Latest news with #RamseyCountyDistrictCourt
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Business
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Ellison opposes appointment of Otto Bremer Trust trustee's daughter
A Ramsey County District Court judge on Friday will hear an unusual request from the Minnesota Attorney General's office, which hopes to remove a recently-appointed trustee from the helm of one of the state's oldest philanthropies, or at least slash her salary, impose training requirements and institute safeguards against future family appointments. When Charlotte Johnson retired last August after 34 years as one of the three leaders at the helm of the Otto Bremer Trust, she appointed her daughter as her successor. Until then, Caroline S. Johnson had served as a Bremer Bank branch manager in New Richmond, Wis., a rural community of some 10,000 residents. Based in St. Paul, the $1.5 billion philanthropy has been a major owner of the bank since its inception in 1943, and the charity's three trustees have chosen their own successors for the past 80 years. Those concerns reverberated with Ellison's office, which regulates charities. With her move from community banker team lead to trustee, Caroline Johnson became one of three co-chief executive officers of the multi-billion dollar philanthropy overseeing Bremer Bank. The bank is one of the state's largest farm lenders and recently merged with Indiana-based Old National Bank. Efforts to get comment from Caroline Johnson and the trust's attorneys for this story were unsuccessful as of Thursday morning. Her annual salary, according to the attorney general's office, increased nearly tenfold from $73,000 to $685,000. Her resume, according to the attorney general's office, did not reveal deep credentials administering sizable charities beyond her family roots. In 2023, the Otto Bremer Trust issued $105 million in grants and low-interest loans to charitable causes across Minnesota, Wisconsin, North Dakota and Montana. The attorney general's office, 'as representative of the charitable interests of the public, does not have sufficient assurances that the selection is in the best interest of the beneficiaries,' reads an April 16 legal filing from Ellison's office. 'Rather, trustees' continuing pattern of nepotism substantially undermines the trust of the public whom trustees are supposed to serve.' Ellison's office noted that while trustees have a tradition of choosing their own successors, state law requires that they 'must comply with their fiduciary duties of care and loyalty when exercising that discretion,' and that breaching those duties 'cannot have been the (founder's) intent.' A hearing before Judge Mark Ireland is scheduled for 9 a.m. Friday at the Ramsey County Courthouse in St. Paul. In their legal response to the attorney general's office, attorneys with Ciresi Conlin wrote that Ellison's office 'has never provided any evidence that her removal is necessary to best serve the interests of all beneficiaries.' Instead, it would in fact be inconsistent with both 80 years of practice and Otto Bremer's express preferences, spelled out in the trust's founding documents, that trustees select their own replacements. Newspaper delivery delayed on Thursday due to printing press issue Pigeons on a plane: Delta flight from MSP delayed when 2 birds sneak aboard Eagan city administrator to step down after 24 years with the city Stillwater: Water Street Inn's Chuck Dougherty named Lumberjack Days parade grand marshal Snelling Ave. and St. Clair Ave. intersection closing intermittently The attorney general's office 'relies primarily on arguments it made and lost three years ago' when the office attempted to block a bank sale in court, the attorneys wrote. 'This court has already rejected the (attorney general office's) campaign against what the (office) terms 'nepotism.' … Charlotte did all she was required to do, and Trustee Caroline has faithfully administered the Trust since then.' Charlotte and Caroline Johnson have joined the Otto Bremer Trust in objecting to the attorney general's petition and defending her credentials, as have trustees Daniel Reardon and Francis Miley, who both submitted affidavits to the court. Caroline Johnson's previous public service has included sitting on the board of directors and finance committee of the St. Croix Valley Food Bank during its capital campaign, serving on the board of directors of the Encampment Forest Association/Minnesota Land Trust, and serving for five years on the board of directors of the St. Croix County United Way, specifically its grants committee. Reardon noted that Otto Bremer selected his grandfather, his trusted tax consultant, as a trustee, who later selected his father, who later selected Reardon. He praised Caroline Johnson's 'high emotional intelligence' and said her intimate knowledge of both banking and relationship building were assets during the recent bank sale. 'I have known Caroline for over 30 years and have seen her evolve and grow both personally and professionally,' Reardon wrote, noting she had previously worked for Bremer Bank for seven years. 'This direct boots-on-the-ground experience in a Bremer branch bank was an excellent way to learn about the banking industry as well as Otto Bremer's philanthropic vision for the Trust,' Reardon wrote. 'Like me, Caroline grew up surrounded by the Trust. She learned about a life of service to Otto Bremer's vision at the dinner table, by joining Charlotte on Trust retreats, and other events over the last 30 years.' Ellison's office asked that the court adjust her salary and consider reviewing 'Caroline Johnson's skills and abilities and imposing training requirements and/or independent advisors as needed.' In her affidavit, Caroline Johnson noted she recently received a certificate from University of Minnesota Continuing and Professional Studies for completing a course on 'Leadership Essentials.' She also completed another course on 'Introduction to Trust Administration' at the University of Sioux Falls. Ellison's office has asked that even if the court does not remove Charlotte Johnson, that it require a more formal appointment process moving forward. Ellison's office previously alerted the courts they will take a hard look at the selection process if a trustee appointed a family member as a successor, said Brian Evans, a spokesperson for the attorney general's office. Charlotte Johnson 'did not use any kind of objective process, such as collecting a pool of qualified candidates, applying objective criteria to narrow those candidates, and then making a selection applying those criteria that best serves interests of the public whom the Trust serves,' said Evans, in an email. 'Despite the fact that Trustees justify their substantial compensation by comparing themselves to CEOs of large nonprofit foundations, Johnson did not take the steps expected of a large nonprofit when replacing a high-level executive,' he wrote. The attorney general's office has sought to remove trustees before. In August 2020, Ellison's office accused three trustees of attempting to inflate their compensation through a bank sale, among other forms of self-dealing. Following a 20-day bench trial, Judge Robert Awsumb chose to remove Brian Lipschultz as a trustee but retain Reardon and Charlotte Johnson. Lipschultz filed legal appeals, but they failed to sway the Minnesota Court of Appeals and Minnesota Supreme Court. He recently filed a legal request to have the Otto Bremer Trust pay his legal fees. Bremer Bank completed its sale to Old National earlier this month, creating the third-largest bank to the Twin Cities — as measured by deposits — and one of the top 25 banking companies headquartered in the U.S. As a result of the merger, the Otto Bremer Trust will retain an 11% ownership stake in Old National, and Reardon will join the Old National board of directors. Newspaper delivery delayed on Thursday due to printing press issue Pigeons on a plane: Delta flight from MSP delayed when 2 birds sneak aboard Eagan city administrator to step down after 24 years with the city Stillwater: Water Street Inn's Chuck Dougherty named Lumberjack Days parade grand marshal Snelling Ave. and St. Clair Ave. intersection closing intermittently
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Yahoo
Charge: DNA links St. Paul man to 2013 rape at Maplewood motel
A 59-year-old man charged in January with raping a 71-year-old St. Paul woman he met on Facebook is now accused of committing a 2013 sexual assault at a Maplewood motel. Thao Xiong's DNA came back as a match through an initiative to analyze a backlog of untested sexual assault kits, according to a Ramsey County District Court criminal complaint charging him Friday by warrant with felony first-degree criminal sexual conduct. Xiong remained out of custody on Monday. He was released from jail on March 21 after posting a $50,000 bond in the January case that also charges him with first-degree criminal sexual conduct. Xiong allegedly committed that offense while on probation for a 2020 first-degree criminal sexual conduct conviction involving a 41-year-old woman during a night of drinking at his St. Paul apartment in July 2019. According to the Friday's criminal complaint: A woman reported to police on July 15, 2013, that she had just been forcibly sexually assaulted at a motel off U.S. 61 in Maplewood by a man she knew as 'Chue Lee,' identified in November 2020 through a DNA match as Xiong. The woman said she had been talking with 'Chue' for two days over the phone, that she did not know him previously and had assumed he got her number from someone she knew. She said he called her on July 15 and said he was coming to Minnesota from Wisconsin and wanted her to show him around. They also planned to go for a walk by a lake. She met Xiong in the parking lot of a St. Paul grocery store, where he suggested they take one car and offered to drive. She agreed and got into his car. He drove past the lake, telling her they were going to get something to eat first. Rather than going to a restaurant, he brought her to the motel, saying he wanted to get some rest before eating. Xiong rented the room and once inside began 'ripping her clothes apart,' the complaint says. She said he 'overpowered' her and raped her. She went to a hospital for a sexual assault examination the same day. A nurse examiner noted bruising to the woman's body and she complained about areas where she said Xiong had bitten her. She told the nurse the assault began immediately after they got into the motel room and Xiong locked the door. After the assault, she said, Xiong appeared scared, so she got in his car. Xiong dropped her off and about 15 minutes later he called her and left a 'cruel message,' which she later provided to police. The complaint says motel video shows Xiong arriving with the woman in a gray Toyota Prius just after 5 p.m. He went into the motel office and then moved the car in front of a room. The two entered the room at 5:15 p.m. and left 45 minutes later. An investigator in late July 2020 discovered the sexual assault kit, which had not been tested. It was brought to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and four months later an unidentified male DNA profile taken from swabs of the woman was entered into the state's DNA databases and the National DNA Index System. The BCA notified St. Paul police on Nov. 4, 2020, that Xiong's DNA, obtained from his 2019 sexual assault case, matched the DNA in the 2013 assault. Police tried to contact the woman but were unsuccessful, the complaint says. Last March, police were told DNA collected from Xiong in the January case matched the DNA found on the swabs taken from the 2013 victim, the complaint says. Police tried to locate the woman and reached her on April 10 after her son called to ask why they were trying to contact his mother who does not speak English, the complaint says. She told police through an interpreter she 'had been waiting for a very long time for an update on her case and wants him prosecuted for sexually assaulting her,' the complaint says. Police sent the case to the attorney's office for charging consideration last month. Kate Courtney, Xiong's attorney in the January case, said Monday she could not comment on Friday's charge because she has been out of town and has not read the complaint. According to January's complaint, St. Paul police were dispatched to the 71-year-old woman's apartment in the Summit-University neighborhood about 6:30 p.m. Jan. 28 after she reported she had just been forcefully sexually assaulted by a man, who was later identified as Xiong. She told police someone must have given Xiong her phone number because he called, asking to meet. She agreed, and invited him over. When he entered the apartment, she told police, he pushed her into her bedroom, took off her clothes and raped her. Shooter gets 33½-year prison term for killing St. Paul man after Edina birthday dinner Blaine child care worker sentenced to 90 days in jail for abusing children Woodbury officials seek info on rug connected to house fire Singer Dawn Richard says Sean 'Diddy' Combs threatened her with death after she saw him beat Cassie St. Paul man pleads guilty to murdering girlfriend in her downtown apartment She gave police a Facebook profile that Xiong used to contact her. As an officer pulled up the profile, she immediately said, 'that's him,' the complaint states. He was arrested Jan. 28 after police obtained a search warrant for his apartment in St. Paul's Payne-Phalen neighborhood and found him hiding under his bed. Court records show that Xiong reached a plea deal with prosecutors in the 2019 case and admitted to fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct in exchange for a first-degree charge being dismissed. He was sentenced to 231 days in jail, which was time that he had already served after his arrest, and put on supervised probation for 10 years. Xiong has no other convictions, besides two petty misdemeanor traffic violations.
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Yahoo
Witnesses put suspected drunk driver's speed at 90-100 mph before fatal St. Paul crash
A St. Paul motorist was under the influence of alcohol and going over 100 mph when he blew through a red light and crashed into a sport-utility vehicle and killed the driver, according to a criminal complaint filed Tuesday. The collision happened just after 7:30 p.m. Sunday at the intersection of Dale Street and Arlington Avenue. Marvin Martin Scroggins, 42, of St. Paul, was the crash victim and died at the scene, police said Tuesday. Motorist Paw Moo Htoo, 30, of St. Paul, was injured and remained hospitalized at Regions Hospital as of Tuesday afternoon, according to the Ramsey County District Court complaint charging him by warrant with criminal vehicular homicide as a result of operating a motor vehicle in a negligent manner while under the influence of alcohol. Police officers called to the scene at 7:37 p.m. found Scroggins unresponsive and trapped inside his Volvo XC90. The driver's side of the SUV had a 'large, catastrophic impact area' and rested on the front part of a Honda Accord, the complaint says. Scroggins, who was still in his seatbelt, was extricated from the Volvo, which had deployed airbags. Medics worked on Scroggins inside an ambulance, but he was pronounced dead at 8:08 p.m. The Honda had severe front-end damage consistent with having crashed into the SUV, the complaint says. Htoo was seated on the grass and smelled of alcohol. He had blood on his arms and hands, and he did not answer when asked if he needed medics. When asked about the crash, Htoo said, 'I was not driving. I was not the driver,' the complaint says. One witness told police she was driving north on Dale Street and saw the Honda going west on Arlington Avenue at what she estimated to be 90 mph. When the Volvo entered the intersection to go south on Dale Street, the Honda crashed into it without stopping, the witness said. The posted speed limit on Arlington Avenue is 25 mph. Another witness estimated the Honda had been going 100 mph. The driver climbed out the car from the driver's window, the witness told police, adding no one else got out of the car. The witness believed the driver, whose speech was slurred, was trying to leave the scene. Bystanders got him to sit down at the scene. Man shot by St. Paul officer during search after sex assault gets 35-year sentence Mounds View deaths of 2 men investigated as murder-suicide Menendez brothers' attorneys call cousins, ex-judge and ex-inmate to testify for their release 2 found fatally shot in Mounds View home Arson at TCAAP bunkers in Arden Hills under investigation Two other witnesses who had been walking in the area told police they saw the Honda driver going around 50 mph prior to the crash. One said he did not stop before approaching the intersection, which had red flashing lights in all directions, and crashed into the Volvo in the middle of the intersection. Officers found nine empty beer cans inside Htoo's Honda. Htoo was transported to Regions Hospital, where he had emergency surgery for his injuries. A blood sample was collected from Htoo for testing by the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension; results weren't back as of Tuesday. Preliminary distance and speed calculations by law enforcement indicate Htoo was traveling more than 100 mph at the time of impact, the complaint says.
Yahoo
07-04-2025
- Yahoo
Despite lawsuit, St. Paul removes 10 of 20 mature trees from Parkview Avenue
A legal effort by a group of homeowners to save 13 mature trees from a street bordering Como Lake ended last week with most of the decades-old maples reduced to stumps on the same day residents attempted to file a legal injunction against the city. Crews contracted by St. Paul Public Works removed 10 mature trees last Thursday, the first stage in sidewalk construction along the block, which has no sidewalks on either side, as part of the Wheelock-Grotto street reconstruction project. Four homeowners had filed a request for a temporary injunction, or restraining order against tree removal, that same day, after filing a legal appeal the day before against a Ramsey County District Court decision in the city's favor. The street reconstruction project aims to install sidewalks, street lighting, new water mains and other improvements in sections of streets around East Como Boulevard, Arlington Avenue, Dale Street and Maryland Avenue and is scheduled to roll out this year and next. The four plaintiffs — Rita Amendola, Mary Jane Sommerville, Aric Wilber and Jeff Clark — maintained in their civil suit against the city that they were repeatedly assured over the course of nearly a year that the city would work with them to install sidewalks on Parkview Avenue while doing its best to preserve their mature trees, which included multiple maple trees that were at least 70 to 100 years old. They said the city previously talked up the likelihood of 'meandering' the sidewalk around the trees, and pointed to correspondence or discussions on Sept. 16, Oct. 8 and Feb. 21. To their surprise, on March 11 the city indicated it would install the sidewalk on the south side of the street alone, but it no longer mentioned 'meandering' the sidewalk for tree preservation. Instead, they woke one day in mid-March to red 'X' marks around 13 trees on one side of their block, indicating the majority of their 20 mature trees would be removed within days. The plaintiffs filed a lawsuit March 20 under the Minnesota Environmental Rights Act, or MERA, buying them some time as the city agreed to hold off on tree removal pending a court decision, which came down in the city's favor on March 31. Judge Edward Sheu found that 'no strict promises were made regarding tree preservation' and that removing 10 trees lacked the 'severity or quality' of a MERA violation. He noted that case law showed entire forests had been lawfully removed and replanted for major projects. While it may take decades for a sapling to become a mature tree, 'the Maple trees are not endangered, and they can and will be replaced,' he wrote. In its legal response to the lawsuit, the city attorney's office noted that the first phase alone of the Wheelock-Grotto project will cost $10 million, and any delay will add to costs borne by taxpayers, triggering the need for a $1 million bond. 'To potentially shutter construction for an entire already limited weather-related season with rising inflationary prices and construction costs demands that a significant bond be posted by the plaintiffs,' wrote an assistant city attorney in a legal filing on March 26. 'Status quo will be maintained as the trees will be replanted.' In court filings, the city 'seemed to believe that their one-to-one replacement of trees on our block would make up for the destruction of 70-plus-year-old Maple trees,' wrote Sommerville, in an open letter to City Council Member HwaJeong Kim and other city officials this weekend. The city ultimately removed 10 trees last Thursday, the day after residents filed their appeal of Sheu's order. 'I was also deeply disappointed in the process (through which) the city plowed through this initiative,' Sommerville wrote. 'The city claimed to be 'engaging' with its citizenry throughout, but lied to us repeatedly. In the end, it was clear that the city would do what they wanted all along.' Letters: We won't take attacks on Social Security lying down Letters: Instead of good governance, we get stunts, drama and lawsuits in St. Paul Allen seeks Ward 4 seat; Hamline-Midway Coalition disavows Hanson campaign Twin Cities restaurateur David Burley dies in motorcycle accident Rob Clapp: I'm invested in St. Paul. Work with me, city officials Sommerville said that adding insult to injury, she received an estimate in the mail for $13,600 'for our house alone,' she wrote. 'That was certainly salt in the wound.' Work trucks arrived Thursday, and tree after tree was removed by 'noise-deafening saws,' she wrote. 'When I was brave enough to go outside, after all the trucks departed, I didn't recognize my yard, nor my street,' Sommerville wrote. 'The rope ladder swing that my husband built during COVID lay on the ground. … My family and neighbors are heartbroken. But we are also very frustrated and angry.'
Yahoo
19-02-2025
- Yahoo
Ramsey County Judge Patrick Diamond, who ruled on Data Practices violations, transgender discrimination cases, dies at 64
Judge Patrick Diamond was still a young lifeguard at Phalen Beach in St. Paul when he met and wooed Beth Peterson, the woman who would go on to be his wife of more than 40 years, by taking her to a John Prine and Steve Goodman concert. Last summer, the two took sailing lessons out of Bayfield, Wis. and received their captain's license, leaving Diamond with big plans to sail the Great Lakes, down the eastern seaboard and on to the Caribbean. Diamond, who had served more than a dozen years on the Ramsey County District Court bench, wrapped up a jury trial in downtown St. Paul on Monday, Feb. 3. On that Tuesday, he completed a full day of pre-trial hearings. He suffered cardiac arrest that Wednesday morning, and died on Feb. 9 at the University of Minnesota Hospital, surrounded by loved ones. He was 64. 'A big dreamer. A big thinker. A big hearted man,' wrote Peterson, sharing the news on his CaringBridge website. 'Sail on, Captain. Sail on.' Diamond, who was born on June 28, 1960, in Hudson, Wis., attended St. Thomas Academy and Hamline University before entering the University of Minnesota Law School, where he was the research and note editor for the Law Review. He went on to clerk for a federal judge in the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals and then served as Deputy County Hennepin County Attorney from 1992 to 2012 for both Mike Freeman and Amy Klobuchar, who went on to become a U.S. senator. 'He was my chief criminal deputy for 12 years during that time,' said Freeman on Tuesday. 'I will brag though that I'm a better fisherman than him. Pat was a very smart man who had great judgment and was deeply committed to justice. He always wanted to figure out what was the right and just thing to do. He was a good trial lawyer.' Freeman recalled how Diamond would work through creative solutions to problems. 'He was more committed to justice than almost anybody I ever knew,' he said. Diamond argued a case before the United States Supreme Court in 2007, Danforth v. Minnesota, involving a convicted sex offender, who had been deemed incompetent to take the stand in his own defense, attempting to retroactively apply new rules of criminal procedure to challenge a conviction based on his taped testimony. Diamond was appointed to the Ramsey County District Court bench by Gov. Mark Dayton in July 2012. As judge, he recently ordered the city of St. Paul to pay legal damages in a case filed by a Summit Avenue homeowner who accused the city of willful violations of the state's Data Practices Act, and found in another case that USA Powerlifting engaged in discriminatory practices by prohibiting a transgender athlete from competing. His term in office was scheduled to end on Jan. 4, 2027. An obituary prepared by his family recalled his 'wicked wit and big heart,' and his commitment to specialty courts such as the Treatment Court, Drug Court and the Juvenile Delinquent Center. In a written statement to colleagues, Chief Ramsey County Judge Sara Grewing recalled Diamond as 'one of the finest public servants this community has ever known.' Grewing, who clerked for Diamond in the Hennepin County Attorney's office in 2001, said she was fortunate to be mentored 'by his brilliant legal mind and deeply caring heart. Quite frankly, we will be a bit rudderless without his astute and unflappable counsel. We have lost a giant.' Diamond enjoyed the outdoors, including winter camping, downhill skiing, open water swimming, kayaking and sailing on Lake Superior. He was a fan of minor and major baseball tours. His family remembered him as an avid reader and storyteller who loved pondering recipes for Christmas Eve extended family dinners. Diamond volunteered for many years as a Youth Week Counselor at Camp Unistar, a Unitarian-Universalist camp on Star Island, Cass Lake when his sons were campers, and continued to volunteer for years afterward. He is survived by his wife Beth, his sons Charlie and Sam, his brother David and sister Peggy, as well as granddaughter Zoey. Diamond donated his body to the University of Minnesota Anatomy Bequest Program. A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. on April 18 at Unity Church-Unitarian at 733 Portland Ave. in St. Paul. The service will also be livestreamed. The family has requested that memorials be sent to Camp Unistar. News Obituaries | Embattled aquarium chain SeaQuest appears to close Roseville location News Obituaries | St. Paul Neighborhood Safety director sues Met Council over discipline at previous Metro Transit police job News Obituaries | Over a St. Paul Valentine's Day lunch hour, judges married 21 couples for free in Ramsey County News Obituaries | St. Paul officer sentenced to workhouse and probation for drunken crash into East Side building while off-duty News Obituaries | Five things Bachman's CEO wants you to know about Valentine's Day flowers
