Court Digest

Oregon
Man accused of locking a woman in a cell faces rape, kidnapping charges in separate case
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A man accused of abducting a woman in Seattle, driving her hundreds of miles to his home in Oregon and locking her in a makeshift cinder block cell is facing fresh charges of kidnapping and rape in a separate case involving alleged crimes two months earlier, court documents show.

An indictment returned by a grand jury in southern Oregon’s Klamath County says that on or around May 6, Negasi Zuberi kidnapped a victim referred to as an unidentified Jane Doe in the county in order to rape her. The indictment also alleges that he knowingly injured the victim by using or threatening to use weapons including a handgun and a stun gun.

Zuberi was indicted on 11 counts, including first-degree rape, sexual abuse and kidnapping. The indictment was filed with the Klamath County Circuit Court last week.

Online court records didn’t appear to list a defense attorney for Zuberi for the case, which is in the state court system. There was no immediate response Saturday afternoon to an email and voicemail left with the defense attorney assigned to the other case, which is in federal court, asking whether he was also representing Zuberi in the new case.

Zuberi already faces charges of interstate kidnapping and transporting an individual across state lines with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity, related to the incident that led to his arrest in July. Zuberi has pleaded not guilty to those charges.

Prosecutors in the federal case say he solicited a woman on July 15 to engage in prostitution along Aurora Avenue in Seattle, an area known for sex work.

Afterward, Zuberi told the woman he was an undercover officer, showed her a badge, pointed a stun gun at her and placed her in handcuffs and leg irons before putting her in the back of his vehicle, the criminal complaint says.

He then drove to his home in Klamath Falls and locked her in the cinder block cell, the FBI said.

The woman managed to break some of the door’s welded joints, creating a small opening that she climbed through, according to authorities.

After she escaped and flagged down a motorist, police went to the house and found handwritten notes with plans for an apparent dungeon 100 feet (30 meters) below ground, authorities said.

Zuberi fled and was arrested by state police in Reno, Nevada, on July 16, the FBI said.

The FBI said it was looking for additional victims after linking him to violent sexual assaults in other states.

The federal case is set to go to trial later this year.

Virginia
Ex-superintendent convicted of misdemeanor in firing of teacher
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A Virginia jury has convicted a former schools superintendent on a misdemeanor charge in connection with what prosecutors said was the retaliatory firing of a teacher who reported that an elementary school student inappropriately touched her.

Former Loudoun County Public Schools Superintendent Scott Ziegler was acquitted on a separate misdemeanor count after the five-day trial, local news outlets reported. The charges stemmed from a special grand jury commissioned by Attorney General Jason Miyares that investigated the school system’s widely criticized response to two sexual assaults committed by a high school student against female classmates in 2021.

“Justice has finally been served in Loudoun County,” Miyares said in a statement.

Ziegler faces up to a year in jail, in addition to a possible fine, according to the attorney general’s office. His sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 4.

WRC-TV in Washington, D.C. reported Ziegler and his attorney left the courthouse Friday afternoon without answering questions.

“I can tell you that we intend to file a motion to set aside the jury’s verdict, which will happen prior to sentencing and before any appeal,” the attorney, Erin Harrigan, wrote in an email Saturday to The Associated Press.

She offered no further comment.

The charges heard this week were not directly related to the matter of the assaults but to allegations by a special education teacher, Erin Brooks, who said the school system retaliated against her after she reported that a special needs student at an elementary school had repeatedly touched her inappropriately.

“Nearly two years ago, Loudoun County Public Schools and the Loudoun County School Board were thrown into the public spotlight for all the wrong reasons. One of the casualties of their neglect and mismanagement led to the retaliatory firing of a dedicated and caring school teacher. Today, my office brought a measure of justice for Erin Brooks,” Miyares said in the statement.

John Whitbeck, Brooks’ attorney, told The Washington Post that Brooks was pleased with Friday’s verdict.

Ziegler still faces a separate misdemeanor charge of false publication, which is set for trial next year, court records show.

Miyares empaneled the grand jury after Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, on his first day in office, issued an executive order requesting an investigation by the attorney general’s office of the school system’s conduct in connection with the assaults.

The school system sought to quash the investigation, calling it politically motivated. But the Virginia Supreme Court ruled it could move forward.

Youngkin and Miyares, both Republicans, had criticized the school board during their successful 2021 campaigns. The assaults attracted national attention in part because the boy was wearing a skirt when he committed at least one of the attacks. The boy was later convicted in juvenile court.

The grand jury issued a scathing report that accused the school system of mishandling the teenage perpetrator and said authorities ignored multiple warning signs that could have prevented the second assault.

The school board unanimously voted to fire Ziegler late last year, shortly after the report was issued.

A perjury case against the district’s longtime spokesman that also stemmed from the grand jury’s probe previously went to trial. A jury acquitted Wayde Byard in that matter.


Pennsylvania
$11M settlement reached in federal suits over police shooting of girl
An $11 million settlement has been reached in federal lawsuits over police gunfire outside a high school football game near Philadelphia in 2021 that killed an 8-year-old girl and wounded others, an attorney for the girl’s family said.

Attorney Michael van der Veen, a lawyer for the family of Fanta Bility, told The Philadelphia Inquirer that the settlement reached last week also requires the borough of Sharon Hill to give a citizen’s advisory committee a say in the hiring of police officers and requires offices to undergo training in using deadly force,

“The family has been mourning throughout this whole process,” he told the newspaper Friday. “I really believe that they’re going to find some closure with the settlement. I can see it already.”

The three lawsuits alleged that Sharon Hill failed to train and supervise its officers and that police used excessive force in August 2021 when they shot at a vehicle near the Academy Park High School stadium as Fanta Bility and her family left a football game. An investigation found the officers negligently fired 25 shots at a car they mistakenly thought was involved in gunfire a block away. Four people were hit by police gunfire that sped past the car.

Van der Veen said Fanta Bility’s family and two other women hit will receive $10 million while another girl shot in the foot will receive $1 million. The payout was capped at $11 million under the borough’s insurance policy, he said. The borough will also name a park after Fanta Bility to ensure that she is not forgotten, he said.

The borough of Sharon Hill posted a statement confirming that the federal lawsuit had been settled but including no details, saying officials wanted to “acknowledge that there are no words or actions that can adequately address the tragic loss of Fanta Bility.”

“Though this chapter has come to an end, our hearts and the spirit of the Sharon Hill community will be forever changed,” the statement said, vowing to continue efforts to prevent anything like the shooting from ever happening again.

Three former Sharon Hill officers were sentenced in May to five years of probation — with the first 11 months on house arrest — after pleading guilty to 10 misdemeanor reckless endangerment counts in a deal that dismissed manslaughter charges. Authorities said they could not determine which officer fired the shot that killed Fanta Bility.

The family has created a foundation that in August hosted a book bag and school supply drive and plans to advocate for better police training and safety measures. Van der Veen said the family will also push for legislation in Harrisburg to require regular deadly force training for police across the commonwealth.


Kansas
Agency sues Chipotle after a manager allegedly ripped off employee’s hijab
A federal agency has sued the restaurant chain Chipotle, accusing it of religious harassment and retaliation after a manager at a Kansas location forcibly removed an employee’s hijab, a headscarf worn by some Muslim women.

In a lawsuit filed Wednesday, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleged that in 2021, an assistant manager at a Chipotle in Lenexa, Kansas, repeatedly harassed the employee by asking her to show him her hair, despite her refusal. After several weeks, the harassment culminated in him grabbing and partially removing her hijab, according to the complaint.

The manager’s “offensive and incessant requests” that she remove her hijab, and his attempt to physically take it off, were “unwelcome, intentional, severe, based on religion, and created a hostile working environment based on religion,” the complaint alleged.

Chipotle’s chief corporate affairs officer, Laurie Schalow, said the company encourages employees to report concerns, including through an anonymous hotline.

“We have a zero tolerance policy for discrimination of any kind and we have terminated the employee in question,” she said in an emailed statement.

The harassment began in July 2021, when the manager began asking the employee, who was 19 at the time, to remove her hijab because he wanted to see her hair. According to the complaint, he demanded to see her hair at least 10 times over the course of one month. She refused on every occasion, saying she wore it because of her religious beliefs.

The employee complained to another supervisor that the incidents made her uncomfortable, but no further action was taken against the manager, the complaint said. One night during closing in August 2021, the manager allegedly reached out and pulled her hijab partially off her head.

The following day, the employee gave her two weeks’ notice. Chipotle didn’t schedule her for any shifts during those two weeks even though other non-Muslim employees who submitted their notice continued to be scheduled for work during that time, the complaint alleged.

The lawsuit claims that Chipotle violated federal civil rights law protecting employees and job applicants from discrimination based on religion, race, ethnicity, sex and national origin.

In its suit, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said it wants Chipotle to institute policies that provide equal employment opportunities for employees of all religions and pay damages to the employee.