Minnesota
Conviction reversed for alleged ringleader of plot to kidnap and kill real estate agent
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — The Minnesota Supreme Court on Wednesday reversed the convictions of the alleged ringleader of a plot to kidnap and kill a real estate agent, marking the second time the high court has ordered a new trial for a defendant convicted in her death.
The justices said that the trial judge gave the jury erroneous legal instructions on the liability of accomplices that might have affected its findings that Lyndon Akeem Wiggins was guilty of first-degree premeditated murder, kidnapping and other counts in the New Year’s Eve 2019 killing of Monique Baugh.
The Supreme Court in January also cited faulty jury instructions when it threw out the convictions of Elsa Segura, a former probation officer. Prosecutors say Segura lured Baugh to a phony home showing in the Minneapolis suburb of Maple Grove, where she was kidnapped.
Baugh was found shot to death in a Minneapolis alley in the early hours of 2020. Prosecutors said she was killed in a complicated scheme aimed at getting revenge against Baugh’s boyfriend, Jon Mitchell-Momoh, a recording artist who had a falling out with Wiggins, a former music business associate of his, who was also a drug dealer. Baugh’s boyfriend, whom Wiggins allegedly considered a snitch, was also shot but survived.
The Supreme Court earlier affirmed the convictions of two other defendants who were accused of kidnapping Baugh. Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill sentenced all four to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
In its ruling Wednesday, the Supreme Court said the jury instructions for both Wiggins and Baugh, who got separate trials, misstated the law on accomplice liability because the instructions did not specifically require the jury to find either one criminally liable for someone else’s actions in order to find them guilty.
“The error was not harmless because it cannot be said beyond a reasonable doubt that the error had no significant impact on the verdict,” the justices wrote. The court ordered a new trial.
However, the justices rejected Wiggins’ argument the search warrant for his cellphone lacked probable cause.
Maryland
Labor attorney becomes first openly gay judge on 4th US Circuit Court of Appeals
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A Maryland labor attorney is set to become the first openly gay judge on the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals after winning final confirmation by the U.S. Senate.
Nicole Berner, who worked as the general counsel for the Service Employees International Union, was nominated by President Joe Biden in November. She was confirmed Tuesday by a 50-47 vote in the Senate.
Berner, 59, previously worked as a staff attorney for Planned Parenthood from 2004 to 2006.
The 4th Circuit, based in Richmond, decides appeals from federal courts in Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia.
U.S. Senators Ben Cardin and Chris Van Hollen, both Democrats from Maryland who had recommended Berner to Biden, praised her for championing civil rights and workers rights throughout her career.
“Her confirmation to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals not only ensures that Marylanders will have a new judge with an unwavering commitment to upholding the rule of law and securing equal justice for all, but also one who is breaking barriers to serve as the Court’s first openly LGBTQ member,” Van Hollen said in a statement.
Some Republicans had criticized her nomination, citing a 2017 union brief she signed against a Colorado baker who refused to make a wedding cake for a same-sex couple and for briefs she filed challenging other conservative court rulings.
Kentucky
Judge dismisses lawsuit but protects historic mural that has sparked protests
LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — A judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by award-winning writer Wendell Berry and his wife to stop the University of Kentucky from removing a mural that has been the object of protests for its depictions of Black people and Native Americans. But the ruling also protects the artwork.
The lawsuit was filed in 2020 after Eli Capilouto, the university president, announced that the mural would be coming down.
Painted in the 1930s by Ann Rice O’Hanlon, the fresco mural shows the history of Lexington in a series of scenes, including Black men and women planting tobacco and a Native American man holding a tomahawk. There have been efforts to remove the mural since at least 2006.
The order filed Monday says the Berrys don’t have legal standing to bring the lawsuit, but it also notes the historical significance of the artwork and said removing it would be an “insult” to Kentucky residents.
“The O’Hanlon Mural does not glorify the abhorrent practice of slavery or the taking of Native American territory. But rather is a concise depiction of what Ms. O’Hanlon was instructed to create — a history of Kentucky from 1792 through the 1920s,” the ruling stated.
Since removing the mural would result in its destruction as it is painted directly on plaster, the ruling ordered the university to maintain the status quo of the mural, pending any appeals in the case.
“We have stated that the university’s intent is to maintain and move the mural. That continues to be our position. We are pleased that the judge dismissed the case,” spokesperson Jay Blanton told the Lexington Herald-Leader.
Tanya Berry told the newspaper that she hadn’t yet read the decision, but keeping the mural in place was “what we wanted.” The lawsuit says that she is a maternal niece of O’Hanlon and her oldest living heir.
“We’re delighted that the fresco will stay in place, because it would destroy it to take it down,” she said.
Wendell Berry is renowned for his poetry, novels and essays on sustainable agriculture and other subjects. He was awarded a National Humanities Medal by then-President Barack Obama in 2011.
Missouri
Court declines to halt execution of a man who killed 2 in 2006
The Missouri Supreme Court on Wednesday declined to halt the execution of Brian Dorsey, who is scheduled to die next month for killing his cousin and her husband 18 years ago.
Judge W. Brent Powell wrote in the unanimous decision that Dorsey “has not demonstrated he is actually innocent” of the killing. Powell also wrote that the state Supreme Court previously turned aside Dorsey’s claim that his trial lawyer was ineffective, and he is barred from raising that claim again.
It was unclear if Dorsey would appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. A message was left Wednesday with his attorney, Megan Crane.
Dorsey is scheduled to die by injection at 6 p.m. April 9 at the state prison in Bonne Terre. It would be Missouri’s first execution in 2024 after four people were put to death last year. Another Missouri inmate, David Hosier, faces execution June 11 for killing a Jefferson City woman in 2009.
Dorsey, who turns 52 on Thursday, was convicted of fatally shooting Sarah and Ben Bonnie on Dec. 23, 2006, at their home near New Bloomfield. Prosecutors said that earlier that day, Dorsey had called Sarah Bonnie seeking to borrow money to pay two drug dealers who were at his apartment.
Sarah Bonnie’s parents found the bodies the next day. The couple’s 4-year-old daughter was unhurt.
In his appeal, Dorsey alleged that he was incapable of premeditation at the time of the killings because of drug-induced psychosis. The appeal said Dorsey had not slept for more than three days, had been drinking and was withdrawing from crack cocaine usage, causing him to experience hallucinations and paranoid delusions.
But Powell wrote that attorneys for the state cited “significant evidence” of premeditation.
Dorsey pleaded guilty in 2008 but later claimed he should have instead been sentenced to life in prison without parole. The Missouri Supreme Court first upheld the death sentence in 2010 and again in 2014.
Delaware
AG’s office clears police officer in fatal shooting of suspected drug dealer in 2023
DOVER, Del. (AP) — The Delaware attorney general’s office has determined that a police officer was justified in using deadly force last year against a man who drove his vehicle toward him while trying to avoid an arrest for dealing drugs.
In a report released Wednesday, authorities said New Castle County Police Corporal Corey Nicholson acted in self-defense and the defense of others when he shot Andrew Edelemann, 22. A passenger in Edelmann’s vehicle, Aida Pabon, was wounded in the leg.
“Corporal Nicholson’s use of deadly force was a justified and reasonable response to the real threat of death or serious physical injury posed to him and his fellow officers by the actions of Edelmann,” investigators wrote.
“Any subjective perceptions of harm became objective facts when Edelmann nearly ran over Corporal Nicholson with a Hyundai SUV and struck two police vehicles in a matter of seconds,” they added.
Edelmann was shot after an undercover police officer arranged on Instagram to buy two chocolate bars infused with psychedelic mushrooms from Edelmann for $50 each. The two agreed to meet in the parking lot of a 7-11 store on Maryland Avenue in Wilmington.
In preparing to arrest Edelmann, New Castle County police developed a plan for an officer in an undercover pickup truck to position his vehicle in front of Edelmann’s so he could not flee the scene. Nicholson was in the front passenger seat of the truck, and the undercover officer who arranged the buy was in the back seat.
When police arrived, Edelmann’s vehicle was backed into a handicap parking spot. Several police vehicles converged on the scene, but the officer in the truck was unable to entirely block Edelmann’s vehicle, leaving a gap of several feet.
Nicholson, wearing a police uniform, exited the truck with his gun drawn and immediately began shouting commands at Edelmann, standing directly in the path of Edelmann’s vehicle, according to the report. Investigators said Edelmann accelerated his SUV in an apparent attempt to flee.
“Corporal Nicholson stated that Edelmann’s facial expression gave him the impression that Edelmann was “not going to give up – deer in headlights face,” investigators wrote. Store surveillance footage and police body camera footage show that Nicholson was directly in front of Edelmann’s vehicle, and that Nicholson “was barely able to avoid getting hit as he fired his weapon at the vehicle,” according to investigators.
Nicholson fired eight shots. Edelmann was struck by five rounds, while Pabon was hit in the left knee. A loaded AR-style semiautomatic rifle was found on the driver’s side of Edelmann’s vehicle.
Edelmann’s family, along with Pabon, are suing Nicholson and the county in federal court. Court records indicate that they plan to file an amended complaint following a judge’s ruling last month on the county’s request to dismiss several claims in the lawsuit.
Conviction reversed for alleged ringleader of plot to kidnap and kill real estate agent
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — The Minnesota Supreme Court on Wednesday reversed the convictions of the alleged ringleader of a plot to kidnap and kill a real estate agent, marking the second time the high court has ordered a new trial for a defendant convicted in her death.
The justices said that the trial judge gave the jury erroneous legal instructions on the liability of accomplices that might have affected its findings that Lyndon Akeem Wiggins was guilty of first-degree premeditated murder, kidnapping and other counts in the New Year’s Eve 2019 killing of Monique Baugh.
The Supreme Court in January also cited faulty jury instructions when it threw out the convictions of Elsa Segura, a former probation officer. Prosecutors say Segura lured Baugh to a phony home showing in the Minneapolis suburb of Maple Grove, where she was kidnapped.
Baugh was found shot to death in a Minneapolis alley in the early hours of 2020. Prosecutors said she was killed in a complicated scheme aimed at getting revenge against Baugh’s boyfriend, Jon Mitchell-Momoh, a recording artist who had a falling out with Wiggins, a former music business associate of his, who was also a drug dealer. Baugh’s boyfriend, whom Wiggins allegedly considered a snitch, was also shot but survived.
The Supreme Court earlier affirmed the convictions of two other defendants who were accused of kidnapping Baugh. Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill sentenced all four to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
In its ruling Wednesday, the Supreme Court said the jury instructions for both Wiggins and Baugh, who got separate trials, misstated the law on accomplice liability because the instructions did not specifically require the jury to find either one criminally liable for someone else’s actions in order to find them guilty.
“The error was not harmless because it cannot be said beyond a reasonable doubt that the error had no significant impact on the verdict,” the justices wrote. The court ordered a new trial.
However, the justices rejected Wiggins’ argument the search warrant for his cellphone lacked probable cause.
Maryland
Labor attorney becomes first openly gay judge on 4th US Circuit Court of Appeals
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A Maryland labor attorney is set to become the first openly gay judge on the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals after winning final confirmation by the U.S. Senate.
Nicole Berner, who worked as the general counsel for the Service Employees International Union, was nominated by President Joe Biden in November. She was confirmed Tuesday by a 50-47 vote in the Senate.
Berner, 59, previously worked as a staff attorney for Planned Parenthood from 2004 to 2006.
The 4th Circuit, based in Richmond, decides appeals from federal courts in Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia.
U.S. Senators Ben Cardin and Chris Van Hollen, both Democrats from Maryland who had recommended Berner to Biden, praised her for championing civil rights and workers rights throughout her career.
“Her confirmation to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals not only ensures that Marylanders will have a new judge with an unwavering commitment to upholding the rule of law and securing equal justice for all, but also one who is breaking barriers to serve as the Court’s first openly LGBTQ member,” Van Hollen said in a statement.
Some Republicans had criticized her nomination, citing a 2017 union brief she signed against a Colorado baker who refused to make a wedding cake for a same-sex couple and for briefs she filed challenging other conservative court rulings.
Kentucky
Judge dismisses lawsuit but protects historic mural that has sparked protests
LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — A judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by award-winning writer Wendell Berry and his wife to stop the University of Kentucky from removing a mural that has been the object of protests for its depictions of Black people and Native Americans. But the ruling also protects the artwork.
The lawsuit was filed in 2020 after Eli Capilouto, the university president, announced that the mural would be coming down.
Painted in the 1930s by Ann Rice O’Hanlon, the fresco mural shows the history of Lexington in a series of scenes, including Black men and women planting tobacco and a Native American man holding a tomahawk. There have been efforts to remove the mural since at least 2006.
The order filed Monday says the Berrys don’t have legal standing to bring the lawsuit, but it also notes the historical significance of the artwork and said removing it would be an “insult” to Kentucky residents.
“The O’Hanlon Mural does not glorify the abhorrent practice of slavery or the taking of Native American territory. But rather is a concise depiction of what Ms. O’Hanlon was instructed to create — a history of Kentucky from 1792 through the 1920s,” the ruling stated.
Since removing the mural would result in its destruction as it is painted directly on plaster, the ruling ordered the university to maintain the status quo of the mural, pending any appeals in the case.
“We have stated that the university’s intent is to maintain and move the mural. That continues to be our position. We are pleased that the judge dismissed the case,” spokesperson Jay Blanton told the Lexington Herald-Leader.
Tanya Berry told the newspaper that she hadn’t yet read the decision, but keeping the mural in place was “what we wanted.” The lawsuit says that she is a maternal niece of O’Hanlon and her oldest living heir.
“We’re delighted that the fresco will stay in place, because it would destroy it to take it down,” she said.
Wendell Berry is renowned for his poetry, novels and essays on sustainable agriculture and other subjects. He was awarded a National Humanities Medal by then-President Barack Obama in 2011.
Missouri
Court declines to halt execution of a man who killed 2 in 2006
The Missouri Supreme Court on Wednesday declined to halt the execution of Brian Dorsey, who is scheduled to die next month for killing his cousin and her husband 18 years ago.
Judge W. Brent Powell wrote in the unanimous decision that Dorsey “has not demonstrated he is actually innocent” of the killing. Powell also wrote that the state Supreme Court previously turned aside Dorsey’s claim that his trial lawyer was ineffective, and he is barred from raising that claim again.
It was unclear if Dorsey would appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. A message was left Wednesday with his attorney, Megan Crane.
Dorsey is scheduled to die by injection at 6 p.m. April 9 at the state prison in Bonne Terre. It would be Missouri’s first execution in 2024 after four people were put to death last year. Another Missouri inmate, David Hosier, faces execution June 11 for killing a Jefferson City woman in 2009.
Dorsey, who turns 52 on Thursday, was convicted of fatally shooting Sarah and Ben Bonnie on Dec. 23, 2006, at their home near New Bloomfield. Prosecutors said that earlier that day, Dorsey had called Sarah Bonnie seeking to borrow money to pay two drug dealers who were at his apartment.
Sarah Bonnie’s parents found the bodies the next day. The couple’s 4-year-old daughter was unhurt.
In his appeal, Dorsey alleged that he was incapable of premeditation at the time of the killings because of drug-induced psychosis. The appeal said Dorsey had not slept for more than three days, had been drinking and was withdrawing from crack cocaine usage, causing him to experience hallucinations and paranoid delusions.
But Powell wrote that attorneys for the state cited “significant evidence” of premeditation.
Dorsey pleaded guilty in 2008 but later claimed he should have instead been sentenced to life in prison without parole. The Missouri Supreme Court first upheld the death sentence in 2010 and again in 2014.
Delaware
AG’s office clears police officer in fatal shooting of suspected drug dealer in 2023
DOVER, Del. (AP) — The Delaware attorney general’s office has determined that a police officer was justified in using deadly force last year against a man who drove his vehicle toward him while trying to avoid an arrest for dealing drugs.
In a report released Wednesday, authorities said New Castle County Police Corporal Corey Nicholson acted in self-defense and the defense of others when he shot Andrew Edelemann, 22. A passenger in Edelmann’s vehicle, Aida Pabon, was wounded in the leg.
“Corporal Nicholson’s use of deadly force was a justified and reasonable response to the real threat of death or serious physical injury posed to him and his fellow officers by the actions of Edelmann,” investigators wrote.
“Any subjective perceptions of harm became objective facts when Edelmann nearly ran over Corporal Nicholson with a Hyundai SUV and struck two police vehicles in a matter of seconds,” they added.
Edelmann was shot after an undercover police officer arranged on Instagram to buy two chocolate bars infused with psychedelic mushrooms from Edelmann for $50 each. The two agreed to meet in the parking lot of a 7-11 store on Maryland Avenue in Wilmington.
In preparing to arrest Edelmann, New Castle County police developed a plan for an officer in an undercover pickup truck to position his vehicle in front of Edelmann’s so he could not flee the scene. Nicholson was in the front passenger seat of the truck, and the undercover officer who arranged the buy was in the back seat.
When police arrived, Edelmann’s vehicle was backed into a handicap parking spot. Several police vehicles converged on the scene, but the officer in the truck was unable to entirely block Edelmann’s vehicle, leaving a gap of several feet.
Nicholson, wearing a police uniform, exited the truck with his gun drawn and immediately began shouting commands at Edelmann, standing directly in the path of Edelmann’s vehicle, according to the report. Investigators said Edelmann accelerated his SUV in an apparent attempt to flee.
“Corporal Nicholson stated that Edelmann’s facial expression gave him the impression that Edelmann was “not going to give up – deer in headlights face,” investigators wrote. Store surveillance footage and police body camera footage show that Nicholson was directly in front of Edelmann’s vehicle, and that Nicholson “was barely able to avoid getting hit as he fired his weapon at the vehicle,” according to investigators.
Nicholson fired eight shots. Edelmann was struck by five rounds, while Pabon was hit in the left knee. A loaded AR-style semiautomatic rifle was found on the driver’s side of Edelmann’s vehicle.
Edelmann’s family, along with Pabon, are suing Nicholson and the county in federal court. Court records indicate that they plan to file an amended complaint following a judge’s ruling last month on the county’s request to dismiss several claims in the lawsuit.
