Colorado
Officer who put woman in police car hit by train didn’t know it was on the tracks, defense says
DENVER (AP) — A Colorado police officer accused of putting a handcuffed woman in a parked police car that was hit by a freight train did not know the car was parked on the tracks, the officer’s lawyer said in court Monday.
While evidence will show Officer Jordan Steinke stood on the railroad tracks during a night traffic stop on Sept. 16, 2022, she did not know that an officer she was assisting had parked his patrol car on the tracks, defense lawyer Mallory Revel said in opening statements in state court in Greeley. The woman inside, Yareni Rios-Gonzalez, suffered extensive injuries, including a traumatic brain injury.
The tracks were completely flush with the road, nothing to trip over, and there were no illuminated crossing signs or gates at the railroad crossing in the rural area, just two reflective signs on either side of the tracks, Revel said.
Prosecutors will not be able to prove that she acted recklessly by leaving the woman in the patrol car, Revel said.
“You cannot disregard a risk of which you are unaware, no matter how obvious that risk may later seem,” said Revel, who stressed the case hinged on what Steinke knew in the moment.
In her opening statement, Deputy District Attorney Lacy Wells noted Steinke had walked across the train tracks several times during the incident, including when she escorted Rios-Gonzalez to the patrol car after arresting her. She did not lay out exactly what Steinke knew, but she said prosecutors would present evidence about her state of mind.
“The court will see and hear evidence from which the court can infer the defendnt’s mental state at the time she elected to place Yareni Rios-Gonzalez in the Platteville patrol car parked on the railroad tracks, instead of her own patrol unit that was safely parked to the west of the railroad tracks,” Wells said.
Previously released police video shows officers searching Rios-Gonzalez’s truck as the train approaches with its horn is blaring. Other footage shows officers scrambling as the train approaches and slams into the vehicle.
Steinke, who was working for the Fort Lupton Police Department, was following her training, which taught her to focus on patting down the suspect, getting her in the nearest patrol car and then making sure there was no one else in Rios-Gonzalez’s vehicle who could be waiting to ambush police, Revel said.
The officer from the nearby Platteville Police Department who parked the patrol car on the tracks is also being prosecuted for misdemeanor counts of reckless endangerment. Steinke is being prosecuted for criminal attempt to commit manslaughter, a felony; reckless endangerment; and third-degree assault, both misdemeanors.
There is no jury for the trial, which is scheduled to end Friday. Testimony is being heard by Judge Timothy Kerns, who will issue a verdict.
Rios-Gonzalez is suing over her treatment, after being arrested when a driver reported she had pointed a gun at him during a road rage incident. The lawsuit accused three officers of acting recklessly and failing in their duty to take care of her while she was in their custody.
Iowa
Block on state’s strict abortion law can be appealed, state Supreme Court says
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Gov. Kim Reynolds can proceed with an appeal on a temporary block on the state’s new, restrictive abortion law, the Iowa Supreme Court said Tuesday.
Reynolds announced her intentions to appeal last week and said it was “just a matter of time” before lawyers for the state filed the request, which they did Friday. The Iowa Supreme Court had to say whether the request could move forward.
The Republican-controlled Legislature approved the measure to ban most abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy during a July 11 special session, and the law went into effect days later, immediately after Reynolds signed it. The ACLU of Iowa, Planned Parenthood North Central States and the Emma Goldman Clinic launched a legal challenge and Judge Joseph Seidlin on July 17 granted their request to pause the law as the courts assess its constitutionality.
Abortion remains legal in Iowa up to 20 weeks of pregnancy while the new law is on hold.
Reynolds is asking the state Supreme Court to override the lower court’s ruling and allow the law to go back into effect.
The state Supreme Court can rule on the temporary injunction alone, or it can decide to fast-forward a decision on merits of the law itself.
Wisconsin
Former state prosecutor sentenced for secretly recording sexual encounters
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A judge sentenced a former Wisconsin prosecutor to 18 months in prison Monday for secretly recording sexual encounters with two women, including one he was prosecuting in a restraining order case.
A jury found former Burnett County District Attorney Daniel Steffen guilty in April of three counts of capturing an intimate representation depicting nudity. St. Croix County Circuit Judge Scott Nordstrand handed down the sentence.
A state Department of Justice agent began investigating Steffen in early 2020, according to the criminal complaint in the case. A witness told the agent that a woman the witness knew had openly talked about having sex with Steffen in exchange for leniency on her pending criminal cases.
The woman told the agent she had only met Steffen a couple times in court and denied having a relationship with him. She said she had several cases pending and ended up paying a fine. A few months, later she acknowledged a relationship with Steffen, saying she was facing charges for violating a restraining order and he was prosecuting her.
Investigators searched Steffen’s home in October 2020 and found an iPad in his dresser, according to the criminal complaint. On the iPad were videos of Steffen having sex with the woman in August and September of 2018. The woman told investigators she wasn’t aware he was filming them.
Also on the iPad was another video of Steffen having sex with another woman earlier in 2018. They could be heard talking about how she could avoid charges for hitting a mailbox. She told investigators she wasn’t aware he was filming them.
Nordstrand, the judge, also ordered Steffen to serve two years of extended supervision and four years on probation after he gets out of prison.
Steffen’s attorney, listed in online court records as Minneapolis-based Eric Nelson, didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment late Monday afternoon.
Louisiana
Former police officer accused of shooting unarmed Black man faces second criminal charge
SHREVEPORT, La. (AP) — State prosecutors have added a second felony charge against a former Louisiana police officer accused of fatally shooting an unarmed Black man earlier this year.
The second criminal charge of felony malfeasance was added Monday as former Shreveport officer Alexander Tyler, who is white, was arraigned on charges of shooting Alonzo Bagley at an apartment complex in February. Tyler and another officer were responding to a report by Bagley’s wife of a domestic disturbance.
Tyler pleaded not guilty to first-degree negligent homicide and felony malfeasance.
Body camera footage shows officers knocking on Bagley’s door, Bagley retreating into his apartment, and then jumping off a second-floor balcony. The video shows Tyler catching Bagley and shooting him once in the chest, and then officers begging him to stay alive while trying to administer first aid.
Tyler was charged with negligent homicide on Feb. 16 by the Louisiana State Police, about two weeks after the shooting. State police typically investigate shootings involving police officers in Louisiana.
“These charges are extremely disappointing,” Dhu Thompson, Tyler’s defense lawyer, said Monday. “However, we have been prepared since day one to bring the case and facts therein to an impartial jury. We look forward to our day in court.”
Both negligent homicide and malfeasance in office carry sentences of up to 5 years in prison.
Relatives of Bagley have filed a $10 million lawsuit against Tyler, who had been an officer for about two years before he resigned in March.
Family members hired Louisiana attorney Ronald Haley, who has represented other high-profile clients, including the family of Ronald Greene, a Black motorist whose 2019 death in state police custody in north Louisiana prompted lawsuits and criminal charges against law enforcement officers.
Massachusetts
Federal prison counselor agrees to plead guilty to accepting illegal benefits from wealthy inmate
BOSTON (AP) — An inmate counselor at a federal prison in Massachusetts received about $140,000 in illegal benefits and loans through a wealthy prisoner in his care, federal prosecutors said.
William S. Tidwell, 49, of Keene, New Hampshire, has agreed to plead guilty to bribery in violation of official duties, making false statements to a bank and identity theft, the U.S. attorney in Boston said Monday.
Tidwell will appear in federal court at a later date. His attorney, Brad Bailey, said Tuesday he had no comment.
Tidwell has worked for the Bureau of Prisons since 2000 and since 2008 has been at the Federal Medical Center-Devens. As a counselor, his duties included working closely with inmates on their work and housing assignments. Under Bureau of Prisons rules, employees are not allowed to receive payments, gifts, or personal favors from inmates.
One of the inmates Tidwell supervised was what prosecutors described as an “ultra-high net worth” individual serving time for financial crimes.
That inmate, identified only as “Individual 1” in court documents, in 2018 directed a close friend and business associate to wire $25,000 to a member of Tidwell’s family, prosecutors said. Starting in 2019, Tidwell and the wealthy inmate entered into a property management agreement that resulted in $65,000 in benefits to Tidwell, prosecutors said.
Tidwell also allegedly received a $50,000 loan from the wealthy inmate’s associate to buy a home, prosecutors said. He lied, telling the bank that the $50,000 was a gift and forging documents to support that claim, authorities said.
“Corrections officers are placed in a position of public trust,” acting U.S. Attorney Joshua Levy said in a statement. “The vast majority of corrections officers carry out their duties with integrity and professionalism. They know that accepting payments from an inmate — as is alleged against Mr. Tidwell here — is a serious violation of that trust and a betrayal of the BOP’s mission to care for federal inmates in a safe and impartial manner.”
