National Roundup

New York
Judge in Prince Andrew suit says document should be unsealed
NEW YORK (AP) — A secret 2008 settlement that a lawyer for Prince Andrew says would protect him against a lawsuit claiming he sexually abused an American when she was 17 should be made public, a judge said Tuesday.

The agreement was reached between Virginia Giuffre and financier Jeffrey Epstein, who killed himself in 2019 while awaiting a sex trafficking trial in New York City. Giuffre was among many women who said Epstein sexually abused them when they were underage.

Attorney Andrew Brettler has argued that the deal also shields Andrew from a separate claim brought against the prince by Giuffre this year.

In a brief order issued Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Loretta Preska said that absent any valid objection by Epstein’s estate, the document should be made public on or before Dec. 22 as part of Andrew’s case.

Preska said the court questions “whether any proper purpose would be served by the continued secrecy of the document save, perhaps, the dollar amount the settlement provided it for.”

In the August lawsuit, Virginia Giuffre claims that the prince abused her on multiple occasions in 2001. Andrew has said he never had sex with her.

Brettler  has previously called the lawsuit “baseless.”

Oklahoma
Appeals court upholds would-be bomber’s conviction
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — A federal appeals court has upheld the conviction of an Oklahoma man for trying to blow up an Oklahoma City bank.

The U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday rejected claims by the appeal of Jerry Drake Varnell, 27, that he was entrapped by the government.

Varnell’s attorney did not immediately return a phone call for comment on Wednesday.

Varnell was convicted and sentenced to 25 years in prison for trying to detonate what authorities said he believed was a half-ton bomb (450-kilogram) outside BancFirst in downtown Oklahoma City because he was upset with the government.

The FBI had learned of Varnell’s plan from an informant and an undercover agent posed as someone who could help construct the bomb, but instead provided inert materials.

“There is no denying the FBI’s investigation in this matter was aggressive and its participation in constructing the bomb and choosing a target was extensive,” but Varnell had told the informant of his plans, according to the court’s ruling.

“The statements Varnell made ... before the investigation began were deeply troubling, and Varnell voluntarily engaged in serious criminal conduct during the course of the investigation,” according to the court.

Washington
Judge: Prison company to pay state $4.5M in legal fees
TACOMA, Wash. (AP) — The private prison company The GEO Group has been ordered to pay the Washington state Attorney General’s Office nearly $4.5 million in legal fees, after the state sued to force the company to pay detainees at its immigration lockup in Tacoma minimum wage for work they perform there.

A federal jury  ruled in October that detainees held at the Northwest detention center are entitled to minimum wage for cooking, cleaning and other tasks, rather than $1 per day.

The company was ordered to pay former detainees as well as the state more than $23 million in all.

The judgments have been put on hold while GEO appeals, but in the meantime U.S. District Judge Robert Bryan on Tuesday awarded the state nearly $4.5 million in attorney fees.

Louisiana
Calls for judge to resign over video with racist language
LAFAYETTE, La. (AP) — Racist language heard in a video recorded at the home of a Louisiana judge has led to calls for her resignation.

The video shows a television set displaying security footage of what appears to be a foiled burglary at the judge’s home. Laughter and racist slurs are heard from the viewers — who aren’t visible on camera — as they watch two people capture the suspect.

Lafayette City Court Judge Michelle Odinet confirmed to Lafayette news outlets that the recording was made at her home. But she said she had taken a sedative at the time the video was made and does not remember it.
“I have zero recollection of the video and the disturbing language used during it,” Odinet said.

Her statement doesn’t identify the speakers or say whether she was among those heard on the recording. It’s not clear who originally posted the video on social media. The security footage of a scene partially obscured by tree limbs appears to show at least two people capturing and holding someone.

A 59-year-old Black man was arrested after the burglary, which happened early Saturday, police said.

“That’s me,” one viewer says while watching the security footage of the man being caught. “And Mom’s yelling ‘n——-, n——-.’” Another viewer says, “We have a n-----. It’s a n-----, like a roach.”

Odinet, in her statement, said she was traumatized after an armed burglary, although police said Tuesday there was no indication the suspect was armed.

“I was given a sedative at the time of the video. I have zero recollection of the video and the disturbing language used during it. Anyone who knows me and my husband, knows this is contrary to the way we live our lives,” Odinet’s statement said.

“We ask for your understanding, forgiveness, patience and prayers,” she added.

The president of the Lafayette Chapter of the NAACP, Michael Toussaint, called for Odinet’s resignation.

“I have never met Judge Odinet, only heard her voice in campaign adds. But because she has confirmed that the video was in fact taken inside her home, one would think that as a sitting judge, a mother, a community leader, a person in position of authority, that she would have stepped up and taken a stand against that type of language in her own home,” Toussaint said in a statement to Lafayette news outlets.

City Marshal Reggie Thomas, the first Black person to be elected to a citywide office in Lafayette, said Odinet should be held accountable for the video’s racist language, saying “a mere ineffectual and weak apology will not suffice.”

The Louisiana Legislative Black Caucus also issued a call for Odinet to resign.

“In the event she doesn’t resign, we request that the Louisiana Judiciary Commission Immediately appoint an ad hoc judge to hear cases in her division, investigate this incident and ultimately remove her,” the group said in a news release.