Hawaii
Soldier gets 23 years for killing pregnant wife with machete, dumping her in the trash
WHEELER ARMY AIRFIELD, Hawaii (AP) — A Hawaii-based U.S. Army soldier was sentenced Thursday to 23 years in prison for killing his wife and unborn child last summer and attempting to cover up the crime by dismembering and disposing of her body in the trash.
Pfc. Dewayne Johnson II pleaded guilty earlier in the week to voluntary manslaughter, obstruction of justice and providing false official statements, the Army Office of Special Trial Counsel said in a statement.
His wife, Mischa Johnson, was 19 years old and six months pregnant at the time of her death July 12, 2024. Her body has not been found.
Johnson, of the 25th Infantry Division, told the judge during testimony in a military courtroom that he hit his wife with a machete in their home at the Schofield Barracks military base on Oahu after an argument, KITV reported.
He said he snapped after his wife yelled that his child won’t know that he existed. He hit her on the head, and she stopped breathing and didn’t have a pulse. He said he didn’t intend to kill her.
“I couldn’t picture my life without my child,” he said. “I regret, I shouldn’t have done it.”
He used a chain saw to cut up his wife’s body to hide the killing and placed her body parts in garbage bags that he put in a dumpster in his unit. He said had heard the garbage was taken from there straight to an incinerator.
Johnson reported his wife missing July 31, more than two weeks after her death. He joined search parties looking for her around Oahu. He was charged with her murder Aug. 27 after Army investigators found blood, DNA and other evidence in his home.
Prosecutors said Johnson, from Frederick, Maryland, received the maximum sentence allowed under law. They dropped child sexual abuse image charges under the terms of his plea agreement.
Johnson’s rank will be reduced to private and he will forfeit pay and allowances and be dishonorably discharged. He will serve his sentence in a military prison at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.
Marianna Tapiz told KITV it was shocking and painful to hear what happened to her sister.
“As a family together, we’re just trying not to focus on the horrific details of her last moment with him,” Tapiz said. “And instead, right now, we’re trying to just remember the happy memories that we have and remember her in that life.”
Army prosecutor Lt. Col. Nicholas Hurd, said he hoped the justice proceedings will help the family heal.
“While no amount of confinement will ever be able to truly ease the pain of the loss of Ms. Johnson and her unborn child for her family and friends, it is my hope that Pfc. Johnson’s admissions of guilt and the information he provided as part of the plea agreement can provide some element of closure and finality for the family and all stakeholders,” Hurd said in a statement.
Florida
Sheriff arrested on charges of conspiracy as part of gambling probe
KISSIMMEE, Fla. (AP) — A sheriff in central Florida was arrested Thursday on charges of racketeering and conspiracy as part of what state authorities described as a probe into a massive gambling operation.
Osceola County Sheriff Marcos Lopez was arrested on first-degree felonies and taken to the jail in nearby Lake County, Florida. Osceola County is south of Orlando, and part of the county is home to Walt Disney World.
Lopez took campaign contributions and personal payments as well as protected the gambling operation, according to a statement put out by Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier.
Gov. Ron DeSantis suspended Lopez in an executive order and appointed a Florida Highway Patrol official to be the county’s sheriff.
The operation, which involved four other defendants, ran a lottery, slot machines and a “gambling house” out of a business known as Fusion Social Club in a tourist-heavy area of Kissimmee, Florida, according to court documents. The organization took in more than $21.6 million in illicit proceeds, authorities said.
“As law enforcement, we are held to higher standards of integrity and character than other professions,” Florida Department of Law Enforcement Commissioner Mark Glass said in a statement. “This case revealed that Lopez violated the trust and integrity expected of him as the duly elected sheriff of Osceola County.”
An inquiry sent to the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office wasn’t initially answered.
County Manager Don Fisher said in a statement that the county played no role in the investigation and that county officials were prepared to support the interim sheriff.
In December, Lopez pleaded no contest to violating state records laws and agreed to pay a $250 fine for posting online an image of the body of 13-year-old Madeline Soto. The boyfriend of the girl’s mother has been charged with her death.
California
Yoga classes return to park after appeals court deems them ‘protected speech’
SAN DIEGO (AP) — Steve Hubbard was back teaching yoga in a San Diego beachfront park on Thursday, the day after a federal appeals court ruled against the California city’s ban on his classes in shoreline parks and beaches.
“We’re all happy to be back,” Hubbard, who is known as “NamaSteve,” said as at least a dozen mat-toting enthusiasts wrapped up class beneath towering palm trees with a view of waves crashing onto Pacific Beach.
The decision by a three-judge panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals came after Hubbard and another instructor sued over a 2024 law that barred yoga classes in shoreline parks and beaches in San Diego for at least four or more people — a move local officials said was aimed at a range of activities to ensure that public spaces are truly available to all members of the public.
The panel found the ordinance violated the instructors’ rights and that teaching yoga is “protected speech.”
San Diego is known for its picturesque beaches and bountiful sunshine and visitors flock to the city to surf, swim and spot sea lions— especially during the peak summer season.
City attorneys wrote in court filings the rule isn’t specific to yoga but to commercial activity, and Hubbard’s classes can draw as many as 100 people who give donations for each class ranging from $5 to $40.
“The City’s legitimate governmental interests in this case include the preservation, safety, and orderly use of its parks and beaches by all visitors and residents who visit them,” San Diego’s attorneys wrote in court papers, adding that the city and county drew 32 million visitors in 2023.
A hearing is scheduled for Thursday afternoon to discuss the details of the appellate ruling, which calls for the ordinance to be put on hold for the instructors while their case is pending.
The San Diego city attorney’s office declined to immediately comment on the case and said in a statement it is evaluating the ruling.
Hubbard said he was cited at least ten times since the ordinance took effect for classes that he said are free since payment isn’t required and anyone can attend. He said he has not yet gone to court on the citations.
Rather, outdoor yoga is a service to those who are disabled or can’t afford yoga classes elsewhere, said Bryan Pease, an attorney for the two instructors.
“It is a popular thing here. We’re a beach community, and it’s a way for people to access yoga that they wouldn’t otherwise be able to,” Pease said.
Due to the ordinance, Pease said his clients began streaming classes from his backyard, which is across the street from the beachfront location. His students continued to gather to follow him online, and Pease said Hubbard was cited by a park official for running classes in the park even though he wasn’t there.
At the Pacific Beach park, yoga student John Noack said he previously tried studio classes but didn’t like them and relishes the exercise he gets from practicing outside with an ocean breeze.
Noack, who has attended Hubbard’s classes for four years, said he thinks the group was targeted because wealthy homeowners in the area didn’t want so many people in their oceanfront views.
“I personally see this as a triumph of community over a handful of elites,” Noack said.
California
Jury awards prosecutor $3M after she says she was forced out of her position
SAN DIEGO (AP) — A jury in California on Thursday awarded more than $3 million in damages to a former Orange County prosecutor who alleged the county’s district attorney targeted her and forced her out of her position after she tried to protect women in the office from retaliation for accusing a supervisor of sexual harassment.
The verdict marks the end of a two-week trial in San Diego in which former district attorney supervisor Tracy Miller accused Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer and former Chief Assistant District Attorney Shawn Nelson of a laundry list of misconduct that she said the county did not reasonably respond to, the Orange County Register reported.
The penalties awarded were for the former high-ranking prosecutor’s future economic loss and emotional distress.
Miller sued the county, Spitzer and Nelson after she said she was essentially forced to leave her position in 2021. Spitzer and Nelson have denied these claims, while their attorney said Miller was not demoted and didn’t lose pay or job duties.
Spitzer said in a statement that he respects the jury’s decision but that when he became district attorney in 2019, he “inherited an office in chaos” and did the best he could given the many overwhelming issues they were facing.
“I am heartbroken over the fact that any of my actions could have been interpreted as anything other than a good faith effort to clean up the public corruption in the Orange County District Attorney’s Office and to create a work ethic that adheres to what Orange County residents demand of its District Attorney,” he said.
Miller accused Spitzer and Nelson of humiliating her, using “gender-based slurs,” disrespecting her and undermining her authority.
She said the situation became especially contentious after she cooperated with the investigator looking into sexual harassment allegations against then-district attorney supervisor Gary Logalbo in 2020.
She accused Nelson of speaking badly about the women who spoke out. She also said Spitzer attempted to get one of the women written up for accusing Logalbo, who was the best man at Spitzer’s wedding.
Afterwards, Miller said Spitzer targeted her and criticized her for taking notes during executive meetings, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Spitzer and Nelson have denied these claims.
Logalbo, who died in 2021, was found to have harassed four female attorneys.
The county, Spitzer and Nelson are liable for the $3 million in damages.
Miller was also awarded $25,000 in punitive damages, less than the more than $300,000 requested by her attorney.
Tracey Kennedy, an attorney for the county, Spitzer and Nelson had argued against punitive damages beyond the $3 million, saying the verdict was enough.
Darvish said in court on Thursday that Miller had long dreamed of being a prosecutor and had had that position taken from her. He also said that she had opened the door for future generations of female prosecutors.
When Spitzer became district attorney, federal authorities were investigating allegations that county officials illegally used prisoners to try to get incriminating information from defendants awaiting trial.
County authorities have repeatedly denied the existence of such an operation.
Miller, who had been a prosecutor for more than 20 years, was overseeing such important assignments as opioid litigation and the Huntington Beach oil spill, according to Spitzer.
Soldier gets 23 years for killing pregnant wife with machete, dumping her in the trash
WHEELER ARMY AIRFIELD, Hawaii (AP) — A Hawaii-based U.S. Army soldier was sentenced Thursday to 23 years in prison for killing his wife and unborn child last summer and attempting to cover up the crime by dismembering and disposing of her body in the trash.
Pfc. Dewayne Johnson II pleaded guilty earlier in the week to voluntary manslaughter, obstruction of justice and providing false official statements, the Army Office of Special Trial Counsel said in a statement.
His wife, Mischa Johnson, was 19 years old and six months pregnant at the time of her death July 12, 2024. Her body has not been found.
Johnson, of the 25th Infantry Division, told the judge during testimony in a military courtroom that he hit his wife with a machete in their home at the Schofield Barracks military base on Oahu after an argument, KITV reported.
He said he snapped after his wife yelled that his child won’t know that he existed. He hit her on the head, and she stopped breathing and didn’t have a pulse. He said he didn’t intend to kill her.
“I couldn’t picture my life without my child,” he said. “I regret, I shouldn’t have done it.”
He used a chain saw to cut up his wife’s body to hide the killing and placed her body parts in garbage bags that he put in a dumpster in his unit. He said had heard the garbage was taken from there straight to an incinerator.
Johnson reported his wife missing July 31, more than two weeks after her death. He joined search parties looking for her around Oahu. He was charged with her murder Aug. 27 after Army investigators found blood, DNA and other evidence in his home.
Prosecutors said Johnson, from Frederick, Maryland, received the maximum sentence allowed under law. They dropped child sexual abuse image charges under the terms of his plea agreement.
Johnson’s rank will be reduced to private and he will forfeit pay and allowances and be dishonorably discharged. He will serve his sentence in a military prison at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.
Marianna Tapiz told KITV it was shocking and painful to hear what happened to her sister.
“As a family together, we’re just trying not to focus on the horrific details of her last moment with him,” Tapiz said. “And instead, right now, we’re trying to just remember the happy memories that we have and remember her in that life.”
Army prosecutor Lt. Col. Nicholas Hurd, said he hoped the justice proceedings will help the family heal.
“While no amount of confinement will ever be able to truly ease the pain of the loss of Ms. Johnson and her unborn child for her family and friends, it is my hope that Pfc. Johnson’s admissions of guilt and the information he provided as part of the plea agreement can provide some element of closure and finality for the family and all stakeholders,” Hurd said in a statement.
Florida
Sheriff arrested on charges of conspiracy as part of gambling probe
KISSIMMEE, Fla. (AP) — A sheriff in central Florida was arrested Thursday on charges of racketeering and conspiracy as part of what state authorities described as a probe into a massive gambling operation.
Osceola County Sheriff Marcos Lopez was arrested on first-degree felonies and taken to the jail in nearby Lake County, Florida. Osceola County is south of Orlando, and part of the county is home to Walt Disney World.
Lopez took campaign contributions and personal payments as well as protected the gambling operation, according to a statement put out by Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier.
Gov. Ron DeSantis suspended Lopez in an executive order and appointed a Florida Highway Patrol official to be the county’s sheriff.
The operation, which involved four other defendants, ran a lottery, slot machines and a “gambling house” out of a business known as Fusion Social Club in a tourist-heavy area of Kissimmee, Florida, according to court documents. The organization took in more than $21.6 million in illicit proceeds, authorities said.
“As law enforcement, we are held to higher standards of integrity and character than other professions,” Florida Department of Law Enforcement Commissioner Mark Glass said in a statement. “This case revealed that Lopez violated the trust and integrity expected of him as the duly elected sheriff of Osceola County.”
An inquiry sent to the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office wasn’t initially answered.
County Manager Don Fisher said in a statement that the county played no role in the investigation and that county officials were prepared to support the interim sheriff.
In December, Lopez pleaded no contest to violating state records laws and agreed to pay a $250 fine for posting online an image of the body of 13-year-old Madeline Soto. The boyfriend of the girl’s mother has been charged with her death.
California
Yoga classes return to park after appeals court deems them ‘protected speech’
SAN DIEGO (AP) — Steve Hubbard was back teaching yoga in a San Diego beachfront park on Thursday, the day after a federal appeals court ruled against the California city’s ban on his classes in shoreline parks and beaches.
“We’re all happy to be back,” Hubbard, who is known as “NamaSteve,” said as at least a dozen mat-toting enthusiasts wrapped up class beneath towering palm trees with a view of waves crashing onto Pacific Beach.
The decision by a three-judge panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals came after Hubbard and another instructor sued over a 2024 law that barred yoga classes in shoreline parks and beaches in San Diego for at least four or more people — a move local officials said was aimed at a range of activities to ensure that public spaces are truly available to all members of the public.
The panel found the ordinance violated the instructors’ rights and that teaching yoga is “protected speech.”
San Diego is known for its picturesque beaches and bountiful sunshine and visitors flock to the city to surf, swim and spot sea lions— especially during the peak summer season.
City attorneys wrote in court filings the rule isn’t specific to yoga but to commercial activity, and Hubbard’s classes can draw as many as 100 people who give donations for each class ranging from $5 to $40.
“The City’s legitimate governmental interests in this case include the preservation, safety, and orderly use of its parks and beaches by all visitors and residents who visit them,” San Diego’s attorneys wrote in court papers, adding that the city and county drew 32 million visitors in 2023.
A hearing is scheduled for Thursday afternoon to discuss the details of the appellate ruling, which calls for the ordinance to be put on hold for the instructors while their case is pending.
The San Diego city attorney’s office declined to immediately comment on the case and said in a statement it is evaluating the ruling.
Hubbard said he was cited at least ten times since the ordinance took effect for classes that he said are free since payment isn’t required and anyone can attend. He said he has not yet gone to court on the citations.
Rather, outdoor yoga is a service to those who are disabled or can’t afford yoga classes elsewhere, said Bryan Pease, an attorney for the two instructors.
“It is a popular thing here. We’re a beach community, and it’s a way for people to access yoga that they wouldn’t otherwise be able to,” Pease said.
Due to the ordinance, Pease said his clients began streaming classes from his backyard, which is across the street from the beachfront location. His students continued to gather to follow him online, and Pease said Hubbard was cited by a park official for running classes in the park even though he wasn’t there.
At the Pacific Beach park, yoga student John Noack said he previously tried studio classes but didn’t like them and relishes the exercise he gets from practicing outside with an ocean breeze.
Noack, who has attended Hubbard’s classes for four years, said he thinks the group was targeted because wealthy homeowners in the area didn’t want so many people in their oceanfront views.
“I personally see this as a triumph of community over a handful of elites,” Noack said.
California
Jury awards prosecutor $3M after she says she was forced out of her position
SAN DIEGO (AP) — A jury in California on Thursday awarded more than $3 million in damages to a former Orange County prosecutor who alleged the county’s district attorney targeted her and forced her out of her position after she tried to protect women in the office from retaliation for accusing a supervisor of sexual harassment.
The verdict marks the end of a two-week trial in San Diego in which former district attorney supervisor Tracy Miller accused Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer and former Chief Assistant District Attorney Shawn Nelson of a laundry list of misconduct that she said the county did not reasonably respond to, the Orange County Register reported.
The penalties awarded were for the former high-ranking prosecutor’s future economic loss and emotional distress.
Miller sued the county, Spitzer and Nelson after she said she was essentially forced to leave her position in 2021. Spitzer and Nelson have denied these claims, while their attorney said Miller was not demoted and didn’t lose pay or job duties.
Spitzer said in a statement that he respects the jury’s decision but that when he became district attorney in 2019, he “inherited an office in chaos” and did the best he could given the many overwhelming issues they were facing.
“I am heartbroken over the fact that any of my actions could have been interpreted as anything other than a good faith effort to clean up the public corruption in the Orange County District Attorney’s Office and to create a work ethic that adheres to what Orange County residents demand of its District Attorney,” he said.
Miller accused Spitzer and Nelson of humiliating her, using “gender-based slurs,” disrespecting her and undermining her authority.
She said the situation became especially contentious after she cooperated with the investigator looking into sexual harassment allegations against then-district attorney supervisor Gary Logalbo in 2020.
She accused Nelson of speaking badly about the women who spoke out. She also said Spitzer attempted to get one of the women written up for accusing Logalbo, who was the best man at Spitzer’s wedding.
Afterwards, Miller said Spitzer targeted her and criticized her for taking notes during executive meetings, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Spitzer and Nelson have denied these claims.
Logalbo, who died in 2021, was found to have harassed four female attorneys.
The county, Spitzer and Nelson are liable for the $3 million in damages.
Miller was also awarded $25,000 in punitive damages, less than the more than $300,000 requested by her attorney.
Tracey Kennedy, an attorney for the county, Spitzer and Nelson had argued against punitive damages beyond the $3 million, saying the verdict was enough.
Darvish said in court on Thursday that Miller had long dreamed of being a prosecutor and had had that position taken from her. He also said that she had opened the door for future generations of female prosecutors.
When Spitzer became district attorney, federal authorities were investigating allegations that county officials illegally used prisoners to try to get incriminating information from defendants awaiting trial.
County authorities have repeatedly denied the existence of such an operation.
Miller, who had been a prosecutor for more than 20 years, was overseeing such important assignments as opioid litigation and the Huntington Beach oil spill, according to Spitzer.
