Indiana
Officer pleads guilty to charge for kicking handcuffed man
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — An Indianapolis police officer accused of kicking a handcuffed man in the face during a 2021 arrest pleaded guilty Monday to a federal charge.
Sgt. Eric Huxley pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to one count of deprivation of rights under color of law. The charge carries a maximum sentence of 10 years imprisonment, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release after prison, The Indianapolis Star reported.
A sentencing date has not yet been scheduled for Huxley, who was suspended from the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department after the September 2021 confrontation. He was indicted by a federal grand jury in October 2022 for alleged use of excessive force during his arrest of Jermaine Vaughn.
Body camera footage police released of Vaughn’s arrest shows an officer forcing Vaughn to the ground at downtown Indianapolis’ Monument Circle. Seconds later, the video shows Huxley thrusting his foot down onto Vaughn’s face as he is in handcuffs.
Vaughn, whose lawyer said he was homeless at the time, was arrested on suspicion of disorderly conduct and later charged with two misdemeanors of disorderly conduct and resisting law enforcement, but both of those charges were dismissed.
Vaughn sued the city of Indianapolis, its police department and Huxley in February, alleging Huxley “used excessive and unlawful force when he viciously attacked and kicked” him in the face while handcuffed. Vaughn says in his lawsuit that he suffered “extensive physical injuries.”
Huxley’s attorney, John Kautzman, told reporters Monday outside the federal courthouse in Indianapolis that his client has always been “remorseful” about his actions that day, which influenced his decision to enter into a plea agreement. He said Huxley knows what he did was “thoughtless” at the time.
Huxley’s plea agreement states that he “knew that there was no legitimate law enforcement reason to use hard strikes, including foot strikes, against the head or face of a person who is handcuffed, under effective control by other officers, and physically unable to harm others.”
Police Chief Randal Taylor has recommended Huxley’s termination to the department’s Civilian Police Merit Board, which will review that recommendation when Huxley’s criminal cases conclude.
Huxley also faces state charges in the confrontation with Vaughn. He was charged in Marion County with battery and official misconduct.
New York
Woman sues Rudy Giuliani, saying he coerced her into sex
NEW YORK (AP) — A woman who says she worked as an off-the-books employee for Rudy Giuliani during his stint as Donald Trump’s personal lawyer alleges in court papers that the former New York City mayor coerced her into sex and owes her nearly $2 million in unpaid wages.
Noelle Dunphy said in the lawsuit that she was Giuliani’s business development director and public relations consultant from 2019 to 2021. She initially made her allegations public in January, but she detailed her claims further in a 70-page legal complaint filed Monday in New York.
Giuliani “vehemently” denied the allegations through a spokesperson. His lawyer had also previously denied that Dunphy ever worked for Giuliani.
The new court filing portrays Giuliani, 78, as a hard-drinking, Viagra-popping womanizer who made satisfying his sexual demands “an absolute requirement of her employment.” She is seeking at least $10 million.
Dunphy claimed in the lawsuit to have made numerous audio recordings of Giuliani, including some in which she says he can be heard making sexual comments, demanding sex and making sexist, racist, and antisemitic remarks.
Dunphy’s legal team declined a request from The Associated Press to share those recordings, saying they were part of the litigation.
Included in the complaint are screenshots of suggestive text messages purportedly from Giuliani.
The lawsuit claims Giuliani hired Dunphy in January 2019 and promised to pay her $1 million per year for her consulting work. But he told her that he had to defer paying her until he settled his divorce from his third wife, Judith, according to the lawsuit.
Almost immediately, according to the complaint, Giuliani started making sexual advances, including kissing her in the back of an SUV on her first day and demanding that she take care of him sexually, sometimes while he was on the phone with high-profile friends and clients.
Often, Dunphy alleges, Giuliani would demand she work in a bikini or in American flag-themed shorts he bought for her, and he urged her to strip naked for him during video meetings.
Giuliani reached a divorce settlement in December 2019, but Dunphy said all she got from Giuliani were a few cash payments totaling $12,000 to cover living expenses. He still owes her $1,988,000, she said.
Dunphy also contended that Giuliani had reneged on a promise to represent her, for free, in a protracted legal fight involving claims of domestic violence.
In that legal fight, Dunphy had accused a romantic partner of raping her and throwing her down a flight of stairs. The man she sued filed a counter lawsuit, saying he was the one being physically assaulted and harassed. He also sued for defamation, saying he was being extorted.
Dunphy agreed to accept $10,000 to settle her claims in 2016. But the two sides were still fighting over a final resolution as recently as last year.
Arizona
Man convicted of killing estranged wife, her children
TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — A Tucson man accused of killing his estranged wife and her two children was convicted Monday of three counts of first-degree murder.
A Pima County Superior Court jury found 47-year-old John Edward James guilty after a trial that began May 2.
A sentencing date wasn’t immediately available.
James was accused of fatally shooting 44-year-old Willona Ametrice White, 18-year-old Talmadge Holmes Jr. and 14-year-old Jaiden White.
The three were found dead at the couple’s Tucson home in June 2021.
All had been shot several times and at least one of the victims was asleep at the time of the murders, according to Tucson police.
At the time of the killings, authorities said James was out on a $5,000 bond on charges of domestic violence against Willona White in December 2019.
Prosecutors said homicide detectives were able to find probable cause to charge James in the case in June 2022. Since then, he had been jailed on a $1 million bond.
