Convicted for sex offenses
A jury of nine men and three women takes eight hours to clear Labrie of rape but convicts him of three misdemeanors: sexual assault, using a computer to lure a minor for sex, and child endangerment. As part of a hazing tradition, Labrie was accused of forcing himself on a 15-year-old freshman girl in a mechanical room at St. Paul’s School two days before he graduated last year. Labrie, who was bound for Harvard and planned to take divinity classes before his arrest put everything on hold, could get up to 11 years in prison. He also must register as a sex offender for the rest of his life. He weeps upon hearing the verdict. His mother sobs. His accuser appears stoic and huddles with members of her family in the courtroom. Prosecutor say they they are satisfied with the verdicts and that they “vindicate the victim.” A spokesperson for the girl:
[She is] leaving with her head held high. It was a step in the right direction.
The girl’s parents:
We still feel betrayed that St. Paul’s School allowed and fostered a toxic culture that left our daughter and other students at risk to sexual violence. We trusted the school to protect her, and it failed us.
Defense attorneys:
Owen’s future is forever changed. The sex convictions will be like a brand, a tattoo that he will bear for life.
Columbia asks for case dismissal
Columbia University asks for Nungesser’s case to be dismissed on First Amendment grounds.
Crediting an undergraduate student’s thesis on the issue of sexual assault on college campuses is a decision at the heart of academic freedom. [Courts should not] second guess the kinds of decisions made by professors and administrators at Columbia in applying disciplinary and academic policies.
The school says it asked Sulkowicz not to take her mattress to the graduation, but there wasn’t much it could do when she showed up with one anyway.
Taking action against Ms. Sulkowicz by literally grabbing the mattress out of her hands would have disrupted the ceremony for all the graduating students and their families and could have been dangerous given the space limitations and the size of the crowd.
Nungesser’s lawyers:
In this instance, the disciplinary system worked correctly at Columbia. That still was not enough to save an innocent person from the wave of public sentiment regarding assaults on campus. Paul Nungesser quickly became a convenient scapegoat, a whipping boy, and Columbia not only stood idly by, but often participated in the attacks on Paul Nungesser. There is no amount of legal theory that can save Columbia from that reality.
Lemonade stand shut down by police
Jessica Seinfeld posts a photo to Instagram after their son, Julian and two of his friends had their lemonade stand reportedly shut down by East Hampton police on Aug 18. A neighbor had complained about illegally parked cars, according to the East Hampton Press. Upon arrival, police told the Seinfelds that lemonade stands may not be operated on village property
https://instagram.com/p/6iYREGRyH2/
Rape, drugging suit filed
A woman sues Rose, accusing him of criminal activities including rape and drugging. The woman, identified only as “Jane Doe” in the lawsuit, claims that she dated Rose from 2011 to 2013. During that time, Rose allegedly tried to pressure her to masturbate in front of him, allow him to have sex with her friends and engage in group sex with strangers, all of which she says she refused. She says the two continued to date until August 2013, when Rose and two friends, Ryan Allen and Randall Hampton (who is Rose’s personal manager), invited her to Rose’s Beverly Hills house, where, she says, they slipped a drug into her drink with the aim of raping her. She escaped the house with a friend, but later that night, Rose and his friends broke into her apartment and gang raped her while she was incapacitated. She says she remembers only “flashes” of the incident, but can remember the defendants forcibly raping her. Rose’s spokesperson:
The plaintiff’s allegations are completely false and without any factual basis. This is nothing more than a desperate attempt to shake down a highly respected and successful athlete. Mr. Rose was in a non-exclusive, consensual sexual relationship with the plaintiff for over two years. The plaintiff expressed no complaints about Mr. Rose until various lawyers began to surface and demand that the plaintiff be paid millions of dollars
Arrested
Khalifa is arrested after allegedly refusing to get off a hoverboard at LA International Airport. He later posts a video taken by an onlooker that depicts a swarm of border patrol agents and police officers confronting him.
This? I didn’t do nothing, anyway. What you want to do? Put me in jail because I didn’t listen to what you say? We can have all the conversations you want to, you can end up on TMZ, destined to become as famous as you wanna be.
All because I didn't want to ditch the technogy everyone will be using in the next 6 months. Do what you want kids. pic.twitter.com/7F0KIQgFrA
— Wiz Khalifa (@wizkhalifa) August 23, 2015
A second video shows Khalifa being slammed to the ground on his stomach by three officers yelling, “Stop resisting!” Khalifa doesn’t appear to be resisting in the video, and is shown lying still on the ground, calmly replying, “I’m not resisting, sir,” as the trio of cops continue to yell “stop resisting” at him whilst cuffing him and applying pressure to his back.
https://instagram.com/p/6tLvg8ndp9/
Injunction lifted
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge O’Donnell rescinds her restraining order barring CMP from releasing any videos showing current or former StemExpress employees, saying CMP has First Amendment rights to release videos it covertly took of StemExpress executives talking about buying aborted baby tissue from Planned Parenthood. However she says that, even though they cannot be prevented from releasing the video, it is likely that StemExpress will prevail in its lawsuit claiming its privacy was violated.
Must remove links to stories about removing links
The UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) orders Google to remove nine links from its search results that point to news stories reporting on earlier removals of links from its search results. The links relate to a criminal offence that were removed by Google following a request from the individual concerned. According to the ICO, Google argued the articles were an essential part of a recent news story relating to a matter of significant public importance. Despite the ICo recognizing recognises that journalistic content relating to decisions to delist search results may be newsworthy and in the public interest they say the news stories have “an unwarranted and negative impact on the individual’s privacy and is a breach of the Data Protection Act,” and that they must be removed. Google has 35 days to comply.
Canadian members sue
Canadian users launch a US$578 million class action lawsuit against Ashley Madison alleging ALM failed to protect the privacy of “many thousands of Canadians” whose names, emails, home addresses and message history were posted online by hackers for public viewing. The lead plaintiff in the suit is a disabled Ottawa widower. His lawyers said he joined the website “for a short time in search of companionship” after losing his wife of 30 years to breast cancer, but that he “never met anybody in person from the site.” Lawyers:
In many cases, the users paid an additional fee for the website to remove all of their user data, only to discover that the information was left intact and exposed.
Arrest warrant for $2.6 million bitcoin theft
After three weeks with no formal charges Japanese police says they will issue a fresh arrest warrant accusing him of pocketing $2.6 million worth of Bitcoin deposits, which was mainly spent on buying software rights, but also includes $48,000 for a luxury bed. Police are also reportedly interested in questioning Karpeles about the disappearance of 850,000 coins worth 48 billion yen last year. They were valued at around $480 million at the time of the disappearance, and $387 million at current exchange rates.
Pleads guilty
Fogle pleads guilty to charges of travelling to engage in illicit sexual conduct with a minor and distribution and receipt of child pornography. Prosecutors allege that Fogle knew the pornography had been secretly produced by the former director of his charitable foundation. The court documents say that Fogle paid for sex at New York City hotels with two girls under age 18 — one of whom was 17. (In a discrepancy, the plea agreement refers to the two girls as being 16, and that one of them also had sex with Fogle after she turned 17). One of the girls told investigators she had sex with Fogle three times in November 2012 and again two months later, in January. After their first meeting, Fogle allegedly texted the girl and offered to pay her a fee if she could find him another underage girl to pay for sex acts. During these discussions, Fogle “stated that he would accept a 16-year-old girl, while stating that the younger the girl, the better”. Prosecutor:
This is about using wealth, status and secrecy to illegally exploit children.
When the judge asks whether he has any questions about his rights Fogle quietly answers “no”. Fogle is expected to enter the formal plea at a later date. The agreement released by prosecutors says Fogle will pay $1.4 million in restitution to 14 minor victims, who will each receive $100,000. He will also be required to register as a sex offender and undergo treatment for sexual disorders. The government agreed not to seek a sentence of more than 12½ years in prison, and Fogle agreed not to ask for less than five years, according to court documents. Fogle’s attorney:
Jared also knows that he has a medical problem. He has already sought evaluation by a world class psychiatrist, experienced in these matters and he wills seek appropriate treatment…[Fogle] knows that restitution can’t undo the damage that he’s done.
To plead guilty to child-porn charges
Fogle is set to plead guilty to possession-of-child-pornography charges as part of a plea deal. Subway reaffirms it has no connection with him.
Launches appeal
Attorneys for Tsarnaev appeal his conviction and death sentence, arguing that “continuous and unrelenting publicity”, including social media posts about the bombings, the defendant and his family, and survivor stories prevented him from getting an impartial hearing. It notes that Boston announced a new holiday marking the bombings while jurors were deliberating Tsarnaev’s guilt.
Put simply, prejudicial media coverage, events, and environment saturated greater Boston, including the social networks of actual trial jurors, and made it an improper venue for the trial of this case.
Tsarnaev’s lawyers also argue that the death penalty sentence constitutes cruel and unusual punishment.
$6 million for tuna oven death
Prosecutors say Bumble Bee Foods must pay $6 million in the 2012 death of an employee who was cooked in an industrial oven with tons of tuna — the biggest settlement ever in a California for workplace safety violations involving a single victim.Jose Melena, 62, died three years ago in a 35-foot long, 270-degree oven at the seafood company’s Santa Fe Springs, California. Melena was making repairs inside the pressure cooker, when a co-worker mistakenly believed he was in the bathroom and filled a pressure cooker with six tons of canned tuna, closed the doors and then turned it on. Melena’s family will receive $1.5 million under the settlement. It does not prevent them from also suing the company or receiving workers’ compensation funds. Bumble Bee will be plead guilty to a misdemeanor of willfully failing to have an effective safety program in January 2017 if it completes several safety measures that include upgrading ovens so workers don’t get trapped inside and providing worker training. In addition, the district attorney’s Environmental Enforcement Fund will get $750,000 from Bumble Bee and the food firm will also will pay $750,000 in combined fines.
We will never forget the unfathomable loss of our colleague Jose Melena and we are committed to ensuring that employee safety remains a top priority at all our facilities.
State Dept. reviewing aides email access
The State Department inspector general’s office says it is reviewing the use of “personal communications hardware and software” by Clinton’s former top aides after requests from Congress. Clinton, herself, is not a target. At least four top aides have turned over records, including copies of work emails on personal accounts, to the Department, which is collecting them in response to a subpoena from Capitol Hill. Lawmakers have demanded records, including personal emails, from six other aides, but it’s unknown whether they used personal email for work. Spokesperson:
We will follow the facts wherever they lead, to include former aides and associates, as appropriate.
Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, Grassley:
Both the State Department and Intelligence Community inspectors general should be looking into the staff use of the Clinton private server for official State Department business. This means giving both inspectors general access and custody of all emails that haven’t already been deleted. From what is publicly known, it appears that the investigation thus far has focused so much on the former secretary of state, that it’s gotten lost that high-level staff apparently also used this server too.
Will give private email server to FBI
In a turnaround from her previous stance, Clinton agrees to give her email server to the FBI. Her attorney also agrees to give agents a thumb drive containing copies of thousands of e-mails that Clinton had previously turned over to the State Department. A Clinton spokesman says that Clinton is cooperating with the FBI probe. He declines to say whether the FBI ordered that she turn over the devices and when her attorney had done so.
She directed her team to give her e-mail server that was used during her tenure as secretary to the Department of Justice, as well as a thumb drive containing copies of her e-mails already provided to the State Department. She pledged to cooperate with the government’s security inquiry, and if there are more questions, we will continue to address them.
Frees suspects
Israel releases all suspects held in connection with the Dawabsheh attack. An Israeli official says that all the suspects arrested were freed, but did not provide further details, including their number.
20 people arrested in Ferguson
Police arrest 20 people during a night of night of protests, during which some protesters throw both rocks and bottles against police. Police used loudspeakers to tell protesters to move out of traffic. When they don’t comply, several people are taken into custody. At least one officer fires pepper spray into the crowd. More arrests follow before protests and the police presence begins to diminish at 1 a.m.
Shooting and arrest on Brown’s death anniversary
A gunfight occurs between four policemen and 18-year-old Harris on the periphery of demonstrations commemorating the killing a year ago of Brown. Harris is shot and critically wounded by the police. County prosecutors file charges against Harris for felony assault on law enforcement officer. Authorities say that the shooting is not related to the Brown protests. Attorney General Lynch:
The weekend’s events were peaceful and promoted a message of reconciliation and healing. But incidents of violence, such as we saw last night, are contrary to both that message, along with everything that all of us, including this group, have worked to achieve over the past year.
Right wing extreme activists arrested
Police detain three “extreme right-wing activists” in the West Bank region. While the arrests are not yet being linked to the recent arson attack that killed Dawabsheh and his father, Israel says there will be a complete investigation with a stringent law enforcement response based on what is discovered. Spokesperson:
Following recent events in the Judea and Samaria district, the unit for nationalist criminal activity carried out during the overnight hours a few searches and arrests in various outposts in the Binyamin region. Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon signed a 6-month administrative detention order for two extreme right-wing activists, Meir Ettinger and Evyatar Slonim, in connection with their involvement in organized extremist Jewish activity.
The third individual detained is Meyer. This type of detention allows Israel to hold an individual for up to six months without being required to inform them what they are being held for or informing them about any evidence that may exist.
Wrongful death suit
Brown’s estate files a $10 million suit against Gordon, alleging wrongful death. The lawsuit alleges Gordon, who shared a townhome with Brown in the Atlanta suburb of Roswell, beat her after an argument on the morning of January 31, then gave her a “toxic cocktail” to knock her out, and then placed her face-down in a bathtub of cold water, causing her to suffer brain damage. The suit also claims Gordon controlled Brown’s interactions, installed cameras in the home to watch her, manipulated her bank accounts, and physically abused her.
According to the suit, at about 6 a.m. on January 31, Gordon returned from an all-night “cocaine and drinking binge”. He reviewed surveillance camera footage and listened to Brown’s conversations, which led to a 30-minute argument that ended upstairs in the master bedroom.
Upon information and belief, Defendant gave Bobbi Kristina a toxic cocktail rendering her unconscious and then put her face down in a tub of cold water causing her to suffer brain damage
The suit says Gordon then got in bed with a female guest. About 15 minutes later, someone in the townhome went to check on Brown and found her face down in the bathtub, unresponsive and unconscious, her mouth swollen and a tooth hanging loosely from her mouth.
When the Defendant came into the master bedroom, the very first thing Defendant did was let the cold water out of the bathtub and later shouted, ‘Clean up, clean up.’ Others began mouth to mouth resuscitation to no avail. Defendant then began to slap her saying, ‘wake up,’ and also started performing CPR between slaps.
Gordon’s attorneys:
Nick has been heartbroken and destroyed over the loss of his love and it’s shameful that such baseless allegations have been presented publicly. Nick has engaged civil counsel and intends to defend the lawsuit vigorously and expose it for what it is: a fictitious assault against the person who loved Krissy most.