Latest news with #conviction
RNZ News
4 hours ago
- Sport
- RNZ News
Rugby player convicted for post-match handshakes assault
Jonathan Fidow has been convicted of assault and fined $300. Photo: timhester/123RF A Taranaki rugby player, who knocked out an opponent during post-match handshakes, has been convicted of assault, and fined $300. Spotswood premiers player Jonathan Fidow faced a charge of injures with intent to injure or assault with intent to injure for the June 2024 incident. Judge Tony Greig, however, found Fidow did not intend to injure Coastal player Matthew Picard. Fidow argued he had been subject to race-baiting during the game, but the judge made no finding on this. He was satisfied Picard, who suffered a mild concussion, had been punched. Fidow was suspended from rugby for nine weeks following a disciplinary hearing. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
CBS News
9 hours ago
- CBS News
Massachusetts SJC confirms conviction of 5-time drunk driver, cites I-Team as evidence
The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court confirmed the conviction of a five-time drunk driver for driving with a revoked license, citing an I-Team investigation as evidence. In October of 2021, the I-Team found William Foley Jr. behind the wheel, driving a Mercedes SUV without a license. We confronted him outside his Dedham home and asked why he was driving with a revoked license. The Registry of Motor Vehicles took away Foley's right to drive for life after the five-time drunk driver killed a young mom in 2001. Over the years, he made failed attempts to get his license back. After the I-Team's investigation aired, in April of 2022, Dedham police charged Foley with operating after revocation. Months later, a judge found Foley guilty and sentenced him to 18 months in the house of correction. The 61-year-old appealed his conviction, claiming the police did not give him a citation and prosecutors did not have enough evidence that he was driving with a revoked license. On Tuesday, the Supreme Judicial Court mentioned the WBZ I-Team and confirmed Foley's conviction. In a statement Foley's attorney Erin Opperman said, "I am disappointed by the SJC's decision in Commonwealth v. Foley today. Their opinion operates to constrict the rights afforded to individuals in Massachusetts under GL c 90C, s2, and expands the reach of a mandatory jail sentence in GL c. 90, s 23. In my opinion, there was no statutory or precedential basis for this outcome, but they unfortunately disagreed."
Fox News
10 hours ago
- Fox News
New text messages fuel Alex Murdaugh's push for new trial
Newly uncovered text messages between disgraced former attorney Alex Murdaugh and his alleged drug dealer could have dramatically altered the defense's trial strategy and possibly prevented a conviction, according to lead defense attorney Dick Harpootlian. Harpootlian, a veteran South Carolina defense attorney and former state senator, told Fox News Digital that the texts between Murdaugh and Curtis "Eddie" Smith, revealed recently by FITSNews, were not provided to the defense during the trial. Their absence, he said, may have contributed to a key decision not to call Smith to the stand. "One of the big decisions in any trial like this is who you call as witnesses," Harpootlian explained. "We were not aware of these texts. Had we been, it may have made a difference in our decision. These messages offer new insight into the timeline of drug distributions, some of them happening the very week of the murders." Smith, alleged to have been Murdaugh's primary drug supplier, has not been prosecuted, despite what Harpootlian described as evidence suggesting he may have been one of the largest OxyContin distributors in the Palmetto state. "Everybody else who was indicted pleaded guilty — except Eddie Smith," he said. The text messages show that Smith and Murdaugh conversed in the days leading up to Murdaugh's murder of his wife Maggie and his youngest son, Paul, on June 7, 2021, on their family's hunting estate in Colleton County, South Carolina. "Hey Brother i need to come get the chech (sic) you got one with you or are you going to be around later," Smith texted Murdaugh on June 3, four days before the slayings. Murdaugh replied that he would be back that afternoon and that he "had to deal with some bulls**t this morning." "Ok Brother just give me a holler," Smith texted, later adding, "Leaving the house now." The day before the murders, Murdaugh texted Smith, "Call me back." Within a span of two minutes the morning after the murder, Smith texted Murdaugh, "Tell me what I heard is not true," and, "Call me please." Those texts went unreturned, and around 6:30 p.m., and Smith cryptically texted Murdaugh, "At fishing hole." After that message also went unreturned, he texted, "803 *** **13 it will not go through on my phone." "Those texts, the ones we don't have, indicate a little more of the timeline of those distributions, and some of them are the week of the murder," Harpootlian said. "And we were not aware of those. Had we been aware of these, it may have made a difference in our decision not to call Eddie Smith to the stand." He also expressed concern that Smith had not been prosecuted for his alleged role in selling drugs to Murdaugh. "And he has not been prosecuted. [He's] wandering the streets, I heard maybe out of the state, and we're perplexed why Eddie Smith has been given this preferential treatment when once Alex was convicted, there was no reason not to go ahead and prosecute him," said Harpootlian. "Everybody else has pleaded guilty. Everybody else that was indicted has pleaded guilty except Eddie Smith. Now these texts would have given us additional information we believe, and I've talked to [co-counsel] Jim Griffin. It might have made the difference in us calling him to the stand or not calling him to the stand. So yes, they're important." Murdaugh is already appealing his conviction, based in large part on accusations of jury tampering by Colleton County Clerk of Court Becky Hill. She was arrested and charged with obstructing justice and misconduct in that incident. She was also charged with perjury in Richland County in relation to the case, after allegedly lying to State Supreme Court Justice Jean Toal during 2024 appellate proceedings. "We have an appeal based on errors made by the judge during the trial, and of course, the attempt by — or maybe she did — the efforts by the Clerk of Court, Becky Smith, to fix the jury. And that's a huge issue," said Harpootlian. "Many of the people we've had look at the appeal believe we have a substantial chance of getting a new trial, just based on the jury tampering." He said if they do not win a new trial, there is a possibility that they will file a habeas petition seeking to have the conviction vacated on the same grounds. "The state's brief on the underlying appeal is due Aug. 8," he said. "We have up to 30 days to reply. Then the Supreme Court decides whether to have argument, whether to grant it, whether deny it, and that could take months," he said, adding that if the appeal is granted Murdaugh will get a new trial. Harpootlian says he expects the state's high court to have a ruling on the appeal by early next year at the latest. "And again, there are all kinds of debates about the evidence and how it was allowed in by the trial judge and whether it should have been excluded or allowed in. And those certainly are important. And we think there's several of them, individually, would give us a new trail," he said. "But more important is a judge, former Chief Justice of Supreme Court, had an evidentiary hearing on Becky Hill's conduct in which she found: A) Becky Hill was not credible, and B) that Becky Hill did attempt to influence jurors to convict Alex Murdoch. She told several of her coworkers that she was writing a book, and it would be better for book sales if Alex was convicted. So we think that, and there is no clear state precedent on whether that's enough, but there's a clear federal precedent that we should get a new trial. So again, I think we should hear something before the end of the year or early next year." A retrial would likely look very different, Harpootlian said. With Murdaugh having already pleaded guilty to financial crimes, that aspect would be excluded, narrowing the scope to forensic and factual evidence. The lead attorney believes Murdaugh has a strong defense. "We had a six-week trial last time because of the financial misconduct. That won't happen again," Harpootlian said. "And when you look solely at the forensic evidence, I believe it overwhelmingly proves Alex did not kill Paul and Maggie." The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, which led the investigation, and Prosecutor Creighton Waters did not return comment requests.
Yahoo
10 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Bill O'Reilly Corrected On-Air Over False Claim Biden Oversaw Epstein Conviction: ‘How Do You Convict a Guy That Is Dead?'
Bill O'Reilly falsely doubled down that Jeffrey Epstein was convicted under Joe Biden's administration. While appearing on NewsNation Monday night, host Leland Vittert had to correct O'Reilly multiple times after the former 'O'Reilly Factor' star asserted that the disgraced film financier was convicted under Biden's admin by Attorney General Merrick Garland. Epstein was both arrested and committed suicide in 2019 – a full year and a half before Biden took office. More from TheWrap 'The Summer I Turned Pretty' Season 3 Release Schedule: What Time Are New Episodes Streaming? 'Superman' Breakout Edi Gathegi on His Comic Book-Accurate Mister Terrific – and Potential TV Spinoff Bill O'Reilly Corrected On-Air Over False Claim Biden Oversaw Epstein Conviction: 'How Do You Convict a Guy That Is Dead?' | Video Apple's Matt Cherniss Teases 'Very Bright' Future for 'Severance,' 'The Studio' and 'Shrinking' After Record Emmy Noms 'Epstein was convicted during the Biden administration,' O'Reilly said. 'Hold on, Bill,' Vittert interrupted. 'You said Epstein was convicted during the Biden administration. Epstein committed suicide during the Trump administration.' 'Yeah, so?' O'Reilly asked. 'How do you convict a guy that is dead?' Vittert responded. Bill O'Reilly doubled down: "Epstein was convicted under Merrick Garland's Justice Department."Leland Vittert: "He was arrested in 2019, and he committed suicide in 2019… So the Biden administration was not involved in a conviction or a trial of him."O'Reilly: "But he was… — Blue Georgia (@BlueATLGeorgia) July 15, 2025 'I believe he was convicted under Merrick Garland's justice department,' O'Reilly said attempting to regain his footing. 'Then he was incarcerated. Then he committed suicide. The suicide thing is bull…' At that point, Vittert interrupted O'Reilly once more to clarify the timeline. 'Bill, I think this is important, he was arrested in 2019 and committed suicide in 2019, died August 10th of 2019. So the Biden administration was not involved in a conviction or a trial of him.' 'He was arrested and indicted under Merrick Garland,' O'Reilly continued to falsely claim. 'Who had all the information…' 'No! Under Trump,' Vittert corrected again. 'Epstein was arrested, indicted and committed suicide under Trump in 2019. Trump was president. Merrick Garland was not the attorney general.' A new fervor in Epstein and his purported client list arose after a new memo released by the DOJ and FBI released last week insisted the Trump-mandated investigation into Epstein's criminal past 'did not uncover evidence that could predicate an investigation against uncharged third parties.' This came mere months after Bondi told Fox News that she was in possession of a list of that very nature. The news – or lack thereof – about the Epstein list created a schism in Donald Trump's MAGA base with some passionate for information on one end and those ready to move onto the next topic on the other. For O'Reilly, it meant falsely breaking down the timeline of Epstein's conviction. 'I stand corrected,' O'Reilly finally conceded. You can watch the full exchange in the video above. The post Bill O'Reilly Corrected On-Air Over False Claim Biden Oversaw Epstein Conviction: 'How Do You Convict a Guy That Is Dead?' | Video appeared first on TheWrap.
News.com.au
11 hours ago
- News.com.au
Convicted killer Bradley John Murdoch dead at 67
The man convicted of murdering British backpacker Peter Falconio in the Northern Territory in 2001 has died. Bradley John Murdoch, who was serving a life sentence for the backpacker's murder, was diagnosed with terminal throat cancer in 2019. He was transferred from the Alice Springs Correctional Centre to palliative care earlier this year. He was 67.
