(NEW YORK) — Three Trump associates allegedly tied to the former president’s efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election have been charged with forgery in Wisconsin.
Attorneys Kenneth Chesebro and James Troupis and former Trump staff member Michael Roman have been charged in connection with the alleged efforts.
Wisconsin is the fourth state to pursue election interference charges related to the 2020 election.
Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, several allies of former President Donald Trump and alleged fake electors pleaded not guilty in Arizona last month for their alleged efforts to overturn the state’s 2020 election results.
Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford in December announced felony charges against six alleged “fake electors” in that state.
Chesebro and Roman were charged alongside Trump and over a dozen others in Georgia last August in a sweeping racketeering indictment related to efforts overturn the 2020 election results in the state. All defendants pleaded not guilty.
In Michigan, Attorney General Dana Nessel similarly charged 16 “alternate electors” last July for conspiracy to commit forgery, among other charges.
(NORTH OLMSTED, Ohio.) — A woman allegedly stabbed a 3-year-old boy to death outside an Ohio grocery store in a random attack, according to police.
The little boy and his mother were both stabbed around 3 p.m. Monday in the parking lot of a Giant Eagle in North Olmsted, about 15 miles outside of Cleveland, according to North Olmsted police.
The boy suffered stab wounds to the back and cheek, police said. His mother, Margot Wood, survived with non-life-threatening injuries, police said.
The suspect, 32-year-old Bionca Ellis, was taken into custody, police said.
Ellis and the victims didn’t know each other, police said.
“Our hearts go out to the two victims of what appears to be a random act of violence,” North Olmsted Mayor Nicole Dailey Jones said in a statement.
Ellis is facing charges including aggravated murder, police said.
Hunter Biden, son of U.S. President Joe Biden, departs the J. Caleb Boggs Federal Building and United States Courthouse on July 26, 2023 in Wilmington, Delaware. (Photo by Mark M
(WILMINGTON, Del.) — President Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden is on trial in Delaware on three felony charges related to his efforts to obtain a firearm in 2018 while allegedly addicted to drugs.
The son of a sitting president has never before faced a criminal trial.
The frequency of updates may be limited due to federal court restrictions:
Jun 04, 7:26 AM Arguments to get underway this morning
Hunter Biden returns to court this morning for the start of arguments in his federal gun trial.
Attorneys with special counsel David Weiss’ office and lawyers for Hunter Biden are both scheduled to deliver opening statements in the case.
Judge Maryellen Noreika yesterday swore in a jury of six men and six women, completing the jury selection process in a single day to put the trial two days ahead of schedule.
Jun 03, 6:06 PM Friends, family look on during Day 1 in court
Hunter Biden spent the first day of his gun trial taking notes, reading documents placed in front of him by his attorneys, and often turning to catch a glimpse of the friends and family who came to court to support him.
At one point, he nodded along as a prospective juror spoke about her friend’s overdose after addiction.
Jill Biden was seated behind Hunter Biden all day, and she watched attentively as some jurors told the court that they had such a skewed view of her family that they could not be impartial. The first lady did not appear to react in those moments, but at times her daughter Ashley Biden placed her hand on the first lady’s back in support.
Hunter Biden’s family members also appeared to be actively involved with his defense strategy — at one point standing up and huddling with Hunter Biden’s attorneys Abbe Lowell and David Kolansky after a sidebar.
When court was dismissed, Jill Biden gave Hunter Biden a hug and a kiss before he walked out hand-in-hand with his wife.
Jun 03, 5:49 PM After opening statements, FBI agent will be first witness
Hunter Biden and his stepmother, first lady Jill Biden, departed court at the conclusion of the day’s jury selection proceedings.
With opening statements set for Tuesday, prosecutors said their first witness would be FBI Special Agent Erika Jensen, who will introduce into evidence several of Hunter Biden’s text messages, as well as excerpts from his 2021 memoir, Beautiful Things, and other evidence.
The parties had carved out three days to select a jury, which means the proceedings are currently running ahead of schedule.
Judge Maryellen Noreika told jurors they would likely need to be available for the trial through June 14, with the possibility of deliberations stretching into the week of June 17.
Jun 03, 5:32 PM Jury of six men, six women will hear openings Tuesday
A jury of six men and six women is scheduled to hear opening statements Tuesday in Hunter Biden’s federal gun trial.
An additional four women were chosen as the alternate jurors.
The jurors include a Secret Service retiree, a man whose father was killed by a gun, and a number of jurors whose family and friends have suffered from addiction — a central theme in the case against Hunter Biden.
Juror No. 1 is a woman who recently heard about Hunter Biden’s case on the evening news. Said said her sister is also an addict, but is “currently clean.”
Juror No. 2 is a woman who worked for the Secret Service for nearly 25 years and is now retired. Her husband was a uniformed officer in Washington, D.C.
Juror No. 3 is woman who gets her news from YouTube. When asked what she has heard about the case, she said that it involves guns and drugs.
Juror No. 4 is a woman who said she feels people who smoke weed “should not be allowed” to own a gun, but said she could set that aside.
Juror No. 5 is a currently unemployed man who previously received a DUI for which he pleaded guilty.
Juror No. 6 is a man who said he previously knew about the case. He currently owns three pistols and said, “I believe the Second Amendment is very important.”
Juror No. 7 is a man whose father owned a firearm. He said he knows “some” gun laws.
Juror No. 8 is a man whose father was killed by a gun in 2004. He has a brother who was arrested for drug possession and was sentenced to prison.
Juror No. 9 is a woman whose home was burglarized years ago. She purchased a gun and has had it for over 20 years.
Juror No. 10 is a man whose brother and brother-in-law both suffered from alcoholism and are now both deceased. His niece and nephew both own guns.
Juror No. 11 is a woman whose family hunts and has hunting rifles. She said her “childhood best friend” passed away from a drug overdose.
Juror No. 12 is a man whose older brother is an addict who has been to rehab multiple times for PCP and heroin. He said the brother had a gun but he was not sure when.
Jun 03, 4:24 PM Jury is seated
The jury of 12 jurors and four alternates has been seated in Hunter Biden’s federal gun trial.
The panel was picked from 250 prospective jurors who arrived at the courthouse this morning for the voir dire process.
Jun 03, 1:50 PM Many prospective jurors know of Hunter Biden’s travails
Judge Maryellen Noreika has so far quizzed more than 50 Delaware residents about their fitness to serve as jurors in the first trial of a sitting president’s son. And being Delaware — a small state that Joe Biden represented in the Senate for more than three decades — nearly all of them had some level of familiarity with Hunter Biden’s legal travails.
“I live in Delaware,” one prospective juror said. “You can’t swing a cat without hearing something.”
“Delaware is a small place,” another said. “So you hear stuff.”
Several jurors said they had heard or read about this trial specifically. Most had only a cursory understanding of the case, but others expressed a detailed accounting of the charges. A few jurors mentioned the ill-fated plea deal that Hunter Biden initially struck with prosecutors last summer.
“At one time there was a deal, and then there wasn’t,” one man said.
One woman had even read Hunter Biden’s memoir, “Beautiful Things,” which prosecutors plan to use to help prove their case. She was excused by the judge.
President Joe Biden has emerged repeatedly in questioning, with prospective jurors expressing both positive and negative feelings on his presidency. One woman said she believed that Hunter Biden was facing charges largely because his father is the president.
“I think it was a very strong factor,” she said.
Several others have been dismissed for harboring negative views toward the Bidens. Asked for his opinion about the president, one man said, “Not a good one.” Another man said, “Negative toward the defendant.” Both were excused.
The jury questionnaire also includes several questions about drug and alcohol addiction — an affliction that many prospective jurors said has personally affected them.
One woman held back tears as she described how her best friend had died of a heroine overdose. Another man said his daughter is a recovering addict.
“Everybody needs a second chance,” he said.
Judge Noreika has been pressing ahead, intent on getting a jury seated as soon as possible — perhaps even by the end of the day.
In addition first lady Jill Biden and Hunter Biden’s wife Melissa, his sister Ashley Biden attended court during the morning session, and his confidant and financier Kevin Morris is also in attendance.
Jun 03, 10:26 AM President Biden says he has ‘boundless love’ for his son
President Joe Biden said in a statement issued this morning that he has “boundless love” for his son.
“I am the President, but I am also a Dad. Jill and I love our son, and we are so proud of the man he is today. Hunter’s resilience in the face of adversity and the strength he has brought to his recovery are inspiring to us,” Biden said in the statement as jury selection got underway.
“A lot of families have loved ones who have overcome addiction and know what we mean,” the president said.
“As the President, I don’t and won’t comment on pending federal cases, but as a Dad, I have boundless love for my son, confidence in him, and respect for his strength,” he said. “Our family has been through a lot together, and Jill and I are going to continue to be there for Hunter and our family with our love and support.”
Jun 03, 10:10 AM Jurors face individual questioning as Jill Biden looks on
After filling out the jury questionnaire, the first panel of prospective jurors are being brought into the court room one-by-one to face individual questioning from the judge and both parties. As of about 9:45 a.m. ET, the court had made it through the questioning of just six jurors.
The prospective jurors so far have include a woman who worked with the Secret Service for over two decades and whose husband was a uniformed officer in Washington, D.C., at locations including the White House.
One prospective juror who volunteered for Hilary Clinton’s 2008 campaign prompted the first mention of President Joe Biden — though not by name.
Judge Norieka asked that prospective juror if her work volunteering and donating to Democratic campaigns would prevent her from being fair in a case that involved “the son of the Democratic president of the United States.”
She said it would not.
The exchange occurred as first lady Jill Biden sat in the front row of the gallery, watching intently as each juror answered their questions. The first lady is sitting next to Hunter Biden’s wife, Melissa.
Earlier, a prospective juror was struck for cause because of his firm views on guns, after he told the judge he thought gun ownership was a “God-given right.” He said he would not be able to be impartial in a case where someone was prevented from buying a gun due to federal law.
Jun 03, 9:39 AM 1st batch of 50 jurors sworn in
Hunter Biden’s arrival through the front entrance of the J. Caleb Boggs Federal Building this morning means he would have passed an enormous portrait of his father, which hangs in every federal courthouse in the country.
The first batch of 50 jurors were sworn in by Judge Noreika, who instructed them not to discuss the case with anyone, including family, or to conduct any research on the case or to read any news about it.
Reporters monitoring the proceedings from the overflow room could not hear most of Noreika’s statement due to technical difficulties. As technicians tried to fix the issue, they turned on a TV that happened to be playing an attack ad against Joe Biden.
Jun 03, 8:58 AM Hunter Biden, first lady Jill Biden arrive at courthouse
Hunter Biden has arrived at the courthouse for the start of his federal gun trial this morning.
His mother, first lady Jill Biden, is also attending.
Jun 03, 7:46 AM Prospective jurors will be asked about president
Two hundred and fifty Delaware residents have been summoned to the courthouse in downtown Wilmington, where they will face typical questions about their fitness to serve as jurors.
But because this is the trial of the son of a sitting president, there will be some novel topics covered during the jury selection process known as “voir dire.”
Among the questions jurors will be asked: “If you were eligible to vote in any election(s) in which Joseph R. Biden was a candidate, would that fact prevent you from maintaining an open, impartial mind until all of the evidence is presented, and the instructions of the Court are given?”
And “Do you believe Robert Hunter Biden is being prosecuted in this case because his father is the President of the United States and a candidate for President?”
Jun 03, 7:20 AM Judge rules annotated form can’t be used as evidence
On the eve of trial, U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika threw a wrench in one of the key arguments attorneys for Hunter Biden were planning to advance, ruling that an annotated copy of the federal form Hunter Biden is accused of lying on would be excluded from evidence.
The original document, called an ATF Form 4473, was created in 2018 when Hunter Biden purchased the firearm. But in 2021, gun store employees made a copy that included some handwritten notes. Defense attorney Abbe Lowell contended that employees had “tampered with” the document, and that it raised questions about “who wrote what on the form, and when.”
Lowell hoped his argument would undermine the credibility of some key government witnesses — the people who sold Biden the gun — and potentially create a reasonable doubt that Hunter Biden was the one who actually checked that box.
Attorneys for special counsel David Weiss’ office have said the gun shop employees merely “annotated” the form and urged Noreika to prevent Lowell from introducing it into evidence.
Late Sunday, Noreika sided with Weiss.
Jun 03, 6:50 AM Jury selection set to get underway
Jury selection is scheduled to get underway today in the federal gun trial of Hunter Biden, who authorities say broke the law when he purchased a Colt revolver in 2018.
President Joe Biden’s son faces two counts of making false statements while purchasing the firearm and a third count of illegally obtaining it while addicted to drugs.
Although the charges together carry a possible sentence of up to 25 years, legal experts say that, as a first-time and nonviolent offender, Hunter Biden would not likely serve time if convicted.
The trial, in Delaware federal court, is expected to last two to three weeks.
Hunter Biden, son of U.S. President Joe Biden, departs the J. Caleb Boggs Federal Building and United States Courthouse on July 26, 2023 in Wilmington, Delaware. (Photo by Mark M
(WILMINGTON, Del.) — President Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden is on trial in Delaware on three felony charges related to his efforts to obtain a firearm in 2018 while allegedly addicted to drugs.
The son of a sitting president has never before faced a criminal trial.
The frequency of updates may be limited due to federal court restrictions:
Jun 03, 6:06 PM Friends, family look on during Day 1 in court
Hunter Biden spent the first day of his gun trial taking notes, reading documents placed in front of him by his attorneys, and often turning to catch a glimpse of the friends and family who came to court to support him.
At one point, he nodded along as a prospective juror spoke about her friend’s overdose after addiction.
Jill Biden was seated behind Hunter Biden all day, and she watched attentively as some jurors told the court that they had such a skewed view of her family that they could not be impartial. The first lady did not appear to react in those moments, but at times her daughter Ashley Biden placed her hand on the first lady’s back in support.
Hunter Biden’s family members also appeared to be actively involved with his defense strategy — at one point standing up and huddling with Hunter Biden’s attorneys Abbe Lowell and David Kolansky after a sidebar.
When court was dismissed, Jill Biden gave Hunter Biden a hug and a kiss before he walked out hand-in-hand with his wife.
Jun 03, 5:49 PM After opening statements, FBI agent will be first witness
Hunter Biden and his stepmother, first lady Jill Biden, departed court at the conclusion of the day’s jury selection proceedings.
With opening statements set for Tuesday, prosecutors said their first witness would be FBI Special Agent Erika Jensen, who will introduce into evidence several of Hunter Biden’s text messages, as well as excerpts from his 2021 memoir, Beautiful Things, and other evidence.
The parties had carved out three days to select a jury, which means the proceedings are currently running ahead of schedule.
Judge Maryellen Noreika told jurors they would likely need to be available for the trial through June 14, with the possibility of deliberations stretching into the week of June 17.
Jun 03, 5:32 PM Jury of six men, six women will hear openings Tuesday
A jury of six men and six women is scheduled to hear opening statements Tuesday in Hunter Biden’s federal gun trial.
An additional four women were chosen as the alternate jurors.
The jurors include a Secret Service retiree, a man whose father was killed by a gun, and a number of jurors whose family and friends have suffered from addiction — a central theme in the case against Hunter Biden.
Juror No. 1 is a woman who recently heard about Hunter Biden’s case on the evening news. Said said her sister is also an addict, but is “currently clean.”
Juror No. 2 is a woman who worked for the Secret Service for nearly 25 years and is now retired. Her husband was a uniformed officer in Washington, D.C.
Juror No. 3 is woman who gets her news from YouTube. When asked what she has heard about the case, she said that it involves guns and drugs.
Juror No. 4 is a woman who said she feels people who smoke weed “should not be allowed” to own a gun, but said she could set that aside.
Juror No. 5 is a currently unemployed man who previously received a DUI for which he pleaded guilty.
Juror No. 6 is a man who said he previously knew about the case. He currently owns three pistols and said, “I believe the Second Amendment is very important.”
Juror No. 7 is a man whose father owned a firearm. He said he knows “some” gun laws.
Juror No. 8 is a man whose father was killed by a gun in 2004. He has a brother who was arrested for drug possession and was sentenced to prison.
Juror No. 9 is a woman whose home was burglarized years ago. She purchased a gun and has had it for over 20 years.
Juror No. 10 is a man whose brother and brother-in-law both suffered from alcoholism and are now both deceased. His niece and nephew both own guns.
Juror No. 11 is a woman whose family hunts and has hunting rifles. She said her “childhood best friend” passed away from a drug overdose.
Juror No. 12 is a man whose older brother is an addict who has been to rehab multiple times for PCP and heroin. He said the brother had a gun but he was not sure when.
Jun 03, 4:24 PM Jury is seated
The jury of 12 jurors and four alternates has been seated in Hunter Biden’s federal gun trial.
The panel was picked from 250 prospective jurors who arrived at the courthouse this morning for the voir dire process.
Jun 03, 1:50 PM Many prospective jurors know of Hunter Biden’s travails
Judge Maryellen Noreika has so far quizzed more than 50 Delaware residents about their fitness to serve as jurors in the first trial of a sitting president’s son. And being Delaware — a small state that Joe Biden represented in the Senate for more than three decades — nearly all of them had some level of familiarity with Hunter Biden’s legal travails.
“I live in Delaware,” one prospective juror said. “You can’t swing a cat without hearing something.”
“Delaware is a small place,” another said. “So you hear stuff.”
Several jurors said they had heard or read about this trial specifically. Most had only a cursory understanding of the case, but others expressed a detailed accounting of the charges. A few jurors mentioned the ill-fated plea deal that Hunter Biden initially struck with prosecutors last summer.
“At one time there was a deal, and then there wasn’t,” one man said.
One woman had even read Hunter Biden’s memoir, “Beautiful Things,” which prosecutors plan to use to help prove their case. She was excused by the judge.
President Joe Biden has emerged repeatedly in questioning, with prospective jurors expressing both positive and negative feelings on his presidency. One woman said she believed that Hunter Biden was facing charges largely because his father is the president.
“I think it was a very strong factor,” she said.
Several others have been dismissed for harboring negative views toward the Bidens. Asked for his opinion about the president, one man said, “Not a good one.” Another man said, “Negative toward the defendant.” Both were excused.
The jury questionnaire also includes several questions about drug and alcohol addiction — an affliction that many prospective jurors said has personally affected them.
One woman held back tears as she described how her best friend had died of a heroine overdose. Another man said his daughter is a recovering addict.
“Everybody needs a second chance,” he said.
Judge Noreika has been pressing ahead, intent on getting a jury seated as soon as possible — perhaps even by the end of the day.
In addition first lady Jill Biden and Hunter Biden’s wife Melissa, his sister Ashley Biden attended court during the morning session, and his confidant and financier Kevin Morris is also in attendance.
Jun 03, 10:26 AM President Biden says he has ‘boundless love’ for his son
President Joe Biden said in a statement issued this morning that he has “boundless love” for his son.
“I am the President, but I am also a Dad. Jill and I love our son, and we are so proud of the man he is today. Hunter’s resilience in the face of adversity and the strength he has brought to his recovery are inspiring to us,” Biden said in the statement as jury selection got underway.
“A lot of families have loved ones who have overcome addiction and know what we mean,” the president said.
“As the President, I don’t and won’t comment on pending federal cases, but as a Dad, I have boundless love for my son, confidence in him, and respect for his strength,” he said. “Our family has been through a lot together, and Jill and I are going to continue to be there for Hunter and our family with our love and support.”
Jun 03, 10:10 AM Jurors face individual questioning as Jill Biden looks on
After filling out the jury questionnaire, the first panel of prospective jurors are being brought into the court room one-by-one to face individual questioning from the judge and both parties. As of about 9:45 a.m. ET, the court had made it through the questioning of just six jurors.
The prospective jurors so far have include a woman who worked with the Secret Service for over two decades and whose husband was a uniformed officer in Washington, D.C., at locations including the White House.
One prospective juror who volunteered for Hilary Clinton’s 2008 campaign prompted the first mention of President Joe Biden — though not by name.
Judge Norieka asked that prospective juror if her work volunteering and donating to Democratic campaigns would prevent her from being fair in a case that involved “the son of the Democratic president of the United States.”
She said it would not.
The exchange occurred as first lady Jill Biden sat in the front row of the gallery, watching intently as each juror answered their questions. The first lady is sitting next to Hunter Biden’s wife, Melissa.
Earlier, a prospective juror was struck for cause because of his firm views on guns, after he told the judge he thought gun ownership was a “God-given right.” He said he would not be able to be impartial in a case where someone was prevented from buying a gun due to federal law.
Jun 03, 9:39 AM 1st batch of 50 jurors sworn in
Hunter Biden’s arrival through the front entrance of the J. Caleb Boggs Federal Building this morning means he would have passed an enormous portrait of his father, which hangs in every federal courthouse in the country.
The first batch of 50 jurors were sworn in by Judge Noreika, who instructed them not to discuss the case with anyone, including family, or to conduct any research on the case or to read any news about it.
Reporters monitoring the proceedings from the overflow room could not hear most of Noreika’s statement due to technical difficulties. As technicians tried to fix the issue, they turned on a TV that happened to be playing an attack ad against Joe Biden.
Jun 03, 8:58 AM Hunter Biden, first lady Jill Biden arrive at courthouse
Hunter Biden has arrived at the courthouse for the start of his federal gun trial this morning.
His mother, first lady Jill Biden, is also attending.
Jun 03, 7:46 AM Prospective jurors will be asked about president
Two hundred and fifty Delaware residents have been summoned to the courthouse in downtown Wilmington, where they will face typical questions about their fitness to serve as jurors.
But because this is the trial of the son of a sitting president, there will be some novel topics covered during the jury selection process known as “voir dire.”
Among the questions jurors will be asked: “If you were eligible to vote in any election(s) in which Joseph R. Biden was a candidate, would that fact prevent you from maintaining an open, impartial mind until all of the evidence is presented, and the instructions of the Court are given?”
And “Do you believe Robert Hunter Biden is being prosecuted in this case because his father is the President of the United States and a candidate for President?”
Jun 03, 7:20 AM Judge rules annotated form can’t be used as evidence
On the eve of trial, U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika threw a wrench in one of the key arguments attorneys for Hunter Biden were planning to advance, ruling that an annotated copy of the federal form Hunter Biden is accused of lying on would be excluded from evidence.
The original document, called an ATF Form 4473, was created in 2018 when Hunter Biden purchased the firearm. But in 2021, gun store employees made a copy that included some handwritten notes. Defense attorney Abbe Lowell contended that employees had “tampered with” the document, and that it raised questions about “who wrote what on the form, and when.”
Lowell hoped his argument would undermine the credibility of some key government witnesses — the people who sold Biden the gun — and potentially create a reasonable doubt that Hunter Biden was the one who actually checked that box.
Attorneys for special counsel David Weiss’ office have said the gun shop employees merely “annotated” the form and urged Noreika to prevent Lowell from introducing it into evidence.
Late Sunday, Noreika sided with Weiss.
Jun 03, 6:50 AM Jury selection set to get underway
Jury selection is scheduled to get underway today in the federal gun trial of Hunter Biden, who authorities say broke the law when he purchased a Colt revolver in 2018.
President Joe Biden’s son faces two counts of making false statements while purchasing the firearm and a third count of illegally obtaining it while addicted to drugs.
Although the charges together carry a possible sentence of up to 25 years, legal experts say that, as a first-time and nonviolent offender, Hunter Biden would not likely serve time if convicted.
The trial, in Delaware federal court, is expected to last two to three weeks.
(MINNEAPOLIS) — A Minnesota trooper who fatally shot an unarmed Black man during a routine traffic stop last July has had the charges against him dismissed.
Ryan Londregan, the white state trooper accused of killing Ricky Cobb II, 33, had faced charges of second-degree unintentional murder, first-degree assault and second-degree manslaughter. He previously pleaded not guilty.
In a statement Sunday night, Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty announced that the charges against Londregan would be thrown out. The dismissal comes after the defense said Londregan would testify that he saw Cobb “reach for the trooper’s firearm,” and that a Minnesota State Patrol trainer said “he never instructed officers to refrain from shooting into a moving vehicle.”
As a result of this new evidence, prosecutors determined they could no longer prove beyond a reasonable doubt “that Mr. Londregan’s actions were not an authorized use of force by a peace officer,” and decided to drop the case.
In a press conference Monday morning, Moriarty expressed regret that she would not be able to bring the case to trial.
“Ricky Cobb should be alive today,” she said. “And that makes our inability to move forward even more difficult for Mr. Cobb’s family and for our community. And for that, I’m deeply sorry.”
Civil rights attorneys Bakari Sellers, Harry Daniels and F. Clayton Tyler, who are representing the Cobb family, criticized the county attorney’s office, saying they had “bowed to political pressure to drop the charges.”
“Apparently, all you have to do to get away with murder is to bully the prosecutors enough and the charges will just go away,” the attorneys said in a statement. “The people don’t believe the excuses and neither do we.”
Cobb was pulled over on July 31, 2023, around 1:50 a.m. — initially because his taillights were out, but upon being stopped, troopers learned he was wanted for violating a protective order in a nearby county and were asked to take him into custody, according to the Minnesota Department of Public Safety.
Bodycam footage shows two troopers talking to Cobb while they stood outside the car. The troopers attempted to detain Cobb, but he allegedly refused to exit the car and tried to drive away. One of the troopers appeared to try to grab the steering wheel to stop him, but he drove away, the body camera video shows. A trooper, since identified as Londregan, shot multiple times at Cobb, who drove a short distance before striking a median and dying at the scene, authorities said.
Cobb’s family filed a federal lawsuit in April against Londregan — as well as Minnesota State Trooper Brett Seide, who was also involved in the traffic stop but was not charged in this case — accusing them of “unreasonable seizure” and “excessive use of force.”
In a press conference announcing the lawsuit, Olivia Stroh, the mother of Cobb’s 7-year-old son, called for justice in the case and revealed the trauma her young son is experiencing.
“I just want to say that the pain that I felt from having to tell my son that the person he looks up to — the person who’s supposed to protect and serve – he shot his daddy,” Stroh said of Londregan. “It’s horrifying to tell him that — he’s 7. And he doesn’t deserve this. Ricky doesn’t deserve this. His four other children don’t deserve this, and he absolutely needs justice.”
Cobb’s father, Ricky Cobb Jr., said in a press conference in January that he was struggling to stay strong for his family.
“This is a hard one,” he said. “I will say to any father who has lost his child, this takes you to a different level of how to stand strong. I had to stand strong for my kids.”
Londregan’s attorney, Christopher Madel, told ABC News in April that he would represent him in both the civil and criminal cases. “We will fight the civil case with the same vigor as we have the criminal case,” he said at the time.
In a statement after Londregan was first charged, Madel criticized prosecutors and described Londregan as a “hero.”
“This County Attorney has provided sweetheart deals to murderers and kidnappers, and now, today, she charges a hero. This County Attorney is literally out of control,” Madel said. “Open season on law enforcement must end. And it’s going to end with this case.”
ABC News’ Dhanika Pineda and Davi Merchan contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — Two New York City police officers are recovering from injuries after both were shot early Monday while chasing a moped-riding suspect authorities described as an undocumented migrant from Venezuela.
The shooting unfolded in the borough of Queens, where the injured officers were working early Monday to address recent robbery patterns in the area. Victims had their cellphones snatched from their hands and at least one robbery victim was assaulted by suspects riding mopeds and scooters, according police.
One of the injured officers, 26-year-old Richard Yarusso, who joined the NYPD nearly three years ago, was saved by his bulletproof vest, which stopped a bullet from hitting him in the torso, officials said.
During a news conference Monday, New York City Mayor Eric Adams held up the officer’s body armor and pointed to a bullet hole, saying, “Because of this vest, a young police officer is going home.”
Adams, a former NYPD police captain, described the shooting as a “senseless act of violence, a total disregard for life.”
The other injured officer, Christopher Abreu, also 26, and a five-year veteran of the NYPD, was shot in the leg, according to NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban, who called the shooting another reminder of how NYPD officers “put themselves on the line to make sure our city is safe.”
“Every day, they go toward the danger and we saw it again early this morning,” Caban said.
Officers Yarusso and Abreu are assigned to the 115 Precinct’s public safety team and were working in East Elmhurst, Queens, when at 1:40 a.m. ET they saw the suspect, identified by police as Bernardo Raul Castro Mato, driving an unregistered moped the wrong way on a one-way street and attempted to pull him over, Caban said.
“The suspect then fled on foot and our officers began a foot pursuit, which led for several blocks,” Caban said. “During the pursuit, the suspect fired multiple rounds at our officers, who then returned fire.”
The suspect, according to police, was shot in the right leg and taken to New York Presbyterian Queens Hospital, where he was undergoing surgery Monday morning. An illegal firearm was recovered at the scene, police said.
Yarusso and Abreu were treated at Elmhurst Hospital and released, emerging from the hospital to the applause of fellow officers.
Patrick Hendry, president of the New York City Police Benovelent Association, said the actions of both Yarusso and Abreu were “heroic.”
Hendry said Yarusso likely saved Abreu’s life by putting a tourniquet on his injured leg.
“That’s what partners do in the NYPD,” Hendry said. “They save each other’s lives and that’s what happened here today.”
NYPD Chief of Detectives Joe Kenny said Castro is a suspect in several robbery patterns, which each pattern involving hundreds of incidents.
“Many of these crimes have all been committed by the perpetrators riding on scooters and motorbikes,” Kenny said.
Kenny said the number of robbery patterns citywide involving assailants on mopeds and scooters has totaled 80 so far this year.
Kenny said the suspect has been living at a former Courtyard Marriot Hotel in Queens that was converted into a shelter for migrants.
The suspect is from Venezuela who entered the U.S in July 2023 by illegally crossing into the country from Mexico at Eagle Pass, Texas, according to Kenny.
(NEW YORK) — Google is making some changes to its AI Overviews, after the artificial intelligence-driven search feature gave what the company calls “odd and erroneous” responses to people’s online searches.
AI Overviews were introduced last month at Google’s annual I/O developer conference. Now, when people use Google Search to find information on certain topics, a box of AI-generated text appears at the top of the search results, annotated with links to external websites. Traditional search results appear below the AI Overviews, marking a major shift in how Google presents information.
According to a blog post from Google VP Liz Reid, AI Overviews results are generated using the company’s large language model (LLM), Gemini, and are designed for instances when someone wants to “get both a quick overview of a topic and links to learn more.”
Google technology expert Alex Joseph told ABC Audio that AI Overviews is able to field more complex questions than a traditional Google Search.
“With an AI Overview what [Google] can really do is synthesize a lot of information and get you the answer that you’re looking for very quickly,” said Joseph.
Instead of presenting users with pages of links to comb though, Joseph said, AI Overviews streamlines the process by summarizing information and providing users with a concise answer.
“They’ll have less friction, they won’t have to click through to a number of different websites, which can often be quite a bit of a bugbear if you just want some information very quickly,” notes Chris Stokel-Walker, technology journalist and author of the book “How AI Ate the World: A Brief History of Artificial Intelligence – and Its Long Future.”
However, Stokel-Walker said the new feature makes it harder for people using Google Search to verify the accuracy of the information they’re reading.
“We’ve kind of got used to over the last two decades of Google Search dominance to the results that we get to a search term being largely right,” he told ABC Audio. “Suddenly, if you get rid of that, as Google is proposing, and actually just shove an answer straight into the search results page that its created via generative AI, you have no real way of identifying and kind of analyzing that information to see whether it’s true or not.”
There are other concerns about the new feature as well. For one, generative AI technology, both from Google and elsewhere, has faced criticism for “hallucinating” – that is, generating information that’s unreliable and inaccurate.
For example, in the few weeks since AI Overviews have been available to the public, people using Google Search have been advised to eat at least one small rock per day, and it told one user that a good way to get cheese to stick to pizza is to mix glue into the tomato sauce – both of which are, of course, very bad ideas. It also said that Andrew Jackson, the seventh U.S. president who died in 1845, graduated from college in 2005.
Stokel-Walker said any benefit from AI Overviews ultimately comes down to a tradeoff between convenience and cost. “You no longer have kind of click through five or six different pages and maybe several pages of search results to find the right answer, but also it does mean that either the answer might be wrong or it might not be the one that you actually want to get,” he said.
“We’ve always been very clear about the limitations of LLMs, that there will be occasionally hallucinations,” Google’s Alex Joseph said, adding that’s why AI Overviews also cites the websites it uses to generate its answers.
“It’s part of the reason that we present all of the information for you holistically,” said Joseph. “These are quick shortcuts to help you get some information to you quickly, but they’re followed along with areas where you can go, double check, verify.”
Joseph also said not all queries are best served by an AI Overviews: “We only show them on queries where we have a high confidence that it’s going to be helpful and actually enhance the experience.”
In the wake of the unusual responses some social media users have reported, Google announced it had made “more than a dozen technical improvements” to AI Overviews. According to Liz Reid’s blog post, they include limiting the inclusion of user-generated content, as well as satirical or humorous webpages, in the data used to craft AI Overviews. Reid said Google also “launched additional triggering refinements to enhance our quality protections” regarding health content, and that it “aim[s] to not show AI Overviews for hard news topics, where freshness and factuality are important.”
The blog post also notes that “AI Overviews generally don’t ‘hallucinate’ or make things up in the ways that other LLM products might,” and that the incorrect answers are the result of “misinterpreting queries, misinterpreting a nuance of language on the web, or not having a lot of great information available.”
Aside from the accuracy concerns, Stokel-Walker said Google prioritizing AI Overviews over traditional search results could affect revenue and reshape how business is done on the web.
“Websites produce content; they try and make it attractive to Google. Google will show them in its search results. And as a result, people click through to their website, they then see ads off the back of that, and the publisher makes the money that allows them to put new content onto websites,” Stokel-Walker explained.
By replacing the top of the Google Search results page with AI-generated content, however, Stokel-Walker said websites could see fewer visitors – and therefore less ad revenue.
It’s an ironic situation, according to Stokel-Walker. That’s because Gemini, the LLM Google uses to create its AI Overviews, relies on the websites it’s now appearing ahead of.
“These websites do still need to exist, and they do need to have a way of making income, because otherwise, there’s nothing for those AI-generated search results to be based on,” Stokel-Walker pointed out.
In a statement to ABC News, Google said its testing has shown that the opposite is actually happening: that the links included in AI Overviews get more clicks than if the page had appeared as it typically does in search results. Google also said it will “continue to focus” on sending valuable traffic to publishers and creators.
Regardless of how the concerns about AI Overviews ultimately shake out, it’s just one of a slew of features the company has planned for its line of technology products.
“I think that doing something like this as quickly as Google is doing it is concerning,” said technology journalist C. Scott Brown of the website Android Authority.
Google has announced plans for additional features similar to AI Overviews, which will aim to answer questions about specific webpages or YouTube videos. Brown says those features will hit the market against the backdrop of increasing competition.
“And the reason it’s doing that is because it feels like it has to. It has to keep up with companies – especially like OpenAI, for example – that are creating generative AI technologies that are threatening Google’s core business, which is delivering information to people through Google search, and thus delivering them advertisements that allow Google to make billions and billions of dollars,” said Brown.
“With Google seeing these things as a threat, it can’t just rest. It can’t figure out how to do this cleanly, and do it right,” Brown added. “It just has to do it.”
(WILMINGTON, Del.) — With a jury of six men and six women selected and sworn in, arguments in the gun trial of Hunter Biden get underway Tuesday morning when prosecutors and defense counsel deliver their opening statements.
The president’s son stands accused of three felony charges related to his efforts to obtain a firearm in 2018, during a time when he was in the throes of drug addiction.
Special counsel David Weiss’ office has repeatedly called it a “simple case,” and prosecutors’ opening statement will be their first opportunity to lay out their narrative for jurors.
Abbe Lowell, an attorney for Hunter Biden, is expected to advance the argument that his client may have been confused by the language on the ATF Form 4473, the document he stands accused of lying on. The box where he allegedly checked “no” asked the gun buyer: “Are you an unlawful user of, or addicted to” various narcotics.
“The issue here is Mr. Biden’s understanding of the question, which asks in the present tense if he ‘is’ a user or addict,” Lowell wrote in court papers.
“The terms ‘user’ or ‘addict’ are not defined on the form and were not explained to him,” Lowell wrote. “Someone like Mr. Biden who had just completed an 11-day rehabilitation program and lived with a sober companion after that, could surely believe he was not a present tense user or addict.”
After the parties deliver opening statements, prosecutors expect to call as their first witness FBI Special Agent Erika Jensen, who is expected to introduce into evidence several of Hunter Biden’s text messages and excerpts from his 2021 memoir, Beautiful Things, as well other evidence.
First lady Jill Biden attended Day 1 of the trial Monday, as did Hunter Biden’s wife, Melissa Cohen, and his stepsister, Ashley Biden. President Joe Biden spent the day nearby at his and the first lady’s Wilmington home.
Before the trial began, the parties projected it could take up to three days to select a jury, but they completed the task in only one day — meaning proceedings are thus far running ahead of schedule.
Judge Maryellen Noreika told jurors they would likely need to be available for the trial through June 14, with the possibility of deliberations stretching into the week of June 17.
(NEW YORK) — A New Jersey man has been arrested after allegedly stabbing his mother to death while she slept, police say.
The attack took place in the early hours of Monday morning at approximately 1:30 a.m. when 25-year-old Robert Parody of Howell Township, New Jersey, reportedly entered his mother’s bedroom on Porter Road while she slept and stabbed 61-year-old Loretta Parody in the chest, according to a statement from the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office released on Monday.
“An investigation involving members of the Major Crimes Bureau and the Howell Township Police Department revealed the Robert Parody had entered his mother’s bedroom and stabed her in the chest while she slept,” authorities said. “He remains lodged at the Monmouth County Correctional Institution pending a detention hearing.”
The Howell Township Police Department responded shortly after 1:30 a.m. and reported to the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crimes Bureau that a stabbing had taken place.
“The first arriving officers quickly located Robert Parody and took him into custody without incident, while Loretta Parody was transported to a local hospital for emergency treatment, where she was later pronounced deceased,” authorities said.
Police did not reveal a possible motive in the case or whether the suspect or the victim were known to authorities before the attack.
The case has now been preliminarily assigned to Assistant Prosecutor Matthew Bogner, director of the Major Crimes Bureau, and anyone with information regarding this case is being urged to contact MCPO Detective Josh Rios at 800-533-7443 or Howell Township Police Sergeant Nick Saltzman at 732-938-4111.
(NEW YORK) — Three people were seriously injured when their hot air balloon struck power lines and caught on fire before crashing into an Indiana field, authorities said.
The incident occurred Sunday shortly before 7 p.m. local time in Hebron in northwestern Indiana, according to preliminary information from the Federal Aviation Administration.
The Lindstrand hot air balloon “crashed after striking power lines,” the FAA said in a statement.
Footage of the hot air balloon captured in flight in Hebron on Sunday appears to show the aircraft hit a power line, causing a spark.
First responders with the Lowell Fire Department located the aircraft in a field with the basket still attached to the balloon envelope and three people inside, the fire department said.
“There was evidence on the passenger basket that electrical current passed from the power lines to the basket and injured the three people in the basket,” the fire department said in a press release.
First responders requested two medical helicopters “due to the severe extent of the burn injuries,” the department said.
Two patients were transported by air to Chicago-area hospitals, while the pilot was transported to a local hospital via ambulance, authorities said.
The hot air balloon is registered to Region Ballooning, based in Crown Point, Indiana, according to Federal Aviation Administration records. ABC News has reached out to the company for comment.
The National Transportation Safety Board and the FAA are investigating.
The hot air balloon will be recovered from the crash site, located near an airfield, for “further examination,” the NTSB said.
“During the on-scene phase of the investigative process, the NTSB does not determine or speculate about the cause of the accident,” the agency said in a statement.
Hebron is located south of Lake Michigan near the Illinois-Indiana border, about 56 miles southeast of Chicago.
