Florida
Lawyers may face discipline for criticizing judge’s ruling in racial discrimination case
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — A father-daughter pair of lawyers in Florida may face disciplinary action for speaking out against a judge’s ruling that overturned a jury decision awarding $2.7 million to a Black doctor who alleged he was subjected to racial discrimination.
Civil rights attorney Jerry Girley represented the doctor after he was fired from AdventHealth in Orlando in 2021. A jury sided with Girley’s client, but the judge presiding over the case reversed that decision because he said the plaintiff failed to prove unlawful racial discrimination had taken place.
Girley and his daughter, Brooke Girley — who was not involved in the case — publicly criticized the judge’s decision, according to The Florida Bar. The organization of licensed lawyers in Florida says Jerry Girley gave an interview in which he said the decision was improper and that the court system doesn’t provide equal justice to all. The Florida Bar said Brooke Girley wrote on social media that “Even when we win, it only takes one white judge to reverse our victory.”
The state judge in the case, Kevin Weiss, said in court papers that the Girleys’ allegations “spread across the internet” and led to death threats requiring police protection at his home.
The Florida Bar says the criticism leveled at Weiss amounted to the Girleys violating an oath they took promising to respect the courts and judicial officers.
The Girleys and their attorney, David Winker, argue that disciplining them could chill free speech for Florida lawyers.
In a series of hearings this week, The Florida Bar asked Circuit Judge Lisa Herndon to find that the Girleys had violated their oaths and recommend disciplinary action. Punishment could go as far as disbarment or suspension of the Girleys’ law licenses.
On Tuesday, Herndon said Jerry Girley had indeed violated his oath, according to Winker. The judge is scheduled to rule in Brooke Girley’s case on Wednesday and hear disciplinary recommendations Thursday. Ultimately, the Florida Supreme Court will make any final decision.
Jerry Girley, who is Black, said the entire affair should be considered in the context of Florida’s political environment, where Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis has removed two Democratic prosecutors, public colleges have been blocked from using taxpayer money on diversity programs and standards for teaching Black history say teachers should instruct middle-school students that enslaved people “developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit.”
“What is disturbing to me, as a Black man living in Florida, is I find I have to be careful about what I say, what I think about race, not just in courts, but in schools, in corporate settings,” Girley said. “It’s a weight.”
Nevada
Las Vegas police arrest couple on murder charges in killings of homeless people
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Las Vegas police have arrested a man and his girlfriend in last month’s shooting that killed two homeless people and wounded three others.
Cristobal Omar Perez, 31, and his girlfriend Kylee Au Young, 21, were taken into custody Thursday on suspicion of murder and battery with a deadly weapon. Officers are still working to identify a third suspect.
Police also identified the two victims who were killed as Timothy Brenton and Ashley Burrell, according to KSNV-TV in Las Vegas.
Police said a gunman dropped off by a black SUV opened fire on Dec. 1 around 5:30 p.m. near a freeway overpass in the northeastern part of the city, according to Las Vegas police. The shooter then got picked up by the getaway car.
Authorities believe the shooting was planned in advance, homicide Lt. Jason Johansson said. They have not described a motive.
New Mexico
Man pleads guilty in drive-by shootings on homes of Democratic lawmakers
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — One of three defendants has pleaded guilty to federal charges in connection with a series of drive-by shootings at the homes of state and local lawmakers in Albuquerque after the 2022 election, according to federal court filings made public Tuesday.
Jose Louise Trujillo pleaded guilty at a Monday hearing to charges of conspiracy, election interference, illegal use of a firearm and fentanyl possession with the intent to distribute. Federal and local prosecutors allege that the attacks were orchestrated by former Republican candidate Solomon Peña with the involvement of Trujillo and a third man. Peña maintains his innocence.
The attacks on the homes of four Democratic officials, including the current state House speaker, took place in December 2022 and January 2023 amid a surge of threats and acts of intimidation against elections workers and public officials across the country after former President Donald Trump and his allies spread false claims about the outcome of the 2020 presidential election.
Trujillo, 22, is due to be sentenced in April. His attorney, John Anderson, declined to comment on the plea agreement beyond what is in the court records.
Alexander Uballez, the U.S. attorney in Albuquerque, has said the shootings targeted the homes of two county commissioners shortly after and because of their certification of the 2022 election, in which Peña lost his bid to serve in the state legislature. No one was injured, but in one case bullets passed through the bedroom of a state senator’s 10-year-old daughter.
Trujillo will remain in custody pending sentencing, Uballez and FBI special agent in charge Raul Bujanda said Tuesday in a statement, which also outlined accusations that Trujillo was paid by Peña in efforts to pressure Bernalillo County commissioners to refuse to certify local election results.
Demetrio Trujillo, Jose’s father, also faces federal charges alleging that he and his son helped Peña obtain vehicles and firearms and that they also fired on victims’ homes.
Peña and Demetrio Trujillo, who maintains his innocence, are scheduled to stand trial in June.
Jose Trujillo was arrested in January on an outstanding warrant. According to authorities, in his car with him he had more than 800 fentanyl pills and two firearms, leading to a break in the investigation as officers traced at least one gun to bullet casings found at one of the shootings.
Following the shootings, New Mexico state lawmakers enacted legislation that provides felony sanctions for intimidation of election regulators and allows some public officials and political candidates to keep their home address off government websites.
North Carolina
In $25M settlement, city ‘deeply remorseful’ for man’s wrongful conviction, prison
CONCORD, N.C. (AP) — A man wrongfully convicted and imprisoned for 44 years has reached a $25 million combined settlement with a central North Carolina city and the state of North Carolina involving a lawsuit accusing authorities of misconduct, the man’s lawyers said Tuesday.
The settlement, which will end a wrongful incarceration lawsuit filed by attorneys for Ronnie Wallace Long in 2021, also included a public written apology from the city of Concord for its role in his imprisonment. The city, located about 25 miles (40 kilometers) northeast of Charlotte, has agreed to pay $22 million of the settlement.
“We are deeply remorseful for the past wrongs that caused tremendous harm to Mr. Long, his family, friends, and our community,” the city’s statement read. “While there are no measures to fully restore to Mr. Long and his family all that was taken from them, through this agreement we are doing everything in our power to right the past wrongs and take responsibility.”
Long, now 68, was a young Black man living in Concord when he was accused of raping a white woman. An all-white jury in Cabarrus County that Long’s attorneys said was handpicked by local law enforcement leaders convicted Long of burglary and rape in 1976. At age 21, Long received two life sentences.
Long was helped for years in his criminal case appeal by a wrongful convictions clinic at Duke University’s law school. Long’s attorneys had said that more than 40 fingerprints collected from the scene were never shared and did not match Long’s. Semen samples also were never disclosed to the defense. They later disappeared.
In August 2020, a federal appeals court ordered a new hearing for Long in his effort to obtain relief. Almost immediately, his conviction was vacated and Long was released from prison. Gov. Roy Cooper later that year granted him a full pardon of innocence.
A few months later, a state commission awarded Long $750,000 — by law the state’s top compensation for victims of wrongful incarceration. He then sued in federal court in Raleigh, and in part accused Concord police officers of “extraordinary misconduct” that led to his wrongful conviction and imprisonment in violation of his civil rights.
As part of the settlement, Long also received $3 million from the State Bureau of Investigation “as a result of the SBI’s role in hiding evidence from Mr. Long and his legal team that proved his innocence,” a news release from his attorneys in the lawsuit said. An SBI spokesperson didn’t immediately respond Tuesday to an email and text seeking comment.
The city of Concord also said Tuesday it “acknowledges and accepts responsibility for the significant errors in judgment and willful misconduct by previous city employees that led to Long’s wrongful conviction and imprisonment.”
While Long’s attorneys described the monetary payments as one of the largest wrongful conviction settlements nationwide, they said the city’s statement was extremely important to their client.
“This result speaks to the magnitude of injustice that occurred in Mr. Long’s case,” said Chris Olson, one of his lawyers in the lawsuit, adding the “apology goes a long way in helping Mr. Long heal.”
Oregon
Judge enters the final order striking down a voter-approved gun control law
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — An Oregon judge has entered the final order striking down a gun control law that was narrowly approved by voters in 2022.
Harney County Circuit Court Judge Robert Raschio signed the general judgment on Monday. The judgment finalizes the opinion Raschio issued in November finding the law violated the right to bear arms under the Oregon Constitution.
The law, one of the toughest in the nation, was among the first gun restrictions to be passed after a major U.S. Supreme Court ruling last year changed the guidance judges are expected to follow when considering Second Amendment cases.
The law requires people to undergo a criminal background check and complete a gun safety training course to obtain a permit to buy a firearm. It also bans high-capacity magazines.
Measure 114 has been tied up in state and federal court since it was approved by voters in November 2022.
The state trial stemmed from a lawsuit filed by gun owners claiming the law violated the right to bear arms under the state constitution. Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum, one of the defendants in the case, vowed to appeal the ruling.
Lawyers may face discipline for criticizing judge’s ruling in racial discrimination case
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — A father-daughter pair of lawyers in Florida may face disciplinary action for speaking out against a judge’s ruling that overturned a jury decision awarding $2.7 million to a Black doctor who alleged he was subjected to racial discrimination.
Civil rights attorney Jerry Girley represented the doctor after he was fired from AdventHealth in Orlando in 2021. A jury sided with Girley’s client, but the judge presiding over the case reversed that decision because he said the plaintiff failed to prove unlawful racial discrimination had taken place.
Girley and his daughter, Brooke Girley — who was not involved in the case — publicly criticized the judge’s decision, according to The Florida Bar. The organization of licensed lawyers in Florida says Jerry Girley gave an interview in which he said the decision was improper and that the court system doesn’t provide equal justice to all. The Florida Bar said Brooke Girley wrote on social media that “Even when we win, it only takes one white judge to reverse our victory.”
The state judge in the case, Kevin Weiss, said in court papers that the Girleys’ allegations “spread across the internet” and led to death threats requiring police protection at his home.
The Florida Bar says the criticism leveled at Weiss amounted to the Girleys violating an oath they took promising to respect the courts and judicial officers.
The Girleys and their attorney, David Winker, argue that disciplining them could chill free speech for Florida lawyers.
In a series of hearings this week, The Florida Bar asked Circuit Judge Lisa Herndon to find that the Girleys had violated their oaths and recommend disciplinary action. Punishment could go as far as disbarment or suspension of the Girleys’ law licenses.
On Tuesday, Herndon said Jerry Girley had indeed violated his oath, according to Winker. The judge is scheduled to rule in Brooke Girley’s case on Wednesday and hear disciplinary recommendations Thursday. Ultimately, the Florida Supreme Court will make any final decision.
Jerry Girley, who is Black, said the entire affair should be considered in the context of Florida’s political environment, where Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis has removed two Democratic prosecutors, public colleges have been blocked from using taxpayer money on diversity programs and standards for teaching Black history say teachers should instruct middle-school students that enslaved people “developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit.”
“What is disturbing to me, as a Black man living in Florida, is I find I have to be careful about what I say, what I think about race, not just in courts, but in schools, in corporate settings,” Girley said. “It’s a weight.”
Nevada
Las Vegas police arrest couple on murder charges in killings of homeless people
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Las Vegas police have arrested a man and his girlfriend in last month’s shooting that killed two homeless people and wounded three others.
Cristobal Omar Perez, 31, and his girlfriend Kylee Au Young, 21, were taken into custody Thursday on suspicion of murder and battery with a deadly weapon. Officers are still working to identify a third suspect.
Police also identified the two victims who were killed as Timothy Brenton and Ashley Burrell, according to KSNV-TV in Las Vegas.
Police said a gunman dropped off by a black SUV opened fire on Dec. 1 around 5:30 p.m. near a freeway overpass in the northeastern part of the city, according to Las Vegas police. The shooter then got picked up by the getaway car.
Authorities believe the shooting was planned in advance, homicide Lt. Jason Johansson said. They have not described a motive.
New Mexico
Man pleads guilty in drive-by shootings on homes of Democratic lawmakers
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — One of three defendants has pleaded guilty to federal charges in connection with a series of drive-by shootings at the homes of state and local lawmakers in Albuquerque after the 2022 election, according to federal court filings made public Tuesday.
Jose Louise Trujillo pleaded guilty at a Monday hearing to charges of conspiracy, election interference, illegal use of a firearm and fentanyl possession with the intent to distribute. Federal and local prosecutors allege that the attacks were orchestrated by former Republican candidate Solomon Peña with the involvement of Trujillo and a third man. Peña maintains his innocence.
The attacks on the homes of four Democratic officials, including the current state House speaker, took place in December 2022 and January 2023 amid a surge of threats and acts of intimidation against elections workers and public officials across the country after former President Donald Trump and his allies spread false claims about the outcome of the 2020 presidential election.
Trujillo, 22, is due to be sentenced in April. His attorney, John Anderson, declined to comment on the plea agreement beyond what is in the court records.
Alexander Uballez, the U.S. attorney in Albuquerque, has said the shootings targeted the homes of two county commissioners shortly after and because of their certification of the 2022 election, in which Peña lost his bid to serve in the state legislature. No one was injured, but in one case bullets passed through the bedroom of a state senator’s 10-year-old daughter.
Trujillo will remain in custody pending sentencing, Uballez and FBI special agent in charge Raul Bujanda said Tuesday in a statement, which also outlined accusations that Trujillo was paid by Peña in efforts to pressure Bernalillo County commissioners to refuse to certify local election results.
Demetrio Trujillo, Jose’s father, also faces federal charges alleging that he and his son helped Peña obtain vehicles and firearms and that they also fired on victims’ homes.
Peña and Demetrio Trujillo, who maintains his innocence, are scheduled to stand trial in June.
Jose Trujillo was arrested in January on an outstanding warrant. According to authorities, in his car with him he had more than 800 fentanyl pills and two firearms, leading to a break in the investigation as officers traced at least one gun to bullet casings found at one of the shootings.
Following the shootings, New Mexico state lawmakers enacted legislation that provides felony sanctions for intimidation of election regulators and allows some public officials and political candidates to keep their home address off government websites.
North Carolina
In $25M settlement, city ‘deeply remorseful’ for man’s wrongful conviction, prison
CONCORD, N.C. (AP) — A man wrongfully convicted and imprisoned for 44 years has reached a $25 million combined settlement with a central North Carolina city and the state of North Carolina involving a lawsuit accusing authorities of misconduct, the man’s lawyers said Tuesday.
The settlement, which will end a wrongful incarceration lawsuit filed by attorneys for Ronnie Wallace Long in 2021, also included a public written apology from the city of Concord for its role in his imprisonment. The city, located about 25 miles (40 kilometers) northeast of Charlotte, has agreed to pay $22 million of the settlement.
“We are deeply remorseful for the past wrongs that caused tremendous harm to Mr. Long, his family, friends, and our community,” the city’s statement read. “While there are no measures to fully restore to Mr. Long and his family all that was taken from them, through this agreement we are doing everything in our power to right the past wrongs and take responsibility.”
Long, now 68, was a young Black man living in Concord when he was accused of raping a white woman. An all-white jury in Cabarrus County that Long’s attorneys said was handpicked by local law enforcement leaders convicted Long of burglary and rape in 1976. At age 21, Long received two life sentences.
Long was helped for years in his criminal case appeal by a wrongful convictions clinic at Duke University’s law school. Long’s attorneys had said that more than 40 fingerprints collected from the scene were never shared and did not match Long’s. Semen samples also were never disclosed to the defense. They later disappeared.
In August 2020, a federal appeals court ordered a new hearing for Long in his effort to obtain relief. Almost immediately, his conviction was vacated and Long was released from prison. Gov. Roy Cooper later that year granted him a full pardon of innocence.
A few months later, a state commission awarded Long $750,000 — by law the state’s top compensation for victims of wrongful incarceration. He then sued in federal court in Raleigh, and in part accused Concord police officers of “extraordinary misconduct” that led to his wrongful conviction and imprisonment in violation of his civil rights.
As part of the settlement, Long also received $3 million from the State Bureau of Investigation “as a result of the SBI’s role in hiding evidence from Mr. Long and his legal team that proved his innocence,” a news release from his attorneys in the lawsuit said. An SBI spokesperson didn’t immediately respond Tuesday to an email and text seeking comment.
The city of Concord also said Tuesday it “acknowledges and accepts responsibility for the significant errors in judgment and willful misconduct by previous city employees that led to Long’s wrongful conviction and imprisonment.”
While Long’s attorneys described the monetary payments as one of the largest wrongful conviction settlements nationwide, they said the city’s statement was extremely important to their client.
“This result speaks to the magnitude of injustice that occurred in Mr. Long’s case,” said Chris Olson, one of his lawyers in the lawsuit, adding the “apology goes a long way in helping Mr. Long heal.”
Oregon
Judge enters the final order striking down a voter-approved gun control law
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — An Oregon judge has entered the final order striking down a gun control law that was narrowly approved by voters in 2022.
Harney County Circuit Court Judge Robert Raschio signed the general judgment on Monday. The judgment finalizes the opinion Raschio issued in November finding the law violated the right to bear arms under the Oregon Constitution.
The law, one of the toughest in the nation, was among the first gun restrictions to be passed after a major U.S. Supreme Court ruling last year changed the guidance judges are expected to follow when considering Second Amendment cases.
The law requires people to undergo a criminal background check and complete a gun safety training course to obtain a permit to buy a firearm. It also bans high-capacity magazines.
Measure 114 has been tied up in state and federal court since it was approved by voters in November 2022.
The state trial stemmed from a lawsuit filed by gun owners claiming the law violated the right to bear arms under the state constitution. Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum, one of the defendants in the case, vowed to appeal the ruling.
