Special counsel’s filing could contain new evidence in Jan. 6 case, following judge’s ruling
(WASHINGTON) — The judge overseeing former President Donald Trump’s federal election interference case on Tuesday granted special counsel Jack Smith’s request to file a 180-page brief on presidential immunity, including potential new evidence in the case.
Smith faces a Thursday deadline to file his opening brief about how the Supreme Court’s ruling on presidential immunity applies to the former president’s criminal case.
Smith had sought the judge’s permission to file an oversized brief, including more than 30 pages of exhibits. Filings are normally limited to 45 pages.
While U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan is allowing the lengthy filing, the materials will likely be filed under seal — with a public version likely to be released, with redactions, at a later date.
Trump’s lawyers had opposed the request, calling the proposed filing a “monstrosity” and a “biased list of grievances” and arguing that the filing would allow prosecutors to unfairly publicize evidence.
Trump last year pleaded not guilty to federal charges of undertaking a “criminal scheme” to overturn the results of the 2020 election in order to remain in power.
In July, the Supreme Court ruled in blockbuster decision that Trump is entitled to immunity from criminal prosecution for official acts undertaken while in office — effectively sending the case back to Chutkan to sort out which charges against Trump can stand.
Chutkan subsequently ruled that Smith can file a comprehensive brief supporting his presidential immunity arguments by this Thursday.
The judge, in granting the government’s request for an oversized brief, said that the unique challenge of applying the Supreme Court’s ruling justifies the unusually long document.
“The length and breadth of the Government’s proposed brief reflects the uniquely ‘challenging’ and factbound nature of those determinations,” Judge Chutkan wrote.
In the same order, Judge Chutkan denied Trump’s request to reconsider her schedule addressing the immunity issue.
(SPRINGFIELD, Ill.) — Sonya Massey, the Illinois woman fatally shot by a deputy while responding to her 911 call, died by homicide due to a gunshot wound to her head, according to an autopsy report released Friday by the Sangamon County coroner.
Though the autopsy report did not state the manner of death, Sangamon County Coroner Jim Allmon confirmed it was homicide.
“The cause of death; gunshot wound of the head. The manner of death; Homicide,” Allmon told ABC News in a statement.
The bullet that killed Massey, 36, entered at the lower eyelid of her left eye and exited through the posterior left surface of her upper neck, according to the autopsy report.
Sean Grayson, the former Sangamon County sheriff’s deputy who shot Massey, was fired and charged with three counts of first-degree murder, aggravated battery with a firearm and official misconduct in Massey’s death. He pleaded not guilty.
Massey and a second, unnamed deputy responded to Massey’s 911 call reporting a possible intruder at her Springfield home on July 6.
Body camera footage released Monday shows Grayson, 30, yelling at Massey to put down a pot of boiling water.
The footage, reviewed by ABC News, shows Massey telling the two responding deputies, “Please, don’t hurt me,” once she answered their knocks on her door.
Grayson responded, “I don’t want to hurt you, you called us.”
Later in the video, while inside Massey’s home as she searches for her ID, Grayson points out a pot of boiling water on her stove and says, “We don’t need a fire while we’re in here.”
Massey then pours the water into the sink and tells the deputy, “I rebuke you in the name of Jesus.”
Grayson threatens to shoot her, according to the video, and Massey apologizes and ducks down behind a counter, covering her face with what appears to be a red oven mitt. She briefly rises, and Grayson shoots her three times in the face, the footage shows.
The footage is from the point of view of Grayson’s partner, because Grayson did not turn on his own body camera until after the shooting, according to court documents.
A review by Illinois State Police found Grayson was not justified in his use of deadly force.
Grayson was discharged from the U.S. Army for “misconduct (serious offense),” according to documents obtained by ABC News.
ABC News has also learned that Grayson was charged with two DUI offenses in Macoupin County, Illinois, in August 2015 and July 2016, according to court documents.
Grayson’s attorney, Dan Fultz, declined to comment.
The news of his discharge and DUI offenses come days after it was revealed through Illinois Law Enforcement Training and Standards Board records obtained by ABC News that Grayson worked for six law enforcement agencies over the last four years.
(NEW YORK) — A tropical disturbance near Cuba is taking aim at Florida and could strengthen into a tropical depression or tropical storm this weekend.
It has an 80% chance of developing into a tropical depression over the weekend and a 90% chance of developing into a tropical depression over the next seven days. If this strengthens to a named storm, it would be called Debby.
Regardless of how strong the potential storm will be, it’s forecast to bring up to 6 to 8 inches of rain to parts of Florida’s west coast as well as the Georgia and South Carolina coast.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has declared a state of emergency in 54 counties.
A tropical storm warning is in effect in Florida from East Cape Sable to Boca Grande, including Naples.
A tropical storm watch is in effect for parts of the Florida Keys, the southern coast of the Florida peninsula and the west coast of the Florida peninsula, including Tampa.
A storm surge watch has also been issued for parts of the west coast of the Florida peninsula.
The current forecast track calls for the system to become a tropical depression by Saturday morning as it moves across Cuba.
The outer bands will reach South Florida on Saturday morning and bring scattered thunderstorms, heavy downpours and gusty winds.
The storm will continue to strengthen as it closes in on the west coast of the Florida Peninsula and is forecast to come ashore Sunday or Sunday night. Flash flooding is a threat on Sunday.
By Monday morning, the storm will move into the Atlantic Ocean or near the Southeast coast, potentially bringing rain and wind to the Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina coastline. But this forecast could change.
Heavy rain will likely impact coastal areas of Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina through Wednesday.
Atlantic hurricane season ramps up throughout August and typically peaks in September.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicts an above-average hurricane season this year. NOAA scientists predict between 17 and 25 named storms, compared to an average of 14; between eight and 13 hurricanes, compared to an average of seven; and between four and seven major hurricanes, compared to an average of three.
(NEW YORK) — Jury selection is set to begin Monday in the trial of Susan Lorincz, the Florida woman who is charged with fatally shooting her neighbor Ajike “AJ” Owens, a Black mother of four, in 2023 amid a dispute with Owens’ children.
“The remembrance of it is very painful,” Pamela Dias, Owens’ mother, said during a June 2 gathering at Immerse Church in Ocala to commemorate Owens’ life on the one-year anniversary of the fatal shooting.
“You feel this emptiness, this void that nothing can complete, and then you couple that with the fact that you have four babies who have lost their mother,” Dias added.
The charges
Susan Lorincz, who is white, was arrested on June 6, 2023, and charged with first-degree felony manslaughter, which is punishable by up to 30 years in prison if she is convicted, according to the Marion County Sheriff’s Office. She was also charged with culpable negligence, battery and two counts of assault, but those lesser charges have since been dropped, according to court records.
Lorincz pleaded not guilty on July 10, 2023. She was held on a $150,000 bond and has remained in custody since her arrest last year. Lorincz’s attorney, Amanda Sizemore, previously declined to comment on the charge her client is facing and did not immediately return a request for comment from ABC News ahead of the trial.
Over the past year, Owen’s family has repeatedly called on prosecutors to upgrade the charge against Lorincz to second-degree murder, but Florida State Attorney William “Bill” Gladson said in a June 26, 2023 statement that there was insufficient evidence to prove a murder charge in court.
“As deplorable as the defendant’s actions were in this case, there is insufficient evidence to prove this specific and required element of second-degree murder,” Gladson said.
With jury selection set to begin, ABC News reached out to Owens’ family and their attorney, Anthony Thomas, for further comment.
What the video shows
According to a June 6, 2023 statement from the Marion County Sheriff’s Office, Lorincz allegedly shot Owens through a closed door in the presence of her now 10-year-old son after the mother of four went to speak with Lorincz about a dispute over Owens’ children playing near her home.
Ahead of Lorincz’s trial, the Marion County Sheriff’s Office released video on June 10, 2024, of Lorincz’s two-hour interrogation, which took place four days after the fatal shooting.
Lorincz claimed in her interview with detectives that she was acting in self-defense when she shot Owens.
“She was saying ‘I’m going to kill you,'” Lorincz claimed in the video.
“No one that we’ve interviewed so far has made any statements about her saying that she wanted to kill you,” one of the detectives told Lorincz.
Body camera footage released on July 3, 2023 by the Marion County Sheriff’s Office showed seven incidents between Feb. 25, 2022, and April 25, 2023 in which Lorincz called sheriff’s deputies to complain about neighborhood children, including Owens’ children, playing near her home.
The body camera videos also show a child alleging in comments to sheriff’s deputies that Lorincz called the children in the neighborhood “the N-word” and another who accused Lorincz of being “racist.”
During the interrogation, Lorincz repeatedly denied using racial slurs towards Owens and her children on the night of the shooting, but according to a police report, Lorincz admitted to calling children in the neighborhood the N-word and other derogatory terms in the past.
“I do not have a comment at this time,” Sizemore told ABC News on July 3, 2023, when asked to comment about the release of the body camera footage and the allegation that Lorincz called the children the “N-word.”
Owens’ family also called on Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody and the U.S. Department of Justice in July 2023 to review the case and consider whether the shooting was a hate crime.