(BIDWELL, Ohio) — An Ohio man has been sentenced to more than a decade in prison after it was discovered he was running a dogfighting ring from his residence where he kept more than 50 dogs, according to authorities.
Law enforcement first investigated 40-year-old Michael Valentine of Bidwell, Ohio, in 2019 after a dog attacked a small child who was living with him, according to a press release from the Department of Justice detailing the case against Valentine.
“That investigation led to a search warrant of the Valentine’s residence and the seizure of 40 dogs,” authorities said. “The search also recovered numerous items of dog fighting paraphernalia, including treadmills, veterinary supplies and dogfighting videos.”
However, three years later on March 8, 2022, a second search was carried out at Valentine’s property — this time as part of a fentanyl distribution investigation — and the search revealed Valentine had kept more dog fighting paraphernalia, as well as two assault-style rifles, the DOJ said.
“In addition, a search of a nearby parcel of land revealed 677 grams of fentanyl and 69 grams of cocaine packaged for distribution, and an additional 11 dogs, which Valentine was keeping for purposes of dogfighting,” officials said. “Valentine had previously sold 141 grams of fentanyl from the property.”
Valentine previously pleaded guilty to two counts of raising and training dogs for the purpose of fighting and five counts related to fentanyl distribution and was sentenced on Friday to serve 10 years in prison for the drug distribution charge and five years of supervised release. In total, Valentine will serve 11 years in prison followed by five years of supervised release, authorities said.
“Dogfighting is a barbaric offense that cruelly harms animals and endangers the surrounding community,” said Assistant Attorney General Todd Kim of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division. “Today’s sentencing demonstrates that those engaged in this horrific practice face significant punishment.”
“Valentine’s crimes endangered both humans and dogs,” said U.S. Attorney Kenneth L. Parker for the Southern District of Ohio. “Thanks to the work of our investigative partners, hundreds of grams of fentanyl were taken out of circulation before reaching our local communities and more than 50 dogs were removed from the defendant. It is appropriate that Valentine will spend a significant amount of time in federal prison.”
This investigation was conducted as part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces initiative, which seeks to identify, disrupt and dismantle criminal organizations “using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach,” the DOJ said.
“The relevant provisions of the Animal Welfare Act were designed to protect animals from being used in illegal fighting ventures, which often entail other forms of criminal activity including drug trafficking and illegal possession of firearms,” said Acting Special Agent in Charge Robert J. Springer of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Office of Inspector General (USDA-OIG). “The USDA-OIG thanks the Justice Department, who prosecuted the case, and Gallia County Sheriff’s Office and the FBI for their assistance with the investigation.”
(NEW YORK) — It’s an old Hollywood story: some criminal suspects believe they can outrun the law, and escape their charges, by fleeing to Mexico.
But when fugitives who commit a crime in the United States cross the southern border, the U.S. government requires some external help in tracking them down.
“No nation is just going into another nation to put handcuffs on somebody,” John Muffler, a former U.S. Marshal, told “Impact x Nightline.”
Oftentimes, help comes in the form of a specialized Mexican state police unit nicknamed the “Gringo Hunters.”
The nickname isn’t particularly popular with the unit’s officers but it fits, as their mission is to find and detain foreign fugitives, mostly Americans, who cross the border into Mexico, hoping to escape the U.S. legal system. Officially, the group is called the International Liaison Unit in Baja California, the northwesternmost region of Mexico.
“Whoever comes to our country to either seek refuge for a crime he committed or to prepare to commit a crime here, that person is our job,” Hugo, one of the members of the unit who asked not to use his real name for his protection, told “Impact” in Spanish.
The specialized team has been in operation since 2002 and is tasked with not only apprehending foreign fugitives but also deporting them to the U.S. where they re-enter the American justice system. The unit’s leaders say they catch and deport about 10 suspects a month, the vast majority of them are from the U.S.
Many of the unit’s members, who spoke to “Impact” in Spanish, said they go to great lengths to apprehend the suspected fugitives.
“We handle all types of cases, but specifically our focus is on high-impact crimes: homicide, kidnapping, violent assault, drug trafficking, and sexual offenses,” the leader of the unit, who Impact is calling “Jefe” told “Impact.”
“Impact x Nightline’s” Matt Rivers embedded with the specialized law enforcement unit for an episode now streaming on Hulu.
The U.S. government often works with the Mexican unit and provides them with information for cases from various agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security, the US Marshals, and the FBI.
“If you’re receiving information on a murderer, a rapist, or a pedophile, you have to address it immediately — it’s an urgent case. This person could do the same thing here. And our job is to protect our citizens,” Hugo said.
During “Impact’s” time embedding with the unit, they were on a mission to track down a fugitive whom they had detained in the past: a suspect named Terry Sakamoto. He has prior convictions in the U.S. for several crimes including robbery, assault, and making criminal threats.
In 2014, while he was facing felony charges for a domestic violence incident, Sakamoto cut off an ankle bracelet and fled to Mexico, the authorities said. The unit apprehended Sakamoto a year later. He pleaded guilty to two of the three charges and served time behind bars.
Fast forward to April of 2022, when Sakamoto was charged with four new felonies: attempted murder, false imprisonment, mayhem, and corporal spouse injury. Again he fled to Mexico.
After surveillance and intelligence work, the specialized police unit tracked Sakamoto to an address in the border city of Mexicali and staked out the home for a week.
While preparing to move in for an arrest, the officers took precautions, including wearing bulletproof vests, using multiple patrol cars, and being extremely careful to not let the suspect know he was in their crosshairs.
“Since the man has a record, is violent, and could be armed, we’re not dealing with just anyone, he’s a dangerous person,” one of the officers said.
Ultimately, the unit spotted Sakamoto outside a home that belonged to his rumored girlfriend’s mother, and they rushed to the scene. When officers detained Sakamoto, he gave them a fake name and a fake driver’s license. However, Sakamoto was peaceful during the arrest and did not resist.
“He did the opposite of what we thought he would do. We had him as an aggressive, fearless type,” Hugo said in Spanish.
After the unit processed him, Sakamoto agreed to speak with “Impact.” Despite being cuffed inside a police headquarters, he was relaxed while describing his arrest. Even though Sakamoto didn’t admit that he was a fugitive, he did acknowledge the appeal for Mexico as a destination for criminals fleeing American law enforcement.
“I think it’s an ideology. All these movies from back in the day, it’s like, run to Mexico, you’ll be good,” he said.
Sakamoto also said he was confident that, eventually, he would be free.
Just hours after his arrest, Sakamoto was deported back to the U.S. at the Calexico border crossing. After Sakamoto was handed over to U.S. authorities, members of the unit were already preparing for their next mission the following day in Tijuana.
“I believe the job of a police officer comes with great responsibility. You leave your house every day and you don’t know what could happen to you,” Hugo said.
A short time after Sakamoto was deported to the United States, the four felony domestic violence charges against him were dropped. Sakamoto continues to walk free.
(MONT BELVIEU, Texas) — A judge has ordered a trial to take place and determine if a school district can continue penalizing a Black Texas high school student for the length of his dreadlocks which would run afoul of the state’s CROWN Act, a law which protects from hair discrimination.
The judge ruled on Wednesday that the trial is set to take place on Feb. 22. which will determine if the Barbers Hill Independent School District (BHISD) violated Texas’s CROWN Act by putting Darryl George on academic punishment due to his hair.
Darryl George, 18, has been banned by BHISD from attending regular classes at Barbers Hill High School in Mont Belvieu. He has been directed to in-school suspension and an off-site disciplinary program since Aug. 31, 2023, according to his mother Darresha George.
The school claimed that the length of his dreadlocks violated their dress and grooming code. Darryl George’s dreadlocks are braided and wrapped up on top of his head.
The CROWN Act, which stands for “Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair,” was passed with a bipartisan vote in the Texas legislature and signed into law by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott last May.
“… being an American requires conformity with the positive benefit of unity, and being a part of something bigger than yourself,” Greg Poole, the superintendent of Barbers Hill ISD, said through a full-page, paid ad in the Houston Chronicle on Jan. 14.
Poole told ABC News in a statement that Barbers Hill dress code was not in violation of the CROWN Act which Texas enacted last September.
“The CROWN Act was meant to allow braids, locs or twists, which the district has always allowed. The law was never intended to allow unlimited student expression,” Poole said in a statement.
Candice Matthews, a local activist close to the family, criticized Poole for his stance.
“This is very dangerous and he [BHISD Superintendent Greg Poole] has no business having any type of oversight of children and their educational journey,” Matthews told ABC News in part through a statement.
The school district told ABC News in a statement in September they filed the lawsuit through the judicial system of Texas to help them clarify the terms of the CROWN Act and whether the length of hair is a factor in the law.
“Any student dress or grooming policy adopted by a school district, including a student dress or grooming policy for any extracurricular activity, may not discriminate against a hair texture or protective hairstyle commonly or historically associated with race,” according to the CROWN Act. “‘Protective hairstyle’ includes braids, locks and twists.'”
Darryl George’s family filed a federal lawsuit in September against Abbott and the state’s Attorney General Ken Paxton for allegedly not enforcing the state’s CROWN Act.
The family alleges in the complaint that Darryl George has been subjected to “improper discipline and abrogation of both his Constitutional and state rights,” as a result of the governor’s and the AG’s failure to provide equal protection and due process under the law for the plaintiffs; ensuring school districts and schools refrain from discrimination based on race and sex and from using the CROWN Act of Texas to cause outright race and discrimination, according to a copy of the lawsuit ABC News obtained.
Abbott and Paxton did not respond to ABC News’ request for comment at the time of the lawsuit.
“I don’t know how to be any more clear to the people, like Superintendent Poole, who believe everyone must conform to their own personal notions of acceptable appearance. Black people cannot control the way our hair grows out of our heads,” Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman, NJ-12, who introduced a federal version of the CROWN Act to Congress, told ABC News in a statement. “The toll this kind of blatant discrimination takes on Black people is both psychological and economic, as hair discrimination occurs not only at schools, but in workplaces as well.”
(NEW YORK) — A 25-year-old woman died from an allergic reaction after eating a cookie sold by the grocery chain Stew Leonard’s that was not properly labeled as containing peanuts, officials and her attorneys said.
Stew Leonard’s issued a recall this week for its vanilla Florentine cookies, a seasonal product that was sold at its grocery stores in Danbury and Newington, Connecticut, last year. The company updated its notice on Thursday to recall the vanilla and chocolate Florentine cookies because they contain undeclared peanuts and eggs.
“People with an allergy or severe sensitivity to peanuts or eggs run the risk of serious or life-threatening allergic reaction if they consume these products,” the company said in the recall notice.
The cause of the labeling errors remains under investigation. The recall notice also stated, “One death has been reported that may be associated with the mislabeled product.”
State officials identified the person who died as a resident of New York in their 20s who reportedly ate the cookies at a social gathering in Connecticut.
The woman has been identified by her legal representatives as Órla Baxendale, a native of East Lancashire, United Kingdom, who moved to New York to pursue a career as a dancer. She died on Jan. 11 from anaphylactic shock “resulting from a severe allergic reaction,” according to the law firm, Gair, Gair, Conason, Rubinowitz, Bloom, Hershenhorn, Steigman, and Mackauf.
“Preliminary investigation has revealed that Órla’s death occurred due to the gross negligence and reckless conduct of the manufacturer and/or sellers who failed to properly identify the contents of the cookie on the packaging,” her attorneys said in a statement on Wednesday. “This failure in proper disclosure has led to this devastating yet preventable outcome.”
The cookies were produced by Cookies United, a wholesaler based in Islip, New York, and labeled with the Stew Leonard’s brand name, Connecticut officials said.
In a video statement released on Wednesday, Stew Leonard’s president and CEO Stew Leonard Jr. said the company is “devastated” by the news of the woman’s death after eating the mislabeled cookie.
He said the company’s chief safety officer was not notified of a change in the product’s recipe.
“We bought it from an outside supplier and unfortunately, the supplier changed the recipe and started going from soy nuts to peanuts and our chief safety officer here at Stew Leonard’s was never notified,” Leonard said.
“We have a very rigorous process that we use as far as labeling. We take labels very seriously, especially peanuts,” he continued.
The company said in its updated statement on Thursday it is working with the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection and the supplier to “determine the cause of the labeling error.”
Cookies United said it did notify multiple Stew Leonard’s employees via email in July 2023 that the cookies now contain peanuts.
“This is a tragedy that should have never happened and our sympathy is with the family of this Stew Leonard’s customer,” the company said in a statement.
Walker Flanary, general counsel for Cookies United, said in a statement the company has been cooperating with the New York State Department of Agriculture and “have been informed we are in compliance with all applicable rules and regulations relating to this product.”
Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection Commissioner Bryan Cafferelli said the department’s investigators are working with local health and state officials, the Food and Drug Administration and Stew Leonard’s “to determine how this error happened and prevent a similar tragedy from occurring in the future.”
“This is a heartbreaking tragedy that should never have happened,” Cafferelli said in a statement.
Investigators are also working to determine if any other products were affected and sold to other stores, the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection Commissioner said.
About 500 packages of the recalled cookies were sold over the holiday, according to Leonard. The impacted cookies were sold in Danbury and Newington from Nov. 6 to Dec. 31, 2023. Consumers with a nut allergy are advised to immediately dispose of the cookies or return them for a full refund.
Baxendale’s death is the only one that may have been associated with the mislabeled products, according to Connecticut officials.
Baxendale’s death “is not only a personal tragedy for her family and friends but also a significant loss to the artistic community,” her attorneys said.
The U.K. native moved to New York in 2018 to attend the Ailey School and had become an “integral part of the New York dance world, pursuing her passion, shining her bright light, and doing what she loved most,” the Ailey School said in a statement on social media.
Baxendale was most recently a member of the company MOMIX, who described her as “an embodiment of enthusiasm, strength, and beauty” and an “exquisite ballet, contemporary, and Irish step dancer.”
“Known for her quirky character and boundless love for those around her, she was a source of joy and inspiration to everyone,” MOMIX said in a statement on social media. “Her presence was a constant reminder to live life to its fullest, a lesson she embraced wholeheartedly and urged others to adopt.”
(ATLANTA) — An attorney for ex-DOJ official Jeffrey Clark made his case for access to communications between Fulton County prosecutors and the White House counsel’s office on Thursday, claiming that the Georgia election interference case against his client was brought with “political purpose.”
Harry MacDougald, Clark’s lawyer, said he needed access to those communications because, he alleged, the Biden White House “has its fingerprints on all four criminal prosecutions of President Trump,” and Clark needs the documents to build a case for dismissal on the grounds of selective prosecution.
Clark is accused by the DA of making false statements to senior Justice Department officials in December 2020, urging them to tell Georgia officials that the DOJ had “significant concerns” about the 2020 election results in the state.
Clark, who waved his appearance, was not present in court Thursday.
Alex Bernick, a prosecutor with the Fulton County DA’s office, said in court that their office’s written communication with the White House amounts to two letters “about logistics and procedures.”
“It wasn’t about obtaining any type of evidence,” Bernick said.
Fulton County Judge Scott McAfee said he wanted to review the relevant documents in his chambers and would study the case law before making a decision.
“Why don’t we start there?” McAfee said. “After I’ve had a chance to review, I’ll make the findings … in a written order.”
Clark earlier argued in court filings that the records he was seeking may be material to the outcome of his case “if it supports an argument that the prosecution of the case is tainted with partisan political objectives coordinated with, suggested or directed by the White House.” But he also conceded those communications may have been for “legitimate non-political reasons.”
In his motion, Clark also suggested that the DA’s correspondence with the federal government “may show” that the DOJ refused to grant requests for two DOJ officials to testify before the grand jury that was probing the case — an assertion they base on a New York Times article on the investigation.
If true, Clark’s attorneys said, that would be beneficial to Clark’s case.
Trump, Clark, and 17 others pleaded not guilty in August to all charges in a sweeping racketeering indictment for alleged efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in the state of Georgia.
Defendants Kenneth Chesebro, Sidney Powell, Jena Ellis and Scott Hall subsequently took plea deals in exchange for agreeing to testify against other defendants.
(LOS ANGELES) — Marcus Eriz has been found guilty of murder in the Orange County, California, road rage incident that killed 6-year-old Aiden Leos in 2021.
Eriz was convicted of second-degree murder, shooting into an occupied vehicle and two felony enhancements of the personal discharge of a firearm causing great bodily injury and death.
“While we will never know what Aiden would have become, we know that the pursuit of justice did not end until his killer was captured and this child murderer was prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said in a statement after the verdict.
Eriz will be sentenced on April 12. The 26-year-old faces 40 years to life in prison.
On May 21, 2021, just 10 days after his birthday, Leos was shot and killed sitting in his booster seat while his mother, Joanna Cloonan, was driving him to kindergarten in Yorba Linda.
During Cloonan’s testimony this month, she said her and her son were on the 55 freeway when a white Volkswagen SportWagen cut her off abruptly while she was in the carpool lane driving northbound, according to Los Angeles ABC station KABC.
Cloonan reportedly said she got out of the carpool lane to avoid being behind the car and showed her middle finger in reaction to being cut off. After, a person in the VW opened fire through the rear of Cloonan’s car, striking Aiden in the back seat.
After a weekslong manhunt, authorities arrested then 24-year-old Marcus Eriz, and his girlfriend, Wynne Lee, then 23, at their home in Costa Mesa, California, on June 6, 2021, according to California Highway Patrol.
Investigators later determined Lee was driving and Eriz shot at Cloonan’s car that fatal day.
Lee was subsequently charged with being an accessory after the fact and possessing a concealed firearm in a vehicle. Her pretrial hearing is set for Feb. 9. Lee remains free under GPS monitoring on $100,000 bond.
“They took my son’s life away,” Cloonan told ABC News in an interview on “Good Morning America” in 2021. “He was beautiful and he was kind and he was precious, and you killed him for no reason. And I want to find them and I want there to be justice to be served for my son.”
During her January 2024 testimony, Cloonan tearfully recalled Leos’ final moments after their car was shot at.
“I heard a noise that sounded like a big rock hit the car,” Cloonan said during the trial, according to KABC-TV. “I heard my son say, ‘Ow.’ I looked behind me and his head was hanging down.”
Cloonan emotionally explained how she tried to save Leos’ life but could tell that her young son was “dying very quickly.”
“I immediately pulled over to the side of the freeway. I attempted to get him out of his car seat. I noticed that he was dying very quickly. I put my hand on his belly. I put him close to my body to try to save his life and I called 911,” she said, according to KABC.
During her testimony, Cloonan revealed how she discovered what exactly happened during the fatal incident, and that it was a gunshot through her car that took her son’s life.
“I remember being surrounded. I couldn’t see what was going on with him. I looked at the back of my car and saw a hole. And I asked a man, ‘Is that a bullet hole? Is that what happened?’ And he said, ‘It appears to be so.'”
Leos was taken to Children’s Hospital of Orange County where he was later pronounced dead.
When Cloonan was shown a photo of Leos during her testimony, she broke down in tears, according to KABC.
During the trial – which began in Orange County on Jan. 18 – prosecutors played a recording of Eriz’s original interrogation with authorities, according to KABC.
Eriz reportedly admitted that “for some reason,” after Cloonen showed her middle finger at him and Lee, he reached into the backseat of their vehicle, pulled out his gun and shot at Cloonen’s car.
When asked what the motive was behind the attack, he reportedly said, “I don’t have an answer. Because I’m stupid. I didn’t think of anything. I didn’t think of the consequences or anyone.”
Eriz claimed he could not remember if he shot at her car from inside his own vehicle or if he shot from outside the passenger door window. Eriz said he did not aim deliberately, according to KABC.
(NEW YORK) — Former President Donald Trump is on trial this week in New York City to determine whether he will have to pay former Elle magazine columnist E. Jean Carroll additional damages for defaming her in 2019 when he denied her allegations of sexual abuse.
Last year, in a separate trial, a jury determined that Trump was liable for sexually abusing Carroll in the dressing room of a Manhattan department store in the 1990s, and that he defamed her in a 2022 social media post by calling her allegations “a Hoax and a lie” and saying “This woman is not my type!”
Trump has denied all wrongdoing and has said he doesn’t know who Carroll is.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Jan 25, 2:48 PM
‘This is not America,’ Trump mutters as he leaves court
“Not America,” Donald Trump muttered as he exited the courtroom following his testimony.
“It’s not America. This is not America,” he repeated, his voice rising as he slowly walked toward the courtroom exit.
Court is adjourned until 3:30 p.m. ET, at which point attorneys will conference with the judge.
Closing arguments are currently scheduled for tomorrow.
Jan 25, 2:33 PM
Trump testifies he denied allegations to defend himself
“Do you stand by your testimony in your deposition?” Trump’s attorney, Alina Habba, asked Trump on the witness stand.
“100% yes,” Trump responded.
“Did you deny the allegation to defend yourself?” Habba asked. “Yes I did, that’s exactly right,” Trump responded.
“Mr. President, did you ever instruct anyone to hurt Ms. Carroll?”
“No, I just wanted to defend myself, my family and frankly the presidency,” Trump answered.
The judge struck everything after the word “no.”
On cross-examination Carroll’s attorney Roberta Kaplan asked whether this is the first trial with Carroll that Trump has attended. He said yes.
On redirect, Trump affirmed he was represented by counsel.
Trump then stepped down from the stand, his testimony over after all of three minutes.
Jan 25, 2:26 PM
Judge provides instructions on scope of testimony
Prior to Trump taking the witness stand, Judge Lewis Kaplan reminded the parties, outside the jury’s presence, that a prior trial found “Mr. Trump in fact sexually abused Ms. Carroll by forcibly and without consent inserting his fingers into her vagina” and that “Ms. Carroll did not make up her claim of forcible sexual abuse.”
Kaplan said the prior trial also established Trump’s statements of denial were defamatory and that Trump “knew they were false, had serious doubts as to the truth of what he said or made those statements with a high degree of awareness that they were probably false.”
The judge reminded the defense that Trump cannot make any argument “disputing or undermining those determinations.” He said “there is cause for concern” that Trump’s testimony might contain inadmissible evidence.
“I want to know everything he is going to say,” Kaplan told defense attorney Alina Habba.
“That he stands by his deposition,” Habba responded. “He is going to say that he did not make the statements to hurt Ms. Carroll.”
Habba said Trump will also say that he had to respond to the allegation and did not instruct anyone to disparage Carroll.
Carroll’s attorney, Roberta Kaplan, complained that while Habba was giving her proffer, “Mr. Trump said under his breath that he never met her and had never seen her before.”
Kaplan said the jury would be instructed that, regardless of what Trump says on the witness stand, “he did it.”
Trump was overheard saying he was not at the first trial and that he does not “know this woman” as Habba tried to affirm Trump understood the confines of his testimony.
“So he will comply with the rulings?” Kaplan asked. “That is my understanding,” Habba replied.
The judge has limited the examination to three questions: Does he stand by the deposition? Did he deny the allegation because an accusation had been made? And did he instruct anyone to hurt Carroll?
Jan 25, 2:19 PM
Trump takes the stand
“Defense calls President Donald Trump,” attorney Alina Habba said as Trump took the stand in his own defense.
Jan 25, 1:56 PM
Trump, observing proceedings, is more subdued than last week
With the morning session completed, a more subdued Donald Trump has been in the courtroom today.
Unlike when Trump attended the trial last week, there have been no outbursts from Trump and no sparring with the judge. There are hardly any of the audible comments or hand gesturing that was observed earlier.
Instead, Trump has sat calmly and listened to the testimony, occasionally conferring quietly with his attorneys. When a video was played of him from just a few days ago repeating the claim that he “didn’t know” E. Jean Carroll, he nodded along with the video and silently mouthed the words “true.”
In fact, the only real disturbance today came when a cell phone — which Judge Kaplan strictly prohibits in the courtroom — rang in the galley.
“Whose telephone was that?” the judge asked. “Take that man out of here.”
It turned out to be Trump campaign spokesperson Stephen Cheung– who was removed from the courtroom by security.
Trump may take the witness stand when the proceedings resume after a break.
Jan 25, 1:31 PM
Carroll’s friend testifies she was ‘very concerned’ for her
On cross-examination by Carroll’s attorney Shawn Crowley, former television newswoman Carol Martin explained the safety concerns she said she had due to her association with E. Jean Carroll and her lawsuit against Donald Trump.
“I am a huge consumer of news and I keep up with everything that I can, as it happens, and the climate in the country felt dangerous to me,” said Martin, a longtime friend of Carroll’s. “Mr. Trump was saying he didn’t lose the election and I was very concerned that my friend was right in the middle of a lawsuit like this one.”
She also testified her comments about Carroll’s “narcissism” and “lifestyle” were made out of concern that Carroll might lose at trial. Martin testified that when she called Carroll a “drug addict,” she meant she was very passionate.
“I used the word drug addict. Bad word to use,” Martin said.
“Are you suspicious of her motives?” asked Crowley.
“I am not suspicious of her motives,” Martin replied.
Jan 25, 12:53 PM
Carroll has at times ‘enjoyed the attention,’ friend testifies
Former television newswoman Carol Martin, testifying as a hostile witness for the defense, said that her longtime friend E. Jean Carroll “has an admirable reputation in the workplace.”
Martin testified that she did, “on some levels,” have concern for her safety and her daughter’s safety after Carroll went public in 2019 with her sexual assault accusation against Donald Trump. Martin was among the friends Carroll had told about the assault.
“As I saw the popularity of that article, my daughter became more concerned,” Martin said of the 2019 New York magazine story in which Carroll made the accusation.
“Ms. Carroll assured you she didn’t have security concerns?” defense attorney Alina Habba asked. “That was her opinion,” Martin said. “Jeanie didn’t want us to worry.”
Habba has argued that the harm Carroll said she suffered as a result of Trump’s defamatory statements is overblown.
“Did you think Ms. Carroll enjoyed the attention?” Habba asked. “At points, in early years,” Martin responded. She also affirmed she had texted a friend that Carroll’s “narcissism had run amok.”
Martin testified that “at some point” she became frustrated with what Habba described as Carroll’s “celebratory behavior” in connection with her lawsuits against Trump. “It’s a difference in our personalities, but we work around it,” Martin said.
At one point Martin said she felt Carroll was “loving the adulation.”
“Do you believe Ms. Carroll is enjoying this fame to some extent?” Habba asked. “I think she is adapting to this phase in her life. Enjoying is a multifaceted word,” Martin said, ending her direct examination.
Jan 25, 11:50 AM
Judge denies defense’s motion for directed verdict
The defense’s motion for a directed verdict, made after Carroll’s attorneys rested their case, asked the judge to end the trial due to a lack of evidence.
“Ms. Carroll has failed to establish any causal link between her claim for damages and President Trump’s statement,” defense attorney Alina Habba said. “On causation alone, she has not proven her facts.”
Habba argued, as she did in her opening statement, that people were disparaging Carroll prior to Trump issuing his defamatory denials. She also argued Carroll could not prove she received death threats at the time because she deleted messages that contained them, prompting an interjection from the judge.
“Your theory here is that she should be punished because, before there was litigation, she deleted tweets that could be helpful to her?” Judge Lewis Kaplan asked. “That’s not my argument,” Habba replied. “Sounds like it,” the judge said.
Carroll’s attorney, Roberta Kaplan, argued that she had met her burden.
“We believe there is more than ample evidence, causation, here to allow the case to go to the jury,” Roberta Kaplan said.
The judge denied the defense’s motion. Next up will be the defense’s first witness.
Jan 25, 11:31 AM
Carroll rests her case, defense seeks directed verdict
Following concluding statements, E. Jean Carroll’s attorneys have rested their case.
They will now give way to Trump’s attorneys to present the defense’s case.
The defense, meanwhile, has asked the judge for a directed verdict to halt the proceedings and decide the case in their favor.
Jan 25, 11:12 AM
Carroll’s attorneys highlight clips from Trump’s 2022 deposition
E. Jean Carroll’s attorneys ended their defamation case against former President Trump by showing the jury some of Trump’s social media posts and soundbites from his campaign rallies in which he repeats the defamatory statements he has made about her.
The jury also saw a portion of Trump’s videotaped deposition for Carroll’s case that he sat for in October 2022, in which Trump was given a copy of the 2019 New York magazine article that first published Carroll’s sexual assault allegation.
“Did you ever read this article?” plaintiff’s attorney Roberta Kaplan asked in the deposition. “No,” Trump responded.
Kaplan, in the deposition, also read Trump’s defamatory response to the article and asked, “Do you stand by the statement?” Trump responded, “Yes.”
The jury also heard Trump in the deposition affirm that he stood by a June 24, 2019, statement in which he said Carroll was “not my type.”
“You meant she was not your type, physically right?” Kaplan asked. “Physically, she’s not my type,” Trump responded. “The only difference between me and other people is that I’m honest.”
The jury also saw the excerpt of the deposition in which Trump was handed an old black-and-white photo of him, his first wife Ivana, Carroll, and her then-husband John Johnson, and temporarily mistook Carroll for his second wife Marla Maples.
After the confusion, Kaplan, in the deposition, asked Trump if the three women he married were his type, and Trump answered, “Yeah.”
Trump, in the deposition, also conceded that he had no information about Carroll’s political party or evidence that she was pursuing a political agenda.
The jury also saw an excerpt of a videotaped deposition Trump gave in April 2023 as part of Trump’s separate civil fraud lawsuit in which Trump boasted about his wealth, and estimated that the value of his Mar-a-Lago resort is $1.5 billion — possibly meant to show the jury that Trump can afford a large damage award.
Jan 25, 10:26 AM
Carroll is a ‘truth teller,’ former editor says
E. Jean Carroll was a “beloved” columnist at Elle magazine, her former editor testified as the final witness in Carroll’s case.
“She was beloved by the readers,” Roberta Myers testified. “I would say she was the most prominent columnist that we had. I thought of her column as a destination. People would often pick up the magazine and go to her column first.”
“She’s a truth-teller,” Myers said of Carroll.
On cross-examination, defense attorney Alina Habba established that Myers is a registered Democrat who did not vote for Trump in either 2016 or 2020.
When Habba asked whether Myers planned to vote for Trump in 2024, Myers answered, “I don’t think I have to say what I plan to do.”
Trump watched Myers’ testimony from his seat at the defense table.
Jan 25, 10:19 AM
Elle magazine editor takes the stand
After a late start, today’s proceedings are underway in former President Trump’s defamation damages trial.
Roberta Myers, the former editor-in-chief of Elle magazine, where E. Jean Carroll was an advice columnist, has taken the stand to testify for Carroll.
Trump is seated at the defense table with his attorneys.
Jan 25, 9:57 AM
Trump is in court
Former President Donald Trump has arrived in court this morning.
The proceedings, which were scheduled to get underway at 9:30 a.m. ET, were off to a late start.
Jan 25, 9:00 AM
Carroll’s attorneys expected to rest their case
If former President Trump takes the stand in his own defense today, it will happen after Carroll’s attorneys rest their case.
Carroll’s lawyers plan to call one final witness: Robbie Myers, the former editor-in-chief of Elle magazine, where Carroll was an advice columnist.
As part of the defense’s case, Trump’s lawyers also plan to call Carol Martin, a friend of Carroll’s who testified in the earlier assault and defamation trial.
Jan 25, 7:53 AM
Trump indicates he’ll attend trial today, could take stand
In a post to his Truth Social platform overnight, former President Trump indicated that he will attend his defamation damages trial today.
“But now I’m heading back to New York City for a trial based on False Accusations, from perhaps decades ago — The woman has no idea when!” Trump wrote.
Carroll has accused Trump of assaulting her around 1996 but can’t pinpoint the year.
In a series of other posts, Trump also disparaged Carroll, said she made up her story, and suggested she was a paid political operative.
If Trump takes the stand today, he would be banned from using any of those defenses based on a pretrial ruling by Judge Lewis Kaplan which determined that — because a jury last year already found Trump liable for sexually abusing Carroll and then defaming her — Trump is barred from arguing that he did not sexually abuse Carroll or that he never met her.
(NEW YORK) — Jennifer Crumbley, the mother of Michigan school shooter Ethan Crumbley, will testify in her own defense, lawyer Shannon Smith said Thursday as her manslaughter trial got underway with opening statements.
“Jennifer Crumbley is going to take the stand and tell you about her life, her son … and when he did something she could have not have predicted,” Smith said, though a date for her testimony was not announced.
The mother is facing four counts of involuntary manslaughter for her role in the November 2021 shooting that left four students dead and seven other injured.
Jennifer Crumbley pleaded not guilty to all charges in December 2021. A separate trial for her husband, James Crumbley, who is also facing four counts of involuntary manslaughter, will begin in March.
The trial is a rare case of parents being charged in connection to a child’s mass shooting.
Jury selection was completed on Wednesday with 12 jurors and five alternates.
On Thursday, prosecutors started with opening statements, arguing that the Crumbleys did not secure the firearm used in the shooting in a way to prevent their son from getting access to it. Prosecutors also argued that Jennifer Crumbley “was still given the opportunity” to prevent the shooting on the day it happened, but did not.
Days before the shooting, a teacher allegedly saw Ethan Crumbley researching ammunition in class, and the school contacted his parents but they didn’t respond, according to previous information shared by prosecutors. But Jennifer Crumbley did text her son, writing, “lol, I’m not mad at you, you have to learn not to get caught,” according to prosecutors.
Hours before the shooting, the prosecution has alleged that a teacher saw a note on Ethan Crumbley’s desk that was “a drawing of a semi-automatic handgun pointing at the words, ‘The thoughts won’t stop, help me.’ In another section of the note was a drawing of a bullet with the following words above that bullet, ‘Blood everywhere.'”
The Crumbleys were called to the school over the incident, and said they’d get their son counseling, but did not take him home, prosecutors said.
Prosecutor Marc Keast also alleged Thursday that Jennifer Crumbley privately communicated concerns about Ethan Crumbley with her husband ahead of the shooting.
The defense argued in its opening statements that Jennifer Crumbley had no way to know what was going to happen and that she did not know anything about guns before the shooting.
Smith added that the school did not inform Jennifer Crumbley of her son’s problematic issues and said she did not take him home the morning of the shooting because he wanted to stay at school and the school allowed him to remain in class.
Witnesses take the stand
The first two witnesses to take the stand Thursday were educators at Oxford High School, where the shooting took place.
The first, Molly Darnell — who previously gave testimony in hearings for Ethan Crumbley — was shot through her left arm. She described “locking eyes” with Ethan through her office door before he fired at her with the bullet injuring her left arm. Darnell also detailed barricading herself in her office until law enforcement came to the door.
Darnell made a makeshift tourniquet out of the cardigan she wore to school that day to stem the bleeding from her arm, she said.
Reacting to a photo of her office door, which contained bullet holes, Darnell told prosecutors, “He was aiming to kill me.”
Kristy Marshall, the assistant principal at Oxford High School at the time of the shooting, took the stand as the second witness. Marshall had also previously been the principal at the shooter’s elementary school. Marshall described encountering the shooter and one of his victims in the hallway during the rampage and recognizing him from when he was in elementary school.
“It seemed so odd that it was him. I asked him, ‘Buddy are you OK? What’s going on?’ When he didn’t respond, he looked away, that’s when I knew it was him, he was the shooter,” Marshall said.
Prosecutors then played surveillance video from inside Oxford High School during the shooting that could not be broadcast. The video appeared to be so upsetting that both Jennifer Crumbley and Smith started crying, drawing heated objections from the prosecution, which said the defense was defying the judge’s order to not show too much emotion in court.
Smith, who claimed she did not cry while the video was playing, demanded a break.
Ethan Crumbley, who was 15 years old at the time of the shooting, was sentenced to life without parole in December after he pleaded guilty to 24 charges, including first-degree premeditated murder and terrorism causing death.
Crumbley’s parents are accused of allowing Ethan Crumbley access to the gun used in the shooting and failing to recognize warning signs.
During his plea hearing in October 2022, Crumbley admitted in court that he asked his father to buy him a specific gun and confirmed he gave his father money for the gun and that the semi-automatic handgun wasn’t kept in a locked safe.
ABC News’ Whitney Lloyd contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — Former President Donald Trump is on trial this week in New York City to determine whether he will have to pay former Elle magazine columnist E. Jean Carroll additional damages for defaming her in 2019 when he denied her allegations of sexual abuse.
Last year, in a separate trial, a jury determined that Trump was liable for sexually abusing Carroll in the dressing room of a Manhattan department store in the 1990s, and that he defamed her in a 2022 social media post by calling her allegations “a Hoax and a lie” and saying “This woman is not my type!”
Trump has denied all wrongdoing and has said he doesn’t know who Carroll is.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Jan 25, 7:53 AM
Trump indicates he’ll attend trial today, could take stand
In a post to his Truth Social platform overnight, former President Trump indicated that he will attend his defamation damages trial today.
“But now I’m heading back to New York City for a trial based on False Accusations, from perhaps decades ago — The woman has no idea when!” Trump wrote.
Carroll has accused Trump of assaulting her around 1996 but can’t pinpoint the year.
In a series of other posts, Trump also disparaged Carroll, said she made up her story, and suggested she was a paid political operative.
If Trump takes the stand today, he would be banned from using any of those defenses based on a pretrial ruling by Judge Lewis Kaplan which determined that — because a jury last year already found Trump liable for sexually abusing Carroll and then defaming her — Trump is barred from arguing that he did not sexually abuse Carroll or that he never met her.
(NEW YORK) — Communities in the southern and eastern United States are grappling with dangerous floods from heavy rainfall, while dense fog envelops a swath of the country.
Major flash flooding on Wednesday affected areas from Louisiana to Mississippi, where localized rainfall totals ranged from 5 to 9 inches. Over the past few days, heavy rain also hit parts of eastern Texas, just north of Houston, where more than 8 inches fell.
On Thursday, the worst of the flooding is expected to be from Louisiana to western North Carolina and northern Georgia, where some areas could get in excess of 5 inches of rain with flash floods in the forecast. The major cities that could be impacted include New Orleans, Louisiana; Jackson, Mississippi; Mobile, Alabama; Birmingham, Alabama; Montgomery, Alabama; Atlanta, Georgia; Knoxville, Tennessee; and Asheville, North Carolina.
The heavy rain is forecast to move north where there is still snow in the Midwest to the Northeast. A flood watch has been issued for the rain that will fall on top of the snowmelt and ice jams.
As of early Thursday, 15 states from Texas to Rhode Island are under flood alerts.
The East is expected to get waves of rain through the weekend.
Meanwhile, millions of Americans are waking up to extreme fog in at least 25 states from New Mexico to New York on Thursday morning. There are already reports of visibility being near zero in cities such as New Orleans, Louisiana; Little Rock, Arkansas; and Chicago, Illinois.
There are also reports of low visibility in major cities on the East Coast, including New York, New York; and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Some areas will see this dense fog through most of the day.
Temperatures are forecast to stay mild for the East Coast this week, with the warmest air along the Interstate 95 travel corridor.
On Thursday, temperatures are expected to be near 60 degrees Fahrenheit in Washington, D.C.; in the 50s in New York, New York; and near 50 in Boston, Massachusetts. The mild air is forecast to linger over the next few days, with near 50 degrees for New York, New York; 60s for Washington, D.C.; 70s for Atlanta, Georgia; and summer-like 80s for Orlando, Florida.
