Headline

Access, Again An Issue At Federal Trial In Floyd’s Killing

Published

4 years ago

January 22, 2022

A closed hearing in the federal trial of three former Minneapolis police officers in George Floyd’s killing was canceled Friday after prosecutors and the media objected, the second time in just days that access to the proceedings became an issue.

U.S. District Judge, Paul Magnuson scheduled the conference on the admissibility of some evidence that attorneys for Tou Thao, J. Kueng and Thomas Lane sought to block.

After prosecutors and news media objected, Magnuson canceled the hearing and met with attorneys in chambers instead.

No details of the meeting were immediately released.

Opening statements are set for Monday in the trial of the three officers, who are broadly charged in federal court with depriving Floyd of his civil rights while acting under government authority as Derek Chauvin used his knee to pin the Black man to the street for 9½ minutes on May 25, 2020. The videotaped killing triggered worldwide protests, violence and a reexamination of racism and policing.

Media groups earlier this week raised concerns about restrictions on journalists and spectators in the courtroom.

Magnuson, citing the coronavirus pandemic, initially set aside just two seats for reporters and none for family members during jury selection, which was completed in one day.

He raised that to four seats for reporters during jury selection — the same as planned for the trial phase — but rejected other media requests, including sharing of evidence exhibits.

Leita Walker, an attorney for the media groups, said she was “concerned that the court purported to cancel an evidentiary hearing but went forward with a meeting and we don’t know what happened at that meeting.”

The original hearing was set to deal with defense motions to exclude certain evidence, including still images from videos the day of Floyd’s death; side-by-side exhibits that will play two videos at once; and dispatch and 911 calls, according to a filing late Thursday from prosecutors objecting to Friday’s closure.

On Thursday, a jury of 18 people who appeared mostly white was picked for the trial, in contrast to the state court jury that convicted Chauvin of murder and manslaughter last April, a panel that was half nonwhite.

This group appears to include a woman of Asian descent among the 12 jurors, and a man of Asian descent among the six alternates. The court declined to provide demographic information.

In objecting to the closure of Friday’s hearing, prosecutors had said neither side had requested the closure.

Walker followed up Friday morning for a coalition of media organizations, including The Associated Press, with the group’s request to the judge to open the proceeding.

She wrote that excluding the press and public from an evidentiary hearing amounted to “a closure of the courtroom that violates the First Amendment.”

“Presumably the Court is concerned about publicity surrounding inadmissible evidence. But it is a standard practice to instruct jury members not to listen to or read news reports on the case they are considering” to avoid the outside influence, Walker wrote.

Magnuson specifically admonished the jurors before he sent them home Thursday evening to avoid media coverage of the proceedings.

Walker wrote that many, and perhaps all, of the jurors were already familiar with the events, including Chauvin’s murder conviction and guilty plea to federal civil rights charges last month.

The judge in Chauvin’s murder trial made an exception to Minnesota’s normal limits on audiovisual coverage, citing the need for public access during the pandemic, and the livestreamed proceedings drew a large audience.

Thao, Kueng and Lane also face a separate state court trial June 13, on charges of aiding and abetting both murder and manslaughter.

(AP)

Headline

Nigerian Jailed In US Over $6m Inheritance Fraud

Published

55 minutes ago

September 16, 2025

Editor

A United States court has sentenced a Nigerian, Ehis Lawrence Akhimie, to over eight years in prison for his role in a transnational inheritance fraud scheme that defrauded more than 400 elderly victims of over $6m.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida, in a statement on Monday, said Akhimie, 41, was sentenced on September 11 to 97 months’ imprisonment after pleading guilty to conspiracy charges.

According to court filings as indicated in the statement, Akhimie and his accomplices sent personalised letters to victims in the U.S., posing as bank officials in Spain. The letters claimed the recipients were entitled to multimillion-dollar inheritances from relatives who had purportedly died overseas.

Victims were told that before they could access the inheritance, they had to pay various fees, including delivery charges, taxes, and other payments to avoid “government scrutiny”. The funds, however, were siphoned through a network of intermediaries, including former fraud victims in the U.S., who were manipulated into acting as conduits for the syndicate.

U.S. prosecutors said no victim received any inheritance. Instead, the fraudsters enriched themselves while targeting some of the most vulnerable members of society.

“Akhimie and his co-conspirators collected money victims sent in response to the fraudulent letters through a complex web of U.S.-based former victims, whom the defendants convinced to receive money and forward to the defendants or persons associated with them. Victims who sent money never received any purported inheritance funds. In pleading guilty, Akhimie admitted to defrauding over $6 million from more than 400 victims, many of whom were elderly or otherwise vulnerable,” the statement read.

U.S. Attorney Jason Quiñones described the offence as a betrayal of trust, “Schemes like this steal not only money but dignity from our seniors. Our Office stands with victims, ensures their voices are heard, and will relentlessly pursue those who prey on them,” he said.

Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate of the Justice Department’s Civil Division stressed the role of global collaboration in tackling cross-border fraud.

“The Justice Department will continue to pursue, prosecute, and bring to justice transnational criminals responsible for defrauding U.S. consumers, wherever they are located. This case is a testament to the critical role of international collaboration in tackling transnational crime.

“I want to thank our U.S. law enforcement partners, as well as those who assisted across the globe, including the National Crime Agency and Crown Prosecution Service of the United Kingdom, for their outstanding contributions to this case,” Shumate said.

The U.S. Postal Inspection Service, which investigated the case alongside Homeland Security Investigations, also pledged to maintain its crackdown on financial fraud.

Acting Inspector in Charge, Bladismir Rojo, said, “We are committed to protecting American consumers from being defrauded by transnational criminal organisations. We will continue to work with the Department of Justice to deliver justice.”

Similarly, Acting Special Agent in Charge Ray Rede of HSI Arizona added: “Defrauding the elderly and other vulnerable populations is a betrayal of not just trust but of humanity. Justice will prevail, and those who exploit others for personal gain will be held accountable.”

Akhimie is the eighth defendant sentenced in the sprawling case. In April, another Nigerian, Okezie Bonaventure Ogbata, who was extradited from Portugal, was handed the same 97-month sentence by District Court Judge Roy Altman.

At the time, Judge Altman described the offence as “an incredibly serious crime” that demanded strong punishment to protect “the most vulnerable, the least protected members of our society.

Other defendants had previously received jail terms in related proceedings before U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams.

The Department of Justice said the probe benefited from assistance provided by Europol, and authorities in the UK, Spain and Portugal, alongside its Office of International Affairs.

The case has again spotlighted Nigeria’s recurring link with cross-border fraud. U.S. authorities have, in recent years, prosecuted several Nigerians in high-profile scams, ranging from internet fraud to romance scams.

Headline

Kenya Court Seeks UK Citizen’s Arrest Over Mother’s Murder

Published

1 hour ago

September 16, 2025

Editor

A Nairobi court issued an arrest warrant Tuesday for a British citizen in connection with the high-profile death of a young Kenyan mother whose body was found in a septic tank over a decade ago.

Agnes Wanjiru, 21, died in 2012 after she reportedly went partying with British soldiers at a hotel in central Nanyuki town, where Britain has a permanent army garrison.

The Office for the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) said it had informed the court “that evidence gathered links the suspect, a United Kingdom citizen, to the murder”.

Nairobi High Court judge Alexander Muteti said there was “probable cause to order the arrest of the accused and his surrender before this court for his trial”, granting a warrant for “one citizen and resident of the United Kingdom”.

Following the judge’s ruling, the ODPP said in a statement on X that “extradition proceedings would now be initiated to ensure the suspect is brought before a Kenyan court”.

Wanjiru’s sister, Rose Wanyua Wanjiku, 52, welcomed the announcement and told AFP: “Let justice prevail”.

“As a family, we are very happy because it has been many years, but now we can see a step has been made,” she said.

– ‘Accelerate progress’ –

A spokesperson for the British government acknowledged the DPP had “determined that a British National should face trial in relation to the murder of Ms Wanjiru in 2012”.

The government remains “absolutely committed to helping them secure justice”, but will not comment further due to legal proceedings, according to a statement.

In October 2021, The Sunday Times reported that a soldier had confessed to his comrades to killing Wanjiru and showed them her body.

The report alleged that the murder was reported to military superiors, but there was no further action.

A Kenyan investigation was opened in 2019, but no results have been disclosed. The ODPP said earlier that a team of senior prosecutors had been assembled to review the case.

British defence minister John Healey met the family earlier this year, stressing the need to “accelerate progress” on the case.

Since Kenya gained independence in 1963, Britain has kept a permanent army base near Nanyuki, around 200 kilometres (125 miles) north of the capital Nairobi.

The British Army Training Unit in Kenya is an economic lifeline for many in Nanyuki, but it has faced criticism over incidents of misconduct by its soldiers.

AFP

Headline

Court Jails Two For Targeting President With Sorcery

Published

24 hours ago

September 15, 2025

Editor

A Zambian court on Monday sentenced two men to two years in prison with hard labour on charges of attempting to use witchcraft to kill the country’s president.

Mozambican national Jasten Mabulesse Candunde and Zambian village chief Leonard Phiri were arrested in December in possession of charms, including a live chameleon.

Police said they planned to use the charms to harm President Hakainde Hichilema, and they were charged with professing knowledge of witchcraft and possession of charms.

“The motive of the crime was to kill the head of state,” magistrate Fine Mayambu ruled in the capital Lusaka on Monday.

“The convicts were not only enemies of the head of state but all Zambians. I therefore sentence them to 24 months imprisonment with hard labour from the date of their arrest,” he said.

The prosecution said the men had been hired by the brother of opposition MP Emmanuel “Jay Jay” Banda, who is facing trial for robbery, attempted murder and escaping custody.