Texas
AG can’t depose Catholic Charities leader in migrant aid case, appeals court rules
A Texas appeals court this week denied Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office’s request to question a nun who leads Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley, one of the state’s largest migrant aid organizations.
In a 2-1 ruling issued on Monday, the three-judge panel of the 15th Court of Appeals reaffirmed a lower court’s ruling from last year. The 11-page ruling said the attorney general’s office had the “burden of proof to demonstrate that the benefits of forcing a pre-suit deposition outweigh the burdens to Catholic Charities.”
“Given Catholic Charities’ cooperation with the investigation, the documents it produced, and its provision of a sworn statement answering the (Office of the Attorney General’s) questions, the trial court was within its discretion to deny” Paxton’s request to question Sister Norma Pimentel, the leader of the Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley.
The case is one of several in which the attorney general’s office has targeted groups that work with migrants across the state. The probes began after Republican Gov. Greg Abbott in December 2022 directed Paxton’s office to investigate “the role non-governmental organizations may have in planning and assisting illegal border crossings into Texas.”
As part of these efforts, in March 2024, Paxton’s office requested a sworn statement and to make a representative of the organization available for questioning. Catholic Charities declined and instead provided more than 100 pages of documents and a sworn statement from Pimentel.
Unsatisfied with the organization’s response, Paxton’s office asked a judge to allow Paxton’s investigators to question the Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley’s leadership. In July 2024, a state judge in Hidalgo County denied Paxton’s request after an evidentiary hearing.
In Texas, lawyers can question someone under oath for an investigation before a lawsuit is filed, but they need a judge’s approval to do so.
Last year, in a statement after the ruling, Pimentel said the organization would “always strive to fulfill its legal obligations” while continuing its mission.
Oklahoma
Former NFL player convicted in large-scale dogfighting venture
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — A former NFL player from Oklahoma has been convicted for his role in a large-scale dogfighting operation, federal prosecutors announced.
Leshon Eugene Johnson, 54, of Broken Arrow was convicted of six felony counts of possessing dogs for use in an animal-fighting venture. He was acquitted of 17 other similar counts. He faces up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 on each count when he’s formally sentenced at a later date.
“The FBI will not stand for those who perpetuate the despicable crime of dogfighting,” FBI Director Kash Patel said in a statement. “Thanks to the hard work of our law enforcement partners, those who continue to engage in organized animal fighting and cruelty will face justice.”
Prosecutors alleged that Johnson operated Mal Kant Kennels in Broken Arrow and Haskell, Oklahoma, and selectively bred pit bull-type dogs known as champions or grand champions because of winning dog fights. Earlier this year, the government seized 190 dogs from Johnson that have been in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.
Johnson allegedly bred dogs that had won as many as five fights and then sold “stud rights” and their offspring to other dogfighters, according to the Justice Department. The trafficking took place across the U.S. and helped to grow the dogfighting industry, while resulting in Johnson profiting financially, prosecutors alleged.
Johnson’s attorney, Billy Coyle, said his client was a dog breeder who was never accused of fighting dogs and noted that the jury acquitted Johnson on most of the counts against him.
“He was simply a breeder of the American pit bull terrier,” Coyle said. “Obviously the jury found that some of his dogs bred were probably or were used in dog fighting, and those were difficult charges to fight.”
Coyle said federal agents also used heavy-handed tactics, with more than 40 officers raiding his home late at night, pointing guns at Johnson and his wife and seizing his dogs and property.
Johnson previously pleaded guilty to state animal fighting charges in 2004 in Oklahoma. He was given a five-year deferred sentence, according to court documents.
Johnson was a running back who played for the Green Bay Packers, Arizona Cardinals and New York Giants from 1994-1999.
New Jersey
State says 3 chemical makers agree to ‘forever chemical’ settlement worth up to $2 billion
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — DuPont and two other companies will pay New Jersey up to $2 billion to settle environmental claims stemming from PFAS, commonly referred to as “forever chemicals,” the companies announced Monday.
State Environmental Commissioner Shawn LaTourette said the deal with DuPont, Chemours and Corteva is the largest such settlement in the state’s history. It calls for the companies to pay $875 million over 25 years and create a remediation fund of up $1.2 billion. The companies will split the costs under the deal, which must still be approved by the courts.
PFAS, or perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are a group of chemicals that have been around for decades and have now spread into the nation’s air, water and soil. They are commonly referred to as “forever chemicals.”
DuPont said the settlement will resolve “all pending environmental and other claims” for “legacy” contamination claims at four sites where the companies operated in the state. It comes just months after the state said chemical manufacturer 3M has agreed to pay up $450 million to resolve lawsuits over natural resource contamination stemming from PFAS.
“Polluters who place profit above public well-being by releasing poisonous PFAS and other contamination in our State can expect to be held responsible to clean up their mess and fully compensate the State and its citizens for the precious natural resources they’ve damaged or destroyed,” LaTourette said.
PFAS were manufactured by companies such as 3M, Chemours and others because they were incredibly useful. They helped eggs slide across non-stick frying pans, ensured that firefighting foam suffocates flames and helped clothes withstand rain and keep people dry.
The chemicals resist breaking down, though, meaning they linger in the environment.
Environmental activists say PFAS makers knew about the health harms of PFAS long before they were made public. The same attributes that make the chemicals so valuable – resistance to breakdown – make them hazardous to people.
PFAS accumulate in the body, which is why the Environmental Protection Agency set their limits for drinking water at 4 parts per trillion for two common types — PFOA and PFOS — that are phased out of manufacturing but still are present in the environment.
California
‘Ketamine Queen’ accused of selling Matthew Perry fatal dose gets September trial date
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A woman charged with selling Matthew Perry the dose of ketamine that killed him is headed for a September trial.
Jasveen Sangha’s trial — the only one forthcoming in the death of the “Friends” star after four other defendants reached plea agreements with prosecutors — is now set to begin Sept. 23 after an order Tuesday from a federal judge in Los Angeles.
The 42-year-old Sangha, who prosecutors say was known to her customers as “The Ketamine Queen,” is charged with five counts of ketamine distribution, including one count of distribution resulting in death. She has pleaded not guilty and has been held in federal custody since her arrest last year.
Her trial had been scheduled to start Aug. 19, but the judge postponed it for the fourth time since her April 2024 indictment after both sides agreed it should be moved.
Sangha’s lawyers said they needed the time to go through the huge amount of evidence they have received from the prosecution and to finish their own investigation.
Sangha was one of the two biggest targets in the investigation of Perry’s death, along with Dr. Salvador Plasencia, who pleaded guilty to ketamine
distribution last month. Perry’s personal assistant, his friend and another doctor also entered guilty pleas and are cooperating with prosecutors. All are awaiting sentencing.
Perry, who was found dead at age 54 at his home on Oct. 23, 2023, had been getting ketamine from his regular doctor for treatment of depression, an increasingly common off-label use for the surgical anesthetic.
But prosecutors say when the doctor wouldn’t give Perry as much as he wanted, he illegally sought more from Plasencia, then still more from Sangha, who they say presented herself as “a celebrity drug dealer with high quality goods.”
Perry’s assistant and friend said in their plea agreements that they acted as middlemen to buy large amounts of ketamine for Perry from Sangha, including 25 vials for $6,000 in cash a few days before his death. Prosecutors allege that included the doses that killed Perry.
Oregon
Man accused of killing 3 women and dumping their bodies indicted on 4th murder charge
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A man accused of killing three women in the Portland area and dumping their bodies has been indicted on a fourth murder charge, authorities said Tuesday.
A grand jury has indicted Jesse Lee Calhoun in the November 2022 death of 22-year-old Kristin Smith, Multnomah County District Attorney Nathan Vasquez said during a news conference. The new indictment, which comes roughly 2 1/2 years after Smith’s remains were found, adds one count each of second-degree murder and abuse of a corpse to Calhoun’s case.
Calhoun was indicted last year in the deaths of Charity Perry, 24; Bridget Webster, 31; and Joanna Speaks, 32. He pleaded not guilty to the three counts each of second-degree murder and abuse of a corpse in the initial indictment.
He remains in custody in Multnomah County’s Inverness Jail, and his trial is expected to be held in 2027, authorities said. His defense attorney, Cameron Taylor, declined to comment.
Melissa Smith, Kristin Smith’s mother, said she was “overwhelmed with emotion.”
“I’ve always stayed hopeful that I would get justice for Kristin,” she said at the news conference. “I thank every single person who didn’t give up on this case.”
Perry, Webster and Smith were found in Oregon, while Speaks was found in an abandoned barn in southwestern Washington. Their bodies were found over several months starting in early 2023 — in wooded areas, in a culvert and under a bridge — in a roughly 100-mile (160-kilometer) radius, sparking concern that a serial killer might be targeting young women in the region.
Police and prosecutors have shared little information in the case. The death of another woman during that time period is still being investigated, Vasquez said.
Calhoun was arrested in June 2023 on unrelated parole warrants and indicted in May 2024 in the women’s deaths. The indictment came weeks before Calhoun was due to be released from state prison, where he was returned in 2023 to finish serving a four-year term for assaulting a police officer, trying to strangle a police dog, burglary and other charges.
He was initially released in 2021, a year early, because he helped fight wildfires in 2020 under a prison firefighting program. Gov. Tina Kotek revoked the commutation in 2023 when police began investigating him in the deaths.
AG can’t depose Catholic Charities leader in migrant aid case, appeals court rules
A Texas appeals court this week denied Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office’s request to question a nun who leads Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley, one of the state’s largest migrant aid organizations.
In a 2-1 ruling issued on Monday, the three-judge panel of the 15th Court of Appeals reaffirmed a lower court’s ruling from last year. The 11-page ruling said the attorney general’s office had the “burden of proof to demonstrate that the benefits of forcing a pre-suit deposition outweigh the burdens to Catholic Charities.”
“Given Catholic Charities’ cooperation with the investigation, the documents it produced, and its provision of a sworn statement answering the (Office of the Attorney General’s) questions, the trial court was within its discretion to deny” Paxton’s request to question Sister Norma Pimentel, the leader of the Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley.
The case is one of several in which the attorney general’s office has targeted groups that work with migrants across the state. The probes began after Republican Gov. Greg Abbott in December 2022 directed Paxton’s office to investigate “the role non-governmental organizations may have in planning and assisting illegal border crossings into Texas.”
As part of these efforts, in March 2024, Paxton’s office requested a sworn statement and to make a representative of the organization available for questioning. Catholic Charities declined and instead provided more than 100 pages of documents and a sworn statement from Pimentel.
Unsatisfied with the organization’s response, Paxton’s office asked a judge to allow Paxton’s investigators to question the Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley’s leadership. In July 2024, a state judge in Hidalgo County denied Paxton’s request after an evidentiary hearing.
In Texas, lawyers can question someone under oath for an investigation before a lawsuit is filed, but they need a judge’s approval to do so.
Last year, in a statement after the ruling, Pimentel said the organization would “always strive to fulfill its legal obligations” while continuing its mission.
Oklahoma
Former NFL player convicted in large-scale dogfighting venture
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — A former NFL player from Oklahoma has been convicted for his role in a large-scale dogfighting operation, federal prosecutors announced.
Leshon Eugene Johnson, 54, of Broken Arrow was convicted of six felony counts of possessing dogs for use in an animal-fighting venture. He was acquitted of 17 other similar counts. He faces up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 on each count when he’s formally sentenced at a later date.
“The FBI will not stand for those who perpetuate the despicable crime of dogfighting,” FBI Director Kash Patel said in a statement. “Thanks to the hard work of our law enforcement partners, those who continue to engage in organized animal fighting and cruelty will face justice.”
Prosecutors alleged that Johnson operated Mal Kant Kennels in Broken Arrow and Haskell, Oklahoma, and selectively bred pit bull-type dogs known as champions or grand champions because of winning dog fights. Earlier this year, the government seized 190 dogs from Johnson that have been in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.
Johnson allegedly bred dogs that had won as many as five fights and then sold “stud rights” and their offspring to other dogfighters, according to the Justice Department. The trafficking took place across the U.S. and helped to grow the dogfighting industry, while resulting in Johnson profiting financially, prosecutors alleged.
Johnson’s attorney, Billy Coyle, said his client was a dog breeder who was never accused of fighting dogs and noted that the jury acquitted Johnson on most of the counts against him.
“He was simply a breeder of the American pit bull terrier,” Coyle said. “Obviously the jury found that some of his dogs bred were probably or were used in dog fighting, and those were difficult charges to fight.”
Coyle said federal agents also used heavy-handed tactics, with more than 40 officers raiding his home late at night, pointing guns at Johnson and his wife and seizing his dogs and property.
Johnson previously pleaded guilty to state animal fighting charges in 2004 in Oklahoma. He was given a five-year deferred sentence, according to court documents.
Johnson was a running back who played for the Green Bay Packers, Arizona Cardinals and New York Giants from 1994-1999.
New Jersey
State says 3 chemical makers agree to ‘forever chemical’ settlement worth up to $2 billion
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — DuPont and two other companies will pay New Jersey up to $2 billion to settle environmental claims stemming from PFAS, commonly referred to as “forever chemicals,” the companies announced Monday.
State Environmental Commissioner Shawn LaTourette said the deal with DuPont, Chemours and Corteva is the largest such settlement in the state’s history. It calls for the companies to pay $875 million over 25 years and create a remediation fund of up $1.2 billion. The companies will split the costs under the deal, which must still be approved by the courts.
PFAS, or perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are a group of chemicals that have been around for decades and have now spread into the nation’s air, water and soil. They are commonly referred to as “forever chemicals.”
DuPont said the settlement will resolve “all pending environmental and other claims” for “legacy” contamination claims at four sites where the companies operated in the state. It comes just months after the state said chemical manufacturer 3M has agreed to pay up $450 million to resolve lawsuits over natural resource contamination stemming from PFAS.
“Polluters who place profit above public well-being by releasing poisonous PFAS and other contamination in our State can expect to be held responsible to clean up their mess and fully compensate the State and its citizens for the precious natural resources they’ve damaged or destroyed,” LaTourette said.
PFAS were manufactured by companies such as 3M, Chemours and others because they were incredibly useful. They helped eggs slide across non-stick frying pans, ensured that firefighting foam suffocates flames and helped clothes withstand rain and keep people dry.
The chemicals resist breaking down, though, meaning they linger in the environment.
Environmental activists say PFAS makers knew about the health harms of PFAS long before they were made public. The same attributes that make the chemicals so valuable – resistance to breakdown – make them hazardous to people.
PFAS accumulate in the body, which is why the Environmental Protection Agency set their limits for drinking water at 4 parts per trillion for two common types — PFOA and PFOS — that are phased out of manufacturing but still are present in the environment.
California
‘Ketamine Queen’ accused of selling Matthew Perry fatal dose gets September trial date
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A woman charged with selling Matthew Perry the dose of ketamine that killed him is headed for a September trial.
Jasveen Sangha’s trial — the only one forthcoming in the death of the “Friends” star after four other defendants reached plea agreements with prosecutors — is now set to begin Sept. 23 after an order Tuesday from a federal judge in Los Angeles.
The 42-year-old Sangha, who prosecutors say was known to her customers as “The Ketamine Queen,” is charged with five counts of ketamine distribution, including one count of distribution resulting in death. She has pleaded not guilty and has been held in federal custody since her arrest last year.
Her trial had been scheduled to start Aug. 19, but the judge postponed it for the fourth time since her April 2024 indictment after both sides agreed it should be moved.
Sangha’s lawyers said they needed the time to go through the huge amount of evidence they have received from the prosecution and to finish their own investigation.
Sangha was one of the two biggest targets in the investigation of Perry’s death, along with Dr. Salvador Plasencia, who pleaded guilty to ketamine
distribution last month. Perry’s personal assistant, his friend and another doctor also entered guilty pleas and are cooperating with prosecutors. All are awaiting sentencing.
Perry, who was found dead at age 54 at his home on Oct. 23, 2023, had been getting ketamine from his regular doctor for treatment of depression, an increasingly common off-label use for the surgical anesthetic.
But prosecutors say when the doctor wouldn’t give Perry as much as he wanted, he illegally sought more from Plasencia, then still more from Sangha, who they say presented herself as “a celebrity drug dealer with high quality goods.”
Perry’s assistant and friend said in their plea agreements that they acted as middlemen to buy large amounts of ketamine for Perry from Sangha, including 25 vials for $6,000 in cash a few days before his death. Prosecutors allege that included the doses that killed Perry.
Oregon
Man accused of killing 3 women and dumping their bodies indicted on 4th murder charge
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A man accused of killing three women in the Portland area and dumping their bodies has been indicted on a fourth murder charge, authorities said Tuesday.
A grand jury has indicted Jesse Lee Calhoun in the November 2022 death of 22-year-old Kristin Smith, Multnomah County District Attorney Nathan Vasquez said during a news conference. The new indictment, which comes roughly 2 1/2 years after Smith’s remains were found, adds one count each of second-degree murder and abuse of a corpse to Calhoun’s case.
Calhoun was indicted last year in the deaths of Charity Perry, 24; Bridget Webster, 31; and Joanna Speaks, 32. He pleaded not guilty to the three counts each of second-degree murder and abuse of a corpse in the initial indictment.
He remains in custody in Multnomah County’s Inverness Jail, and his trial is expected to be held in 2027, authorities said. His defense attorney, Cameron Taylor, declined to comment.
Melissa Smith, Kristin Smith’s mother, said she was “overwhelmed with emotion.”
“I’ve always stayed hopeful that I would get justice for Kristin,” she said at the news conference. “I thank every single person who didn’t give up on this case.”
Perry, Webster and Smith were found in Oregon, while Speaks was found in an abandoned barn in southwestern Washington. Their bodies were found over several months starting in early 2023 — in wooded areas, in a culvert and under a bridge — in a roughly 100-mile (160-kilometer) radius, sparking concern that a serial killer might be targeting young women in the region.
Police and prosecutors have shared little information in the case. The death of another woman during that time period is still being investigated, Vasquez said.
Calhoun was arrested in June 2023 on unrelated parole warrants and indicted in May 2024 in the women’s deaths. The indictment came weeks before Calhoun was due to be released from state prison, where he was returned in 2023 to finish serving a four-year term for assaulting a police officer, trying to strangle a police dog, burglary and other charges.
He was initially released in 2021, a year early, because he helped fight wildfires in 2020 under a prison firefighting program. Gov. Tina Kotek revoked the commutation in 2023 when police began investigating him in the deaths.
