Georgia
Judge in Young Thug trial orders probe of leaked evidence
ATLANTA (AP) — The judge overseeing the racketeering and gang case against Atlanta rapper Young Thug and others has ordered an investigation into the leak of a video that shows a state’s witness offering information in exchange for leniency.
Jury selection in the high-profile trial began nearly two months ago and is likely to continue for several more months, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. Fulton County Superior Court Chief Judge Ural Glanville, on Wednesday reminded prosecutors and defense attorneys that certain evidence must be kept secret until the trial, the newspaper reported.
“It affects everyone’s right to a fair trial,” the judge told attorneys. “I don’t know who did this but if this pertains to you, please amend your ways. You’re playing a very dangerous game with your six-digit bar number.”
The trial for Young Thug and 13 others is expected to last six to nine months. Prosecutors have said the rapper is a founder of a criminal street gang called Young Slime Life, or YSL, and that he and others have committed numerous crimes to further the gang’s interests. Defense attorneys have said YSL is simply a record label, Young Stoner Life, and that their clients did no wrong.
The video of a 2021 interview that was posted online about two weeks ago shows a witness offering to provide information in the investigation into Young Thug in exchange for leniency, the newspaper reported.
Gina Bernard, an attorney representing defendant Jayden Myrick, filed a motion seeking a mistrial. She wrote that this, along with publicity and other “courtroom incidents” since the start of the trial “make it impossible” for her client to receive a fair trial.
In response, prosecutors alleged that the defense leaked the video, noting that it appeared online less than a month after it was given to defense attorneys.
“The state has absolutely no interest in leaking this video to members of the public, as its dissemination serves only to intimidate and harass witnesses called upon by the state to testify in a very serious and high-profile case,” prosecutors wrote. They said the leak has put their witness in danger, citing social media posts labeling him as a “rat” and a “snitch.”
Another defense attorney said anyone could have gotten the video because prosecutors shared it using an unsecured link.
The judge denied the motion for a mistrial but told both sides to be more careful about sharing evidence. He warned that if more evidence becomes public, he will only allow discovery evidence to be viewed in his chambers.
“For me to have to deal with this at this point in the trial is just unacceptable,” he said.
Arizona
2nd trial of man accused in girls’ death goes to jury
TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — Jurors began deliberations Thursday in the second murder trial of a man accused of killing two Tucson girls a couple years apart.
Christopher Clements is facing first-degree murder, kidnapping and other felony charges in the death of 6-year-old Isabel Celis, who was reported missing from her bedroom in her parents’ home in April 2012.
Last September, Clements was sentenced to natural life in prison after being convicted in the 2014 death of 13-year-old Maribel Gonzalez.
A different Pima County Superior Court jury heard 10 days of testimony from 30 witnesses in Clements’ second murder trial that began Feb. 14.
Clements, 41, declined to take the stand and testify in his own defense before closing arguments Wednesday.
Deputy Pima County Attorney Tracy Miller told jurors that although there were no eyewitnesses, fingerprints or DNA, the state presented an overwhelming amount of circumstantial evidence showing that only Clements could be responsible for Celis’ disappearance and death.
Defense attorney Eric Kessler said prosecutors failed to prove their case.
Clements, a convicted sex offender with a long criminal record, was arrested in 2018 and indicted on 22 felony counts in the two girls’ deaths.
Gonzalez disappeared while walking to a friend’s house in June 2014 and authorities said her body was found days later in a remote desert area.
Celis’ remains weren’t recovered until 2017. Authorities said Clements was identified as a suspect in March of that year after he led federal investigators to her remains in exchange for the dropping of unrelated charges.
Clements said he had nothing to do with Celis’ death and he only knew the location of the body, according to authorities.
Kessler said having knowledge of a crime isn’t illegal and there are “any number of ways he could have known.”
He said it was up to the state to prove how Clements knew and prosecutors failed to do that.
Maine
Hare-brained scheme: Man busted for illegal hare trafficking
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — A federal judge has sentenced a Massachusetts man to probation for running an illegal trapping operation that captured wild hares in Maine for the purpose of training dogs.
Jon Rioux, 36, of Attleboro, solicited Maine residents to trap snowshoe hares, court documents show. Undercover investigators offered to trap the hares for money, and Rioux obliged, despite the fact he did not have a license or permit that would have allowed him to possess or transport the animals, prosecutors said.
The judge in U.S. District Court in Portland sentenced Rioux to one year of probation and fined him $10,000. He was also ordered to pay $1,843 in restitution to the state of Maine.
Rioux wanted the hares to use for beagle training and field trials in Massachusetts, prosecutors said. An investigator trapped hares on an island and sold them to Rioux on four seperate occasions in 2021, prosecutors said. He was arrested in March 2022.
Rioux declined to comment on Thursday.
Snowshoe hares are cold-weather dwelling hares that have large back feet and change color from brown to white in the winter. Maine’s legal snowshoe hare hunting season runs from late September to early spring.
Florida
Man paralyzed by officer who mistook gun for Taser files lawsuit
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — A Florida man left paralyzed when a police officer shot him after mistaking his handgun for his stun gun filed a lawsuit Wednesday against the city, the officer and others, saying, “my life got destroyed.”
Michael Ortiz is seeking unspecified millions of dollars from the city of Hollywood, Florida, and Officer Henry Andrews, 50, who is also facing a misdemeanor charge for the 2021 shooting — one of several over the last 20 years where officers say they mistook their gun for their Taser. The federal civil rights lawsuit also names officers Dionte Roots and Jhonny Jimenez, who were subduing Ortiz when Andrews shot him.
Ortiz, speaking at a press conference, said not only has his own life been destroyed, but so has his mother’s as she has to change his diapers and provide other care. He had called 911 for help while suffering from a mental health crisis before he was shot while handcuffed on the ground.
“She is treating me like I am 6 months old,” said Ortiz, 43, who is paralyzed from the chest down and uses a wheelchair. He owes $3 million in medical costs and will need lifetime care.
Florida-based civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who is representing Ortiz along with attorney Hunter Shkolnik, said it’s an “injustice” that Andrews has been charged with only a misdemeanor.
“Michael Ortiz needed a helping hand and what he got was a bullet to the back,” Crump said. Crump represents many victims nationwide of alleged police misconduct, including the families of Michael Brown, Breonna Taylor and George Floyd. “There should have been greater accountability for the officer.”
Hollywood officials declined comment. Attorney Jeremy Kroll, who represents Andrews in the misdemeanor culpable negligence case, said another lawyer will be hired to represent the officer in the lawsuit.
“In responding to a difficult and chaotic situation, Officer Andrews intended to deploy his taser and mistakenly discharged his firearm. There was absolutely no intent to harm in this case. He and his family continue to have Mr. Ortiz in their thoughts and prayers,” Kroll said in a statement.
It could not be determined if Roots and Jimenez have attorneys who could comment. They have not been charged criminally.
Ortiz called 911 on July 3, 2021, telling operators he was experiencing a mental health crisis while house-sitting his mother’s apartment and his dog was missing. He told them he had used marijuana and was having chest pains; the operators noted that he sounded delusional and suicidal.
Ortiz then took a shower to calm down. When paramedics arrived, he refused to come outside so they called for police assistance. Paramedics say he then came into the hallway nude and became combative, threatening suicide. They say they were stopping him from jumping from a sixth-floor balcony when Roots and Jimenez arrived.
Security video of the shooting has not been released publicly, but the city has shown it to Shkolnik.
He said Roots used his Taser to subdue Ortiz, who was then handcuffed behind his back and placed naked on the floor just outside the elevator. He was still struggling, but was not posing any danger to himself or the officers if they had just moved back and let him calm down, Shkolnik said.
The elevator opened and Andrews stepped out. Roots tried to use his Taser on Ortiz again, but it didn’t discharge.
In a court filing in his misdemeanor case, Andrews, an officer for more than two decades, said he reached for his Taser but instead grabbed his gun, firing one shot into Ortiz’s back. That happened about 10 seconds after the elevator door opened, Shkolnik said.
“I genuinely believed I had grabbed and was discharging my taser,” Andrews wrote.
Andrews’ Taser, like most, was shaped like a handgun and had a similar grip and trigger, but it was also bright yellow instead of black — a detail that is supposed to serve as a visual warning to the officer in the heat of the moment.
To further avoid mix-ups, officers are trained to keep their firearm on their strong side and their stun gun on the opposite hip. Andrews also did that.
Kroll said in that filing that while Andrews’ conduct may have been civilly negligent, it wasn’t criminal and asked that the charge be dismissed. The judge has not ruled.
While extremely rare, there have been other cases nationally where officers say they mistook their gun for their stun gun and accidentally shot a suspect, sometimes fatally. Criminal charges are sometimes pursued, but not typically as officers have broad immunity when dealing with potentially dangerous suspects.
In 2021, a Minnesota police officer was found guilty of manslaughter in such a case. That also happened after a 2015 shooting in Oklahoma. In 2009, a fatal shooting at an Oakland, California, transit station led to the 2013 movie “Fruitvale Station.” That officer was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter.
