Virginia
Judge rules against Google, allows antitrust case to proceed
ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — A federal judge on Friday rejected a motion from Google to toss out the government’s antitrust case against it.
U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema ruled the lawsuit alleging Google wields monopolistic power in the world of online advertising can proceed in its entirety.
Her ruling is the second setback for Google at the federal court in Alexandria. Google had earlier tried to get the case consolidated with a similar lawsuit that’s been ongoing for several years in New York. But Brinkema ruled last month that the case can proceed in the Alexandria courthouse, which is known as the “Rocket Docket” for its reputation of adjudicating disputes swiftly.
The lawsuit alleges that Google holds a virtual monopoly in online advertising that works to the detriment of consumers. The complaint alleged that Google “corrupted legitimate competition in the ad tech industry by engaging in a systematic campaign to seize control of the wide swath of high-tech tools used by publishers, advertisers, and brokers, to facilitate digital advertising.”
Google argued that the case should be tossed out, in part because the government defines Google’s alleged monopoly too narrowly. Google’s lawyers contend the lawsuit does not account for advertisers’ ability, for example, to advertise on huge social media platforms like Facebook and TikTok that run their own advertising platforms independent of Google.
In court papers, Google made an analogy to an unsuccessful antitrust lawsuit against Live Nation, a concert promoter that owns and operates a large number of outdoor amphitheaters.
The lawsuit alleged Live Nation held a monopoly on amphitheaters, but a judge ruled that the plaintiffs failed to prove a monopoly in part because they did not take into account reasonable alternatives to amphitheater venues, like indoor concert halls and arenas.
Brinkema said the question of how to define the market in which Google allegedly holds a monopoly will be a key issue in the case, But she said at this preliminary stage, the government’s allegations are plausible enough for the case to move forward. The government’s burden of proof, though, will increase at trial.
After the hearing, Google issued a statement from Dan Taylor, its vice president of global ads, saying the lawsuit “ignores the reality of today’s dynamic digital advertising space, where we compete against hundreds of companies like Amazon, Apple, Meta, Microsoft and TikTok.”
The statement said the lawsuit “would slow innovation, raise advertising fees, and make it harder for thousands of small businesses and publishers to grow.”
A number of states, including Virginia, California, Colorado, Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island and Tennessee, have joined in the case as plaintiffs against Google.
Indiana
Man gets 240 years in prison for 2020 slayings of 4 people
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — A man convicted of four counts of murder and other charges in the fatal Indianapolis shootings of three young men and a young woman was sentenced Friday to 240 years in prison.
Lasean Watkins also was found guilty in March of felony murder and robbery resulting in serious bodily injury in the February 2020 shooting deaths of three men — Marcel Wills, 20; Braxton Ford, 21; and Jalen Roberts, 19 — and a woman, Kimari Hunt, 21, according to a news release. The victims’ bodies were found in a ransacked Indianapolis apartment.
“In 2020, we were rocked by this senseless act,” Marion County Prosecutor Ryan Mears said in the news release.
Co-defendants Cameron Banks and Desmond Banks, convicted last month with Watkins, each were sentenced to 220 years in prison, while a fourth suspect, Rodrience Anderson, pleaded guilty last October to four counts of robbery resulting in serious bodily injury while agreeing to cooperate with the prosecution. He was sentenced to 35 years with five years suspended.
WXIN-TV has reported that Cameron Banks and Desmond Banks are brothers and that, alongside Watkins and Anderson, they ransacked the apartment and cleaned out a safe after more than 50 rounds were fired during the killings.
Arkansas
Woman indicted in $11,000 sale of stolen body parts
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — An Arkansas woman has pleaded not guilty to charges that she sold 20 boxes of stolen body parts from medical school cadavers to a Pennsylvania man for nearly $11,000.
The April 5 indictment, unsealed Friday in federal court in Little Rock, accuses Candace Chapman Scott, 36, a former mortuary worker, of setting up the transactions with a man she met through a Facebook group about “oddities.”
Scott, a Little Rock resident, pleaded not guilty to 12 counts, including conspiracy to commit mail fraud, mail fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy to commit interstate transportation of stolen property, and interstate transportation of stolen property.
Scott is jailed, with a hearing on whether she will be released on bail scheduled for Tuesday. A lawyer for Scott did not immediately answer an email seeking comment on Saturday.
The buyer is not identified in the federal indictment, but separate state charges in Pennsylvania name him as Jeremy Lee Pauley, of Enola, Pennsylvania.
Scott was employed at Arkansas Central Mortuary Services, where part of her job was to transport, cremate and embalm remains. The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock has said that’s where the medical school sent remains of cadavers that had been donated for medical students to examine.
The indictment alleges Scott approached Pauley in October 2021 and began offering to sell him remains from the medical school that the mortuary was supposed to cremate and return.
“Just out of curiosity, would you know anyone in the market for a fully in tact, embalmed brain?” the indictment alleges Scott wrote to Pauley in her first Facebook message.
The indictment alleges that over the next nine months, Scott sold Pauley fetuses, brains, hearts, lungs, genitalia, large pieces of skin and other body parts. At one point, the indictment alleges Scott sold the remains of a fetus at a discount, writing “he’s not in great shape.”
The indictment alleges Scott collected $10,975 in 16 separate PayPal transfers.
Prosecutors argue that Scott should remain jailed until trial, the Arkansas Democrat Gazette reported, with Assistant U.S. Attorney Amanda Jegley telling U.S. Magistrate Judge J. Thomas Ray on Friday that Scott could be motivated to flee by the prospect of a long prison sentence.
“I think that the facts ... underlying the indictment and in the indictment are uniquely egregious and objectionable and we believe there is going to be some significant public outcry as a result of this,” Jegley said.
Ray said the alleged conduct is “shocking and depraved.” But since Scott isn’t alleged to be dangerous, under federal rules, he’s only supposed to order her jailed if she is a flight risk.
Pennsylvania officials discovered the scheme after they got complaints about Pauley last year.
Pauley is charged in Pennsylvania with a misdemeanor count of abuse of a corpse, a felony count of receiving stolen property, a misdemeanor count of receiving stolen property and a felony count of dealing in proceeds of unlawful activities. Pauley is free on bail. Court records show his preliminary hearing, repeatedly delayed, is currently scheduled for June 7.
Leslie Taylor, a spokeswoman for the medical university, told the Arkansas newspaper Friday that officials are grateful federal authorities charged Scott. Taylor called the people who donate their bodies for medical research “true heroes,” and said they are the largest victims in the crime because of the role the donations play in medical education.
Taylor said the FBI has not told school officials if any of the remains have been identified. She said embalming damages DNA, making identification “extremely difficult.”
California
Man guilty of killing 3 after doorbell prank
RIVERSIDE, Calif. (AP) — A Southern California man accused of killing three teenage boys by intentionally ramming their car after they played a doorbell-ringing prank on him was found guilty Friday of murder.
Anurag Chandra was convicted in a Riverside County courtroom of three counts of first-degree murder and three counts of attempted murder.
“The murder of these young men was a horrendous and senseless tragedy for our community. I thank the jury for their verdict. This is an important step toward justice,” county District Attorney Mike Hestrin said in a statement.
Chandra’s attorney, David Wohl, did not immediately return a request for comment Friday.
The victims, who were all 16 years old, were among six teens inside a Toyota Prius on Jan. 19, 2020 when Chandra intentionally rammed their vehicle off the road and fled, prosecutors said.
The Prius’ driver lost control and the sedan slammed into a tree in Temescal Valley, about 60 miles (97 kilometers) southeast of downtown Los Angeles.
The friends had dared one boy to either jump into a pool at night or play “ding dong ditch.”
Chandra, who didn’t know the teens, testified at trial that one of the boys rang his doorbell and exposed his buttocks before running away, according to The Riverside Press-Enterprise. Chandra testified that he followed because he feared for his family’s safety and wanted to express his anger. He said he was “extremely, extremely mad” from the prank.
Chandra also testified that he drank 12 beers in the hours before the crash, the newspaper reported. He said he did not plan to crash into the Prius and testified that he did not stop after rear-ending the sedan because he did not realize anyone had been injured — even though he admitted under cross-examination that he had been driving 99 mph (159 kph) before the collision.
The crash killed Daniel Hawkins of Corona; Drake Ruiz of Corona; and Jacob Ivascu of Riverside, according to the Riverside County coroner’s office.
Sergio Campusano was the Prius’ 18-year-old driver at the time. He and then-13-year-olds Joshua Hawkins and Joshua Ivascu survived the crash. They testified at the trial and were in the courtroom when the verdict was read.
Chandra already was facing criminal charges in connection with alleged domestic violence in 2020 when the killings occurred.
Arizona
Man charged with smuggling diamonds through Florida
MIAMI (AP) — An Arizona man was charged in South Florida with illegally smuggling diamonds into the United States.
Guilherme Cipriani, 41, of Scottsdale, Arizona, was arrested Wednesday in his home state, according to court records. He made his first court appearance in Arizona, but his next court date is scheduled for May 24 in Miami. That’s where a federal grand jury indicted him in March on charges of smuggling diamonds into the U.S. and providing a false statement to a federal agency. If convicted, he faces up to 25 years in prison.
Cipriani tried to smuggle 14 loose-cut diamonds and 53 rough-uncut diamonds into the U.S. through Miami International Airport on Nov. 10, according to the indictment. Officials didn’t provide an estimate for the value of the diamonds.
Cipriani also lied when he told a U.S. Customs and Border Protection agent at the airport that he was not transporting commercial merchandise into the country and had spent zero dollars on commercial merchandise while abroad, prosecutors said.
The indictment didn’t say where Cipriani got the diamonds or what country he was traveling from.
A defense attorney for Cipriani didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment from The Associated Press.
