Tag: court case

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Politics

Michael Dunn’s Sentencing Postponed ‘Till Friday

A judge in Jacksonville is postponing until Friday a decision on whether he will sentence a Florida man convicted of attempted murder during a confrontation over loud music ahead of the 47-year-old software developer’s retrial on first-degree murder.

Jurors deadlocked last month on a first-degree murder charge for Michael Dunn in the shooting of 17-year-old Jordan Davis outside a Jacksonville convenience store. Prosecutors have vowed to retry him on the count.

Dunn’s attorney on Monday asked that sentencing be postponed until after the second trial. Defense attorney Cory Strolla says he is concerned that statements Dunn makes at a sentencing hearing could be used against him in his second trial.

Strolla says he is stepping down as Dunn’s attorney and asked Judge Russell Healey to appoint public defenders.

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Politics

Preliminary Hearings in Renisha McBride’s Killing Begins

Carmen Beasley heard a loud noise outside in the early morning hours of Nov. 2.

She called 911, looked out and saw a car had struck her husband’s vehicle. She then saw a woman holding her hands to her head as she walked away. The woman came back, and Beasley asked if she was OK.

“She just kept saying she wanted to go home,” Beasley said today while testifying in court.

Hours later, that woman was shot to death on the porch of Theodore Wafer’s home in Dearborn Heights.

Wafer’s preliminary examination began today in 20th District Court in Dearborn Heights and will resume Thursday. Prosecutors do not have more witnesses to call, but Wafer’s defense is continuing.

Wafer faces charges of second-degree murder, manslaughter — death by weapon aimed with intent but without malice, and felony firearm in the death of Renisha McBride, 19. McBride died from a gunshot wound to her face.

Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy previously said McBride was shot through a screen door. Firearms examiner David Balash, who is retired from the Michigan State Police, testified for the defense that in his opinion, McBride would not have been more than 2 feet from the gun when she was shot.

Assistant Wayne County Medical Examiner Kilak Kesha testified that McBride would have died immediately upon being shot. He said he found no evidence of close range firing based on the lack of soot or stippling.

Kesha said McBride’s injuries were too severe to determine whether she had suffered any brain injuries earlier.

Categories
Politics

Judge Slaps Down Issa’s Request to Ignore the Shutdown and Pursue his Case

A federal judge was less than amused when Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) requested that a lawsuit he filed two years ago be allowed to move forward in spite of the fact that federal courts have been immobilized by the Republican shutdown of the U.S. government. According to Think Progress, Judge Amy Berman Jackson refused to consider violating the shutdown to handle the case, saying that it’s ridiculous for Issa to make the request, considering his caucus’ role in ordering the government to close.

Issa filed a motion as part of his House Oversight and Government Reform Committee’s failed investigation into supposed misdeeds by the Department of Justice in the “Fast and Furious” operation. Issa is still attempting to order Attorney General Eric Holder to hand over confidential documents or risk being held in contempt of court.

The motion insisted that a “Contingency Plan provides that Department employees may continue to work on matters necessary to the discharge of the President’s constitutional duties and powers,” and therefore his actions against President Barack Obama and the Justice Department should not be affected by the federal work stoppage.

Judge Jackson responded, “There are no exigent circumstances in this case that would justify an order of the Court forcing furloughed attorneys to return to their desks. Moreover, while the vast majority of litigants who now must endure a delay in the progress of their matters do so due to circumstances beyond their control, that cannot be said of the House of Representatives, which has played a role in the shutdown that prompted the stay motion.”

In other words, Jackson told Issa that if he wants to continue his quixotic campaign against the White House and Department of Justice, he and his cohorts in the House should lift the shutdown order.

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