Category: News Daypop

The Arizona Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday that a 160-year-old law is still enforceable, making abortion a felony. The 4-2 court ruling upholds the 1864 law still on the books in the state, in a decision that effectively bans abortion. The Arizona Supreme Court’s new decision effectively undoes a lower court’s ruling that stated that a more recent 15-week ban from March 2022 superseded the 1864 law. The Arizona Supreme Court said it would put its decision on hold for 14 days, saying it would send the case back to a lower court so that court could consider “additional constitutional challenges” that haven’t yet been cleared up.

The 1864 law in Arizona – which was codified in 1901, and again in 1913 — includes an exception to save the woman’s life, but makes abortion a felony punishable by two to five years in prison for anyone who performs one or helps a woman obtain one. Per NBC News, this Civil War-era law, which was enacted a half-century before Arizona gained statehood, was never repealed and an appellate court ruled last year that it could remain on the books as long as it was “harmonized” with a 2022 law, leading to substantial confusion in Arizona regarding exactly when during a pregnancy abortion was outlawed.

President Joe Biden blasted the ruling in a statement from the White House: “Millions of Arizonans will soon live under an even more extreme and dangerous abortion ban, which fails to protect women even when their health is at risk or in tragic cases of rape or incest.” Biden called the ban “cruel” and “a result of the extreme agenda of Republican elected officials who are committed to ripping away women’s freedom,” while promising to “continue to fight to protect reproductive rights.”

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Jennifer and James Crumbley, the parents of Oxford High School shooter Ethan Crumbley, each will spend the next 10-15 years in prison in Tuesday’s first-of-its-kind penalty. Per NPR, both parents were found guilty in separate trials on four counts of involuntary manslaughter; each of those charges carried a maximum penalty of 15 years, and the sentences are to be served concurrently.

James Crumbley, 47, and wife Jennifer, 46, are the nation’s first parents to be convicted and sentenced on charges arising from a shooting carried out by their child. They will each receive credit for 858 days already served. They each received the maximum sentences sought by prosecutors after they were found guilty of four counts of involuntary manslaughter in separate trials in February and March for the killing of Tate Myre, 16; Madisyn Baldwin, 17; Hana St. Juliana, 14; and Justin Shilling, 17, in the school shooting carried out by their son, Ethan Crumbley, who was 15 at the time the shooting happened on Nov. 30, 2021.

Ethan Crumbley used a semi-automatic pistol to open fire on his classmates in 2022; Ethan, now 17, pleaded guilty as an adult to the four murders, terrorism and related charges in the 2021 shooting at Oxford High School in suburban Detroit, and was sentenced in December to life in prison without parole. Jennifer and James Crumbley had bought the firearm for him for target shooting.

As Judge Cheryl Matthews handed down the ruling in Pontiac, Mich., she noted to the courtroom the warning signs about Ethan Crumbley, adding that “parents are not expected to be psychic …But these convictions are not about poor parenting. These convictions confirm repeated acts, or lack of acts, that could’ve halted an oncoming runaway train .. Opportunity knocked over and over again and was ignored. No one answered.”

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Three people were killed, including the suspected gunman, after a shooting inside a Las Vegas-area law office on Monday.

The Las Vegas Review-Journal reports that Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Sheriff Kevin McMahill confirmed that the shooting occurred around 10 a.m. at the fifth-floor law offices of Prince Law Group in Summerlin, located about 10 miles west of the Las Vegas Strip. The firm, located at the City National Bank Building at 10801 W. Charleston Blvd. near Pavilion Center Drive, handles personal injury, insurance and commercial law.

Sheriff McMahill said at a news conference that a male and a female were killed, and the gunman was believed to have killed himself. He added that the motive for the shooting and the relationship between the victims and the shooter are under investigation: “We believe the suspect is deceased…there is no further threat to the community. The suspect was not killed by my police. We believe he took his own life. We have a theory at this point, but I cannot release any of that information until we’ve confirmed that information.” McMahills said that hundreds of people were evacuated from the building, adding there were businesses adjacent to the law office where the shooting occurred.

The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported that Robert Eglet, a former law partner in the firm, identified the deceased male victim as Dennis Prince. Eglet called Prince “one of the best trial lawyers in the state” and said he had known the attorney for approximately 30 years: “It’s a real loss to the community. It’s awful. It’s a loss to our profession. … This is every family’s nightmare, something like this happening. I’m still trying to put my arms around the fact that this actually happened.”

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ABC News reports that a judge has denied former President Donald Trump’s last-minute attempt Monday to delay his criminal trial in New York and move the case out of Manhattan. The decision comes just one week before jury selection was set to start, with Judge Lizbeth Gonzalez denying it without explanation in a one-sentence order.

Trump’s attorneys had asked an intermediary appellate court to stay the April 15 trial date, arguing overwhelming pretrial publicity made it impossible to find a fair and impartial jury even with a rigorous jury selection process. In a brief argument before the Appellate Division First Department, the defense suggested that too many people in Manhattan have a negative opinion of Trump, with attorney Emil Bove arguing “in terms of prejudicial pretrial publicity in this county, this case stands alone,” adding there had not been a case with so much attention since the 1999 police killing of Amadou Diallo. Bove said: “when bias against the defendant is this engrained, has taken root to this extent, voir dire cannot be trusted to clear that up. Jury selection cannot proceed in a fair manner next week in this county.”

Steven Wu, the prosecutor with the Manhattan district attorney’s office, said there’s nothing to suggest potential jurors in Manhattan were “uniquely susceptible” to negative pretrial publicity since Trump is a well-known figure.  Said Wu: “the idea of transferring venue here is misguided. The mere fact that they know about this case is not an indication of bias … This is the defendant coming into this argument with unclean hands.”

Trump is facing 34 felony counts of falsifying business records after being indicted by a Manhattan grand jury in connection with a hush money payment his then-attorney Michael Cohen made to porn star Stormy Daniels just days before the 2016 presidential election.  The former President has denied all wrongdoing, pleading not guilty last April.

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According to the Federal Aviation Administration, a Southwest Airlines flight had to make an
emergency landing Sunday morning after the engine cover detached during takeoff, striking the wing flap. The Boeing 737-800 aircraft was scheduled to fly from Denver to William P. Hobby Airport in Houston. (per ABC News).

Southwest Airlines Flight 3695 returned safely to Denver International Airport around 8:15 a.m. local time on Sunday and was towed to the gate. The FAA said on Sunday that it will launch an investigation of the engine cowling incident (the cowling is the protective cover over the plane’s engine).

In a statement, Southwest Airlines said the flight “landed safely after experiencing a mechanical issue.” Customers were rebooked on other flights, and maintenance teams are now inspecting the plane, the airline said.

This is the second incident in recent days involving a reported malfunctioning of equipment on a Southwest Airlines flight. The FAA is investigating a reported engine fire before takeoff at Lubbock Preston Smith International Airport on Thursday.

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According to the Department of Justice, a suspect was arrested on Sunday in connection with a fire at Sen. Bernie Sanders’ Vermont office and is being investigated as arson. Per NBC News, Shant Soghomonian, 35, also known as Michael Soghomonian, previously of Northridge, California, was arrested Sunday on charges of using fire to damage a building in Burlington, Vermont, where an office for Sanders is located.

The DOJ said in a press release that Soghomonian allegedly entered the building Friday morning and went to Sanders’ Burlington third floor office location. Security video shows the suspect spraying a liquid near the outer door of the office before lighting the area with a hand-held lighter, starting the fire. The resulting fire damaged the outside of the door to Sanders’ office and surrounding areas and caused sprinklers in the building to discharge on multiple floors, with noone physically injured.

Soghomonian’s initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Kevin J. Doyle has not yet been scheduled. If convicted, Soghomonian could face between five and 20 years in prison and up to a $250,000 fine, according to the Justice Department.

Sanders’ office shared the following statement: “I am deeply grateful to the swift, professional, coordinated efforts of local, state, and federal law enforcement in response to the fire at my Vermont office on Friday. I am also thankful that none of the many people who were in the office building at the time of the fire were injured. I appreciate the outpouring of support and well-wishes for me and my staff. We are proud to be able to continue to serve Vermonters during these challenging times.”

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On Thursday, a Georgia judge upheld the criminal indictment against former President Donald Trump, rejecting Trump’s bid to overturn the 2020 state election interference case on the grounds they were protected under the First Amendment (per CNN.) Trump and 18 of his supporters pleaded not guilty in August 2023 to all charges alleging interference in the 2020 presidential election in Georgia; four of the co-defendants have since accepted plea deals in exchange for their willingness to testify against the other defendants.

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee said in his 14-page ruling that their right to protest the results of the 2020 presidential election did not protect them from the charges that District Attorney Fani Willis’s office brought.  In his order denying the motion, McAfree argued that “even core political speech addressing matters of public concern is not impenetrable from prosecution if allegedly used to further criminal activity.” The judge wrote that “the Court finds these vital constitutional protections do not reach the actions and statements alleged by the State,” and their motions to dismiss are “therefore denied.”

Trump’s attorney Steve Sadow argued at a hearing held last week in Fulton County that the former president’s statements regarding the 2020 presidential election are “the zenith of protected speech” and that even false statements are protected under the First Amendment. However, McAfee determined the defendants had not presented “any authority that the speech and conduct alleged is protected political speech.”

In response to the ruling, Sadow in a statement wrote, “President Trump and other defendants respectfully disagree with Judge McAfee’s order and will continue to evaluate their options regarding the First Amendment challenges. It is significant that the court’s ruling made clear that defendants were not foreclosed from again raising their ‘as-applied challenges at the appropriate time after the establishment of a factual record …’”

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As first reported by The Wall Street Journal, the centrist political group No Labels announced on Thursday that they will not run a third-party “unity” ticket against Donald Trump and Joe Biden in the 2024 presidential election.

In a statement, the group said they were unable to find a candidate that had a credible path to winning, “so the responsible course of action is for us to stand down. We will remain engaged over the next year during what is likely to be the most divisive presidential election of our lifetimes and will promote dialogue around major policy challenges and call out both sides when they speak and act in bad faith.”

No Labels said Thursday that “Americans remain more open to an independent presidential run and hungrier for unifying national leadership than ever before. Big ideas are not new for us. We have been working since 2010 to organize citizens across America and members of Congress through the Problem Solvers Caucus, which we created to push back on the extremes in our politics and push forward solutions to America’s biggest problems. That work is more important now than ever. Big ideas are not new for us …we have been working since 2010 to organize citizens across America and members of Congress through the Problem Solvers Caucus, which we created to push back on the extremes in our politics and push forward solutions to America’s biggest problems. That work is more important now than ever – for now, suffice it to say that this movement is not done, in fact, it is just beginning.”

Potential candidates previously considered for a No Labels ticket included Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin, and Larry Hogan, former Republican governor of Maryland. Hogan ultimately decided to run for the U.S. Senate in Maryland. Before announcing its decision to abandon the plans for a third-party candidate, No Labels said it qualified on the ballot in 21 states, which is far more than independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., with only one state so far confirming him qualified for the ballot.

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At Disney’s virtual 2024 meeting of shareholders on Wednesday, members rejected nominees allied with activist investor Nelson Peltz‘s effort to win seats on their Board of Directors. Peltz, 81 who heads investment firm Trian Partners, failed to get enough votes in his favor to clinch a board seat (as did Trian’s other nominee, ex-Disney Jay Rasulo).

The company announced that the majority of shareholders voted in support of a 12-person slate of board nominees put forward by Disney (including CEO Bob Iger), ending a months-long proxy battle centered on the company’s navigation of the onset of the streaming era. Trian Partners had leveraged its standing as one of Disney’s largest shareholders to carry out a high-profile campaign critical of the company’s growth strategy. Peltz sought board seats for himself as well as former Disney Chief Financial Officer Jay Rasulo, calling on shareholders to deliver them the seats currently held by Maria Elena Lagomasino and Michael Froman.

Per Variety, preliminary results show that Iger won reelection with 94% of the votes cast in his favor, with Peltz receiving just 31% and Rasulo much less. Maria Elena Lagomasino, the incumbent Disney director, received twice as many votes as Peltz and five times as many as Rasulo. Investors voted on three competing board candidate slates — Disney’s own recommended 12-member lineup; Trian’s nominees, Peltz and Rasulo; and three from investment firm Blackwells Capital, which also did not get enough votes to win board seats.

Iger said in a statement: “I want to thank our shareholders for their trust and confidence in our board and management. With the distracting proxy contest now behind us, we’re eager to focus 100% of our attention on our most important priorities: growth and value creation for our shareholders and creative excellence for our consumers.”

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Two brothers pleaded guilty on Wednesday to insider trading in securities in the company that ultimately took former President Donald Trump’s media business public.

According to federal prosecutors in New York, Michael Shvartsman, 53, and Gerald Shvartsman, 46, made millions by trading in shares of Digital World Acquisition Corporation before it merged with Trump Media. Michael Shvartsman, head of Miami-based venture capital firm Rocket One Capital, and Gerald Shvartsman, 46, each pleaded guilty to one count of securities fraud before U.S. District Judge Lewis Liman in Manhattan. Rocket One’s chief investment officer, Bruce Garelick, is scheduled to face trial on related charges on April 29.

Reuters reports that prosecutors charged the trio last year with illegally trading on inside information about Trump Media & Technology Group’s (TMTG) plan to go public through a merger with a blank-check company. TMTG operates Truth Social, Trump’s main social media platform.  It is alleged that the trio signed confidentiality agreements in June 2021, when they were approached to become early investors in Digital World Acquisition, the blank-check company, which required them to keep information they learned confidential and not trade the company’s securities in the open market.  Prosecutors say that after hearing the company was in merger talks with TMTG, the trio tipped others and bought Digital World securities, selling them after the deal was announced on Oct. 20, 2021, to make a total of $22 million in illegal profit.

Per ABC News, each of the men face up to 20 years in prison when they’re sentenced in July, but prosecutors have agreed to recommend a sentence of about three years. There was no evidence that former President Trump was aware of the brothers’ conduct, and he was not part of the case.

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