Court Digest

Washington
Hunter Biden sues the IRS over tax disclosures after agent testimony
Hunter Biden sued the Internal Revenue Service on Monday, alleging that two agents who claimed interference into the case against him wrongly shared his personal tax information amid escalating legal and political struggles as the 2024 election looms.

The suit says the agents “targeted and sought to embarrass Mr. Biden.” Biden says federal whistleblower protections sought by the agents don’t include the sharing of confidential information in press interviews and testimony before Congress.

The suit comes as a long-running investigation into Hunter Biden continues to unfold against a sharply political backdrop, including an impeachment inquiry aimed at his father, President Joe Biden.

Hunter Biden was indicted days ago on federal firearms charges alleging that he lied about his drug use to buy and possess a gun in October 2018. His defense attorneys have indicated they plan to fight the charges. The case could be on track toward a possible high-stakes trial as the 2024 election looms.

The new civil lawsuit filed in Washington alleges the improper disclosures included the specific tax years under investigation, deductions and allegations about liability. While the suit doesn’t question the investigation itself, it seeks to “force compliance with federal tax and privacy laws” and stop the spread of “unsubstantiated allegations” and “unlawful disclosure” of his tax information.

IRS supervisory special agent Greg Shapley, and a second agent, Joe Ziegler, have claimed there was pattern of “slow-walking investigative steps” into Hunter Biden in testimony before Congress. Both have denied political motivations.
They have alleged that the prosecutor overseeing the investigation, Delaware U.S. Attorney David Weiss, didn’t have full authority to bring charges in other jurisdictions.

Weiss, who was originally appointed by former President Donald Trump and kept on to oversee the Hunter Biden probe, has denied that he lacked authority to bring charges. Attorney General Merrick Garland has also said Weiss had “complete authority.”

Still, Weiss sought and was granted special counsel status last month, giving him broad authority to investigate and report out his findings.

Hunter Biden had been expected to plead guilty to misdemeanor charges that he failed to pay taxes on time as part of a plea deal with prosecutors that also included an agreement on the gun charge. That deal, however, imploded in court after a judge raised questions about it. Republicans had decried the plea agreement as a “sweetheart deal.”

The IRS and lawyers for the two men did not immediately return messages seeking comment.

Indiana
State AG sues hospital system over privacy of girl who traveled for abortion
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indiana’s attorney general has sued the state’s largest hospital system, claiming it violated patient privacy laws when a doctor publicly shared the story of an Ohio girl who traveled to Indiana for an abortion.

The lawsuit, filed Friday in Indianapolis federal court, marked Attorney General Todd Rokita’s latest attempt to seek disciplinary legal action against Dr. Caitlin Bernard. The doctor’s account of a 10-year-old rape victim traveling to Indiana to receive abortion drugs became a flashpoint in the abortion debate days after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last summer.

Rokita, a Republican, is stridently anti-abortion and Indiana was the first state to approve abortion restrictions after the court’s decision. The near-total abortion ban recently took effect after legal battles.

“Neither the 10-year-old nor her mother gave the doctor authorization to speak to the media about their case,” the lawsuit stated. “Rather than protecting the patient, the hospital chose to protect the doctor, and itself.”

The lawsuit named Indiana University Health and IU Healthcare Associates. It alleged the hospital system violated HIPAA, the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, and a state law for not protecting the patient’s information.

Indiana’s medical licensing board reprimanded Bernard in May, saying she didn’t abide by privacy laws by talking publicly about the girl’s treatment. It was far short of the medical license suspension that Rokita’s office sought.

Still, the board’s decision received widespread criticism from medical groups and others who called it a move to intimidate doctors.

Hospital system officials have argued that Bernard didn’t violate privacy laws.

“We continue to be disappointed the Indiana Attorney General’s office persists in putting the state’s limited resources toward this matter,” IU Health said in a statement. “We will respond directly to the AG’s office on the filing.”

In July, a 28-year-old man was sentenced to life in prison for the child’s rape.

Colorado
Ex-police officer gets probation for putting woman in police vehicle that was hit by a train
DENVER (AP) — A former Colorado police officer who put a handcuffed woman in a parked police vehicle that was hit by a freight train, causing the woman to suffer serious injuries, has avoided a jail sentence and must instead serve 30 months on supervised probation.

Jordan Steinke, 29, was sentenced Friday by Weld County District Court Judge Timothy Kerns, who found her guilty of reckless endangerment and assault for the Sept. 16, 2022, crash near Platteville. Kerns acquitted the former Fort Lupton police officer of criminal attempt to commit manslaughter after her bench trial in July.

Kerns said he had planned to sentence Steinke to jail, but he changed his mind after both prosecutors and defense attorneys sought a probationary sentence, The Denver Post reported.

“Someone is going to hear this and say: ‘Another officer gets off,’ “ Kerns said. “That’s not the facts of this case.”

He ordered Steinke to perform 100 hours of community service. And if she violates the terms of her probation, “I will harken back to my original gut response as to how to address sentencing,” Kerns warned.

Steinke, who wept during the sentencing hearing, apologized to Yareni Rios-Gonzalez, who attended the hearing virtually.

“What happened that night has haunted me for 364 days,” Steinke said. “I remember your cries and your screams.”

Steinke said she hoped to fulfill some of her community service by giving educational talks to new police officers about the dangers of railroad tracks and the importance of officers being aware of their surroundings.

Then-Plateville Police Sgt. Pablo Vazquez had stopped Rios-Gonzalez after a reported road-rage incident involving a gun. Steinke took her into custody and locked her in Vazquez’s police vehicle, which was parked on the railroad tracks. A train crashed into the SUV.

Rios-Gonzalez, who suffered a lasting brain injury and is in pain, was conflicted about how she wanted Steinke to be punished, attorney Chris Ponce said.

“The conflict that she feels is one where every day she has to feel this pain,” Ponce said. “And she’s had to deal with (doctor) appointments and having her life so radically changed. And feeling upset, very upset about that — angry about that — but on the other hand, feeling for Ms. Steinke, and, I think, truly empathetically feeling sorry for how she lost her career.”

Steinke was fired from the Fort Lupton police department after her conviction. She is expected to lose her Peace Officer Standards and Training certification, her attorney Mallory Revel said, meaning she can never be a police officer again.

During Steinke’s trial, her defense attorneys said she did not know that Vazquez had parked his police vehicle on the tracks.

Vazquez still faces trial for his role in the crash. He has been charged with five counts of reckless endangerment for allegedly putting Rios-Gonzalez, Steinke and three other people at risk, as well as for traffic-related violations, including parking where prohibited.

Rios-Gonzalez has also filed a lawsuit against the police agencies involved.


Mississippi
Jury rules officers justified in fatal 2017 shooting after police went to wrong house
OXFORD, Miss. (AP) — A Mississippi jury has rejected a civil lawsuit seeking money damages from two police officers who fatally shot a man while serving a warrant at the wrong house.

A federal court jury in Oxford on Thursday ruled that Southaven officers Zachary Durden and Samuel Maze had not violated the civil rights of Ismael Lopez when Durden shot him to death in 2017. The verdict came after a four-day trial in a lawsuit by Claudia Linares, the widow of Lopez, who sought $20 million in compensation.

“The verdict was that the jurors did not believe that the use of force used by Officers Durden and Maze was excessive in light of all the facts that they considered,” attorney Murray Wells told WREG-TV.

The case was notable in part because the city of Southaven had previously argued that Lopez had no civil rights to violate because the Mexican man was living in the United States illegally and faced deportation orders and criminal charges for illegally possessing guns.

A judge rejected that argument in 2020, finding constitutional rights apply to “all persons.”

The city of Southaven and now-retired Southaven Police Chief Steve Pirtle were dismissed from the case in June after Senior U.S. District Judge Michael P. Mills found they weren’t liable for the officers’ actions under federal law.

According to a report by the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation, Lopez and Linares were in bed on July 24, 2017, when officers knocked on the door of their trailer. The officers were intending to serve a domestic violence warrant on a neighbor across the street, but got the addresses confused.

Officers told the state investigators that they knocked on the door without identifying themselves. The door opened, a dog ran out, and Lopez pointed a rifle through the cracked door, officers said. Maze shot the dog and then, in quick succession, Durden fired multiple shots at Lopez.

A third officer on the scene told investigators he heard Durden order Lopez to drop the rifle several times before shooting Lopez.

No known video exists of the shooting.

The 41-year-old man died from a bullet that struck him in the rear of his skull, more than six feet (two meters) from the door. Police said he was running away.

Lawyers for Lopez, who died before he could be taken to a hospital, have disputed that he pointed the gun at officers. They noted his fingerprints and DNA were not found on the rifle, which was recovered more than six feet away from his body. They suggested that Durden shot Lopez because the officer was reacting to Maze shooting the dog.

When state investigators arrived, they found Lopez lying dead in a prone position with his hands cuffed behind his back in the middle of the living room. A rifle was laying on the couch.

After the shooting, a state grand jury declined to indict anyone in the case.

Southaven Mayor Darren Musselwhite, in a statement, again offered condolences to the family of Lopez, but praised the outcome.

“This verdict proves what we’ve believed to be correct since day one as our officers responded appropriately considering the circumstance of being threatened with deadly force,” Musselwhite said. “We’ve stood behind them during the last six years for this very reason and, for their sake, are glad this trial is over.”