Talk of the Town
(NEW ORLEANS) — The last of 10 inmates who had been on the lam following a New Orleans jailbreak in May has been captured, police said Wednesday.
Derrick Groves, 28, was apprehended in Atlanta following a “brief stand-off,” Louisiana State Police said.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
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(WASHINGTON) — A jury found Sean Charles Dunn, the man accused of throwing a sandwich at a Customs and Border Protection agent in Washington, D.C., not guilty after three days of testimony and dozens of exhibits.
Dunn, a former Department of Justice staffer, had been hit with a misdemeanor assault charge after a grand jury failed to indict him on a felony assault charge for allegedly throwing a sandwich at the agent during the federal law enforcement surge in August. Video of the encounter went viral after Dunn’s arrest.
According to the earlier felony criminal complaint, Dunn allegedly approached the officer while shouting “f— you! You f—— fascists! Why are you here? I don’t want you in my city!”
After several minutes of confrontation, Dunn allegedly threw the sandwich, striking the officer in the chest, the complaint says.
Defense attorney Sabrina Shroff signaled her strategy immediately in her closing arguments on Wednesday, saying, “This case, ladies and gentlemen, is about a sandwich,” she said. “A sandwich that landed intact, still in its Subway wrapping.”
Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael DiLorenzo opened the government’s closing argument by urging jurors to find Dunn, better known online as “Sandwich Guy,” guilty of misdemeanor assault.
“This case is not about strong opinions,” DiLorenzo said. “It’s not about immigration.” Instead, he argued, Dunn crossed a line the night he threw the sandwich at a CBP agent.
The government said Dunn caused a “seven-minute disturbance” designed to pull attention away from CBP and the Metropolitan Police Department during a “high-visibility” operation. “Distract the officers, move them from their post,” DiLorenzo told jurors.
Prosecutors then played a video of Dunn admitting to officers, “I did it. I threw a sandwich. I did it to draw them away from where they were. I succeeded.”
The government argued that intent, not the menu item, is what matters. “Even with a sandwich, you don’t have the right to touch another person,” DiLorenzo said.
At several points, U.S. District Judge Carl J. Nichols reminded jurors that their verdict must rest on the evidence presented.
When Shroff continued her argument, she turned the government’s framing on its head, not by disputing the sandwich, but by arguing its legal meaning.
She showed photos of the sandwich on the ground after it hit the CBP agent and then pointed to something the government had not, the agent’s own mementos from the incident. The agent, she said, later received a fake Subway sandwich and a “felony footlong” badge from co-workers, both of which he displayed at work.
“If someone assaulted you, if someone offended you, would you keep a memento of that assault?” Shroff asked. “Would you stick it on your lunchbox and carry it every day? Of course not.”
Shroff argued the sandwich caused no injury, was not a foreseeable weapon, and that Dunn was engaged in protected political speech. She compared the incident to “a kid throwing a stuffed toy in the middle of a bedtime temper tantrum.”
Earlier, Dunn waived his right to testify in court ahead of closing arguments.
After nearly two hours of deliberation, the jury did not reach a verdict. Proceedings will resume at 9 a.m. Thursday.
-ABC News’ Alex Mallin contributed to this report.
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(NEW YORK) — After there was no billion-dollar Labor Day Powerball winner on Monday, jackpot dreams are still alive as the prize money swells to a staggering $1.40 billion, per the latest update Wednesday morning.
The next drawing will be on Wednesday night, with the jackpot having an estimated cash value of $634.3 million before taxes.
The winning numbers in Monday’s drawing were 8, 23, 25, 40 and 53 with a red Powerball of 5. Nationwide, ten tickets matched all five white balls to win $1 million prizes. The $1 million-winning tickets were sold in California, Florida, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey (2), New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia, according to Powerball.
Wednesday’s jackpot now ranks as the fourth largest in the Powerball game and the sixth largest among U.S. lottery jackpot games.
“Tonight could be the night this billion-dollar Powerball jackpot is won!” Powerball Product Group Chair and Iowa Lottery CEO Matt Strawn said in a press release Wednesday.
While the jackpot remained elusive, nine tickets in Monday’s drawing matched all five white balls to win $1 million each, with four winners in California and one each in Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania. Three additional tickets in Colorado, Indiana and New Hampshire doubled their prizes to $2 million by including the Power Play option.
Monday’s drawing marked the 40th attempt to find a jackpot winner since May 31, 2025. The current streak approaches the record of 42 consecutive drawings, which ended with a $1.326 billion winner in Oregon on April 6, 2024.
Winners can choose between annual payments over 30 years, with a 5% increase each year, or the immediate cash option.
Powerball’s history includes record-breaking prizes, with the largest being a $2.04 billion jackpot won in California in November 2022, followed by a $1.765 billion prize claimed in California in October 2023, and a $1.586 billion jackpot split among winners in California, Florida and Tennessee in January 2016.
Other notable wins include the $1.326 billion Oregon prize, the $1.08 billion California win in July 2023, and prizes ranging from $842.4 million to $754.6 million won across Michigan, Wisconsin, Massachusetts and Washington.
Tickets cost $2 and are available in 45 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 292.2 million, while the overall odds of winning any prize are 1 in 24.9.
Drawings are broadcast live from Tallahassee, Florida, every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday at 10:59 p.m. ET and streamed on Powerball.com.
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(NEW YORK) — Lyle and Erik Menendez are heading to their long-awaited parole hearing, marking a huge step forward in their push to be released after 35 years behind bars.
Erik Menendez’s parole hearing is set for Thursday and Lyle Menendez’s hearing will be on Friday. After the hearings conclude, the parole board will determine whether the brothers are suitable for parole.
The final decision on parole will then go to California Gov. Gavin Newsom to approve, deny or modify the decision, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office. If granted parole, they’d be eligible for release immediately after the decision is finalized, which takes about five months, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. If parole is denied, the denial could be for either three, five, seven, 10 or 15 years, according to the department.
“Newsom can also exercise his clemency power to pardon or release the Menendez brothers at any time,” the DA’s office said.
Here’s what you need to know about the case:
The brothers’ push for release
Lyle Menendez, now 57, and Erik Menendez, now 54, were initially sentenced to life without the possibility of parole for the 1989 murders of their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez.
Lyle Menendez was 21 and Erik Menendez was 18 at the time of the crime. They said they committed the murders in self-defense after years of abuse by their father.
LA County DA Nathan Hochman has fought against their release, calling the brothers’ claims of self-defense part of a litany of “lies.” But the brothers have the support of over 20 family members in their efforts to be freed.
A new sentence
This May, Judge Michael Jesic resentenced Erik and Lyle Menendez to 50 years to life in prison, which follows the recommendation made in October by then-LA County DA George Gascón. This new sentence makes them immediately eligible for parole.
The judge noted he was moved by the supportive letters from prison guards and was amazed by the work the brothers had accomplished to better the lives of their fellow inmates.
The brothers, who watched the resentencing hearing from prison, gave their own statements to the judge, admitting their guilt.
“I killed my mom and dad,” Lyle Menendez told Jesic. “I give no excuses.”
Lyle Menendez admitted to committing perjury by lying in court in the ’90s and he apologized to his family for years of lies and the shock and grief of the crimes.
Erik Menendez also admitted to lying for years and apologized.
“I committed an atrocious act,” he told the judge. “… No justification for what I did.”
Erik Menendez added that he’s “come a long way on this path” of redemption and said, “I will not stop trying to make a difference.”
Bid for a new trial
Meanwhile, the brothers are pursing another path separate from the parole process.
In 2023, they submitted a habeas corpus petition to try to get another trial based on new evidence not originally presented in court.
The petition presents two pieces of new evidence. One is allegations from a former member of the boy band Menudo, who revealed in the 2023 docuseries “Menendez + Menudo: Boys Betrayed” that he was raped by Jose Menendez. The second is a letter Erik Menendez wrote to his cousin eight months before the murders detailing his alleged abuse; the cousin testified about the alleged abuse at trial, but the letter — which would have corroborated the cousin’s testimony — wasn’t unearthed until several years ago, according to the brothers’ attorney.
This month, Hochman filed a response to the habeas corpus petition, stating that he “concluded that this petition does not come close to meeting the factual or legal standard to warrant a new trial.”
“The central defense of the Menendez brothers at trial has always been self-defense, not sexual abuse. The jury rejected this self-defense defense in finding them guilty of the horrific murders they perpetrated; five different appellate state and federal courts have affirmed those convictions, and nothing in the so-called ‘new’ evidence challenges any of those determinations,” Hochman said in a statement. “Our opposition to this ‘Hail Mary’ effort to obtain a new trial over 30 years later makes clear that justice, the facts, and the law demand the convictions stand.”
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