Arizona
Phoenix man sentenced to life in prison without parole after killing his parents and younger brother
PHOENIX (AP) — A Phoenix man convicted of killing his parents and a younger brother has been sentenced to three life prison terms without the possibility of parole, authorities said Wednesday.
Maricopa County prosecutors said Brandon Lujan, a 37-year-old Navy veteran, was accused of fatally shooting the three victims in August 2021 following an argument over Lujan getting kicked out of his parents’ home for an undisclosed along with his wife, Raylien Loest.
Lujan was found guilty of three counts of first-degree murder in June. Authorities said Loest acted as a getaway driver and has been sentenced to three years in prison.
Phoenix police identified the victims as Lewis Lujan, 63; Irene Lujan, 56; and Mathew Lujan, 30.
They said the two brothers fought at the home before Brandon Lujan took out a handgun and shot his sibling multiple times.
Brandon Lujan then shot his mother and father after they came out of a bedroom and tried to lunge at him, according to investigators.
Prosecutors said the suspect fired so many shots that “he had to stop the barrage to reload his gun.”
Two of Brandon Lujan’s young daughters were in his vehicle on the day of the murder and reported hearing gunshots and screaming coming from the home.
After the shootings, he went to a hospital where he reportedly told staff about the murders and police found the bodies.
Texas
Agreement halts Cowboys owner countersuit trial against woman who says Jerry Jones is her dad
TEXARKANA, Texas (AP) — The trial in a countersuit brought by Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones against a woman who says she’s his daughter and her mother abruptly ended Tuesday afternoon as Jones agreed to drop the countersuit if the women dismissed pending lawsuits against him, including one where the billionaire was ordered to take a DNA test, according to media reports.
The announcement in the courtroom in Texarkana, Texas, located about 180 miles (289 kilometers) east of Dallas, came on the second day of the trial, which had focused on whether Alexandra Davis, 27, and her mother, Cynthia Davis, had breached a 1998 agreement that barred them from suing to establish paternity, The Dallas Morning News reported.
Jones, 81, filed the countersuit after a judge dismissed a defamation lawsuit brought against him by Alexandra Davis. The married owner of the Cowboys has denied he’s her father.
In 2022, Davis sued Jones in Dallas County, asking a judge to void a legal agreement she said her mother reached with Jones two years after she was born. The 1998 settlement allegedly said Jones would support them financially as long as they didn’t publicly say he was Davis’ father. Davis dropped that case a month later and instead filed the paternity case in which earlier this year the judge ordered Jones to take a DNA test.
As part of Tuesday’s agreement, the 1998 settlement will remain in effect.
Cynthia Davis had testified Monday that she and Jones met when she was working for American Airlines out of Little Rock, Arkansas, and they began a romantic relationship. She testified that she began to regret agreeing to the terms of the 1998 agreement, adding that while it was good for her financially, it didn’t account for her daughter’s desire to have a relationship with her father.
Jones thanked the jury for their time after the agreement was announced, and said the defendants “were well-meaning.” He also noted that he appreciated working mothers like Cynthia Davis. He and Cynthia Davis had embraced on the first day of the trial after she became tearful during testimony.
Television station WFAA reported that Jones said outside the courthouse that he was happy there was a resolution. The Davis’ attorney, Jay Gray, said he was surprised at the outcome, but that everybody was happy.
Louisiana
Appeals judges rule against fund used to provide phone services for rural and low-income people
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Calling it a “misbegotten tax,” a federal appeals court in New Orleans ruled Wednesday that a method the Federal Communications Commission uses to fund telephone service for rural and low-income people and broadband services for schools and libraries is unconstitutional.
The immediate implications of the 9-7 ruling by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals were unclear. Dissenting judges said it conflicts with three other circuit courts around the nation. The ruling by the full 5th Circuit reverses an earlier ruling by a three-judge panel of the same court and sends the matter back to the FCC for further consideration. The matter could eventually be appealed to the Supreme Court.
At issue in the case is the Universal Service Fund, which the FCC collects from telecommunications providers, who then pass the cost on to their customers.
Programs funded through the USF provide phone service to low-income users and rural healthcare providers and broadband service to schools and libraries. “Each program has a laudable objective,” Judge Andrew Oldham, nominated to the 5th Circuit by former President Donald Trump, wrote for the majority.
Oldham said the USF funding method unconstitutionally delegates congressional taxing authority to the FCC and a private entity tapped by the agency, the Universal Service Administrative Company, to determine how much to charge telecommunications companies. Oldham wrote that “the combination of Congress’s broad delegation to FCC and FCC’s subdelegation to private entities certainly amounts to a constitutional violation.”
Judge Carl Stewart, nominated to the court by former President Bill Clinton, was among 5th Circuit judges writing strong dissents, saying the opinion conflicts with three other circuit courts, rejects precedents, “blurs the distinction between taxes and fees,” and creates new doctrine.
The Universal Service Administrative Company referred a request for comment to the FCC, which did not immediately respond to phone and emailed queries.
Phoenix man sentenced to life in prison without parole after killing his parents and younger brother
PHOENIX (AP) — A Phoenix man convicted of killing his parents and a younger brother has been sentenced to three life prison terms without the possibility of parole, authorities said Wednesday.
Maricopa County prosecutors said Brandon Lujan, a 37-year-old Navy veteran, was accused of fatally shooting the three victims in August 2021 following an argument over Lujan getting kicked out of his parents’ home for an undisclosed along with his wife, Raylien Loest.
Lujan was found guilty of three counts of first-degree murder in June. Authorities said Loest acted as a getaway driver and has been sentenced to three years in prison.
Phoenix police identified the victims as Lewis Lujan, 63; Irene Lujan, 56; and Mathew Lujan, 30.
They said the two brothers fought at the home before Brandon Lujan took out a handgun and shot his sibling multiple times.
Brandon Lujan then shot his mother and father after they came out of a bedroom and tried to lunge at him, according to investigators.
Prosecutors said the suspect fired so many shots that “he had to stop the barrage to reload his gun.”
Two of Brandon Lujan’s young daughters were in his vehicle on the day of the murder and reported hearing gunshots and screaming coming from the home.
After the shootings, he went to a hospital where he reportedly told staff about the murders and police found the bodies.
Texas
Agreement halts Cowboys owner countersuit trial against woman who says Jerry Jones is her dad
TEXARKANA, Texas (AP) — The trial in a countersuit brought by Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones against a woman who says she’s his daughter and her mother abruptly ended Tuesday afternoon as Jones agreed to drop the countersuit if the women dismissed pending lawsuits against him, including one where the billionaire was ordered to take a DNA test, according to media reports.
The announcement in the courtroom in Texarkana, Texas, located about 180 miles (289 kilometers) east of Dallas, came on the second day of the trial, which had focused on whether Alexandra Davis, 27, and her mother, Cynthia Davis, had breached a 1998 agreement that barred them from suing to establish paternity, The Dallas Morning News reported.
Jones, 81, filed the countersuit after a judge dismissed a defamation lawsuit brought against him by Alexandra Davis. The married owner of the Cowboys has denied he’s her father.
In 2022, Davis sued Jones in Dallas County, asking a judge to void a legal agreement she said her mother reached with Jones two years after she was born. The 1998 settlement allegedly said Jones would support them financially as long as they didn’t publicly say he was Davis’ father. Davis dropped that case a month later and instead filed the paternity case in which earlier this year the judge ordered Jones to take a DNA test.
As part of Tuesday’s agreement, the 1998 settlement will remain in effect.
Cynthia Davis had testified Monday that she and Jones met when she was working for American Airlines out of Little Rock, Arkansas, and they began a romantic relationship. She testified that she began to regret agreeing to the terms of the 1998 agreement, adding that while it was good for her financially, it didn’t account for her daughter’s desire to have a relationship with her father.
Jones thanked the jury for their time after the agreement was announced, and said the defendants “were well-meaning.” He also noted that he appreciated working mothers like Cynthia Davis. He and Cynthia Davis had embraced on the first day of the trial after she became tearful during testimony.
Television station WFAA reported that Jones said outside the courthouse that he was happy there was a resolution. The Davis’ attorney, Jay Gray, said he was surprised at the outcome, but that everybody was happy.
Louisiana
Appeals judges rule against fund used to provide phone services for rural and low-income people
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Calling it a “misbegotten tax,” a federal appeals court in New Orleans ruled Wednesday that a method the Federal Communications Commission uses to fund telephone service for rural and low-income people and broadband services for schools and libraries is unconstitutional.
The immediate implications of the 9-7 ruling by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals were unclear. Dissenting judges said it conflicts with three other circuit courts around the nation. The ruling by the full 5th Circuit reverses an earlier ruling by a three-judge panel of the same court and sends the matter back to the FCC for further consideration. The matter could eventually be appealed to the Supreme Court.
At issue in the case is the Universal Service Fund, which the FCC collects from telecommunications providers, who then pass the cost on to their customers.
Programs funded through the USF provide phone service to low-income users and rural healthcare providers and broadband service to schools and libraries. “Each program has a laudable objective,” Judge Andrew Oldham, nominated to the 5th Circuit by former President Donald Trump, wrote for the majority.
Oldham said the USF funding method unconstitutionally delegates congressional taxing authority to the FCC and a private entity tapped by the agency, the Universal Service Administrative Company, to determine how much to charge telecommunications companies. Oldham wrote that “the combination of Congress’s broad delegation to FCC and FCC’s subdelegation to private entities certainly amounts to a constitutional violation.”
Judge Carl Stewart, nominated to the court by former President Bill Clinton, was among 5th Circuit judges writing strong dissents, saying the opinion conflicts with three other circuit courts, rejects precedents, “blurs the distinction between taxes and fees,” and creates new doctrine.
The Universal Service Administrative Company referred a request for comment to the FCC, which did not immediately respond to phone and emailed queries.
