Amid Adams scandal, former city hall official arrested, charged with witness tampering and destroying evidence
Mohamed Bahi, who resigned Monday from his job in the Adams administration, was arrested Tuesday for obstructing the investigation into the mayor and his campaign.
Bahi is charged with witness tampering and destroying evidence.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(NEW YORK) — After nearly two and a half months of searching, law enforcement officials zeroed in on fugitive Joshua Zimmerman, who has been on the run since escaping from the DeSoto County Circuit Court Building in Mississippi on June 14.
The United States Marshals Service located Zimmerman at a restaurant in Chicago on Tuesday, authorities said, where he barricaded himself inside. The standoff was ongoing as of late Tuesday night, with the restaurant surrounded by the Chicago SWAT team.
The investigation into Zimmerman’s escape has been extensive, with contributions from federal, state and local agencies.
“We have been working diligently for 68 days, alongside various organizations, to bring this case to a close,” a DeSoto County spokesperson noted. “We appreciate the public’s patience as we have intentionally kept details quiet to avoid spreading misinformation.”
Officials said they remain focused on extradition plans and are hopeful for a resolution soon.
“We are eager to return Zimmerman to our detention facility so we can thoroughly investigate the circumstances surrounding his escape,” the spokesperson said.
The high-profile case has garnered significant media attention, with major networks and public figures such as Dog the Bounty Hunter following the developments closely.
The spokesperson acknowledged the broad interest in the case, saying, “This is a significant event, and we are committed to bringing it to a successful conclusion.”
Zimmerman was charged with murdering a woman in Houston, Texas, in 2023. He was arrested on Sept. 29, 2023, by law enforcement in Mississippi on separate felony charges, as reported last year by ABC News’ Houston station KTRK-TV.
The additional charges included attempted murder, armed robbery, felon in possession of a firearm and a charge in relation to the theft of a car.
Zimmerman escaped custody while being brought to the De Soto County courthouse for a hearing along with several other inmates.
De Soto County District Attorney Matthew Barton explained that Zimmerman was able to slip away from the group, change clothes and remove his shackles. Surveillance cameras recorded Zimmerman leaving the courthouse wearing khaki pants and a white shirt.
(SANTA FE, N.M.) — A New Mexico judge will weigh whether to dismiss the case against “Rust” armorer Hannah Gutierrez, who was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, after dismissing the case against Alec Baldwin for evidence suppression.
Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer heard arguments during a virtual hearing Thursday on a defense motion seeking a new trial or dismissal of Gutierrez’s case.
Her attorneys argued in the filing that she is entitled to a new trial or dismissal of the case for “egregious prosecutorial misconduct” and “severe and ongoing discovery violations by the State.”
Marlowe Sommer dismissed Baldwin’s case with prejudice on day three of the actor’s July trial after his attorneys claimed live ammunition that came into the hands of local law enforcement related to the investigation into the deadly on-set shooting was “concealed” from them.
The judge said in court on July 12 while issuing her ruling that the state’s discovery violation regarding the late disclosure of a supplemental report on the ammunition evidence “injected needless delay into the proceedings,” approached “bad faith” and was “highly prejudicial to the defendant.”
During Thursday’s hearing, defense attorney Jason Bowles said the “significance of the items that were suppressed were favorable and material” to Gutierrez.
Bowles told the judge that he became aware of the ammunition at the heart of Baldwin’s dismissal — which had been brought forward by his witness, Troy Teske, during Gutierrez’s trial — but directed Teske to bring it to the sheriff’s office because he “didn’t want to be in the chain of custody.”
“We weren’t told what happened” after that, Bowles said. “We weren’t able to utilize those rounds.”
He also argued that the state suppressed additional evidence, including one of firearm expert Luke Haag’s reports on the revolver involved in the shooting, and an interview with Seth Kenney, the owner of the prop firearms supplier for “Rust.”
“This pattern of discovery abuse occurred in Miss [Gutierrez’s] case in the same manner that it occurred in Mr. Baldwin’s case,” Bowles said, saying they are “asking for dismissal on the same basis that this court dismissed Mr. Baldwin’s case.”
Morrissey argued that Gutierrez and Bowles can’t rely on the dismissal of Baldwin’s case over the rounds because they were in the possession of his witness, Teske.
“She and her lawyer had them during trial and chose not to use them,” she said. “That is exactly what happened,”
“They don’t get to now come and say we made a strategic error, so give us a new trial,” she continued.
Morrissey argued that the other evidence raised by Bowles was not material and said the state did not intentionally withhold evidence.
“Nothing was intentionally buried,” she said, adding that the case had a “terabyte of discovery” with new discovery “coming in constantly.”
She admitted to failing to provide the defense with one of Haag’s report, saying she forwarded it to him when she realized it after Gutierrez’s trial.
“When I realized during the Baldwin preparation for trial that that did not occur, I immediately, I took full responsibility for it,” she said. “We did the best we could do resolve it at that point.”
Morrissey argued that Haag’s findings on the revolver still would not help the defense if there were a new trial. She also argued that the defense could have found the evidence before Gutierrez’s trial themselves through “due diligence.”
Bowles additionally alleged in his motion that Morrissey lied under oath during a motion hearing during Baldwin’s trial and asked that if the judge granted a new trial, to remove Kari Morrissey as the special prosecutor. “I don’t do it lightly,” he told the judge Thursday.
Morrissey contended in court filings that she didn’t lie under oath. During Thursday’s hearing, she said she stands by her response while adding that the defense did not include the legal analysis in their motion to remove her as prosecutor.
“This isn’t just something that you randomly ask for,” she said. “The legal analysis has to be conducted, and it hasn’t been conducted here.”
Thursday’s hearing also addressed a defense motion asking for Gutierrez’s immediate release from prison.
Judge Marlowe Sommer said she will issue rulings on both motions next week.
A jury found Gutierrez guilty of involuntary manslaughter in the death of Hutchins, who was fatally shot by Baldwin on the Santa Fe set of the Western in October 2021 when his revolver fired a live round.
Prosecutors argued during the March trial that the armorer was the source of the live bullet that killed Hutchins and had failed to follow safety protocols meant to protect the crew while handling the firearms.
Gutierrez was sentenced in April to 18 months in prison, the maximum for the offense.
(OAKLAND, Calif.) — A suspect has been arrested and charged with murder in connection to a Michigan home invasion in which two men are believed to have gained entry by posing as utility workers.
The Oakland County Sheriff’s Office identified him as Carlos Jose Hernandez, 37, and said they are seeking his extradition from Louisiana.
The second suspect remains at large, and the sheriff’s office is urging anyone with information that could lead to an arrest to get in touch.
On Friday, a 72-year-old man was found dead in the basement of his Rochester Hills home, according to the sheriff’s office. His wife, who called 911, had been tied up with her hands duct-taped.
It is not yet clear how the man, identified as Hussein Murray, was killed.
“Because of the gruesome nature of the injuries, it was not immediately clear if he had been shot or bludgeoned to death,” the sheriff’s department said in a press release.
The woman told law enforcement officials that the night before the attack, the two suspects had also shown up to the home claiming to be responding to a gas leak, but they were not allowed inside.
When they showed up again on Friday, they were let into the home, and her husband went with them into the basement, “ostensibly to look for the leak,” according to the sheriff’s department.
When they came back upstairs without her husband, they tied her up and taped her hands, the woman said. She did not see him come out afterward and “assumed he had been kidnapped.”
In home security camera footage released by the sheriff’s department, the since-arrested suspect can be seen wearing a utility worker’s uniform and a mask while holding a clipboard.
“We’re DTE. We’re checking for gas leaks,” the man can be heard saying in the video, naming the Michigan-based energy company.
In a statement after the incident, DTE urged customers to “be alert for DTE Energy impersonators.”
“If anyone arrives at your home or business claiming they are from DTE, please ask to see a badge with a photo ID. If the person refuses to show their badge, do not allow them entry into your home. If the person becomes agitated or acts in a strange manner, call 911 immediately,” the company said.
In an interview with a Detroit ABC affiliate WXYZ, Sheriff Michael J. Bouchard described Murray as “a loving guy, owned a business, cared about his neighborhood and his community.”
“[He] shouldn’t have been a target of this — no one should ever be a target of this,” Bouchard said.
Murray owned a jewelry and pawn shop, according to WXYZ.
Bouchard said they believe Murray’s killing was “very targeted.”
“It wasn’t random,” Bouchard said. “They’re not just knocking on doors and doing this.”