National Roundup

New York
New trial ordered for millionairein son’s death
NEW YORK (AP) — A federal judge has ordered a new trial for a self-made health care millionaire who was convicted six years ago of fatally drugging her 8-year-old autistic son in a luxury New York City hotel room in 2010.

Friday’s ruling by Manhattan Federal Magistrate Judge Sarah Cave stems from a 2014 closed courtroom discussion that was requested by the lead prosecutor in the case. Cave determined the off-the-record exchange regarding online material had violated Gigi Jordan’s Sixth Amendment right to a public trial. At the time, one of Jordan’s lawyers repeatedly objected to the private discussion.

“The trial court’s closure of the courtroom was deliberate, over the multiple, strenuous objections of Jordan’s counsel, and was a closure that the trial court in fact acknowledged after the fact may well have been erroneous,” Cave wrote, arguing that Jordan’s right to a public trial applied to the proceeding.

A spokesperson for Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance Jr. said in a written statement that the office “strenuously disagrees” with the ruling and intends to immediately appeal the decision to Manhattan federal appeals judges. If it becomes necessary, spokesperson Danny Frost said, the office will retry Jordan for killing her son, Jude Mirra.

Jordan was  sentenced in 2015 to serve 18 years in prison after a jury found her guilty of first-degree manslaughter, instead of murder, deciding she was under “extreme emotional disturbance” when she administered her son a fatal dose of Ambien and Xanax. Lawyers for the nurse-turned-pharmaceutical entrepreneur, argued that Jordan acted out of fear that her life was in danger and that her son would be left susceptible to abuse.

Jordan testified at her trial that she also took pills to kill herself but the suicide attempt was unsuccessful.

“I didn’t see any way out of this situation,” she said during the trial. “I made a decision that I was going to end my life and Jude’s life.”

Pennsylvania
US judge orders stop to Postal Service cuts, echoing others
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A federal judge in Philadelphia joined others Monday in ordering the U.S. Postal Service to halt recent cuts that critics say are causing mail delays and threatening the integrity of the presidential election.

U.S. District Judge Gerald A. McHugh Jr. said six states and the District of Columbia presented “compelling evidence” from the Postal Service itself that shows “a pronounced increase in mail delays across the country” since July.

“In a pandemic, states are even more reliant on the mail, especially when it comes to administering elections,” McHugh wrote in granting a preliminary injunction.

Lawyers for the Postal Service say new Postmaster General Louis DeJoy never ordered a slowdown or overtime ban. However, they conceded in court last week that local postal managers may have interpreted the guidance from Washington that way.

Because of that lack of clarity, McHugh said, a national injunction that echoes the others that were issued was necessary.

State officials had told McHugh that on-time delivery of first-class mail fell 10% from July to August, aggravating and even endangering customers who rely on mail delivery for food, medications and other essentials.

The case before McHugh was filed by attorneys general in Pennsylvania, California, Delaware, Maine, Massachusetts, North Carolina and the District of Columbia. Federal judges in Washington state and New York issued similar orders this month.

New York
Man charged with trying to kill an FBI task force member
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. (AP) — A New Rochelle man was charged Monday with trying to kill an FBI task force officer after firing a handgun toward a public square in Yonkers.

Darren Smith, 24, was held for an initial appearance in White Plains federal court. A message seeking comment was sent to his lawyer.

Acting U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss said in a release that Smith tried to direct gunfire from a handgun toward a federal law enforcement officer on Friday after leading officers on a chase in his car before trying to flee on foot.

Smith was charged with trying to murder a federal officer, using a deadly weapon to interfere with the performance of a federal officer’s official duties and discharging a firearm in the course of a crime of violence. A message seeking comment was sent to his lawyer.

If convicted, Smith could face life in prison. The charge of discharging a firearm during a crime of violence carries a mandatory minimum of 10 years in prison, which must be added to any sentence stemming from a conviction on other charges.

William F. Sweeney Jr., head of the FBI’s New York office, said Smith fired his gun “wildly into a public square” in downtown Yonkers to try to prevent his arrest before a member of the FBI’s Westchester Safe Streets Task Force tried to grab the gun and stop him.

Authorities said Smith initially refused to stop his vehicle as officers tried to pull him over for multiple driving violations.

According to a criminal complaint, the task force member suffered a fractured finger, a sprained knee and several abrasions to his right hand as the gunman tried to direct gunfire toward him.

The federal officer was not identified in the complaint. Four shell casings from Smith’s handgun were found at the scene while no rounds were fired by any law enforcement officers, the complaint said.


Washington
Black federal agent alleges smear campaign after lawsuit
SEATTLE (AP) — A supervisor for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in Seattle says in a lawsuit she was the target of a smear campaign after she sued over racial harassment by a co-worker with a Nazi tattoo.

Cheryl Bishop, a senior supervisory special agent who is Black, said court papers that after her discrimination lawsuit settled for $450,000, the accused supervisor sent an email to 150 people defending himself and reiterating many of the same racist tropes and allegations against Bishop, the Seattle Times reported.

The agency repeatedly failed to discipline Bradley Devlin or rein in his racist behavior, allowing him to feel he could lash out again, the lawsuit claims.

Devlin has a “German Eagle SS Lightning bolt” tattoo he says he got infiltrating a white supremacist biker gang in Ohio. He has said in court documents he is not racist and described their conflict as based on personality.

Devlin was the bureau’s resident agent in charge in Eugene, Oregon. He has since retired and declined comment to the newspaper on the new lawsuit. An ATF spokeswoman also declined comment.