California
Judge dismisses lawsuit against Musk, Tesla and Twitter fan
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A federal judge in California dismissed a securities fraud and defamation lawsuit filed by a Tesla investor against CEO Elon Musk, one of Musk’s a supporters and Tesla.
In an order filed Thursday, Judge James Donato threw out the lawsuit by the investor, Aaron Greenspan, who runs a legal document website. Donato wrote that the lawsuit had failed to make plausible legal claims.
Donato had previously dismissed the case in June, but he offered Greenspan the opportunity to file another complaint on federal legal issues. The judge wrote that claims such as defamation that were made under California law would be taken up later as warranted. In Thursday’s order, Donato dismissed all of Greenspan’s case, which was originally filed in 2020.
Among other things, the lawsuit had alleged that Omar Qazi, a Musk fan, defamed Greenspan in a series of tweets that made baseless accusations against him. Greenspan asserted that the tweets were part of a campaign of 80,000 coordinated tweets that praised Tesla and attacked critics.
Donato ruled that Greenspan failed to provide facts to support his allegations that Qazi acted as an agent of Tesla or Musk. Qazi had previously called the allegations “absurd,” and Tesla’s lawyers had disputed Greenspan’s allegations as conspiracy theories.
Minnesota
Jury awards student $111M in personal injury case
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A federal jury in Minnesota has awarded a college student more than $111 million in damages after concluding negligent care of his injured leg following surgery led to a permanent disability.
The jury verdict this week, which could be one of the state’s largest personal injury awards, is the result of a 2019 lawsuit brought by 25-year-old Anuj Thapa against St. Cloud Orthopedic Associates in Sartell.
Thapa’s left leg was broken in January 2017 during a pickup soccer match at St. Cloud University. He was taken to CentraCare’s St. Cloud Hospital and underwent surgery.
The lawsuit contends that the following morning, Thapa had uncontrollable pain, numbness, burning and muscle problems. He was discharged later that day only to return six days later with pain he said became unbearable, the Star Tribune reported..
Surgery was performed again and it was discovered Thapa had a medical condition that occurs when excess pressure builds in a group of muscles.
According to trial testimony, Thapa has had at least a dozen surgeries on his leg and has been left with disabling, permanent damage.
An attorney for St. Cloud Orthopedics, Steven Schwegman, says Thapa’s care was “in accordance with accepted standards.”
Schwegman says they are exploring options in regards to the verdict.
Thapa’s attorney, Brandon Thompson, said the defendants never pursued an out-of-court settlement.
“They made it clear that there was no intention to offer any money to resolve this case,” Thompson said.
West Virginia
Woman convicted in hit-and-run that killed young boy
WELCH, W.Va. (AP) — A West Virginia woman charged in a hit-and-run crash that killed a 2-year-old boy has been convicted on three counts, a prosecutor said.
Angel Alberta Estep was found guilty Thursday of leaving the scene of an accident causing death, failure to render aid and failure to report, McDowell County Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Dennie Morgan told WVVA-TV.
Estep was arrested in December 2020, days after the 2-year-old boy was struck on Thanksgiving near the McDowell County community of Bradshaw by a vehicle described as an older model silver SUV.
Estep faces a sentence of 1 to 5 years on the felony conviction of leaving the scene of an accident causing death, the station reported.
It may bring some justice for the boy’s family, but it was a “heartbreaking case and there really is no happy ending,” Morgan said
Florida
Man gets life for killing co-worker over love affair
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — A central Florida man will spend the rest of his life in prison for killing a coworker at a county maintenance facility who was having an affair with his wife.
A jury of seven women and five men took two hours on Thursday to find Damian DeRousha, 44, guilty of premeditated first-degree murder in the February 2021 shooting of Donald Geno, 31, at the Volusia County Fleet Maintenance Facility, The Daytona Beach News-Journal reported.
DeRousha looked straight ahead as Circuit Judge Karen Foxman sentenced him to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
DeRousha was a special projects manager for Volusia County and Geno worked as a mechanic. DeRousha’s wife, Shauna, was an inventory control specialist.
Prosecutors said on the day of the shooting, DeRousha has confirmed his wife was having an affair with Geno.
Assistant State Attorney Andrew Urbanak told jurors in his closing argument this was not a case of self-defense. Instead it was an “unprovoked cowardly murder.”
DeRousha sat in his pickup for 40 minutes at a nearby gas station before driving to the facility and confronting Geno, Urbanak said.
“The defendant doesn’t hesitate when he walks through that gate,” Urbanak said. “He’s like a shark in the water going after his prey. He walks straight to that bay where he knows Donald Geno will be.”
DeRousha fired eight times, before dropping the empty 9 mm Walther pistol to the ground next to the dying Geno.
While DeRousha testified that Geno bowed up, raised his voice, threw a punch and a wrench, two nearby coworkers did not hear or see anything out of the ordinary until DeRousha fired, Urbanak said.
DeRousha’s public defender, Matt Metz, said they were in a large building with people using power tools, which is why no one heard the commotion before the shooting.
California
Driver must stand trial for deadly Tesla crash
COMPTON, Calif. (AP) — The driver of a Tesla operating on autopilot must stand trial for a crash that killed two people in a Los Angeles suburb, a judge ruled Thursday.
There is enough evidence to try Kevin George Aziz Riad, 27, on two counts of vehicular manslaughter, a Los Angeles County judge said.
A judge ruled Thursday that a trial can proceed against a Tesla Model S driver in a 2019 crash that left two people dead in Gardena.
It is believed to be the first felony prosecution in the U.S. against a driver using a partially automated driving system.
Police said the Tesla Model S left a freeway and ran a red light in Gardena and was doing 74 mph (119 kph) when it smashed into a Honda Civic at an intersection on Dec. 29, 2019.
The crash killed Gilberto Alcazar Lopez, 40, of Rancho Dominguez and Maria Guadalupe Nieves-Lopez, 39, of Lynwood, who were in the Civic and were on their first date that night, relatives told the Orange County Register.
Riad and a woman in the Tesla were hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries.
Prosecutors said the Tesla’s Autosteer and Traffic Aware Cruise Control were active. A Tesla engineer testified that sensors indicated Riad had a hand on the steering wheel but crash data showed no brakes were applied in the six minutes before the crash.
A police officer testified Thursday that several traffic signs warning motorists to slow down were posted near the end of the freeway.
Tesla has said that Autopilot and a more sophisticated “Full Self-Driving” system cannot drive themselves and that drivers must pay attention and be ready to react at anytime.
The misuse of Autopilot, which can control steering, speed and braking, has occurred on numerous occasions and is the subject of investigations by two federal agencies. The filing of charges in the California crash could serve notice to drivers who use systems like Autopilot that they cannot rely on them to control vehicles.
The criminal charges aren’t the first involving an automated driving system, but they are the first to involve a widely used driver technology. Authorities in Arizona filed a charge of negligent homicide in 2020 against a driver Uber had hired to take part in the testing of a fully autonomous vehicle on public roads. The Uber vehicle, an SUV with the human backup driver on board, struck and killed a pedestrian.
Meanwhile, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration on Wednesday confirmed that it had sent a special crash investigation team to determine whether a Tesla involved in a May 12 crash in Newport Beach that killed three people was operating on a partially automated driving system.
North Carolina
Man found guilty in email scheme
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — A federal jury in North Carolina has convicted a Florida man in connection with a business email compromise scheme that defrauded law firms and other companies of more than $1 million, a federal prosecutor said.
Pierre Yvelt Almonor, 49, of Miami Gardens, Florida, was convicted of multiple charges, said U.S. Attorney Dena J. King.
According to trial evidence, witness testimony and documents filed with the court, from August 2014 through November 2017, Almonor arranged to have nearly $395,000 in real estate closing proceeds stolen through a business email compromise scheme deposited in a business account over which he exercised control, utilizing it as a “money mule” bank account.
Money mule bank accounts are accounts used by fraudsters as a means of moving fraudulently obtained funds, the news release said. Almonor then facilitated wires to Spain and South Africa totaling more than $200,000 and withdrew more than $50,000 in proceeds as compensation for his part in the conspiracy.
Almonor faces a maximum sentence of 20 years and a fine of $500,000, or twice the value of the proceeds, the news release said.
Alabama
School workers sue over county’s demand for $55K
CLANTON, Ala. (AP) — Two school workers filed suit Friday claiming a central Alabama school system is wrongly trying to make them repay more than $55,000 total in salary that administrators claim they weren’t due.
Christie Payne, a cafeteria manager at Verbena High School, and Shellie Smith, a career tech teacher, contend they didn’t realize they were being paid too much by Chilton County’s school system following promotions, and it was the central office’s duty to pay them the correct amount. Having to pay back the money now would cause an undue financial burden, their suit claimed.
Superintendent Jason Griffin, who was named in the lawsuit, didn’t file an immediate response in court but has publicly defended the repayment demands in the past.
A judge issued an order temporarily blocking the school system from trying to collect the money or firing the workers and scheduled a hearing for May 31.
Payne received a letter from Griffin in April claiming she must repay $23,465 she received in excess pay after being promoted from assistant lunchroom manager to manager during the 2016-2017 school year, according to court documents. Smith received a similar letter demanding $32,948 for pay she received after she went from being a school nurse to teacher in the 2018-2019 academic year.
Both women were mistakenly credited with years of experience they didn’t have for the new positions, Griffin wrote. He proposed either lump-sum repayments or payment plans stretching over years.
