Crime
Former sheriff’s deputy charged with killing airman Roger Fortson in Florida home
FORT WALTON BEACH, Fla. (AP) — A Florida sheriff’s deputy has been charged with murder with a firearm, a rare criminal prosecution against a Florida police officer, after a black U.S. Air Force private was killed when he opened the door to his apartment while holding a gun pointed at the bottom.
Former Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Deputy Eddie Duran, 38, has been charged with killing 23-year-old Roger Fortson in a May 3 shooting, said Assistant State’s Attorney Greg Marcille. The charge is a first-degree felony punishable by as much as 30 years in prison.
Marcille said an arrest warrant had been issued for Duran, but he was not in custody as of Friday afternoon.
“Let this be a reminder to law enforcement officers everywhere that they have taken a solemn oath to protect and defend, and their actions have consequences, especially when they result in the loss of life,” civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who represents the airman’s family, said Friday.
Sabu Williams, president of the local NAACP chapter, told The Associated Press: “I think that’s the best we could hope for in this particular case.”
Duran identified himself as Latino during voter registration, and charging documents released Friday also indicate that background.
Authorities say Duran was dispatched to Fortson’s Fort Walton Beach apartment in response to a domestic disturbance report that turned out to be false.
After knocking repeatedly, Fortson opened the door with the gun at his side, pointed down. Authorities say Duran shot him multiple times before telling Fortson to place the gun down.
On Friday, candles and framed photos of Fortson in uniform were placed on the door of the apartment where he was killed.
Okaloosa Sheriff Eric Aden fired Duran on May 31 after an internal investigation found his life was not in danger when he opened fire.
Duran’s attorney, John Whitaker, didn’t immediately reply to a phone call or email in search of comment.
It is very unusual for Florida law enforcement officers to be charged with murder in the road of duty — it had happened only 4 times in the 35 years before Friday. Even then, just one officer had been convicted.
Four Miami-Dade officers were recently charged with murder in connection with a shootout with two robbers who hijacked a UPS truck. The shooting killed the united statesdriver and a passerby, in addition to the abductors.
Three policemen in Okaloosa County, in the town of Crestview, are awaiting trial in the 2021 murder of a person who reportedly died after being shocked with a stun gun. The officers have pleaded not guilty.
Former Palm Beach Gardens officer is is serving a 25-year prison sentence of murder and attempted murder for a 2015 shooting. The officer was undercover and in plainclothes when he fatally shot a black man whose SUV had broken down on an interstate exit ramp. The man feared he was being robbed, pulled out a licensed handgun and tried to flee before he was shot.
The Broward sheriff’s deputy was accused of murder for the 2014 fatal shooting of a black man who was carrying a BB gun he had just purchased. A judge later dismissed that charge.
The U.S. Supreme Court has granted law enforcement officers “qualified immunity” for his or her actions while on duty, making it harder to charge and convict them of questionable shootings. The court says officers can only be convicted if the evidence shows their conduct was illegal they usually must have known they were violating “clearly established” law.
Duran began his law enforcement profession as a military police officer in the Army. He was hired by the Oklahoma Police Department in 2015 after being discharged from the military. He joined the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office in 2019, but resigned two years later, then rejoined the Sheriff’s Office in 2023.
Okaloosa’s personnel records show he was reprimanded in 2021 for failing to finish a task of confirming the addresses of three registered sex offenders by visiting their homes. Then assigned to a highschool as an on-campus substitute, he was also reprimanded for leaving school before the ultimate bell rang and students were released. Florida law requires an armed guard to be on campus during classes.
In an announcement Friday, the sheriff’s office said it stands by its decision to fireside Duran and has “been fully accountable and transparent” throughout the case.
The apartment complex where Fortson lived is about eight miles from Hurlburt Field, where Fortson was assigned to the 4th Special Operations Squadron as a special mission pilot aboard an AC-130J Ghostrider attack helicopter.
Duran went to the apartment complex on May 3 after receiving a domestic disturbance call. Duran met with the apartment manager, who directed him to Fortson’s fourth-floor apartment, telling him there have been frequent arguments, in keeping with the deputy’s body camera footage.
But Fortson, who has no criminal history, lived alone and had no visitors that afternoon. He was on a video call with his girlfriend, who told investigators they weren’t arguing. She said Fortson was playing a video game.
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Additionally, 911 records show officers had never been called to Fortson’s apartment before, but they’d been called to a close-by apartment 10 times in the past eight months, including once in reference to a domestic disturbance.
When Duran arrived at Fortson’s door, he stood silently for 20 seconds and listened, however the camera mounted on his body didn’t record any voices contained in the constructing.
He then began banging on the door but didn’t discover himself. He then walked to the side of the door, about 5 feet (1.5 meters). He told investigators he feared the person inside could shoot through the door or open it and push him over the railing to the bottom about 40 feet (12 meters) below.
He waited 15 seconds before banging on the door again. This time he shouted, “Sheriff’s office — open the door!” He stepped aside again. In the recording, a muffled voice might be heard — Duran said he heard someone cursing on the police.
Less than 10 seconds later, Duran returned to the door and knocked again, once more signaling that he was on the door.
Fortson’s girlfriend told investigators that the airman asked who was there but got no answer. She said Fortson told her he would not open the door because nobody involves his apartment. She said neither of them heard the deputy yell that he was from the sheriff’s office.
After the third knock, Fortson told her, “I’m going to get the gun because I don’t know who he is.”
When Fortson opened the door holding the gun, Duran said, “Stand back,” and two seconds later he began shooting. Fortson fell to the ground.
Only then did the deputy shout, “Drop your weapon!”
Fortson replied, “It’s over there.”
A sheriff’s deputy called an ambulance, but Fortson died on the hospital shortly thereafter.
Crime
Sean “Diddy” Combs faces five new sexual assault trials
Several more plaintiffs got here forward this week accusing rap mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs of sexual abuse. On November 19, three men and two women filed separate complaints against the Bad Boy Records founder through Tony Buzbee, a lawyer who previously said he would represent greater than 100 clients accusing Combs of misconduct.
“For years, Combs and his companies have engaged in a persistent and pervasive pattern of violence against women, men and minors,” the entire complaints read: in keeping with People magazine. “This abuse was at times verbal, emotional, physical and sexual. As part of his pattern of molestation, Combs manipulated both men and women into participating in highly orchestrated performances of sexual activity, with both prostitutes and unsuspecting partygoers.”
The new plaintiffs include an unidentified man who claims the rapper sexually assaulted him when he was 39 years old. At a house party in New York in 2022, the plaintiff alleged that he was given a drink that left him feeling disoriented and uncontrolled. his body, which ultimately caused him to lose consciousness.
When he regained consciousness, he recalls being in a “dark bedroom with black walls, on a bed with black sheets”, where he realized that Combs was “sodomizing him”. The plaintiff claims he fought with the rapper before leaving the party.
Other male plaintiffs, including an unnamed former actor, remember feeling disoriented, passing out and waking up as Combs sexually assaulted them. With allegations dating back to 2001, all five complaints said Combs’ alleged abuse was “shockingly typical” since the star believed he was “above the law.”
“That said, Mr. Combs vehemently and categorically denies as false and defamatory any claim that he sexually abused anyone, including minors,” attorney Erica Wolff added in a press release. “He looks forward to proving his innocence and defending himself in court where the truth will be determined by evidence, not speculation.”
Combs is currently in federal custody awaiting trial on criminal charges including sex trafficking and racketeering. The star’s trial is scheduled to happen in May 2025.
Crime
Founder of an AI Tech startup accused of fraud and combining numbers with investors
Joanna Smith-Griffin, 33, CEO of startup AllHere Education, Inc. dealing with AI education accused of defrauding investors.
The Southern District of New York prosecuted Smith-Griffin securities fraud, wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. The grand jury indictment alleged that Smith-Griffin lied concerning the education platform’s funds and posed as a financial consultant to supply false information to investors. While acting as a financial consultant for AllHere Education, Smith-Griffin is accused of falsifying the corporate’s financial records mislead potential investors and inflate the worth of her company and its revenues.
AllHere Education is an AI-powered learning platform utilized in primary and secondary schools. Smith-Griffin has had little success integrating the K-12 platform into individual school districts in California and Georgia. However, the principal didn’t secure long-term contracts with school districts. She used these short-term partnerships to misrepresent to investors the reach and financial success of AllHere Education.
Smith-Griffin told potential AllHere investors that AllHere generated about $3.7 million in revenue in 2020, about $2.5 million in money and has major school district customers similar to New York City Department of Education (“NYC DOE”) and Atlanta Public Schools. In fact, AllHere generated roughly $11,000 in revenue in 2020, had roughly $494,000 in money, and had no contracts with many of the clients it represented, including the NYC DOE and Atlanta Public Schools.
Smith-Griffin continued to boost capital to support the startup, raising one other $10 million in funding. When the corporate collapsed financially, Smith-Griffin allegedly used the money injection to pay for an extravagant three-day wedding in Florida and a residence in North Carolina.
FBI Deputy Director James E. Dennehy commented on Smith-Griffin’s decision to prioritize her personal aspirations over the needs of an educational platform.
“Her alleged actions impacted the potential to improve the learning environment in core school districts by selfishly prioritizing personal expenses,” he said.
Smith-Griffin faces a compulsory two years in prison for the identity theft charge and a maximum of 20 years for every fraud charge. AllHere Education is currently in Chapter 7 bankruptcy.
Crime
Prosecutors say Sean “Diddy” Combs is trying to obstruct justice by heading to prison
NEW YORK (AP) — Sean “Diddy” Combs was trying to reach potential witnesses and influence public opinion while in prison in a bid to influence potential jurors in an upcoming sex trafficking trial, prosecutors said in a court filing during which they urged a judge to deny his latest bail request.
The government charges were filed Friday evening in federal court in Manhattan, which opposed the music mogul’s latest offer of $50 million bail. A bail hearing is scheduled for next week.
Prosecutors wrote that a review of recorded phone calls Combs made while in prison shows that he asked relations to contact potential victims and witnesses and urged them to create a “narrative” to influence the jury pool. They say he also encouraged the use of promoting strategies to influence public opinion.
“The defendant has demonstrated time and time again – even while in custody – that he’ll flagrantly and repeatedly disregard the foundations so as to improperly influence the consequence of his case. In other words, the defendant has demonstrated that he can’t be trusted to abide by the terms and conditions,” prosecutors wrote in a press release containing redactions.
Prosecutors wrote that from his behavior it might be inferred that Combs wanted to blackmail victims and witnesses into remaining silent or providing testimony helpful to his defense.
Combs’ lawyers didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
Prosecutors said Combs, 55, began breaking the foundations almost immediately after being taken into custody Metropolitan Prison Center in Brooklyn after his September arrest.
He pleaded not guilty to the costs brought against him he abused and molested women for years with the assistance of a network of collaborators and employees, while silencing victims through blackmail and violence, including kidnapping, arson and physical beatings.
Two judges found he was a danger to the community and a flight risk.
His lawyers recently filed a 3rd bail application after rejecting two previous attempts, including a $50 million bail offer.
In their motion, they cited modified circumstances, including latest evidence, that they believed justified Combs’ release so he could higher prepare for his May 5 trial.
However, prosecutors said defense lawyers created the most recent bail proposal based on evidence provided to them by prosecutors, and the brand new material was already known to defense lawyers after they submitted previous bail applications.
In their presentation to the judge, prosecutors said Combs’ behavior in prison shows he must remain locked up.
For example, they said, Combs asked relations to plan and execute a social media campaign around his birthday “with the intent of influencing a potential jury in this criminal proceeding.”
He encouraged his children to post a video on their social media accounts of them gathering to have a good time his birthday, he added.
He then monitored statistics on the jail, including audience engagement, and “explicitly discussed with the family how to ensure the film would have the desired impact on potential jury members in this case,” they said.
The government also alleged that Combs made clear in other conversations that he intended to anonymously publish information that he believed would help him defend against the costs.
“Defendant’s efforts to impede the fairness of these proceedings also include his persistent efforts to contact potential witnesses, including victims of violence, who could provide strong testimony against him,” prosecutors wrote.
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