Judge rejects Ghislaine Maxwell’s attempt to overturn conviction
In this photo from July 2, 2020, former United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York Audrey Strauss spoke to the media to announce the arrest of Ghislaine Maxwell in New York City. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — A federal judge in New York on Tuesday rejected Ghislaine Maxwell’s challenge to her conviction, finding her claims “meritless” or “frivolous.”
Maxwell was trying to vacate her conviction and 20-year prison sentence.
Maxwell was convicted of five felony counts, all arising from her participation with Jeffrey Epstein, in the sexual abuse of young girls over the course of a decade. A federal appeals court upheld her conviction and the U.S. Supreme Court declined to take up her petition.
In court filings, Maxwell argued documents released in the Epstein files supported her claims of constitutional violations, but Judge Paul Engelmayer called her claims “all meritless and all or almost all are frivolous.”
“And the purported ‘new’ evidence to which Maxwell points, principally materials released under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, is largely irrelevant to the charges against Maxwell and does not support her claims of error,” the judge continued. “On the contrary, to the extent it is relevant, far from exculpating her, it incriminates her or reinforces the correctness of the legal rulings Maxwell challenges.”
ChatGPT opened on a computer screen is displayed on Sept. 24, 2026, in Melbourne, Australia. (Asanka Ratnayake/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Nearly two dozen states are calling on Congress to regulate artificial intelligence, warning that unchecked development could put Americans and the country at risk.
The attorneys general of 23 states, along with the District of Columbia and American Samoa, signed a letter to congressional leaders Thursday demanding “comprehensive federal regulation and safety protocols” for AI.
“Recent developments show that unchecked AI endangers Americans and could soon threaten our financial system, critical infrastructure, and national security,” the letter said. “Although we are working to hold frontier AI labs accountable under existing state laws, federal oversight is urgently needed to prevent future disasters.”
The attorneys general cited recent incidents involving AI, including reports involving Hugging Face, as evidence of what they described as the risks of AI systems operating beyond their intended safeguards.
The states called for federal oversight of AI model safety testing, international cooperation to pace AI advancement and leaders empowered to make safer decisions “unburdened by profit maximization,” according to the letter.
“In recent weeks, alarming reports of AI agents breaking containment have shocked the nation,” New York Attorney General Letitia James said. “My colleagues and I are calling on Congress to act swiftly to establish a regulatory framework for AI development to ensure this does not continue.”
The letter comes as states and the federal government continue to debate how AI should be regulated, including the appropriate balance between federal oversight and state authority.
In addition to New York, the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin signed the letter, along with the District of Columbia and American Samoa.
At least two people were killed in a shooting at a strip mall near Cal State Northridge on Oct.2, 2026. LAPD responded to a call about a large party at The Artists Lounge when officers heard gunshots on arrival. (KABC)
At least two people were killed Friday in a shooting at a Los Angeles strip mall, according to police.
The Los Angeles Police Department responded to a 911 call about a large party at the mall near Cal State Northridge around 11 p.m. when officers heard gunshots, ABC local station KABC reported.
Two people were killed, and it was not immediately clear if there were other injuries, authorities said.
Officers were seen placing several people in handcuffs and taking them away after the shooting. Police hadn’t announced any arrests or released a suspect description as of early Saturday.
Austin Metcalf in a family provided photo. (Metcalf Family)
(FRISCO, Texas) — A Texas judge is hearing arguments Thursday on whether Karmelo Anthony should get a new trial, two months after a jury convicted and sentenced him to 35 years in prison for fatally stabbing a fellow student at a high school track meet.
The hearing comes a day after the Collin County judge who presided over the murder trial was removed from further proceedings in the case.
Prosecutors called the deadly stabbing “unjustified” and “plain and simple murder,” while the defense argued that Anthony acted in self-defense when he stabbed 17-year-old Austin Metcalf at a track meet in Frisco in April 2025.
After hearing four days of testimony, a Collin County jury found Anthony, 19, guilty of murder following three hours of deliberation on June 9. The same jury sentenced him to 35 years in prison after several more hours of deliberation.
Anthony’s attorneys claimed in a motion seeking a new trial that the teen was “coerced” into waiving his right to testify, stemming from a purported dispute between defense attorneys and prosecutors about whether his testimony would be covered by an agreement limiting some character evidence in the trial. Defense attorneys alleged this denied him a “complete defense.”
The defense also alleged that Collin County Judge John Roach improperly instructed the jury and that his courtroom restrictions, which limited public access to the proceedings, denied Anthony a fair trial.
In a statement to ABC Dallas affiliate WFAA ahead of this week’s hearings, Collin County First Assistant District Attorney Bill Wirskye said Anthony’s new, post-trial attorneys “filed a motion containing several inaccurate characterizations of the trial proceedings.”
“I and the entire prosecution team conducted this trial ethically and in full compliance with the Court’s ruling and any agreements with defense counsel,” Wirskye added.
In opening remarks during Thursday’s hearing, defense attorney Russell Wilson said Anthony decided not to testify because he believed the prosecution would not adhere to the agreement not to question him about his past behavior, beyond what happened during the confrontation at the track meet, WFAA reported.
Wirskye, meanwhile, said he offered the agreement to “stay away from historical character and stick to the facts — what happened under the tent” in order to “keep the peace” amid what he said was intense public vitriol over the case that led to threats against both sides, WFAA reported. He said the trial defense attorneys agreed to it, and that the “agreement was held.”
Wirskye also pushed back on defense claims that Anthony had insufficient time to decide whether to testify and noted that prosecutors wanted him to take the stand, saying, “There’s nothing better in my business than a testifying defendant,” WFAA reported.
The hearing is ongoing, with the defense so far calling Derrick Jackson, the former Collin County public information officer, to discuss the courtroom protocols, and Mike Howard, one of Anthony’s trial attorneys.
A new judge is presiding over Thursday’s hearing, after Judge Sid Harle granted the defense’s motion to recuse Roach from any further matters in the Anthony case.
In his order issued Wednesday, Harle wrote that there were grounds for recusal “in that the evidence adduced at the hearing is such that the respondent judge’s impartiality might reasonably be questioned.”
Retired Kaufman County District Judge Michael Chitty has been assigned to oversee the case.
In the defense motion seeking to recuse the trial judge from the post-trial proceedings, Anthony’s attorneys questioned both Roach’s impartiality in the case and his courtroom restrictions.
The motion cited what it called “problematic comments” Roach made during an interview following the verdict, in which it said the judge “endorsed the jury’s guilty verdict” and defended his courtroom restrictions. It also pointed to a public letter Roach released following the trial, in which he stated that those who worked on the case “contributed to ensuring the process was conducted fairly.”
Anthony’s attorneys said Wednesday that they are “pleased” with Harle’s decision to recuse Roach and “look forward to presenting the merits of Karmelo’s motion for a new trial to a fair and independent judge.”
Ahead of the high-profile trial, Roach imposed a gag order and barred any electronics from the courtroom during the proceedings due to the attention the case had garnered.
“Due to the significant public and media interest in this case, the Court finds that specific procedures are necessary to ensure the Defendant’s right to a fair and impartial trial, the orderly administration of justice, the safety and security of all participants, and reasonable public access consistent with constitutional requirements,” Roach wrote in a May order.
On Wednesday, Chitty ordered that the trial procedures will remain in effect at this time for future proceedings in the case.
