California
Nearly 30 years later, family of slain college student sues school for wrongful death
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. (AP) — The family of a California college student who vanished nearly three decades ago sued the school on Thursday, alleging it caused Kristin Smart’s murder through negligence.
Smart, then 19, disappeared from California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo on the state’s scenic Central Coast over Memorial Day weekend in 1996. Her remains have never been found, but she was declared legally dead in 2002.
Paul Flores was arrested in 2021, convicted of first-degree murder in 2022 and sentenced last year to 25 years to life in state prison.
Prosecutors say Flores killed Smart during an attempted rape on May 25, 1996, in his dorm room at the university, where they were both first-year students. He was the last person seen with Smart as he walked home with her from an off-campus party.
On Thursday, Smart’s parents, brother and sister sued the university for wrongful death and negligence, alleging that officials could have prevented her death if they had properly dealt with university police reports filed by four other female students.
Those students said Flores had stalked and harassed them in the months leading up to Smart’s disappearance.
In one case, Flores allegedly tried to break into a student’s apartment, according to the lawsuit.
The reports should have prompted the university to investigate, and suspend or expel Flores, removing him from on-campus housing and sending him back home “miles away from Kristin and the dorm room where he murdered her,” the lawsuit said.
“Had the university acted properly, conducted a thorough investigation into Flores’ past concerning behavior, and implemented appropriate disciplinary measures, Kristin would likely still be alive today. Instead, our family has been left to grieve her absence for 27 agonizing years,” a family statement said.
The suit also contends that the university failed to pursue a proper and timely investigation into Smart’s disappearance, including failing to seal Flores’ dorm room and allowing it to be cleaned before it was finally searched 16 days after Smart vanished.
In an email, Cal Poly spokesperson Matt Lazier said the university had no comment because “this is a pending legal matter.”
However, last May, university President Jeffrey Armstrong publicly apologized to the family for how it handled the investigation into her disappearance.
“While it is a different administration now than was in place in 1996, we recognize that things should had been done differently — and I personally wish that they had,” he said.
The family only realized Cal Poly’s alleged negligence after that apology because relatives didn’t have any access to the university’s investigative file, according to the lawsuit.
“Even now, the Smart family still does not know what information, in the possession of Cal Poly’s president, and uniquely available to him and or Cal Poly, led him to make the apology,” the suit said.
Georgia
Family of church deacon who died after struggle with police officer files lawsuit
ATLANTA (AP) — The family of a church deacon who died after struggling with an Atlanta police officer following a minor car crash sued the city, the officer and the police chief on Thursday.
Officer Kiran Kimbrough used excessive force while trying to get 62-year-old Johnny Hollman to sign a citation finding him at fault for the crash, violating his constitutional rights, the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court alleges.
Body camera video of Hollman’s Aug. 10 arrest shows Kimbrough shocked him with a stun gun after he repeatedly said he could not breathe. An autopsy determined Hollman’s death was a homicide, with heart disease also a contributing factor.
An attorney for the family said at a news conference announcing the lawsuit that Police Chief Darin Schierbaum, Mayor Andrew Dickens and other city officials were also responsible for Hollman’s death.
“While they did not stand over the top of Deacon Hollman as he took his last breath, they were there because they created the culture that allowed this officer to believe that his conduct would go unpunished,” attorney Mawuli Davis said.
The suit seeks unspecified punitive damages and other compensation.
An attorney for Kimbrough, Lance LoRusso, did not immediately respond to an email and text message seeking comment. He has previously said Hollman resisted arrest and Kimbrough acted lawfully when he deployed his stun gun and used force.
Police and the mayor’s office declined to comment, saying they do not do so with pending litigation. A spokesperson for Dickens, however, said via email that the Hollman family remains in the mayor’s prayers.
The spokesperson also noted that the mayor ordered a review of police procedures and training following Hollman’s death that has led to a new policy allowing officers to write “refusal to sign” on traffic citations rather than arresting someone.
Relatives say Hollman was driving home from Bible study at his daughter’s house and taking dinner to his wife when he collided with another vehicle while turning across a busy street just west of downtown.
In the body camera video released in November, Kimbrough repeatedly demands that Hollman sign the citation, but Hollman insists he did nothing wrong. The two men begin to tussle.
Hollman ends up on the ground. He repeatedly says “I can’t breathe,” and Kimbrough uses a Taser to shock him. Hollman becomes unresponsive.
He was later declared dead at a hospital.
Kimbrough was fired Oct. 10 after Schierbaum said he violated department policy by not waiting for a supervisor to arrive before arresting Hollman.
Hollman’s family has also sued a tow truck driver who assisted Kimbrough and has called on prosecutors to charge the officer with murder.
The Fulton County district attorney’s office is reviewing the case to determine whether criminal charges are appropriate and “will make a decision based on the evidence,” spokesperson Jeff DiSantis said Thursday.
Arnitra Hollman, Hollman’s daughter, said she was on the phone with him during the encounter with Kimbrough.
“It’s not a day go by that I don’t hear his voice in my head,” she said, choking back tears. “Imagine listening to your father begging and pleading for help. Imagine hearing your father saying they can’t breathe.”
Texas
AG Paxton won’t contest facts of whistleblower lawsuit central to his impeachment
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sought to end a whistleblower lawsuit by former top staff members on Thursday, announcing his agency would not contest the facts of the case and would accept any judgement.
The lawsuit was brought by a group of former top deputies. They alleged they were improperly fired for reporting Paxton to the FBI on claims he was misusing his office to protect a friend and campaign donor, who in turn was helping Paxton conceal an extramarital affair.
The allegations in the lawsuit were among the impeachment charges brought against the Republican last year by the state House of Representatives, of which he was ultimately acquitted after a Senate trial. Republicans hold large majorities in both chambers.
Paxton’s attempt to push the lawsuit to closure comes as he faces the likelihood of having to sit for a deposition and answer questions under oath. Paxton did not testify during his impeachment trial.
“There is clearly no length to which Ken Paxton will go to to avoid putting his hand on a Bible and telling the truth, including confessing to violating the whistleblower act and opening up the states’ coffers to an uncontested judgement,” said TJ Turner, lawyer for David Maxwell, one of the former assistants who sued Paxton.
Turner said he’s reviewing the motion and evaluating his client’s legal options.
“It does not end the case,” said Tom Nesbitt, a lawyer for another one one of the whistleblowers, Blake Brickman. “This is a pathetic bid for more delay by a coward.”
It was Paxton’s initial attempt to settle the case for $3.3 million and ask the state to pay for it that prompted House lawmakers to conduct their own investigation and vote to impeach him. As a term of that preliminary deal, the attorney general agreed to apologize for calling his accusers “rogue” employees.
But in a statement Thursday, Paxton again called the group “rogue former employees” and said it would be up to the Legislature to determine what they would be paid, if anything.
Pennsylvania
Can’t stop young adults from openly carrying guns during emergencies, US court rules
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Young adults in Pennsylvania cannot be arrested for openly carrying guns in public during a declared state of emergency, at least while a court fight over the issue plays out, a federal appeals court ruled Thursday.
The 3rd U.S. Circuit judges, in a 2-1 decision, relied on the U.S. Supreme Court’s influential so-called Bruen decision to find that 18- to 20-year-olds enjoy the same Second Amendment rights as other citizens, just as they do the right to vote.
The panel meanwhile revived the lawsuit that challenges the Pennsylvania ban, which a district judge had dismissed.
“We understand that a reasonable debate can be had over allowing young adults to be armed, but the issue before us is a narrow one,” U.S. Circuit Court Judge Kent A. Jordan wrote. “Our question is whether the (state police) commissioner has borne his burden of proving that evidence of founding-era regulations supports Pennsylvania’s restriction on 18-to-20- year-olds’ Second Amendment rights, and the answer to that is no.”
The case is one of many filed around the country by gun rights groups that seek to chip away at gun control measures passed by state and local lawmakers.
The Bruen decision said that judges, to uphold the bans, must look to the nation’s history and tradition when evaluating gun control measures. Courts have since struck down restrictions involving domestic abusers, nonviolent felons, marijuana users and others.
U.S. Circuit Judge Felipe Restrepo, in a dissent, said he did not believe the 19th century founding fathers considered people under 21 to have full legal rights.
The Firearms Policy Coalition, which represents the plaintiffs in the case, said “it would be a deep perversion of the Constitution” to exclude young adults from Second Amendment protections. The group has supported challenges to gun bans involving assault weapons, places of worship and other laws across the country.
“We applaud the Third Circuit’s decision in this case confirming that 18-to-20-year-old adults have the same right to armed self-defense as any other adult,” Cody J. Wisniewski, the group’s vice president and general counsel, said in a statement.
A lawyer for gun control group Everytown for Gun Safety called the ruling “misguided” and said it could cost lives.
“Research shows us that 18- to 20-year-olds commit gun homicides at triple the rate of adults over the age of 21 and Pennsylvania’s law has been an essential tool in preventing gun violence,” said Janet Carter, a senior director at Everytown Law. “This ruling must be reversed.”
Pennsylvanians must still be 21 to apply for a concealed carry permit. Those permit holders can carry guns during a state of emergency, such as those declared during the COVID-19 pandemic or life-threatening storms. Pennsylvania law now limits such emergency orders to 21 days, although they can be extended.
Nearly 30 years later, family of slain college student sues school for wrongful death
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. (AP) — The family of a California college student who vanished nearly three decades ago sued the school on Thursday, alleging it caused Kristin Smart’s murder through negligence.
Smart, then 19, disappeared from California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo on the state’s scenic Central Coast over Memorial Day weekend in 1996. Her remains have never been found, but she was declared legally dead in 2002.
Paul Flores was arrested in 2021, convicted of first-degree murder in 2022 and sentenced last year to 25 years to life in state prison.
Prosecutors say Flores killed Smart during an attempted rape on May 25, 1996, in his dorm room at the university, where they were both first-year students. He was the last person seen with Smart as he walked home with her from an off-campus party.
On Thursday, Smart’s parents, brother and sister sued the university for wrongful death and negligence, alleging that officials could have prevented her death if they had properly dealt with university police reports filed by four other female students.
Those students said Flores had stalked and harassed them in the months leading up to Smart’s disappearance.
In one case, Flores allegedly tried to break into a student’s apartment, according to the lawsuit.
The reports should have prompted the university to investigate, and suspend or expel Flores, removing him from on-campus housing and sending him back home “miles away from Kristin and the dorm room where he murdered her,” the lawsuit said.
“Had the university acted properly, conducted a thorough investigation into Flores’ past concerning behavior, and implemented appropriate disciplinary measures, Kristin would likely still be alive today. Instead, our family has been left to grieve her absence for 27 agonizing years,” a family statement said.
The suit also contends that the university failed to pursue a proper and timely investigation into Smart’s disappearance, including failing to seal Flores’ dorm room and allowing it to be cleaned before it was finally searched 16 days after Smart vanished.
In an email, Cal Poly spokesperson Matt Lazier said the university had no comment because “this is a pending legal matter.”
However, last May, university President Jeffrey Armstrong publicly apologized to the family for how it handled the investigation into her disappearance.
“While it is a different administration now than was in place in 1996, we recognize that things should had been done differently — and I personally wish that they had,” he said.
The family only realized Cal Poly’s alleged negligence after that apology because relatives didn’t have any access to the university’s investigative file, according to the lawsuit.
“Even now, the Smart family still does not know what information, in the possession of Cal Poly’s president, and uniquely available to him and or Cal Poly, led him to make the apology,” the suit said.
Georgia
Family of church deacon who died after struggle with police officer files lawsuit
ATLANTA (AP) — The family of a church deacon who died after struggling with an Atlanta police officer following a minor car crash sued the city, the officer and the police chief on Thursday.
Officer Kiran Kimbrough used excessive force while trying to get 62-year-old Johnny Hollman to sign a citation finding him at fault for the crash, violating his constitutional rights, the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court alleges.
Body camera video of Hollman’s Aug. 10 arrest shows Kimbrough shocked him with a stun gun after he repeatedly said he could not breathe. An autopsy determined Hollman’s death was a homicide, with heart disease also a contributing factor.
An attorney for the family said at a news conference announcing the lawsuit that Police Chief Darin Schierbaum, Mayor Andrew Dickens and other city officials were also responsible for Hollman’s death.
“While they did not stand over the top of Deacon Hollman as he took his last breath, they were there because they created the culture that allowed this officer to believe that his conduct would go unpunished,” attorney Mawuli Davis said.
The suit seeks unspecified punitive damages and other compensation.
An attorney for Kimbrough, Lance LoRusso, did not immediately respond to an email and text message seeking comment. He has previously said Hollman resisted arrest and Kimbrough acted lawfully when he deployed his stun gun and used force.
Police and the mayor’s office declined to comment, saying they do not do so with pending litigation. A spokesperson for Dickens, however, said via email that the Hollman family remains in the mayor’s prayers.
The spokesperson also noted that the mayor ordered a review of police procedures and training following Hollman’s death that has led to a new policy allowing officers to write “refusal to sign” on traffic citations rather than arresting someone.
Relatives say Hollman was driving home from Bible study at his daughter’s house and taking dinner to his wife when he collided with another vehicle while turning across a busy street just west of downtown.
In the body camera video released in November, Kimbrough repeatedly demands that Hollman sign the citation, but Hollman insists he did nothing wrong. The two men begin to tussle.
Hollman ends up on the ground. He repeatedly says “I can’t breathe,” and Kimbrough uses a Taser to shock him. Hollman becomes unresponsive.
He was later declared dead at a hospital.
Kimbrough was fired Oct. 10 after Schierbaum said he violated department policy by not waiting for a supervisor to arrive before arresting Hollman.
Hollman’s family has also sued a tow truck driver who assisted Kimbrough and has called on prosecutors to charge the officer with murder.
The Fulton County district attorney’s office is reviewing the case to determine whether criminal charges are appropriate and “will make a decision based on the evidence,” spokesperson Jeff DiSantis said Thursday.
Arnitra Hollman, Hollman’s daughter, said she was on the phone with him during the encounter with Kimbrough.
“It’s not a day go by that I don’t hear his voice in my head,” she said, choking back tears. “Imagine listening to your father begging and pleading for help. Imagine hearing your father saying they can’t breathe.”
Texas
AG Paxton won’t contest facts of whistleblower lawsuit central to his impeachment
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sought to end a whistleblower lawsuit by former top staff members on Thursday, announcing his agency would not contest the facts of the case and would accept any judgement.
The lawsuit was brought by a group of former top deputies. They alleged they were improperly fired for reporting Paxton to the FBI on claims he was misusing his office to protect a friend and campaign donor, who in turn was helping Paxton conceal an extramarital affair.
The allegations in the lawsuit were among the impeachment charges brought against the Republican last year by the state House of Representatives, of which he was ultimately acquitted after a Senate trial. Republicans hold large majorities in both chambers.
Paxton’s attempt to push the lawsuit to closure comes as he faces the likelihood of having to sit for a deposition and answer questions under oath. Paxton did not testify during his impeachment trial.
“There is clearly no length to which Ken Paxton will go to to avoid putting his hand on a Bible and telling the truth, including confessing to violating the whistleblower act and opening up the states’ coffers to an uncontested judgement,” said TJ Turner, lawyer for David Maxwell, one of the former assistants who sued Paxton.
Turner said he’s reviewing the motion and evaluating his client’s legal options.
“It does not end the case,” said Tom Nesbitt, a lawyer for another one one of the whistleblowers, Blake Brickman. “This is a pathetic bid for more delay by a coward.”
It was Paxton’s initial attempt to settle the case for $3.3 million and ask the state to pay for it that prompted House lawmakers to conduct their own investigation and vote to impeach him. As a term of that preliminary deal, the attorney general agreed to apologize for calling his accusers “rogue” employees.
But in a statement Thursday, Paxton again called the group “rogue former employees” and said it would be up to the Legislature to determine what they would be paid, if anything.
Pennsylvania
Can’t stop young adults from openly carrying guns during emergencies, US court rules
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Young adults in Pennsylvania cannot be arrested for openly carrying guns in public during a declared state of emergency, at least while a court fight over the issue plays out, a federal appeals court ruled Thursday.
The 3rd U.S. Circuit judges, in a 2-1 decision, relied on the U.S. Supreme Court’s influential so-called Bruen decision to find that 18- to 20-year-olds enjoy the same Second Amendment rights as other citizens, just as they do the right to vote.
The panel meanwhile revived the lawsuit that challenges the Pennsylvania ban, which a district judge had dismissed.
“We understand that a reasonable debate can be had over allowing young adults to be armed, but the issue before us is a narrow one,” U.S. Circuit Court Judge Kent A. Jordan wrote. “Our question is whether the (state police) commissioner has borne his burden of proving that evidence of founding-era regulations supports Pennsylvania’s restriction on 18-to-20- year-olds’ Second Amendment rights, and the answer to that is no.”
The case is one of many filed around the country by gun rights groups that seek to chip away at gun control measures passed by state and local lawmakers.
The Bruen decision said that judges, to uphold the bans, must look to the nation’s history and tradition when evaluating gun control measures. Courts have since struck down restrictions involving domestic abusers, nonviolent felons, marijuana users and others.
U.S. Circuit Judge Felipe Restrepo, in a dissent, said he did not believe the 19th century founding fathers considered people under 21 to have full legal rights.
The Firearms Policy Coalition, which represents the plaintiffs in the case, said “it would be a deep perversion of the Constitution” to exclude young adults from Second Amendment protections. The group has supported challenges to gun bans involving assault weapons, places of worship and other laws across the country.
“We applaud the Third Circuit’s decision in this case confirming that 18-to-20-year-old adults have the same right to armed self-defense as any other adult,” Cody J. Wisniewski, the group’s vice president and general counsel, said in a statement.
A lawyer for gun control group Everytown for Gun Safety called the ruling “misguided” and said it could cost lives.
“Research shows us that 18- to 20-year-olds commit gun homicides at triple the rate of adults over the age of 21 and Pennsylvania’s law has been an essential tool in preventing gun violence,” said Janet Carter, a senior director at Everytown Law. “This ruling must be reversed.”
Pennsylvanians must still be 21 to apply for a concealed carry permit. Those permit holders can carry guns during a state of emergency, such as those declared during the COVID-19 pandemic or life-threatening storms. Pennsylvania law now limits such emergency orders to 21 days, although they can be extended.
