California
In NIL case, judge’s decision about ‘associated entities’ will loom large in college spending
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — A federal magistrate heard arguments Wednesday over whether multimedia rights companies that represent university athletic departments are subject to the same rules governing millions in third party name-image-likeness payments to players that are reshaping college sports.
Magistrate Nathanael Cousins said he could rule on the matter brought by plaintiffs’ attorneys in the landmark House settlement by next week.
Many schools work with MMRs to act as the marketing arms for their athletic departments and arrange third-party NIL deals with athletes. During the 90-minute hearing, plaintiffs attorney Jeffrey Kessler argued that boosters and booster collectives, which have in some cases been replaced by MMRs as the key NIL negotiators, should be deemed associated entities but not the MMRs themselves.
If Cousins agrees that those companies are, in fact, “associated entities,” then deals they make would remain subject to scrutiny by the College Sports Commission, which was formed to analyze NIL contracts to make sure they conform with the guidelines set up by the House settlement.
If Cousins rules in favor of the plaintiffs, then those deals would not be subject to the same scrutiny, which could trigger more spending.
The CEO of the CSC, Bryan Seeley, released a statement saying leaders at the agency “remain confident that the CSC’s application of the rules related to associated entity status is correct and consistent with the settlement.”
A key test of this rule came last month when a neutral arbitrator ruled in favor of the CSC, which had rejected deals submitted on behalf of Nebraska football players via the school’s MMR partner.
Seeley said the rules are designed for disputes to be resolved through neutral arbitration, but plaintiff lawyers “brought this issue back to the federal court with no facts attached in an attempt to circumvent the process.”
New York
Judge acquits Democratic congressional candidate arrested at New York immigration court protest
NEW YORK (AP) — Democratic congressional candidate Brad Lander was acquitted Thursday of criminal charges related to his arrest last September at a protest inside a building that houses one of New York City’s immigration courts.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Henry J. Ricardo delivered his verdict exonerating Lander a day after presiding over a one-day trial in Manhattan.
“I find the defendant not guilty,” Ricardo said after reading a lengthy analysis of the evidence and Lander’s testimony. Lander jubilantly hugged his lawyers immediately after the proceeding ended.
Outside the courthouse, Lander, who is challenging U.S. Rep. Dan Goldman in the Democratic primary, said he was moved by the judge’s “thoughtful, thorough review and ruling in this case.”
“I feel genuinely moved by the rule of law,” Lander said, calling it a blessing to live in a country where someone can successfully fight the government when wrongfully charged.
He said he wishes that immigrants facing possible deportation from the U.S. could receive the same access to quality lawyers and the courts that he enjoyed.
Federal prosecutors unsuccessfully argued that Lander obstructed an elevator on the 10th floor of 26 Federal Plaza as he sat in front of it for 20 to 25 minutes on Sept. 18, 2025. Ricardo said the government had failed to show that Lander intended to obstruct the elevators or was uncooperative as members of federal law enforcement gave protesters conflicting instructions.
A spokesperson for prosecutors declined comment Thursday.
A day earlier, Lander had testified in his own defense that he had no intention of disrupting elevator traffic in the lower Manhattan building that houses 40 federal agencies, including the FBI.
Lander, formerly the city’s comptroller and an ally of Mayor Zohran Mamdani, testified that nobody told him to step away from the elevator or said he was obstructing it before his arrest.
Weeks after his arrest, he rejected a deal that would have dismissed the misdemeanor obstruction charge in six months.
The arrest was not the first time that Lander, who ran for mayor last year, has faced jeopardy during an immigration protest. He was arrested in June 2025 at an immigration court in Manhattan after he linked arms with a person authorities were trying to detain, but charges were never filed.
New Hampshire
Court reverses father’s murder conviction in case of missing 5-year-old girl
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — The New Hampshire Supreme Court on Thursday reversed a murder conviction for a man accused of killing his 5-year-old daughter and moving her corpse around for months before disposing of it.
Though her body has never been found, police believe Harmony Montgomery was killed in 2019, nearly two years before she was reported missing. Her father, Adam Montgomery was sentenced to a minimum of 56 years in prison in 2024 after being convicted of second-degree murder, abuse of a corpse, falsifying evidence, witness tampering and assault.
The Supreme Court, however, reversed the most serious charge, agreeing with Montgomery that the lesser assault charge should have been prosecuted separately. It sent the second-degree murder charge back to the lower court while letting the other convictions stand.
In their unanimous ruling, justices said combining the cases jeopardized Montgomery’s right to a fair trial because jurors may have used the stronger evidence about the assault to conclude based on weaker evidence that he killed her months later.
“There was a significant risk that the jury would draw the impermissible inference that because the defendant assaulted the victim before by striking her in the head, he must be the one who fatally assaulted her in December by again striking her in the head.”
The second-degree murder conviction accounts for 45 years of Montgomery’s 56-years-to-life sentence, which was imposed on top of an earlier 32 ½-year sentence he already was serving on unrelated gun charges.
The attorney general’s office did not respond to a request for comment Thursday on whether it plans to re-try him on the murder charge. Emails also were sent to Montgomery’s attorney.
In NIL case, judge’s decision about ‘associated entities’ will loom large in college spending
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — A federal magistrate heard arguments Wednesday over whether multimedia rights companies that represent university athletic departments are subject to the same rules governing millions in third party name-image-likeness payments to players that are reshaping college sports.
Magistrate Nathanael Cousins said he could rule on the matter brought by plaintiffs’ attorneys in the landmark House settlement by next week.
Many schools work with MMRs to act as the marketing arms for their athletic departments and arrange third-party NIL deals with athletes. During the 90-minute hearing, plaintiffs attorney Jeffrey Kessler argued that boosters and booster collectives, which have in some cases been replaced by MMRs as the key NIL negotiators, should be deemed associated entities but not the MMRs themselves.
If Cousins agrees that those companies are, in fact, “associated entities,” then deals they make would remain subject to scrutiny by the College Sports Commission, which was formed to analyze NIL contracts to make sure they conform with the guidelines set up by the House settlement.
If Cousins rules in favor of the plaintiffs, then those deals would not be subject to the same scrutiny, which could trigger more spending.
The CEO of the CSC, Bryan Seeley, released a statement saying leaders at the agency “remain confident that the CSC’s application of the rules related to associated entity status is correct and consistent with the settlement.”
A key test of this rule came last month when a neutral arbitrator ruled in favor of the CSC, which had rejected deals submitted on behalf of Nebraska football players via the school’s MMR partner.
Seeley said the rules are designed for disputes to be resolved through neutral arbitration, but plaintiff lawyers “brought this issue back to the federal court with no facts attached in an attempt to circumvent the process.”
New York
Judge acquits Democratic congressional candidate arrested at New York immigration court protest
NEW YORK (AP) — Democratic congressional candidate Brad Lander was acquitted Thursday of criminal charges related to his arrest last September at a protest inside a building that houses one of New York City’s immigration courts.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Henry J. Ricardo delivered his verdict exonerating Lander a day after presiding over a one-day trial in Manhattan.
“I find the defendant not guilty,” Ricardo said after reading a lengthy analysis of the evidence and Lander’s testimony. Lander jubilantly hugged his lawyers immediately after the proceeding ended.
Outside the courthouse, Lander, who is challenging U.S. Rep. Dan Goldman in the Democratic primary, said he was moved by the judge’s “thoughtful, thorough review and ruling in this case.”
“I feel genuinely moved by the rule of law,” Lander said, calling it a blessing to live in a country where someone can successfully fight the government when wrongfully charged.
He said he wishes that immigrants facing possible deportation from the U.S. could receive the same access to quality lawyers and the courts that he enjoyed.
Federal prosecutors unsuccessfully argued that Lander obstructed an elevator on the 10th floor of 26 Federal Plaza as he sat in front of it for 20 to 25 minutes on Sept. 18, 2025. Ricardo said the government had failed to show that Lander intended to obstruct the elevators or was uncooperative as members of federal law enforcement gave protesters conflicting instructions.
A spokesperson for prosecutors declined comment Thursday.
A day earlier, Lander had testified in his own defense that he had no intention of disrupting elevator traffic in the lower Manhattan building that houses 40 federal agencies, including the FBI.
Lander, formerly the city’s comptroller and an ally of Mayor Zohran Mamdani, testified that nobody told him to step away from the elevator or said he was obstructing it before his arrest.
Weeks after his arrest, he rejected a deal that would have dismissed the misdemeanor obstruction charge in six months.
The arrest was not the first time that Lander, who ran for mayor last year, has faced jeopardy during an immigration protest. He was arrested in June 2025 at an immigration court in Manhattan after he linked arms with a person authorities were trying to detain, but charges were never filed.
New Hampshire
Court reverses father’s murder conviction in case of missing 5-year-old girl
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — The New Hampshire Supreme Court on Thursday reversed a murder conviction for a man accused of killing his 5-year-old daughter and moving her corpse around for months before disposing of it.
Though her body has never been found, police believe Harmony Montgomery was killed in 2019, nearly two years before she was reported missing. Her father, Adam Montgomery was sentenced to a minimum of 56 years in prison in 2024 after being convicted of second-degree murder, abuse of a corpse, falsifying evidence, witness tampering and assault.
The Supreme Court, however, reversed the most serious charge, agreeing with Montgomery that the lesser assault charge should have been prosecuted separately. It sent the second-degree murder charge back to the lower court while letting the other convictions stand.
In their unanimous ruling, justices said combining the cases jeopardized Montgomery’s right to a fair trial because jurors may have used the stronger evidence about the assault to conclude based on weaker evidence that he killed her months later.
“There was a significant risk that the jury would draw the impermissible inference that because the defendant assaulted the victim before by striking her in the head, he must be the one who fatally assaulted her in December by again striking her in the head.”
The second-degree murder conviction accounts for 45 years of Montgomery’s 56-years-to-life sentence, which was imposed on top of an earlier 32 ½-year sentence he already was serving on unrelated gun charges.
The attorney general’s office did not respond to a request for comment Thursday on whether it plans to re-try him on the murder charge. Emails also were sent to Montgomery’s attorney.
