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(NEW YORK) — Citing the “astronomical” spread of the omicron variant and the potential risk the coronavirus poses to derail proceedings, the judge overseeing the sex trafficking trial of Ghislaine Maxwell wants the jury to deliberate later into the evening and without a holiday interruption.

As the jury began its fourth full day of deliberations Tuesday, Judge Alison Nathan expressed concern about the “high and escalating risk that jurors or trial participants may need to quarantine” if they contract the virus, “putting at risk our ability to complete this trial.”

On Monday, Nathan asked jurors to deliberate until 6 p.m. from that day forward. She offered to take back the request if any jurors found the extra hour to be a hardship, but said on Tuesday that none have so far.

“We are seeing an astronomical spike in the number of COVID-positive cases in New York City,” Nathan said. “We are very simply at a different place regarding the pandemic than we were only one week ago.”

In addition to the extra daily hour, the judge said she would ask jurors to deliberate without a break over the New Year’s holiday on Thursday and Friday.

“In light of the variant, my concern about the interruption of the trial, given the increasing daily risk of exposure to either a juror or trial participant requiring quarantine — it is time to think about having the jury make plans to deliberate until a verdict is reached,” Nathan said.

Meanwhile on Tuesday, Maxwell’s attorneys asked the judge to clarify her response to the jury’s question late Monday regarding Maxwell’s alleged involvement in the transportation of one of her accusers, known as “Jane,” for which Maxwell is facing a count of Transportation of an Individual Under the Age of 17 with Intent to Engage in Illegal Sexual Activity.

“Under count four, if the defendant aided in the transportation of Jane’s return flight, but not the flight to New Mexico, where/if the intent was for Jane to engage in sexual activity, can she be found guilty under the second element?” the jury asked.

The charge is a violation of New York state law, and the defense — concerned that the jury could convict Maxwell based on something that happened in New Mexico — sent a letter to the judge asking for “additional instructions to correct apparent errors in the jury’s understanding” of the charge. Judge Nathan had referred the jury to her instructions, but the defense argued that was insufficient.

“They are looking at the instructions that they have been given thus far … and they are unclear,” defense attorney Christian Everdell said. “They are confused by those instructions.”
MORE: Defense rests after Ghislaine Maxwell says there is ‘no need’ for her to testify in her own defense

Prosecutors opposed the defense’s request for additional clarification.

“It was a correct legal instruction when the court referred the jury to it yesterday afternoon,” prosecutor Alison Moe said. “No relief is appropriate here.”

The judge agreed with the government and declined to tell the jury anything more.

“The proposal made by the defense is wrong,” Nathan said. “I continue to not know how to parse the jury’s question.”

Maxwell is the longtime associate of serial sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, the disgraced millionaire who died by suicide in jail in 2019. She is facing charges related to the alleged abuse and trafficking of underage girls between 1994 and 2004, and has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

 

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(LOS ANGELES) — Twenty-four states, from California to Maine, are on alert for extreme cold, freezing rain, heavy snow and avalanche danger on Tuesday.

Western storms, which brought snow to parts of California and the West are headed east, bringing an icy mix, severe weather and a tornado threat to the South and Northeast.

A few more storms will move through the West over the next few days, bringing more heavy snow for the mountains where an avalanche warning has been issued from California to Colorado. Locally, there could be an additional 2 to 4 inches of snow.

In southern California, 2 to 3 additional inches of rain are possible, which could cause minor flooding.

In the Northeast, as one storm move out, another will move in, with more icy roads forecast Tuesday night into Wednesday morning.

Blizzard conditions raged the Midwest on Monday from the Dakotas into Minnesota, where winds gusted near 50 miles per hour and almost 2 feet of snow fell.

Between 3 to 6 inches of snow are expected in the Midwest, with up to 4 inches possible in the Northeast over the next few days.

From Chicago to Green Bay, Wisconsin, and the Twin Cities, a winter weather advisory has been issued where a mix of freezing rain and snow is expected on Tuesday. Roads could become very slick.

In the South, Mississippi, Alabama and Tennessee are under a threat for severe thunderstorms with damaging winds and a few tornadoes on Wednesday.

The northern half of the country is expecting an arctic outbreak, with some of the coldest arctic air so far this season. The air will move from the northern Rockies into the Upper Midwest.

Wind chills in parts of Montana and the Dakotas have dropped close to 30 to 50 degrees below zero. This air mass will move east into the western Great Lakes and the upper Midwest. The actual temperature is forecast to be well below zero for places like Minneapolis.

As the new year begins, afternoon temperatures will be well below zero in Fargo, North Dakota, and minus 2 in Minneapolis. Temperatures in Denver and Kansas City, Missouri, will also be below freezing.

 

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(NEW YORK) — As a judge reconsiders the controversial 110-year sentence of Rogel Aguilera-Mederos, his mother said that she wouldn’t stop fighting until her son is back home with his family.

“I feel very sad for the people who lost their lives,” Oslaida Mederos told “Nightline” on Monday in an exclusive interview. “And my son is suffering from it, as well as I am. We are Christians, we believe in God and we pray for them. He is a good boy.”

Mederos was sentenced on Dec. 13 to 110 years in prison for a 2019 fatal crash on I-70, outside Denver, that killed four people and injured several others – a sentence that the judge in the case said he wouldn’t have chosen if he had the discretion.

Amid public outcry over the case, Jefferson County District Attorney Alexis King – the prosecutor in this case – filed a motion earlier this month asking the court to reduce Mederos’ sentence, suggesting a 20-30 year sentencing range instead.

Judge A. Bruce Jones, who was the judge in this case, responded to the motion in a hearing on Monday and scheduled a hearing to reconsider the sentence for Jan. 13, 2022.

“We want our client home and with his family,” family attorney Leonard Martinez told “Nightline” on Monday. “I’m not sure we’ll get there with the judge, obviously. And not sure we’ll get there with the governor, but we’re going to try. We’re going to continue to try to get him home as soon as possible.”

Mederos was charged with 42 counts and was found guilty by a Jefferson County jury of 27 counts — the most serious was first-degree assault, a class-three felony.

The number of the charges, mandatory minimum laws and a classification that mandates some sentences to be served consecutively resulted in the lengthy sentence.

‘Accident’ or ‘crime’

At the heart of the case is the debate over whether the crash was an “accident,” as the defense has argued, or a “crime” – an argument made by prosecutors during the trial and supported by some of the family members of those who died.

“As the jury found, Mr. Aguilera-Mederos knowingly made multiple active choices that resulted in the death of four people, serious injuries to others, and mass destruction,” King said in a statement, adding that the 20-30 year sentencing range “reflects an appropriate outcome for that conduct, which was not an accident.”

A group of crash survivors and family members of the victims spoke exclusively with ABC News last week, describing the trauma that the crash caused their families and said that Mederos should still serve time in prison, even if his sentence is reduced.

“I think we all can agree that [110 years] is excessive,” Duane Bailey, the brother of William Bailey who died in the crash, told “GMA” but added that the jury “came to the correct decision to convict [Mederos].”

Crash victims speak out amid push for governor to commute truck driver’s 110-year sentence

Mederos testified that his brakes failed – a point not contested by prosecutors. In this case, some of the points of contention appear to be decisions Mederos allegedly made before the crash took place and once he found out that he was having brake problems.

Police said Mederos was driving at least 85 mph before the crash on a stretch of the highway with a 45 mph speed limit for commercial vehicles.

After his brakes failed, Mederos drove past a runaway truck ramp and crashed into stopped traffic, police said.

A runaway truck ramp is essentially an escape lane or exit that allows a vehicle experiencing brake problems to stop safely.

Prosecutors argued that after the brakes failed, Mederos intentionally passed the ramp — one of the reasons that some crash victims and families of those who died argued Mederos should serve time in prison.

“Firstly, he had the choice to pick that ramp. He didn’t. Whatever his real reason was, we’ll never know. But that was a choice by him,” Bailey said.

Attorney James Colgan, who represented Mederos during the trial, told ABC News on Monday that Mederos’ defense team “never agreed with prosecutors that he intentionally avoided the ramp” during the trial.

“By the time he realized it was there, he was past it,” Colgan said, adding that Mederos was “under a lot of stress” at the time.

Mederos, who police said was not intoxicated during the crash, testified that after his brakes failed, he crashed into vehicles that had stopped on the highway due to backed up traffic as a result of another crash on the highway and another truck parked on the shoulder of the road.

“I know that Rogel’s intention when he woke up that morning, was [to strap] his work boots on, get in a truck and work and provide for his family. There was no [malicious] intent on his part when he went to work,” Martinez said. “That’s why it should be called an accident.”

What’s next?

As the judge reconsiders the sentence, there are other legal avenues that Mederos’ team can pursue.

Mederos’ attorneys filed an application for clemency last week, urging Colorado Gov. Jared Polis to commute the sentence.

The League of United Latin American Citizens, one of the largest Latino civil rights groups in the U.S., met with Polis last week to advocate for Mederos.

“It should be about justice, not vengeance,” LULAC President Domingo Garcia told “Nightline.”

“I sympathize with those family members who lost a loved one; I cannot imagine how difficult the pain must be,” he added.
Prosecutor seeks reduced sentence for truck driver who got 110 years for fatal crash

The deadline for Mederos and his legal team to appeal is 49 days following sentencing, which would be Jan. 31, 2022. Mederos also has up to a year from the Dec. 13 sentencing to file a motion under Rule 35b for the judge to reconsider his sentence.

During the sentencing, Mederos expressed remorse for those killed and injured in the crash and said that the accident was unintentional and he is “not a criminal.”

“I want to say sorry. Sorry for the loss, for the people injured,” he said. “I know they have trauma, I know, I feel that.”

ABC News’ Sabina Ghebremedhin, Knez Walker, Marjorie Mcafee, Candace Smith and Michelle Mendez contributed to this report.

 

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(ORLANDO) — Police in Florida are on the hunt for a fugitive driver involved in a hit-and-run crash that killed two children and sent four others to the hospital.

The Broward County Sheriff’s Office said Tuesday they located the 2009 Honda Accord involved in the incident in Wilton Manors, Florida, the previous afternoon.

Investigators said the car’s male driver veered around a school bus that was trying to merge onto the road, drove off the roadway onto the sidewalk and struck multiple children.

The driver then allegedly fled the scene, according to investigators.

The victims’ ages ranged from 2 to 10 years old, according to police.

Andrea Fleming, 6, and Kylie Jones, 5, were killed at the scene.

Draya Fleming, 9, Johnathan Carter, 10, Laziyah Stokes, 9, and Audre Fleming, 2, were rushed to Broward Health Medical Center, police said.

As of Tuesday afternoon, the suspect has not been identified and his whereabouts were unknown, the police said.

Anyone with information is urged to call (954) 493-TIPS (8477).

 

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(DENVER) — A shooter allegedly went on a “killing spree” across the Denver area, killing four and wounding three, including a police officer, officials said on Monday.

The violence unfolded in Denver, with gunshots reported in at least four locations, and ended more than an hour later in neighboring Lakewood, where the suspect died, officials said. Authorities did not publicly identify the suspect.

“We believe that this individual was responsible for this very violent series of events that took place in the Denver metro area,” Denver Police Chief Paul Pazen said in a press conference.

The incident began at about 5 p.m. on Monday in downtown Denver, where the suspect shot three people, Pazen said. Two women were killed and a man was injured, he said.

Police received a call moments later about a second shooting nearby, where one man was killed, Pazen said. Gunshots were then reported at a third location, but no injuries were reported, he said.

“Denver police officers identified a vehicle associated with this incident. There was a pursuit that ensued,” Pazen said. “There was an exchange of gunfire between the individual, the suspect, here, and our officers.”

There were no injuries in that exchange, Pazan said, but the suspect disabled a police vehicle and fled into neighboring Lakewood.

Lakewood Police then responded to a report of a shooting at about 6 p.m., said John Romero, the department’s public information office. One person was killed in that incident, he said.

Lakewood police then located the suspect’s vehicle at a shopping center, Romero said. The suspect shot at officers, before fleeing on foot to a nearby store and then a Hyatt Place hotel, he said. The suspect shot a clerk at the hotel, Romero said.

The suspect shot and injured a Lakewood officer while fleeing the hotel, Romero said. That officer was in surgery, Romero said during the press conference.

The suspect and officers then exchanged gun fire, and the suspect was shot and killed, Romero said.

“This is the holiday season. To have this type of spree take place is not normal for our community,” Pazen said. “We cannot lose sight of the victims in this, the people who are still fighting for their lives, including a Lakewood agent.”

An investigation is ongoing, officials said. Neither the FBI nor the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are currently involved in the investigation, spokespeople for each said.

This is a developing story, please check back for updates.

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