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Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
US Attorney challenges judge on military zone prosecutions
May 12—The U.S. Attorney in New Mexico is criticizing the chief U.S. Magistrate judge for seeking legal views about trespassing violations in the state's new military defense zone, urging the judge to "correct course" to avoid "further impropriety." In a nine-page "objection" filed Sunday, U.S. Attorney Ryan Ellison sought to preempt a judicial opinion about the elements of criminally charging people illegally crossing into the U.S. with additional crimes of entering a restricted military zone and violating defense property security regulations. The unusual court filing from the government comes just weeks after the Trump administration began the prosecution practice by designating a 60-foot-wide swath along New Mexico's southern border as military property called the New Mexico National Defense Area. The action was viewed as a way to legally use military troops for domestic law enforcement on American soil. The 170-mile long stretch is part of the federal government's "broader efforts to protect and defend the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the United States in light of the 'National Emergency' caused by, among other things, unchecked unlawful mass migration," wrote Ellison, who was appointed April 19 by U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi. With hundreds of defendants now facing such misdemeanor charges in Las Cruces federal court, Chief U.S. Magistrate Judge Gregory Wormuth on May 1 requested input from the U.S. Attorney's Office and the Federal Public Defender's office citing the scarcity of caselaw relating to these offenses and "the unprecedented nature of prosecuting such offenses in this factual context." The judge wanted to hear about the standards of proof needed to find defendants guilty in these kinds of cases, such as whether offenders would have had to know they were on military property or willfully intended to violate the no-trespassing edict. Ellison's office on May 5 filed a 14-page defending the prosecution practice. But in his objection filed days later, Ellison called judge's solicitation of legal views an "extraordinary departure" from "foundational principles" because it wasn't spurred by any particular case. The request was issued without prompting from any party, outside the context of any particular case, "absent any relation to an identified defendant, on a miscellaneous docket, and untethered to any contemplated or requested relief," Ellison wrote. Moreover, the judge's request "was an improper exercise of the Court's authority," he contended. He urged Wormuth to avoid "further impropriety of issuing an advisory opinion purporting to provide views on abstract questions of law that have not yet been properly raised in any case by any party." Amanda Skinner, of the federal public defender's office, contended in her May 8 response to Wormuth that the signage warning those stepping into the defense zone is inadequate, but the U.S. Attorney's office argued such notification wasn't required to prove someone violated the military-related laws. The fact that someone has intentionally entered the zone from Mexico through an area other than a designated port of entry and knows that conduct is unlawful is enough to find someone guilty of the military zone infractions, federal prosecutors maintain. The 12 x 18-inch signs, which are posted on stakes inside the zone, are in English and Spanish, but no other languages. Skinner, who couldn't be reached for comment Monday, asked Wormuth to hear oral arguments on the issue. Ellison wrote that it appeared the judge's "premature and inappropriate effort to decide questions before it" was apparently "designed to provide legal guidance to courts across all cases, present and future, across the district." The New Mexico defense zone is a "crucial installation necessary to strengthen the authority of servicemembers to help secure our borders and safeguard the country. The Court should therefore be particularly reluctant to stray beyond the constitutional limits of 'judicial power' and unilaterally impose its legal views in cases implicating national sovereignty."
New York Post
08-05-2025
- New York Post
Feds to seek death penalty for federal inmate charged with murdering his cellmate
OKLAHOMA CITY — Federal prosecutors announced Wednesday they will seek the death penalty for an inmate accused of strangling his cellmate at the Federal Transfer Center in Oklahoma City. U.S. Attorney Robert Troester for the Western District of Oklahoma filed a notice of intent to seek the death penalty against 27-year-old Jasper Reed. A federal grand jury in Oklahoma City on Tuesday returned a three-count indictment charging Reed with first-degree murder, attempted murder and assault resulting in serious bodily injury. 3 The U.S. Bureau of Prisons' federal transfer center is a main hub for federal prisoners who are being transferred to prison facilities across the country. Google Maps 3 A federal grand jury in Oklahoma City on Tuesday returned a three-count indictment charging Reed with first-degree murder, attempted murder and assault resulting in serious bodily injury. Freedomz – The U.S. Bureau of Prisons' federal transfer center, which houses about 1,400 male and female inmates, is a main hub for federal prisoners who are being transferred to prison facilities across the country. Prosecutors allege Reed, who was serving time in federal prison for a firearms offense out of New Mexico, attacked and seriously injured his first cellmate, referred to in court documents as T.R., on April 27, 2024. A corrections officer saw Reed lying on top of the man with his hands around his neck and blood on both men before he and other officers were able to separate the two, according to an affidavit signed by a federal agent. The other inmate suffered multiple broken bones in his face and neck, but survived. A little more than a week later, Reed was housed with another inmate, referred to as R.P., who was found dead inside his cell on May 8, 2024, the affidavit states. An autopsy determined the cause of death of that inmate to be homicide by manual strangulation. Reed's attorneys in the Federal Public Defender's office declined to comment on the case. 3 U.S. Attorney Robert Troester for the Western District of Oklahoma DOJ seeking death penalty for man who allegedly attacked 2 cellmates, killing one. United States Attorney's Office Just hours after President Donald Trump returned to the White House, he signed a sweeping executive order on the death penalty that directs the U.S. attorney general to 'take all necessary and lawful action' to ensure states have enough lethal injection drugs to carry out executions. Trump's order compels the Justice Department to not only seek the death penalty in appropriate federal cases but also to help preserve capital punishment in states that have struggled to maintain adequate supplies of lethal injection drugs. Before Trump's election, federal executions had been on hold since a moratorium was imposed by former Attorney General Merrick Garland in 2021. Only three defendants remained on federal death row after Democratic President Joe Biden converted 37 of their sentences to life in prison.
Los Angeles Times
09-04-2025
- Los Angeles Times
Jury to decide whether Newport Beach doctor was a drug dealer or duped by patients
A jury that began deliberation earlier this week will decide whether a Newport Beach-based doctor used phony diagnoses to justify prescribing powerful medication and then ignored warnings that those drugs were sold on the street, or if he was manipulated by patients he believed were in pain. More than a dozen relatives and friends of Dr. Jeffrey Olsen sat behind him in a courtroom at the Ronald Reagan Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse in Santa Ana as attorneys gave their closing arguments Monday afternoon. They and his defense team maintain he acted within the scope of his duties as a physician. Olsen, who played football at Dana Hills High in the 1970s and now resides in Laguna Beach, holds a valid medical license, according to online records reviewed by the Pilot. He has not practiced since he was indicted on 35 felony counts in 2017, one of his attorneys, Reid Rowe of the Federal Public Defender's office, said Monday. The physician was charged with selling oxycodone, hydrocodone, Adderall and Xanax without a legitimate medical purpose. He is also accused of lying on an application for authorization from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration to distribute controlled substances after he had already relinquished such permission in light of a federal investigation of his practice. 'Dr. Jeffrey Olsen was a drug dealer,' Assistant U.S. Atty. Danbee Kim said during closing statements Monday. '...He turned his prescription pad into a blank check.' Some of Olsen's patients were Oregon residents who received multiple prescriptions after each consultation with him, according to logs and text messages presented during trial. They used those to buy hundreds of pills at a time, often filling prescriptions at different pharmacies in order to avoid scrutiny. James Goodell and Ken Kausler were two of Olsen's former patients who both testified they were 'doctor shopping' to gain access to drugs they wound up selling. The latter said he had been rejected by at least eight other physicians before he started getting prescriptions from Olsen. Klauson obtained approximately 2,500 pills of oxycodone, Adderall or Xanax between April and November of 2012. Several of his prescriptions were issued by Olsen even after insurance provider Aetna sent a letter to the physician advising that the large amount of medication the patient was receiving was indicative of misuse. Olsen repeatedly received warnings from pharmacies and insurance companies who suspected that drugs he prescribed were either being abused or diverted to the black market, according to the prosecution. In text messages presented during trial, the physician described vouching for the release of orders withheld from flagged patients as one of the services offered by his practice. 'What do you need?' Olsen wrote in a text to Klauson. 'Oxycodone 30's? How many?' Olsen's defense noted he met with patients on a regular basis, and said the doctor issued prescriptions based on what he legitimately believed were cases of severe, chronic pain. The defendant testified that he followed up with the people under his care about their treatment and was trying to convince them to take less medication. In between courtroom proceedings, he told the Daily Pilot he helps manage an addiction recovery support group. An expert testifying for the defense, Dr. James P. Murphy, said arbitrarily tapering dosages can be dangerous and potentially drive patients toward illicit substance as a replacement. He and Rowe argued that physicians who specialize in the treatment of pain have to rely on the subjective observations of those they care for, and distrust between them potentially undermines the practice of medicine. 'It is not a doctor's job to say 'prove it,'' Rowe said. '...that is an impossible position to put doctors in.' Kim, as well as fellow federal prosecutors Caitlin Campbell and Brett Sagel, said Olsen hardly laid a finger on patients during their visits. They characterized the defendant's consultations as thinly veiled drug deals. On several occasions, Klauson exchanged an envelope of cash for prescriptions in the parking lot of Ruby's Diner in Laguna Beach. The patient testified he was never physically examined by Olsen during those meetings, which lasted only a few minutes. 'Please don't repeat the Ruby's thing,' Olsen wrote in texts with Klauson. 'You'll end up causing me to do hard time. And I will end up the bitch to the guy with the most cigarettes.' Other former patients who took the witness stand include an undercover Irvine police officer and two informants for the DEA who said they lied about their supposed conditions in order to get prescriptions from Olsen. One patient presented a medical imaging test of a different person who other doctors had diagnosed with only mild pain. The DEA informants recorded their visits with the Olsen. Those videos show him at his desk, scribbling on a prescription pad without ever getting up to perform a physical examination. Prosecutors also claim he coached patients to list symptoms he could use to justify prescriptions for nonexistent ailments. Rowe and fellow public defender Elena Sadowsky noted that Olsen is heard discussing alternatives to opioids in the footage. He talked to one patient about how he personally managed to get off of painkillers after a back surgery, and said not having to rely on medication would be ideal. 'It's better than living in pain,' the DEA informant said in response to Olsen's anecdote. Murphy testified that visual observations alone can be sufficient basis for a diagnosis from a properly trained physician. However, when prosecutors asked if he himself would prescribe the same types of drugs that Olsen did based on the consultations described during trial, the expert witness said he would likely 'need more information.' After Olsen was indicted almost eight years ago, his attorneys at the time filed numerous continuances to push back his trial date. But in 2020, when federal courts announced plans to suspend proceedings amid the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, his legal team raised complaint over his right to a speedy trial. On that basis, Judge Cormac Carney dismissed the case. However, the 9th Circuit of Appeals later reversed that decision, describing the dismissal as a 'miscarriage of justice.'
