BREAKING NEWS Etan Patz killer has conviction overturned in shock ruling
Pedro Hernandez should be retried for the killing of Etan Patz or set free, a federal appeals court ruled on Monday.
Hernandez was convicted in 2017 of killing Patz in 1979, after confessing he'd lured the youngster to a basement in Manhattan's SoHo neighborhood.
On Monday, the appeals court ruled that instructions given to jurors as they prepared to deliberate that trial were improper and prejudicial, the New York Times warned.
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The Independent
27 minutes ago
- The Independent
Parents of man who died in Colorado jail say nurses, deputies ignored his pleas for 15 hours
The parents of a man who died alone in a Colorado jail cell after an ulcer burned a hole in his digestive tract and left him in what they said was excruciating pain for about 15 hours filed a federal lawsuit Monday, accusing the jail's nurses and sheriff's deputes of ignoring his cries for help. The lawsuit blames them, local government officials and Southern Health Partners for failing to stop the death of Daniel Foard in 2023 by taking him to the hospital. Foard, 32, was a cook at a brewpub and user of fentanyl who was arrested for failing to appear in court. After being segregated and monitored for withdrawal from the synthetic opioid, he began vomiting and complained of stomach pain after being put in a regular jail cell, it said. The lawsuit alleges Southern Health Partners — the Tennessee-based company they contracted with to provide health care at the La Plata County jail — has tried to maximize its profits at the jail by only having one nurse on duty at a time, leaving it to medically untrained deputies to monitor sick inmates. The company holds hundred of contracts at jails around the country and the lawsuit alleges that is has been involved in lawsuits related to the deaths of at least five other jail inmates nationally. The company's lawyer, Shira Crittendon, said she had not seen the lawsuit and declined to comment on it. The sheriff's office referred questions about the the lawsuit to a county spokesperson. In a statement, the county said it had not analyzed the allegations in the lawsuit and does not comment publicly on active litigation. Autopsy found Foard died because of an ulcer Foard was found dead in the jail on Aug. 17, 2023, six days after he was arrested. An autopsy found Foard died as a result of a hole created by an ulcer in his small intestine, which caused inflammation of the tissue lining his abdomen. Such ulcers can let food and digestive juices leak out of the body's digestive tract. Fentanyl was found in Foard's blood but the autopsy report did not name that as a cause of his death. Dr. Michael Arnall ruled Foard's death was due to natural causes. On Aug. 15, 2023, even though Foard had collapsed several times and had trouble standing, he was moved out of an area where he could be more easily observed for problems with his withdrawal and put into a regular jail cell, staggering as we went, the lawsuit said. The day nurse ignored a deputy's concern that he was very unstable, according to the lawsuit brought by lawyers Dan Weiss, Anna Holland Edwards, John Holland and Erica Grossman. After a deputy delivering breakfast on Aug. 16, 2023 saw that Foard repeatedly fell while trying to get his tray, the jail's day nurse came to check on him, it said. She recorded that Foard reported he had sharp, shooting pain that was a '10' on a scale of one to 10, but she did not call for a doctor or send him to the hospital, it said. The nurse moved Foard to an empty cell where he could be monitored but didn't tell deputies what he was being monitored for and didn't order any follow up care or check on him, it said. He vomited all day and was moved to another cell and then a third because they had all become so messy with vomit, it said. Surveillance video showed him crawling to the final cell, where it said he continuously called out for help and yelled that he needed to go to a hospital, saying he was vomiting blood. The lawsuit claims that no one responded to his pleas but one deputy could be heard on surveillance video telling him to 'try to hit that drain' with his vomit to keep the cell from becoming dirty. Another nurse, working the evening shift, only walked by his cell and glanced inside, but did not assess him or provide care as he was pleading for help, the lawsuit said. When she did enter his cell around 10 p.m., Foard was dead, it said. She told state investigators that vomiting was normal for people withdrawing from fentanyl. State authorities investigated Foard's death The day shift nurse later told a state investigator that it was not unusual that Foard would not have had his vital signs checked for 12 hours because of the number of inmates the jail's nurses need to provide care, according to a report from an investigation by the Colorado Bureau of Investigations. She also said she didn't think there was anything different she could have done based on Foard's symptoms. The bureau's findings were forwarded to the 6th District Attorney's Office, which would decide whether any criminal charges were warranted in connection with Foard's death. It's not known whether the office decided to pursue any charges. A telephone message and email sent to District Attorney Sean Murray were not immediately returned. In a statement, Jim Foard and Susan Gizinski said they want everyone to know about their son's ordeal both to hold those they say are responsible for his death accountable and to change how inmates are treated at the jail. 'Just basic training in having compassion for others would be a great start. But adding more staff is critical too,' they said.
The Independent
27 minutes ago
- The Independent
Trump administration releases details of FBI investigation into MLK Jr's killing as his family insists James Earl Ray was not the shooter
The Trump administration has released details of the FBI investigation into Martin Luther King Jr. 's killing as his family insists James Earl Ray was not the shooter. In President Donald Trump 's push to release previously classified records related to infamous assassinations, including the shooting of former President John F. Kennedy, the feds released more than 230,000 pages of documents related to King's killing on Monday. 'Under President Trump's leadership, we are ensuring that no stone is left unturned in our mission to deliver complete transparency on this pivotal and tragic event in our nation's history,' Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said in a statement. King's assassination shocked the world in 1968, and decades later, people are still fascinated by the civil rights leader's death. King was shot at 6:05 p.m. on April 4, 1968. He was in Memphis, Tennessee, to support a sanitation workers' strike. As he stood on the second-floor balcony of the Lorraine Motel, a sniper's bullet struck him in the neck. He died about an hour later in the hospital at the age of 39. Over two months later, the suspect in King's assassination, James Earl Ray, was arrested at London's Heathrow Airport. Ray was a convicted robber who had been associated with racists. Witnesses reported seeing Ray running from a boarding house near the Lorraine Motel, where prosecutors said he fired the shot that killed King, reported. Ray's fingerprints were also on the rifle he used to assassinate King, according to the feds. On March 10, 1969, nearly a year after King was killed, Ray pleaded guilty to the murder. He later renounced his plea and maintained his innocence until he died in prison in 1998 at the age of 70. The King family has long believed Ray was not the killer, and in a statement released Monday, they said they will look for 'additional insights' in the newly released files. The statement, which was issued by two of King's children, Martin Luther King III and Bernice, mentioned the verdict of a wrongful death lawsuit the family filed in Tennessee in 1999. 'The jury unanimously concluded that our father was the victim of a conspiracy involving Loyd Jowers and unnamed co-conspirators, including government agencies as a part of a wider scheme,' the family's statement read. 'The verdict also affirmed that someone other than James Earl Ray was the shooter, and that Mr. Ray was set up to take the blame.' Jowers, a former Memphis tavern owner, claimed in 1993 he participated in a conspiracy to kill King along with a Mafia figure, Memphis police officers and a man named Raoul, according to the Justice Department. Jowers claimed one of the conspirators shot King from behind his tavern. Jowers died in 2000. The King family's statement continued: 'Our family views that verdict as an affirmation of our long-held beliefs. As we review these newly released files, we will assess whether they offer additional insights beyond the findings our family has already accepted.' The Justice Department said it reviewed the allegations and determined in August 2023 that, 'on their face, Jowers' allegations about a plot to kill Dr. King appear to be unworthy of belief. 'The totality of the evidence suggests that Jowers fabricated his allegations, hoping to promote a sensational account of a conspiracy to murder Dr. King,' the Justice Department said. King's family also told the public the newly released files 'must be viewed within their full historical context,' claiming the civil rights leader was 'relentlessly targeted by an invasive, predatory, and deeply disturbing disinformation and surveillance campaign orchestrated by' former FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover. 'The intent of the government's COINTELPRO campaign was not only to monitor, but to discredit, dismantle and destroy Dr. King's reputation and the broader American Civil Rights Movement,' the King family added. COINTELPRO was an FBI program that ran from 1956 to 1971 to 'disrupt the activities of the Communist Party of the United States,' according to the agency.
BBC News
27 minutes ago
- BBC News
Officer convicted in Breonna Taylor raid gets 33-month sentence
A former Kentucky police officer has been sentenced to 33 months in prison after being convicted in connection with a raid that resulted in the fatal shooting of Breonna Taylor, a black woman, in her home.A federal jury last year convicted Brett Hankison of violating Taylor's civil rights by using excessive force. The maximum sentence for the charge was life in sentencing comes days after the Trump administration asked the judge to give Hankison a one-day sentence - a position that starkly contrasts with the approach to the case under President Joe is the only officer who has been charged and convicted directly in connection with the botched raid. Another former officer, Kelly Goodlett, who pleaded guilty to conspiring with a colleague to falsify the affidavit used to obtain search warrant for Taylor's home and to cover up their actions after her death, will be sentenced next year. Taylor became a face of the Black Lives Matter movement in 2020 following her death and the police killing of George Floyd, who was murdered during a police arrest that same year. She was killed after officers in plain clothes executed a "no-knock" search warrant at her home. They burst into her apartment in the early morning hours while she and her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, were believed Taylor's former boyfriend was using her home to hide Walker fired a single shot when the police knocked the door down, hitting one officer, Sgt John Mattingly, in the leg. Mr Walker said the officers did not announce themselves as police, and he thought they were three officers returned fire, shooting 32 bullets into the fired 10 times into her apartment, in order, he said during the trial, to protect fellow of Hankison's bullets hit anyone, but they did enter a neighbouring property, where a pregnant woman, a five-year-old and a man had been said Hankison acted recklessly and "violated one of the most fundamental rules of deadly force: If they cannot see the person they're shooting at, they cannot pull the trigger."Outside the courthouse, protestors waiting for the verdict blocked the streets chanting Taylor's name. Several people, including Taylor's aunt, Bianca Austin, were detained by police. How was the justice department involved in this case? In early November 2024, Hankison was convicted on one count of civil rights abuse. "His use of deadly force was unlawful and put Ms Taylor in harm's way," then Attorney General Merrick Garland, a Biden-appointee, said in a statement. "This verdict is an important step toward accountability for the violation of Breonna Taylor's civil rights, but justice for the loss of Ms Taylor is a task that exceeds human capacity."Days after Hankinson's conviction, Donald Trump won re-election - a political shift that meant the sentencing recommendation would come not from the Biden administration, which brought the charges, but from the Trump-led justice week, that recommendation - a request for Hankison to serve one day in prison - stunned some, including Breonna Taylor's family."Every American who believes in equal justice under the law should be outraged," attorneys for the family said. "Recommending just one day in prison sends the unmistakable message that white officers can violate the civil rights of Black Americans with near-total impunity."In its sentencing request, the justice department argued that although Hankison was involved in "executing the warrant" during the deadly raid, he did not shoot Taylor "and is not otherwise responsible for her death".The justice department also said that additional prison time "would simply be unjust under these circumstances". Ordinarily, sentencing recommendations are signed by lawyers involved in the case or career justice department employees who deal with sentencing requests. In this case, Trump's appointee to run the Civil Rights Department, Harmeet Dhillon, signed the recommendation. What changes has Trump's justice department made? Since returning to the White House, Trump has made rolling back Biden-era policies a priority, particularly at the justice department. In May, the justice department began the process of dismissing lawsuits brought against the Louisville and Minneapolis following controversy over high-profile police killings and brutality, including that of into police constitutional violations in other cities such as Memphis and Phoenix were also ended. The justice department criticised the Biden administration for enacting "sweeping" oversight agreements "that would have imposed years of micromanagement" of local police by federal Biden's tenure, the justice department opened civil investigations into 12 state and local law enforcement agencies. In four of those - in Louisville, Minneapolis, Phoenix and Lexington, Mississippi - the department issued reports of systemic police misconduct. While accountability agreements were made with some of the police departments, they were not formally enacted. These changes have also come amid a mass exodus from the justice department. In the Civil Rights Division alone, the division of the department that made the Hankison sentencing recommendation, about 70% of attorneys have left since Trump was inaugurated, reports say.
