Ohio
Appeals court rules against vaccine mandate in 3 states
CINCINNATI, Ohio (AP) — An appeals court has affirmed a ban in three states on enforcing a federal vaccine mandate for workers who contract with the federal government.
A panel of the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in Cincinnati on Thursday affirmed a lower court’s ruling that said the mandate was unconstitutional. President Joe Biden’s administration is not enforcing the rule while legal battles play out around the country.
A federal judge in Louisville, Kentucky, blocked the Biden rule in November 2021 for that state and two others: Tennessee and Ohio. The mandate requires workers contracting with the federal government to wear face masks and be vaccinated for COVID-19.
The Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals issued a similar ruling in December for Indiana, Louisiana and Mississippi.
“The Sixth Circuit’s decision is a resounding victory against unlawful federal overreach into the personal medical decisions of Kentuckians,” Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron said in a statement Thursday.
Cameron, a Republican running for governor, brought the Kentucky lawsuit in 2021.
California
News outlets seek access to evidence in Paul Pelosi attack
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A coalition of news organizations, including The Associated Press, filed a court motion in San Francisco seeking access to evidence against the man charged in last year’s attack on former U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband, Paul Pelosi.
During a Dec. 14 preliminary hearing, the San Francisco district attorney’s office introduced audio and video evidence against David DePape, the man accused of attacking Paul Pelosi. But it has refused to release the evidence to the media.
Attorneys for the coalition said in the motion filed Wednesday that “the public and press have standing to assert their rights of access to court records and proceedings.”
The coalition also includes The New York Times, The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, the San Francisco Chronicle, The Press Democrat, CNN, Fox News, CBS, ABC, NBC and KQED, an NPR-member radio station in San Francisco.
A spokesperson for the district attorney’s office didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment.
Evidence introduced in the preliminary hearing against DePape included audio from a 911 call made by Paul Pelosi, portions of body camera video taken by the two police officers who responded to the Pelosis’ house, portions of video of a police detective interviewing DePape and footage captured by Capitol Police Department surveillance cameras.
Prosecutors say DePape broke into the Pelosis’ San Francisco home on Oct. 28 seeking to kidnap the former speaker — who was out of town — and instead beat her 82-year-old husband with a hammer. The violence sent shockwaves through the political world.
DePape pleaded not guilty to state charges, including attempted murder, burglary and elder abuse. He has also pleaded not guilty to federal charges of attempting to kidnap a federal official and assaulting a federal official’s family member.
He remains jailed without bail and is set to return to a state court on Feb. 23 to set a date for his trial.
Idaho
Stabbing suspect to face preliminary hearing in June
The man charged in the stabbing deaths of four University of Idaho students will have a preliminary hearing in late June, when prosecutors will try to show a judge that they have enough evidence to justify the felony charges.
Bryan Kohberger waived his right to a speedy preliminary hearing during a status conference Thursday morning. The 28-year-old Washington State University graduate student is charged with four counts of first-degree murder and burglary, and has not yet entered a plea and is waiting to learn whether prosecutors in the high-profile case will pursue the death penalty.
He appeared in court wearing an orange t-shirt and pants, and gave the judge short one-word answers when she asked him if he understood his rights during the roughly five-minute-long hearing.
Kohberger’s attorney, Anne Taylor, told Magistrate Judge Megan Marshall that Kohberger was willing to waive his right to a speedy preliminary hearing, which would have required that it be held within two weeks. The hearing itself will likely take four or five days, Taylor said.
“He’s willing to waive timeliness to allow us time to obtain discovery in the case and be prepared,” Taylor told the judge.
Latah County Prosecutor Bill Thompson said he had no objection to waiting until June or even July for the preliminary hearing.
Marshall set the preliminary hearing for June 26 at 9 a.m., expecting it to last for five days.
The Nov. 13 slayings of Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin left the rural community in Moscow, Idaho, grief-stricken and afraid, prompting nearly half of the university’s students to leave town for the perceived safety of online courses.
Weeks went by without a named suspect and few details were released, but on Dec. 30 Kohberger, a graduate student studying criminology from the university located just 10 miles (16 kilometers) away — was arrested at his parents’ home in eastern Pennsylvania. Kohberger was extradited to Idaho last week.
University of Idaho students returned from winter break to start classes on Wednesday, many of them coming together for the first time since news of the attack spread across campus.
A general feeling of relief was in the air, university spokesperson Jodi Walker said on Wednesday.
“The students are back and enrollments are looking good,” Walker said. “I think everybody’s happy to be back under the circumstances. They’re relieved that an arrest has been made, and ready to focus on the semester.”
At the preliminary hearing, the prosecutor will be expected to show the magistrate judge that he has enough evidence to justify moving forward with the felony charges, and the defense will try to point out holes in the prosecutor’s case to show that the charges should be dropped.
If the magistrate judge agrees that there is evidence to justify the charges, the case will be “bound over” into Idaho’s 2nd District Court, and a district judge will take over. Then Kohberger will have a chance to enter a plea. If he pleads not guilty, the case will begin working toward a trial. If he pleads guilty, a sentencing hearing will be set.
Thompson has 60 days from the time Kohberger enters a plea to say if he will seek the death penalty.
