Pennsylvania
American accused of assaulting a student is being extradited to U.S., prosecutors say
PARIS (AP) — French Appeal Court prosecutors said an American man accused of sexually assaulting a Pennsylvania college student in 2013 and later sending her a Facebook message that said, “So I raped you,” was being extradited Thursday to the United States.
The Appeal Court prosecutors’ office in Metz, in northeastern France, said Ian Cleary was handed over to U.S. authorities at Paris Charles de Gaulle airport.
Cleary, 31, of Saratoga, California, was detained in April in Metz after a three-year search. He has been held in custody pending extradition proceedings since his arrest.
The Appeal Court in Metz ruled in July that he could be extradited.
Cleary had been the subject of an international search since authorities in Pennsylvania issued a 2021 felony warrant in the case weeks after an Associated Press story detailed the reluctance of local prosecutors to pursue campus sex crimes.
The arrest warrant accuses Cleary of stalking an 18-year-old Gettysburg College student at a party in 2013, sneaking into her dorm and sexually assaulting her while she texted friends for help. He was a 20-year-old Gettysburg student at the time, but didn’t return to campus.
The accuser, Shannon Keeler, had a rape exam done the same day. She gathered witnesses and evidence and spent years urging officials to file charges. She went to authorities again in 2021 after discovering the Facebook messages that seemed to come from Cleary’s account.
“So I raped you,” the sender wrote in a string of messages.
“I’ll never do it to anyone ever again.”
“I need to hear your voice.”
“I’ll pray for you.”
According to the June 2021 warrant, police verified that the Facebook account used to send the messages belonged to Cleary.
The AP doesn’t typically identify sexual assault victims without their permission, which Keeler has granted.
Illinois
FTC sues Deere for monopolizing farm-equipment repair market
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — Deere & Co. unfairly forces farmers to visit authorized dealers to repair their equipment, resulting in higher prices than if they could fix it themselves or get help from independent shops, the Federal Trade Commission claims in a federal lawsuit filed Wednesday with the attorneys general of Illinois and Minnesota.
The Moline, Illinois-based manufacturer produces repair software that is available only to its dealers, making it impossible for owners to seek less-costly remedies, according to the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Rockford, Illinois.
The action comes as the FTC has stepped up enforcement actions in the final days of President Joe Biden’s administration. Deere & Co. said in a statement that the lawsuit was based on a “flagrant misrepresentation of the facts and fatally flawed legal theories.”
The complaint claims that the “unfair steering practice” has boosted Deere’s multibillion-dollar profits on agricultural equipment and parts while burdening practitioners “who rely on affordable and timely repairs,” FTC Chairperson Lina M. Khan said in a prepared statement.
Khan said farmers should be “free to repair their own equipment or use repair shops of their choice — lowering costs, preventing ruinous delays, and promoting fair competition.”
Farmers for decades were able to fix their tractors and combines themselves or take them to nearby repair shops. With increased computerization in the past few decades, Deere, the dominant industry player, made its high-tech repair tool available only to authorized dealers, who invariably eschew generic parts for higher-priced Deere parts, according to the FTC.
The company refuses to share information with independent software developers that’s necessary to build their own tools, a common practice in the automotive and trucking industries, the FTC said.
Attorneys General Kwame Raoul of Illinois and Keith Ellison of Minnesota, both Democrats, joined in the lawsuit.
“Deere has made it virtually impossible for farmers themselves or independent repair shops to fully repair Deere equipment, which forces farmers to rely on authorized Deere dealers, which can be more expensive, slower, and for some a long distance away from farms,” Ellison said in a statement.
Deere & Co. asserted the FTC ignored the company’s “long-standing commitment to customer self-repair” and announced an addition this week to its “suite of digital solutions” available for customers to do their own repairs.
Deere Vice President Denver Caldwell said in a statement that the company was actively involved in settlement negotiations with the FTC and said it was still answering commission questions when the lawsuit hit.
Those discussions “revealed that the agency still lacked basic information about the industry and John Deere’s business practices and confirmed that the agency was instead relying on inaccurate information and assumptions,” Caldwell said.
Public pressure for self-repair has grown. A 2023 “right to repair” law in Colorado forces manufacturers to provide manuals, software, tools and parts to farmers who want to get their tractors running again themselves.
A similar law that year in Minnesota exempts farm equipment. The Minnesota Farmers Union has been pressing lawmakers to remove that exception, union president Gary Wertish said.
The lawsuit, which the FTC approved on a 3-2 vote, fits a flurry of activity — issuing consumer refunds, taking enforcement actions against companies the agency accuses of deceptive practices and finalizing rules it deems necessary to make the marketplace fairer — leading up to Monday’s inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump.
Trump has named Andrew Ferguson, one of the FTC’s five commissioners, to be the next chairperson. Ferguson joined Commissioner Melissa Holyoak in voting against the Deere lawsuit, saying it carries “the stench of partisan motivation” and was “taken in haste to beat President Trump into office.”
North Carolina
Court says mother of student killed in ride-along can sue trooper for negligence
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The mother of a North Carolina university student killed while on a ride-along in a Highway Patrol cruiser can continue suing for gross negligence the trooper who drove off the road during a high-speed chase, a state appeals court ruled Wednesday.
By a 2-1 decision, judges on the intermediate-level state Court of Appeals reversed a trial court’s ruling that dismissed the lawsuit filed on behalf of the late Michael Higgins seeking damages from Trooper Omar Romero Mendoza.
One night in August 2020, Mendoza — known as Romero in patrol documents — drove off a Pitt County road at a curve after having been traveling over 110 mph (177 kph), striking a utility pole and two trees. Higgins, 22, an East Carolina University criminal justice major enrolled in a patrol internship program and inside the cruiser with Romero, died from his injuries.
Lisa Higgins, the administrator of her son’s estate, sued in 2022 both Romero and Trooper Brandon Cesar Cruz, who had suggested to her son that he ride with Romero when Cruz lacked the time to do so. Superior Court Judge William Wolfe dismissed in 2023 the lawsuit against both troopers. Cruz was removed from Lisa Higgins’ appeal last year.
Higgins had previously participated in two successful ride-alongs with other patrol officers. But neither Romero nor Cruz held the rank or the title required to complete one, and Higgins apparently was unaware that Romero wasn’t authorized to take him along, the majority opinion said.
Romero and Higgins responded to the scene of where a car had driven off the road into a ditch. Cruz also responded to the scene and encouraged Romero to pursue in a high-speed chase an unidentified driver in the area observed with an alcohol odor on her breath, according to trooper statements.
Romero activated his emergency lights and siren and with Higgins as a passenger accelerated the vehicle quickly to attempt to catch the driver. Romero stated at a deposition that he believed the two-lane road that he was traveling on was straight. Then he saw the suspect vehicle breaking to the left, but he couldn’t recall making any related driving adjustments, Wednesday’s ruling said.
A patrol report determined Romero had violated patrol policy in how he initiated the “traffic enforcement response.”
Romero’s lawyer argued that as a government official Romero was exempt in this situation from personal civil liability while pursuing a criminal suspect, and that the state Industrial Commission was where claims against a state employee’s actions could be brought. Commission awards are capped.
In the majority opinion, Court of Appeals Judge John Arrowood wrote that the speed limit exemption in a police pursuit in state law did not protect an officer from the “consequence of a reckless disregard of the safety of others.” And the evidence and testimony suggest there is a genuine issue of material fact that the trooper’s action rose to the level of gross negligence, he added.
“It should be for the jury to determine whether defendant Romero’s actions were needless or manifested a reckless indifference to the rights of Michael,” Arrowood wrote.
Court of Appeals Judge Allegra Collins agreed with Arrowood. In a dissenting opinion, Court of Appeals Chief Judge Chris Dillon wrote that in the most favorable light for the plaintiff, the evidence doesn’t show Romero acted with gross negligence.
Though how Romero “exercised his discretion in his pursuit of the suspected drunk driver may have been negligent, it did not rise to the level of ‘wanton conduct,’ done with ‘corruption or malice,’ “ Dillon added.
The state Supreme Court could agree to hear the case if requested.
A lawyer representing Romero didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment.
Jim White, an attorney representing Lisa Higgins, was pleased with Wednesday’s ruling, saying too many legal cases had given extreme deference to officers for their actions while wearing a uniform and traveling with blue lights on.
A jury trial would provide “vindication” to the Higgins family, White said, leading to an acknowledgment that “he never should have been in that car.”
California
2 men get prison time for crimes connected to the killing of ‘General Hospital’ actor
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Two men convicted of lesser crimes connected to the killing of former “General Hospital” actor Johnny Wactor were sentenced to state prison on Wednesday.
Neither Leonel Gutierrez nor Frank Olano was charged with killing Wactor, who was shot when he interrupted three thieves stealing the catalytic converter from his car in downtown Los Angeles on May 25.
Gutierrez, 19, received four years in California state prison after pleading no contest to grand theft and attempted robbery.
Olano, 22, who was not at the scene of the killing, was sentenced to five years and eight months in prison after pleading no contest to being an accessory after the fact and receiving stolen property.
Two co-defendants, Robert Barceleau and Sergio Estrada, both 18, are charged with the murder in the death of Wactor. Earlier this month, a judge found that there was enough evidence for them to go to trial. Both have pleaded not guilty.
Police and prosecutors said the 37-year-old Wactor had left work at a downtown LA rooftop bar with a coworker when he saw three men who had hoisted his car. One of them fired at him and killed him, authorities said.
After a long investigation that included police requests for help from the public and pleas for an intensified probe and prosecution from Wactor’s family and friends, the four men were arrested in August.
American accused of assaulting a student is being extradited to U.S., prosecutors say
PARIS (AP) — French Appeal Court prosecutors said an American man accused of sexually assaulting a Pennsylvania college student in 2013 and later sending her a Facebook message that said, “So I raped you,” was being extradited Thursday to the United States.
The Appeal Court prosecutors’ office in Metz, in northeastern France, said Ian Cleary was handed over to U.S. authorities at Paris Charles de Gaulle airport.
Cleary, 31, of Saratoga, California, was detained in April in Metz after a three-year search. He has been held in custody pending extradition proceedings since his arrest.
The Appeal Court in Metz ruled in July that he could be extradited.
Cleary had been the subject of an international search since authorities in Pennsylvania issued a 2021 felony warrant in the case weeks after an Associated Press story detailed the reluctance of local prosecutors to pursue campus sex crimes.
The arrest warrant accuses Cleary of stalking an 18-year-old Gettysburg College student at a party in 2013, sneaking into her dorm and sexually assaulting her while she texted friends for help. He was a 20-year-old Gettysburg student at the time, but didn’t return to campus.
The accuser, Shannon Keeler, had a rape exam done the same day. She gathered witnesses and evidence and spent years urging officials to file charges. She went to authorities again in 2021 after discovering the Facebook messages that seemed to come from Cleary’s account.
“So I raped you,” the sender wrote in a string of messages.
“I’ll never do it to anyone ever again.”
“I need to hear your voice.”
“I’ll pray for you.”
According to the June 2021 warrant, police verified that the Facebook account used to send the messages belonged to Cleary.
The AP doesn’t typically identify sexual assault victims without their permission, which Keeler has granted.
Illinois
FTC sues Deere for monopolizing farm-equipment repair market
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — Deere & Co. unfairly forces farmers to visit authorized dealers to repair their equipment, resulting in higher prices than if they could fix it themselves or get help from independent shops, the Federal Trade Commission claims in a federal lawsuit filed Wednesday with the attorneys general of Illinois and Minnesota.
The Moline, Illinois-based manufacturer produces repair software that is available only to its dealers, making it impossible for owners to seek less-costly remedies, according to the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Rockford, Illinois.
The action comes as the FTC has stepped up enforcement actions in the final days of President Joe Biden’s administration. Deere & Co. said in a statement that the lawsuit was based on a “flagrant misrepresentation of the facts and fatally flawed legal theories.”
The complaint claims that the “unfair steering practice” has boosted Deere’s multibillion-dollar profits on agricultural equipment and parts while burdening practitioners “who rely on affordable and timely repairs,” FTC Chairperson Lina M. Khan said in a prepared statement.
Khan said farmers should be “free to repair their own equipment or use repair shops of their choice — lowering costs, preventing ruinous delays, and promoting fair competition.”
Farmers for decades were able to fix their tractors and combines themselves or take them to nearby repair shops. With increased computerization in the past few decades, Deere, the dominant industry player, made its high-tech repair tool available only to authorized dealers, who invariably eschew generic parts for higher-priced Deere parts, according to the FTC.
The company refuses to share information with independent software developers that’s necessary to build their own tools, a common practice in the automotive and trucking industries, the FTC said.
Attorneys General Kwame Raoul of Illinois and Keith Ellison of Minnesota, both Democrats, joined in the lawsuit.
“Deere has made it virtually impossible for farmers themselves or independent repair shops to fully repair Deere equipment, which forces farmers to rely on authorized Deere dealers, which can be more expensive, slower, and for some a long distance away from farms,” Ellison said in a statement.
Deere & Co. asserted the FTC ignored the company’s “long-standing commitment to customer self-repair” and announced an addition this week to its “suite of digital solutions” available for customers to do their own repairs.
Deere Vice President Denver Caldwell said in a statement that the company was actively involved in settlement negotiations with the FTC and said it was still answering commission questions when the lawsuit hit.
Those discussions “revealed that the agency still lacked basic information about the industry and John Deere’s business practices and confirmed that the agency was instead relying on inaccurate information and assumptions,” Caldwell said.
Public pressure for self-repair has grown. A 2023 “right to repair” law in Colorado forces manufacturers to provide manuals, software, tools and parts to farmers who want to get their tractors running again themselves.
A similar law that year in Minnesota exempts farm equipment. The Minnesota Farmers Union has been pressing lawmakers to remove that exception, union president Gary Wertish said.
The lawsuit, which the FTC approved on a 3-2 vote, fits a flurry of activity — issuing consumer refunds, taking enforcement actions against companies the agency accuses of deceptive practices and finalizing rules it deems necessary to make the marketplace fairer — leading up to Monday’s inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump.
Trump has named Andrew Ferguson, one of the FTC’s five commissioners, to be the next chairperson. Ferguson joined Commissioner Melissa Holyoak in voting against the Deere lawsuit, saying it carries “the stench of partisan motivation” and was “taken in haste to beat President Trump into office.”
North Carolina
Court says mother of student killed in ride-along can sue trooper for negligence
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The mother of a North Carolina university student killed while on a ride-along in a Highway Patrol cruiser can continue suing for gross negligence the trooper who drove off the road during a high-speed chase, a state appeals court ruled Wednesday.
By a 2-1 decision, judges on the intermediate-level state Court of Appeals reversed a trial court’s ruling that dismissed the lawsuit filed on behalf of the late Michael Higgins seeking damages from Trooper Omar Romero Mendoza.
One night in August 2020, Mendoza — known as Romero in patrol documents — drove off a Pitt County road at a curve after having been traveling over 110 mph (177 kph), striking a utility pole and two trees. Higgins, 22, an East Carolina University criminal justice major enrolled in a patrol internship program and inside the cruiser with Romero, died from his injuries.
Lisa Higgins, the administrator of her son’s estate, sued in 2022 both Romero and Trooper Brandon Cesar Cruz, who had suggested to her son that he ride with Romero when Cruz lacked the time to do so. Superior Court Judge William Wolfe dismissed in 2023 the lawsuit against both troopers. Cruz was removed from Lisa Higgins’ appeal last year.
Higgins had previously participated in two successful ride-alongs with other patrol officers. But neither Romero nor Cruz held the rank or the title required to complete one, and Higgins apparently was unaware that Romero wasn’t authorized to take him along, the majority opinion said.
Romero and Higgins responded to the scene of where a car had driven off the road into a ditch. Cruz also responded to the scene and encouraged Romero to pursue in a high-speed chase an unidentified driver in the area observed with an alcohol odor on her breath, according to trooper statements.
Romero activated his emergency lights and siren and with Higgins as a passenger accelerated the vehicle quickly to attempt to catch the driver. Romero stated at a deposition that he believed the two-lane road that he was traveling on was straight. Then he saw the suspect vehicle breaking to the left, but he couldn’t recall making any related driving adjustments, Wednesday’s ruling said.
A patrol report determined Romero had violated patrol policy in how he initiated the “traffic enforcement response.”
Romero’s lawyer argued that as a government official Romero was exempt in this situation from personal civil liability while pursuing a criminal suspect, and that the state Industrial Commission was where claims against a state employee’s actions could be brought. Commission awards are capped.
In the majority opinion, Court of Appeals Judge John Arrowood wrote that the speed limit exemption in a police pursuit in state law did not protect an officer from the “consequence of a reckless disregard of the safety of others.” And the evidence and testimony suggest there is a genuine issue of material fact that the trooper’s action rose to the level of gross negligence, he added.
“It should be for the jury to determine whether defendant Romero’s actions were needless or manifested a reckless indifference to the rights of Michael,” Arrowood wrote.
Court of Appeals Judge Allegra Collins agreed with Arrowood. In a dissenting opinion, Court of Appeals Chief Judge Chris Dillon wrote that in the most favorable light for the plaintiff, the evidence doesn’t show Romero acted with gross negligence.
Though how Romero “exercised his discretion in his pursuit of the suspected drunk driver may have been negligent, it did not rise to the level of ‘wanton conduct,’ done with ‘corruption or malice,’ “ Dillon added.
The state Supreme Court could agree to hear the case if requested.
A lawyer representing Romero didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment.
Jim White, an attorney representing Lisa Higgins, was pleased with Wednesday’s ruling, saying too many legal cases had given extreme deference to officers for their actions while wearing a uniform and traveling with blue lights on.
A jury trial would provide “vindication” to the Higgins family, White said, leading to an acknowledgment that “he never should have been in that car.”
California
2 men get prison time for crimes connected to the killing of ‘General Hospital’ actor
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Two men convicted of lesser crimes connected to the killing of former “General Hospital” actor Johnny Wactor were sentenced to state prison on Wednesday.
Neither Leonel Gutierrez nor Frank Olano was charged with killing Wactor, who was shot when he interrupted three thieves stealing the catalytic converter from his car in downtown Los Angeles on May 25.
Gutierrez, 19, received four years in California state prison after pleading no contest to grand theft and attempted robbery.
Olano, 22, who was not at the scene of the killing, was sentenced to five years and eight months in prison after pleading no contest to being an accessory after the fact and receiving stolen property.
Two co-defendants, Robert Barceleau and Sergio Estrada, both 18, are charged with the murder in the death of Wactor. Earlier this month, a judge found that there was enough evidence for them to go to trial. Both have pleaded not guilty.
Police and prosecutors said the 37-year-old Wactor had left work at a downtown LA rooftop bar with a coworker when he saw three men who had hoisted his car. One of them fired at him and killed him, authorities said.
After a long investigation that included police requests for help from the public and pleas for an intensified probe and prosecution from Wactor’s family and friends, the four men were arrested in August.
