82 homicides for Austin this year, the most since 1984
In a public safety meeting earlier this month, Austin Police Chief Joseph Chacon said overall violent crime is down 5% percent for the year.
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The Daily BeastJudge Tosses Gun Charge Against Kyle Rittenhouse Before Closing Arguments
Photo by Mark Hertzberg-Pool/Getty ImagesA misdemeanor gun charge against Kyle Rittenhouse was dismissed just hours before jurors were expected to begin deliberating the fate of the teenager accused of murdering two people and trying to kill a third during a police-violence protest last August.Hours later, prosecutors made a last-ditch attempt to convince jurors he belonged in prison.During closing arguments, Assistant District Attorney Thomas Binger tried to convince jurors that Rittenhouse was
- Associated Press
Rittenhouse judge back in spotlight during jury instructions
The judge in Kyle Rittenhouse’s murder trial, already the subject of scrutiny for various actions in the case, drew attention again on Monday for his handling of jury instructions. Judge Bruce Schroeder, who had been expected to file final instructions on Sunday, took arguments from attorneys until the last minute Monday as he edited the instructions on the bench. The last-minute activity focused on a crucial procedure — developing instructions about how jurors should determine whether Rittenhouse is guilty of each charge against him.
- Fox News
Two Arkansas men admit to trafficking 6-year-old, sexually assaulting her
Two Arkansas men have confessed to sexually assaulting a 6-year-old girl after a hospital found she was suffering from multiple sexually transmitted diseases.
- Associated Press
EXPLAINER: Why did judge drop Rittenhouse gun charge?
On the surface, it looked like prosecutors' easiest task at Kyle Rittenhouse's murder trial would be convicting him of a much less significant charge — being a minor in possession of a firearm. Rittenhouse was 17 when he shot three people, killing two, with a semi-automatic rifle on the streets of Kenosha, Wisconsin, during a protest against police brutality last year. Prosecutors brought multiple charges against him, including first-degree intentional homicide, attempted homicide, reckless endangerment and the firearm possession count.
- KCRA - Sacramento Videos
El Dorado County teacher to be sentenced for child pornography after mistakenly uploading video
A former El Dorado County teacher is set to appear in court after pleading guilty to possession of child pornography and child abuse charges. His entire case began after a video sent by mistake. Ryan Michael Pullen, who was a Union Mine High School drama teacher in the El Dorado area near Diamond Springs, is scheduled for sentencing in relation to his charges, according to the El Dorado County District Attorney’s Office. The district attorney's office said his offense came to light when Pullen inadvertently sent a 7-minute homemade video of multiple female students undressing and changing into costume to fellow high school employees. He was attempted to upload video to a Google Drive after the high school's assistant principal requested event content to add to a promotional video for incoming 8th-graders.
- Atlanta Black Star
Missouri Officer Charged In Fatal Shooting of Black Man In His Backyard Awaits Verdict After Week-Long Trial with Claims of Planted Gun, Cops’ Unlawful Entry
A Kansas City, Missouri, police detective is now waiting for a judge to deliver a verdict after his involuntary manslaughter trial in the fatal shooting […]
- INSIDER
6 details the Kyle Rittenhouse jury won't consider when they deliberate the teenager's fate
Several details about Kyle Rittenhouse and the men he shot garnered media attention, but were not deemed appropriate for the jury to consider.
- The Daily Beast
Judge Rebukes Ahmaud Arbery Suspect Lawyer After Mistrial Request
Stephen B. Morton/GettyA Georgia judge presiding over the trial for the three alleged murders of Ahmaud Arbery denied a mistral request on Monday—before rebuking one defense attorney for his past comments about Black pastors in the courtroom. “Your words have an impact on a lot of what is going on,” Chatham County Superior Court Judge Timothy Walmsley told defense attorney Kevin Robert Gough, who is representing suspect William Bryan. “Emotions are neither unreasonable or unexpected in a murder
- The Wrap
Kyle Rittenhouse Prosecutor Uses ‘Road House’ Image in Closing Arguments
"You don't bring a gun to a fistfight," Assistant DA Thomas Binger says
- Tampa Bay Times, St. Petersburg, Fla.
Tampa jury to weigh death sentence for 10-year-old’s murder
TAMPA — It’s been three years since Ricky Willis died. But on Monday, he spoke in a Tampa courtroom. On a big monitor near a witness stand, a jury could see and hear the 10-year-old talk about his family and cheerfully describe upcoming auditions for the TV show America’s Got Talent, where he planned to give a drum performance a few months later. “I’m basically gonna be going a lot of places,” ...
- State College Centre Daily Times
Missing teen girl found, wasn’t kidnapped by ex-boyfriend, Pennsylvania police say
Police were searching for the girl and her ex.
- The Abilene Reporter-News
Two arrested in Eula High School 'hazing' incident, charged with sexual assault
According to Callahan County Sheriff Eric Pechacek, Jonathan Romer, 17, and Paxton Rock, 18, turned themselves in to authorities over the weekend.
- INSIDER
Defense lawyers in the Ahmaud Arbery murder trial called for a mistrial because Arbery's mother cried in court
The judge denied the request, and said a defense lawyer's earlier statement calling for Black pastors to be barred from the court was "reprehensible."
- WJBK
Female suspect wanted for shooting at woman at Detroit liquor store
Detroit Police have released surveillance video that shows a woman unloading multiple shots into a car as a woman was trying to leave a liquor store earlier this month.
- Miami Herald
NYC Central Park rape suspect was on probation for an eerily similar attack in Miami-Dade
A South Florida man arrested on allegations of rape at New York City’s Central Park was on probation for an eerily similar attack in Sunny Isles Beach in 2020.
- INSIDER
A transgender woman was forced to share a jail cell with 3 men, and one of them beat her up so badly it broke her jaw, lawsuit says
Deputies at a San Diego jail repeatedly misgendered Kristina Frost and moved her to a "minimally monitored" cell with men, the lawsuit said.
- Modesto Bee
‘It was traumatizing.’ Family of boy stabbed by another student at Turlock High speaks out
Family said the boy was stabbed 23 times and had to have surgery on cut ligaments in his hand.
- The Daily Beast
Teen Who Torched Synagogue Seethed About Jews in Disturbing Diary, Feds Say
Austin Fire DepartmentA Texas teen accused of setting fire to an Austin, Texas, synagogue kept a series of handwritten journals suggesting a virulent hatred for Jewish people, and memorialized his alleged Halloween night crime in one entry by scrawling, “I set fire to a synagogue.”That’s according to a federal complaint unsealed Monday, charging Franklin Barrett Sechriest, 18, with one count of arson, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. Sechriest also seethed about African-Am
- Chicago Tribune
Chicago police union chief says he will leave department rather than continue disciplinary hearing he called a ‘farce’
The controversial head of Chicago’s largest police union said Monday he will retire from the Chicago Police Department — an announcement that came just after he took the stand in a disciplinary hearing that could have ended with his firing. John Catanzara, president of the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 7, also declared that he will run for mayor in 2023, alluding multiple times to his ...
- Associated Press
Prosecutor pleads guilty and resigns as jury deliberates
As a jury was deliberating over his fate, a Georgia district attorney on Monday pleaded guilty to several charges stemming from improper acts while in office and agreed to resign. Mark Jones had already been suspended as Chattahoochee Judicial Circuit district attorney after the state attorney general’s office obtained the indictment on Sept. 7. It accused him of trying to influence a police officer’s testimony, offering bribes to prosecutors in his office and trying to influence and prevent the testimony of a crime victim.