New York
U.S. jury issues $20M verdict against bank over atrocities in Sudan
A federal jury in New York has issued a nearly $21 million verdict against France’s largest bank for giving the Sudanese government access to the U.S. financial system as it engaged in atrocities two decades ago.
The woman and two men who obtained the verdict against BNP Paribas S.A. are U.S. citizens who left Sudan after being displaced, losing their homes and property. They were awarded amounts of between $6.7 million and $7.3 million apiece on Friday after jurors deliberated for about four hours.
In an Aug. 28 pretrial memo, the plaintiffs argued BNP Paribas helped the Sudanese government “carry out one of the most notorious campaigns of persecution in modern history.”
“They’re very gratified that steps on the road toward justice are being achieved, and they’re happy that the bank is being held responsible for its abhorrent conduct,” their lawyer, Adam Levitt, said Saturday.
A spokesperson for BNP Paribas said in an email the result “is clearly wrong and there are very strong grounds to appeal the verdict” and that the bank had not been allowed to introduce important evidence.
The bank argued Sudan had other sources of money and that the company did not knowingly help the government engage in human rights abuses under former President Omar al-Bashir.
BNP Paribas gave Sudanese authorities access to international money markets from at least 2002 to 2008. As many as 300,000 people were killed and 2.7 million driven from their homes in the Darfur region over the years. The litigation pertains to government actions in many parts of the country.
Al-Bashir is being held in a military-run detention facility in northern Sudan, his lawyer said earlier this month. He has been charged by the International Criminal Court with crimes that include genocide but has not been handed over to face justice in The Hague. Sudan plunged into a civil war more than two years ago, sparking what aid organizations have described as one of the world’s worst displacement and hunger crises.
Lawyers for the French bank argued it did not have liability, saying in an August court filing that, “Human rights abuses in Sudan did not start with BNPP, did not end when BNPP left Sudan, and were not caused by BNPP.”
BNP Paribas, they wrote, “never participated in Sudanese military transactions in any way — it never financed Sudan’s purchase of arms, and there is no evidence linking any specific transaction to Plaintiffs’ injuries.”
Levitt, the plaintiffs’ attorney, called the case a “bellwether trial” with findings he hopes to apply to other Sudanese refugees, 23,000 U.S. citizens, who are members of the class-action case.
The BNP spokesperson said the verdict was specific to the three plaintiffs and “should not have broader application beyond this decision.”
In 2014, BNP Paribas agree to pay nearly $9 billion to settle a case by entering a guilty plea in New York and acknowledging it processed billions of dollars in transactions for clients in Sudan as well as Cuba and Iran.
New York
Former prison guard found guilty in beating death of inmate, 2 others acquitted
UTICA, N.Y. (AP) — A former New York state prison guard was found guilty of murder in the death of an inmate beaten while handcuffed, while two other guards were acquitted for their roles in the beating that was caught on body-camera footage.
A jury delivered the verdicts in a courtroom just miles from the Marcy Correctional Facility, where Robert Brooks was pummeled by correctional officers upon his arrival on the night of Dec. 9. Five guards indicted in February had previously pleaded guilty to manslaughter in Brooks’ death.
David Kingsley, Mathew Galliher and Nicholas Kieffer were charged with murder and first-degree manslaughter.
Kingsley was found guilty of murder and manslaughter, while Galliher and Kieffer were acquitted.
Kieffer and Galliher were also charged with second-degree gang assault, but found not guilty. Kieffer faced a fourth charge of filing a false instrument.
Brooks was beaten three separate times as soon as he arrived at the prison, the last being the fatal beating in the infirmary caught on the silent body-camera footage, according to Onondaga County District Attorney William Fitzpatrick.
The video footage of Brooks in handcuffs being punched, stomped and lifted by the neck triggered widespread shock and was central to the prosecution’s case at trial. The video has no sound, but the guards doling out the punishment and watching it unfold appear unconcerned.
Brooks suffered a badly broken nose, a black eye and injuries to the spleen, liver and groin. Blood leaked into his lungs and stomach, officials said.
Defense lawyers told the jury their clients should not be judged for the violent acts of other guards that night and that their actions did not make them guilty of the serious crimes they were charged with. Kieffer pepper sprayed Brooks, Galliher attached shackles to Brooks’ ankles and Kingsley lifted him by the neck, according to attorneys and body-camera video.
William Fitzpatrick, the special prosecutor, told the jury that all guards acted together as a gang and “they all killed that man.” The murder charges accuse the officers of acting in a way that showed a depraved indifference to human life.
Brooks had been serving a 12-year sentence for first-degree assault since 2017. He was transferred that night from a nearby prison.
Six of the 10 guards indicted in February were charged with murder. In addition to five guards who pleaded guilty to first- or second-degree manslaughter, another guard pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of attempted tampering with physical evidence.
Another corrections officer is scheduled to go on trial for second-degree manslaughter in January.
Three more have agreed to plead guilty to reduced charges and are cooperating with prosecutors, including two former guards who testified at the trial.
Fitzpatrick took over the case as a special prosecutor after state Attorney General Letitia James recused herself, citing her office’s representation of several officers in separate civil lawsuits.
Fitzpatrick also is prosecuting guards in the fatal beating of Messiah Nantwi on March 1 at a nearby prison, the Mid-State Correctional Facility. Ten guards were indicted in April, including two who are charged with murder, in Nantwi’s death.
California
Labor leader’s felony charge over immigration protest is reduced
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The leader of a labor union in Southern California who was arrested while protesting an immigration raid earlier this year will have his felony obstruction charge reduced to a misdemeanor, court records show.
David Huerta had been charged with obstruction, resistance or opposition to a federal officer — a class A felony, according to a Friday filing by Acting U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli in federal court.
However, prosecutors filed a proposed order Saturday seeking dismissal without prejudice of the original felony charge of conspiracy to impede an officer.
The Justice Department confirmed Saturday in an email to The Associated Press that it had moved to dismiss the felony complaint against Huerta.
Huerta is president of the Service Employees International Union California. He was arrested June 6 while protesting outside a business in Los Angeles where federal agents were investigating suspected immigration violations.
A crowd of people gathered outside yelling at the officers. Huerta sat down in front of a vehicular gate and encouraged others to walk in circles to try to prevent law enforcement from going in or out, a special agent for Homeland Security Investigations, which is part of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, wrote in an earlier federal court filing.
An officer told Huerta to leave, then put his hands on Huerta to move him out of the way of a vehicle, the agent wrote. Huerta pushed back, and the officer pushed Huerta to the ground and arrested him, according to the filing.
Huerta later was released from federal custody on a $50,000 bond.
Huerta’s union represents hundreds of thousands of janitors, security officers and other workers across California. His arrest became a rallying cry for immigrant advocates across the country as they called for his release and an end to President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.
Abbe David Lowell and Marilyn Bednarski, Huerta’s attorneys, said in a statement that they will seek “the speediest trial” to vindicate him.
“This case is not a good-faith pursuit of justice but a bald act of retaliation, designed to silence dissent and punish opposition,” they wrote. “It reflects the Trump Administration’s continued weaponization of prosecutorial power against its perceived opponents.”
Florida
Criminal charges dropped against man who abandoned dog before Hurricane Milton’s landfall
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Criminal charges have been dropped against a Florida man who authorities said abandoned his dog in floodwaters near a highway as residents evacuated Florida’s Gulf Coast last year shortly before Hurricane Milton made landfall.
The case led to legislation signed into law this year by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, enhancing penalties on people who abandon pets during natural disasters.
Tampa-area prosecutors on Wednesday filed a court notice that they were dropping charges against the 24-year-old man from Ruskin, Florida, who had faced a count of felony aggravated animal cruelty. The “nolle prosequi” notice usually is filed when there’s a lack of evidence or witnesses.
The bull terrier, nicknamed Trooper by the Florida Highway Patrol, was alive when he was found by a trooper in floodwaters up to his chest along Interstate 75 in the Tampa area as residents evacuated Florida’s Gulf Coast hours before the Category 3 hurricane made landfall.
Troopers brought him to a vet, where he was examined for injuries and received a clean bill of health. He eventually was adopted by a couple in the Fort Lauderdale area.
Massachusetts
Teen charged after school staff member dies from a kick to the chest
SWANSEA, Mass. (AP) — A staff member at a residential school in Massachusetts died after being kicked in the chest while trying to restrain a 14-year-old student, and the girl is charged with assault, a prosecutor said.
The incident happened Wednesday night at Meadowridge Academy in Swansea, which is described as a residential therapeutic school for young people with mental health issues, behavioral problems and trauma.
Amy Morrell, 53, of Riverside, Rhode Island, and several other staff members tried to restrain the student who was trying to leave a dorm building without permission, Bristol County District Attorney Thomas Quinn said in a statement. Quinn said the girl, who has not been publicly identified due to her age, kicked Morrell in the chest. Morrell collapsed and was taken to a local hospital, where she later died.
Officials have not released a cause of death.
The student was arraigned Thursday in Fall River Juvenile Court on a charge of assault and battery causing serious bodily injury.
The school said it was “deeply saddened” by Morrell’s death.
“We extend our heartfelt condolences to Amy’s family during this difficult time,” the school said in a statement. “Support services and resources are available to assist students and staff as we grieve this tragic loss.”
U.S. jury issues $20M verdict against bank over atrocities in Sudan
A federal jury in New York has issued a nearly $21 million verdict against France’s largest bank for giving the Sudanese government access to the U.S. financial system as it engaged in atrocities two decades ago.
The woman and two men who obtained the verdict against BNP Paribas S.A. are U.S. citizens who left Sudan after being displaced, losing their homes and property. They were awarded amounts of between $6.7 million and $7.3 million apiece on Friday after jurors deliberated for about four hours.
In an Aug. 28 pretrial memo, the plaintiffs argued BNP Paribas helped the Sudanese government “carry out one of the most notorious campaigns of persecution in modern history.”
“They’re very gratified that steps on the road toward justice are being achieved, and they’re happy that the bank is being held responsible for its abhorrent conduct,” their lawyer, Adam Levitt, said Saturday.
A spokesperson for BNP Paribas said in an email the result “is clearly wrong and there are very strong grounds to appeal the verdict” and that the bank had not been allowed to introduce important evidence.
The bank argued Sudan had other sources of money and that the company did not knowingly help the government engage in human rights abuses under former President Omar al-Bashir.
BNP Paribas gave Sudanese authorities access to international money markets from at least 2002 to 2008. As many as 300,000 people were killed and 2.7 million driven from their homes in the Darfur region over the years. The litigation pertains to government actions in many parts of the country.
Al-Bashir is being held in a military-run detention facility in northern Sudan, his lawyer said earlier this month. He has been charged by the International Criminal Court with crimes that include genocide but has not been handed over to face justice in The Hague. Sudan plunged into a civil war more than two years ago, sparking what aid organizations have described as one of the world’s worst displacement and hunger crises.
Lawyers for the French bank argued it did not have liability, saying in an August court filing that, “Human rights abuses in Sudan did not start with BNPP, did not end when BNPP left Sudan, and were not caused by BNPP.”
BNP Paribas, they wrote, “never participated in Sudanese military transactions in any way — it never financed Sudan’s purchase of arms, and there is no evidence linking any specific transaction to Plaintiffs’ injuries.”
Levitt, the plaintiffs’ attorney, called the case a “bellwether trial” with findings he hopes to apply to other Sudanese refugees, 23,000 U.S. citizens, who are members of the class-action case.
The BNP spokesperson said the verdict was specific to the three plaintiffs and “should not have broader application beyond this decision.”
In 2014, BNP Paribas agree to pay nearly $9 billion to settle a case by entering a guilty plea in New York and acknowledging it processed billions of dollars in transactions for clients in Sudan as well as Cuba and Iran.
New York
Former prison guard found guilty in beating death of inmate, 2 others acquitted
UTICA, N.Y. (AP) — A former New York state prison guard was found guilty of murder in the death of an inmate beaten while handcuffed, while two other guards were acquitted for their roles in the beating that was caught on body-camera footage.
A jury delivered the verdicts in a courtroom just miles from the Marcy Correctional Facility, where Robert Brooks was pummeled by correctional officers upon his arrival on the night of Dec. 9. Five guards indicted in February had previously pleaded guilty to manslaughter in Brooks’ death.
David Kingsley, Mathew Galliher and Nicholas Kieffer were charged with murder and first-degree manslaughter.
Kingsley was found guilty of murder and manslaughter, while Galliher and Kieffer were acquitted.
Kieffer and Galliher were also charged with second-degree gang assault, but found not guilty. Kieffer faced a fourth charge of filing a false instrument.
Brooks was beaten three separate times as soon as he arrived at the prison, the last being the fatal beating in the infirmary caught on the silent body-camera footage, according to Onondaga County District Attorney William Fitzpatrick.
The video footage of Brooks in handcuffs being punched, stomped and lifted by the neck triggered widespread shock and was central to the prosecution’s case at trial. The video has no sound, but the guards doling out the punishment and watching it unfold appear unconcerned.
Brooks suffered a badly broken nose, a black eye and injuries to the spleen, liver and groin. Blood leaked into his lungs and stomach, officials said.
Defense lawyers told the jury their clients should not be judged for the violent acts of other guards that night and that their actions did not make them guilty of the serious crimes they were charged with. Kieffer pepper sprayed Brooks, Galliher attached shackles to Brooks’ ankles and Kingsley lifted him by the neck, according to attorneys and body-camera video.
William Fitzpatrick, the special prosecutor, told the jury that all guards acted together as a gang and “they all killed that man.” The murder charges accuse the officers of acting in a way that showed a depraved indifference to human life.
Brooks had been serving a 12-year sentence for first-degree assault since 2017. He was transferred that night from a nearby prison.
Six of the 10 guards indicted in February were charged with murder. In addition to five guards who pleaded guilty to first- or second-degree manslaughter, another guard pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of attempted tampering with physical evidence.
Another corrections officer is scheduled to go on trial for second-degree manslaughter in January.
Three more have agreed to plead guilty to reduced charges and are cooperating with prosecutors, including two former guards who testified at the trial.
Fitzpatrick took over the case as a special prosecutor after state Attorney General Letitia James recused herself, citing her office’s representation of several officers in separate civil lawsuits.
Fitzpatrick also is prosecuting guards in the fatal beating of Messiah Nantwi on March 1 at a nearby prison, the Mid-State Correctional Facility. Ten guards were indicted in April, including two who are charged with murder, in Nantwi’s death.
California
Labor leader’s felony charge over immigration protest is reduced
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The leader of a labor union in Southern California who was arrested while protesting an immigration raid earlier this year will have his felony obstruction charge reduced to a misdemeanor, court records show.
David Huerta had been charged with obstruction, resistance or opposition to a federal officer — a class A felony, according to a Friday filing by Acting U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli in federal court.
However, prosecutors filed a proposed order Saturday seeking dismissal without prejudice of the original felony charge of conspiracy to impede an officer.
The Justice Department confirmed Saturday in an email to The Associated Press that it had moved to dismiss the felony complaint against Huerta.
Huerta is president of the Service Employees International Union California. He was arrested June 6 while protesting outside a business in Los Angeles where federal agents were investigating suspected immigration violations.
A crowd of people gathered outside yelling at the officers. Huerta sat down in front of a vehicular gate and encouraged others to walk in circles to try to prevent law enforcement from going in or out, a special agent for Homeland Security Investigations, which is part of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, wrote in an earlier federal court filing.
An officer told Huerta to leave, then put his hands on Huerta to move him out of the way of a vehicle, the agent wrote. Huerta pushed back, and the officer pushed Huerta to the ground and arrested him, according to the filing.
Huerta later was released from federal custody on a $50,000 bond.
Huerta’s union represents hundreds of thousands of janitors, security officers and other workers across California. His arrest became a rallying cry for immigrant advocates across the country as they called for his release and an end to President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.
Abbe David Lowell and Marilyn Bednarski, Huerta’s attorneys, said in a statement that they will seek “the speediest trial” to vindicate him.
“This case is not a good-faith pursuit of justice but a bald act of retaliation, designed to silence dissent and punish opposition,” they wrote. “It reflects the Trump Administration’s continued weaponization of prosecutorial power against its perceived opponents.”
Florida
Criminal charges dropped against man who abandoned dog before Hurricane Milton’s landfall
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Criminal charges have been dropped against a Florida man who authorities said abandoned his dog in floodwaters near a highway as residents evacuated Florida’s Gulf Coast last year shortly before Hurricane Milton made landfall.
The case led to legislation signed into law this year by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, enhancing penalties on people who abandon pets during natural disasters.
Tampa-area prosecutors on Wednesday filed a court notice that they were dropping charges against the 24-year-old man from Ruskin, Florida, who had faced a count of felony aggravated animal cruelty. The “nolle prosequi” notice usually is filed when there’s a lack of evidence or witnesses.
The bull terrier, nicknamed Trooper by the Florida Highway Patrol, was alive when he was found by a trooper in floodwaters up to his chest along Interstate 75 in the Tampa area as residents evacuated Florida’s Gulf Coast hours before the Category 3 hurricane made landfall.
Troopers brought him to a vet, where he was examined for injuries and received a clean bill of health. He eventually was adopted by a couple in the Fort Lauderdale area.
Massachusetts
Teen charged after school staff member dies from a kick to the chest
SWANSEA, Mass. (AP) — A staff member at a residential school in Massachusetts died after being kicked in the chest while trying to restrain a 14-year-old student, and the girl is charged with assault, a prosecutor said.
The incident happened Wednesday night at Meadowridge Academy in Swansea, which is described as a residential therapeutic school for young people with mental health issues, behavioral problems and trauma.
Amy Morrell, 53, of Riverside, Rhode Island, and several other staff members tried to restrain the student who was trying to leave a dorm building without permission, Bristol County District Attorney Thomas Quinn said in a statement. Quinn said the girl, who has not been publicly identified due to her age, kicked Morrell in the chest. Morrell collapsed and was taken to a local hospital, where she later died.
Officials have not released a cause of death.
The student was arraigned Thursday in Fall River Juvenile Court on a charge of assault and battery causing serious bodily injury.
The school said it was “deeply saddened” by Morrell’s death.
“We extend our heartfelt condolences to Amy’s family during this difficult time,” the school said in a statement. “Support services and resources are available to assist students and staff as we grieve this tragic loss.”
