Court Digest

Wisconsin
Corn mill owners plead to federal charges in fatal explosion, will pay $11.25 million
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A milling company has agreed to plead guilty to federal charges that employees at a Wisconsin corn plant falsified records in the years leading up to a fatal corn dust explosion.

The plea deal calls for Didion Milling Inc. to pay a $1 million fine and $10.25 million to the estates of the five workers who were killed in the blast at the company’s Cambria mill in May 2017, the Wisconsin State Journal reported Thursday.

The company also has agreed to a five-year “organizational probation” and must allow federal inspectors to visit the mill without advance notice up to twice a year.

A federal grand jury indicted Didion last year on nine counts, including falsifying records, fraud and conspiracy. According to court documents, Didion shift employees and supervisors knowingly falsified logbooks inspectors use to determine whether the plant was handling corn dust safely and complying with dust-cleaning rules from 2015 until May 2017.

Corn dust is combustible; if concentrations in the air reach a high level, a spark or other ignition source can cause it to catch fire and explode. Federal regulations require grain mill operators to perform regular cleanings to reduce dust accumulations that could fuel a blast.

Didion last month agreed to pay the Wisconsin Department of Justice $940,000 to settle a lawsuit alleging multiple regulatory violations at the Cambria plant.

Didion CEO Riley Didion said in a statement Thursday that the company was thankful to have reached the plea deal and was pleased most of the financial settlement will go to the workers’ estates, calling the explosion “heartbreaking.”

“What happened in Cambria in May of 2017 was tragic, and we continue to offer prayers for those who were affected,” he said. “With this agreement in place, we can devote our full attention to serving our team, community, farmers, and customers with the highest standards of safety and quality.”

Three Didion officials — Derrick Clark, who was vice president of operations; Shawn Mesner, who was food safety superintendent; and James Lentz, who was environmental manager — are scheduled to stand trial Monday in federal court in Madison on charges that include conspiracy, fraud and falsifying records.

Three other Didion employees — a pair of day shift supervisors and an environmental coordinator — have pleaded guilty to federal conspiracy and obstruction charges since June 15.

Nebraska
Judge tosses state lawmaker’s defamation suit
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A judge dismissed a defamation lawsuit filed by a Nebraska lawmaker against a conservative political action committee that labeled her a child “groomer” and sexual abuser in online posts, citing the constitutional right to free speech.

State Sen. Megan Hunt sued the Nebraska Freedom Coalition and three of its officers after they repeatedly targeted her in social media posts, even suggesting she had sexually abused her own child. The attacks came as Democratic lawmakers, like Hunt, and conservative lawmakers in the officially nonpartisan Nebraska Legislature clashed over a Republican-backed bill to ban gender-affirming care for anyone under the age of 19.

The judge threw out the lawsuit on Wednesday before it could be heard by a jury, and dismissed the case with prejudice, meaning it can’t be refiled. Douglas County District Judge Todd Engleman’s ruling said the Nebraska Freedom Coalition’s “hyperbolic language” in the posts showed that the accusations were statements of opinion rather than fact, making them protected speech under the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment.

The PAC, which routinely posts profane material on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, began targeting Hunt in tweets in March after Hunt publicly shared in a legislative floor speech that her 13-year-old child is transgender. She called the bill an affront to her and other parents caring for transgender teens.

Nebraska Freedom Coalition not only attacked Hunt, but also posted images of Hunt’s child. In her lawsuit, which sought an unspecified amount in damages and legal costs, Hunt said the group’s posts led others to join in on the online harassment. Hunt said she was called a “groomer” on Twitter “no fewer than 231 times.”

She also received dozens of harassing calls and emails; some threatened her with physical harm.

The judge cited a 1964 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that deemed “debate on public issues should be uninhibited, robust, and wide-open” in his dismissal of the lawsuit, noting that such debate often includes “vehement, caustic, and sometimes unpleasantly sharp attacks” on public officials.

“Because of this country’s profound commitment to freedom of speech, the statements at issue are not actionable as a matter of law,” Engleman wrote.

Hunt’s attorney and former colleague in the Legislature, Adam Morfeld, said he and Hunt were surprised by the ruling and are considering an appeal.

“No mother, regardless of whether they are an elected official or not, should be accused of abusing their child when there is absolutely no basis in fact, and then receive physical threats,” Morfeld said.

The Nebraska Freedom Coalition issued a statement on social media lauding the dismissal as win for free speech.

“This victory underscores the pivotal role played by organizations like NFC in safeguarding the rights of citizens to engage in political discourse without fear of retribution,” the statement said.

The Nebraska bill at the center of the controversy was later amended and passed on a single vote. It bans gender-confirming surgery for anyone under 19 and restricts the use of hormone treatments and puberty blockers in minors. That bill also folded in a 12-week abortion ban.

At least 22 states have enacted laws restricting or banning gender-affirming medical care for transgender minors, and most of those states face lawsuits. An Arkansas ban that mirrors Nebraska’s was struck down by a federal judge in June as unconstitutional and will be appealed to the 8th U.S. Circuit Court — which also oversees Nebraska cases.

Arizona
Boyfriend of a Navajo woman has been convicted of murdering her
PHOENIX (AP) — The boyfriend of a Navajo woman whose case became emblematic of an international movement launched to draw attention to an epidemic of missing and slain Indigenous women has been convicted of first-degree murder in her death.

Tre C. James, 31, was convicted Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Phoenix of domestic abuse and in the fatal shooting of Jamie Yazzie. The jury also found James guilty of several acts of domestic violence committed against three former intimate and dating partners.

James is scheduled to be sentenced in late January.

Yazzie was 32 and the mother of three sons when she went missing in the summer of 2019 from her community of Pinon on the Navajo Nation. Despite a high-profile search, her remains were not found until November 2021 on the neighboring Hopi reservation in northeastern Arizona.

Many of Yazzie’s friends and family members, including her mother, father, grandmother and other relatives, attended all seven days of the trial.

“This family has been very active in advocating,” said their attorney, Darlene Gomez. “This is a huge case for Indian Country. It’s so unusual for these cases to get to trial, and then to get convictions.”

The Albuquerque-based attorney said she was especially pleased the local U.S. Attorney’s Office acknowledged Yazzie’s family and underscored the importance of investigating and prosecuting such crimes.

“Vindicating the rights of missing and murdered Indigenous persons requires all the energy and compassion we have,” U.S. Attorney Gary Restaino said in a statement about the conviction. “That means not only investigation and prosecution of tough cases but also community engagement, cultural competence, and active listening to next of kin and other family members.”

Yazzie’s case gained attention through the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women grassroots movement that draws attention to widespread violence against Indigenous women and girls in the United States and Canada.

The U.S. Interior Department’s Bureau of Indian Affairs characterizes the violence against Indigenous women as a crisis.

Women from Native American and Alaska Native communities have long suffered high rates of assault, abduction and murder. A 2016 study by the National Institute of Justice found that more than four in five American Indian and Alaska Native women — 84% — have experienced violence in their lifetimes, including 56% who have experienced sexual violence.

California
Man who shot two sheriff’s deputies in revenge attack convicted of attempted murder
COMPTON, Calif. (AP) — A Compton man who shot and seriously wounded two Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies in a 2020 revenge attack as they sat in a patrol car was convicted Thursday of attempted murder and could face life in prison.

Deonte Lee Murray, 39, also was convicted of carjacking, robbery and other charges involving two other victims.

Prosecutors said that on Sept. 10, sheriff’s deputies shot and killed Murray’s best friend while serving a warrant, and he wanted revenge.

That day, Murray opened fire with an assault rifle on an SUV parked outside the Compton courthouse, mistakenly believing the driver was a detective, authorities said. The man was injured but survived.

Two days later, on Sept. 12, Murray walked up to two deputies who were sitting in a patrol car at a Metro station in Compton and shot them, authorities said. The attack was captured on video that showed one bloodied officer, who was shot in the jaw and arms, tending to the wounds of her partner, who was hit in the face, arm and hand.

Murray also was convicted of carjacking a driver and shooting him in the leg more than a week earlier.

At trial, Murray said he never intended to kill anyone. His attorney said Murray was under the influence of methamphetamine, alcohol and grief over his friend’s death.

New York
Man who served 18 years for murder acquitted at second trial
MINEOLA, N.Y. (AP) — A New York man who spent 18 years in prison for a murder he said he did not commit was found not guilty at a second trial.

Paul Scrimo, 66, was acquitted on Thursday in Nassau County Court in the strangulation death of Ruth Williams in 2000, Newsday reported.

Scrimo was convicted of murder in 2002, but an appeals court overturned the conviction in 2019, saying Scrimo had been denied a fair trial.

The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeal said in its ruling that DNA under the victim’s fingernails was not Scrimo’s.

Scrimo said his acquittal after a trial that started on Sept. 18 will give him a chance to make up for lost time with his family.

Scrimo was accused of strangling Williams inside her Long Island apartment on April 12, 2000. According to Newsday, prosecutors at both trials said Scrimo killed Williams after she made disparaging remarks about his wife.

Scrimo maintained that a friend who was present along with Scrimo when Williams died was the killer. The friend was never charged in the case.