cohen.
The segment ran after Moore faced misconduct accusations during the 2017 Senate race in Alabama. He denied the accusations.
In the segment, Baron Cohen appeared as faux counterterrorism instructor "Col. Erran Morad," discussing bogus military technology, including a supposed pedophile detector. The device repeatedly beeped as it got near Moore, who sat stone-faced.
Moore signed an agreement with Yerushalayim TV, a company registered in Wyoming, waiving all legal claims from the appearance.
Defense lawyers wrote in court filings that Yerushalayim TV is wholly owned by Cohen. Moore's attorneys wrote that the agreement did not disclose the intent of the program and who was behind it.
"The first misrepresentation was that Judge Moore was being flown to Washington D.C. to receive an award for his support of Israel, when in actuality it was so that he could be falsely portrayed as a pedophile on national television. It is clear that defendants knew that they had to disguise their identity, otherwise plaintiffs would never have agreed to appear on "Who is America?" Moore's attorney wrote.
The agreement Moore signed mandates disputes will be heard in New York. In the court filing, Moore opposes moving the lawsuit from Washington D.C., where the segment was filmed, to New York.
Baron Cohen has faced past lawsuits over similar pranks, but those actions faltered because the individuals had signed releases.
A New York judge in 2008 tossed out lawsuits brought by a driving instructor and two etiquette school teachers who said they were duped into appearing in the movie "Borat" in which Baron Cohen plays an awkward foreign journalist traveling the United States. The judge said they accepted money and signed agreements releasing the filmmakers from liability.
Moore agreed to accept $200 for the charity of his choice, according to the agreement.
Virginia
Police: More than 60 victims in shopping mall changing-rooms camera case
FAIRFAX, Va. (AP) - Police believe more than 60 women and girls were secretly recorded undressing in changing rooms at northern Virginia shopping malls in the weeks before Christmas.
Fairfax County Police arrested 39-year-old Mumtaz Rauf of Alexandria on Christmas Eve and charged him with unlawful filming of a minor after a girl noticed a small camera in a changing room at a Forever 21 store in Fair Oaks Mall in Fairfax.
On Thursday, police announced they have evidence Rauf may have filmed more than 60 women and girls between Dec. 15 and Dec. 24 at stores in Fair Oaks, Fair Lakes Promenade and Tysons Corner Center.
Police are asking potential victims to come forward, and have identified specific times and stores where they believe Rauf was filming.
Rauf is being held pending trial. It's unclear whether he has an attorney who could comment.
Alaska
Man just out of jail charged with stealing semi
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - A man suspected of stealing a new pickup from a Fairbanks dealership was released from jail and arrested again hours later behind the wheel of a stolen semi, authorities said.
Jerry Lee Green, 44, was out on bail and wearing an ankle monitor when Alaska State Troopers said they arrested him for the second time Wednesday after a 10-mile (16-kilometer) pursuit.
"It was a mad chase down the road and he got arrested again," said Fairbanks District Attorney Greggory Olson.
Green remained jailed Thursday. Prosecutors would be asking for "substantial, cash-only" bail at arraignment, Olson said.
Fairbanks police arrested Green on Dec. 22 on a misdemeanor trespassing charge after he demanded a truck from a dealership and refused to leave without it. Green was released on $50 bail.
Shortly before 3:30 a.m. Wednesday, a trooper spotted a brand-new GMC Sierra, still covered in shipping wrap, driving on a road in south Fairbanks. The officer conducted a traffic stop and found Green was the driver. He claimed to be an FBI agent but admitted taking the $61,000 truck from Chevrolet Buick GMC of Fairbanks, the same dealership where he had been arrested last month, troopers said.
After arraignment of theft and criminal trespass charges, Green was released on a $2,000 unsecured appearance bond and a $2,000 unsecured performance bond. That meant he promised to show for his next court appearance and follow other conditions, such as not breaking any additional laws or returning to the dealership. He was fitted with an ankle monitor to make sure he did not again approach the dealership, Olson said. He did not, however, have to put up any money.
"He didn't have to post anything," Olson said. "He just got out of jail,"
Just after 10:30 p.m., troopers took a call from an employee at Airport Equipment and Rental in south Fairbanks, who reported a man in a ski mask walking in the company's truck lot. The man turned on the lights of an 18-wheeler, attempted to unhook a trailer, and when confronted by the employee, got into the truck.
Troopers in patrol cars arrived and the semi driver, with the 46-foot (14-meter) flatbed trailer still attached, pulled out of the lot, almost hit a trooper car and drove off, authorities said.
Trooper James Thomas III in an affidavit said multiple drivers had to take evasive action as Green reached the Richardson Highway with the semi.
The truck drove over spike strips but continued on. Troopers deployed a second set of spikes and Green stopped 7 miles (11 kilometers) south of Fairbanks.
He still wore the ankle monitor and a yellow Fairbanks Correctional Center jumpsuit. The paperwork outlining his conditions of release from the earlier arrest was in his pocket, troopers said.
Attorney Amy Bennett of the Alaska Public Defender's office said by email she could not comment on the case.
Published: Mon, Jan 07, 2019
