Louisiana
Judge with key role in recall fight had signed petition
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A judge who approved a court settlement lowering the number of signatures needed on a recall petition against New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell didn’t disclose that she had signed the petition.
The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate reported that Judge Jennifer Medley had signed the petition in December. The newspaper made the discovery after having filed a lawsuit to get the signatures from recall organizers.
Last week, Medley presided over a recall-related lawsuit that the recall organizers had filed against state and local election officials over the number of signatures required to force a recall. They had argued that voter rolls were inflated with hundreds of dead people who have yet to be removed from the rolls, and thousands of people who have moved out of the city.
The result was a settlement, approved by Medley, that dropped the number of signatures required to force a recall election from nearly 50,000 signatures to just under 45,000.
Cantrell’s office declined comment Thursday on Medley having signed the petition. Medley’s office didn’t immediately respond to a Thursday emailed query by The Associated Press. But it has declined comment to other news outlets, citing the fact that the court case is still pending in her court.
It remains unclear if Cantrell’s opponents have gathered enough signatures to force a recall. Organizers delivered the petitions to the New Orleans registrar of voters on Feb. 22. The registrar’s office, which has until March 22 to certify the results of the petition drive, is counting and validating signatures.
Cantrell is more than a year into her second term, which has been plagued by numerous problems, including stubborn violent crime, fitful progress on major street projects that have left some city streets a mess, and unreliable garbage collection. Questions also have been raised about her travel expenses and her personal use of a city-owned apartment.
On Wednesday, the City Council unanimously approved a resolution to open an investigation into the use of public money to send a mailer to city residents earlier this year touting Cantrell’s accomplishments.
Cantrell’s director of communications defended the mailer. “Given the challenges the City has had to endure and work through, our people deserve to be notified of the efforts being made by this administration to ensure that future generations of New Orleanians are given opportunities to thrive in a progressive, safer, healthier, more inclusive and more equitable city,” Gregory Joseph said in an email.
New York
Judge to allow 8-year-old to testify at double-murder trial
SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) — An 8-year-old boy who was inside an apartment where two people were fatally shot will be allowed to testify at the suspect’s murder trial next week after proving to a judge that he understands the difference between the truth and a lie.
Prosecutors want the boy to take the stand at the trial of Bruce Miles, who is charged with killing a man and a woman in Syracuse, New York, in 2021, the Post-Standard of Syracuse reported. Jury selection is scheduled to start Monday.
The boy was questioned by prosecution and defense lawyers at a hearing Thursday before Onondaga County Judge Gordon Cuffy, who said he was satisfied that the boy was able to respect the importance of telling the truth in a courtroom.
When asked by defense attorney Ed Klein whether he had ever told a lie, the boy said he once told his uncle that he had eaten some noodles when he hadn’t. He said he knew that telling the truth was good and telling a lie was bad.
The child was inside the apartment when a gunman unleashed a barrage of bullets, killing Shabriah Gainey, 29, and Julian Mansaw, 33. Gainey was shot five times and Mansaw was hit 10 times, according to an indictment.
The boy’s relationship to the victims was not disclosed.
Assistant District Attorney Anthony Copani told the judge the boy would be asked at trial why he woke up the night of the shooting and what he saw and did. The prosecutor said the boy was the only living witness to leave the apartment that day.
Miles was arrested in Ohio and is charged with first-degree murder. He has pleaded not guilty.
Maryland
Ex-police chief convicted in 4 arsons targeting his enemies
BALTIMORE (AP) — A former Maryland police chief was convicted Thursday of intentionally setting fire to buildings belonging to his adversaries, leading various law enforcement agencies on a sprawling investigation that linked a dozen arsons spanning nearly a decade and crisscrossing several counties.
David Crawford, 71, was arrested in March 2021 and charged with over 50 felonies. Following his conviction Thursday, he faces life in prison at sentencing.
Crawford served as police chief of Laurel, a city roughly halfway between Baltimore and Washington, D.C., from 2006 until his resignation in 2010. Before that, he worked for other local law enforcement agencies throughout his career, including in high-ranking positions.
Prosecutors said the arson victims included a former Laurel city official, three former law enforcement officials, a resident of Crawford’s neighborhood, two of his relatives and two chiropractors who had treated him.
Crawford was convicted by a Howard County jury, which found him guilty of eight counts of attempted first-degree murder, three counts of first-degree arson and one count of first-degree malicious burning. He’s still facing pending charges in other jurisdictions.
Officials said investigators linked some of the fires in 2020 after discovering Crawford had previous disagreements with the victims. During a January 2021 search of his home, officers found a list of targets.
An attorney representing Crawford didn’t immediately respond to a voicemail seeking comment Thursday.
Crawford’s conviction pertains to four fires in Howard County that occurred in 2017 and 2018, including two targeting occupied homes. No one was injured in the blazes, which all started in the early morning hours. Surveillance video from some of the scenes showed Crawford using gasoline to start the fires, according to law enforcement.
Prosecutors said Crawford also targeted one of the houses a second time — shortly after renovations had been completed following the first fire.
Howard County State’s Attorney Rich Gibson said his office is seeking a maximum sentence for Crawford, which is eight life sentences plus 95 years in prison. Gibson cited Crawford’s long law enforcement career, saying he “should have had a greater degree of respect for the rule of law.”
Regardless, Gibson said in a statement, “today’s verdict is a reminder that no one is above the law.”
Indiana
Murder charge filed in death of trooper
AUBURN, Ind. (AP) — A prosecutor filed a murder charge Thursday and requested a sentence of life without parole against a man accused driving his car over an Indiana state trooper in northeastern Indiana.
DeKalb County Prosecutor Neal Blythe also filed two counts of resisting law enforcement and one count of operating with a controlled substance resulting in death against Terry Sands II, 42, of Marion in connection with the March 3 death of Indiana State Police Master Trooper James Bailey, 50, of Auburn.
A hospital blood draw from Sands showed the presence of marijuana, a probable cause affidavit said.
Sands was fleeing police in his car when it struck Bailey, the affidavit said.
DeKalb Superior Court Judge Adam Squiller entered a preliminary plea of not guilty on Sands’ behalf and ordered Sands to be held without bond.
Sands said he intends to hire an attorney to represent him in the case.
Bailey’s funeral will be held Saturday at 11 a.m. at Garrett High School with burial to follow at Calvary Cemetery in Garrett. Visitation will be held 2-8 p.m. Friday at County Line Church of God in Auburn.
Gov. Eric Holcomb has directed flags to be flown at half-staff in the state on Saturday.
Ohio
New unlawful conduct charges for 11 city officers
EAST CLEVELAND, Ohio (AP) — Prosecutors in Ohio on Wednesday announced new charges of unlawful conduct against almost a dozen current or former officers in the troubled police department in East Cleveland, one of the state’s poorest cities.
Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Michael O’Malley said the latest charges against 11 current or former officers including felonious assault and violation of civil rights make a total of 16 current or former officers indicted on charges of unlawful conduct in the last 6 1/2 months.
“Make no mistake, there has been a cancer growing in the East Cleveland police department,” O’Malley said. “We are doing our best to remove every tentacle of that cancer so that this department can rebuild and grow, to put itself into a position to hire officers who enforce the law as well as follow the law.”
The charges include felonious assault, interfering with civil rights, dereliction of duty, evidence-tampering and obstruction of justice, officials said. All of the incidents of alleged misconduct occurred before the appointment of a new police chief last fall, officials said.
Prosecutors played video showing officers punching or kicking people or repeatedly using stun devices, and said details of the 11 new incidents and more video would be released in the coming weeks.
O’Malley said the videos showed people who “were giving up, they were showing their hands, they were acquiescing to law enforcement ... and that wasn’t enough — and I don’t know what a citizen can do other than surrender and put their hands up and hope that the arrest goes by the book.”
Messages could not be left for representatives of the East Cleveland police department Wednesday afternoon. The new police chief, Brian Gerhard, a 27-year veteran of the force, told Cleveland.com last month that he hopes his tenure will “get the respectability that the department had when I first started.”
Seven of the officers were being indicted for the first time, while four had been previously indicted, and the 11 new incidents occurred between February 2020 and July 2022. Four current officers on the 26-member force are among those facing charges. One former East Cleveland officer employed by a neighboring jurisdiction was fired after the announcement.
The total of 31 incidents resulting in charges against a total of 16 officers over the last 6 1/2 months occurred between June 2018 and July 2022 and involved 17 victims, officials said.
Officials in the county prosecutor’s office said the charges stemmed from citizen complaints or colleagues expressing concerns, and they praised investigators for reviewing hours of videos to verify details and in some cases exonerating victims.
O’Malley said all of the city’s residents were victimized by having to live with fear while doing everyday chores, fear “of what may happen when they were simply pulled over or perhaps confronted while walking the streets.”
He said he hoped the department could be rebuilt “from the ground up” with new recruits being taught professional law enforcement techniques and fair treatment of people in the city.
