Delaware
Ex-police officer sentenced to probation on assault conviction
DOVER, Del. (AP) — A former Delaware police officer convicted of assault and other charges in connection with a 2021 arrest has been sentenced to probation.
A jury last year convicted former Wilmington officer Samuel Waters of misdemeanor assault, official misconduct and evidence-tampering in the arrest that led to demonstrations after videos were posted on social media. He was acquitted of felony perjury in the case as well as another assault charge in connection with a separate arrest days earlier.
DelawareOnline reports that prosecutors sought a six-month jail sentence Friday, but defense attorneys successfully argued that since Waters was fired in January 2022 and still faces a federal lawsuit, probation would be more appropriate.
Authorities said Waters confronted a man in a south Wilmington convenience store in September 2021 after police were told that employees of a nearby day care facility were being harassed. Waters is seen on surveillance video approaching the man and speaking to him briefly, then grabbing his arm and turning him toward a plexiglass panel and ultimately shoving him against the panel and slamming his head into it twice before both fall to the floor.
A Wilmington officer who trains others on the use of force testified at trial that department training and policy generally do not endorse bouncing a suspect’s head off a wall. Force to the face, neck and back area are regarded as “red zones” due to the potential for serious injury, and “there was nothing that was going on” to justify that level of force, he said.
Deputy Attorney General Dan McBride, who heads the state attorney general’s office of civil rights and public trust, argued the use of force came within seconds of the encounter and described it as “almost an ambush.”
Judge Francis Jones, however, said he didn’t believe Waters is an ongoing threat to public safety, calling the events “a one-off,” before imposing a sentence of probation. Waters’ attorney said his client intends to appeal his conviction.
California
Garth Brooks accused of rape in lawsuit from hair-and-makeup artist
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A woman who says she worked as a hair-and-makeup stylist for Garth Brooks alleged in a lawsuit filed Thursday that he raped her in a Los Angeles hotel in 2019.
The woman does not use her name and goes by Jane Roe in the lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court. Brooks forcefully denied the allegations in a statement and acknowledged he tried to get a court to stop Thursday’s lawsuit from being filed.
The woman says in the lawsuit she had worked for Brooks’ wife, country singer Trisha Yearwood, since 1999, and had started also working for Brooks in 2017.
She said the assault occurred when she traveled from Nashville to Los Angeles with Brooks, who was performing with soul singer Sam Moore at a Grammy Awards tribute to Moore in October 2019.
Brooks normally traveled with an entourage, but the two were alone on his private jet, and he booked just one hotel suite for both of them, the lawsuit says.
The woman alleges that in the suite, he appeared naked in the doorway to the bedroom and raped her.
The suit says that he then proceeded as though nothing had happened and expected her to do his hair and makeup immediately after.
The woman’s lawsuit alleges that earlier in 2019, when she was at Brooks’ home, he had appeared naked in front of her, grabbed her hands, and put them on his genitals.
Brooks filed a preemptive lawsuit in federal court in Mississippi last month, in which both him and the woman are anonymous.
In court filings in that case, the plaintiff, going by John Doe, says the allegations are “wholly untrue,” and he first learned of them in July when she threatened to publicly sue him unless he gave her millions of dollars.
He asked a judge to stop the woman from “intentional infliction of emotional distress, defamation, and false light invasion of privacy.”
“For the last two months, I have been hassled to no end with threats, lies, and tragic tales of what my future would be if I did not write a check for many millions of dollars,” Brooks’ statement said. “It has been like having a loaded gun waved in my face.”
Brooks said he filed the case anonymously “for the sake of families on both sides.”
“I trust the system, I do not fear the truth, and I am not the man they have painted me to be,” his statement concluded.
The woman’s suit also says Brooks exposed himself to her many other times and talked about sexual fantasies with her and sent her explicit text messages.
She said she was forced to keep working for Brooks because of financial hardship, which he knew about and took advantage of.
An email to the woman’s attorney asking whether she had reported her allegations to police was not immediately answered.
The 62-year-old Oklahoma-born Brooks was the biggest star in country music of the 1990s, with hits including “Friends in Low Places” and “The Thunder Rolls.” He brought arena-rock theatrics to his concerts and a pop-music sensibility to his recordings. He had huge success that went beyond typical country audiences.
He married fellow country star Yearwood in 2005. There was no immediate response to a message to a Yearwood representative seeking comment on the lawsuit.
Louisiana
Ex-coach Les Miles moves lawsuit over vacated LSU wins from federal to state court
BATON ROUGE, LA. (AP) — Former football coach Les Miles’ lawsuit against Louisiana State University and the NCAA over a decision to vacate 37 of his teams’ victories from 2012 to 2015 has been moved from federal court to state court.
Miles initially sued in June in U.S. District Court in Baton Rouge. He alleged that LSU never gave Miles a chance to be heard before altering the coach’s career record significantly enough to disqualify him from consideration
for the National Football Foundation’s College Football Hall of Fame. The foundation is also a defendant in the lawsuit.
No reason was given for Miles’ decision to dismiss the federal suit and sue in state court in Baton Rouge. Miles’ lawyer declined to comment.
The state lawsuit, filed Sept. 9, largely tracks allegations made in the federal complaint, which was dismissed Sept. 30 at Miles’ request. But the state lawsuit does add a claim that the defendants violated the state constitution.
In documents in the federal case, the defendant organizations say Miles cannot sue because he did not have a “property right” to the LSU victories or in Hall of Fame eligibility.
The decision in June 2023 to vacate the victories stemmed from an NCAA ruling that former Tigers offensive lineman Vadal Alexander had received financial benefits that violated NCAA rules when he played.
New York
Businessman convicted of cheating ex-NBA star Dwight Howard out of millions in scam to buy WNBA team
NEW YORK (AP) — A Georgia businessman was convicted Friday of scamming former NBA star Dwight Howard out of millions of dollars in a bogus scheme to buy the WNBA’s Atlanta Dream.
The jury returned its verdict against Calvin Darden Jr. on Friday afternoon after a trial in New York City. Darden was also convicted of cheating former NBA forward Chandler Parsons in a separate ruse.
Howard — one of the NBA’s most dominant centers during the prime of his 18-year professional career — testified during the trial that Darden fooled him into giving him $7 million by convincing him that it was an investment toward the purchase of the Dream. In reality, a three-member investor group that included former player Renee Montgomery bought the team in 2021.
When a prosecutor asked him if he got anything in return for his $7 million, Howard testified that he got “a slap in the face.”
Prosecutors said Darden also teamed up with a sports agent to fool Parsons, who had a 9-year NBA career, into sending $1 million that was supposed to aid the development of James Wiseman, who currently plays in the NBA.
Darden’s conviction came eight years after he was sentenced to a year in prison for impersonating his successful father in a failed bid to buy Maxim magazine. In that case, Darden got leniency by cooperating with prosecutors against others charged in the case.
This time, though, Darden turned down two offers by the government to plead guilty and went to trial.
Prosecutors believe he will face between 11 years and 14 years in prison when he is sentenced early next year.
After the conviction, Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin Meade sought to have Darden immediately taken into custody, saying he had not learned his lesson since the case in 2016, but Judge Vernon S. Broderick ruled that he could remain free on bail for now.
Howard was an eight-time All Star and three-time defensive player of the year. He played for seven franchises, most notably the Orlando Magic — who took him with the No. 1 overall selection in the 2004 draft — and the Los Angeles Lakers, where he won his lone NBA title during the pandemic-affected 2019-20 season. Parsons played with Houston, Dallas, Memphis and Atlanta.
The Atlanta Dream had been co-owned by former Republican U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler, but she was pressured to sell after clashing with players over her opposition to the league’s racial justice initiatives. Dream players urged people to vote for her Democratic opponent, now U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock.
During closing arguments Thursday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Brandon Thompson said the proof that Darden “committed these crimes is overwhelming.”
The prosecutor said Darden spent at least $6.1 million of the $7 million he got from Howard. That included spending $500,000 on two cars; $110,000 on a piano; $765,000 for a down payment on a $3.7 million home; $90,000 on luxury watches and another half-million dollars for home upgrades in addition to hundreds of thousands of dollars spent on art.
Prosecutors said they planned to seize all of Darden’s assets, including his Atlanta home, along with luxury automobiles, art and jewelry.
Darden’s lawyer insisted his client won’t commit additional frauds and is needed by his family.
Darden’s father, Cal Darden, is a former senior vice president for operations at Atlanta-based United Parcel Service Inc. who has sat on the boards of several major companies. Darden’s lawyer Xavier Donaldson argued that his client never impersonated his father with the athletes and accused prosecutors of trying to get jurors to use “guesswork, speculation, unreasonable inference” to reach a guilty verdict.
Ex-police officer sentenced to probation on assault conviction
DOVER, Del. (AP) — A former Delaware police officer convicted of assault and other charges in connection with a 2021 arrest has been sentenced to probation.
A jury last year convicted former Wilmington officer Samuel Waters of misdemeanor assault, official misconduct and evidence-tampering in the arrest that led to demonstrations after videos were posted on social media. He was acquitted of felony perjury in the case as well as another assault charge in connection with a separate arrest days earlier.
DelawareOnline reports that prosecutors sought a six-month jail sentence Friday, but defense attorneys successfully argued that since Waters was fired in January 2022 and still faces a federal lawsuit, probation would be more appropriate.
Authorities said Waters confronted a man in a south Wilmington convenience store in September 2021 after police were told that employees of a nearby day care facility were being harassed. Waters is seen on surveillance video approaching the man and speaking to him briefly, then grabbing his arm and turning him toward a plexiglass panel and ultimately shoving him against the panel and slamming his head into it twice before both fall to the floor.
A Wilmington officer who trains others on the use of force testified at trial that department training and policy generally do not endorse bouncing a suspect’s head off a wall. Force to the face, neck and back area are regarded as “red zones” due to the potential for serious injury, and “there was nothing that was going on” to justify that level of force, he said.
Deputy Attorney General Dan McBride, who heads the state attorney general’s office of civil rights and public trust, argued the use of force came within seconds of the encounter and described it as “almost an ambush.”
Judge Francis Jones, however, said he didn’t believe Waters is an ongoing threat to public safety, calling the events “a one-off,” before imposing a sentence of probation. Waters’ attorney said his client intends to appeal his conviction.
California
Garth Brooks accused of rape in lawsuit from hair-and-makeup artist
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A woman who says she worked as a hair-and-makeup stylist for Garth Brooks alleged in a lawsuit filed Thursday that he raped her in a Los Angeles hotel in 2019.
The woman does not use her name and goes by Jane Roe in the lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court. Brooks forcefully denied the allegations in a statement and acknowledged he tried to get a court to stop Thursday’s lawsuit from being filed.
The woman says in the lawsuit she had worked for Brooks’ wife, country singer Trisha Yearwood, since 1999, and had started also working for Brooks in 2017.
She said the assault occurred when she traveled from Nashville to Los Angeles with Brooks, who was performing with soul singer Sam Moore at a Grammy Awards tribute to Moore in October 2019.
Brooks normally traveled with an entourage, but the two were alone on his private jet, and he booked just one hotel suite for both of them, the lawsuit says.
The woman alleges that in the suite, he appeared naked in the doorway to the bedroom and raped her.
The suit says that he then proceeded as though nothing had happened and expected her to do his hair and makeup immediately after.
The woman’s lawsuit alleges that earlier in 2019, when she was at Brooks’ home, he had appeared naked in front of her, grabbed her hands, and put them on his genitals.
Brooks filed a preemptive lawsuit in federal court in Mississippi last month, in which both him and the woman are anonymous.
In court filings in that case, the plaintiff, going by John Doe, says the allegations are “wholly untrue,” and he first learned of them in July when she threatened to publicly sue him unless he gave her millions of dollars.
He asked a judge to stop the woman from “intentional infliction of emotional distress, defamation, and false light invasion of privacy.”
“For the last two months, I have been hassled to no end with threats, lies, and tragic tales of what my future would be if I did not write a check for many millions of dollars,” Brooks’ statement said. “It has been like having a loaded gun waved in my face.”
Brooks said he filed the case anonymously “for the sake of families on both sides.”
“I trust the system, I do not fear the truth, and I am not the man they have painted me to be,” his statement concluded.
The woman’s suit also says Brooks exposed himself to her many other times and talked about sexual fantasies with her and sent her explicit text messages.
She said she was forced to keep working for Brooks because of financial hardship, which he knew about and took advantage of.
An email to the woman’s attorney asking whether she had reported her allegations to police was not immediately answered.
The 62-year-old Oklahoma-born Brooks was the biggest star in country music of the 1990s, with hits including “Friends in Low Places” and “The Thunder Rolls.” He brought arena-rock theatrics to his concerts and a pop-music sensibility to his recordings. He had huge success that went beyond typical country audiences.
He married fellow country star Yearwood in 2005. There was no immediate response to a message to a Yearwood representative seeking comment on the lawsuit.
Louisiana
Ex-coach Les Miles moves lawsuit over vacated LSU wins from federal to state court
BATON ROUGE, LA. (AP) — Former football coach Les Miles’ lawsuit against Louisiana State University and the NCAA over a decision to vacate 37 of his teams’ victories from 2012 to 2015 has been moved from federal court to state court.
Miles initially sued in June in U.S. District Court in Baton Rouge. He alleged that LSU never gave Miles a chance to be heard before altering the coach’s career record significantly enough to disqualify him from consideration
for the National Football Foundation’s College Football Hall of Fame. The foundation is also a defendant in the lawsuit.
No reason was given for Miles’ decision to dismiss the federal suit and sue in state court in Baton Rouge. Miles’ lawyer declined to comment.
The state lawsuit, filed Sept. 9, largely tracks allegations made in the federal complaint, which was dismissed Sept. 30 at Miles’ request. But the state lawsuit does add a claim that the defendants violated the state constitution.
In documents in the federal case, the defendant organizations say Miles cannot sue because he did not have a “property right” to the LSU victories or in Hall of Fame eligibility.
The decision in June 2023 to vacate the victories stemmed from an NCAA ruling that former Tigers offensive lineman Vadal Alexander had received financial benefits that violated NCAA rules when he played.
New York
Businessman convicted of cheating ex-NBA star Dwight Howard out of millions in scam to buy WNBA team
NEW YORK (AP) — A Georgia businessman was convicted Friday of scamming former NBA star Dwight Howard out of millions of dollars in a bogus scheme to buy the WNBA’s Atlanta Dream.
The jury returned its verdict against Calvin Darden Jr. on Friday afternoon after a trial in New York City. Darden was also convicted of cheating former NBA forward Chandler Parsons in a separate ruse.
Howard — one of the NBA’s most dominant centers during the prime of his 18-year professional career — testified during the trial that Darden fooled him into giving him $7 million by convincing him that it was an investment toward the purchase of the Dream. In reality, a three-member investor group that included former player Renee Montgomery bought the team in 2021.
When a prosecutor asked him if he got anything in return for his $7 million, Howard testified that he got “a slap in the face.”
Prosecutors said Darden also teamed up with a sports agent to fool Parsons, who had a 9-year NBA career, into sending $1 million that was supposed to aid the development of James Wiseman, who currently plays in the NBA.
Darden’s conviction came eight years after he was sentenced to a year in prison for impersonating his successful father in a failed bid to buy Maxim magazine. In that case, Darden got leniency by cooperating with prosecutors against others charged in the case.
This time, though, Darden turned down two offers by the government to plead guilty and went to trial.
Prosecutors believe he will face between 11 years and 14 years in prison when he is sentenced early next year.
After the conviction, Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin Meade sought to have Darden immediately taken into custody, saying he had not learned his lesson since the case in 2016, but Judge Vernon S. Broderick ruled that he could remain free on bail for now.
Howard was an eight-time All Star and three-time defensive player of the year. He played for seven franchises, most notably the Orlando Magic — who took him with the No. 1 overall selection in the 2004 draft — and the Los Angeles Lakers, where he won his lone NBA title during the pandemic-affected 2019-20 season. Parsons played with Houston, Dallas, Memphis and Atlanta.
The Atlanta Dream had been co-owned by former Republican U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler, but she was pressured to sell after clashing with players over her opposition to the league’s racial justice initiatives. Dream players urged people to vote for her Democratic opponent, now U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock.
During closing arguments Thursday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Brandon Thompson said the proof that Darden “committed these crimes is overwhelming.”
The prosecutor said Darden spent at least $6.1 million of the $7 million he got from Howard. That included spending $500,000 on two cars; $110,000 on a piano; $765,000 for a down payment on a $3.7 million home; $90,000 on luxury watches and another half-million dollars for home upgrades in addition to hundreds of thousands of dollars spent on art.
Prosecutors said they planned to seize all of Darden’s assets, including his Atlanta home, along with luxury automobiles, art and jewelry.
Darden’s lawyer insisted his client won’t commit additional frauds and is needed by his family.
Darden’s father, Cal Darden, is a former senior vice president for operations at Atlanta-based United Parcel Service Inc. who has sat on the boards of several major companies. Darden’s lawyer Xavier Donaldson argued that his client never impersonated his father with the athletes and accused prosecutors of trying to get jurors to use “guesswork, speculation, unreasonable inference” to reach a guilty verdict.
