Appeals court won’t hear Trump’s request to lift limited gag order in hush money case
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(NEW YORK) — Former President Donald Trump has all but exhausted his efforts to eliminate the limited gag order in his criminal hush money case, after New York’s highest court on Thursday declined to consider his request to lift the order.
“Appeal dismissed without costs, by the Court sua sponte, upon the ground that no substantial constitutional question is directly involved,” New York’s Court of Appeals said in a brief order.
The former president had been seeking the freedom to publicly criticize anyone associated with the case.
In April, Judge Juan Merchan barred Trump from making public statements about jurors, court staff, and relatives of those involved in the case, after Trump repeatedly targeted Merchan’s daughter on social media.
Trump 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. He has said he will appeal the decision.
Once the trial concluded, Judge Merchan relaxed the part of the gag order that prevented Trump from targeting members of the jury and witnesses in the case.
Sentencing in the case currently scheduled for Nov. 26, after Mercand last week agreed to Trump’s request to delay sentencing until after the presidential election.
(MEMPHIS, Tenn.) — A former Memphis police officer who pleaded guilty to charges connected to the beating death of Tyre Nichols faced cross-examination from defense attorneys Wednesday.
Emmitt Martin III testified at the trial of the three former officers — Justin Smith, Tadarrius Bean and Demetrius Haley — who were charged on Sept. 12, 2023, with violating Nichols’ civil rights through excessive use of force, unlawful assault, failing to intervene in the assault and failing to render medical aid. These charges carry a maximum penalty of life in prison, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. The officers have pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Stephen Leffler, Haley’s attorney, mentioned that the boots of the ex-officers involved in the encounter were taken into evidence after the incident, according to WATN-TV, the ABC affiliate in Memphis covering the case in the courtroom. Martin said that blood was found on his and Haley’s shoes.
Martin Zummach, Young’s lawyer, claimed that the no-snitch rule the former officer’s unit followed didn’t apply to Smith or Bean because they had only worked 11 shifts with Martin. The ex-officer disagreed and said the rule was understood by Smith and Bean as well.
Martin and Desmond Mills Jr., the two officers who were also charged in this case, have pleaded guilty to some of the federal charges.
Martin pleaded guilty to excessive force and failure to intervene, as well as conspiracy to witness tamper, according to court records. The other two charges will be dropped at sentencing, which has been scheduled for Dec. 5, according to the court records. Mills pleaded guilty to two of the four counts in the indictment — excessive force and failing to intervene, as well as conspiring to cover up his use of unlawful force, according to the DOJ. The government said it will recommend a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison, based on the terms of Mills’ plea agreement.
Martin said on Monday that on Jan. 7, 2023, the night Nichols was pulled over, he saw the Memphis resident speeding and changing lanes without a signal, WATN reported. The former officer said he ran Nichols’ license plate and it came back clean. Martin claimed that he switched to car-to-car radio channels and reached out to Haley, who said he would take the lead on apprehending Nichols.
Leffler asked Martin why he said, “Let go of my gun,” during the encounter with Nichols. Martin said that he felt pressure on his duty belt, according to WATN. But Martin also pointed out that he had previously told prosecutors that Nichols was not trying to take the weapon out of his holster and had not seen him do it.
The defense said Tuesday that Martin changed his story of what happened the night of their encounter with Nichols after accepting a plea deal from the prosecution, adding that if the ex-officer’s testimony leads to the conviction of even one defendant, Martin could receive a lesser sentence, according to WATN.
Defense attorneys questioned if Martin was lying on the stand to fulfill the terms of his plea deal, according to WATN. But the ex-officer responded by claiming that he was lying in earlier statements to justify his use of force on Nichols.
In police reports filed the night of Nichols’ arrest, narratives read that the Memphis resident swung at officers and tried to grab Martin’s gun. Martin said on Tuesday that he never saw that occur, according to WATN.
Under cross-examination on Tuesday, Martin was asked by John Keith Perry, Bean’s attorney, whether he had ever told Bean that he had “homicidal thoughts.” Martin said he never told that to Bean and had told that to Justin Smith before coming back to work in January 2023 after being hit by a car in November 2022, according to WATN. Martin said Wednesday he never told his former supervisor, about those thoughts.
Martin said Tuesday that he experienced four life-threatening injuries after being struck by the vehicle and was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, suffering from loss of sleep, paranoia, irritability and chronic headaches, according to WATN.
Martin told prosecutors Monday that he was scared, angry and eager to show he could still do the job and wanted revenge for being hit by a car, according to WATN.
Body-camera footage shows that Nichols fled after police pulled him over for allegedly driving recklessly, then shocked him with a Taser and pepper-sprayed him. Officers allegedly then beat Nichols minutes later after tracking him down. Nichols, 29, died on Jan. 10, 2023 — three days later. Footage shows the officers walking around, talking to each other as Nichols was injured and sitting on the ground. The incident triggered protests and calls for police reform.
Memphis Police Chief Cerelyn Davis said she has been unable to substantiate that Nichols was driving recklessly.
The prosecution told ABC News last week that they will not have any statements until after the trial. The defense attorneys did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment.
After the police encounter, Nichols was transferred to the hospital in critical condition. The medical examiner’s official autopsy report for Nichols showed he “died of brain injuries from blunt force trauma,” the district attorney’s office told Nichols’ family in May 2023.
The five former officers charged in this case were all members of the Memphis Police Department SCORPION unit — a crime suppression unit that was disbanded after Nichols’ death. All of the officers were fired for violating MPD policies.
(HOUSTON) — A driver could face a possible murder charge after he allegedly struck and killed an innocent bystander on a sidewalk in Houston early Sunday while attempting to mow down his domestic partner, according to police.
The incident unfolded around 3 a.m. after patrol officers in the city’s Midtown area responded to what they initially thought was a gunshot and found the mortally injured victim on the sidewalk, Robert Ementich, a spokesperson for the Houston Police Department, said during a news conference.
“It’s my understanding that the victim, the decedent, was actually the manager of one of the nightclubs and was preparing to go home,” Ementich said.
Witnesses, including the alleged intended target, told police the suspect and his domestic partner were involved in an altercation at a nightclub and left the establishment, Ementich said.
“Upon leaving the establishment, the male got into the vehicle and started driving around and struck multiple vehicles,” Ementich said.
Ementich said the driver’s domestic partner alleged to investigators that the suspect, whose name was not immediately released, intended to strike her with the vehicle when he hit the innocent bystander.
“She was able to get out of the way,” Ementich said of the suspect’s companion. “Unfortunately, an innocent bystander who was walking on the sidewalk was struck by the suspect’s vehicle.”
Ementich said the Houston Fire Department administered first aid, but the woman was pronounced dead at the scene.
The name of the woman killed was being withheld by police pending an autopsy and notification of her relatives.
Ementich said it was not immediately clear if the suspect’s domestic partner was his wife or girlfriend.
With help from witnesses, police officers located the suspect several blocks away and took him into custody, Ementich said.
Ementich said police and prosecutors are looking into possibly filing a murder charge against the suspect, alleging it was an “intentional act” to try to hit his partner.
“It’s kind of like if he were to pull out a gun and try shooting his wife and missed. It was still his intention to use a deadly weapon,” Ementich said. “Instead of a 160-grain bullet, he used a 4,000-pound motor vehicle as his weapon of choice.”
(NEW YORK) — Millions of Americans are gearing up to head to the airport or hit the highway for the last long weekend of summer.
Here’s what to know about Labor Day weekend travel:
Air travel
More than 17 million people are forecast to be screened at U.S. airports from Thursday, Aug. 29, to Wednesday, Sept. 4 — an 8.5% increase from last year, the Transportation Security Administration said.
The TSA anticipates Friday, Aug. 30, will be its busiest day with 2.86 million travelers expected.
The TSA’s top 10 busiest travel days ever have all occurred since May.
United Airlines expects this year will be its busiest Labor Day weekend on record, with over 2.9 million passengers poised to fly between Thursday, Aug. 29, and Tuesday, Sept. 3 — up 3% from last year. United predicts Aug. 30 will be its busiest day.
American Airlines predicts this year will be its largest Labor Day operations ever, with over 3.8 million customers anticipated from Aug. 29 to Sept. 3 — up 14% from last year. American says its busiest travel days will be Aug. 29 and Aug. 30.
For Southwest Airlines, Aug. 30 and Sept. 2 are forecast to be peak travel days.
The busiest airports are anticipated to be Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, Chicago O’Hare International Airport and Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, according to Hopper.
The most searched domestic destinations for Labor Day are New York City, Seattle and Los Angeles, according to Hopper.
Road travel
If you’re hitting the road on Thursday, Aug. 29, the worst time to drive is from 1 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., according to analytics company INRIX.
On Friday, Aug. 30, the worst travel time is from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. On Monday, Sept. 2, the busiest time on the roads will be from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., INRIX said.
AAA said drivers should expect to pay less for gas this year. The national average for gas during Labor Day weekend 2023 was $3.81; this year, prices are expected to be around $3.50.
