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(NEW YORK) — Criminal prosecution proceedings typically start with an arrest and a court appearance, but legal experts say that on many occasions, especially in white collar crimes, suspects aren’t hit with charges or a visit from an officer until long after an official investigation is underway.

Being charged vs. indicted

Typically, if a crime is being investigated, law enforcement agents will make an arrest, file initial charges and bring a suspect to be arraigned in court, Vincent Southerland, an assistant professor of clinical law and the director of the criminal defense and reentry clinic at NYU School of Law, told ABC News.

After this arraignment, prosecutors would impanel a grand jury for a formal criminal indictment. Southerland, who has been practicing law in New York state for 19 years, said this process includes giving the jury evidence, possible testimony and other exhibits before they can officially charge a person with felonies.

New York is one of 25 states where prosecutors are required by law to have a grand jury decide on felony charges for a trial. The other half of the country does not have this requirement and such decisions can be made by the prosecutor themselves.

Southerland said in most criminal cases, “prosecutors and investigators have more than enough evidence or a case to bring that indictment in quickly.”

Why prosecutors may take long for an indictment

However, Southerland noted that prosecutors can start with the criminal indictment process in the beginning, especially if their case needs more evidence to press those charges.

Cheryl Bader, an associate clinical professor of law at Fordham University, told ABC News that such a move is common in white collar criminal investigations that involve looking at delicate nuances in the state law and require more time.

Bader said investigations into prominent figures, such as the current investigation by the Manhattan District Attorney’s office into former President Donald Trump, also prompt prosecutors’ offices to make their case to the grand jury in the most meticulous and thorough way possible.

A Manhattan grand jury is currently investigating Trump’s possible role in the hush payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels. The former president has denied any wrongdoing and having an affair with Daniels. His attorneys have framed the funds as a response to an extortion plot.

“In an investigation like this, the prosecutor isn’t in a rush and wants to put their ducks in order. They want the evidence fully organized before they go to trial,” Bader told ABC News.

Southerland said that in some cases, a defendant might be offered the opportunity to testify before a grand jury and go on the record.

Two weeks ago, the Manhattan DA’s office informed Trump of his right to testify before the grand jury in the probe, according to sources.

One of Trump’s attorneys, Joe Tacopina, however, told “Good Morning America’s” George Stephanopoulos last week that his client has “no plans” to participate.

Southerland said that anything a witness or a defendant testifies in a grand jury can be used in court.

“It hamstrings here if you want to change your defense,” he said.

What happens after an indictment

Bader said suspects who are indicted can be arrested and remanded into custody while they await trial, but in most white-collar cases, the defendant is released on their own recognizance.

Southerland said another advantage that prosecutors have when it comes to indicting a suspect first before charging them is the secrecy and confidentiality of the grand jury. He noted, however, that in Trump’s pending case, media attention and witness statements have brought the case into the public eye.

“With a lot of things Trump-related, a lot of conventions just don’t hold,” he said.

Burden of proof

Southerland said that in all grand jury indictment cases, jurors are only tasked with determining if a case is strong enough that it should go to a criminal trial.

“The burden of proof is incredibly low,” he said. “This is not like in a criminal trial where something needs to be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.”

As the investigation into Trump continues, Southerland said the public needs to keep in mind that criminal indictments and charges aren’t indicative of any suspect’s guilt.

“When we talk about indictments, we’re talking about whether there is enough evidence to go forward with a trial, which is probable cause,” he said. “Defendants are still innocent until proven guilty and the indictment is just the first step of the legal process.”

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(NEW YORK) — ABC News National Correspondent Stephanie Ramos says she “never thought” the military would be in her future while growing up. But soon after the 9/11 terror attacks, Ramos joined the Army Reserve. Five years later, she was deployed to Baghdad, Iraq, and was there for a year before returning home.

Twenty years after the U.S. invasion, Ramos joined three service members who were deployed to Iraq — retired Air Force Senior Master Sgt. Israel Del Toro, retired U.S. Army Specialist Shoshana Johnson and active-duty Air Force Lt. Col. Bree Fram — to talk about their experiences and reflect on the horrors of war.

STEPHANIE RAMOS: So let’s start with introductions.

ISRAEL DEL TORO: Israel Del Toro, Jr. Retired, CMS Sergeant. Served 22 years as a special warfare fighter. I was there in Iraq from the beginning.

SHOSHANA JOHNSON: Shoshana Johnson, U.S. Army, deployed in 2003. Shot twice, captured, 22 days as a prisoner of war.

BREE FRAM: Bree Fram. I’m a lieutenant colonel in the United States Space Force. I previously served 18 years in the Air Force, where I deployed as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2004, and then went back in 2017 and ’18 as an international affairs officer.

RAMOS: Thank you for being here, all of you. You all have a very unique background. You all have different paths in the military, and that’s what I love about the military. It really brings together this random group of people from all over the country, and you’re working with them, you’re in tight quarters with them, you’re deploying overseas with them. It’s very, very unique. We were all deployed to Baghdad, Iraq. We all have very different experiences. Shoshana, talk a little bit about your time when you deployed. You were a mom when you deployed to Iraq. And your daughter was how old?

JOHNSON: She was 2.

RAMOS: Two years old! As a mom, what was that moment like for you?

JOHNSON: It’s what we do, you know. As a military family, we’ve gone through this process so many times. Our family is military. My dad is a Desert Storm vet. Great uncles, cousins, we all served. My sister served. I was in JROTC in high school, and everything like that. We’re also immigrants from Panama. Emotionally, yes, you’re leaving your kid behind. But I was also the kid that got left behind when my dad deployed. Of course, you want to see all those milestones. I had already missed her first birthday. I missed her first words. I missed her first steps, because we’re training and stuff like that. My only thing was to get home to see her become a grown woman.

RAMOS: And talk to us a little bit about that. When you were there in Iraq, what happened?

JOHNSON: March 23rd. My company went into the city of Nasiriyah before it was secure. We were ambushed. We lost 11. Eight of us were captured, taken to Baghdad, where we spent 22 days in captivity. We heard the conflict going on constantly around us. You know, just hoping and praying that we’d be found. There were incidents where they weren’t so nice. And there were other incidents where I was surprised at the kindness I was shown. During my captivity, they actually performed the operation to clean out the wounds of my legs. I’m very grateful that they took the time to do that. I don’t know if I’d be here or if I’d have legs without that kindness.

RAMOS: And what was going through your mind during that time that you’re being held?

JOHNSON: Lots of prayer. Lots of hope of seeing my daughter and my family again. I was thinking, “Why did this happen to me?” I think now that I’ve returned home, I asked more of the questions of, “Why me?” You know? Nine people died. Why am I here? And it’s something I struggle with 20 years later, and I’ll probably struggle with it for the rest of my life.

RAMOS: Bree, you deployed to Iraq in 2004, pre-transition. It was just a year into the into the start of the war. What was that like?

FRAM: My very first night there, I tried to go to sleep in a tent with a bunch of other people, and the air raid sirens went off. And I thought, “Oh my god, what do I do? Do I roll out of bed? Do I hide under the bed? Do I put my body armor on? Do I get out? Do I go somewhere?” And I look around the tent, and everyone who had been there a lot longer is just either sound asleep, or they looked around and they went right back to sleep.

And when I asked in the morning, “Well, what do we do?” And they said, “By the time the air raid siren goes off, either you’re dead or you’re fine. So just go back to sleep.” OK, that’s gonna be hard to do for a while. But eventually, you just pick up that attitude, and you’re like, “I’m fine. I’m going to be okay. And I’m going to carry on with the mission.”

RAMOS: You returned briefly to Iraq in 2018. What was that like, seeing Iraq early in the war in 2004, and then returning so many years later?

FRAM: Seeing the difference in the base, and how rundown certain aspects of it were. Yet they were still able to accomplish the mission. It was just a night and day operation. But still, to see the pride they had in their pilots. I mean, those guys were like Gods over there, with the skills that they had developed. It was just a dramatic shift in tone for what the base looked like, how it operated.

RAMOS: DT, you were deployed to Bosnia, to Afghanistan, to Iraq. Tell us about the job that you had while you were in Iraq.

DEL TORO: So my job, what we do is call in airstrikes. So we are the guys down to ground with Army, Marines, Navy, special operations as their fire element. Knowing that I had that opportunity, that ability to take care of my teammates, just by what I did, was awesome, because I knew I was going to take care of my guys. Was it dangerous? Obviously, you can see by my appearance. Yeah, it is dangerous. But I enjoyed it. I enjoyed being out there with my guys.

RAMOS: Talk a little bit about your journey and when you were in Afghanistan.

DEL TORO: I was out there with a team of scouts, when I got hit in 2005, December. You know, you hear the stories of, your life flashes in front of you. For me, I never really believed it. Then, when I got hit, going down the road, across this creek, and I feel this intense heat blast on the left side. And I was like, in my head, “We just got hit.” That’s where those flashes, things that were going to happen that were distinct that I remember was like, me and my wife had tried to get married three different times. We were finally going to get married by the church. Because every time we tried, I deployed. But lastly, was me teaching my boy how to play ball, because I was a ballplayer. And then something told me to get out of this truck and pop out of it and try to run to the creek. The flames overtook me, and I collapsed. And I’m thinking here, this is it. I was like, I’ve broken my promise to my family that I would always come back. 80% percent of my body had third degree burns. I was given a 15% chance to live.

RAMOS: You were definitely tougher than your disabilities and circumstances. What motivated you to stay in and re-enlist in 2010?

DEL TORO: I knew I could teach, get the next generation of operators ready. Sometimes people say, “Is that really the first face we want to show these young troops?” And my answer to that was like, “You know what? They’d look at me and see the reality of what this job could do and still want to do it. Those are guys I want right there.”

RAMOS: When you look back at your time there, what do you think? Was it worth it? Would you do it all over again. Would you sign up?

DEL TORO: I would in a heartbeat.

RAMOS: What about you Shoshana?

JOHNSON: It’s not about the conflict. It’s about being in service. It’s about being a soldier. I would do it all over again.

DEL TORO: That camaraderie.

JOHNSON: Yeah.

FRAM: I think the fact that I hit 20 years a few months ago and I’m still serving answers that question. Absolutely yes. Because not only do I feel that my service has been valuable, and a part of something greater than myself that I truly believe in, but it also paves the way for the next generation to continue the legacy, to continue to protect the freedoms that we cherish and the rights that we hold so dear.

DEL TORO: How about you, Stephanie?

RAMOS: How about me? Absolutely. I think it was worth it. It was a worthwhile experience. I learned a ton while I was there in Baghdad. So yes, the answer to that question is yes, I would. Thanks DT, for putting me on the spot.

Thank you all. Thank you all for your service. And you know, we hear that a lot. “Thank you for your service. Thank you for your service.” I don’t know how it is for you guys, but I appreciate it every single time that I hear that, because it is a sacrifice. It’s a sacrifice, not just for yourself, but for your entire family. And it is appreciated.

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(NEW HAVEN, Conn.) — New Haven Chief of Police Karl Jacobson on Tuesday recommended the termination of four officers involved in an incident that left Richard “Randy” Cox paralyzed last June.

Officers Luis Rivera, Jocelyn Lavandier, Oscar Diaz and Ronald Pressley as well as Sgt. Betsy Segui were placed on paid administrative leave in June of 2022. In November, they were charged with reckless endangerment and cruelty to persons; they pleaded not guilty to those charges. Pressley retired from the New Haven Police Department in January and received a pension, despite the charges.

Jacobson recommended the terminations following the conclusion of an internal investigation and hearings for the officers.

Jacobson noted that two other officers involved in the incident – a supervisor and an officer involved in detention – would also be disciplined. Jacobson said the penalty for those officers would be less than 15 days suspension.

“This department has gone through a lot since that incident, this community has gone through a lot,” Jacobson said at a press conference. “And the message to the community is that we … will be transparent and we will be accountable.”

According to Jacobson, New Haven’s Board of Police Commissioners will make the final decision about whether the officers are fired by early May.

Jacobson said that the internal investigation yielded enough information to pursue termination, despite the criminal case being ongoing.

“I think the days of waiting for criminal cases to conclude needs to stop; that’s one of the things the community has asked us to do,” he said.

He added that Segui and Diaz would still be eligible to receive a pension despite the charges and potential termination since their conduct did not violate the “bad boy” clause of their contracts.

In June of 2022, the officers placed Cox in a police van for criminal possession of a firearm and breach of the peace. Cox was seriously injured when the van’s driver stopped abruptly at an intersection to avoid a collision, causing Cox to hit his head on a metal partition. Despite asking for repeated help, the officers did not immediately render aid to Cox. Video footage later showed the officers dragging Cox by his feet to a wheelchair.

Jacobson said his department has implemented training and policy changes since the incident, including adding seat belts to all prisoner vans, training officers on de-escalation and revising department policy on transporting suspects in police vehicles.

“I asked my officers to continue to take each situation under those guidelines and to treat members of this community with respect and dignity, whether they’re an arrestee or complaintant, or whatever the case may be,” Jacobson said.

Civil rights attorney Ben Crump said Cox and his family were “encouraged” by the discipline for the four officers. Crump added that Cox is still paralyzed from the chest down because of injuries sustained in the back of the police van.

“These officers were sworn to protect their community, but they inflicted unnecessary and traumatizing harm to Randy, who will pay the price for the rest of his life,” Crump wrote in a statement.

New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker Randy applauded the actions by the police department at a separate press conference on Wednesday.

“When Randy Cox was arrested, he entered a police van able to walk and now he is not able to walk. We need to ensure that this never, ever happens again,” he said.

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(DINWIDDIE COUNTY, Va.) — Prosecutors released video on Tuesday of the March 6 chain of events that ended with the death of Irvo Otieno at Virginia’s Central State Hospital.

The video shows sheriff’s deputies and medical staff at the hospital carrying a handcuffed Otieno into a room and placing him on the floor. Otieno is forcibly held down for nearly 11 minutes until he stops moving, according to the video. The Washington Post published video of the encounter on Monday.

Cabell Baskervill, Dinwiddie County’s Commonwealth attorney, said the incident began in the Henrico County Jail, where Otieno was allegedly punched by officers in his side and torso. She alleged that Otieno was pepper-sprayed while he sat in his cell alone.

Otieno was later transported to Central State Hospital, a state-run inpatient psychiatric facility.

“State Police investigators were told he had become combative during the admission process” at Central State, Baskervill said.

She has pushed back against officers’ claims that Otieno was combative, saying video footage shows that Otieno “was not agitated and combative” but fidgety, stressed and anxious. Baskervill also alleged that seven Virginia sheriff’s deputies then held 28-year-old Otieno down for 12 minutes and suffocated him.

He died of asphyxiation by smothering, according to Baskervill, who described the incident as “cruel and a demonstration of power that is unlawful … it killed him.”

Baskervill said Otieno’s death was not reported for three-and-a-half hours and 911 was not alerted.

Between Otieno’s death and the call made to state police, Otieno’s body was moved, handcuffs were removed and washed and a funeral home had been called instead of the medical examiner’s office, the commonwealth’s attorney said in court.

At some point, an injection was given to Otieno by hospital staff. Baskervill asserted the injection was likely given after he had died of asphyxia.

Baskervill said none of the seven deputies “made truthful statements to the State Police either that night or yesterday upon arrest.”

Seven Henrico County Sheriff’s deputies and three Central State Hospital employees have been arrested and charged with second-degree murder. Additional charges and arrests are pending, according to the commonwealth’s attorney.

Footage from Central State and Henrico County Jail captured the incidents. ABC News has not viewed the video.

The Henrico County Sheriff’s Office is conducting an independent review of Otieno’s death alongside an investigation by Virginia State Police.

The FBI is now in touch with state and local investigators.

“FBI Richmond has been in contact with authorities investigating the circumstances surrounding the tragic death of Mr. Irvo Otieno. We have no further comments to share at this time,” read a statement shared with ABC News from an FBI spokesperson.

The seven arrested deputies were identified as Randy Joseph Boyer, 57; Dwayne Alan Bramble, 37; Jermaine Lavar Branch, 45; Bradley Thomas Disse, 43; Tabitha Renee Levere, 50; Brandon Edwards Rodgers, 48; and Kaiyell Dajour Sanders, 30.

Lawyers for Disse said that the officer was asked by a supervisor to drive to Central State Hospital because of issues officers were having with the inmate and because they were told he could not be controlled with just three officers.

In court, a lawyer for Branch alleged the officer “did not administer any blows to the deceased, or violence towards him, other than simply trying to restrain him.”

Branch’s lawyer, Cary Bowen, told ABC News by phone that Baskervill was trying to fashion the case as something that is “malicious.”

“There was no weapon used. There was no pummeling or anything like that. I think everybody agrees,” Bowen said. “And the way she was casting it was that they ended up suffocating. He couldn’t breathe. And she’s acting like the guy didn’t resist and he wasn’t manic or bipolar or whatever. Just a nice guy who they’re picking on.”

The seven deputies have been placed on administrative leave.

Henrico County Sheriff Alisa A. Gregory released a statement the week after Otieno’s death, extending her “deepest sympathies and condolences” to Otieno’s family and friends.

“The events of March 6, at their core, represent a tragedy because Mr. Otieno’s life was lost. This loss is felt by not only those close to him, but our entire community,” Gregory said in the statement.

Otieno’s family saw the footage before the video was set to be released to the public.

“My son was treated like a dog, worse than a dog. I saw it with my own eyes on the video,” said Otieno’s mother, Caroline Ouko, last week.

The Sheriff’s Department and local union Henrico Fraternal Order of Police Lodge No. 4 have yet to return ABC News’ request for comment.

ABC News’ Nadine El-Bawab, Beatrice Peterson, Nakylah Carter and Ahmad Hemingway contributed to this report.

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(LOS ANGELES) — For the second time in five years, classes were canceled Tuesday for more than 500,000 Los Angeles public school students after tens of thousands of service workers, backed by the powerful teachers union, went on strike.

Custodians, cafeteria workers, bus drivers, special education assistants and other members of the Service Employees International Union Local 99 walked off the job and hit the picket lines in the rain Tuesday morning after negotiations with the Los Angeles Unified School District came to a standstill. The 30,000 members of the service employees union are demanding higher wages and better working conditions.

The labor action is the first major work stoppage for the city’s public schools since a 2019 strike by the 35,000 members of the United Teachers Los Angeles Union.

The teachers union is honoring the service union’s picket lines, forcing the school district to shut down schools.

Cecily Myart-Cruz, president of the UTLA, said Tuesday that her members are supporting the service employees’ demands to show “respect to the education workers that keep our schools working and our children safe.”

“We stand in solidarity with them, recognizing that their struggles are our struggles … that the only way we achieve our goals is by standing collectively together,” Myart-Cruz said.

The service workers union has called for a three-day strike.

Hopes of avoiding a strike were dashed on Monday when a new effort to jumpstart labor negotiations broke down at the last minute, officials said.

“Despite our invitation for a transparent, honest conversation that perhaps would result in a meaningful solution that would avoid a strike, we were never able to be in the same room or at the same table to address these issues,” LAUSD Superintendent Alberto Carvalho said in a statement.

Carvalho said he and the district’s negotiating team waited for hours on Monday to resume labor talks, but never got a response from the service workers union.

“We’ve run out of time,” said Carvalho, adding that he is still hopeful that negotiations will resume soon.

Max Arias, executive director of the service workers union, said the union had agreed to “enter a confidential mediation process” with the LAUSD.

“Unfortunately, LAUSD broke that confidentiality by sharing it with the media before our bargaining team, which makes all decisions, had a chance to discuss how to proceed,” Arias said. “This is yet another example of the school district’s continued disrespect of school workers. We are ready to strike.”

Conrado Guerrero, president of the local service workers’ union and a building engineer for the school district, said Tuesday that the “LAUSD has pushed us to a strike.”

“I showed up every day, I installed air filters in classrooms and other facilities. My work was essential for student health,” Guerrero told ABC News. “But it seems LAUSD has forgotten that.”

The service employees have been working without a contract since June 2020.

“We’re not getting an equitable wage to feed families, have housing,” Fatima Grayson, a striking special education assistant, told ABC Los Angeles station KABC. “A lot of people that do work for LAUSD have to work two jobs.”

In December 2022, the union declared an impasse in negotiations, prompting the appointment of a state mediator.

The service workers’ union said many of its members earn “poverty wages” of $25,000 per year and are demanding a 30% pay hike, with an additional pay increase for the lowest-paid workers.

Carvalho said on Monday that the school district had upped its most recent offer to a 23% wage increase, along with a 3% “cash-in-hand bonus.”

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said the city is helping parents cope with the strike by making recreation centers available to students. All city public libraries will also remain open and the Los Angeles Zoo is offering free admission to students during the strike.

Many parents said they are standing behind the service workers, including some who plan to walk the picket line with the striking employees.

“We have some of our most underpaid workers doing some of the most challenging jobs on our campuses,” parent Jenna Schwartz told KABC. “The majority aren’t receiving health care. They’ve been negotiating for years to no avail.”

Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Los Angeles, joined service workers on the picket line Tuesday, saying he is supporting “all those who take such good care of our kids who are there in school.”

“I stand here with people of Los Angeles who believe that those that have these important responsibilities should not have to live in poverty,” Schiff said. “The median income of our bus drivers and our cafeteria workers that are school age is $25,000 a year. Those are poverty wages. People with some of the most important responsibilities in our schools should not have to live in poverty.”

ABC News’ Flor Tolentino contributed to this report.

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(NEW YORK) — A grand jury is continuing to weigh charges against former President Donald Trump in connection with the Manhattan district attorney’s probe into the 2016 hush payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels.

No current or former president has ever been indicted for criminal conduct.

Here is how the news is developing. All times Eastern. Check back for updates:

Mar 21, 11:00 AM EDT
McCarthy grows frustrated as Trump questions persist at House GOP retreat

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy again ripped into Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg when asked about the potential charges against former President Donald Trump at a Tuesday press conference at the House GOP retreat in Orlando.

When McCarthy was asked directly if had concerns about Trump’s alleged conduct regarding the alleged hush money payment to Stormy Daniels, he didn’t answer the question and instead pivoted to talking about Hillary Clinton and Bragg.

“What we see before us is a political game being played by a local. Look, this isn’t New York City, this is just a Manhattan,” McCarthy said.

McCarthy said he hasn’t spoken to Trump in three weeks.

When asked if Trump is still the leader of the Republican Party, McCarthy took a jab at the press: “In the press room, for all of you, he is.”

-ABC News’ Katherine Faulders and Will Steakin

Mar 21, 10:14 AM EDT
Grand jury to reconvene on Wednesday

A grand jury will reconvene on Wednesday to continue to weigh charges against former President Donald Trump in connection with the Manhattan district attorney’s probe into the 2016 hush payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels.

Michael Cohen, Trump’s former personal attorney, paid $130,000 to Daniels in the closing days of the 2016 presidential campaign to allegedly keep her from talking about an affair she claimed to have had with Trump.

Trump has denied the affair and his attorneys have framed the funds as an extortion payment.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is mulling whether to charge Trump with falsifying business records, after the Trump Organization allegedly reimbursed Cohen for the payment then logged the reimbursement as a legal expense, sources have told ABC News. Trump has called the payment “a private contract between two parties” and has denied all wrongdoing.

Trump this weekend wrote on his Truth Social platform that he expected to be arrested on Tuesday.

The U.S. Secret Service is coordinating security plans with the NYPD in the event of an indictment and arraignment in an open courtroom in Manhattan, sources familiar with the matter told ABC News. The two agencies had a call Monday to discuss logistics, including court security and how Trump would potentially surrender for booking and processing, according to sources briefed on the discussions. White collar criminal defendants in New York are typically allowed to negotiate a surrender.

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(NEW YORK) — With less than one month until a trial is set to begin in the defamation lawsuit brought by Dominion Voting Systems against Fox News, attorneys from both sides are expected to seek a summary judgment during a pretrial hearing Tuesday.

The Delaware judge overseeing the case will hear arguments from both Fox and Dominion attorneys on their respective motions for summary judgments, during which both parties will essentially ask the judge to rule on the case before it heads to trial.

Dominion filed its $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit against Fox News in March 2021, accusing the network of knowingly pushing false conspiracy theories about the voting machine company in the wake of the 2020 election, in order to combat “concerns” over ratings and viewer retention.

Dan Abrams, ABC News’ chief legal analyst, said it would be a long shot for either side to win its motions at this phase, given the overwhelming amount of evidence.

“A motion for summary judgment is a difficult motion to win. It’s basically asking a judge to intervene and say, ‘There’s no need to take this case to a jury,'” Abrams said. “I wouldn’t expect that either party is going to win this case in summary judgment.”

The trial is set to being on April 17.

In its filings, Dominion wrote that “Fox knew. From the top down, Fox knew ‘the Dominion stuff’ was ‘total BS.'”

“Yet despite knowing the truth — or at minimum, recklessly disregarding that truth — Fox spread and endorsed these ‘outlandish voter fraud claims’ about Dominion even as it internally recognized the lies as ‘crazy,’ ‘absurd,’ and ‘shockingly reckless,'” the filing said.

“Fox duped its audience. And Dominion paid the price,” Dominion wrote, while acknowledging the “heavy burden” it faces in proving its claims.

Ahead of the hearing, Dominion has submitted bombshell filings containing hundreds of emails, texts, testimony and other private communications from some of Fox’s biggest stars and executives privately bashing former President Donald Trump and his election fraud claims while continuing to broadcast them on air.

“I did not believe it for one second,” said Sean Hannity in regard to one of Trump’s attorney’s claims, according to one of Dominion’s filings.

In response, Fox has slammed Dominion’s lawsuit as an “an assault on the First Amendment and the free press,” and has defended its airing of Trump’s “undeniably newsworthy” voter fraud allegations and election challenges.

“As long as the press makes clear that the allegations are just allegations and not demonstrable facts, both constitutional and common-law principles protect the right of the press to allow the President’s lawyers to explain their factual allegations and legal theories, as well as the right of the press to express opinions about those claims,” Fox wrote in its own motion for summary judgment.

A Fox News attorney told ABC News that their plan Tuesday was to make the broad first amendment argument that there is no defamation — but that they would also go through many of the individual programs on Fox News, one by one, in hopes of showing that they were not making false statements of fact.

The judge, the Fox attorney said, has the ability to narrow the scope of what proceeds to trial.

At a hearing earlier this month, Judge Eric M. Davis appeared to be readying for trial. He indicated preparations for a jury were already underway, saying that 1,800 jury notices were sent out informing potential jurors that it would be a six-week trial.

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(GAITHERSBURG, Md.) — An attempted kidnapping at a school bus stop went wrong for one 30-year-old man whose attempt was thwarted by a group of children who came to the defense of one of their classmates.

The incident occurred early Monday morning in Gaithersburg, Maryland — approximately 20 miles north of Washington, D.C. — when several students were standing at a bus stop waiting to be picked up by their school bus when 30-year-old Jamaal Germany allegedly attempted to kidnap one of the students.

“The victim stated that they were standing at the bus stop in the 17600 block of Towne Crest Dr., at approximately 7:20 a.m., when the suspect allegedly grabbed the child and pulled them toward an apartment building,” read a statement from the Montgomery County Police Department following the incident. “Several students who were standing at the bus stop attempted to intervene and the victim was able to break free.”

The suspect’s motives regarding the attempted kidnapping are currently unclear as authorities continue to investigate the incident.

Authorities say that when the school bus arrived, all the students were accounted for and boarded the bus before the incident was reported to school staff. A community engagement officer also responded to the children’s school approximately 30 minutes after the attempted kidnapping incident was reported.

“Through the course of the investigation, detectives identified Germany as the suspect,” said the Montgomery County Police department. “He was arrested and transported to the Montgomery County Central Processing Unit. Bond information is not available at this time.”

Detectives from the Special Victims Investigation Division are asking for anyone who believes that they may have been a victim of Germany to call 240-773-5400.

The investigation is ongoing.

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(NEW YORK) — A man made a grisly discovery over the weekend when he discovered a human skeleton while looking for shed deer antlers.

The Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI) and the Allen County Sheriff’s Office are conducting a death investigation after a man who was looking for antlers shed by dear near Humboldt, Kansas — approximately 110 miles east of Wichita — reported the discovery of human remains on his search through the area.

“On Saturday, March 18, at around 5:50 p.m., the Allen County Sheriff’s Office requested KBI assistance with the investigation. KBI agents and the Crime Scene Response Team responded to the scene,” according to the Kansas Bureau of Investigation. “Upon arrival they found human skeletal remains.”

The person whose remains were discovered has not yet been identified and authorities did not say how long they thought the body could have been there for, though they did confirm that identifying the individual would take longer than normal due to the condition it was discovered in.

“Positive identification is expected to take longer than typical cases due to the condition of the remains,” said the KBI. “Death investigations may be determined to be the result of homicide, suicide, natural causes, or an accident. No threat to the public exists related to this incident.”

An autopsy is scheduled to take place though police did not confirm when. Authorities say the investigation is ongoing and made no mention of any possible connected missing persons reports that could be linked to the case.

The KBI is requesting help from the public and anyone with information about this case is asked to contact the KBI at 1-800-KS-CRIME or the Allen County Sheriff’s Office at (620) 365-1400.

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(MIAMI BEACH, Fla.) — The Miami Beach city commission voted against extending curfew restrictions, a day after the city imposed an overnight curfew for South Beach following multiple fatal shootings.

During a special committee meeting on Monday, the council discussed the curfew for more than an hour, but ultimately decided against extending the city manager’s full state of emergency, which would be from Thursday to Sunday.

“These are very challenging moments,” Mayor Dan Gelber said at the start of the meeting. “Very few cities have to deal with these issues the way that we have to deal with them.”

Two people were fatally shot between Friday and Sunday morning in the area, according to the Miami Beach Police Department.

Police responded to emergency calls on Friday night, discovering two men who were shot near 7 Street and Ocean Drive, officials said.

According to Miami Beach Police, one person had been detained and three guns were found at the scene.

On Sunday, police responded to a shooting where they found a wounded man near the 1000 block of Ocean Drive.

The unidentified man was sent to an area hospital, where he later died from his injuries, Miami Beach Police said on Twitter.

The shootings prompted Miami Beach officials to implement a curfew for South Beach starting 11:59 p.m. Sunday.

Sunday’s restriction was the third year in a row that city officials implemented a curfew.

Miami Beach issued a curfew last year after multiple people were injured following a series of violent incidents in the area.

“We have been through this scene for several years in a row,” Vice Mayor Steven Meiner said at Monday’s meeting. “It is never gonna be OK for me to see a dead person on our street.”

ABC News’ Matt Foster contributed to this report.

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