Alabama
Murder charge dismissed ahead of trial after years
ATMORE, Ala. (AP) — Capital murder charges have been dropped against a south Alabama man after a six-year wait to bring the case to trial.
Yeldon Rostchild, 29, was released from jail on Wednesday, WPMI -TV reported, after Rostchild pleaded guilty to an obstruction of justice charge as part of a plea deal with prosecutors.
Rostchild was one of two people who had been charged with capital murder in connection with the 2017 shooting death of Donta Russell in Escambia County, Alabama. The case was scheduled to go to trial this week.
Rostchild’s attorney had asked a judge to dismiss the indictment. She wrote in a court filing that prosecutors in six years have produced no evidence linking him to the shooting death or are disobeying “this court’s order to produce said evidence.”
“It’s not a matter of evidence from the state. This is a matter of it didn’t exist. This man’s been in jail for six years,” defense attorney Christine C. Hernandez told the television station.
Escambia County District Attorney Stephen Billy told the station in an email that they amended the capital murder charge “by agreement to an obstruction of justice charge.”
“Anytime a case is this old the evidence tends to weaken and that was the case here. We settled on time served,” he said.
New York
Man gets 4 years in prison for false sex assault claims against Hollywood execs
NEW YORK (AP) — A California man was sentenced Monday to four years in prison for seeking to win a $100 million lawsuit by making false sexual assault claims against Hollywood executives.
Rovier Carrington, 34, of Los Angeles was sentenced in Manhattan federal court after he pleaded guilty to making a false declaration in the 2018 civil case.
The sentence issued by Judge Valerie E. Caproni was more than twice what prosecutors requested. In a pre-sentence submission, they wrote that Carrington’s fraud could fuel “the false perception that many such claims are fraudulent, chilling others from bringing meritorious sexual-assault claims.”
Carrington’s civil case was tossed out by a judge after he failed to appear at a hearing when he was scheduled to answer questions from the judge about the fraud. Still, prosecutors said, Carrington made similar allegations in a $1 billion lawsuit filed in another court. It, too, was tossed out.
Carrington was arrested in California in September 2021 on a perjury charge for fabricating emails to make it seem that he had been sexually assaulted by two Hollywood executives who he claimed had prevented the production of his reality television program.
He had claimed in the 2018 lawsuit that he was “related to Hollywood royalty” as the great-grandson of one of “The Three Stooges” actors and was a writer, actor and producer of TV shows who had worked in 2010 on a reality TV show, “The Life of a Trendsetter.”
After defendants in the civil action produced proof that emails were fabricated, Carrington was ordered to pay $600,000 in attorneys’ fees and costs.
The judge in the case said Carrington had taken steps, including discarding an iPhone, to destroy evidence even as defendants were trying to obtain as much information as possible about his allegations.
Prosecutors said email chains that Carrington submitted to support his lawsuit were faked and that he was unable to produce original versions of any of the chains. They said the emails he offered also could not be located in email accounts belonging to alleged recipients.
In a sentencing submission, Carrington’s defense lawyers described mental health issues Carrington has faced and wrote that he was a “warmhearted, thoughtful and kind” client who acknowledges the mistakes he made at a time when his life was spiraling from one disaster to the next.
New Hampshire
State AG suggests national Dems broke law by calling primary ‘meaningless’
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — New Hampshire’s attorney general on Monday ordered national Democratic party leaders to stop calling the state’s unsanctioned presidential primary “meaningless,” saying doing so violates state law.
The cease-and-desist notice came three days after the co-chairs of the Democratic National Committee’s rules committee told New Hampshire party leaders to “educate the public that January 23rd is a non-binding presidential preference event and is meaningless.” In a letter to Chairman Ray Buckley, they also called the primary “detrimental” and said “non-compliant processes can disenfranchise and confuse voters.”
But Attorney General John Formella said it’s the DNC that is in danger of harming voters. Formella, appointed by Republican Gov. Chris Sununu, did not say whether he is considering criminal charges, but his office later said he hasn’t ruled it out. He released a statement saying the comments amount to an illegal attempt to deter voters from participating in the primary and cited state laws against criminal solicitation and voter suppression. The latter, a felony, makes it illegal to attempt to deter someone from voting based on fraudulent, deceptive or misleading information.
“Regardless of whether the DNC refuses to award delegates to the party’s national convention based on the results of the January 23, 2024, New Hampshire democratic Presidential Primary Election, this New Hampshire election is not “meaningless,’” Formella said. Statements to the contrary are false, deceptive and misleading.”
New Hampshire’s secretary of state scheduled the primary in accordance with a state law that requires both the Republican and Democratic primaries to be held at least seven days before any similar contest. But that put the state at odds with the DNC’s calendar, which starts with a primary in South Carolina on Feb. 3 followed by Nevada. Aimed at giving Black and other minority voters a larger, earlier role, the schedule also moves Michigan into the group of early states voting before Super Tuesday on March 5, when most of the rest of the country holds primaries.
President Joe Biden, who sought the changes, kept his name off the ballot in New Hampshire, though Democrats have organized a write-in campaign on his behalf.
Republicans will kick off the nominating process with the Iowa caucus on Monday. New Hampshire’s primary eight days later will be a crucial opportunity for GOP candidates to show they can remain competitive against former President Donald Trump, the early front-runner for their party’s presidential nomination.
Buckley, the New Hampshire chairman, released a statement reiterating that the secretary of state followed the law in picking the date.
“Nothing has changed, and we look forward to seeing a great Democratic voter turnout on January 23rd,” he said.
Murder charge dismissed ahead of trial after years
ATMORE, Ala. (AP) — Capital murder charges have been dropped against a south Alabama man after a six-year wait to bring the case to trial.
Yeldon Rostchild, 29, was released from jail on Wednesday, WPMI -TV reported, after Rostchild pleaded guilty to an obstruction of justice charge as part of a plea deal with prosecutors.
Rostchild was one of two people who had been charged with capital murder in connection with the 2017 shooting death of Donta Russell in Escambia County, Alabama. The case was scheduled to go to trial this week.
Rostchild’s attorney had asked a judge to dismiss the indictment. She wrote in a court filing that prosecutors in six years have produced no evidence linking him to the shooting death or are disobeying “this court’s order to produce said evidence.”
“It’s not a matter of evidence from the state. This is a matter of it didn’t exist. This man’s been in jail for six years,” defense attorney Christine C. Hernandez told the television station.
Escambia County District Attorney Stephen Billy told the station in an email that they amended the capital murder charge “by agreement to an obstruction of justice charge.”
“Anytime a case is this old the evidence tends to weaken and that was the case here. We settled on time served,” he said.
New York
Man gets 4 years in prison for false sex assault claims against Hollywood execs
NEW YORK (AP) — A California man was sentenced Monday to four years in prison for seeking to win a $100 million lawsuit by making false sexual assault claims against Hollywood executives.
Rovier Carrington, 34, of Los Angeles was sentenced in Manhattan federal court after he pleaded guilty to making a false declaration in the 2018 civil case.
The sentence issued by Judge Valerie E. Caproni was more than twice what prosecutors requested. In a pre-sentence submission, they wrote that Carrington’s fraud could fuel “the false perception that many such claims are fraudulent, chilling others from bringing meritorious sexual-assault claims.”
Carrington’s civil case was tossed out by a judge after he failed to appear at a hearing when he was scheduled to answer questions from the judge about the fraud. Still, prosecutors said, Carrington made similar allegations in a $1 billion lawsuit filed in another court. It, too, was tossed out.
Carrington was arrested in California in September 2021 on a perjury charge for fabricating emails to make it seem that he had been sexually assaulted by two Hollywood executives who he claimed had prevented the production of his reality television program.
He had claimed in the 2018 lawsuit that he was “related to Hollywood royalty” as the great-grandson of one of “The Three Stooges” actors and was a writer, actor and producer of TV shows who had worked in 2010 on a reality TV show, “The Life of a Trendsetter.”
After defendants in the civil action produced proof that emails were fabricated, Carrington was ordered to pay $600,000 in attorneys’ fees and costs.
The judge in the case said Carrington had taken steps, including discarding an iPhone, to destroy evidence even as defendants were trying to obtain as much information as possible about his allegations.
Prosecutors said email chains that Carrington submitted to support his lawsuit were faked and that he was unable to produce original versions of any of the chains. They said the emails he offered also could not be located in email accounts belonging to alleged recipients.
In a sentencing submission, Carrington’s defense lawyers described mental health issues Carrington has faced and wrote that he was a “warmhearted, thoughtful and kind” client who acknowledges the mistakes he made at a time when his life was spiraling from one disaster to the next.
New Hampshire
State AG suggests national Dems broke law by calling primary ‘meaningless’
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — New Hampshire’s attorney general on Monday ordered national Democratic party leaders to stop calling the state’s unsanctioned presidential primary “meaningless,” saying doing so violates state law.
The cease-and-desist notice came three days after the co-chairs of the Democratic National Committee’s rules committee told New Hampshire party leaders to “educate the public that January 23rd is a non-binding presidential preference event and is meaningless.” In a letter to Chairman Ray Buckley, they also called the primary “detrimental” and said “non-compliant processes can disenfranchise and confuse voters.”
But Attorney General John Formella said it’s the DNC that is in danger of harming voters. Formella, appointed by Republican Gov. Chris Sununu, did not say whether he is considering criminal charges, but his office later said he hasn’t ruled it out. He released a statement saying the comments amount to an illegal attempt to deter voters from participating in the primary and cited state laws against criminal solicitation and voter suppression. The latter, a felony, makes it illegal to attempt to deter someone from voting based on fraudulent, deceptive or misleading information.
“Regardless of whether the DNC refuses to award delegates to the party’s national convention based on the results of the January 23, 2024, New Hampshire democratic Presidential Primary Election, this New Hampshire election is not “meaningless,’” Formella said. Statements to the contrary are false, deceptive and misleading.”
New Hampshire’s secretary of state scheduled the primary in accordance with a state law that requires both the Republican and Democratic primaries to be held at least seven days before any similar contest. But that put the state at odds with the DNC’s calendar, which starts with a primary in South Carolina on Feb. 3 followed by Nevada. Aimed at giving Black and other minority voters a larger, earlier role, the schedule also moves Michigan into the group of early states voting before Super Tuesday on March 5, when most of the rest of the country holds primaries.
President Joe Biden, who sought the changes, kept his name off the ballot in New Hampshire, though Democrats have organized a write-in campaign on his behalf.
Republicans will kick off the nominating process with the Iowa caucus on Monday. New Hampshire’s primary eight days later will be a crucial opportunity for GOP candidates to show they can remain competitive against former President Donald Trump, the early front-runner for their party’s presidential nomination.
Buckley, the New Hampshire chairman, released a statement reiterating that the secretary of state followed the law in picking the date.
“Nothing has changed, and we look forward to seeing a great Democratic voter turnout on January 23rd,” he said.
