New York
Judge orders HHS to restore funding for children's health programs as suit continues
NEW YORK (AP) — A federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to restore nearly $12 million in funding to the American Academy of Pediatrics, including money for rural health care and the early identification of disabilities in young children.
U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell in Washington, D.C., awarded the preliminary injunction late Sunday, siding with AAP in saying evidence showed the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services likely had a "retaliatory motive" when it terminated grants to the pediatric group in December.
"This is not a case about whether AAP or HHS is right or even has the better position on vaccinations and gender-affirming care for children, or any other public health policy," Howell wrote in her decision. "This is a case about whether the federal government has exercised power in a manner designed to chill public health policy debate by retaliating against a leading and generally trusted pediatrician member professional organization focused on improving the health of children."
The seven grants terminated in December supported numerous public health programs, including efforts to prevent sudden unexpected infant death, strengthen pediatric care in rural communities and support teens facing substance use and mental health challenges.
AAP alleged the cuts were made in retaliation for the group speaking out against the Trump administration's positions and actions. HHS said in letters to AAP that the grants were cut because they no longer aligned with the department's priorities. The department has denied AAP's allegations of retaliation.
AAP has been vocal about its support for pediatric vaccines and has publicly opposed HHS positions. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — who helped lead the anti-vaccine movement for years — has made sweeping changes to childhood vaccine recommendations. Last year, the pediatrics group released its own recommendations on COVID-19 vaccines, which substantially diverged from the government's guidance.
The group also supports access to gender-affirming care and has publicly criticized HHS positions on the topic, saying it opposes what it calls the government's infringements on the doctor-patient relationship.
Explaining her decision, Howell said that AAP had shown it would likely suffer irreparable harm from the cuts. She also said the group had shown the public interest was in its favor in allowing the programs to continue as the lawsuit plays out.
Skye Perryman, president and CEO of Democracy Forward, which is representing AAP in the lawsuit, said the ruling shows that "no administration gets to silence doctors, undermine public health, or put kids at risk, and we will not stop fighting until this unlawful retaliation is fully ended."
A spokesperson for HHS declined comment. Attorneys representing HHS in the lawsuit did not immediately respond to emailed inquiries.
Virginia
Husband faces homicide after having affair with Brazilian au pair
FAIRFAX, Va. (AP) — A Virginia man who had a relationship with a Brazilian au pair is going to trial Monday in what prosecutors say was an elaborate double-murder scheme to frame another man in the stabbing of his wife.
Brendan Banfield is charged with aggravated murder in the February 2023 killings of Christine Banfield and Joseph Ryan at the Banfields' home in northern Virginia. He has pleaded not guilty in the case.
Banfield and Juliana Peres Magalhães, the family's au pair, were with the wife and Ryan on the morning the victims were killed in the primary bedroom of the Banfield home, court records say. Authorities have said on that day, Banfield and Magalhães told officials they saw Ryan, a stranger, stabbing the wife after he entered the house. Then they each shot the intruder, Banfield and Magalhães said at the time.
Prosecutors have painted a different picture, arguing that Brendan Banfield and Magalhães lured Ryan to the house and staged it to look like he and the au pair shot a predator in defense. Officials have said Banfield and Magalhães had a romantic affair beginning the year before the killings.
Both the au pair and husband were arrested between 2023 and 2024 and initially handed murder charges in the case. In 2024, Magalhães pleaded guilty to a downgraded manslaughter charge after giving a statement to officials confirming parts of their theory.
In that statement, Magalhães said she and Brendan Banfield created an account in his wife's name on a social media platform for people interested in sexual fetishes. There, Ryan connected with the account in Christine Banfield's name, and the users made plans to meet on the morning of Feb. 24, 2023, for a sexual encounter that would involve a knife, authorities said based on the statement from Magalhães.
Prosecutor Eric Clingan said last year that the au pair's statement helped the state solidify its theory ahead of trial.
"With 12 different homicide detectives, there were 24 different theories," Clingan said. "Now, one theory."
Not all officials investigating the case have believed Banfield and Magalhães catfished Ryan.
Brendan Miller, a former digital forensic examiner with the Fairfax County Police Department, testified last year that he analyzed dozens of devices and concluded Christine Banfield had connected with Ryan herself through the social networking platform.
An evidence analysis team at the University of Alabama peer-reviewed and affirmed Miller's digital forensic findings, according to evidence submitted to the court.
Miller was transferred out of the department's digital forensics unit in late 2024, though a former Fairfax County commander testified the reassignment was not punitive or disciplinary.
John Carroll, Banfield's attorney, argued that Millers' transfer was directly tethered to the case. He also said in court that Fairfax County police reassigned the case's lead detective after that man had pushed back on the top brass' catfishing theory.
"It is a theory in search of facts rather than a series of facts supporting a theory," Carroll said.
Banfield, whose daughter was at the house on the morning of the killings, is also charged with child abuse and felony child cruelty in connection with the case. He will also face those charges during the aggravated murder trial.
Michigan
Man convicted of sexually assaulting girls, furnishing them with meth
On Jan. 8, Anthony Cuyler, 47, a Branch County resident extradited from Mexico in April 2024, was convicted by a Branch County jury of three counts of First-Degree Criminal Sexual Conduct and one count of Delivery of Methamphetamine to a Minor, announced Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel. Cuyler was charged by the Branch County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office in 2019 for sexually assaulting two minor children, girls aged 11 and 12 years old, and for providing them with methamphetamine.
Cuyler fled and eluded authorities for years before being located in Mexico and returned to Branch County. The extradition of Cuyler from Mexico was conducted by the U.S. Marshals Service as part of Operation Survivor Justice. The Operation is a partnership between the Michigan Department of Attorney General, local county prosecutors, and the U.S. Marshals Service to locate, apprehend, and return to Michigan fugitive offenders with outstanding sexual assault warrants.
A sentencing date has not yet been set.
Virginia
Man pleads not guilty to charges in pipe bomb case
WASHINGTON (AP) — A Virginia man has pleaded not guilty to charges accusing him of planting two pipe bombs outside the headquarters of the Democratic and Republican national parties on the eve of the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021.
Brian J. Cole Jr., of Woodbridge, Virginia, entered the plea at a brief hearing on Friday.
He is facing two counts of transporting and attempting to use explosives.
Justice Department prosecutors have said that Cole confessed to placing pipe bombs outside the Republican National Committee and the Democratic National Committee headquarters only hours before a mob of President Donald Trump's supporters stormed the Capitol. Cole said he hoped the explosives would detonate and "hoped there would be news about it," prosecutors wrote in court documents.
After his arrest last month, Cole told investigators that he believed someone needed to "speak up" for people who believed the 2020 election, which Democrat Joe Biden won, was stolen and that he wanted to target the country's political parties because they were "in charge," according to prosecutors.
If convicted of both charges against him, Cole faces up to 10 years of imprisonment on one charge and up to 20 years of imprisonment on a second charge that also carries a five-year mandatory minimum prison sentence.
Michigan
Man bound over to circuit court on charge of second-degree murder
Kayvon Briscoe Hall, 20, charged with Second-Degree Murder for the alleged shooting death of his housemate, was bound over to the circuit court for trial, according to Macomb County Prosecutor Peter J. Lucido.
Wednesday, January 7, 2026, marked the second consecutive day of the preliminary examination hearing for Briscoe Hall. Following the proceedings, 37th District Court Judge Suzanne Faunce bound Briscoe Hall over to circuit court on all charges. The hearing was conducted by Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Elizabeth Abbo.
Briscoe Hall will be arraigned before Macomb County Circuit Court Judge Kathryn A. Viviano on Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026 at 1:30 p.m. He is facing the following charges: Homicide – Murder – Second-Degree, a felony, punishable by life or any term of years; Weapons - Felony Firearm, a 2-year felony, consecutive to main charge.
Briscoe Hall is being held without bond at the Macomb County Jail.
It is alleged that on Thursday, Oct. 2, 2025, Warren police were dispatched to a home following a report of a shooting and discovered 63-year-old Roger Willie, Briscoe Hall’s housemate, lying unresponsive on the floor and bleeding from apparent gunshot wounds. Officers rendered life-saving aid until Warren firefighters arrived and transported Willie to Henry Ford Macomb Hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.
Michigan
Ex-funeral home director to stand trial for alleged embezzlement scheme
On Friday, Terry Alvin Kaufman, 72, of Bad Axe, waived preliminary examination and was bound over to stand trial in the 52nd Circuit Court in Huron County for allegedly embezzling and converting funds he received for prepaid funerals and funeral insurance policies, announced Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel. Kaufman, who founded and operated Kaufman & Co. Funeral Home in Huron County, has been charged with: One count of Conducting a Criminal Enterprise, a 20-year felony; Two counts of Embezzlement by an Agent $20,000 or More But Less Than $50,000, each a 10-year felony; Five counts of Embezzlement by an Agent $1,000 or More But Less Than $20,000, each a 5-year felony; and 31 counts of Conversion of Funeral Contracts, each a 5-year felony.
Kaufman allegedly collected $192,824.98 through the Huron County Public Guardian but failed to properly escrow any of the funds. Instead, Kaufman is accused of embezzling and converting money from 55 victims to his own use, including paying his own salary, over the past 10 years.
Kaufman will next appear in the 52nd Circuit Court on February 2 before Judge Gerald M. Prill.
Judge orders HHS to restore funding for children's health programs as suit continues
NEW YORK (AP) — A federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to restore nearly $12 million in funding to the American Academy of Pediatrics, including money for rural health care and the early identification of disabilities in young children.
U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell in Washington, D.C., awarded the preliminary injunction late Sunday, siding with AAP in saying evidence showed the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services likely had a "retaliatory motive" when it terminated grants to the pediatric group in December.
"This is not a case about whether AAP or HHS is right or even has the better position on vaccinations and gender-affirming care for children, or any other public health policy," Howell wrote in her decision. "This is a case about whether the federal government has exercised power in a manner designed to chill public health policy debate by retaliating against a leading and generally trusted pediatrician member professional organization focused on improving the health of children."
The seven grants terminated in December supported numerous public health programs, including efforts to prevent sudden unexpected infant death, strengthen pediatric care in rural communities and support teens facing substance use and mental health challenges.
AAP alleged the cuts were made in retaliation for the group speaking out against the Trump administration's positions and actions. HHS said in letters to AAP that the grants were cut because they no longer aligned with the department's priorities. The department has denied AAP's allegations of retaliation.
AAP has been vocal about its support for pediatric vaccines and has publicly opposed HHS positions. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — who helped lead the anti-vaccine movement for years — has made sweeping changes to childhood vaccine recommendations. Last year, the pediatrics group released its own recommendations on COVID-19 vaccines, which substantially diverged from the government's guidance.
The group also supports access to gender-affirming care and has publicly criticized HHS positions on the topic, saying it opposes what it calls the government's infringements on the doctor-patient relationship.
Explaining her decision, Howell said that AAP had shown it would likely suffer irreparable harm from the cuts. She also said the group had shown the public interest was in its favor in allowing the programs to continue as the lawsuit plays out.
Skye Perryman, president and CEO of Democracy Forward, which is representing AAP in the lawsuit, said the ruling shows that "no administration gets to silence doctors, undermine public health, or put kids at risk, and we will not stop fighting until this unlawful retaliation is fully ended."
A spokesperson for HHS declined comment. Attorneys representing HHS in the lawsuit did not immediately respond to emailed inquiries.
Virginia
Husband faces homicide after having affair with Brazilian au pair
FAIRFAX, Va. (AP) — A Virginia man who had a relationship with a Brazilian au pair is going to trial Monday in what prosecutors say was an elaborate double-murder scheme to frame another man in the stabbing of his wife.
Brendan Banfield is charged with aggravated murder in the February 2023 killings of Christine Banfield and Joseph Ryan at the Banfields' home in northern Virginia. He has pleaded not guilty in the case.
Banfield and Juliana Peres Magalhães, the family's au pair, were with the wife and Ryan on the morning the victims were killed in the primary bedroom of the Banfield home, court records say. Authorities have said on that day, Banfield and Magalhães told officials they saw Ryan, a stranger, stabbing the wife after he entered the house. Then they each shot the intruder, Banfield and Magalhães said at the time.
Prosecutors have painted a different picture, arguing that Brendan Banfield and Magalhães lured Ryan to the house and staged it to look like he and the au pair shot a predator in defense. Officials have said Banfield and Magalhães had a romantic affair beginning the year before the killings.
Both the au pair and husband were arrested between 2023 and 2024 and initially handed murder charges in the case. In 2024, Magalhães pleaded guilty to a downgraded manslaughter charge after giving a statement to officials confirming parts of their theory.
In that statement, Magalhães said she and Brendan Banfield created an account in his wife's name on a social media platform for people interested in sexual fetishes. There, Ryan connected with the account in Christine Banfield's name, and the users made plans to meet on the morning of Feb. 24, 2023, for a sexual encounter that would involve a knife, authorities said based on the statement from Magalhães.
Prosecutor Eric Clingan said last year that the au pair's statement helped the state solidify its theory ahead of trial.
"With 12 different homicide detectives, there were 24 different theories," Clingan said. "Now, one theory."
Not all officials investigating the case have believed Banfield and Magalhães catfished Ryan.
Brendan Miller, a former digital forensic examiner with the Fairfax County Police Department, testified last year that he analyzed dozens of devices and concluded Christine Banfield had connected with Ryan herself through the social networking platform.
An evidence analysis team at the University of Alabama peer-reviewed and affirmed Miller's digital forensic findings, according to evidence submitted to the court.
Miller was transferred out of the department's digital forensics unit in late 2024, though a former Fairfax County commander testified the reassignment was not punitive or disciplinary.
John Carroll, Banfield's attorney, argued that Millers' transfer was directly tethered to the case. He also said in court that Fairfax County police reassigned the case's lead detective after that man had pushed back on the top brass' catfishing theory.
"It is a theory in search of facts rather than a series of facts supporting a theory," Carroll said.
Banfield, whose daughter was at the house on the morning of the killings, is also charged with child abuse and felony child cruelty in connection with the case. He will also face those charges during the aggravated murder trial.
Michigan
Man convicted of sexually assaulting girls, furnishing them with meth
On Jan. 8, Anthony Cuyler, 47, a Branch County resident extradited from Mexico in April 2024, was convicted by a Branch County jury of three counts of First-Degree Criminal Sexual Conduct and one count of Delivery of Methamphetamine to a Minor, announced Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel. Cuyler was charged by the Branch County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office in 2019 for sexually assaulting two minor children, girls aged 11 and 12 years old, and for providing them with methamphetamine.
Cuyler fled and eluded authorities for years before being located in Mexico and returned to Branch County. The extradition of Cuyler from Mexico was conducted by the U.S. Marshals Service as part of Operation Survivor Justice. The Operation is a partnership between the Michigan Department of Attorney General, local county prosecutors, and the U.S. Marshals Service to locate, apprehend, and return to Michigan fugitive offenders with outstanding sexual assault warrants.
A sentencing date has not yet been set.
Virginia
Man pleads not guilty to charges in pipe bomb case
WASHINGTON (AP) — A Virginia man has pleaded not guilty to charges accusing him of planting two pipe bombs outside the headquarters of the Democratic and Republican national parties on the eve of the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021.
Brian J. Cole Jr., of Woodbridge, Virginia, entered the plea at a brief hearing on Friday.
He is facing two counts of transporting and attempting to use explosives.
Justice Department prosecutors have said that Cole confessed to placing pipe bombs outside the Republican National Committee and the Democratic National Committee headquarters only hours before a mob of President Donald Trump's supporters stormed the Capitol. Cole said he hoped the explosives would detonate and "hoped there would be news about it," prosecutors wrote in court documents.
After his arrest last month, Cole told investigators that he believed someone needed to "speak up" for people who believed the 2020 election, which Democrat Joe Biden won, was stolen and that he wanted to target the country's political parties because they were "in charge," according to prosecutors.
If convicted of both charges against him, Cole faces up to 10 years of imprisonment on one charge and up to 20 years of imprisonment on a second charge that also carries a five-year mandatory minimum prison sentence.
Michigan
Man bound over to circuit court on charge of second-degree murder
Kayvon Briscoe Hall, 20, charged with Second-Degree Murder for the alleged shooting death of his housemate, was bound over to the circuit court for trial, according to Macomb County Prosecutor Peter J. Lucido.
Wednesday, January 7, 2026, marked the second consecutive day of the preliminary examination hearing for Briscoe Hall. Following the proceedings, 37th District Court Judge Suzanne Faunce bound Briscoe Hall over to circuit court on all charges. The hearing was conducted by Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Elizabeth Abbo.
Briscoe Hall will be arraigned before Macomb County Circuit Court Judge Kathryn A. Viviano on Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026 at 1:30 p.m. He is facing the following charges: Homicide – Murder – Second-Degree, a felony, punishable by life or any term of years; Weapons - Felony Firearm, a 2-year felony, consecutive to main charge.
Briscoe Hall is being held without bond at the Macomb County Jail.
It is alleged that on Thursday, Oct. 2, 2025, Warren police were dispatched to a home following a report of a shooting and discovered 63-year-old Roger Willie, Briscoe Hall’s housemate, lying unresponsive on the floor and bleeding from apparent gunshot wounds. Officers rendered life-saving aid until Warren firefighters arrived and transported Willie to Henry Ford Macomb Hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.
Michigan
Ex-funeral home director to stand trial for alleged embezzlement scheme
On Friday, Terry Alvin Kaufman, 72, of Bad Axe, waived preliminary examination and was bound over to stand trial in the 52nd Circuit Court in Huron County for allegedly embezzling and converting funds he received for prepaid funerals and funeral insurance policies, announced Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel. Kaufman, who founded and operated Kaufman & Co. Funeral Home in Huron County, has been charged with: One count of Conducting a Criminal Enterprise, a 20-year felony; Two counts of Embezzlement by an Agent $20,000 or More But Less Than $50,000, each a 10-year felony; Five counts of Embezzlement by an Agent $1,000 or More But Less Than $20,000, each a 5-year felony; and 31 counts of Conversion of Funeral Contracts, each a 5-year felony.
Kaufman allegedly collected $192,824.98 through the Huron County Public Guardian but failed to properly escrow any of the funds. Instead, Kaufman is accused of embezzling and converting money from 55 victims to his own use, including paying his own salary, over the past 10 years.
Kaufman will next appear in the 52nd Circuit Court on February 2 before Judge Gerald M. Prill.
