Court Digest

New York
Man charged with hate crimes over stabbing at New York’s Grand Central Terminal
NEW YORK (AP) — A New York City man has been charged with hate crimes following the Christmas Day stabbing of two teenage tourists from Paraguay at an eatery inside Grand Central Terminal, authorities said.

Witnesses said Esteban Esono-Asue, 36, also known as Steven Hutcherson, made derogatory comments about white people shortly before the unprovoked attack on the 14- and 16-year-old girls inside the Manhattan transit hub Monday morning, according to a criminal complaint. The girls were visiting

He was being held without bail Wednesday after pleading not guilty Tuesday to attempted murder and assault as hate crimes, and child endangerment.

According to the complaint, Esono-Asue initially was asked to leave the Tartinery dining area by an employee, who said Esono-Asue responded by saying: “I’ll leave, I don’t want the white man to get at you,” or something similar.

A second employee said he made another anti-white comment after he approached her and asked for a table to place an order.

“I don’t want to sit with Black people. I want to sit with the crackers,” he told the second employee, according to the complaint.

New Mexico
Former state AG and lawmaker  dies at age 88
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — David Norvell, the youngest person to ever serve as New Mexico’s House speaker, died Thursday at his home in Albuquerque following a long illness. He was 88.

House Democrats confirmed his death Friday, saying Norvell was surrounded by loved ones. They remembered him as someone who dedicated his life to public service.

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, a Democrat, called Norvell a valuable adviser who also was a good friend to her throughout her own years in public service.

Norvell served as attorney general for one term in the early 1970s. He was elected to the New Mexico House of Representatives in 1962, representing Curry County. He was majority floor leader before becoming speaker in 1969.

Born in Missouri and raised in Oklahoma, Norvell earned a law degree from the University of Oklahoma College of Law, the Santa Fe New Mexican reported.

In 1972, he ran in the Democratic U.S. Senate primary, losing to former state Rep. Jack Daniels, who in turn lost the general election to Republican Pete Domenici.

After leaving office, Norvell went into private practice in Albuquerque.

In 1976, he was indicted over what was characterized at the time as an alleged extortion attempt in a water well dispute. Norvell was accused of failing to report more than $40,000 on his 1972 tax return and of taking a $25,000 check from an officer of the New Mexico Savings and Loan Association.

Federal prosecutors had claimed it was an alleged payoff in exchange for a favorable attorney general’s opinion. He denied the allegations and was acquitted.

Norvell was married to Gail Chasey, the current House majority leader.

North Dakota
Lawmaker who used homophobic slurs during DUI arrest has no plans to resign
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — A North Dakota Republican lawmaker has no plans to immediately resign, despite party leaders’ calls for him to step down after he railed against police with profane, homophobic and anti-migrant language during a recent traffic stop that ended in his arrest on a charge of drunken driving.

In a statement Wednesday, Republican state Rep. Nico Rios, of Williston, said he is “seriously mulling all aspects” of his future.

“As I weigh my future in the legislature, I am going to spend the next few months addressing my issues with alcoholism and getting the help I need,” he said in a statement. “Any decision I make going forward will be made with a sober mind and deliberative clarity. To do so, I will be prioritizing breaking my chemical dependency on alcohol, improving the interpersonal relations I have strained, and listening to our community.”

Rios also said he takes responsibility for his “disgusting actions” during the Dec. 15 traffic stop, and apologized “to those I have hurt and disappointed,” including law enforcement officers. He added that he is “100% committed to making repairs for my actions and straightening out my life.”

Police body camera footage requested by and provided to the AP shows Rios cursing an officer, repeatedly questioning his English accent, and using homophobic slurs and anti-migrant language. He also said he would call the North Dakota attorney general about the situation. He told the officers they would “regret picking on me because you don’t know who ... I am.”

Rios’ statement comes a day after Republican House Majority Leader Mike Lefor and state party officials publicly called on him to resign.

“There is no room in the legislature, or our party, for this behavior,” Lefor said Tuesday. The AP left him a phone message on Wednesday seeking comment on Rios’ decision.

Rios has said he was leaving a Christmas party before police pulled him over. He was charged with misdemeanor counts of drunken driving and refusing to provide a chemical test. He is scheduled for a pretrial conference on Feb. 5 in municipal court.

Rios, who works in an oil field position involved in the hydraulic fracturing of wells, was elected unopposed in 2022 to a four-year term in the state House of Representatives. He sits on the House Judiciary Committee, a panel that handles law enforcement legislation.

Republicans control the North Dakota House, 82-12.

Shortly after he was seated and given water, Esono-Asue walked over to a table of individuals, who appeared to be white, pulled a knife from his pocket and stabbed one of the girls in the back, the second employee told authorities.

As the family scrambled to get away, the man stabbed the younger girl in the thigh, Metropolitan Transportation Authority officials said. Both girls were taken to a hospital with injuries that were not believed to be life-threatening.

Officers quickly arrested Esono-Asue without further incident, an MTA spokesperson said.

The Paraguayan consulate general’s office in New York was assisting the family, who were visiting New York City from the South American country, consulate Luis Dominguez said Wednesday.

At his arraignment, Esono-Asue was ordered held without bail pending his next court appearance, scheduled for Friday. A Legal Aid Society attorney representing him declined to comment.

Earlier this month, Esono-Asue pleaded guilty to an assault charge and was given a conditional discharge after being arrested for threatening a man on Nov. 7, according to court records.

New York
China’s Alibaba must face a U.S. toymaker’s lawsuit over sales of allegedly fake Squishmallows
A judge in New York has ruled that Alibaba must face a lawsuit by a U.S. toymaker alleging that the Chinese ecommerce giant’s online platforms were used to sell counterfeit Squishmallows.

Judge Jesse Furman of the Southern District Court of New York refused Alibaba’s request to dismiss the case filed by Kelly Toys Holdings, which makes the popular plush toys.

Kelly Toys is owned by Jazwares, a toy company whose parent company Alleghany Corp. is controlled by billionaire Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway.

There was no immediate comment by Alibaba, China’s biggest ecommerce company. Among other things, Alibaba based its motion to dismiss on how it was named in the lawsuit as Alibaba. com instead of its formal corporate name.

In its complaint, Kelly Toys said sales of faked Squishmallows by merchants using Alibaba sites continued despite earlier lawsuits demanding they be stopped. The company had earlier filed the case to stop about 90 ecommerce companies from selling counterfeit versions of the toys. Alibaba was named as a defendant in March.

“Kelly Toys alleges that, notwithstanding that awareness, infringing listings — including some by the Merchant Defendants — have continued to proliferate on the Alibaba platforms,” Furman wrote. He said the court held that the claims were plausible, so the motion to dismiss them was denied.

Colorado
Man sentenced in Nevada power plant fire initially described as terror attack
LAS VEGAS (AP) — A Colorado man was sentenced Wednes­day to prison in Nevada following his arrest last January for setting his car afire at a remote facility in what authorities initially characterized as a terror attack on the electric system serving several Las Vegas Strip casinos.

Mohammed Reza Mesmarian, 35, was sentenced to two to 10 years following his plea in November to guilty but mentally ill on charges of felony arson and property destruction in the incident at a remote desert solar array about 25 miles (40 kilometers) northeast of downtown Las Vegas.

“This was not so much an act of terrorism as a person going through personal issues during COVID, the loss of a marriage and his business,” Mesmarian’s attorney, Jeffrey Nicholson, told The Associated Press after sentencing. Nicholson said he sought probation, but he called Clark County District Court Judge Ronald Israel’s sentence “a good and fair decision.”

Mesmarian received credit for nearly a year already served in custody and could be paroled in early 2024.

Mesmarian, a dentist, is from Aurora, Colorado, where state records showed he faced Dental Board discipline and his license to practice was restricted in July 2022. Records also showed that Mesmarian filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy in October 2022. Nicholson said Wednesday he didn’t immediately know the status of his client’s dental license.

Mesmarian initially faced charges including terrorism, arson, destruction of property and escape. He spent months in custody during court proceedings that eventually determined he was competent to stand trial.

Police reported that no one was injured in the Jan. 4 fire, which wasn’t immediately detected. Mesmaian was found and arrested a day later at a campground at Lake Mead, the Colorado River reservoir behind Hoover Dam east of Las Vegas.

Investigators said they learned that Mesmarian had rammed his car through a fence, crashed it against a transformer, set it ablaze and sat in a chair watching flames for about 15 minutes before walking away.

The incident in Nevada came just days after two men were arrested and charged with vandalizing electrical substations in Washington state and a month after federal regulators ordered a review of security standards following shootings that damaged two electric substations in North Carolina.

The Las Vegas-area facility, known as the Mega Solar Array, is operated by Chicago-based Invenergy. It serves several MGM Resorts International properties including Bellagio, MGM Grand, Aria and Park MGM. The resort operator said it switched to the statewide electric grid, and there was no effect at the casino resorts. Officials said the power facility returned to service within days.