California
Prosecutors to retry actor Danny Masterson on rape counts
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Los Angeles prosecutors will retry “That ‘70s Show” actor Danny Masterson on three rape counts after a hopelessly deadlocked jury led to a mistrial in his first trial in November.
The LA County District Attorney’s Office declared prosecutors’ plans in court filings and at a Tuesday hearing, where Superior Court Judge Charlaine F. Olmedo rejected a defense motion to dismiss the charges.
The move comes despite prosecutors failing to get even half of the previous jury to vote to convict on any of the counts against Masterson, who is charged with the rape of three women, including a former girlfriend, at his home between 2001 and 2003.
“We are pleased that Danny Masterson will not be permitted to simply escape criminal accountability,” two of the three women and the husband of one said in a joint statement released through their attorneys. “Despite suffering years of intimidation and harassment, we are completely committed to participating in the next criminal trial.”
The Associated Press does not typically name people who say they have been sexually abused.
The judge tentatively set the retrial to begin in late March.
The 46-year-old Masterson had no comment to reporters outside court after Tuesday’s hearing, and his attorney did not respond to an email requesting comment.
He has pleaded not guilty, and his lawyer has said the acts were all consensual.
The Church of Scientology played a major role during the monthlong trial, with Masterson a member and all three women former members. Prosecutors said the church dissuaded them from going public for years, which the church has denied.
The charges date to a period when Masterson was at the height of his fame, starring from 1998 until 2006 as Steven Hyde on Fox’s “That ‘70s Show.” The show made stars of Ashton Kutcher, Mila Kunis and Topher Grace and is getting an upcoming Netflix reboot with “That ‘90s Show.”
Texas
Man fatally shot person robbing restaurant customers
HOUSTON (AP) — A grand jury will determine whether a customer at a Houston restaurant will face charges after fatally shooting a man who pointed a gun that appeared real at customers and took their cash last week, a shooting that several legal experts said appears justified.
Following the shooting late on Jan. 5, police asked for the public’s help in identifying the man who fatally shot the robber, who wielded a plastic gun, because he left the restaurant before officers arrived. By Monday, police said they had questioned the 46-year-old man and after consulting with prosecutors, determined that the shooting would be referred to a grand jury. Police said they aren’t releasing the man’s name because he has not been arrested or charged.
In Texas, it is legal for anyone 21 and older to carry a handgun in public without a license, background check or training. According to the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, over 30 states in the U.S. allow people to openly carry a handgun without a license or permit.
Witnesses told police that a man — later identified as 30-year-old Eric Eugene Washington — had entered the restaurant wearing a ski mask and gloves, and began pointing what looked like a gun at customers while demanding money. Then, police said, one of the customers took out his gun and shot Washington multiple times. After shooting Washington, the customer collected the stolen money from Washington’s body and returned it to the other customers before leaving the scene.
Police said investigators found that the suspect had a plastic gun.
Former prosecutor Joanne Musick also told KHOU television station that she sees the man’s actions as self defense, but wasn’t surprised that the case would be presented to a grand jury. She said it wouldn’t be the kind of case that a district attorney would take over the phone — or by reviewing the evidence and filing a charge.
“That means that it’s too close to call,” she said.
A spokesperson for the Harris County District Attorney’s Office said in an email Tuesday that the case “is somewhat unusual,” so prosecutors “thought it appropriate to present it to a grand jury as soon as possible to determine whether a criminal case is warranted.”
Houston police Detective Jeff Brieden told KHOU that it’s important to remember that even if someone is lawfully carrying a weapon, taking matters into one’s own hands can have consequences. For instance, he said, an innocent person could be hit as well.
“You’re accountable for each and every bullet that comes out of that gun,” Brieden said.
Thomas Nixon, an attorney and former police officer, told KPRC television station that the restaurant’s video of the shooting helps show that the customer’s actions were justifiable.
“The person he shot was in the process of committing robbery and consequently his use of force in defense of himself and innocent third parties is completely justified in Texas,” Nixon said. “He was reasonably in fear of serious bodily injury or death.”
Court records show that Washington and two others were arrested for an armed robbery in 2013 when a man was killed. Washington was convicted of aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon in the case and received a sentence of 15 years in prison.
Washington served almost six years in prison before being released on parole in January 2021, according to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.
Last month, he was charged with assault of a family member, and accused of grabbing and scratching his girlfriend. At the time of the restaurant shooting, he had been released on bond.
New York
10-month sentence imposed for cryptocurrency insider trading
NEW YORK (AP) — The brother of a former Coinbase product manager was sentenced to 10 months in prison on Tuesday in what federal prosecutors have called the first insider trading case involving cryptocurrency.
Nikhil Wahi, 27, of Seattle, was sentenced in federal court in Manhattan after pleading guilty in September to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
Prosecutors said that Nikhil Wahi began in around October 2020 to receive confidential tips from his brother, Ishan Wahi — then a product manager for Coinbase Global Inc., one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges — and used the information to sell crypto assets for a profit.
Both Wahi brothers and a friend, Sameer Ramani, were charged in July in what U.S. Attorney Damian Williams described as the government’s first insider trading case involving cryptocurrency markets.
Williams said Tuesday’s sentence “makes clear that the cryptocurrency markets are not lawless. There are real consequences to illegal insider trading, wherever and whenever it occurs.”
In addition to the prison sentence, Nikhil Wahi was ordered to pay $892,500.
Ishan Wahi has pleaded not guilty to the charges against him, and Ramani is at large.
Missouri
Retired priest sentenced for possessing child porn
ST. LOUIS (AP) — A retired Catholic priest in St. Louis who used thousands of images of child pornography to make PowerPoint presentations for several years was sentenced Tuesday to five years in prison.
James T. Beighlie, 72, pleaded guilty in October to two counts of possession of child pornography. He was also ordered to pay $4,750 to one of this victims, and another $22,000 for a fund that will go toward other child victims of crimes.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Colleen Lang said Beighlie had thousands of images and videos that he used for the PowerPoint presentations, which he revised several times. He had been using child pornography since at least 2008, she said. The prosecutor’s office has not indicated that Beighlie showed the presentations to anyone.
“All I can say is that I am ashamed and deeply remorseful,” Beighlie told the judge.
A church investigation began in May 2021, after co-workers at the Congregation of the Mission in St. Louis found compromising images of Beighlie on a church printer. An attorney for the church contacted the FBI after a private IT support company found what appeared to be videos of minors engaging in sex acts.
Beighlie was a Vincentian priest who most recently was an associate pastor at St. Vincent de Paul Parish in St. Louis.
During Tuesday’s hearing, Beighlie’s attorney argued for supervised release, saying his client had serious health issues and was already staying at the Vianney Renewal Center, a Roman Catholic facility in Missouri that treats sexually abusive priests, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.
A Congregation of the Mission spokesperson said in October there are no other known allegations of sexual abuse of a minor involving Beighlie.
Beighlie previously was on the faculty at St. Thomas Aquinas/ Mercy High School in St. Louis, at Vincent Gray Academy in East St. Louis and an associate pastor at Our Lady Queen of Peace parish in House Springs, according to the Congregation of the Mission.
Wisconsin
Man gets 5 years for attacking cop during protests
KENOSHA, Wis. (AP) — A Kenosha man has been sentenced to five years in federal prison for knocking a police officer unconscious during protests in Kenosha over the shooting of Jacob Blake, prosecutors said.
A federal judge also ordered Ashton Howard, 29, last week to three years on supervised release following his prison term and to pay over $29,000 in restitution for medical expenses stemming from the attack, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
Howard pleaded guilty last year to obstructing a law enforcement officer while that officer was engaged in his official duties during a civil disorder.
Prosecutors said a Kenosha police officer was helping remove a damaged police vehicle on Aug. 23, 2020, during protests when Howard threw a brick at the officer, knocking him unconscious. The officer was subsequently hospitalized.
Prosecutors said Howard’s phone contained videos showing the officer being hit with the brick and several still video images showing the victim on the ground with emojis indicating “quiet” and “mouth shut.”
After the attack, Howard bragged to multiple people that he was the person who hit the officer, prosecutors said.
Howard’s attack on the officer came during widespread unrest in Kenosha after a white officer shot Blake — a Black man — in the back while responding to a domestic disturbance, leaving Blake paralyzed.
The officer, Rusten Sheskey, was not charged.
West Virginia
Man sentenced in death of young daughter
RIPLEY, W.Va. (AP) — A West Virginia man convicted in the death of his young daughter has been sentenced.
Jeffrey Hoskins, 29, of Ripley was sentenced Monday to 15 years to life for death of a child by child abuse, one year for involuntary manslaughter and one to five years for strangulation, the Jackson County Magistrate told news outlets. The sentences will run consecutively and he will receive credit for 1,287 days served, officials said.
Jurors convicted Hoskins last year in the death the girl. He was accused of choking his then-6-month-old daughter, Riana, in October 2018, authorities have said. The girl stayed alive in a medically induced coma and was deaf and blind due to her injuries, officials said when Hoskins was indicted. He was indicted in January 2020 after the girl died, more than a year after she was hospitalized for her injuries.
Prosecutors had sought a conviction on a first-degree murder charge, but defense lawyer Mark Plants argued Hoskins was guilty only of involuntary manslaughter.
