Prosecutors argue there’s no reason to delay sentencing in Trump’s hush money case
(NEW YORK) — There is no reason to delay the sentencing in Donald Trump’s criminal hush money case as the former president tries to move the case from state court into federal court, the Manhattan district attorney’s office said Tuesday in a letter to the judge overseeing the case.
Trump last week made his second request to push the case into federal court, after he was found guilty in May on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records related to a hush money payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels in order to boost his electoral prospects in the 2016 presidential election.
Sentencing in the case is currently scheduled for Sept. 18. The former president has also asked the judge overseeing the case, Juan Merchan, to postpone the sentencing until after the November election.
The district attorney’s office declined to take a position on when Trump’s sentencing should occur, leaving it to the discretion of the judge.
However, in their letter Tuesday to Judge Merchan, prosecutors Matthew Colangelo and Christopher Conroy argued that both of Trump’s requests can be handled simultaneously.
“We note that the concerns defendant expresses about timing are a function of his own strategic and dilatory litigation tactics: This second notice of removal comes nearly ten months after defendant voluntarily abandoned his appeal from his first, unsuccessful effort to remove this case; three months after he was found guilty by a jury on thirty-four felony counts; and nearly two months after defendant asked this Court to consider his CPL § 330.30 motion for a new trial,” Tuesday’s letter said.
(LOS ANGELES) — Search warrants were being executed Thursday by the Los Angeles Police Department in connection with the murder of “General Hospital” actor Johnny Wactor, multiple law enforcement sources told ABC News.
Some suspects may be detained, the sources said.
Wactor was shot “without provocation” around 3:25 a.m. on May 25, after he ended his shift at a bar and walked to his car, according to police.
He was confronted by three people who had his car “raised up with a floor jack and were in the process of stealing the catalytic converter,” police said in a statement.
In a press conference Tuesday, Wactor’s mother, Scarlett Wactor, urged Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and District Attorney George Gascón to strengthen the criminal justice system.
“It needs to start with LA. People watch you from across the country. And this is where change needs to start,” Scarlett Wactor said.
Scarlett Wactor told reporters what the loss of her son has meant to her.
“I’m beginning to sound like a broken record, but grief is my constant companion,” she said.
Earlier in August, police released new images of the three suspects accused of killing Wactor and the car they fled in.
Police asked for public assistance in identifying the three suspects.
The suspect accused of shooting Wactor has a tattoo above the left eye and on the right cheek, according to police.
The three individuals fled the scene in a black Infiniti Q50 Sedan, which police said was stolen.
In an emotional press conference in June, Wactor’s family and friends pushed for arrests to be made in the case.
“I’m here because one of the best men — if not the best man — I’ve ever known, was tragically and brutally taken from this earth,” Wactor’s friend, Micah Parker, said at the news conference. “He was taken from his mother, his brothers, his extended family, his friends and his fans.”‘
Just before he was shot, Wactor had been with a female co-worker, and he immediately stepped in front of her to try to protect her, according to his family and friends.
“They had a mask on and they pulled out a gun,” Wactor’s friend, Colin Flynn, told ABC News. “And from what I understand, Johnny literally stood in between himself and his colleague. And the shooter just pulled the trigger and ran away.”
In a message to the culprits, Parker vowed, “We are going to find you.”
“You do not get to terrorize our streets, stealing and killing with impunity anymore,” Parker said.
“To the LAPD, who are out there risking their lives every day, who are here with us today, I first want to say thank you,” Parker said. “But I also implore you to please — not rest, do not relent, until these three killers are brought to justice.”
Wactor played a recurring character in “General Hospital” from 2020 to 2022. He also appeared in other TV series, including “Criminal Minds,” “Siberia” and “Westworld.” He was called “one of a kind” in a statement on the official Instagram account for “General Hospital.”
“The entire General Hospital family is heartbroken to hear of Johnny Wactor’s untimely passing,” the statement read. “He was truly one of a kind and a pleasure to work with each and every day. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his loved ones during this difficult time.”
Wactor’s manager said in a statement to ABC News at the time that he was “still processing this unfortunate and senseless tragedy.”
“Johnny Wactor was such a kind soul, a talented actor and an inspiration to those around him. His professionalism, his enthusiasm and love for his craft was infectious and made him such a joy to work with. He pursued his dreams and achieved them, all the while remaining a good human being caring for others,” he said. “I am proud to say I was Johnny’s manager and friend. He will always be cherished in my memory.”
Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to reflect that search warrants are being executed and some suspects may be detained. It initially said arrests were taking place in the case.
(BEL AIR, Md.) — Two people were found dead and another was injured after an explosion Sunday morning leveled a home and damaged multiple neighboring residences in a suburban Baltimore neighborhood, authorities said.
The blast was reported around 6:42 a.m. on Arthur Woods Drive in the Harford County city of Bel Air, about 32 miles north of Baltimore, according to officials.
A 35-year-old contractor for Baltimore Gas and Electric was confirmed as the person killed by the explosion, Master Deputy Fire Marshal Oliver Alkire said Sunday. The name of the BGE contractor was not immediately released. A female neighbor living adjacent to the home that exploded was also injured, suffering cuts and bruises, and treated at the scene, Alkire said.
At 6:00 p.m. Sunday, Harford County officials said another victim was found dead in the rubble, bringing the death toll to two.
The identity of the second individual will be released by the medical examiner’s office, officials said.
At least 12 families have been displaced by the blast, according to officials, who noted the total number of damaged structures is still being counted.
A photo posted on X by Harford County Fire and Emergency Medical Services showed firefighters battling a small fire and searching the remains of the home, which was reduced to splintered pieces of wood, insulation and other debris.
“I’ve been on the job for 18 years and this was one of the largest explosions I’ve seen,” Alkire said during a news conference earlier Sunday.
Alkire said firefighters from the Harford County Fire Department were responding to a report of a gas leak in the area when the explosion occurred.
Jeffrey Sexton, a spokesperson for the Harford County Fire and EMS Association, confirmed that the remains of the BGE worker were found in a large debris field caused by the explosion.
Search-and-rescue crews on Sunday afternoon were still combing “piece by piece” through the rubble, which stretched across multiple blocks, officials said.
Alkire said that at least two BGE contract workers had also responded to the area before the explosion to investigate an electrical issue. He said the workers were aware of reports of an odor of gas in the area when the explosion occurred.
Multiple homes were damaged and a damage assessment was being conducted, according to Alkire. He said no evacuations have been ordered.
Alkire confirmed the house that exploded was for sale, but it was unclear if anyone was inside the house when it exploded. Officials described the house as being a “total loss.”
The cause of the explosion is under investigation by the Maryland State Fire Marshal’s Office, the Harford County Sheriff’s Department and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Residents in the neighborhood reported hearing the loud explosion and feeling their houses shake, authorities said.
Jefferey Beyers, who lives near the home that was destroyed by the blast, told ABC News that he and his wife were awakened by a “deafening explosion coupled with the kind of feeling of an earthquake.” Beyers pointed out windows in his house that he said were blown out from the frames.
“I think it’s important to get to the bottom of it, like understand what happened so that this kind of thing doesn’t happen again,” Beyers said.
Another neighbor, Marshall Garrett, who also lives nearby, told ABC News that he immediately rushed to the scene, beating the fire engines there. He described the scene as complete devastation and said it looked like something out of a movie.
“At first, we saw, we just saw the rubble,” Garrett said. “And then we started to see the flames streak out, and the smoke goes in the air.”
(CHICAGO) — Delegates at the Democratic National Convention approved their platform Monday night and made efforts to curb gun violence a top priority.
The 92-page 2024 DNC Platform touted the work President Joe Biden and the Democratic nominee to replace him, Vice President Kamala Harris, have made on combating the scourge of gun violence in America.
A little over five pages of the platform have been dedicated to what the Democrats pledge to do about gun safety, improving policing and public safety, rehabilitating people released from prisons and protecting women against violence.
“All Americans deserve freedom from fear: to be confident that their children will come home safely from the store or the playground, and to know that their loved one will come home safely from their shift policing the streets,” the draft platform states.
The document was written before Biden left the 2024 race and was approved by the DNC’s Rules Committee in July. It was not updated significantly since Harris replaced Biden at the top of the Democratic ticket in late July.
“It makes a strong statement about the historic work that President Biden and Vice President Harris have accomplished hand-in-hand and offers a vision for a progressive agenda that we can build on as a nation and as a Party as we head into the next four years,” The DNC said in a statement released Monday.
Meanwhile, there was little acknowledgment of the nation’s gun violence scourge at the Republican National Convention last month, despite GOP presidential nominee former President Donald Trump being the victim of a would-be assassin wielding an AR-15-style rifle.
In the 2024 GOP convention platform, there was no mention of firearm violence or gun control. In 2020, however, the party’s platform contained three paragraphs supporting reciprocity legislation allowing Americans to carry firearms in all 50 states regardless of which state they received a carry permit, and opposing an assault weapons ban, “frivolous” lawsuits against gun manufacturers and “any effort to deprive individuals of their right to keep and bear arms without due process of law.”
The National Rifle Association has endorsed the Trump-Vance ticket.
“Now, more than ever, freedom and liberty need courageous and virtuous defenders,” Doug Hamlin, executive vice president and CEO of the NRA, said in a statement in July. “President Trump and Senator Vance have the guts and the grit to stand steadfast for the Second Amendment.”
Harris, who was appointed in September 2023 by Biden to oversee the first-ever White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention, made it clear in her first presidential campaign rally in Milwaukee that gun control is a top priority.
“We who believe that every person should have the freedom to live safe from the terror of gun violence will finally pass red flag laws, universal background checks and an assault weapons ban,” Harris said at the Milwaukee rally.
The DNC Platform touts the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, the first major gun safety law enacted in 30 years that Biden signed in June 2022, about a month after a teenage gunman killed 19 students and two teachers at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. The law enhances background checks for gun buyers under 21, closes the so-called “boyfriend loophole” to prevent people convicted of domestic abuse from purchasing guns and allocates $750 million to help states implement “red flag laws” to remove firearms from people deemed to be dangerous to themselves and others.
According to the Gun Violence Archive (GVA) a website that tracks shootings across the nation, 10,759 people have died this year from wilful malicious or accidental shootings. In 2023, a total of 18,854 people were killed in malicious or accidental shootings, and 20,390 in 2022.
At least 19 people have been killed this year in 352 mass shootings — which the GVA defines as four or more people shot or killed in a single incident, not including the shooter. In 2023, 40 people were killed in 656 mass shootings, and 36 people were fatally shot in 646 mass shootings that occurred in 2022, according to the GVA.
More than 900 children 17 years old and younger, including 154 under the age of 11, have been killed in shootings this year, according to the GVA. In 2023, 1,682 children 17 years old and younger were killed in shootings, and 1,694 were fatally shot in 2022, according to the GVA.
The DNC Platform emphasizes that under Biden, the nation’s 2023 murder rate saw the sharpest decrease in history and violent crime fell to one of the lowest in 50 years.
The Major Cities Police Association’s Violent Crime Survey found double-digit declines in homicide across nearly 70 of America’s largest cities in 2023 compared to 2022. But the numbers are still not as low as they were before the pandemic, officials said.
“The gun violence epidemic is a scourge ripping apart our communities; it is the leading cause of death for children and teens,” the DNC Platform states. “Mass shootings at schools, grocery stores, houses of worship, dancehalls, and nightclubs, as well as daily gun violence at home and on streets, devastate American families.”
The DNC Platform states that the Democrats are determined to establish national universal background checks and red flag laws to keep guns out of the hands of people deemed a danger to themselves and others. According to the platform, the party also wants a ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, to require safe storage of guns and end the gun industry’s immunity from liability “so gunmakers can no longer escape accountability.”
“And, because the gun violence epidemic is a public health crisis, we will fund gun violence research across the Centers for Disease Control [CDC] and National Institutes of Health [NIH] as well as community violence interventions,” the DNC platform states.