Arizona
IRS agent acquitted of manslaughter in the 2023 death of a fellow agent at a gun range
PHOENIX (AP) — An Internal Revenue Service agent was acquitted Wednesday of involuntary manslaughter of a U.S. officer in the shooting death of a fellow agent after a training session at an Arizona gun range.
Prosecutors said Larry Edward Brown Jr. handled his gun with reckless disregard for human life when he shot IRS Special Agent Patrick Bauer on Aug. 17, 2023.
Brown, who cried when the verdict was announced, offered his “sincerest condolences to the Bauer family” in a statement issued through his attorneys. “Pat was a great man,” Brown said. “He was a mentor and like a brother to me. I miss him every day.”
Outside the courtroom, several of Bauer’s loved ones sobbed and one woman threw her purse at the wall.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Arizona, which prosecuted the case, said in a statement, “We remain supportive of Agent Bauer’s family in this difficult time, proud of our team for seeking justice, and respectful of the jury’s verdict.” Jurors deliberated for about an hour and 45 minutes before delivering the verdict.
The shooting occurred in a one-room building at a gun range at the Federal Correctional Institution in Phoenix, where Bauer had just finished overseeing standard live-fire pistol qualification exercises. Sixteen IRS criminal investigators, who examine violations of tax, money laundering and other federal laws, had taken part in the pistol qualification and classroom exercises at the complex.
After the session ended, another IRS agent left the building to get his phone and heard a gunshot seconds later. The indictment says the agent saw Brown, a defensive tactics instructor, running out and yelling that he had messed up and shot Bauer, who died during surgery. He had been shot in the upper torso. No one else was in the building at the time.
After the shooting, Brown was taken to a different medical center, where he was diagnosed with an acute stress reaction. While at the hospital, the indictment alleged, Brown repeatedly said out loud, “I am a use of force instructor. I should know better.” FBI Agent Taylor Hannah has been identified in court records as the person who said she heard Brown make that comment, but Brown’s lawyers said their client never said those words.
Prosecutors said Bauer’s death was preventable. They said Brown violated fundamental firearms safety rules, such as always treating a gun as if it’s loaded, keeping its muzzle pointed in a safe direction and refraining from touching its trigger until ready to fire.
Brown pleaded not guilty. His lawyers said Bauer’s death was a terrible accident, that the agents were friends and that Brown came to Bauer’s aid, including by calling 911, forming a chest seal to maintain the function of Bauer’s lungs, and asking other federal officers at the complex for help.
Dr. Kenji Inaba, a medical expert hired on behalf of Brown, said in a report that Bauer would have more likely than not survived his injuries had he been taken to the hospital sooner.
The ambulance that transported Bauer to the hospital left the scene about 25 minutes after the shooting, and it took another 14 minutes to get to the hospital, Inaba said.
Inaba suggested federal agents who had medical training could have transported Bauer to the hospital instead of waiting for an ambulance in a location that doesn’t have a trauma center nearby.
Prosecutors said Bauer may still have died, even with standard care and no delays. They said Bauer was killed by a bullet negligently fired from Brown’s gun, not by medical negligence.
New York
State sues vape distributors over Elf Bar and other candy e-cigarettes
New York on Thursday sued some of the country’s biggest distributors of electronic cigarettes, accusing the companies of violating state laws that prohibit the sale of vaping flavors and designs that appeal to children.
Attorney General Letitia James announced the lawsuit targeting middlemen that distribute fruit- and candy-flavored e-cigarettes like Puff Bar and Elf Bar to hundreds of convenience stories and gas stations across the state.
The approach differs from past litigation by New York and other states, which targeted vaping manufacturers, such as Juul Labs.
Widely blamed for sparking the teen vaping trend, Juul has paid more than $1 billion to settle dozens of state and local lawsuits and investigations into its early marketing practices, which included launch parties and product giveaways. The company stopped selling flavors like mango and mint in 2019 and is no longer popular with teens.
Instead, Chinese-made disposable e-cigarettes like Elf Bar have become the top choice among high school and middle school students. None of the products are approved by federal health regulators but they continue shipping into the U.S., often mislabeled as batteries, cell phones or other products.
The state’s nearly 200-page legal complaint points to “widespread evidence of illegal conduct, including documents showing illegal shipments of flavored vapes to New York.” The filing also includes photos of brightly colored e-cigarettes that resemble soft drinks and candy and come in flavors like “fruity bears freeze,” “cotton candy,” and “strawberry cereal donut milk.”
New York banned all vaping flavors other than tobacco in 2020.
“For too long, these companies have disregarded our laws in order to profit off of our young people, but we will not risk the health and safety of our kids,” James said in a statement.
The lawsuit seeks hundreds of millions of dollars in damages from the companies, as well as a permanent ban on their sales of flavored vapes in New York.
Companies named in the lawsuit include Demand Vape of New York, Evo Brands of California, Safa Goods of Florida and Midwest Goods of Illinois.
Calls and messages to the companies were not immediately returned Thursday morning.
According to the lawsuit “Demand Vape maintains close ties with international manufacturers, such that its co-founder routinely travels to China where Demand Vape’s products originate to direct flavor development and marketing.”
In 2022 litigation, the co-founder of Buffalo-based Demand Vape told a federal judge that his company had sold more than $132 million worth of Elf Bar e-cigarettes in the past year. The company that makes Elf Bar is based in Shenzhen, China, and sells flavors including “strawberry mango” and “lemon mint.”
Despite the continued availability of disposable e-cigarettes, the vaping rate among U.S. teens has fallen to a 10-year low of under 6%, according to federal figures released last year. Government health officials attribute the drop to more aggressive U.S. enforcement, including hundreds of warning letters sent to retail stores selling unauthorized vaping products.
IRS agent acquitted of manslaughter in the 2023 death of a fellow agent at a gun range
PHOENIX (AP) — An Internal Revenue Service agent was acquitted Wednesday of involuntary manslaughter of a U.S. officer in the shooting death of a fellow agent after a training session at an Arizona gun range.
Prosecutors said Larry Edward Brown Jr. handled his gun with reckless disregard for human life when he shot IRS Special Agent Patrick Bauer on Aug. 17, 2023.
Brown, who cried when the verdict was announced, offered his “sincerest condolences to the Bauer family” in a statement issued through his attorneys. “Pat was a great man,” Brown said. “He was a mentor and like a brother to me. I miss him every day.”
Outside the courtroom, several of Bauer’s loved ones sobbed and one woman threw her purse at the wall.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Arizona, which prosecuted the case, said in a statement, “We remain supportive of Agent Bauer’s family in this difficult time, proud of our team for seeking justice, and respectful of the jury’s verdict.” Jurors deliberated for about an hour and 45 minutes before delivering the verdict.
The shooting occurred in a one-room building at a gun range at the Federal Correctional Institution in Phoenix, where Bauer had just finished overseeing standard live-fire pistol qualification exercises. Sixteen IRS criminal investigators, who examine violations of tax, money laundering and other federal laws, had taken part in the pistol qualification and classroom exercises at the complex.
After the session ended, another IRS agent left the building to get his phone and heard a gunshot seconds later. The indictment says the agent saw Brown, a defensive tactics instructor, running out and yelling that he had messed up and shot Bauer, who died during surgery. He had been shot in the upper torso. No one else was in the building at the time.
After the shooting, Brown was taken to a different medical center, where he was diagnosed with an acute stress reaction. While at the hospital, the indictment alleged, Brown repeatedly said out loud, “I am a use of force instructor. I should know better.” FBI Agent Taylor Hannah has been identified in court records as the person who said she heard Brown make that comment, but Brown’s lawyers said their client never said those words.
Prosecutors said Bauer’s death was preventable. They said Brown violated fundamental firearms safety rules, such as always treating a gun as if it’s loaded, keeping its muzzle pointed in a safe direction and refraining from touching its trigger until ready to fire.
Brown pleaded not guilty. His lawyers said Bauer’s death was a terrible accident, that the agents were friends and that Brown came to Bauer’s aid, including by calling 911, forming a chest seal to maintain the function of Bauer’s lungs, and asking other federal officers at the complex for help.
Dr. Kenji Inaba, a medical expert hired on behalf of Brown, said in a report that Bauer would have more likely than not survived his injuries had he been taken to the hospital sooner.
The ambulance that transported Bauer to the hospital left the scene about 25 minutes after the shooting, and it took another 14 minutes to get to the hospital, Inaba said.
Inaba suggested federal agents who had medical training could have transported Bauer to the hospital instead of waiting for an ambulance in a location that doesn’t have a trauma center nearby.
Prosecutors said Bauer may still have died, even with standard care and no delays. They said Bauer was killed by a bullet negligently fired from Brown’s gun, not by medical negligence.
New York
State sues vape distributors over Elf Bar and other candy e-cigarettes
New York on Thursday sued some of the country’s biggest distributors of electronic cigarettes, accusing the companies of violating state laws that prohibit the sale of vaping flavors and designs that appeal to children.
Attorney General Letitia James announced the lawsuit targeting middlemen that distribute fruit- and candy-flavored e-cigarettes like Puff Bar and Elf Bar to hundreds of convenience stories and gas stations across the state.
The approach differs from past litigation by New York and other states, which targeted vaping manufacturers, such as Juul Labs.
Widely blamed for sparking the teen vaping trend, Juul has paid more than $1 billion to settle dozens of state and local lawsuits and investigations into its early marketing practices, which included launch parties and product giveaways. The company stopped selling flavors like mango and mint in 2019 and is no longer popular with teens.
Instead, Chinese-made disposable e-cigarettes like Elf Bar have become the top choice among high school and middle school students. None of the products are approved by federal health regulators but they continue shipping into the U.S., often mislabeled as batteries, cell phones or other products.
The state’s nearly 200-page legal complaint points to “widespread evidence of illegal conduct, including documents showing illegal shipments of flavored vapes to New York.” The filing also includes photos of brightly colored e-cigarettes that resemble soft drinks and candy and come in flavors like “fruity bears freeze,” “cotton candy,” and “strawberry cereal donut milk.”
New York banned all vaping flavors other than tobacco in 2020.
“For too long, these companies have disregarded our laws in order to profit off of our young people, but we will not risk the health and safety of our kids,” James said in a statement.
The lawsuit seeks hundreds of millions of dollars in damages from the companies, as well as a permanent ban on their sales of flavored vapes in New York.
Companies named in the lawsuit include Demand Vape of New York, Evo Brands of California, Safa Goods of Florida and Midwest Goods of Illinois.
Calls and messages to the companies were not immediately returned Thursday morning.
According to the lawsuit “Demand Vape maintains close ties with international manufacturers, such that its co-founder routinely travels to China where Demand Vape’s products originate to direct flavor development and marketing.”
In 2022 litigation, the co-founder of Buffalo-based Demand Vape told a federal judge that his company had sold more than $132 million worth of Elf Bar e-cigarettes in the past year. The company that makes Elf Bar is based in Shenzhen, China, and sells flavors including “strawberry mango” and “lemon mint.”
Despite the continued availability of disposable e-cigarettes, the vaping rate among U.S. teens has fallen to a 10-year low of under 6%, according to federal figures released last year. Government health officials attribute the drop to more aggressive U.S. enforcement, including hundreds of warning letters sent to retail stores selling unauthorized vaping products.
