California
Guilty pleas tossed in federal officer slaying
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A federal judge on Tuesday threw out guilty pleas by three members of the Grizzly Scouts anti-government militia who are accused of destroying evidence in a deadly shooting of a federal security officer in the San Francisco Bay Area.
The men pleaded guilty last year and were expected to face sentences of 10 months to a year in prison. But Judge James Donato in San Francisco threw out the plea deal, KGO-TV reported.
“They were dedicated exclusively and deliberately in a scheme to target and kill law enforcement officers,” the judge said. “I haven’t seen a case that is more of a threat to public safety.”
A June trial is now set for Jessie Rush, 29, of Turlock; Kenny Miksch, 22, of San Lorenzo, and Simon Ybarra, 24, of Los Gatos.
None of the prosecution or defense attorneys would comment on the decision, KGO-TV reported.
The trio were charged with conspiring to obstruct justice by destroying records connected to the investigation of the murder of a federal security officer and the wounding of another officer on May 29, 2020, at the Oakland federal building.
Prosecutors alleged that the three made plans to target law enforcement officers with Steven Carrillo, a former U.S. Air Force staff sergeant. Carrillo pleaded guilty earlier this month to a federal murder charge in the death of David Patrick Underwood and to the attempted murder of Underwood’s colleague.
They were shot with a homemade AR-15 rifle from the back of a van as they stood in front of the federal building while hundreds marched to protest the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
Under a plea deal, prosecutors agreed not to seek the death penalty but will call for a 41-year sentence when Carrillo is sentenced on June 3. However, the judge in the case said she hasn’t decided whether to accept the agreement.
Prosecutors have said Carrillo, of Santa Cruz County, had ties to the “boogaloo” movement —a concept embraced by a loose network of gun enthusiasts and militia-style extremists. The group started in alt-right culture on the internet with the belief that there is an impending U.S. civil war, according to experts.
Carrillo also is facing murder and other charges in Santa Cruz in the ambush of sheriff’s deputies a week after the Oakland shooting. Sheriff’s Sgt. Damon Gutzwiller, 38, was killed and others were wounded.
Carrillo has pleaded not guilty to that killing.
Washington
High court won’t get involved in murder case
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court is declining to disturb a decision that a Wisconsin man convicted of poisoning his wife should get a new trial.
The high court said Tuesday that it would not hear the case, leaving in place a ruling in favor of Mark Jensen. As is typical, the justices did not explain their reason for rejecting the case. The case was included in a list of cases the court has decided not to hear.
The Wisconsin Supreme Court concluded last year that Jensen deserves a new trial in the 1998 death of his wife Julie Jensen. At trial, prosecutors used a letter and voicemails to a police officer, in which Julie Jensen expressed her fear that her husband was planning to kill her. The Wisconsin Supreme Court said those statements can’t be used.
Jensen has maintained his innocence.
The case is Wisconsin v. Mark D. Jensen, 21-210.
Louisiana
Judge OKs synthetic rubber plant’s pollution settlement
A federal judge has approved a settlement under which a synthetic rubber plant will pay $3.3 million in fines and $650,000 for improved air monitoring in several southwest Louisiana locations, officials said Tuesday.
Firestone Polymers LLC agreed to install numerous emission control systems at the plant in Sulphur, as well as paying nearly $2.1 million to the federal government and $1.25 million to the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality.
“This will result in cleaner air for communities in Southwest Louisiana, particularly for communities that have suffered a historically disproportionate burden from pollution,” EPA enforcement official Larry Starfield said in a news release Tuesday.
Firestone Polymers LLC is a major manufacturer of synthetic rubber.
EPA and the Louisiana department filed both the 115-page settlement and the 127-page complaint on Sept. 30, 2021, in federal court in Lake Charles. The agreement noted that some improvements were made as far back as 2019. That was after Firestone was notified of violations but before the agreement was reached, a September 2021 news release said.
A company spokesperson said in October 2021 that the plant had reduced hazardous air pollutants about 97% since 2017.
U.S. District Judge Patricia Minaldi signed the settlement Feb. 8, court records show.
“We plan to use this penalty and the beneficial environmental project funds from this consent decree to further enhance the environment in Louisiana,” state Environmental Quality Secretary Chuck Carr Brown said.
Kentucky
Ex-officer charged in Breonna Taylor raid begins trial
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Nearly two years after Breonna Taylor’s shooting death by police, the only Kentucky officer facing criminal charges in the botched raid will stand trial Wednesday for shooting into Taylor’s neighbor’s apartment.
Brett Hankison, now a former officer, fired 10 shots near a side door during the raid, but none hit Taylor. Prosecutors say the bullets endangered Taylor’s neighbors — a couple and their infant child.
Hankison’s jury was selected from a larger-than-normal pool because of the national publicity Taylor’s case has attracted since the deadly raid on March 13, 2020. Taylor’s name, along with George Floyd and Ahmaud Arbery — Black men who died in encounters with police and white pursuers — were rallying cries during the racial justice protests seen around the world in 2020.
The 12 jurors and three alternates are expected to tour Taylor’s apartment and hear testimony from Hankison during the trial that’s expected to take two weeks. Several other current and former police officers are expected to testify.
The 26-year-old Black woman worked as an emergency medical tech and was settling down for bed when Louisville officers with a narcotics warrant kicked in her door. They drew fire from Taylor’s boyfriend, who thought an intruder was breaking in. Two officers at the door returned fire, killing Taylor. Neither one was charged in her death, though one of the officers was struck by a bullet in the leg.
Hankison is charged with three counts of wanton endangerment, a low-level felony that is punishable by a maximum of five years in prison.
