Latest news with #conviction
Washington Post
2 days ago
- General
- Washington Post
Trump's latest pardons benefit an array of political allies and public figures
WASHINGTON — A governor who resigned amid a corruption scandal and served two stints in federal prison. A New York Republican who resigned from Congress after a tax fraud conviction and who made headlines for threatening to throw a reporter off a Capitol balcony over a question he didn't like. Reality TV stars convicted of cheating banks and evading taxes.
Daily Mail
2 days ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
Josh Duggar requests state-appointed lawyer as he can't afford one anymore
Pedophile Josh Duggar has requested the judge overseeing his case appoint a new lawyer to represent him in his latest attempt to overturn his conviction for possessing child sexual abuse materials. In a letter written to the judge on Tuesday and obtained by People, the convicted sex offender, 37, said he no longer has enough money to pay his own lawyer. He wrote: 'I am unable to afford counsel due to my current financial circumstances.' Duggar - whose bid for an appeal was considered by the Supreme Court last year - was sentenced to 12 years and seven months in federal prison in May 2022 after he was convicted of receiving and possessing child sexual abuse materials. In his letter, he said he was seeking to obtain a new attorney to help determine if there may have been any 'constitutional violations' in his case, which could be grounds for having his conviction vacated. He added that, 'if appropriate,' the attorney would 'prepare a motion to vacate, set aside, or correct my conviction and sentence'. Duggar claimed this his trial had 'involved complex constitutional and evidentiary issues, particularly relating to legal rulings and strategic decisions made during trial proceedings,' and he alleged there were 'errors in the admission of forensic evidence'. He went on to accuse prosecutors of not fully sharing evidence with his attorneys during his trial. He also wrote that the 'broad publicity of this case' and the 'intense scrutiny' it received could justify a 'full and fair post-conviction review'. Duggar claimed that 'new legal theories and strategies have emerged in public discourse' in the years since his conviction that could be beneficial to his defense. 'In light of these developments, the Defendant seeks to consult with counsel to fully evaluate the potential of these emerging strategies and how they may support a motion for relief,' he wrote, according to People. Duggar also wrote that he had 'worked diligently to focus on education, personal growth, my faith, and to maintain strong family ties' in his letter. His claim that he can no longer afford an attorney was particularly surprising due to the reported wealth of his parents, Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar. Jim Bob is reportedly worth $3.5million, according to Celebrity Net Worth, and he has a significant real estate portfolio. Duggar's sister Jill alleged in her 2023 memoir the family's contract with TLC - which aired their reality series 19 Kids And Counting - paid Jim Bob's company $50,000 per half-hour episode and $65,000 per hour-long episode, according to In Touch. The payments increased to $58,000 and $73,000, respectively, once the show reached its fourth season. She claimed that, after factoring in his alleged per-episode payments, Jim Bob would have made around $8million just on 19 Kids And Counting over the course of its run. Jim Bob and Michelle have steadfastly defended their son for years, but that doesn't appear to extend to paying for his attorney. The series, which began as 17 Kids And Counting, began airing in 2008 and was canceled in 2019 due to Josh's arrest for possessing child sexual abuse materials. He previously filed an appeal in 2023, and after being rejected it went up to the Supreme Court, which also rejected it. The federal investigation into Duggar was originally opened after police in Little Rock, Arkansas, determined that child sexual abuse materials had been shared by a computer at his used-car dealership. Investigators testified in court that his computer had been used to download images of children being sexually abused, with some of the victims appearing to be toddlers. When investigators searched the dealership, Duggar allegedly said, 'What is this all about? Has somebody been downloading child pornography?' The statement, and his refusal to say whether he had looked at child sexual abuse materials online, were later used against him in court, but Duggar claimed in his appeal that the statement shouldn't have been introduced in court, as his attorney wasn't present when he spoke to investigators. But the appeals panel later determined that, although investigators had read Duggar his rights, they also made it clear that he wasn't in custody and was able to leave at any time. During his trial, Duggar's defense team had claimed that a hacker or disgruntled employee had hacked into his computer in an attempt to frame him. In 2015, his reality series 19 Kids And Counting was put on hold by TLC after allegations that he had molested four of his sister and a babysitter years earlier became public. A family friend shared the tip with law enforcement, but the statute of limitations had expired by that time. Duggar's parents later said he had admitted to molesting his sisters and apologized privately after the allegations resurfaced. Duggar publicly apologized months later for having cheated on his wife Anna, and he claimed he had been seeking treatment for an addiction to pornography.
Daily Mail
3 days ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
Sex pest Josh Duggar makes shock confession in latest bid to overturn his child pornography conviction
Josh Duggar has made a surprising admission in his in his latest attempt to overturn his conviction for possessing child sexual abuse materials. The 37-year-old former star of 19 Kids And Counting is requesting that the judge overseeing his case appoint a new lawyer to represent him. And in a letter written to the judge on Tuesday and obtained by People, the convicted sex offender claimed he needed a court-appointed attorney because he could no longer has enough money to pay his own lawyer. 'I am unable to afford counsel due to my current financial circumstances,' he reportedly wrote. Duggar was sentenced to 12 years and seven months in federal prison in May 2022 after he was convicted of receiving and possessing child sexual abuse materials. From A-list scandals and red carpet mishaps to exclusive pictures and viral moments, subscribe to the DailyMail's new Showbiz newsletter to stay in the loop.
Malay Mail
3 days ago
- Health
- Malay Mail
Devil in a white coat: How French surgeon Le Scouarnec got away with 25 years of child sexual abuses
VANNES (France), May 29 — Joel Le Scouarnec practised medicine in France for decades as an outwardly respected surgeon while preying on victims to sexually abuse and rape them, often while under anaesthesia or waking up after operations. A court in western France on Wednesday convicted Le Scouarnec, 74, who during the trial confessed to sexually assaulting or raping 299 patients between 1989 and 2014 and is already in jail after a previous sexual abuse conviction. Le Scouarnec, one of the most prolific convicted sex predators in France's history, received the maximum 20-year sentence for aggravated rape demanded by prosecutors. The former surgeon, who said himself he deserves no 'leniency,' will be ineligible for parole until he has served two-thirds of his sentence. Throughout the trial, Le Scouarnec admitted to the crimes but repeated apologies in a monotone voice that led some to doubt his sincerity. And questions remain over how he was allowed to continue working despite a conviction for possessing images of child sexual abuse. His 42-year-old son told the court that his father's 'perversion exploded like an atomic bomb' within the family, shattering the carefully maintained facade of a devoted surgeon. Authorities found some 300,000 child sexual abuse images, along with diaries in which the surgeon meticulously recorded the sexual abuse of children and animals. Le Scouarnec, who wrote in his notes that he was 'very happy' to be a 'paedophile', admitted the abuse of his patients – 256 of them under 15 – but claims he remembers little of what he did. 'Dangerous nature' 'You were the devil and he sometimes is dressed in a white coat,' prosecutor Stephane Kellenberger told Le Scouarnec, warning an additional trial could be required to cover the cases of further victims whose abuse is not part of the current case. The former surgeon is already in prison after being sentenced in December 2020 to 15 years for raping and sexually assaulting four children, including two of his nieces. Victims and child rights advocates say the case highlights systemic failures that allowed Le Scouarnec to repeatedly commit sexual crimes. In 2005, he received a four-month suspended prison sentence after investigators linked his credit card to the online purchase of child sexual abuse material. But Le Scouarnec was neither required to undergo treatment nor barred from practising medicine. And even after a colleague at Quimperle hospital alerted local and regional medical authorities in 2006 to his conviction and 'dangerous nature', Le Scouarnec continued practising in hospitals across western France. In one instance, he told the then-director of the Jonzac hospital in western France about his 2005 conviction but she hired him nonetheless in 2008. Nearly a decade would pass before he once again came under suspicion. 'Good surgeon, pervert' Le Scouarnec said during the trial he had two distinct personalities: both 'a good surgeon', and a 'pervert' who had no qualms about what he did to his patients. The divide between those two sides began to unravel in 2017, when his neighbour in Jonzac filed a complaint for indecent exposure in front of her six-year-old daughter – who later accused Le Scouarnec of digital rape. After his arrest, Le Scouarnec told authorities he first 'touched' a child – his niece – between 1985 and 1986. Investigators found in 2000 one of his nieces told her mother that she had been raped by her uncle, who, when confronted, admitted the abuse but no complaint was filed. During the trial, he also admitted sexually abusing one of his granddaughters. Le Scouarnec said that his wife has known about the abuse since 1996, an allegation she denies. 'There's nothing to make me think this. Nothing, nothing, nothing... I never had any doubts,' Marie-France, who divorced Le Scouarnec in 2023, told the court. While Le Scouarnec insisted his expressions of regret towards the victims were genuine, many said they did not believe him and some expressed anger with the court's decision. The court rejected a rare request to place him in a treatment facility after his release, citing his age and 'desire to make amends.' One of the victims, Amelie Leveque, 43, expressed anger that the court stopped short of imposing that measure on Le Scouarnec. 'I feel humiliated by this verdict. There are 300 victims. Why not go all the way?,' she said. 'How many victims does it take, 1,000?' — AFP
Yahoo
4 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Life sentence for slaying of doctor
Former Akron Police Capt. Douglas E. Prade -- who spent part of his career working to keep other officers honest -- is going to prison for the murder of his ex-wife. But Prade, an officer with the Police Department's Internal Affairs Division from 1993 to 1995, didn't accept his conviction easily or silently. "I didn't do this," Prade said, turning to the spectators in the courtroom rather than to Common Pleas Judge Mary Spicer. "You convicted the wrong man." Prade could spend the rest of his life behind bars after being sentenced to serve at least 26 years for the Nov. 26 murder of his ex-wife, Dr. Margo Prade. Defense attorney Kerry O'Brien said the sentence handed down by Spicer "for a man of 52 years of age might as well be a death sentence." Douglas Prade was found guilty yesterday of aggravated murder, six counts of wiretapping and one of possession of criminal tools. He was sentenced to life for murder, three more years for using a gun, three more on one of the wiretapping convictions and one year for the criminal tools conviction. Those sentences are to run consecutively. He also received 1 1/2 years on each of the remaining five wiretapping convictions, which will be served concurrently with the other terms. Prosecutors did not seek the death penalty, saying in February when Prade was arrested that the facts of the case did not support the criteria that state law requires for capital cases. Aggravated murder carries a sentence of 20 years to life in prison. Margo Prade, 41, was found shot six times the morning of Nov. 26 inside her van in the parking lot of her Wooster Avenue medical office. Loss of control Prosecutors argued that Douglas Prade wiretapped his wife's phone in the last 26 months of their marriage, became obsessed with his loss of control over her, and, after their divorce, became enraged over financial problems he faced because of the divorce. Prade's defense was that he was miles away working out in the gym at his Copley Township condominium complex at the time Margo Prade was murdered. He also contended that their April 1997 divorce was amicable and he did not have financial problems as a result of the divorce. After 12 days of trial testimony that included 52 witnesses and 243 pieces of evidence, the four-man, eight-woman jury deliberated for a total of four hours Tuesday and yesterday to reach its verdicts. After the verdicts were read, Judge Spicer said there was no need for a presentence investigation because she had heard in testimony about Douglas Prade's personal history and the impact of Margo Prade's death on her family and friends. "The word that keeps crossing my mind, in this particular case throughout, the word is 'tragic,' " Spicer said. "This is a tragic loss for so many." Spicer said to Douglas Prade, "The jury has found that you destroyed the life of Margo Prade, and in so doing, you have essentially destroyed your life. "The lives of Kenya and Sahara (Douglas and Margo Prade's 13- and 10-year-old daughters) have been severely damaged. "However, it appears to me and it has been my impression that those two young ladies are exceptionally bright . . . and with the guidance and nourishment of their grandmother (Lillie Hendricks) and their family, I am sure these young ladies will overcome and succeed," Spicer said. Before pronouncing sentence, Spicer asked Douglas Prade if he had anything to say. Prade said yes and turned his back on Spicer to address spectators in the courtroom. "I want to tell the family that I am grieving as much as you are. I didn't do this," he said. Prade called his conviction "the most egregious miscarriage of justice" he had ever heard of. "I am an innocent convicted person," he said. "God, myself, Margo and the person who killed Margo all know I'm innocent. "I absolutely did not kill Margo. I'm not remorseful. I'm grieving," he said. Addressing former fellow police officers who were in the courtroom, Prade said, "You made a very good circumstantial case, and I commend you for it, but I'm telling you, you convicted the wrong man." Defense plans appeal Defense attorney O'Brien told Spicer after the sentencing that he planned to appeal. The jurors declined to comment on their decision. Clutching their personal possessions, they left the courtroom under the glare of television lights and were escorted to their vehicles by sheriff's deputies. In the hallway outside Spicer's third-floor courtroom, O'Brien said that the problem the defense had in the trial was the number of witnesses -- 44 -- called by the prosecution and a case that was completely circumstantial but effective. "You can get a conviction on circumstantial evidence alone if you've got enough of it," O'Brien said. Asked about Prade's statement, O'Brien said it "came from his heart." He had no idea that Prade would make such a statement, he said. Asked if an innocent man had been convicted, O'Brien said, "I believe so." Alison McCarty, assistant Summit County prosecutor, told reporters that she was surprised by how quickly the jury returned its verdicts. McCarty said she had tried in her summation Tuesday to make the jury understand what Margo Prade's murder meant to her family. "It was important for the jury to feel the family's loss," she said. "The jury heard the evidence and made its decision," McCarty said, adding that she was convinced that the right man had been convicted. In a prepared statement, Summit County Prosecutor Maureen O'Connor praised the police department and its investigators and the prosecution team. "Justice was served. I cannot thank the Akron Police Department enough from the chief on down for the truly outstanding work they did on this case. . . . (McCarty and colleague Michael Carroll made) a flawless presentation of the evidence," O'Connor said. "I would like to tell the citizens of this community to focus on the superb police department that we have and not focus on the fact that this defendant (Douglas Prade) was a police officer," she said. Akron Police Capt. Craig Gilbride, who led the investigation, said, "Obviously, we are ecstatic about the outcome of the case. It's been a long 10 months, almost 10 months to the day (of Margo Prade's murder on Nov. 26). "I've never seen a more thorough investigation. It made me proud of each and every one of the investigators who worked this case," said Akron Police Capt. Craig Gilbride. He added: "And I think our guys can be proud to wear that badge again," referring to the tarnish that he said had accrued from a general sentiment that Douglas Prade might get off because he was a police captain. This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Life sentence for slaying of doctor
