Latest news with #Ludmilla
ABC News
4 days ago
- ABC News
NT Police Sergeant Patrick Carson sues government for malicious prosecution
A Northern Territory police officer is suing the territory government for malicious prosecution after being acquitted of raping a young woman five years ago. Sergeant Patrick Carson was found not guilty of two counts of rape by an NT Supreme Court jury in 2022, following the encounters with the woman two years earlier. It took jurors less than an hour to return an acquittal after his barrister, Mary Chalmers SC, told the court the woman was a "barefaced liar" who "had some kind of infatuation with him". In a civil action filed with the court earlier this year, Sergeant Carson claims prosecutors either "did not honestly believe in the case" or "did not have an objectively sufficient basis, or reasonable grounds, for such a belief". He says he was arrested by members of the elite Territory Response Group in September 2020 while visiting a McDonald's restaurant in Ludmilla with his children, before facing trial in June 2022. Before the trial began, Sergeant Carson says Director of Public Prosecutions Lloyd Babb SC — who is also named as a defendant — rejected an application by Ms Chalmers to withdraw the case. He claims that was despite the fact trial prosecutor Marty Aust SC "agreed with the plaintiff's counsel ... that there was no reasonable prospect of the prosecution succeeding". He claims "malice may be inferred from the lack of an honest belief by the prosecutors" in the case against him. However, the "particulars of absence of reasonable and probable cause" are almost entirely redacted from the documents released by the court. "The institution and maintenance of the criminal proceeding, in light of the material totally undermining the credibility of the complainant, was high-handed and in contumelious disregard of the proper purpose in bringing criminal proceedings," the statement of claim reads. "The conduct of the defendants requires the denunciation of this court via substantial lawful exemplary damages." Sergeant Carson is also seeking aggravated damages as well as compensation for legal costs, reputational loss and "distress, embarrassment and humiliation", which he says was exacerbated by his public arrest. "The criminal proceeding was instituted and maintained by the prosecutors for the dominant purpose of simply getting a result, as opposed to bringing a person guilty of a crime to justice," the document reads. "[It] was instituted and maintained by the prosecutors because the plaintiff was a serving police officer and the prosecuting authorities did not want to be seen as protecting one of their own by not prosecuting the allegations." In its response, the NT government broadly denies the claims and argues some fall outside the relevant limitation period and that prosecutors were acting in good faith. In her closing address to the jury during the trial, Ms Chalmers said the woman had "all the hallmarks of the most unreliable witness". "This is a woman who lies, she lies when she's under an obligation to tell the truth and when she's confronted with her own lie, she reverts to 'oh well I just can't recall'," she said. "It is very easy for a young woman like [the complainant] to make an allegation against a married man when there's only two of them there on the occasion in question. "It is very easy for her to make that allegation and very hard to disprove."
Yahoo
27-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Machel Montano & Ludmilla to Close Out Summer by Headlining Inaugural Planet Brooklyn Music Festival
Summer may have just begun, but a new music festival is already aiming to close out the season with a bang. Planet Brooklyn, a two-day music festival headlined by Billboard chart-topping global soca superstar Machel Montano, will land in its namesake New York borough on Saturday, Aug. 23, and Sunday, Aug. 24. Founded by BSE Global, Planet Brooklyn seeks to be 'a celebration of cultural connection through Brooklyn's music history and diversity,' chief products and experiences officer DeJuan Wilson exclusively tells Billboard. More from Billboard How Trinidadian Soca Artists Full Blown, Lady Lava & Tendaji Are Honoring Tradition While Charting the Genre's Next Era Olivia Rodrigo Covers Fontaines D.C.'s 'I Love You' in Dublin El Fantasma Claims Eighth No. 1 on Regional Mexican Airplay Chart With 'Ya Me Vale Madre' On Aug. 23, Brazilian superstar Ludmilla will bring MUTHA — a Live Nation-produced micro-festival — to the Brooklyn Paramount. MUTHA will feature a full lineup of BIPOC queer talent, including CupcakKe, Junglepussy and Mykki Blanco. The Planet Brooklyn BAM experience will also double as one of the academy's BAM Free Music nights. On Aug. 24, Montano's Barclays Center-headlining set will include a Majah Hype-hosted showcase of soca and dancehall's buzziest talents, including Ayetian, Bunji Garlin, Lady Lava, Problem Child, Ravi B, Skillibeng, Skinny Fabulous and DJ Travis World. Following a pair of sold-out Vybz Kartel shows (April 11-12) and a headlining turn from Bounty Killer (July 5), Machel's is the latest in a string of New York arena-headlining Caribbean shows. 'Brooklyn has always felt like a second home to me. The vibes, the culture, the people — there's nothing like it,' Montano said in a press release. 'Every time I step on that stage in New York, especially in a place as electric as Barclays Center, it's a celebration of Caribbean spirit and unity. I can't wait to feel that energy again and share this moment with everyone who knows what it means to 'come alive' through music.' Montano has earned three top 10 entries on Reggae Albums: 2015's Monk Monté (No. 2), 2016's Monk Evolution (No. 5) and 2019's G.O.A.T. (No. 1). At the top of the year (Jan. 13), the Trinidadian icon played NPR Tiny Desk's first-ever soca set, and the following month (Feb. 25), he released his One Degree Hotter LP, which featured the Road March-winning anthem, 'Pardy.' Ten months in the making, Planet Brooklyn boasts three major stages across Downtown Brooklyn — Barclays Center, Brooklyn Paramount, and the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM). The festival's flagship venues will be connected by free block parties packed with activations, local food vendors and merchants, and performances from local and independent talent. Famed live music event experience brand Everyday People will host a DJ Moma-helmed function, Xanadu Skate Crew will team up with Brooklyn father-son DJ duo St. James Joy at the Bushwick venue, and Bangladeshi-American rapper-singer Anik Khan will host a Menasa Sound System-soundtracked event. 'Brooklyn is known for its rich history in the music space, and this is just a unique way to tell that story,' says Wilson. 'The purpose of Planet Brooklyn is to reflect the diverse cultures of Brooklyn [through who we program]. Brooklyn has about 150 diverse cultural groups, so you have a lot of history and cultural elements to pull from. The festival will be a great way to celebrate that.' With a lineup steeped in the sounds of the Global South and a host city facing increased ICE presence and routinely prickly tensions with its police force, security for all Brooklynites to safely and freely enjoy the event is crucial. When asked about safety measures as they pertained to ICE and the NYPD, Wilson declined to comment. Planet Brooklyn tickets will be on sale at 9:00 a.m. ET on Wednesday, June 25 at With access available for individual performances across all three venues, fans can personally curate their experience. Barclays Center presale tickets are available now. Check out the full lineup for 2025 Planet Brooklyn below. Best of Billboard Chart Rewind: In 1989, New Kids on the Block Were 'Hangin' Tough' at No. 1 Janet Jackson's Biggest Billboard Hot 100 Hits H.E.R. & Chris Brown 'Come Through' to No. 1 on Adult R&B Airplay Chart
Local France
03-06-2025
- Business
- Local France
Delays, chaos and no contact - Is this the worst préfecture in France?
For foreigners in France, the préfecture looms large - as it is the place that processes those crucial documents that allow you to be legally resident in France and might, one day, approve your application to become French. It's also the place that can cause the most stress for foreigners if those crucial applications for a new or renewed carte de séjour, or a citizenship application, are delayed or messed up. To add to the frustration is the fact that waiting times vary hugely between different préfectures. Foreigners in France have been sharing their frustrations with one particular préfecture - Hérault which covers the southern city of Montpellier and the surrounding area - with local paper Midi Libre . Advertisement They cite long delays during which existing residency permits expire, applications refused on technicalities and the impossibility of getting in touch with préfecture staff. Cases cited included that of Yves, 61, whose residency card expired while he was waiting for the renewal and ended up being de-registered from France Travail, where he is registered as a jobseeker, and Ukrainian woman Ludmilla who was unable to travel to Germany for a family funeral because her card had expired while she was waiting for a renewal. Lawyer Julie Moulin told the paper: "It's totally dysfunctional, it seems that the préfecture can no longer process applications - they're totally saturated and the administrative court is drowning because so many people are filing appeals against the préfecture. "Sometimes the préfecture will give a récépissé for one, two or three months but then it's just radio silence." Thierry Lerch, who works for the refugee charity Cimade, added: "Even those of us who know the procedures never know which site to go to and the préfecture sometimes offers appointments after the permit has expired. What worries me is the renewal of 10-year permits for the elderly." In response, Hérault préfecture said it was in a "transition phase" as residency paperwork is moved onto the new ANEF website. It told Midi Libre that the changeover "leads to an increase in the services' workload, but is a necessary medium-term reform". Although both users and rights organisations have flagged serious problems and glitches with the ANEF site , in truth problems at préfectures, especially long delays, are nothing new. Data previously reported in The Local, comparing the waiting times between préfectures for getting or renewing a carte de séjour, and for applying for citizenship. Although not all préfectures make their data available, Hérault had one of the longest waiting times with self-reported waits of between seven and eight months for a request for the first carte de séjour.. The average was 7 months for the fourth quarter of 2023, and then 7.5 months for the first quarter of 2024, 8 months for the second quarter and 8 months for the third quarter. Advertisement For a card renewal the préfecture reported an average wait of between four and five months. The average was 4 months for the fourth quarter of 2023, and then 4.5 months for the first quarter of 2024, 5 months for the second, and 5 months for the third. REVEALED: The préfectures with the longest waiting times in France Préfectures including Alpes-Maritime (covering the city of Nice), Bouches du Rhône (covering Marseille) and Seine-Saint-Denis in the Paris suburbs also reported long wait times. Have you had dealings with Hérault or any other French préfecture? Please share your experiences in the comment section below - or fill in our short survey on préfecture waiting times
