(OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla.) — A man killed his wife and three of his children in an apparent murder-suicide mass shooting at a home in Oklahoma, according to police.
The only survivor was the 10-year-old son who was asleep during the shootings, Oklahoma City police said. The 10-year-old called 911 Monday morning and said “everyone inside the house appeared to be dead,” police said at a news conference Tuesday.
Police said they believe Jonathon Candy, 42, “became involved in an altercation” with his wife, 39-year-old Lindsay Candy, and then shot her multiple times.
Jonathon Candy then “systematically” when through the home, shooting and killing three of their children: 18-year-old Dylan, 14-year-old Ethan and 12-year-old Lucas, according to police.
“Those children were hunted down,” police said.
Authorities said they do not know why the 10-year-old was not hurt.
If you are struggling with thoughts of suicide or worried about a friend or loved one, call or text the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 for free, confidential emotional support 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
(LOS ANGELES) — When federal agents raided the house of rapper Sean “Diddy” Combs last month — as part of a case in which Combs denies wrongdoing — it wasn’t the FBI but rather agents from Homeland Security Investigations, or HSI, who led the way.
That put the agency, an arm of the Department of Homeland Security, in a fresh spotlight.
But HSI has long been familiar to those who track immigration-related law enforcement for its ties to its parent agency, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which is something that HSI is now trying to change.
The agency on Tuesday is going through a rebrand, changing their website from being associated with ICE to just HSI.gov.
That reflects an intentional push to distance HSI’s work from immigration policy, which has increasingly fueled Democratic attacks on ICE and led some cities, counties and states to enact so-called “sanctuary” policies to prevent cooperation with ICE officials related to a suspect’s immigration status.
$8 billion US military aid package to Taiwan will ‘boost confidence’ in region: president-elect “So many of our stakeholders are our law enforcement partners, the American public, private sector partners, NGOs — [they] are often confused about what we do, and the civil immigration enforcement side of the ICE mission is not what HSI does,” HSI Acting Director Katrina Berger told ABC News in an interview.
“Having a being branded as ICE, having an ICE email address, we’re oftentimes not able to partner with law enforcement in certain jurisdictions that aren’t working with ICE, oftentimes college campuses, schools,” Berger said.
The rebrand is a better opportunity for HSI to inform the public about what they do — and keep criminals off the streets, Berger said.
HSI’s mission is broad, officials note, from preventing terrorists from entering the country to identifying and supporting victims that are rescued from child exploitation situations to stopping financial fraud and the flow of counterfeit goods.
“We focus on our mission which is the global investigation of transnational crime impacting or our communities, and that really gets lost out there,” Berger said. “We are a criminal law enforcement agency.”
HSI will still be under ICE, but the new distance in identification will help with outreach to the public, according to Berger.
One of HSI’s core missions is “to better educate teachers, children, teenagers on a lot of the bad things that can happen online with child predators,” she explained. “I think [rebranding] is a big step forward.”
“We’re just able to independently brand ourselves, to better show people exactly what we do to keep the American public safe,” she said.
Berger said Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas had authorized the rebrand, which could be a morale boost for agents.
“It gives us more opportunities to work better with our partners or communities,” she said.
(CHICAGO) — Hoping for a break in the homicide investigation of Chicago police Officer Luis Huesca, investigators have released security video of a person of interest wanted in the killing.
The Chicago Police Department posted a series of surveillance videos of an unidentified man wanted in the fatal shooting early Sunday, in which 30-year-old Huesca’s gun and car were taken after he was gunned down while on his way home after work.
Police warned that the person should be considered armed and dangerous.
“If you see this individual, DO NOT APPROACH! Call 911,” police said in a post on X.
Authorities asked anyone who recognized the man to call detectives immediately.
The time stamp on one of the videos of the person of interest shows it was taken just minutes before Huesca was killed at 2:52 a.m. local time Sunday.
Huesca, a six-year veteran of the CPD who worked in the police department’s 5th District as a member of the Priority Response Team, was shot multiple times outside his home in the Gage Park neighborhood on the southwest side of Chicago, police said.
Huesca was still in his uniform when he was fatally shot, according to Chicago Police Superintendent Larry Snelling. He was killed two days shy of his 31st birthday, the superintendent said.
Citing multiple sources, Chicago ABC station WLS reported the officer’s gun was taken after he was shot. The CPD has not yet confirmed the report.
The officer’s vehicle, a gray 2018 Toyota 4Runner with Illinois plates, was also taken during the incident, police said.
It was the second time in less than a year that an officer from the 5th District was shot to death under similar circumstances.
On May 6, 2023, officer Aréanah Preston had just finished her shift and was still in uniform when she was shot and killed while on her way home at about 1:42 a.m., according to Chicago police. Preston’s gun was also taken after she was shot, police said.
Four teenagers have been charged in the murder of 24-year-old Preston, according to court documents.
The four suspects “were out looking for victims” that night and are believed to be connected to multiple robberies and a car theft in the hours leading up to Preston’s killing, police said.
On Sunday morning, police officers responding to a gunshot detection alert found the mortally wounded Huesca lying outside on the ground suffering from several gunshot wounds, according to a police statement. He was pronounced dead at the University of Chicago Medical Center.
At least 5 people, including a child, have died while crossing the English Channel, according to French media reports Chicago Alderman Ray Lopez — who represents Chicago’s 15th Ward, which includes Gage Park — told WLS that police found a car matching the description of Huesca’s vehicle in an alley about a mile from where Huesca was discovered.
“The vehicle found in the alley here, we believe it is the officer’s,” Lopez said. “If this was a carjacking, there might be evidence inside.”
Chicago police have not commented on the recovered vehicle.
Snelling said Sunday that detectives are working to determine if the officer was killed during a carjacking.
“We can’t confirm that right now, but detectives are working through it. What we do know is that the officer’s vehicle was taken,” Snelling said. “But to get to the total motive of what happened, we need more information and the detective division is working on that.”
Commander Tyrone Pendarvis, who oversees Huesca’s 5th District, said he saw the surveillance video for the first time Monday night.
“It’s a heavy load,” Pendarvis said. “Me and my officers are finding it difficult, but we’re going to go on.”
(NEW YORK) — Former President Donald Trump is on trial in New York City, where he is facing felony charges related to a 2016 hush money payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels. It marks the first time in history that a former U.S. president has been tried on criminal charges.
Trump last April pleaded not guilty to a 34-count indictment charging him with falsifying business records in connection with a hush money payment his then-attorney Michael Cohen made to Daniels in order to boost his electoral prospects in the 2016 presidential election.
Here’s how the news is developing:
Apr 23, 8:20 AM Day 6 of trial to start with contempt hearing
Day 6 of Donald Trump’s criminal trial will begin with a hearing in front of Judge Juan Merchan in which prosecutors will seek to have the former president held in contempt for repeatedly violating the limited gag order in the case.
Prosecutors have argued that Trump violated the limited gag order — which prohibits statements about witnesses, jurors, and lawyers in the case other than Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg — on at least 10 separate occasions this month, and have asked the judge to hold him in contempt of court and fine him $10,000.
Trump’s lawyers have argued that prosecutors have not proven the posts in question were willful violations of the gag order, telling Merchan that the former president was defending himself from attacks by the likely witnesses.
Following the hearing, testimony in the hush money trial is scheduled to resume with former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker on the stand. Prosecutors believe he is key to understanding Trump’s motivation for paying off Stormy Daniels so damaging information did not seep into the 2016 campaign.
Apr 22, 1:28 PM Trump, after court, says payments were correctly labeled
Moments after his criminal trial adjourned for the day, Donald Trump exited the courtroom and told reporters that his payments to Michael Cohen were appropriately labeled as legal expenses.
“Actually, nobody’s been able to say what you’re supposed to call it,” Trump told the media. “If the lawyer puts in a bill or an invoice and you pay the bill … that’s a very small little line … it’s not like you could tell a life story.”
“They marked it down for a legal expense. This is what I got indicted over,” Trump said.
The former president also attempted to paint his former attorney Michael Cohen as an unreliable witness and said he “wasn’t very good in a lot of ways” as an attorney.
Trump’s motorcade then departed the courthouse.
-Michael Pappano
Apr 22, 12:52 PM Court wraps for day, Pecker to return tomorrow
David Pecker stepped off the witness stand after his initial testimony. He is scheduled to return to the witness stand tomorrow at 11 a.m. ET.
During his brief testimony, Pecker suggested that former National Enquirer Chief Content Officer Dylan Howard — an alleged participant in the catch-and-kill scheme alleged by prosecutors — will be unable to testify due to a medical condition.
Pecker appeared to greet Trump and his lawyers as he exited the courtroom.
Court subsequently wrapped for the day.
Trump left the courtroom flanked by Secret Service agents and staffers, as well as Trump Organization General Counsel Alan Garten.
Judge Merchan is scheduled to hold a contempt hearing about Trump’s alleged violations of the case’s limited gag order tomorrow morning at 9:30 a.m. ET.
Apr 22, 12:27 PM David Pecker takes the stand for prosecution
David Pecker, who once called Donald Trump “a personal friend of mine,” flashed a big smile as he took the stand as the trial’s first witness, belying the gravity of the moment.
Pecker cackled loudly into the microphone, jolting the room, when prosecutor Josh Steinglass, asked him about his various phone numbers that he struggled to remember.
Pecker, 72, was the publisher of the National Enquirer but prosecutors said he was “acting as a co-conspirator” in helping buy and bury damaging stories about Trump, including a doorman’s false claim that Trump had fathered a love child and a Playboy model’s claim of a sexual relationship with Trump, who has denied both allegations.
Trump, who once said Pecker would make a “brilliant” choice as editor of Time magazine, listened while leaning forward in his chair, arms crossed on the table, an unhappy look on his face.
Pecker testified that he had final say whether to publish any story involving a famous person.
“I had the final say of the celebrity side of the magazine,” Pecker said. “We used checkbook journalism. We paid for stories.”
Pecker is testifying pursuant to a subpoena. He has also secured a non-prosecution agreement with the Manhattan district attorney’s office.
Apr 22, 12:10 PM Prosecutors call David Pecker as 1st witness
Prosecutors have called former American Media Inc. executive David Pecker as their first witness.
The DA alleges that Pecker, who oversaw the National Enquirer, engaged in a conspiracy with Trump to help influence the 2016 election by killing negative stories about Trump.
Apr 22, 11:50 AM Michael Cohen obsessed with ‘getting Trump,’ defense claims
In his opening statement, defense attorney Todd Blanche sought to eviscerate Michael Cohen’s credibility, saying Cohen is obsessed with Donald Trump, has a desire to see Trump incarcerated and has a propensity to lie.
“He has a goal, an obsession, with getting Trump. I submit to you he cannot be trusted,” Blanche said.
On Sunday night, Cohen publicly posted online that he had a “mental excitement about this trial” and the testimony he would deliver, Blanche said.
“His entire financial livelihood depends on President Trump’s destruction,” Blanche said. “You cannot make a serious decision about President Trump by relying on the words of Michael Cohen.
Apr 22, 11:47 AM Trump had ‘nothing to do,’ with invoices, defense says
“I have a spoiler alert,” defense attorney Todd Blanche told jurors during his opening statement. “There is nothing wrong with trying to influence an election. It’s called democracy.”
Amid frequent objections from prosecutors, Blanche argued that the Manhattan district attorney has attempted to make the payments and non-disclosure agreements between Trump and Stormy Daniels “sinister” to the jury.
Judge Merchan had to interrupt Blanche’s opening after multiple objections from prosecutors, then he met the parties at a sidebar conference, after which he struck a line from Blanche’s opening.
“There is nothing illegal about entering into a non-disclosure agreement. Period,” Blanche restated after the portion of his opening was struck from the record.
Blanche’s opening has come off more casual and off-the-cuff than the state’s opening, with Blanche improvising and posing hypotheticals to argue that accountants at the Trump Organization did not run the invoices by Trump as he was “running the country.”
“‘Hey, we got this invoice. I know we are trying to cover it up here,'” Blanche said sarcastically about how prosecutors described how accountants received invoices from Cohen. “Absolutely not.”
According to Blanche, Trump was unaware of how the invoices were processed by his employees.
“President Trump has nothing to do — nothing to do — with the invoice, with the check being generated, or with the entry on the ledger,” Blanche said, arguing that Trump was busy “in the White House while he was running the country.”
“The reality is that President Trump is not on the hook — criminally responsible — for something Michael Cohen might have done years after the fact. The evidence will prove otherwise,” Blanche said.
Apr 22, 11:38 AM ‘None of this was a crime,’ defense attorney says
Donald Trump is “not just our former president, he’s not just Donald Trump that you’ve seen on TV,” said defense attorney Todd Blanche in his opening statement.
“He’s also a man. He’s a husband,” Blanche said. “He’s a father.”
Blanche pushed back on the DA’s overall allegation that the payments to Trump’s attorney Michael Cohen were weren’t only payback for Stormy Daniels by using the prosecutor’s own words against him.
Blanche noted that Cohen paid $130,000 to Daniels, but that Trump paid back Cohen a total of $420,000. If Trump really was a frugal businessman, as prosecutors said, why would he overpay that money, Blanche asked.
“Ask yourself, would a frugal businessman, a man who pinched his pennies, repay a $130,000 debt to the tune of $420,000?” Blanche asked.
Blanche repeatedly reiterated that Cohen truly was an attorney for Trump and was doing legal work for him, pointing out that Michael Cohen’s own email signature noted he was Trump’s attorney.
“None of this was a crime,” Blanche said, saying the 34 counts against Trump “are really just 34 pieces of paper.”
Apr 22, 11:30 AM Trump ‘did not commit any crimes,’ defense tells jury
“President Trump is innocent. President Trump did not commit any crimes,” defense attorney Todd Blanche said to begin the defense’s opening statements.
“The Manhattan district attorney’s office should never have brought this case,” Blanche said.
“You will hear me and others refer to him as President Trump. That is a title he has earned because he was our 45th President,” Blanche added.
Apr 22, 11:26 AM Prosecutor says jury can believe Cohen despite mistakes
Prosecutor Matthew Colangelo told the jury, during his opening statement, “During this trial you’re going to hear a lot about Michael Cohen.”
Trump’s former personal attorney, Cohen is a key witness — perhaps the only one that will testify to Donald Trump’s intent when he agreed to pay Stormy Daniels hush money.
The defense “will go to great lengths” to convince the jury Cohen is not credible, Colangelo said.
He acknowledged that Cohen had earlier lied regarding the matter. “He lied about it to protect his boss,” Colangelo said. “You will also learn that Michael Cohen has a criminal record.”
Colangelo told jurors they can believe Cohen despite his past mistakes.
“Cohen’s testimony will be backed up by testimony from other witnesses you will hear from, including David Pecker, Keith Davidson. It will be backed up by an extensive paper trail. And it will be backed up by Donald Trump’s own words,” the prosecutor said.
Colangelo concluded by saying, “This case is about a criminal conspiracy and a cover-up, an illegal conspiracy to undermine the integrity of a presidential election and then the steps that Donald Trump took to conceal that election fraud. At the end of the case we are confident you will have no reasonable doubt that Donald Trump is guilty of falsifying business records.”
Apr 22, 11:16 AM ‘It was election fraud, pure and simple,’ prosecutor says
“It was election fraud, pure and simple,” prosecutor Matthew Colangelo told the jury during opening statements as he outlined the hush payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels and how it was logged by the Trump Organization
Dylan Howard, then editor of the National Enquirer, had called Trump attorney Michael Cohen to inform him about Daniels and the story that she had of a sexual liaison with Trump, which the former president has long denied.
“Cohen then discussed the situation with Trump who is adamant that he did not want the story to come out,” Colangelo said. “it could have been devastating to his campaign.”
At the time, Trump and the campaign were “deeply concerned” about the “Access Hollywood” video, the prosecutor said. Cohen wired the $130,000 to Daniels’ lawyer to keep her quiet.
“Cohen made that payment at Donald Trump’s direction and for his benefit and he did it with the special goal of influencing the election This was not spin or communications strategy. This was a planned, coordinated long-running conspiracy to influence the 2016 election to help DT get elected through illegal expenditures to silence people who had something bad about his behavior. It was election fraud, pure and simple,” Colangelo said.
Apr 22, 11:10 AM ‘Access Hollywood’ tape was ‘explosive,’ prosecutors claim
Prosecutor Matthew Colangelo read aloud part of the transcript of the infamous “Access Hollywood” tape to jurors.
“You can do anything,” Colangelo slowly read to the jurors, quoting Trump from the tape. “Grab them by the p—-. You can do anything.”
According to Colangelo, the October 2016 release of the tape had an “immediate and explosive” impact on Donald Trump’s presidential campaign.
“Seeing and hearing a candidate in his own words, in his own voice, with his own body language … has a much greater impact on voters than words on paper,” Colangelo said. “The campaign went on immediate damage control mode to blunt the impact of the tape.”
The campaign was concerned about the impact it might have on Trump voters or even the possibility that Trump could lose the Republican nomination one month out from the election, according to Colangelo.
“The Republican National Committee even considered whether it was too late to replace their own nominee,” Colangelo said.
Apr 22, 11:04 AM Trump, listening to openings, shakes his head
Former President Trump, sitting at the defense table, softly shook his head “no” when prosecutor Matthew Colangelo told the jurors that Trump formed a “conspiracy” with Michael Cohen and David Pecker to “help him get elected.”
It was one of the most notable reactions from Trump as he sits and listens to prosecutors lay out their story of the case.
Colangelo then brought up the “Access Hollywood” tape and said it showed Trump “bragging about sexual assault,” Trump shook his head no again, pursing his lips. He did not react when Colangelo, quoting Trump on the tape, said, “grab them by the p—-.”
Earlier, as Colangelo brought up a former Trump doorman who was he said was paid off as part of the alleged catch-and-kill scheme, Trump — looking annoyed — leaned over and tapped his lawyer Todd Blanche. When Colangelo said the doorman was paid $30,000 to bury his story, Trump raised his eyebrows and grabbed onto a pen.
The former president has been passing notes and sliding papers between Blanche and attorney Emil Bove, and leaning side-to-side, whispering to them. Blanche at one point pulled out his own sticky note and slid a note back to Trump.
At other times he has hardly seemed engaged at all, slumping in his red leather chair looking straight forward with no facial expression, or fidgeting with his head tilting back and forth. At one point during jury instructions he let out a yawn.
Apr 22, 10:48 AM Prosecutor alleges 3-prong conspiracy
“It starts with that August 2015 meeting in Trump Tower,” prosecutor Matthew Colangelo told jurors about the alleged conspiracy, in his opening statement.
Following a meeting between Donald Trump, his then-lawyer Michael Cohen, and AMI executive David Pecker, the three engaged in a three-prong conspiracy to help influence the 2016 election, according to Colangelo.
First, the National Enquirer would run “headline after headline that extolled the defendant’s virtues,” according to Colangelo.
“Pecker had the ultimate say over publication decisions,” Colangelo said, adding that Trump edited, killed, and suggested the cover of the magazine.
Second, the National Enquirer would run negative stories attacking Trump’s opponents in the 2016 Republican primary, such as attacks on Ben Caron or Marco Rubio.
Third, the “core of the conspiracy” was killing negative stories about Trump — evolving into the catch-and kill scheme, Colangelo said.
“The National Enquirer ran these stories as part of the conspiracy launched after the Trump Tower meeting,” he said.
Apr 22, 10:40 AM ‘This case is about a criminal conspiracy,’ prosecutor says
“This case is about a criminal conspiracy,” prosecutor Matthew Colangelo began his opening statement in Donald Trump’s criminal trial in New York.
“The defendant, Donald Trump, orchestrated a criminal scheme to corrupt the 2016 presidential election,” the prosecutor said.
The utterance represents the first time a prosecutor has sought to implicate a former president in a crime at his trial.
Colangelo said Trump schemed with his attorney Michael Cohen and National Enquirer publisher David Pecker “to influence the presidential election by concealing negative information about former President Trump.”
Trump slouched in his seat the defense table, listening.
“The defendant said in his business records that he was paying Cohen for legal services pursuant to a retainer agreement. But those were lies,” Colangelo said. “The defendant was paying him back for an illegal payment to Stormy Daniels on the eve of the election.”
Apr 22, 10:21 AM Trump is ‘presumed to be innocent,’ judge tells jury
Donald Trump faced forward and did not appear to make eye contact with any jurors as they entered the courtroom and took their seats in the jury box.
Before any of the lawyers in the case could speak a word, Judge Merchan launched into a lengthy speech outlining how the trial will work.
“We are about to begin the trial of People of the State of New York v. Donald Trump,” Merchan told the 12 jurors and six alternates.
Merchan emphasized that the burden of proof rests on the prosecutors and that jurors should presume that Trump is innocent. A guilty verdict requires that each juror determines that the state proved their case beyond a reasonable doubt, Merchan said.
“The defendant is presumed to be innocent,” Merchan said. “It is not sufficient to prove that the defendant is probably guilty.”
Merchan attempted to set expectations for the jurors, only two of which have ever served on a jury before. For example, Merchan told the jurors not to expect the lawyers to launch into lengthy speeches outside of the opening and closing statements.
“That happens in TV and in movies, but it doesn’t happen in real trials,” Merchan said.
Apr 22, 10:09 AM Judge issues mixed ruling on cross-examination of Trump
Judge Juan Merchan ruled that if Trump takes the stand, prosecutors can question him about a number of previous legal issues — but the judge limited the scope of the cases and the extent to which prosecutors can question him about the facts of those cases.
The ruling is a mixed bag for Trump, who had sought to entirely block questioning on these previous issues if he takes the stand.
Judge Merchan ruled that Trump can be questioned by the DA’s office on six determinations from four previous proceedings, including aspects of his New York civil fraud case and the gag order violations there, as well as both E. Jean Carrol verdicts and the Trump foundation case.
Prosecutors had originally asked to question Trump about six different proceedings with 13 total determinations.
Merchan said with his ruling, he has “greatly curtailed” how much prosecutors can discuss the underlying facts of those cases.
“The court cautions the defendant that this Sandoval ruling is a shield, not a sword,” Merchan said.
Apr 22, 9:59 AM Schedule set for today’s proceedings
Prosecutors told Judge Merchan that they need 40 minutes for their opening statements.
Defense attorneys told the judge they need 25 minutes.
The judge also announced that court will break at 12:30 p.m. ET today, after a juror had a toothache and got an emergency appointment this afternoon.
Court had already been scheduled to end early today, at 2 p.m. ET, due to the Passover holiday.
Apr 22, 9:52 AM Issue with Juror No. 9 is resolved
Judge Juan Merchan announced there is an issue with Juror No. 9 — who, according to Merchan, “was concerned about media attention” of the case. According to Merchan, the juror “wasn’t 100% sure” they could serve.
Merchan said they would speak to the juror in chambers to “find out what the issue is and see if this juror can continue to serve.”
After a brief sidebar, the judge announced: “Juror No. 9 is going to remain with us.”
There are six alternate jurors seated in case any of the 12 jurors cannot serve.
Apr 22, 9:44 AM Trump tells reporters it’s a ‘sad day in America’
On his way into the courtroom for the day’s proceedings, Trump once again alleged that the trial constitutes election interference, claiming that the proceedings are unfairly keeping him off the campaign trail.
“Everybody knows that I’m here instead of being able to be in Pennsylvania and Georgia and lots of other places campaigning, and it’s very unfair,” he told reporters.
“It’s a very, very sad day in America,” he said. “I can tell you that.”
The former president is seated at the defense table between his lawyers Todd Blanche and Emil Bove.
Apr 22, 9:37 AM Proceedings are underway
The proceedings are underway in former President Donald Trump’s hush money trial. Trump and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg are both in the courtroom.
Three prosecutors — Joshua Steinglass, Matthew Colangelo, and Susan Hoffinger — are seated at the counsel table.
Bragg is seated in the front row of the gallery with approximately a dozen lawyers and staff from his office.
Apr 22, 9:26 AM Ex-National Enquirer publisher to be 1st witness, say sources
The first witness prosecutors with the Manhattan DA’s office plan to call is former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker, according to two sources familiar with the matter.
ABC News previously reported that prosecutors planned to call Pecker as a witness, but sources now say he’s expected to be the first witness to take the stand.
Pecker served as the longtime chief executive of American Media Inc., which published the National Enquirer.
Shortly after Trump announced his 2016 presidential campaign, Pecker met with Trump and agreed to act as the “eyes and ears” of the campaign by looking out for and killing negative stories about Trump, according to the Manhattan DA.
As part of the arrangement, Pecker allegedly directed a deal to pay $30,000 to a former Trump Tower doorman regarding the false allegation that Trump allegedly fathered a child out of wedlock, prosecutors say. Then-Trump attorney Michael Cohen allegedly insisted that the deal stay in place even after AMI discovered the allegation was false, and AMI paid the doorman, according to the Manhattan DA.
Apr 22, 5:55 AM Attorneys to present opening statements in historic trial
After a week-long selection process, the jurors in Donald Trump’s New York hush money case will hear opening statements Monday in the first criminal trial of a former United States president.
To prove their case, lawyers for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg need to convince 12 jurors beyond a reasonable doubt that Trump repeatedly falsified records related to unlawfully influencing the 2016 presidential election.
“This case has nothing to do with your personal politics or your feelings about a particular political issue,” prosecutor Joshua Steinglass told potential jurors on Thursday. “It’s not a referendum on the Trump Presidency, a popularity contest, or any indication of who you plan to vote for this fall. This case is about whether this man broke the law.”
Trump’s lawyers are expected to focus their efforts on going after the credibility of prosecution witnesses, suggesting the case itself is politically motivated and arguing the former president never intended to commit a crime.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to members of the media at Manhattan criminal court in New York, U.S., on Monday, April 22, 2024. (Victor J. Blue/The Washington Post/ Bloomberg)
(NEW YORK) — Lawyers for the Manhattan district attorney, in a hearing Tuesday morning, will attempt to convince the judge overseeing Donald Trump’s criminal hush money case to hold the former president in contempt for repeatedly violating the limited gag order in the case.
Prosecutors have argued that Trump violated the limited gag order — which prohibits statements about witnesses, jurors and lawyers in the case other than Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg — on at least 10 separate occasions this month. They asked Judge Juan Merchan hold Trump in contempt of court and fine Trump $10,000.
“The defendant has demonstrated his willingness to flout the order. He has attacked witnesses in the case in the past,” prosecutor Christopher Conroy told Merchan last week. “We’re asking the court to remind the defendant that further violations of the court’s order could result in jail time.”
The former president is on trial in New York on felony charges of falsifying business records to hide the reimbursement of a hush money payment his then-attorney Michael Cohen made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels in order to boost his electoral prospects in the 2016 presidential election.
Prosecutors highlighted seven instances this month in which Trump made a social media post mentioning likely witnesses Cohen or Daniels, two instances when his campaign website reposted information about Cohen, and one instance where Trump suggested that “undercover liberal activists” are trying to infiltrate the case’s jury.
Five of the ten alleged violations are instances when Trump or his campaign reposted an article in the New York Post that suggested the case relied on the testimony of “serial perjurer” Michael Cohen.
“We think that it is important for the court to remind Mr. Trump that he is a criminal defendant, and like all criminal defendants, he is subject to court supervision and, in particular, this court’s obligation to preserve the integrity of the Criminal Justice System,” Conroy said.
Last Monday, prosecutors initially requested a $3,000 fine and contempt finding after flagging three social media posts by Trump. By Thursday, prosecutors identified seven additional violations, including some which Trump appeared to post from within the courthouse during his trial.
“It’s ridiculous. It has to stop,” Conroy said.
While prosecutors said that they plan to request financial penalties at Tuesday’s hearing, they left the door open for stiffer penalties — including possible jail time — if Trump continues to willfully violate the order.
Trump’s lawyers have argued that prosecutors have not proven the posts were willful violations of the gag order, telling Merchan that the former president was defending himself from attacks by the likely witnesses.
“It’s not as if President Trump is going out and targeting individuals,” defense attorney Todd Blanche said last week. “He’s responding to salacious, repeated attacks by these witnesses.”
Defense lawyers also argued that the gag order — which prohibits Trump from making public statements about likely witnesses related their participation in the case — is vague and allows Trump to make “political” statements. He also argued that at least four of the alleged violations should be tossed since they are reposts of the same statement.
“The Gag Order did not prohibit President Trump from responding to political attacks, and we submit that’s what he is doing in these posts,” defense attorney Emil Bove said last week.
Trump has been subject to two other gag orders in his legal cases, including a limited gag order in his New York civil fraud case that he violated on two occasions and a separate gag order imposed by the judge overseeing his federal election interference case. In both cases, appeals courts have affirmed the constitutionality of the gag orders.
In recent weeks, Trump has compared himself to Nelson Mandela when discussing violations of the limited gag order in his New York criminal case, raising the stakes of Tuesday’s hearing where prosecutors hope to curtail Trump’s attacks on witnesses.
“If this Partisan Hack wants to put me in the ‘clink’ for speaking the open and obvious TRUTH, I will gladly become a Modern Day Nelson Mandela — It will be my GREAT HONOR,” Trump said in a social media post earlier this month.
The hearing also comes amid rising stakes in the criminal trial, as jurors hear testimony from the first witness called by the Manhattan district attorney. Prosecutors have argued that some of Trump’s posts about Cohen and Daniels may be “interpreted as an effort to intimidate potential witnesses.”
Trump was also reprimanded by Merchan during jury selection last week for audible “muttering” while a prospective juror was speaking, which Merchan interpreted as intimidating.
“He was speaking in the direction of the juror. I will not tolerate that. I will not have any jurors intimidated in this courtroom. I want to make that crystal clear,” said Judge Merchan.
The looming contempt hearing does not appear to have fazed Trump, who continued his attack on Cohen during remarks at the conclusion of Monday’s proceedings.
“When are they going to look at all the lies that Cohen did at the last trial? He got caught lying in the last trial. He got caught lying — pure lying,” Trump said.
NYPD officers detain pro-Palestinian students and protesters who had set up an encampment on the campus of New York University to protest the Israel-Hamas war, in New York on April 22, 2024. (Alex Kent/AFP via Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — More than 150 people were arrested at New York University on Monday night, police said, as pro-Palestinian protests spread on college campuses throughout the country.
Students, faculty and others were arrested after school officials asked the New York Police Department for help clearing a plaza on NYU’s Manhattan campus, police said. Many of those arrested were “still being processed through the night and most if not all will be released,” the department said.
The arrests came days after more than 100 people, including many students, were arrested while protesting at Columbia University. Protests have grown at other schools, including Yale University, since the Israel-Hamas war began in October.
“There is a pattern of behavior occurring on campuses across our nation, in which individuals attempt to occupy a space in defiance of school policy,” Kaz Daughtry, the NYPD’s deputy commissioner for operations, said in a social media post. “Rest assured, in NYC the NYPD stands ready to address these prohibited and subsequently illegal actions whenever we are called upon.”
Protesters at NYU on Monday broke through barriers that had been set up around Gould Plaza, a square outside the Stern School of Business, the school’s Global Campus Safety department said in a statement.
Officials warned those who’d entered the square on Monday that they needed to clear the plaza by 4 p.m.
“If you leave now, no one will face any consequences for today’s actions—no discipline, no police,” safety officials said in a message delivered to those in the plaza.
That message was also shared on the university’s official social media channels.
“The one safety requirement we made was that no additional protestors could enter Gould Plaza,” the message said. “With the breach of the barricades early this afternoon, that requirement was violated, and we witnessed disorderly, disruptive, and antagonizing behavior that has interfered with the safety and security of our community.”
NYU officials appealed to the NYPD for help, according to a letter shared by Daughtry, the NYDP deputy commissioner.
In an aerial view, the cargo ship Dali sits in the water after running into and collapsing the Francis Scott Key Bridge on March 26, 2024 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)
(BALTIMORE) — The Dali, the container ship that left the Port of Baltimore in the early hours of March 26, before crashing into the Francis Scott Key Bridge, toppling a portion of it, set sail despite its “unseaworthy” conditions, according to a Monday court filing from the City of Baltimore.
In the court document, the city argues that the ship’s parent company, Grace Ocean Private Ltd., should be held liable for crashing into the Key Bridge. The filing was in response to Grace Ocean Private Ltd.’s request to limit their liability in damages they have to pay.
In previous filings, GOPL has argued that it shouldn’t be held liable for the crash that left six construction workers dead and a length of the bridge wiped out.
The owner of the Dali cargo ship filed a federal lawsuit earlier this month denying responsibility for the accident and seeking to limit the total payout to $43.7 million, a fraction of the billions the cleanup and bridge rebuild is expected to cost. The company is using a law from 1851, the Limitation of Liability Act from that year, in its quest to limit its liability.
The city said that 12 minutes after the Dali left port, despite warning signs, it crashed into the bridge.
“Reporting has indicated that, even before leaving port, alarms showing inconsistent power supply on the Dali had sounded,” a lawyer for the city of Baltimore said in the filing. “The Dali left port anyways despite its clearly unseaworthy condition.”
The city of Baltimore is arguing that for four decades, thousands of cargo ships have passed through the port of Baltimore without incident, making it one of the busiest ports in America.
The Dali’s “negligence” is grounds for the company to pay the city for the incident, the city argues.
“For all intents and purposes, Petitioner’s negligence caused them to destroy the Key Bridge, and single handedly destroy the Port of Baltimore, a source of jobs, municipal revenue and no small amount of pride for the city of Baltimore and its residents,” the city’s filing reads.
The company has yet to file a response to the allegations.
(NEW YORK) — A video taken on Sunday by a home-security camera in Hillsboro, Oregon, appeared to show a woman being carried away against her will in a “possible kidnapping,” police said Monday.
“We are looking for any information the community may have regarding this incident,” the Hillsboro Police Department said in a press bulletin.
The black-and-white video, which has been viewed by ABC News, appears to show a woman with glasses ringing a doorbell and waiting for someone to answer.
A man with a beard appears to approach and to carry her away against her will, police said. The woman was “crying for help before she was picked up and carried away by the above pictured male,” police said in the bulletin, which included screengrabs of the woman and man from the video.
“They appear to have left in a white pickup (probably an extended or crew cab pickup without a canopy),” police said.
Police said the video was shot on Sunday at about 10:45 p.m. near Southeast 32nd Avenue and E. Main Street in Hillsboro, a suburb west of Portland.
“The Hillsboro Police are actively investigating this incident as a possible kidnapping incident,” police said.
(NEW YORK) — West Richland police in Washington state are asking for the public’s help in locating a murder suspect they say is “armed” and “dangerous,” after a woman was pronounced deceased outside a local school on Monday.
Authorities have identified the suspect as 40-year-old Elias Huizar. Police are also searching for a silver, 2009 Toyota Corolla with Washington plates CBZ4745. Anyone who sees the suspect or the vehicle should call 911, police said.
The suspect is also wanted for allegedly abducting a 1-year-old child with the same last name as his, according to an Amber Alert issued by Washington State Patrol. Huizar is suspected of murdering his ex-wife and girlfriend, according to the alert.
Officers from the West Richland Police Department responded at 3:23 p.m. PT following an alert of a shooting on the grounds of Wiley Elementary School, police said.
An adult female was pronounced deceased outside of the school, police said on Monday afternoon.
Hours later, authorities said they found another homicide victim, “a known associate of the suspect,” while serving a search warrant at Huizar’s residence. No further details about the victim were made available by police.
In addition to considering Huizar “armed” and “dangerous,” police said he is “likely to commit more crimes.”
Huizar may be headed to Mexico, according to the Amber Alert.
Bryan Koberger listens during a hearing to overturn his grand jury indictment on Oct. 26, 2023 in Moscow, Idaho. (Kai Eiselein-Pool/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Lawyers for Bryan Kohberger, the man accused of stabbing to death four Idaho college students in 2022, can continue their survey of prospective jurors in the state, the judge overseeing his case has ruled.
Kohberger’s lawyers had hired a consultant to conduct community phone polling ahead of his upcoming capital murder trial in order to gauge the attitude and potential bias of people who could one day decide his fate.
That survey — which had become a source of pretrial contention — can now proceed without changing any of the questions, including the nine with which prosecutors have taken issue.
“The defense may continue its surveys without modification to the survey questions,” Judge John Judge, overseeing the case, said in his order filed Friday and posted to the docket Monday afternoon.
Judge had put the so-called non-dissemination order in place to preserve Kohberger’s right to a fair trial in the high-profile case.
The “goal” of the gag order “is to ensure a fair and impartial jury can be impaneled so that Defendant receives a fair trial,” Judge said. “If defense counsel believes asking these survey questions, which arguably contain prejudicial information or misinformation about Defendant, is more beneficial than harmful, as Defendant’s expert testified, this Court does not, at this juncture, have sufficient information or evidence to second guess that strategic decision by trial counsel.”
Previously, prosecutor Bill Thompson, leading the case against Kohberger, argued some of the survey questions commissioned by Kohberger’s defense had effectively poisoned the opinions of 400 local community members beyond repair. He said in documents and in court that some of the pollster queries not only violated the gag order, but that a few of the questions spread false information about the case, and could foster a “false impression” amongst potential jurors.
Kohberger’s lead attorney, Anne Taylor, argued their poll questions were based on information obtained in the “public record,” and discussed in the media — and, moreover, the fact that some of the information was untrue was part of the point since, Taylor said, the rumor mill can influence opinion as effectively as fact, and gauging bias is exactly their aim determining whether a local jury pool could be fair and impartial.
Here’s how the judge assessed the nine questions “at issue” in his ruling:
Six of the questions came from the probable cause affidavit, which is publicly available; thus, asking about it does not violate the gag order.
One of the questions “was not based on admissible or inadmissible ‘evidence’ but instead asked about the feelings” of community members in Moscow, Idaho, where the killings allegedly occurred — therefore, it did not violate the gag order.
The remaining two questions, which asked about certain “media items,” were “read into the public record and discussed at length” during the recent hearings litigating the survey, “including the fact that these ‘media items’ may not be true,” the judge said. “Because the information is now in the public record, the Court does not see any benefit in preventing the defense from continuing its surveys or requiring that the two questions at issue be eliminated.”
Kohberger’s team will now be able to proceed with their survey, which is part of their larger attempt to convince the judge to move the trial to a different county, arguing the local jury pool has been tainted by pre-trial publicity. That survey, Kohberger lawyer Taylor has said, already determined that the Latah County pool of potential jurors would not be able to be fair and impartial in his case. Now, Taylor has said, they want to assess potential bias in other areas of the state, where it could be heard by jurors who have not been exposed to more than a year of news coverage about the case. Prosecutors, for their part, have argued the “national, if not international attention” this case has received makes moving it from one Idaho county to another futile.
Objecting to some of the survey questions, Latah County Prosecutor Bill Thompson read nine examples aloud in court, which he said “concern” their team “immensely”:
“Question. Have you read, seen or heard if Bryan Kohberger was arrested at his parents’ home in Pennsylvania?” Thompson read during an April 4 hearing.
Additional questions Thompson’s team was concerned with are:
“Question: Have you read, seen or heard if police found a knife sheath on the bed next to one of the victims?”
“Question. Have you read, seen or heard that DNA found on the knife sheath was later matched to Bryan Kohberger?”
“Question: Have you read, seen or heard if Bryan Kohberger owned the same type of car recorded on video driving in the neighborhood where the killings occurred?”
“Have you seen — read seen or heard – if the cell phone tower data showed that Bryan Kohberger made several trips near the victims’ home in the month before the killing?”
“Have you read, seen or heard if university students in Moscow and their parents lived in fear until Bryan Kohberger was arrested for the murders?”
“Have you read, seen or heard if Bryan Kohberger said that he was out driving alone on the night of the murders?”
“Have you read, seen or heard if Bryan Kohberger stalked one of the victims?”
“Have you read, seen or heard if Bryan Kohberger had followed one of the victims on social media?”
Prosecutors allege that in the early morning hours of Nov. 13, 2022, Kohberger, then a criminology Ph.D. student at nearby Washington State University, broke into an off-campus home and stabbed four University of Idaho students to death: Ethan Chapin, 20; Madison Mogen, 21; Xana Kernodle, 20, and Kaylee Goncalves, 21.
After a six-week investigation, police zeroed in on Kohberger as the suspect, arresting him in December 2022 at his family’s home in Pennsylvania. He was indicted in May 2023 and charged with four counts of first-degree murder and one count of burglary. At his arraignment, he declined to offer a plea, so the judge entered a not-guilty plea on his behalf.
Kohberger could face the death penalty if convicted.
His lawyers have said their client wasn’t in the home where the homicides occurred and was out driving that night. Lawyers also say they’ll have expert cell phone tower data analysis to back that up.
A trial date has not yet been set.
A hearing on Kohberger’s request for a change of venue is set for June 27.
