Oklahoma
Native American former student sues school for removing feather at graduation
TULSA, Okla. (AP) — A Native American former student is suing an Oklahoma school district for the removal of an eagle feather from her graduation cap prior to her high school graduation ceremony.
The lawsuit filed Monday in Tulsa County District Court against Broken Arrow Public Schools and two employees by Lena’ Black alleges intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligence and violations to her state and federal constitutional rights to free speech and freedom of religion.
District spokesperson Tara Thompson told The Oklahoman the suburban Tulsa school had not been served with the lawsuit and declined comment.
Thompson did not immediately return a phone call for comment Wednesday.
The lawsuit says Black, who is Otoe-Missouria and Osage, was waiting to walk onto the school football field for the May 2022 graduation when she was approached by two school employees. The two told her she could not wear the eagle plume on the graduation cap, also known as a mortarboard, because it was a prohibited decoration and attempted to remove it, damaging it in the process.
Black received the plume during a ceremony when she was 3 years old and “it is a sacred object” that represents “the prayers of her Otoe-Missouria people for her life and protection,” according to the lawsuit.
Black said she tried to explain she had permission from a teacher to wear the plume, described it as a religious item and said other students were wearing religious items, such as crosses, but was ignored.
Black was humiliated and suffered a panic attack as a result of the incident, but eventually walked across the graduation stage holding the eagle feather in her hand.
The lawsuit seeks at least $50,000 in compensatory damages and an unspecified amount in punitive damages.
Earlier this month, Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt vetoed a bill that would allow students to wear tribal regalia during graduation ceremonies. Supporters of the bill said they hope to override the governor’s veto before the legislative session ends May 26.
The incident involving Black occurred after then-state schools Superintendent Joy Hofmeister issued a letter in January 2020 to state schools asking them to review policies on Indigenous students wearing tribal regalia, feathers and other culturally significant items.
The letter included a 2019 letter from then-Attorney General Mike Hunter that an Indigenous student’s right to wear eagle feathers on their mortarboard is protected under the Oklahoma Religious Freedom Act.
New Hampshire
Man convicted of second-degree murder in 2019 death of pastor
BRENTWOOD, N.H. (AP) — A man has been convicted of fatally shooting a New Hampshire pastor in 2019 whose church he attended.
Brandon Castiglione, 28, was convicted Monday of two counts of second-degree murder in the death of Luis Garcia.
Garcia, 60, was found dead Oct. 1, 2019, inside Castiglione’s home in Londonderry. Garcia was a pastor at New England Pentecostal Ministries in Pelham and Castiglione attended the church and prayer services hosted by Garcia, prosecutors said.
Castiglione and Garcia also got together outside of church, going to firing ranges, and Garcia was at the house that day for a painting job, according to trial testimony.
Castiglione pleaded not guilty. He did not testify. He will be sentenced at a later time.
Garcia’s stepson, Dale Holloway, is charged with opening fire during a wedding at the church later that month, wounding a bishop and the bride-to-be. The groom was Brandon Castiglione’s father. Holloway pleaded not guilty and awaits trial.
Minnesota
Man accused of building arsenal to fight police pleads guilty to possessing machine gun
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A Minnesota man who told an FBI informant that he was building an arsenal of automatic weapons to use against police and admired mass shooters pleaded guilty Tuesday to illegally possessing a machine gun.
River Smith, 21, of the Minneapolis suburb of Savage, entered his plea on the single count before U.S. District Judge David Doty. His sentencing will be scheduled later. The maximum sentence is 10 years.
Smith was initially charged in December with possession of a machine gun — specifically devices to convert guns to fully automatic fire — and attempting to possess unregistered hand grenades. He paid an FBI informant $690 for four “auto sear” devices and three dummy grenades, prosecutors alleged at the time.
“Law enforcement took him down before he could execute his plan,” federal prosecutor Manda Sertich said at a hearing in December, when a magistrate judge denied bail.
FBI Special Agent Mark Etheridge testified at that hearing that when Smith was arrested he had a loaded Glock 17 semiautomatic handgun, with three full magazines for a total of 52 rounds of ammunition, including the bullet in the chamber. He was wearing soft body armor designed to stop handgun rounds. A search of his car turned up an “AR-style” rifle and two other handguns, as well as a “drum magazine” for the rifle that held 100 rounds.
A federal grand jury formally indicted Smith on two counts in January involving the auto sears and grenades.
Defense attorney Jordan Kushner said in a court filing two weeks ago that Smith wanted “to take responsibility for his actions and not further prolong the proceedings.” Kushner said there was no plea agreement and that Smith didn’t want to contest the charges, but the attorney questioned whether the count involving the grenades was legally valid, given that they were dummies.
According to the original complaint and the agent’s testimony, Smith had expressed interest in joining neo-Nazi paramilitary groups; called the person who killed five people at a gay nightclub in Colorado last November a “hero,” expressed sympathy for the shooter who killed 17 people at a high school in Parkland, Florida, in 2018; described Black people as “agents of Satan” and expressed hatred of Jews. The agent said Smith carried a note cursing police inside his body armor so they could find it after his death.
Smith also said in online messages that he learned about his “enemy” by watching police bodycam video of shootings online, prosecutors alleged.
Authorities began investigating after getting a call in September from a retired police officer who was working at a gun range that Smith frequented. He told them he was concerned because of how Smith practiced shooting from behind barriers while wearing heavy body armor designed to stop rifle bullets, and conducting rapid reloading drills.
Nevada
State secures $152 million opioid settlement with pharmacy chain CVS
CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) — Nevada and pharmacy chain CVS have reached a nearly $152 million settlement to be paid over the next decade to end a lawsuit over opioid claims, state Attorney General Aaron Ford announced Tuesday.
“CVS negotiated in good faith,” Ford said at a news conference in Carson City. “Their work with the state of Nevada ... will help our state tackle the opioid problem.”
According to an Associated Press analysis, the settlement is one of the 10 largest between a single state and a single company over opioid claims. It also puts the total money Nevada expects to receive from opioid litigation settlements since 2020 at $606 million, according to Ford’s office. It marks the largest sum the state has brought in opioid-related litigation by itself.
CVS was one of a number of companies that the state sued in the case filed in June 2019. A lawsuit against one company — Teva Pharmaceuticals — remains to be settled, and Ford said the state is preparing to go to trial in August.
Drugmakers, pharmacies, wholesalers and other companies have agreed to settlements of lawsuits over the opioid crisis nationwide totaling more than $50 billion. Much of the money is to be used to deal with an overdose crisis that is linked to more than 100,000 deaths a year in the U.S.
Some states have seen more from their share of multi-state or nationwide settlements. Last year, CVS agreed to pay state and local governments nearly $5 billion to settle lawsuits over the toll of opioids. But Nevada did not join in that litigation in order to pursue the single-state settlement, Ford spokesperson John Sadler said.
Nevada joined another multi-state settlement with three of the nation’s largest opioid manufacturers in April 2022 totaling $232 million over nearly two decades.
Ford said about $80 million of the CVS settlement will go to a coalition of Nevada county and city governments, and the state will retain nearly $70 million. A panel of experts will make recommendations for using the money to mitigate the opioid epidemic, he said.
CVS also agreed to develop an oversight program with a list of prescriptions, patients and prescriber “red flags” to help stop the misuse of opioids.
A CVS spokesperson, Kara Page, said in a statement that the company was pleased with the pact with Nevada. The statement noted that opioid prescriptions are written by doctors, not pharmacists. It did not elaborate on the oversight program.
With the state Legislature in session, Ford is backing one of two companion bills with Democratic Senate Majority Leader Nicole Cannizzaro to enhance fentanyl trafficking penalties, starting trafficking charges at four grams of possession of the synthetic opioid. Several states across the country are taking similar steps.
New Hampshire
Man convicted of burglary after hiding in woman’s attic, secretly photographing her asleep
DOVER, N.H. (AP) — A man accused of hiding in a woman’s attic and secretly photographing her while she slept has been convicted of burglary and other charges.
The man, now 19, was arrested in February 2022 on the roof of the woman’s home in Somersworth, New Hampshire. He was accused of driving hundreds of miles from Pennsylvania, spending several days hiding in her attic, photographing her while she slept and attempting to put a tracking device on her car. He was convicted Tuesday of burglary, criminal trespass and invasion of privacy.
The man told jurors he and the woman were in a relationship and that she “wanted to be stalked,” WMUR-TV reported. The woman testified that she began communicating with him by text after he subscribed to her site on the adult website OnlyFans. She said they had sex once during an earlier unannounced trip to New Hampshire, but she did not consider them to be in a relationship.
Prosecutors argued that the victim never invited him to her home and said the man stored food in the attic and came down only when no one was awake. He will remain free on bail pending sentencing but is required to wear a monitoring device.
