Latest news with #JusticeSystem
The Guardian
7 hours ago
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Dragon on Centre Street by Jonah Bromwich review – drama of Trump the felon
Trump Convicted on All Counts to Become America's First Felon President: so blared the New York Times headline on 31 May 2024. 'Donald J Trump was convicted on Thursday of falsifying records to cover up a sex scandal that threatened to derail his 2016 presidential campaign, capping an extraordinary trial that tested the resilience of the American justice system and transformed the former commander in chief into a felon.' Jonah Bromwich shared the byline. From pre-indictment stakeout to arraignment to jury verdict to sentencing, he covered the legal tribulations of the once and future president, a drama for the ages in a courthouse in lower Manhattan. Dragon on Centre Street is his eyewitness account. A former style section writer, Bromwich is mindful of human folly. His first book captures the personalities that filled the corridors of the court and the streets around it, light-hearted one moment, deadly serious the next. 'The first clash between Trump and the criminal court system was shaping up to be the entertainment event of the season,' Bromwich writes, with a touch of glee. The run-up to the arraignment assumed the air of a rock concert or a sports championship. In the words of one Times stringer, it was 'hotter than Springsteen'. 'Professional line sitters, from a company called Same Ole Line Dude, showed up wearing merch advertising the name of their company and toting colorful tents.' Pages later, Bromwich introduces the reader to Max Azzarello, a name now largely forgotten. 'On 7 April 2024, 12 days before he killed himself outside a Manhattan courthouse, [he] ambled downstairs to his neighbors' apartment in St Augustine, Florida, holding a fistful of glow sticks.' Max and a friend, Mandy, wanted to gain the attention of a family of bats who circled overhead, much as the two had played with a pair of stray cats and a toy alligator. 'Cat fishing', they called it. But after the death of his mother in 2022, Max's life had turned dark. Less than two weeks later, in a park across from the court in New York, the 37-year-old set himself on fire. Bromwich's descriptions are insightful – at times, withering. 'His color, created for the camera, looks strange at close range,' he writes of Trump at his arraignment, in April 2023. 'So does his hair, coiffed in the front but threadbare in the back, such that someone sitting behind him for weeks at a time sees a different patch of his scalp each day.' But Bromwich also gives Trump his due. 'In person, it was easier to see the fundamentals – how tall he was, how imposing – and to sense the way his charisma exerted pressure on those around him.' The competing versions of Trump occupied the same space at the same time. Elsewhere, Bromwich conveys the judgment of Olivia Nuzzi, then a writer for New York magazine, in time tabloid fodder in her own right. Watching the trial on the court's closed-circuit television system, he describes her as 'blown away' by the visuals. 'Stripped of his power, Trump was reduced to a small garish human trapped in the municipal monochrome of the courtroom,' summarizing what she saw. Bromwich recounts the trial testimony of Stormy Daniels, born Stephanie Clifford, the adult film star who Trump paid to keep quiet about the affair she claimed and he denied. Before Daniels took the stand, Sally Franklin, a vice-president at Penguin Random House, read 'telling' excerpts of Trump's books. 'The defense looked stressed,' Bromwich writes. 'There was no doubt that Stormy had enraged Trump, and it was an open question whether he could keep himself in check, even with the threat of jail hanging over his head.' Daniels testified that she spanked Trump. He mouthed 'bullshit'. Isabelle Brourman, a courtroom artist, sketched Trump getting his butt swatted. The show continued. Trump had said she ought to be a contestant on The Apprentice, Daniels said. After all, Daniels reminded him of Ivanka, his daughter: smart, beautiful and underestimated. 'The dizzying feeling in the courtroom was increasing … in the gallery, Eric Trump was slowly turning from pale to pink,' Bromwich observes. Donald Trump cursed and shook his head. Justice Juan Merchan, the trial judge, warned Todd Blanche, Trump's counsel, his client could be held in contempt. 'I'll talk to him,' Blanche said. In all, the court fined Trump $9,000 for contempt and another $1,000 for violating a gag order. Ivanka and Melania, Trump's third wife, never appeared in court. Ditto Jared Kushner, Ivanka's husband, once Donald Trump's chief White House adviser. On the other hand, Trump was supported by the likes of Mike 'Moses' Johnson, the House speaker; JD Vance, then a senator from Ohio, eventually Trump's vice-president; and a phalanx of future cabinet members. 'Those guests who populated the left side of the gallery in [the courtroom] were quickly drafted into Trump's administration,' Bromwich writes. Susie Wiles is chief of staff. Doug Burgum is secretary of the interior. Kash Patel leads the FBI. Trump's lawyers fared well too. Blanche is deputy attorney general. Emil Bove is principal associate deputy attorney general. On Wednesday, Trump nominated him to the US court of appeals for the third circuit, which covers Delaware, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Maryanne Trump, the president's late sister, once sat on that bench. Facing an ethics investigation, she retired in February 2019. In the courthouse on Centre Street, in May 2024, the Dragon was convicted. It didn't matter: in November, he won the White House again. In January 2025, as he waited to return to power, he faced sentencing. 'The fact is that I'm totally innocent,' Trump announced, via computer. Justice Merchan handed down an unconditional discharge. Ten days later, Trump was back in the Oval Office. Dragon on Centre Street is published in the US by Authors Equity
Daily Mail
7 hours ago
- Health
- Daily Mail
Deeply disturbing question a cop asked an Indigenous teen detained at an ACT watch house sparks furious backlash
Concerning footage has emerged of a watch house officer grilling an Indigenous teen and his disturbing comments that have sparked outrage and prompted an investigation. The early morning exchange took place at an ACT watch house after the Indigenous boy was arrested in June 2024. Footage played during an ACT Supreme Court hearing earlier this year, the officer, who was off-camera, was heard asking the boy a series of questions, including whether he was thinking of taking his own life. 'Are you thinking of necking yourself?' he asked the teen. When the boy replied no, the officer was heard muttering: 'You wouldn't have the guts to do it anyway.' The watch house CCTV also showed several officers standing behind the teen – none of whom made the offensive comments – who appeared to smirk during the exchange. The same sergeant later asked the teen, who was living in foster care, if he had any parents. 'Nah,' the teen replied. 'No parents? You just magically appeared on the face of the Earth?' the sergeant mocked. The court was also played a series of other clips from the vision, including the moment the teen was later tasered and violently pinned down in a watch house cell. The judge referred the vision to the territory's Chief Police Officer Scott Lee, the Canberra Times reported. Indigenous leader Jordan Hindmarsh-Keevil recently took to social media to express outrage about the incident. 'I hate making videos about negative things, but this is f***ing very important because I bet you didn't hear about it,' he said in a video reshared by 'Although this video might make you angry, I do not mean to divide anyone. All I want from this is for people who believe that Australia is not a racist country – those people say so because it doesn't say it legally anywhere. Mr Hindmarsh-Keevil claimed the 'treatment is not a one-off', saying 'this happens all the time'. 'This officer looked at a 17-year-old boy and he said 'are you thinking about necking yourself?' Two of the other coppers who were standing next to this man started smirking and smiling. And this officer had already mocked this kid for not having parents because he was in foster care,' he claimed. 'I am angry at the police that did this, but I'm angry that this type of hatred towards other people exists.' The ACT's Chief Police Officer, Scott Lee described the officer's actions in the footage as said the officer's actions as 'are unacceptable and will not be tolerated'. 'I hold everyone in ACT Policing to high standards of professionalism and integrity, as do our officers, and this is in line with community expectations,' Mr Lee said. 'The comments of the officer during a Watch House intake in 2024 are unacceptable and will not be tolerated. 'It falls well below the standards expected of our officers and was dealt with swiftly after the incident occurred with the matter currently being investigated by AFP Professional Standards.' He added that the investigation into the incident is ongoing. Daily Mail Australia has contacted ACT Policing for further comment. Venessa Turnbull-Roberts, Commissioner for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children said the incident was 'abhorrent misconduct'. 'In the context of the horrifying and ongoing epidemic of Aboriginal deaths in custody in this jurisdiction and across Australia, this comment can be seen as a deliberate incitement to an Aboriginal child to end his life,' she claimed. 'What is even more horrific is the young person is a survivor of forcible removal … the police interrogation used against this young person by police is shameful.' Suicide rates have been on the incline over the past decade to 2023, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics' (ABS) mortality report. Between 2019 and 2023, suicide was the leading cause of death for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, according to that same report. It
Yahoo
a day ago
- General
- Yahoo
Judge denies Diddy's lawyers' push for mistrial, sex-crimes trial to continue
The judge in Sean "Diddy" Combs' federal sex-crimes case has denied his bid for a mistrial. The move came amid testimony during the third week of the trial, in which Combs, 55, is charged with sex trafficking, racketeering and transportation to engage in prostitution. He has pleaded not guilty and long maintained his innocence. Midway during court proceedings on May 28, Combs' lawyers moved for a mistrial, arguing that prosecutors were improperly trying to suggest that the hip-hop mogul had evidence tied to an alleged arson incident destroyed. Defense lawyer Alexandra Shapiro contended, without the jury present, that the line of questioning by prosecutors was designed to infer that "Mr. Combs could buy his way out of this (investigation into the break-in and firebombing). We believe the questions were designed to play right into that." U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian swiftly denied the request. "There was absolutely no testimony from the witness that was prejudicial in any way shape or form," Subramanian said. During testimony, Lance Jimenez of the Los Angeles Fire Department recalled a 2012 incident in which an explosion wrecked a Porsche owned by Scott Mescudi, professionally known as Kid Cudi. Jimenez testified that the Los Angeles Police Department was in charge of doing fingerprint analysis after the car explosion, and said he had "no idea" if fingerprints were recovered. There were prints from the glass on the front door from a previous trespassing incident, when Cudi's house was broken into, he said, but the print cards were destroyed in August 2012 without Jimenez's knowledge. When prosecutors asked if it was unusual for someone who was not on Jimenez's team to order evidence to be destroyed, he confirmed it was. "I'm gonna object to all of this, judge," Marc Agnifilo, Combs' lead defense attorney, said, before they took a long sidebar and then a break. Shapiro said that the initial questions about whether the prints were destroyed was legitimate, but that prosecutors acted inappropriately by questioning whether Jimenez authorized the prints to be destroyed and whether he thought it was unusual that they had been destroyed by somebody at LAPD. One of the prosecutors, Emily Johnson, told the judge that the move for a mistrial was "absolutely unwarranted here," and could be easily cured by jury instructions. After a lengthy back-and-forth, with the prosecution arguing that it would be prejudicial to their case for the judge to tell the jury that their line of questioning was improper, Subramanian ruled that he would instruct the jury to disregard the entire line of questioning. On May 27, Combs' lawyers moved to have Mescudi's previous comments suggesting the record executive was "lying" about his knowledge of the explosion removed from the record. Contributing: Reuters; Anna Kaufman, USA TODAY This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Diddy lawyers move for mistrial, judge denies bid
CTV News
2 days ago
- Politics
- CTV News
B.C. man who got $8M says he'll be penniless if made to pay sex assault damages
Ivan Henry leaves B.C. Supreme Court during a lunch break in Vancouver, on Aug. 31, 2015. (Darryl Dyck / The Canadian Press)
CBS News
2 days ago
- Business
- CBS News
Feds seek 12.5-year sentence, $1.5 million fine for former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan
Federal prosecutors are seeking a steep 12 ½-year prison term and $1.5 million fine for former Illinois House Speaker Michale Madigan, who was convicted earlier this year of bribery, conspiracy, and fraud charges. Federal prosecutors argued that, not only was Madigan's decades-long reign as speaker "steeped in corruption," but that he repeatedly lied on the stand when he testified in his own defense. "Madigan has expressed no remorse for his crimes, nor has he acknowledged the damage wrought by his conduct. Indeed, Madigan went so far as to commit perjury at trial in an effort to avoid accountability, and he persists in framing his actions as nothing more than helping people," federal prosecutors wrote in their 72-page sentencing recommendation submitted on Friday. Madigan, 83, is scheduled to be sentence on June 13. In February, following a four-month trial, Madigan was convicted on 10 counts and acquitted on seven others, while jurors were deadlocked on six other counts against him. "The crimes charged and proven at trial demonstrate that Madigan engaged in corrupt activity at the highest level of state government for nearly a decade," federal prosecutors argued in their sentencing memo. "Time after time, Madigan exploited his immense power for his own personal benefit by trading his public office for private gain for himself and his associates, all the while carefully and deliberately concealing his conduct from detection." If U.S. District Judge John Robert Blakey grants the feds' request, Madigan would be about 94 years old before he is eligible for release, as federal convicts must serve at least 85% of their sentence before they can go free. Federal prosecutors originally sought a $3.1 million forfeiture judgment against Madigan after his conviction, but withdrew that request last month. Madigan's defense team has yet to file its sentencing recommendation. His attorneys have already filed a bid for a new trial in his case, but the judge has yet to rule on their request. Following 11 weeks of testimony, jurors convicted Madigan of one count of bribery conspiracy involving ComEd, two counts of bribery involving ComEd, three counts of wire fraud related to an effort to secure a state board seat for disgraced former Ald. Danny Solis, and four counts of using interstate commerce to facilitate bribery. Madigan was acquitted of one count of bribery related to the Solis state board scheme, two counts related to the ComEd scheme, and four counts involving a scheme to get business for his private law firm from the developers of a luxury apartment building in the West Loop. Solis testified against Madigan under an agreement with federal prosecutors that will see him avoid bribery charges of his own. Solis secretly recorded phone calls and in-person conversations with Madigan for years. Jurors were deadlocked on the top count against Madigan – racketeering conspiracy – as well as 11 other charges tied to Solis and other counts related to legislation tied to a development deal in Chinatown. It's unclear if federal prosecutors will seek to retry Madigan on the charges for which jurors could not reach a verdict. Jurors also were unable to reach a verdict on any of the counts against Madigan's co-defendant and longtime political confidante, Michael McClain. However, McClain and three others previously were convicted on related charges in the so-called "ComEd Four Trial" in 2023, so McClain still faces sentencing on those charges in July. The video above is from an earlier report.
