Nebraska
Judge tosses suit blaming prosecutors for suspect’s death
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A federal judge threw out a lawsuit against prosecutors filed by the family of a white Nebraska bar owner who killed himself after being charged in the fatal shooting of a Black man during 2020 protests over racial injustice.
U.S. District Judge John Gerrard said in an order Tuesday that there is no legal basis to conclude that Douglas County prosecutors are liable for the death of 38-year-old Jake Gardner.
Gardner’s parents accused the Douglas County Attorney’s Office, its top prosecutor and a special prosecutor of violating Gardner’s constitutional rights. The lawsuit also accused special prosecutor Fred Franklin of implying during a news conference that Gardner was a racist, leading Gardner to take his own life on Sept. 20, 2020, in Oregon.
Gardner was charged with manslaughter and other felonies in the May 30, 2020, shooting death of 22-year-old James Scurlock outside Gardner’s downtown Omaha bar during protests in the wake of the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine initially declined to charge Gardner, saying he acted in self-defense after being attacked by Scurlock. Kleine later asked for a grand jury investigation after critics said he hadn’t thoroughly investigated the shooting. Defenders of Scurlock said he was trying to stop Gardner from hurting anyone after Gardner flashed a gun at protesters he engaged in a scuffle.
Franklin later said additional evidence from Gardner’s phone and his Facebook Messenger account, along with video from inside his bar, shed new light on his intent. Following Gardner’s death, Franklin revealed Gardner had been armed and waiting to ambush people who might break into businesses, including his.
“Gardner’s parents are undoubtedly bereaved, and of course they have every right to be,” Gerrard wrote in his ruling. “The events that led to this case were tragic for Gardner’s family and for Scurlock’s. But not all tragic circumstances ultimately lead to legal liability. This is one of those instances.”
An attorney for the Gardners, John Pierce of California, did not immediately return a message Wednesday seeking comment. Pierce has represented people is several high-profile cases, including at one time Kyle Rittenhouse, who was acquitted of homicide and other counts in the fatal shooting of two men during a Kenosha, Wisconsin, protest.
The Douglas County Attorney’s Office also did not immediately return a message seeking comment.
California
2 plead not guilty to filing 433 tax returns in fraud scheme
SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) — Two Southern California tax preparers each pleaded not guilty Wednesday to federal charges they filed 433 phony tax returns using stolen identities as part of a $1 million fraud scheme, prosecutors said.
Anton Nguyen, 53, of Fountain Valley, and Rosemary Pham, 64, of Midway City, were arraigned on charges including conspiracy to defraud the United States, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a statement.
Trial was scheduled for July 26.
The two are accused of using stolen identities provided by John Tran, a Fountain Valley social worker, to generate fraudulent tax returns, the statement said.
In addition, Nguyen and Pham allegedly used stolen identities to receive fraudulent welfare benefits, prosecutors said.
Tran, who pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge in 2019, will be sentenced July 25.
Pennsylvania
Man gets life terms after pleas in slayings, other crimes
GREENSBURG, Pa. (AP) — A man has been sentenced to life in prison after pleading guilty to criminal homicide and other charges in a three-day crime spree in western Pennsylvania last year that included the ambush and murder of a couple in the driveway of their home.
Victor Steban, 54, of North Huntingdon pleaded guilty Wednesday in Westmoreland County to more than 30 criminal charges in seven separate cases for crimes in May 2021 that included the shooting deaths of Jacob Erdeljac, 40, and Mara Casale, 27, in the driveway of their Penn Township home, the Tribune-Review reported.
Prosecutors said the guilty pleas came as part of an agreement under which they agreed not to seek the death penalty. Police said Steban also tried to set his home on fire, shot into two unoccupied homes and tried to steal a pickup truck at gunpoint.
Steban, who offered no explanation in court for his actions, was sentenced to two life prison terms and concurrent sentences totaling 46 to 96 years in prison, the Tribune-Review reported.
District Attorney Nicole Ziccarelli said in a statement that the pleas will ensure that the defendant “will never walk the streets as a free man or threaten our community again.” She said the victims’ families were consulted and she hoped they bring “some closure and peace to Jake and Mara’s loved ones who have suffered unimaginable tragedy.”
Detective Randall Gardner testified at an earlier hearing that Steban gave police a detailed account of his actions. He said the suspect stood over
the male victim, the intended target, and said “I told you this would happen. I told you not to run your mouth.” Authorities said he told them Casale was killed because she happened to be present.
Massachusetts
Man convicted of fatal kidnapping of woman
BOSTON (AP) — A Rhode Island man was found guilty Wednesday of abducting and killing a young mother celebrating her 23rd birthday at a Boston nightclub.
Louis Coleman III, 36, was convicted by a federal grand jury of kidnapping resulting in death in connection with the February 2019 death of Jassy Correia, the U.S attorney’s office said in a statement. He faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison.
Correia’s father thanked jurors for coming to the “correct and just decision.”
“A special thanks to the lawyers that had the courage and determination to present to the public and convince the jurors that no one is above the law,” Joaquim Correia, speaking through a translator, told reporters. Correia left behind a 2-year-old daughter.
An attorney for Coleman said they plan to appeal.
Coleman lured Correia into his car by promising her a ride home, then sexually assaulted her and strangled her, Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Richardson told jurors in his closing statements Tuesday.
Coleman was captured on surveillance video dragging her body into his Providence apartment and then researched how to dispose of the body, prosecutors said.
Coleman, who has a master’s degree in physics and worked as an engineer for a defense contractor, was stopped on Interstate 95 in Delaware days later with Correia’s body in a suitcase in the trunk. Authorities said she died from strangulation and blunt force trauma, and Coleman’s DNA was on her body.
“This crime was senseless and horrific and there is no question that today’s verdict is just,” said Joseph Bonavolonta, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Boston office. “No excuse can justify the savagery committed by this man who will face life behind bars.”
Defense attorney David Hoose said after the verdict that “Louis never claimed that he had no responsibility for this tragedy,” but did deny ever kidnapping her or having “any evil intent when he went to Boston this night.”
“We think that the evidence was clear that Louis did not go to Boston on this night with a plan to assault or kidnap anyone. The video of his interactions with the woman that he danced with and exchanged text messages with that night establishes what his demeanor was then and on any other night with women,” Hoose said in an email.
The defense said Correia willingly got into Coleman’s car after she was thrown out of a ride-hailing vehicle that was not hers, and engaged in consensual sex.
The defense argued the encounter turned violent and Correia was the one who attacked Coleman. He “panicked” when Correia died, defense attorney Jane Peachy said in her closing argument.
“Part of the reason he didn’t think he could go to the police is he’s a Black man in America who had already been beaten once by police in San Diego,” defense attorney Peachy said.
Pennsylvania
Ex-detective guilty of work-linked sex assault
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A veteran Philadelphia homicide detective was convicted of sexually assaulting or exploiting three male witnesses in a case that has led prosecutors to review dozens of homicide convictions.
Former detective Philip Nordo, 56, was taken into custody after the jury verdict Wednesday. A 2019 grand jury report accused him of using his position to intimidate and groom male suspects and witnesses into sexual acts.
The investigation has already contributed to the reversal of several homicide convictions, including one involving a special needs athlete killed over his headphones.
“We are going to hold people accountable, civilian or law enforcement, when they commit terrible crimes,” District Attorney Larry Krasner said Wednesday. “That means we have to reconsider dozens of homicide convictions. It means there will be — there have been — exonerations.”
The defense team said that Nordo plans to appeal.
“There were enormous credibility issues with all three of these witness or complainants, and each of them told very different stories from the versions of events that they told the grand jury,” lawyer Richard J. Fuschino Jr. said.
Prosecutors dropped more than half the charges before trial when they could not locate a fourth accuser. The jury then convicted Nordo on all of the remaining charges, including rape, stalking, official oppression and attempted sexual assault.
Nordo was charged in a 2019 grand jury presentment. The report said the meetings took place in hotel rooms, interview rooms and police vehicles, sometimes after Nordo displayed his firearm.
The theft charge involves allegations that Nordo filed false claims for $20,000 in city reward money and other funds to give to victims. Some of the reward money was intended to aid in the investigation of a slain officer, Krasner said.
Nordo is set to be sentenced in August.
Maine
Man convicted in fatal shootings of 3 people
BELFAST, Maine (AP) — A jury convicted a Maine man of killing three people, rejecting his claims that the shootings were accidents and self defense.
Thomas Bonfanti, 65, of Northfield, was accused of traveling to three homes and killing three people in February 2020 in Washington County.
Another victim survived being shot in the neck.
A jury on Wednesday convicted him of murder, aggravated attempted murder and elevated aggravated assault.
Bonfanti’s contention that he shot two people by accident and the other two in self defense was “pure and utter nonsense,” Assistant Attorney General Robert “Bud” Ellis told the Bangor Daily News.
“We felt the evidence was very strong and compelling from the beginning of the case and obviously the jury agreed,” he said.
Bonfanti told jurors he went to the three homes because he wanted to talk to the victims about missing American Legion funds. His attorney, Jeff Toothaker, acknowledged that Bonfanti’s explanation was “a tough sell.”
Killed were Shawn Currey, 57, of Machias; Jennifer Bryant Flynn, 49, of Machias; and Samuel Powers, 33, of Jonesboro, at their three separate homes in Machias and Jonesboro.
The survivor, Regina Long, refuted Bonfanti’s version of events about a struggle over a gun. She testified she’d served him coffee before he held a gun to her neck, and fired. His motives were unclear.
The trial was moved Waldo County Superior Court because of concerns about pretrial publicity in Washington County, where the killings took place.
