Court dismisses appeal of Trump’s classified documents case
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(WASHINGTON) — Two weeks after the Department of Justice, now under new leadership following Donald Trump’s reelection, moved to dismiss their appeal of Trump’s classified documents case, a circuit court formally dismissed the appeal of a case that once accused the president of mishandling some of the nation’s most sensitive secrets.
The dismissal marks the end of a series of federal criminal cases that once dogged Trump’s political future.
“Appellant’s ‘Unopposed Motion to Dismiss Appeal’ is GRANTED. This appeal is DISMISSED,” said the one-page order issued by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit.
Recently appointed Acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida Hayden O’Bryne moved to dismiss the appeal against Trump’s former co-defendants on Jan. 29.
Trump previously faced 40 criminal counts — including violations of nine separate federal laws — for allegedly holding on to classified documents after leaving the White House in 2021 and thwarting investigators’ efforts to retrieve the documents from his Mar-a-Lago estate. He pleaded not guilty to all charges in 2023.
Trump, along with longtime aide Walt Nauta and Mar-a-Lago staffer Carlos De Oliveira, pleaded not guilty in a superseding indictment to allegedly attempting to delete surveillance footage at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate.
Last summer, U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon — who Trump appointed to the bench during his first term — dismissed the indictments against Trump, bucking decades of legal precedent by finding that special counsel Jack Smith had been unconstitutionally appointed.
Smith appealed Cannon’s decision but was ultimately forced to drop the appeal against Trump after Trump was reelected in November, due to a longstanding Department of Justice policy prohibiting the prosecution of a sitting president.
After O’Bryne moved to dismiss the appeal against Nauta and De Oliveira last month, Tuesday’s dismissal closes the book on the case.
(LOS ANGELES, Calif.) — As brush fires continue to spread across Los Angeles County, more than 1,000 prisoners, working as “incarcerated firefighters,” are among the emergency responders fighting the blazes, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation confirmed to ABC News.
The prisoners, who voluntarily sign up to be a part of the Conservation (Fire) Camps Program, are embedded with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or Cal Fire, crew members.
Participating individuals are typically paid between $5.80 and $10.24 per day plus $1 an hour when responding to active emergencies, according to the CDCR.
Those responding to the Los Angeles fires and working 24-hour shifts are earning $26.90 per day, according to the law enforcement agency.
“CDCR Fire Camp Program firefighters are proud to be embedded with CAL FIRE personnel to protect lives, property and natural resources in Southern California,” the agency said in a statement.
Incarcerated firefighters have been working “around the clock” cutting fire lines and removing fuel from behind structures to slow fire spread, the CDCR said, adding that the program is a source of “crucial support” during emergencies.
The exact number of hours and shifts the incarcerated crew members have worked since brush fires erupted in Los Angeles on Jan. 7 was not immediately clear.
The agency said the program paves the way for professional emergency response certifications and job opportunities after an inmate’s release. It also allows for criminal record expungement and opportunities to reduce their sentences, according to the CDCR.
Most incarcerated fire crew members receive two additional days off their sentence for every one day they serve on a fire crew, according to the agency, and camp volunteers, who work as support staff but not on a fire crew, receive one day off their sentence for every one day they serve.
The inmate firefighting program dates back to 1915 but largely expanded in California in the 1940s because of firefighter shortages during World War II, according to the CDCR.
The state’s Assembly Bill 2147, which passed in 2020, allowed inmate firefighters to petition courts to dismiss their convictions after serving their time.
The Los Angeles fires have brought renewed attention to the program, drawing some criticism over the wages the inmate firefighters receive.
Kim Kardashian took to social media over the weekend to call for California Gov. Gavin Newsom to raise their wages. “I am urging @cagovernor to do what no Governor has done in 4 decades, and raise the incarcerated firefighter pay to a rate [that] honors a human being risking their life to save our lives and homes,” Kardashian wrote.
In comparison, California firefighters typically earn a monthly base salary between $3,672 and $4,643 plus an additional $1,824 to $2,306 of extended duty week compensation every four weeks, according to Cal Fire.
The CDCR’s inmate fire program operates 35 minimum-security facilities in 25 counties across California, including two camps designated for incarcerated women.
There are more than 1,800 incarcerated individuals staffing the camps across the state, according to the agency.
Participating prisoners have joined the thousands of federal, state and local emergency responders who are battling at least four active wildfires across Los Angeles County as of Tuesday.
The largest of the devastating blazes, the Palisades Fire in the Pacific Palisades, has scorched more than 23,000 acres, destroyed thousands of structures and remains at 17% containment as of Tuesday afternoon.
The Eaton Fire, in Altadena, has spread over 14,000 acres and is 35% contained, according to Cal Fire. There have been at least 24 deaths between the two fires — a number officials warn may rise as emergency efforts continue.
Approximately 88,000 Los Angeles County residents are under evacuation orders Tuesday as another dangerous Santa Ana wind event is forecast to impact the already vulnerable region.
(NEW YORK) — A man accused of killing a woman by setting her on fire as she slept on a New York City subway train last month pleaded not guilty Tuesday to first-degree murder and other charges.
The suspect, Sebastian Zapeta-Calil, who police said is an undocumented migrant from Guatemala, appeared in Brooklyn Criminal Court and pleaded not guilty to one count of first-degree murder and three counts of second-degree murder and first-degree arson stemming from the horrific killing of Debrina Kawam, who police said was homeless and sleeping on a subway car when she was attacked.
Kawam, 57, was originally from Toms River, New Jersey, the New York Police Department said.
Kawam was asleep on a stationary F train at the Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue station in Brooklyn at about 7:25 a.m. on Dec. 22 when she was set ablaze allegedly by the 33-year-old Zapeta-Calil, who stuck around to watch her burn, even fanning the flames, according to Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez.
“It is difficult to fathom what could lead someone to commit the atrocious and horrific murder with which this defendant is charged,” Gonzalez said in a statement following Zapeta-Calil’s arrangement. “My office swiftly obtained an indictment, and we are determined to exact the most severe punishment for this heinous and inhumane act. Ms. Kawam and her loved ones deserve a measure of justice and New Yorkers deserve to feel safe in the subways.”
If convicted of the charges, Kawam faces a maximum sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Video surveillance captured Zapeta-Calil, who rode in the same subway car as the victim from Queens, using what appeared to be a lighter to set fire to fabric that covered the sleeping woman.
The evidence collected by investigators showed Zapeta-Calil at first allegedly watched the woman burn from inside the subway car as the fire grew, Gonzalez said. The suspect then allegedly appeared to use a shirt to fan the flames, which completely engulfed the victim, the district attorney said.
Gonzalez alleged Zapeta-Calil then walked out of the subway car, sat on a bench on the station platform and watched as the woman burned.
Kawam was declared dead at the scene and the medical examiner determined the cause of death to be a combination of heat burns and smoke inhalation, Gonzalez said.
Gonzalez said Kawam was burned beyond recognition and it took the medical examiner nine days to identify her.
Using the video footage, police officers quickly identified the suspect and distributed his image to local media outlets, prompting a tip that he was aboard an F train near the Herald Square-34th Steet Station in Manhattan, Gonzalez said. Officers rushed to the station and took Zapeta-Calil into custody around 4 p.m. on the same day as the subway attack.
The victim’s brother appeared in court Tuesday and met with local clergy to discuss plans for an upcoming memorial service.
Kawam, known to her classmates as “Debbie,” grew up in Little Falls, New Jersey. She went to Montclair State University to study business and marketing and worked for a time at Merck. She filed for bankruptcy in 2008.
Family and friends are expected to gather to remember Kawam on Jan. 12 for a memorial service at First Baptist Church in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, according to clergy members who attended Zspres-Calil’s arraignment.
(COOPERSBURG, Pa.) — A man has been arrested in the murder of a New Jersey woman whose body was found in a Coopersburg, Pennsylvania, dumpster over the weekend.
Rolando Corte, 42, was charged with first-degree murder in the death of Lucrecia Jadan Sumba, 39, from Elizabeth, New Jersey, according to the Union County Prosecutor’s Office.
Sumba was reported missing by friends and family on Jan. 9 to the Elizabeth Police Department. Sumba was killed last Wednesday, according to prosecutors.
Corte was identified and arrested on Sunday. He is being held at the Union County Jail in New Jersey and is scheduled to appear in court on Thursday.
If found guilty, he could face up to life in prison.
It’s unclear if the suspect and victim had any connection or what led police to identify Corte as a suspect.
The woman was found in a dumpster on S. 3rd Street in Coopersburg just before 6 p.m. on Saturday, according to police.
Coopersburg, a suburb of Allentown, is about 80 miles west of Elizabeth.
An autopsy revealed Sumba’s cause of death was sharp force injuries and her death was ruled a homicide, according to the county coroner.
“A joint investigation conducted by the Union County Prosecutor’s Office Homicide Task Force, Elizabeth Police Department, Coopersburg Police Department, and the Lehigh County District Attorney’s Office led to the identification and arrest of Corte,” according to the prosecutor’s office.
Coopersburg Police did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment.
