Pennsylvania
Court: State can’t keep guns in trooper ambush case
Pennsylvania cannot keep a cache of weapons seized from the parents of a gunman who killed one state trooper and permanently disabled another eight years ago, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday.
The parents of Eric Frein sued after authorities refused to return 25 rifles, 19 pistols and two shotguns that were taken from their home in September 2014, days after Frein ambushed the troopers outside a state police barracks in the Pocono Mountains.
Eugene Michael Frein and Deborah Frein were not charged in their son’s crime — for which he was convicted and sentenced to death — and none of their weapons were used in his deadly late-night assault.
The Pike County district attorney, who was named as a defendant in the parents’ suit, had argued that authorities had the right to hold the seized weapons, saying they might be needed as evidence during Eric Frein’s state and federal appeals.
The Philadelphia-based 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals disagreed, saying in its ruling Tuesday that state authorities never used Michael and Deborah’s guns as evidence at their son’s trial and violated the parents’ constitutional rights by holding onto them indefinitely.
Curt Parkins, the Freins’ attorney, called the seizure a “terrible case of government overreach.”
“It’s really the government being vindictive,” Parkins said in a telephone interview. The Freins, he said, were “punished for being the parents of Eric Frein.”
State police declined to comment on the ruling, which overturned a lower court decision to dismiss the parents’ lawsuit. A message was sent to the district attorney seeking comment.
The state seized the Freins’ property without compensation in violation of the Fifth Amendment, and hindered their ability to keep firearms in violation of the Second Amendment, the appeals court said.
“The police understandably seized the parents’ guns in 2014 while a killer was still at large. But he has long since been captured and convicted, and his conviction has been affirmed,” the panel wrote in its decision. “The judicial warrant does not authorize keeping the guns past this point.”
The state would have to get another warrant to justify keeping the parents’ property, which the district attorney’s office conceded was unlikely because of a lack of probable cause, the court said.
Prosecutors have said Eric Frein was hoping to start an uprising against the government when he opened fire with a rifle on the Blooming Grove barracks. Cpl. Bryon Dickson II, a Marine veteran and married father of two, was killed in the late-night ambush, and Trooper Alex Douglass was left with devastating injuries.
Frein was captured after a 48-day manhunt. He was convicted and sentenced to death, though Pennsylvania has a moratorium on executions.
New York
DA: Woman charged with murder for striking man with car
NEW YORK (AP) — A woman who allegedly drove onto a New York City sidewalk and fatally struck a man sitting in a walker has been charged with murder and other crimes, prosecutors announced Wednesday.
Kiani Phoenix, 26, was arraigned Tuesday in the death of 59-year-old Milton Storch, who could not get up from his walker in time to escape being mowed down, Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said. A 36-year-old man was also struck by Phoenix’s car and treated for back and hip injuries, Katz said.
The crash happened Saturday morning after Phoenix and another woman began arguing inside a convenience store in Far Rockaway, Katz said.
Surveillance video from the scene shows two women fighting near a parked car as they exit the store, with onlookers trying to separate them. Phoenix then got in a car, reversed and turned right onto the sidewalk, apparently aiming for the woman she had been fighting, Katz said. The woman was able to dart from the path of the car, but Storch was struck and killed. The car then reversed and hit the 36-year-old man, prosecutors said.
Phoenix fled the scene but turned herself in to police on Monday. She is charged with murder, attempted murder, assault, leaving the scene without reporting it and criminal possession of a weapon.
“The alleged criminal actions of this defendant resulted in fatal consequences, and she will now face justice in our courts,” Katz said.
Phoenix’s attorney, Marvyn Kornberg, said his client has “mental problems” and added, “The reaction in this case was caused by the actions of one of the complainants.”
California
Man sought in 2016 killing held in El Salvador
SAN DIEGO (AP) — An Arizona man wanted for the killing of his girlfriend in San Diego in 2016 was captured in El Salvador, the U.S. Marshals Service said.
Raymond McLeod, 37, who was on the U.S. Marshals’ 15 Most Wanted list, was taken into custody Monday afternoon by local law enforcement and confirmed his identity to accompanying U.S. authorities, the service said in a statement Tuesday.
Authorities were tipped off that McLeod had been teaching English at a school in the city of Sonsonate.
McLeod, a former U.S. Marine, is accused of killing Krystal Mitchell, 30. Both McLeod and Mitchell lived in Phoenix but at the time were visiting a friend in San Diego.
On June 10, 2016, the friend found Mitchell not breathing and paramedics pronounced her dead. Homicide detectives found signs of a struggle.
“They determined Mitchell was last seen alive with her boyfriend McLeod,” the statement said.
The San Diego County District Attorney’s Office charged McLeod with murder, and a warrant was issued for his arrest.
The U.S. Marshals Service subsequently led the manhunt for McLeod, who they believed fled through Mexico to Central America. He was reported to have been in Guatemala in 2017 and Belize in 2018.
A $50,000 reward was offered for information leading to his capture, and he was added to the 15 Most Wanted list.
Authorities said McLeod will be deported from El Salvador to San Diego to face charges. It was not immediately known if he had an attorney who could comment on the allegations.
“It is our sincere hope that his capture brings some sense of relief to Krystal Mitchell’s family, especially her mother, Josephine Wentzel, who has worked so diligently with law enforcement these past years to see this day of justice arrive,” U.S. Marshals Director Ronald Davis said in the statement.
Washington
Ex-police officer found guilty of raping 2 women
SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — A jury has found a former Spokane, Washington, police officer guilty of raping two women while on duty.
After nearly seven days of deliberation, Nathan Nash was found guilty Tuesday of second-degree rape and third-degree rape, KXLY-TV reported.
He was found not guilty of another second-degree rape charge, and unlawful imprisonment.
Throughout his trial, the 39-year-old maintained his innocence. He was first charged in 2019 when a woman accused him of rape while investigating her case.
Nash was one of the responding officers when she reported an assault by her boyfriend. She told law enforcement officers that Nash raped her when he returned to her home to follow up on the case, prosecutors said.
In August 2021, another woman told police about a similar experience, saying Nash was one of the officers who responded when she called 911 to report her neighbor had assaulted her. She also said Nash returned to her home to conduct a follow-up and raped her, prosecutors said.
In a statement Tuesday, officials with the Spokane Police Department said the agency is grateful that the victims of Nash were afforded some justice while acknowledging nothing can undo the damage caused.
“Nathan Nash betrayed the oath he took as a public servant and the trust instilled in him by the citizens of Spokane,” the Spokane Police Statement said. “His actions are inexcusable and today the court, a jury of his peers, held him accountable for his actions.”
He was fired from the police department in 2019 after the first allegations.
It wasn’t immediately known if he plans to appeal. He faces up to life in prison and is expected to be sentenced later this year.
Florida
Man pleads guilty to $2.6M COVID-19 relief fraud
FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) — A Florida man has pleaded guilty to stealing more than $2.6 million in COVID-19 relief funds.
Daniel Joseph Tisone, 35, of Naples, pleaded guilty Monday in Fort Myers federal court to wire fraud, bank fraud, illegal monetary transaction and possession of ammunition by a convicted felon, court documents show. He faces up to 60 years in federal prison at a hearing scheduled for Dec. 5.
Tisone submitted false and fraudulent applications to the Small Business Administration and banks seeking several different kinds of loans between March 2020 and April 2021, according to the documents, which allege that the applications contained false information about his criminal history, average monthly payroll, number of employees and gross revenues. Tisone also submitted false payroll and tax documents, as well as a fake commercial lease, according to the allegations.
He received one Main Street Lending Program loan, four Economic Injury Disaster Loans and five Paycheck Protection Program loans, totaling more than $2.6 million, authorities said. He allegedly used the money to purchase two homes in Naples, stocks and investment securities, a 2019 Tiara 34LS boat, a 4.02-carat engagement ring and ammunition. As part of his plea agreement, Tisone must pay back the money and forfeit the homes, boat and ring.
The Paycheck Protection Program involves billions of dollars in forgivable small-business loans for Americans struggling because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The money must be used to pay employees, mortgage interest, rent and utilities. It’s part of the coronavirus relief package that became federal law in 2020.
The Economic Injury Disaster Loan program is designed to provide economic relief to small businesses that are experiencing a temporary loss of revenue. The Main Street Lending Program was designed to provide support to small and medium-size businesses and their employees across the United States during the pandemic.
New Jersey
Man pleads in stray bullet death of sleeping girl, 9
BRIDGETON, N.J. (AP) — One of the three remaining defendants in the death of a sleeping 9-year-old girl hit by a stray bullet in her New Jersey home four years ago has entered a plea in the case.
Charles Gamble, 22, pleaded guilty last week to a first-degree charge of aggravated manslaughter, NJ.com reported Tuesday. At his upcoming sentencing in October, prosecutors are to recommend a 15-year prison term with a requirement that he must serve 85% of that time before being eligible for parole.
Authorities said several men opened fire on a group of people in Bridgeton in July 2018, missing everyone in the targeted group but sending a stray round through the rear wall of a nearby home and hitting Jennifer Trejo. Investigators found 19 bullet casings and said they believed three guns were used.
Leroy Frazier III, 24, was convicted in 2020 of aggravated manslaughter, conspiracy, attempted murder and aggravated assault, but the Cumberland County jury acquitted him of a murder charge. He was sentenced to 42 years in prison.
Jury selection has begun for the trial of the remaining two defendants, which is scheduled to begin next month.
