Crime
Police officer charged with murder in shooting death of pregnant black woman accused of shoplifting
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — An Ohio police officer was charged Tuesday with murder and other charges in connection with the shooting death of Ta’Kiya Young, a 21-year-old black mother who was killed after being accused of shoplifting last August.
Young was suspected of stealing bottles of alcohol when Blendon Township police officer Connor Grubb and a colleague approached her automotive. The other officer ordered her to get out. Instead, she rolled forward toward Grubb, who fired a single shot through the windshield into her chest. The daughter she was expecting three months later also died.
A Franklin County grand jury indicted Grubb on charges of murder, manslaughter and aggravated assault in the deaths of Young and her child. He is scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday. An arrest warrant was issued as part of the indictment.
Brian Steel, president of the union representing Blendon Township police, called the indictment deeply disappointing. “Like all law enforcement officers, Officer Grubb had to make a split-second decision, a reality all too familiar to those who protect our communities,” he said in a press release.
Young’s grandmother, Nadine Young, said the officer shouldn’t have drawn his gun when he first confronted her.
“He took a lot from us,” she said Tuesday. “It’s not fair. We don’t have her or the baby.”
The past yr has been difficult for the family, including her granddaughter’s two young sons, she said. “It’s been agony, it’s been like a hurricane of pain and suffering,” she said.
Family members called for charges against the officer shortly after the Aug. 24 shooting. After watching body camera footage of the officer shooting, the family called his actions a “gross abuse of power and authority,” especially considering Young was charged with a comparatively minor crime.
The footage shows an officer at the motive force’s window telling Young she’s been charged with shoplifting and telling her to get out of the automotive. Young protests, each officers curse at her and yell at her to get out, and Young might be heard asking them, “Are you going to shoot me?”
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Seconds later, she turns the wheel to the fitting, the automotive slowly rolls forward, and Grubb fires his gun. Moments later, because the automotive stops at a constructing, they smash the motive force’s side window. Police said they tried to save lots of her life, but she was fatally wounded.
Sean Walton, the family’s attorney, said the law is evident about when an officer can use deadly force.
“In no scenario does a shoplifter contribute to his murder by a police officer,” he said. “He bears no responsibility.”
Some departments in the United States prohibit officers from shooting at or from moving vehicles, and law enforcement organizations comparable to the Police Executive Research Forum argue that shooting in such circumstances creates unacceptable risks to bystanders, comparable to resulting from accidental discharge or the motive force losing control of the vehicle.
The Blendon Township police use-of-force policy says officers should try to move away from an oncoming vehicle somewhat than fire their weapon. An officer should only fire if she or he “reasonably believes there are no other reasonable means to prevent the imminent threat posed by the vehicle, or if deadly force other than a vehicle is directed against the officer or others.”
Young’s encounter with police was one of a series of disturbing incidents involving black adults and youngsters in Ohio following officer-involved shootings, and there have been quite a few incidents of police brutality against black people across the country over the past few years.
The state Bureau of Investigation wrapped up its investigation into the shooting last December before a special prosecutor was appointed to oversee the case. The prosecutor then presented the evidence to a grand jury over two days. Juries don’t consider guilt but as an alternative take a look at whether there’s enough evidence to go to trial.
Blendon Township Police Chief John Belford said the department has begun a disciplinary review now that Grubb has been charged. Grubb, a full-time borough officer since 2019, has been on paid administrative leave because the shooting. His personnel file showed he had no disciplinary history on the job, his first as a police officer.
“No one in Blendon Township has made any judgment as to whether Officer Grubb acted lawfully,” the police chief said in a press release. “However, because the individuals charged may not be lawfully in possession of firearms, the indictment against him leaves us with no choice but to pursue disciplinary action.”
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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