(NEW YORK) — Tropical Storm Lala has formed in the central Pacific Ocean and is forecast to strengthen, possibly nearing hurricane strength, in the coming days as it approaches the Big Island of Hawaii on Saturday.
A hurricane watch was issued Thursday for the Big Island.
The storm is currently about 680 miles east-southeast from Hilo, Hawaii, on the east coast of the Big Island, as of Thursday afternoon. Winds are 40 mph.
Tropical Storm Lala could reach near-hurricane strength in the next several days as the storm is forecast to gradually strengthen.
The storm is currently moving west at 10 mph. It is expected to pass near or just south of the Big Island on Saturday and pass south of the other Hawaiian islands the rest of the weekend.
Heavy rain, strong winds and rough surf are likely this weekend. The exact timing and intensity of the impacts are still uncertain and will depend on the Lala’s exact track.
Heavy rainfall on the Big Island on Friday could bring life-threatening mudslides and landslides, especially in areas with steep terrain.
Alex Murdaugh listens to testimony during his double-murder trial at the Colleton County Courthouse on Feb. 10, 2023, in Walterboro, South Carolina. (Joshua Boucher/The State/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Alex Murdaugh is back in court on Monday for the first time since the South Carolina Supreme Court overturned his double murder conviction over “shocking jury interference.”
Newly assigned Judge Debra McCaslin is set to hold a status conference to determine a schedule for a new trial as well as resolve some evidentiary issues.
The status conference comes more than three years after a South Carolina jury found Murdaugh guilty of murdering his son and wife in a gruesome crime that captured global headlines.
The South Carolina Supreme Court threw out that conviction last month after concluding that a court clerk tainted the jury’s verdict by making comments to the jurors that “egregiously attacked Murdaugh’s credibility and his defense.”
“Both the State and Murdaugh’s defense skillfully presented their cases to the jury as the trial court deftly presided over this complicated and high-profile matter. However, their efforts were in vain because Colleton County Clerk of Court Rebecca Hill placed her fingers on the scales of justice, thereby denying Murdaugh his right to a fair trial by an impartial jury,” the ruling said.
Murdaugh has remained in prison since the ruling, as he is also serving out concurrent sentences for state and federal financial crimes, to which he pleaded guilty. While Murdaugh has acknowledged he lied and stole from his former clients, he has consistently maintained his innocence related to the 2021 double murder.
“Alex has said from day one that he did not kill his wife and son. We look forward to a new trial conducted consistent with the Constitution and the guidance this Court has provided,” Murdaugh’s lawyers said after the May ruling. His lawyers recently filed a civil lawsuit against Hill for allegedly violating his right to a fair trial.
South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson — who recently won the Republican primary for governor — has vowed to “aggressively” retry the murder case “as soon as possible.” Monday’s conference is likely to provide the first indications of how quickly the case might be retried.
Ahead of the conference, Murdaugh’s lawyers filed a series of motions to change the venue of the trial and access evidence in the case. They have argued that Murdaugh cannot have a fair trial in the countries where his family name has been “synonymous with the local legal system for nearly a century.”
“The basis for this motion is that this is among the most heavily publicized criminal prosecutions in the history of this State. For years Defendant, his family, and the law firm with which his family was associated for generations have been the subject of saturating, sensational, and continuous media coverage,” the motion said.
Murdaugh’s lawyers also filed motions to request access to DNA evidence in the case for independent lab testing, as well as enable Murdaugh to access a computer to review evidence from prison.
Prosecutors have not yet filed their response to those motions.
In this undated file photo, the State Department building is shown in Washington, D.C. (STOCK PHOTO/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — The Iranian American Legal Defense Fund filed a motion Wednesday asking for a stay and a preliminary injunction barring the U.S. government from “sharing the confidential information of Iranian asylum seekers with the Iranian Government” while the issue is adjudicated in court.
The filing came a week after the organization sued the Trump administration over those allegations.
According to that complaint, many Iranian asylum seekers are pro-democracy protesters, members of religious minorities, or members of the LGBTQ community who have sought refuge in the U.S. — and that disclosing their confidential information to the Iranian government puts them “at risk of persecution, torture, and death” should they be deported back to Iran.
Wednesday’s motion also asks the government “to take the necessary steps to prevent the removal of any detained individuals whose confidential information has already been shared with the Iranian Government,” according to the filing.
In the filing, the IALDF alleges that the sharing of information was started in March of 2025, and that since late September 2025, at least three deportation flights have taken place, returning more than 100 Iranian nationals to Iran.
The filing includes 11 declarations by Iranian detainees in the U.S., more than half of which describe interactions, while in detention, with Iranian officials who knew details about their asylum claims.
“It’s shocking to think that at the same time the United States is engaged in hostilities with Iran, that the United States is handing over immigration files from ICE to the Iranian Interest Section in Washington, DC,” said Michael Kirkpatrick, an attorney for Public Citizen who filed the case on behalf of IALDF. “These files are full of extremely confidential and sensitive information.”
“It basically spells out all the reasons somebody in the United States fears being returned to Iran and that could be because they participated in pro-democracy demonstrations; it could be because they have converted to a minority religion like Christianity; it could be that they’re part of the LGBTQ community,” Kirkpatrick said. “That kind of information is exactly the kind of information that they — that would result in their persecution if they went back to Iran.”
“They are terrified,” said Ali Rahnama, the interim executive director of IALDF, saying they’re scared not only for themselves but for family and friends back in Iran. “I want everyone to know these are not statistics; these are human beings who trusted the U.S. government and our laws,” he said.
The documents in the filing also relate details about an alleged phone call and meeting between IALDF board member Cyril Mehri and a senior Iranian official with the Iranian Interest Section in the United States. “According to the Senior Official, ICE has provided the Iranian Government with immigration documents related to each detainee, including asylum applications and related case files,” the filing said.
The IALDF argues that the government’s actions in sharing information without the consent of the detained individuals are unlawful.
The Department of Homeland Security has denied sharing information with the Iranian government, writing in a social media post, “These allegations that ICE shared asylum application records with the Iranian government are FALSE. ICE meets and works to get travel documents for detainees with every country. ICE is committed to ensuring that illegal aliens are informed of their right to communicate with their consular representatives.”
“Consistent with established protocols, ICE provides illegal aliens the opportunity to contact their consular post and facilitates consular access to detained individuals, in accordance with applicable laws, regulations, and agency policy,” the DHS post said. “We will continue to use all lawful options to deport illegal aliens including murderers, rapists, pedophiles, gang members, and terrorists from American communities.”
A State Department spokesperson, following the filing of the lawsuit last week, said that the department, as a general matter, does not comment on pending or ongoing litigation, or on private diplomatic discussions.
An ICE patch and badge are seen on a Department of Homeland Security agent. (Jim Watson – Pool/Getty Images)
(MINNEAPOLIS) — Gregory Morgan Jr., the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent charged by Minnesota prosecutors with two counts of assault with a dangerous weapon for allegedly brandishing a firearm at a motorist, will turn himself in to authorities Thursday, his attorney told ABC News.
The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office announced the charges in April, claiming in the complaint that Morgan was ending his shift on February 5 and was driving back to the Whipple Federal Building when a motorist allegedly cut him off as Morgan was trying to pass. Morgan then produced a firearm and pointed it at the motorists, the complaint said.
Morgan’s attorney, Ryan Pacyga, said in part that the complaint contains “inaccurate and incomplete information” and that Morgan did not initiate the encounter.
The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to an ABC News request for comment, nor did they respond to a similar request when the charges against Morgan were announced.
Morgan, of Temple Hills, Maryland, is charged with two counts of assault with a dangerous weapon related to the encounter, Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarity announced in a news conference on April 16.
Moriarity said at the time that Morgan was driving “illegally” on the shoulder, “appearing to bypass shoulder traffic.”
The complainant told police that they did not know the person driving the other car was an ICE agent until investigators told them, according to the prosecutor’s complaint.
“There were no markings on Defendant’s vehicle that would identify it as law enforcement and the vehicle was not displaying or using lights or sirens,” according to the complaint. “Defendant continued to travel on the shoulder but rather than continue to drive past the victims, he pulled alongside their vehicle, rolled down his window, and pointed a black handgun directly at Victim 1 and Victim 2.”
“Victim 1 had a clear view of Defendant’s appearance, saw that Defendant was wearing a black t-shirt, saw that the gun was pointed directly at their heads, saw that the gun was a Glock or Sig Sauer handgun with what appeared to be a red-dot sight, and noted that Defendant 2 yelled something indiscernible,” according to the complaint.
The alleged victims then called police to report what had happened, according to the complaint. Investigators interviewed Morgan, his supervisor and his partner a day later.
“[Morgan] stated that Victim 1 swerved over in front of him and cut him off. Defendant claimed that he feared for his safety and the safety of others so, in response, he pulled alongside Victim 1’s vehicle, rolled down his window, drew his firearm, and yelled ‘Police Stop,'” the complaint said.
“[Morgan] stated he was trying to get Victim 1 to ‘back up.’ Defendant acknowledged that his firearm was a Glock 19 with a laser light, which Defendant had holstered on his right hip at the time of the interview. Defendant stated that after he pulled the gun on Victim 1 and Victim 2 he got in front of their vehicle and drove to the Whipple Building,” the complaint further said.
Investigators also said they received cellphone footage from the complainant and reviewed traffic camera footage from the road on which they were traveling.
“The allegations against Gregory Morgan arise from a brief, frightening, and highly stressful roadway encounter that happened in a matter of seconds during congested rush-hour traffic. An encounter that Mr. Morgan did not initiate. It came on the heels of many days of fear that both citizens as well aslaw enforcement were experiencing during operations in our Twin Cities metro area,” Pacyga said in a statement to ABC News Thursday.
The statement further said that the incident “did not arise from any planned criminal conduct. It developed suddenly during an alarming traffic interaction, initiated by the other driver.”
“Law enforcement had been enduring threats to their safety by some members of the community, in neighborhoods and on the roads. This situation presented a perceived danger and Mr. Morgan reacted in real time. These are precisely the kinds of situations where perspective, perception, stress, and split-second decision-making matter,” Pacyga’s statement said.
The incident occurred during a contentious period in Minneapolis when the city was the focal point of an immigration enforcement surge and after the killings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good by federal law enforcement. During that time questions arose about whether ICE agents could be prosecuted by state or local authorities.
ABC News’ Jack Date and Luke Barr contributed to this story.
