New York
Trump asks high court to toss remaining civil fraud penalties
NEW YORK (AP) — Days after getting his staggering civil fraud penalty thrown out, President Donald Trump asked New York’s highest court on Tuesday to overturn his other punishments, including a multiyear ban on him and his two eldest sons holding corporate leadership positions.
Trump’s lawyers filed a notice of appeal with the state’s Court of Appeals, seeking to erase the remaining effects of New York Attorney General Letitia James’ lawsuit, which alleges he inflated his net worth on financial paperwork given to banks and insurers.
It’s the first of a pair of expected appeals after a five-judge panel of the state’s mid-level Appellate Division last week overturned Trump’s monetary penalty. James, a Democrat, has said she plans to ask the Court of Appeals to restore the Republican’s fine after the Appellate Division deemed it “excessive.”
Trump had declared “TOTAL VICTORY” after the Appellate Division wiped away his fine, but the judges left other punishments in place and narrowly endorsed a lower court finding that he committed fraud by padding his wealth on his financial statements.
The non-monetary penalties, the target of Trump’s new appeal, set strict limitations on his Trump Organization’s ability to do business. They include:
— A two-year ban on Trump’s sons, Eric and Donald Trump Jr., from serving as a director or officer of a New York company, effectively booting them from their roles managing the Trump Organization’s day-to-day operations.
— A three-year ban on Trump holding a corporate leadership position in New York.
— A three-year ban on Trump and his companies from getting loans from banks registered in New York.
— Placing the company under an independent monitor’s continued supervision for at least three years, and ordering the hiring of an independent compliance director.
Those measures have been on hold during the appellate process and the Appellate Division judges said Trump can seek a court order to extend the pause pending further appeals.
Alabama
Judge orders new trial for man who has been on death row for 31 years
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — A federal judge has ordered a new trial for an Alabama death row inmate after tests showed it was another man’s DNA on the victim’s body.
Chief U.S. District Judge Emily C. Marks last week ruled that Christopher Barbour must get a new trial.
Barbour, now 56, was convicted of the 1992 stabbing death of Thelma Bishop Roberts in Montgomery. Barbour initially confessed that he killed Roberts after helping another man rape her, but he later recanted and said his confession was coerced by police. He has maintained that he is innocent.
New DNA testing done in 2021 revealed that semen on the victim’s body didn’t belong to either man. It belonged to Roberts’ neighbor who is now incarcerated for an unrelated murder.
His attorneys argued in an earlier court filing that “Mr. Barbour’s innocence is patently clear.”
Marks said that Barbour’s conviction was tainted because prosecutors did not turn over bench notes from the initial forensics report that excluded Barbour, as well as the man he said raped the victim, as the source of the DNA. That information, Marks said, could have used to cast doubt on Barbour’s confession, which was the primary evidence against him at trial.
“Barbour has shown that the prosecution’s knowing use of false evidence may have had an effect on the outcome of the trial,” Marks wrote.
The state had argued that the DNA results do not exonerate Barbour. A spokesman for Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall said the state plans to appeal the decision.
The ruling came in a civil case that Barbour filed challenging his conviction on the grounds that his rights were violated. Marks gave the state 90 days to begin preparations for a new trial.
Marks did not rule on Barbour’s innocence claim but wrote that he can now “argue as much to a jury.” Marks wrote in a ruling last year that the new DNA information “is powerful evidence that Barbour’s confession is false, and that Mrs. Roberts’ murder did not occur as the prosecution presented it at trial.”
Barbour has been on Alabama’s death row since 1994.
New York
1 year in prison for U.S. border agent accused of ordering women to show breasts
SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) — A U.S. Border Patrol agent in upstate New York who pleaded guilty to charges related to ordering women entering the U.S. to show him their breasts was sentenced to a year in federal prison Wednesday, according to prosecutors.
Shane Millan, 53, pleaded guilty in March to federal misdemeanor charges related to allegations he ordered three immigrant women crossing the southern border in 2023 to expose their chests to him via webcam. A fourth woman was ordered to show him her breasts with her bra on, prosecutors said. He pleaded guilty to two counts of deprivation of rights under color of law.
While he was stationed in New York, Millan at the time was processing arrivals along the southern border via videoconferencing.
Though the resident of Jefferson County told the women that his requests were part of the process for being admitted into the U.S., it was actually for his own gratification, prosecutors said.
Millan told two women that he was checking tattoos and used his government computer to research and use Spanish phrases such as, “I will also need you to lift your bra, please,” according to court documents.
“Everybody deserves respect, and we will not tolerate the sexual exploitation of immigrants by members of law enforcement. Nobody is above the law,” acting U.S. Attorney John Sarcone said in a prepared release.
California
Crew arrested for hundreds of Home Depot thefts worth $10 million
VENTURA COUNTY, Calif. (AP) — Southern California authorities say they uncovered a criminal ring that stole $10 million in merchandise from Home Depot over several years, including 600 thefts this year alone, which the company calls the largest organized retail theft in its history.
Prosecutors say the thieves nabbed high-end electrical merchandise such as circuit breakers and outlets, which the group’s leader resold through his electronics business in the San Fernando Valley, the Los Angeles Times reported. The Ventura County district attorney’s office announced this week the filing of a 48-count criminal complaint against nine people that allegedly targeted 71 Home Depot locations across multiple counties, the newspaper reported.
The operation’s alleged leader, 59-year-old David Ahl, faces up to 32 years in prison if convicted as charged, prosecutors say.
“His crews of thieves, known as boosters, stole merchandise from the Home Depot’s stores, sometimes hitting every Home Depot in Ventura County in a single day,” said Ventura County Sheriff Jim Fryhoff at this week’s news conference.
“Then the boosters would deliver the stolen items in trash bags or Home Depot boxes to his business or to his home, where he paid them in cash,” Fryhoff said. Prosecutors say he owned Arya Wholesale in the Tarzana neighborhood and lived in nearby Woodland Hills.
Ahl has pleaded not guilty to charges of organized retail theft and grand theft. His lawyer did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment. A phone message could not be left at his business.
Ahl’s brother-in-law and an ex-wife were also charged for allegedly reselling the stolen goods, including through online site eBay.
Authorities say they were able to crack the case due to two state-funded organized retail theft grants that supported specialized investigators and prosecutors. A new state law allowed authorities to consolidate the cases as they involved the same people across multiple counties.
Fed up with smash and grab thefts and organized criminal theft operations, California voters demanded more punitive measures of their elected officials. Last year, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation bringing back tough criminal penalties targeting large-scale stealing schemes, and voters in November approved a ballot measure making shoplifting a felony for repeat offenders.
New Jersey
Massive American Dream mall sued for selling clothes on a Sunday
On any given Sunday, the massive American Dream mall in New Jersey allows visitors to hit an indoor ski slope, surf an artificial wave, ride roller coasters — or shop for a new outfit at dozens of big-name retail stores.
One of those things is a problem, argues a new lawsuit against the massive entertainment and retail complex in East Rutherford – and it isn’t the thrill seekers.
American Dream, the suit from officials in nearby Paramus contends, is running afoul of a county law that has long prohibited the sale of nonessential items such as clothing, appliances and furniture on Sundays.
Such “blue laws” date back centuries in New Jersey and were originally rooted in religion. But modern proponents say they offer a welcome break for locals from traffic and noise in a region near New York City that’s teeming with shoppers throughout the week.
Officials in Paramus, a major shopping hub that boasts three large malls and miles of strip malls, say nearly every other retail store in the county is closed to shoppers on Sundays.
That was originally the plan for American Dream when it opened in 2019, adjacent to MetLife Stadium, where the NFL’s Jets and Giants play. Retail stores would close on Sunday, while the theme parks in the mall would remain open — but a report by NorthJersey.com in January says retailers there had also been opening their doors the extra day for nearly a year.
“These businesses, with the encouragement and support of the mall’s ownership and the acquiescence of the other defendants here, have violated the law hundreds if not thousands of times since January,” argues the lawsuit filed in state Superior Court.
A statement from American Dream argued that Bergen County’s blue laws don’t apply to the complex, because it sits on state-owned property.
But Paramus Mayor Christopher DiPiazza said that American Dream had “promised on record” that it would follow the county’s blue laws once it opened.
A transcript from a 2011 public hearing shows Tony Armlin, then the vice president of development and construction for mall owner Triple Five, saying the laws “prohibit our ability to have retail activities on Sundays,” which he said would restrict the impact of traffic.
Jim Tedesco, the executive of Bergen County — which is also named in the suit — said in a statement American Dream’s operators had “personally assured” him that they would keep retailers shut on Sunday before the mall opened.
“They broke that promise,” he said. “Their decision to operate retail on Sundays not only violates state statute, it gives them an unfair advantage over every other business in Bergen County that is following the law.”
The suit also names East Rutherford, whose mayor did not return a request for comment, and the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority. The NJSEA and the state attorney general’s office declined comment because they don’t discuss pending litigation.
New Jersey’s blue laws initially were far stricter and enforced statewide. They banned not just business operations but also leisure activities and nonessential travel, with proponents arguing the state and the nation had a moral obligation to protect the Sabbath from commerce and recreation.
While most New Jersey counties no longer have them, leaders in Bergen County have repeatedly resisted attempts to repeal them, and the measures have been upheld by county voters.
Trump asks high court to toss remaining civil fraud penalties
NEW YORK (AP) — Days after getting his staggering civil fraud penalty thrown out, President Donald Trump asked New York’s highest court on Tuesday to overturn his other punishments, including a multiyear ban on him and his two eldest sons holding corporate leadership positions.
Trump’s lawyers filed a notice of appeal with the state’s Court of Appeals, seeking to erase the remaining effects of New York Attorney General Letitia James’ lawsuit, which alleges he inflated his net worth on financial paperwork given to banks and insurers.
It’s the first of a pair of expected appeals after a five-judge panel of the state’s mid-level Appellate Division last week overturned Trump’s monetary penalty. James, a Democrat, has said she plans to ask the Court of Appeals to restore the Republican’s fine after the Appellate Division deemed it “excessive.”
Trump had declared “TOTAL VICTORY” after the Appellate Division wiped away his fine, but the judges left other punishments in place and narrowly endorsed a lower court finding that he committed fraud by padding his wealth on his financial statements.
The non-monetary penalties, the target of Trump’s new appeal, set strict limitations on his Trump Organization’s ability to do business. They include:
— A two-year ban on Trump’s sons, Eric and Donald Trump Jr., from serving as a director or officer of a New York company, effectively booting them from their roles managing the Trump Organization’s day-to-day operations.
— A three-year ban on Trump holding a corporate leadership position in New York.
— A three-year ban on Trump and his companies from getting loans from banks registered in New York.
— Placing the company under an independent monitor’s continued supervision for at least three years, and ordering the hiring of an independent compliance director.
Those measures have been on hold during the appellate process and the Appellate Division judges said Trump can seek a court order to extend the pause pending further appeals.
Alabama
Judge orders new trial for man who has been on death row for 31 years
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — A federal judge has ordered a new trial for an Alabama death row inmate after tests showed it was another man’s DNA on the victim’s body.
Chief U.S. District Judge Emily C. Marks last week ruled that Christopher Barbour must get a new trial.
Barbour, now 56, was convicted of the 1992 stabbing death of Thelma Bishop Roberts in Montgomery. Barbour initially confessed that he killed Roberts after helping another man rape her, but he later recanted and said his confession was coerced by police. He has maintained that he is innocent.
New DNA testing done in 2021 revealed that semen on the victim’s body didn’t belong to either man. It belonged to Roberts’ neighbor who is now incarcerated for an unrelated murder.
His attorneys argued in an earlier court filing that “Mr. Barbour’s innocence is patently clear.”
Marks said that Barbour’s conviction was tainted because prosecutors did not turn over bench notes from the initial forensics report that excluded Barbour, as well as the man he said raped the victim, as the source of the DNA. That information, Marks said, could have used to cast doubt on Barbour’s confession, which was the primary evidence against him at trial.
“Barbour has shown that the prosecution’s knowing use of false evidence may have had an effect on the outcome of the trial,” Marks wrote.
The state had argued that the DNA results do not exonerate Barbour. A spokesman for Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall said the state plans to appeal the decision.
The ruling came in a civil case that Barbour filed challenging his conviction on the grounds that his rights were violated. Marks gave the state 90 days to begin preparations for a new trial.
Marks did not rule on Barbour’s innocence claim but wrote that he can now “argue as much to a jury.” Marks wrote in a ruling last year that the new DNA information “is powerful evidence that Barbour’s confession is false, and that Mrs. Roberts’ murder did not occur as the prosecution presented it at trial.”
Barbour has been on Alabama’s death row since 1994.
New York
1 year in prison for U.S. border agent accused of ordering women to show breasts
SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) — A U.S. Border Patrol agent in upstate New York who pleaded guilty to charges related to ordering women entering the U.S. to show him their breasts was sentenced to a year in federal prison Wednesday, according to prosecutors.
Shane Millan, 53, pleaded guilty in March to federal misdemeanor charges related to allegations he ordered three immigrant women crossing the southern border in 2023 to expose their chests to him via webcam. A fourth woman was ordered to show him her breasts with her bra on, prosecutors said. He pleaded guilty to two counts of deprivation of rights under color of law.
While he was stationed in New York, Millan at the time was processing arrivals along the southern border via videoconferencing.
Though the resident of Jefferson County told the women that his requests were part of the process for being admitted into the U.S., it was actually for his own gratification, prosecutors said.
Millan told two women that he was checking tattoos and used his government computer to research and use Spanish phrases such as, “I will also need you to lift your bra, please,” according to court documents.
“Everybody deserves respect, and we will not tolerate the sexual exploitation of immigrants by members of law enforcement. Nobody is above the law,” acting U.S. Attorney John Sarcone said in a prepared release.
California
Crew arrested for hundreds of Home Depot thefts worth $10 million
VENTURA COUNTY, Calif. (AP) — Southern California authorities say they uncovered a criminal ring that stole $10 million in merchandise from Home Depot over several years, including 600 thefts this year alone, which the company calls the largest organized retail theft in its history.
Prosecutors say the thieves nabbed high-end electrical merchandise such as circuit breakers and outlets, which the group’s leader resold through his electronics business in the San Fernando Valley, the Los Angeles Times reported. The Ventura County district attorney’s office announced this week the filing of a 48-count criminal complaint against nine people that allegedly targeted 71 Home Depot locations across multiple counties, the newspaper reported.
The operation’s alleged leader, 59-year-old David Ahl, faces up to 32 years in prison if convicted as charged, prosecutors say.
“His crews of thieves, known as boosters, stole merchandise from the Home Depot’s stores, sometimes hitting every Home Depot in Ventura County in a single day,” said Ventura County Sheriff Jim Fryhoff at this week’s news conference.
“Then the boosters would deliver the stolen items in trash bags or Home Depot boxes to his business or to his home, where he paid them in cash,” Fryhoff said. Prosecutors say he owned Arya Wholesale in the Tarzana neighborhood and lived in nearby Woodland Hills.
Ahl has pleaded not guilty to charges of organized retail theft and grand theft. His lawyer did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment. A phone message could not be left at his business.
Ahl’s brother-in-law and an ex-wife were also charged for allegedly reselling the stolen goods, including through online site eBay.
Authorities say they were able to crack the case due to two state-funded organized retail theft grants that supported specialized investigators and prosecutors. A new state law allowed authorities to consolidate the cases as they involved the same people across multiple counties.
Fed up with smash and grab thefts and organized criminal theft operations, California voters demanded more punitive measures of their elected officials. Last year, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation bringing back tough criminal penalties targeting large-scale stealing schemes, and voters in November approved a ballot measure making shoplifting a felony for repeat offenders.
New Jersey
Massive American Dream mall sued for selling clothes on a Sunday
On any given Sunday, the massive American Dream mall in New Jersey allows visitors to hit an indoor ski slope, surf an artificial wave, ride roller coasters — or shop for a new outfit at dozens of big-name retail stores.
One of those things is a problem, argues a new lawsuit against the massive entertainment and retail complex in East Rutherford – and it isn’t the thrill seekers.
American Dream, the suit from officials in nearby Paramus contends, is running afoul of a county law that has long prohibited the sale of nonessential items such as clothing, appliances and furniture on Sundays.
Such “blue laws” date back centuries in New Jersey and were originally rooted in religion. But modern proponents say they offer a welcome break for locals from traffic and noise in a region near New York City that’s teeming with shoppers throughout the week.
Officials in Paramus, a major shopping hub that boasts three large malls and miles of strip malls, say nearly every other retail store in the county is closed to shoppers on Sundays.
That was originally the plan for American Dream when it opened in 2019, adjacent to MetLife Stadium, where the NFL’s Jets and Giants play. Retail stores would close on Sunday, while the theme parks in the mall would remain open — but a report by NorthJersey.com in January says retailers there had also been opening their doors the extra day for nearly a year.
“These businesses, with the encouragement and support of the mall’s ownership and the acquiescence of the other defendants here, have violated the law hundreds if not thousands of times since January,” argues the lawsuit filed in state Superior Court.
A statement from American Dream argued that Bergen County’s blue laws don’t apply to the complex, because it sits on state-owned property.
But Paramus Mayor Christopher DiPiazza said that American Dream had “promised on record” that it would follow the county’s blue laws once it opened.
A transcript from a 2011 public hearing shows Tony Armlin, then the vice president of development and construction for mall owner Triple Five, saying the laws “prohibit our ability to have retail activities on Sundays,” which he said would restrict the impact of traffic.
Jim Tedesco, the executive of Bergen County — which is also named in the suit — said in a statement American Dream’s operators had “personally assured” him that they would keep retailers shut on Sunday before the mall opened.
“They broke that promise,” he said. “Their decision to operate retail on Sundays not only violates state statute, it gives them an unfair advantage over every other business in Bergen County that is following the law.”
The suit also names East Rutherford, whose mayor did not return a request for comment, and the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority. The NJSEA and the state attorney general’s office declined comment because they don’t discuss pending litigation.
New Jersey’s blue laws initially were far stricter and enforced statewide. They banned not just business operations but also leisure activities and nonessential travel, with proponents arguing the state and the nation had a moral obligation to protect the Sabbath from commerce and recreation.
While most New Jersey counties no longer have them, leaders in Bergen County have repeatedly resisted attempts to repeal them, and the measures have been upheld by county voters.
