Latest news with #Courthouse
CTV News
08-08-2025
- CTV News
Brampton judge ‘deliberately refused to apply the law' when sentencing man convicted of impaired driving for fifth time, superior court justice says
The A. Grenville and William Davis Courthouse in Brampton is seen in this screenshot. (Google Street View) The decision of a Brampton judge not to hand down the required four-month jail sentence to a man who had been convicted of his fifth impaired driving offence was 'an affront to the administration of justice,' a superior court judge wrote in her decision overturning the ruling. In a written decision released last month, Superior Court Justice Jennifer Woollcombe said there was 'no legal basis' for the lower court judge to impose a conditional sentence to Joseph LeClaire, who had pleaded guilty to his fifth impaired driving offence. '(The judge) fully appreciated what the law required her to do and deliberately refused to apply the law. I view it as an affront to the administration of justice for a judge to choose to knowingly disregard and decline to follow the law that must be applied,' Woollcombe wrote. 'The sentence Her Honour imposed must be set aside and a sentence of four months jail imposed.' According to the facts previously submitted to the court, LeClaire was driving the wrong way on Winston Churchill Boulevard in Mississauga on the night of Nov. 27, 2020. It was reported that LeClaire was driving a Toyota RAV4 with only the rims on the front passenger side of the vehicle. Sparks were sent from the damaged wheel rim as he swerved into the opposite lanes of traffic, the court documents state. The vehicle was found abandoned but LeClaire was subsequently identified as the driver. When he was located by police, the documents state, he was 'unsteady on his feet and was slurring his words.' He advised officers that he had a fentanyl patch on his abdomen for back pain and police later discovered a pink powdered substance inside a small baggie that was later identified as fentanyl. According to information presented to the court, LeClaire's blood contained 38 nanograms of fentanyl and 131 nanograms of etizolam. The vehicle he was driving belonged to his wife, the documents state, and he had taken it without her consent after finding the key she had hidden. He was under a two-year driving prohibition imposed after his most recent impaired driving conviction in April 2019. He later pleaded guilty to impaired operation of a conveyance and driving while disqualified. In an exchange between the lower court judge and the Crown during the sentencing hearing in March, the judge asks the Crown what they would do if she imposed a four-month conditional sentence instead of the mandatory custodial sentence. 'That is not permitted by statute,' the Crown prosecutor responded. 'I know, but what if I do,' the judge asked. The prosecutor then said that they would have to 'seek advice' from management. The Crown had indicated that if sentenced to jail, LeClaire would serve his time in the infirmary at Maplehurst Correctional Complex in Milton, where he would have a single cell and there would be personal support workers available 24 hours a day. The defence had argued that given his medical problems and the progress he had made with his addiction issues, house arrest would be a more appropriate sentence, a request the lower court judge granted. The Crown appealed the sentence and the appeal was heard on July 10. The appellate judge said the Crown's submission for a four-month jail sentence was 'extremely lenient' given the circumstances, noting that it was the 'minimum sentence that was legally available.' Woollcombe noted that he avoided jail time on his third offence in 2005 and was sentenced to a 45-day intermittent sentence for his fourth offence only 19 months before the latest one. 'This was an extremely serious offence,' she wrote of the 2020 incident. 'It was the fifth time he was caught putting innocent members of the community at risk. Further aggravating the circumstances of this impaired driving is the fact that the offender was under a driving prohibition. In all the circumstances, the sentence sought by the Crown both in March 2025 and on appeal is quite low.' The judge said that while she understands the reasons LeClaire wants to avoid jail time, 120 days of jail is 'necessary and appropriate in all of the circumstances.' Woollcombe gave LeClaire 48 hours from the time of the release of the decision on July 15 to surrender into custody.
Yahoo
13-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Mid-South protestors prepare for ‘No Kings Day'
DESOTO COUNTY, Miss. — Protestors across the country and in the Mid-South are preparing for 'No Kings Day' on Saturday. Thousands are mobilizing for what are scheduled to be peaceful protests against President Trump's policies. 'The focus that we've got for tomorrow is simply this that this country does not belong to a king,' said Erin McElyea, Indivisible, DeSoto, Mississippi. What to know about 'No Kings' protests against Trump's policies Her group is expecting over 100 volunteers to show up Saturday outside the Courthouse in Hernando to make their voices heard for a 'No Kings' visibility event. 'We are alarmed at the amount of power that's been given to the President, and we don't want our country to turn into a dictatorship,' said McElyea. The event in Hernando is part of what McElyea says is a nationwide day of defiance coinciding with the US Army's 250th anniversary, Flag Day, and Donald Trump's birthday and aims to focus on increasing activity by ICE putting National Guard and Marines on the ground in Los Angeles and what McElyea said are broken promises by the President. 'Drawing attention to what the government's doing, particularly what Trump's trying to do, centralize the government and weaken the other two branches of government,' said McElyea. What to know about 'No Kings' protests against Trump's policies There are other protests planned in the Mid-South in addition to the one in Hernando, including Oxford, Memphis, and West Memphis, Arkansas. 'There's going to be people there tomorrow that are all there for different reasons, but we're all united in saying that we don't allow tyranny in the United States,' said McElyea. WREG has reached out to the Hernando Police Department, Memphis Police Department, and West Memphis Police Department, and they have not responded to our inquiries regarding the 'No Kings Day' protest. The DeSoto County Sheriff's Office said they have a plan in place and will be prepared. Oxford Police said they will provide security as they do with all permitted events. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Fox News
10-06-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
Milwaukee judge not immune from charges after allegedly helping illegal immigrant evade ICE, prosecutors say
Federal prosecutors are pushing back against Milwaukee Judge Hannah Dugan's motion to dismiss an indictment filed against her for allegedly helping an illegal immigrant evade Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers in the Milwaukee County Courthouse last month. Dugan, 65, was indicted last month on federal charges of obstruction of proceedings before a U.S. agency and unlawful concealment of an individual subject to arrest. Her attorneys say she is entitled to judicial immunity and that the federal government overstepped its authority by arresting and charging her, violating her 10th Amendment rights and the principle of separation of powers, according to court documents filed in late May. On Wednesday, prosecutors filed a response to her motion to dismiss, noting that "the Supreme Court has made clear that judges are not immune from criminal liability." "In the end, Dugan asks for this Court to develop a novel doctrine of judicial immunity from criminal prosecution, and to apply it to the facts alleged in the indictment, all without reasonable basis—directly or indirectly—in the Constitution, statutes, or case law," prosecutors wrote. "In her lengthy memorandum, Dugan concedes that '[j]udges, like legislators and executive officials, are not above the law,'" they said. "Dugan's desired ruling would, in essence, say that judges are 'above the law,' and uniquely entitled to interfere with federal law enforcement," prosecutors added. Federal prosecutors allege that the Milwaukee Circuit Court judge personally escorted Mexican illegal immigrant and domestic battery suspect Eduardo Flores-Ruiz out of the courthouse on April 18 while ICE agents were attempting to serve a warrant. The surveillance footage recently released by Milwaukee County in response to an open records request appears to show Dugan, wearing her black robe, confronting ICE agents in the courthouse hallway. Federal prosecutors say members of ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO), along with federal partners from the FBI, DEA, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection, were preparing to serve Flores-Ruiz with a warrant in a public courthouse hallway on April 18 before his scheduled court appearance with Dugan. WATCH THE SURVEILLANCE FOOTAGE: After becoming aware of what federal officials described as a valid immigration arrest warrant for Flores-Ruiz, Dugan allegedly told agents that they needed a judicial warrant and told them to go to the chief judge's office. The agents then left their place in the hallway, at which point Dugan allegedly chose not to hold a hearing for Flores-Ruiz and "personally escorted" the suspect and his attorney through a private exit while the victims of his alleged crimes were in the courthouse at the time, the Justice Department said in a press release. While Dugan argues that ICE agents interrupted goings-on in the courthouse on April 18, prosecutors say it was Dugan who disrupted proceedings. "The evidence also will show that agents were not in the courtroom when Dugan took the bench, but that—after being told by a member of her staff that ICE agents were present in the hallway—Dugan chose to pause an unrelated case, leave her courtroom, disrupt proceedings in a colleague's courtroom to commandeer her assistance, and then confront agents in the public hallway," the filing says. Prosecutors say evidence also shows Dugan directing agents to the chief judge's office even while knowing he was out, then she "quickly returned to her courtroom and, among other things, directed [Florez-Ruiz's] attorney to 'take your client out and come back and get a date; and then to go through the jury door and down the stairs' before physically escorting [Flroes-Ruiz] and his attorney into a non-public hallway with access to a stairwell that led to a courthouse exit," filings say. Dugan "did this all just days after thanking a colleague for providing information which explained that ICE could lawfully make arrests in the courthouse hall," prosecutors stated Wednesday. "Put simply, nothing in the indictment or the anticipated evidence at trial supports Dugan's assertion that agents 'disrupted' the court's docket; instead, all events arose from Dugan's unilateral, non-judicial, and unofficial actions in obstructing a federal immigration matter over which she, as a Wisconsin state judge, had no authority," the document reads. "At the very least, for purposes of deciding this motion, Dugan's claims to the contrary find no support in the indictment and should be rejected." One of Dugan's defense attorneys, Dean Strang, told Fox News Digital that her counsel has a "good reply" to prosecutors' Wednesday filing, but her team is waiting until their reply brief, due next Monday, to make it. The Milwaukee judge has pleaded not guilty to charges filed against her, and a federal judge has set her trial date for July 21. A federal indictment accuses Dugan of "falsely" telling federal officials in April that they needed a warrant to come into her courtroom during a scheduled appearance by Flores-Ruiz, an undocumented Mexican national facing three misdemeanor battery charges. Video footage appears to show Flores-Ruiz exiting the courthouse with his attorney, while an ICE agent follows him, and then running alongside the building for about a block before agents capture and arrest him. Federal officials arrested Dugan a week after the courthouse incident. Dugan could face a maximum sentence of six years. She has pleaded not guilty to the charges filed against her. Fox News Digital has reached out to her attorney, Craig Mastantuono, for comment on the footage. In April, Dugan's legal team also filed a motion to dismiss the federal case against her, saying the judge "is entitled to judicial immunity for her official acts." "Immunity is not a defense to the prosecution to be determined later by a jury or court; it is an absolute bar to the prosecution at the outset," the motion said.
Yahoo
02-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Northwest Missouri Residents to Join National 'NO KINGS' Rally on June 14
ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) — Northwest Missouri residents will gather in Maryville and St. Joseph on Saturday, June 14, as part of the nationwide 'NO KINGS Day of Defiance.' In Maryville, participants will rally on the sidewalk in front of the Courthouse from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., carrying signs and flags. In St. Joseph, demonstrators will meet from 4 to 5:30 p.m. at the intersection of Belt Highway and Frederick Boulevard, also with signs and flags in hand. The NO KINGS movement has organized more than 1,200 peaceful rallies across all 50 states and several foreign countries. Millions of citizens, led by volunteers, are expected to take part; marking Flag Day with a show of support for democracy over oligarchy.
Irish Independent
01-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Independent
Brazilian ambassador joins Wicklow artist to bring global water crisis into focus
Drawing audiences from across Ireland to experience a vibrant fusion of fine art photography, environmental consciousness, and cross-cultural dialogue, the insightful exhibition was introduced by Courthouse artistic director Kieran O'Toole, followed by a captivating solo performance by Mestre Sansão on the berimbau, a traditional Brazilian instrument central to capoeira, the Afro-Brazilian martial art that blends music, rhythm, and movement. Guests were welcomed with the Brazilian flag on display and served traditional caipirinhas, adding a festive and immersive cultural touch to the event. Mr Macieira addressed the audience with a poignant message about the urgent need for global climate action, emphasising the importance of COP30, the upcoming UN Climate Change Conference to be hosted by Brazil in 2025, while praising Taves' work for 'elevating water as both a natural and symbolic resource.' Started in 2009, Taves' Water Colour series invites viewers to reflect on the state of water around the world, with the project a visually arresting archive of water imagery captured in diverse global settings. 'What if water, in its fragility, no longer flowed freely—or disappeared altogether?' Taves asked. 'Through these images, I hope to awaken a deeper reflection on water's fragility and its vital importance in our lives.' The enchanting evening concluded with a poetry reading by Wexford-based writer, Sylvia Cullen. Water Colour will remain on view at the Courthouse Arts Centre until Sunday, June 8. The exhibition will close with a special event from 3 to 5 pm, featuring guest speaker William Fagan, chairperson of the Photography Museum of Ireland. A bus can be booked via the Courthouse website for €10 per person. It will depart from the Signal Arts Centre in Bray at 1.45 pm and return from Tinahely at 5 pm. Limited edition postcards featuring a QR code with a preview of the next show are available for purchase.
