Texas
State sues Google over local radio ads for its smartphones
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas’ attorney general on Wednesday sued Google, alleging the company asked local radio DJs to record personal endorsements for smartphones that they hadn’t used or been provided.
In the lawsuit filed in Montgomery County, Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton said Google engaged in false and misleading practices in violation of the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices—Consumer Protection Act.
The lawsuit says Google hired iHeartMedia in October 2019 to have its radio personalities — including those in markets in the Dallas and Houston areas — record advertisements for the Pixel 4, a Google-brand smartphone.
But at the time the advertisements were recorded, the lawsuit says, the phone wasn’t released yet and none of the DJs had used them. The suit says that even though iHeartMedia “expressed to Google the violative nature of the advertisements” if the DJs had not used them, Google did not provide phone samples.
Google spokesman José Castañeda said Wednesday that they take compliance with advertising laws seriously and have policies in place to help ensure they follow regulations.
“We will review the complaint but the AG’s allegations appear to misrepresent what occurred here,” Castañeda said.
Paxton also sued Google in December 2020. In that lawsuit, Texas led a group of states alleging Google was running an illegal digital-advertising monopoly in cahoots with Facebook. Google, which is based in Mountain View, California, called the claims in that lawsuit “meritless.”
Paxton, who faces GOP challengers in his reelection bid this year, is facing a years-old criminal case and a newer FBI investigation.
He pleaded not guilty in a state securities fraud case, which has been stalled since 2015. He has broadly denied wrongdoing in the separate criminal probe launched after his then-top deputies reported him to the FBI in 2020 for alleged bribery and abuse of office.
New York
Ghislaine Maxwell requests new trial after juror interviews
NEW YORK (AP) — Ghislaine Maxwell has formally requested a new trial, less than a month after her conviction on sex trafficking charges.
In a Wednesday letter to U.S. District Judge Alison J. Nathan, Maxwell lawyer Bobbi Sternheim said the motion for a new trial had been filed under seal and requested that all submissions related to “Juror No. 50 remain under seal until the Court rules.”
The motion for a new trial had been promised by Maxwell’s lawyers, who had raised concerns about media interviews following the verdict in which the juror said he had been sexually abused as a child. The anonymous juror told The Independent and The Daily Mail that his experience helped him convince some jurors that a victim’s imperfect memory of sex abuse doesn’t mean it didn’t happen.
Nathan had set a Wednesday deadline for Maxwell’s lawyers to file for a new trial, and said prosecutors should reply by Feb. 2.
Maxwell, 60, was convicted in late December of conspiring to recruit and groom teenage girls to be sexually abused by her longtime companion Jeffrey Epstein. Her sentencing date has yet to be set.
Maxwell’s lawyers had previously said the request for a new trial would include all known undisputed remarks of the juror, along with recorded statements and the questionnaire all jurors filled out. Potential jurors were asked to fill out a questionnaire asking: “Have you or a friend or family member ever been the victim of sexual harassment, sexual abuse, or sexual assault?”
Quoting from the press reports in a letter, prosecutors said the juror asserted that he “flew through” the questionnaire and didn’t recall being asked if he’d been a victim of sex abuse. Prosecutors called for any juror investigation to be “conducted exclusively under the supervision of the Court.” The juror himself has retained a lawyer.
Maxwell has maintained she’s innocent, and her family promised an appeal of her conviction. Her lawyers vigorously fought the charges against her during trial, arguing that she was being used as a scapegoat by prosecutors determined to hold someone accountable for Epstein’s crimes after the financier and convicted sex offender killed himself while awaiting trial in 2019.
Illinois
Judge heard on video mocking lawyer removed from court
CHICAGO (AP) — An Illinois judge who made sexist comments about an attorney during a conversation in his courtroom that he did not realize was being broadcast live on YouTube has been removed from the bench, officials announced Wednesday.
In an order released to the media, Cook County Chief Judge Timothy Evans said Judge William Raines is “hereby reassigned to restricted duties or duties other than judicial duties” and must “receive sensitivity training and gender bias counseling designed to address and remedy the alleged conduct.”
The order does not explicitly say how long Raines must remain off the bench, but it says another judge will “monitor and mentor” Raines and report back to the court system’s executive committee within 90 days.
He made the disparaging comments about attorney Jennifer Bonjean on Jan. 11 to two assistant state’s attorneys and an assistant public defender, just after Bonjean had left the courtroom.
“Can you imagine waking up next to her every day? Oh, my God!” Raines said, according to a transcript of the exchange. “I couldn’t have a visual on that if you paid me. “
Raines, whose court call was carried live as many hearings have been during the COVID-19 pandemic, apparently realized that his comments were still being broadcast and asked if his comments were streaming live. Then the video ends.
Bonjean was informed about the comments and later that week asked a judge to preserve the video so she could lodge a complaint with the state’s Judicial Inquiry Board, which reviews judicial misconduct allegations.
Evans also scheduled a hearing of the court’s executive committee that was held late Tuesday. In the order, he said Raines “expressed contrition” during the hearing for what had happened.
The order said Raines’ comments were likely a “violation of the Illinois Code of Judicial Conduct” and that the matter had been referred to the state’s Judicial Inquiry Board.
In a brief statement, Bonjean, who also appeared before the executive committee, said in a statement that she was “grateful that it took the complaint seriously and acted with alacrity.”
A prominent New York-based attorney, Bonjean has represented several high-profile clients in Chicago and around the United States, including Bill Cosby and men wrongfully convicted of murder and rape, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
