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		<title>Prosecutors recommend six months in prison for a man at the center of a Jan. 6 conspiracy theory</title>
		<link>https://hsjchronicle.com/prosecutors-recommend-six-months-in-prison-for-a-man-at-the-center-of-a-jan-6-conspiracy-theory/</link>
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		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Associated Press]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Thu, 04 Jan 2024 02:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Government]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Capitol riot]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[conspiracy theory]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[prison]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Prosecutors]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://hsjchronicle.com/?p=60426</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>Federal prosecutors on Tuesday recommended a six-month term of imprisonment for a man at the center of a right-wing conspiracy theory about the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol — an attack that he has admitted to joining.</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://hsjchronicle.com/prosecutors-recommend-six-months-in-prison-for-a-man-at-the-center-of-a-jan-6-conspiracy-theory/">Prosecutors recommend six months in prison for a man at the center of a Jan. 6 conspiracy theory</a> appeared first on <a href="https://hsjchronicle.com">The Hemet &amp; San Jacinto Chronicle</a>.</p>
]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">By AP News</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal prosecutors on Tuesday recommended a six-month term of imprisonment for a man at the center of a right-wing conspiracy theory about the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol — an attack that he has admitted to joining.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph"><a href="https://apnews.com/article/arizona-ap-fact-check-ted-cruz-congress-767d5dad0631f88bb0b10a45115a1bc6" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Ray Epps</a>, who is scheduled to be sentenced next Tuesday,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/jan-6-capitol-riot-misdemeanor-charge-conspiracy-theory-157ce51c7ded7f30f21cfab834dcce74" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">pleaded guilty in September</a>&nbsp;to a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/67807327/1/united-states-v-epps/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">misdemeanor charge</a>&nbsp;of disorderly conduct on restricted grounds.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Epps, a onetime Donald Trump supporter from Arizona, became the focus of a conspiracy theory that he was an undercover government agent who incited the Capitol attack. Right-wing news outlets amplified the conspiracy theory and drove him into hiding after the Jan. 6 riot.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Epps, who worked as a roofer after serving four years as infantry in the U.S. Marine Corps, has vehemently denied ever working for the FBI. Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Gordon said during Epps’ plea hearing in September that he was not a confidential source for the FBI “or any other law enforcement agency.”</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">In videos shared widely on social media and right-wing websites, Epps is seen the day before the riot saying, “Tomorrow, we need to go into the Capitol &#8230; peacefully.” On Jan. 6, video shows him saying, “As soon as the president is done speaking, we go to the Capitol.”</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Epps has said he left Capitol grounds when he saw people scaling walls and never actually went inside the building.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Prosecutors say Epps participated in a “a rugby scrum-like group effort” to push past a line of police officers.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">“Even if Epps did not physically touch law enforcement officers or go inside of the building, he undoubtedly engaged in collective aggressive conduct,”&nbsp;<a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.259850/gov.uscourts.dcd.259850.16.0.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">they wrote in a court filing</a>.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">But they also noted that Epps turned himself in to the FBI two days after the riot after learning that agents were trying to identify him. The false conspiracy theory about Epps not only has harmed him “but also attempts to undermine the integrity of the ongoing and overall federal prosecution,” prosecutors said.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">“Epps only acted in furtherance of his own misguided belief in the ‘lie’ that the 2020 presidential election had been ‘stolen,’” they wrote. “However, due to the outrage directed at Epps as a result of that false conspiracy theory, he has been forced to sell his business, move to a different state, and live reclusively.”</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The charge to which Epps pleaded guilty is punishable by a maximum of one year behind bars.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Epps served as an Arizona chapter leader for the Oath Keepers before parting ways with the anti-government extremist group a few years before the Jan. 6 attack.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes and other members were&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/oath-keepers-founder-guilty-of-seditious-conspiracy-42affe1614425c6820f7cbe8fd18ba96" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">convicted of seditious conspiracy</a>&nbsp;in the Jan. 6 attack for what prosecutors said was a weekslong plot to stop the transfer of power from Trump to Democrat Joe Biden. Rhodes was sentenced in May&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/stewart-rhodes-oath-keepers-seditious-conspiracy-sentencing-b3ed4556a3dec577539c4181639f666c" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">to 18 years in prison.</a></p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">More than 1,200 defendants have been charged with Capitol riot-related federal crimes. Over 900 of them have pleaded guilty or been convicted after trials decided by a judge or jury.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Find your latest news here at the <a href="https://hsjchronicle.com/">Hemet &amp; San Jacinto Chronicle </a></p>
<p>The post <a href="https://hsjchronicle.com/prosecutors-recommend-six-months-in-prison-for-a-man-at-the-center-of-a-jan-6-conspiracy-theory/">Prosecutors recommend six months in prison for a man at the center of a Jan. 6 conspiracy theory</a> appeared first on <a href="https://hsjchronicle.com">The Hemet &amp; San Jacinto Chronicle</a>.</p>
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		<title>How Trump’s attacks on prosecutors build on history of using racist language and stereotypes</title>
		<link>https://hsjchronicle.com/how-trumps-attacks-on-prosecutors-build-on-history-of-using-racist-language-and-stereotypes/</link>
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		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Associated Press]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 22 Aug 2023 22:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Prosecutors]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[racist language]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Trump]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://hsjchronicle.com/?p=57987</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>Donald Trump’s aggressive response to his fourth criminal indictment in five months follows a strategy he has long used against legal and political opponents: relentless attacks, often infused with language that is either overtly racist or is coded in ways that appeal to racists.</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://hsjchronicle.com/how-trumps-attacks-on-prosecutors-build-on-history-of-using-racist-language-and-stereotypes/">How Trump’s attacks on prosecutors build on history of using racist language and stereotypes</a> appeared first on <a href="https://hsjchronicle.com">The Hemet &amp; San Jacinto Chronicle</a>.</p>
]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">BY ALI SWENSON AND AYANNA ALEXANDER</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">NEW YORK (AP) —&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/donald-trump" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Donald Trump’s</a>&nbsp;aggressive response to his&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/georgia-indictment-donald-trump-fani-willis-racketeering-299d9e597b0dffbd7636d3e798128a3e" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">fourth criminal indictment</a>&nbsp;in five months follows a strategy he has long used against legal and political opponents: relentless attacks, often infused with language that is either overtly racist or is coded in ways that appeal to racists.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The early Republican presidential front-runner has used terms such as “animal” and “rabid” to describe Black district attorneys. He has accused Black prosecutors of being “racist.” He has made unsupported claims about their personal lives. And on his social media platform, Truth Social, Trump has deployed terms that rhyme with racial slurs as some of his supporters post racist screeds about the same targets.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The rhetoric is a reminder of Trump’s tendency to use coded racial messaging as a signal to supporters, an approach he has deployed over several decades as he evolved from a New York City real estate tycoon to a reality television star and, eventually, the president. Even if he doesn’t explicitly employ racial slurs, his language recalls America’s history of portraying Black people as not fully human.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">“He’s taking that historical racialized language that was offensive and insulting, and the subordinating of Black persons, applying it in a contemporary space and really bubbling up that history,” said Bev-Freda Jackson, a professor in the school of public affairs at American University.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">While this is a well-worn strategy for Trump, his latest comments come at a particularly sensitive moment. On a personal level, a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-bond-georgia-election-indictment-79dbb26a14b5a4ccfc1472d6d3eacd2b" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">bond agreement</a>&nbsp;signed on Monday by Trump’s lawyers and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-georgia-election-investigation-fani-willis-indictment-32bfdd2cca9d3184056836b208a78379" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis</a>&nbsp;imposes restrictions on his communications, including those issued through social media. And more broadly, experts worry Trump’s broadsides will worsen online vitriol and inspire violence.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">“It makes the internet a more dangerous place,” said Heidi Beirich, co-founder of the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism. “It just takes one angry person with a gun to do something terrible. And that’s frankly the kind of violence I’m the most worried about.”</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Recent incidents underscore those concerns: Threats toward people involved in Trump’s cases have factored into an <a href="https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-tanya-chutkan-judge-threats-texas-7d90ad3c8b552b49e269a3f842a6700c" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">arrest in Texas</a> and an <a href="https://apnews.com/article/utah-biden-fbi-assassination-threat-ba3cc1d3b2f6cca8bd429febdcf04219" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">FBI killing in Utah</a>.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Trump spokesman Steven Cheung pushed back against the idea that the former president attacks people based on race, saying in an emailed statement that Trump “doesn’t have a racist bone in his body and anyone saying otherwise is a racist and bigot themselves.”</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">“He garnered record-breaking votes from ethnic minority voters in 2020 and it will be even bigger in 2024,” Cheung said.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Even before Trump was charged in Georgia last week with multiple criminal counts related to his efforts to overturn the 2020 election, he spent days assailing the prosecutor in the case with unfounded accusations and race-related attacks.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">He wrote online that Willis was a “rabid partisan.” He ran an ad that claimed without evidence that she hid a relationship with a gang member she was prosecuting — an ad she called “derogatory and false” in an email to staff obtained by The Associated Press. He lobbed accusations that Willis, the first Black woman to hold her role, was “racist” and using the indictment as a “con job.”</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">After&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-georgia-election-investigation-fani-willis-indictment-32bfdd2cca9d3184056836b208a78379" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">the indictment was filed</a>, Trump sent an email highlighting parts of Willis’ background. Under a heading titled “A family steeped in hate,” Trump’s email notes her father’s identity as a former Black Panther and criminal defense attorney, as well as Willis’ stated pride in her Black heritage and Swahili first name, which means “prosperous.” Willis has been open about her father’s history and her heritage.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">“This is who Donald Trump is,” said Cliff Albright, executive director of Black Voters Matter, a voting advocacy group. “He’s been this way all his time in public life.”</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Willis has declined to comment on Trump’s attacks, but urged restraint in her email to staff about the ad.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">“We have no personal feelings against those we investigate or prosecute and we should not express any,” she wrote.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Trump’s reaction to the Georgia charges match how he has responded to earlier indictments and investigations.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">He has slammed Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who is Black, as a “Soros backed animal” even though George Soros, the Hungarian American and Jewish billionaire who conservatives frequently invoke as a boogeyman,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-indictment-soros-conspiracy-9dc8a81d35421388d82be25600db53f8" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">doesn’t know and didn’t directly donate</a>&nbsp;to Bragg, according to a Soros spokesman. The former president also claimed Bragg was a “degenerate psychopath” who “hates the USA.”</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">In a message last September on Truth Social, Trump referred to New York Attorney General Letitia James, who is Black, as “Racist A.G. Letitia ‘Peekaboo’ James.” The nickname is similar to a term used to insult Black people.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Cheung didn’t say what Trump meant when he said “peekaboo,” but wrote in an email that “anyone who thinks peek-a-boo is a racist phrase is obviously sick in the head and their assertion strains credulity and should not be taken seriously.”</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The former president’s comments and actions toward people of color have been criticized for decades.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">In 1989, Trump took out full-page newspaper ads calling for five Black and Hispanic men accused, and ultimately convicted, of rape to receive the death penalty. The “Central Park Five” were exonerated in 2019 and Trump responded to the news by saying, “You have people on both sides of that.”</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Just before he was elected president in 2016, Trump referred to U.S.-born District Judge Gonzalo Curiel as “Mexican.” He said without evidence that Curiel had a conflict of interest over Trump’s efforts to “build the wall” on the U.S.&#8217;s southern border. While in office, he said&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/728ada1e918a482c9e9b1f3e24937caa" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">four congresswomen of color</a>&nbsp;should go back to the “broken and crime infested” countries they came from, ignoring the fact that all of the women are American citizens and three were born in the U.S.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">And in bluntly vulgar language while he was president, Trump&nbsp;<a href="https://pronto.associatedpress.com/web/stories/details/04b69a8f3e4873eadb03c132cdee09c8.-1.0.json?type=edit" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">questioned</a>&nbsp;why the U.S. would accept more immigrants from Haiti and “shithole countries” in Africa.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Other modern public figures have used coded language around race. In a 1996 speech about President Bill Clinton’s crime bill, then-first lady&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/34d6084ff3dc4571aa24403f83faa664" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Hillary Clinton described young people in gangs as “super-predators.”</a>&nbsp;She’s said since then she regrets using the term.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">But few contemporary political leaders at Trump’s level have such a consistent pattern of deploying racist language and tropes. And there’s a risk that such comments could fuel hate crimes and violence.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Earlier this month,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-tanya-chutkan-judge-threats-texas-7d90ad3c8b552b49e269a3f842a6700c" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">a Texas woman was arrested and charged</a>&nbsp;with threatening to kill U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, who is overseeing the federal criminal case against Trump in Washington. In the call, Abigail Jo Shry called Chutkan a racist term and threatened to kill her if Trump wasn’t elected next year. Craig Deleeuw Robertson, who was killed by the FBI earlier this month in Utah after threatening to kill President Joe Biden, also&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/utah-biden-fbi-assassination-threat-f9b31d6cd8e432870e4f8949cdb45b92" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">made threats in March</a>&nbsp;to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, Bragg and James on Truth Social.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Earlier this year, Bragg’s office was sent&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/powder-trump-bragg-hushmoney-investigation-01d54c69e2c68488db96eba57a505c2c" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">a powdery substance with a threatening letter</a>&nbsp;that said “Alvin, I am going to kill you.”</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Since the Georgia indictment, racist stereotypes about Willis have surged online. The Fulton County Sheriff’s Office did not respond to an inquiry about whether her office had experienced threats.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Last week, Trump posted online that prosecutors instead should have gone after those who “rigged the election.”</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">“They only went after those that fought to find the riggers!” he said.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The close resemblance of “riggers” to a racial slur garnered attention from internet users on a pro-Trump online forum, who used the term in dozens of racist messages calling for people to be killed or hanged after seeing Trump’s post .</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The term has appeared several times on far-right forums since the 2020 election, sometimes with the same racist context.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Asked what Trump meant by the term, Cheung defined a rigger as “a person who rigs an event or system.”</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Find your latest news here at the<a href="https://hsjchronicle.com/"> Hemet &amp; San Jacinto Chronicle </a></p>
<p>The post <a href="https://hsjchronicle.com/how-trumps-attacks-on-prosecutors-build-on-history-of-using-racist-language-and-stereotypes/">How Trump’s attacks on prosecutors build on history of using racist language and stereotypes</a> appeared first on <a href="https://hsjchronicle.com">The Hemet &amp; San Jacinto Chronicle</a>.</p>
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		<title>Prosecutors accuse weapons expert in Baldwin case of drinking, smoking</title>
		<link>https://hsjchronicle.com/prosecutors-accuse-weapons-expert-in-baldwin-case-of-drinking-smoking/</link>
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		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Associated Press]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 14 Jun 2023 22:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Entertainment]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Baldwin case]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Prosecutors]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[weapons expert]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://hsjchronicle.com/?p=56876</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>The weapons supervisor on the film set where Alec Baldwin shot and killed a cinematographer was drinking and smoking marijuana in the evenings during the filming of “Rust,” prosecutors are accusing, saying she was likely hungover when she loaded a live bullet into the revolver that the actor used.</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://hsjchronicle.com/prosecutors-accuse-weapons-expert-in-baldwin-case-of-drinking-smoking/">Prosecutors accuse weapons expert in Baldwin case of drinking, smoking</a> appeared first on <a href="https://hsjchronicle.com">The Hemet &amp; San Jacinto Chronicle</a>.</p>
]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">By SUSAN MONTOYA BRYAN</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — The weapons supervisor on the film set where&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/baldwin-manslaughter-charged-dismissed-c4b2928da21ee4ff00a51d2e4eddd7dc">Alec Baldwin</a>&nbsp;shot and killed a cinematographer was drinking and smoking marijuana in the evenings during the filming of “Rust,” prosecutors are accusing, saying she was likely hungover when she loaded a live bullet into the revolver that the actor used.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">They leveled the accusations Friday in response to a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/baldwin-rust-gutierrezreed-manslaughter-charge-b04f42f66c107f8a9c14a1070bd41e99">motion filed last month</a>&nbsp;by Hannah Gutierrez-Reed’s attorneys that seeks to dismiss her involuntary manslaughter charge. The prosecutors accused her of having a history of reckless conduct and argued that it would be in the public interest for her to “finally be held accountable.”</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Jason Bowles, Gutierrez-Reed’s attorney, said Tuesday that the prosecution has mishandled the case.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">“The case is so weak that they now have chosen to resort to character assassination claims about Hannah,” Bowles told The Associated Press. “The prosecution has abandoned the idea of doing justice and getting to the actual truth apparently.”</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">A preliminary hearing for Gutierrez-Reed is scheduled in August. A judge is expected to decide then if there’s probable cause for Gutierrez-Reed’s charge to move forward.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">In the response, the prosecutors also noted that they expected to decide within the next 60 days whether to recharge Baldwin, depending on the results of an analysis of the gun and its broken sear. The items were sent to the state’s independent expert for further testing.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The involuntary manslaughter charge faced by Baldwin, who also was a producer on the film, was dismissed in April, with prosecutors citing new evidence and the need for more time to investigate.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Baldwin was pointing a gun at cinematographer Halyna Hutchins during a rehearsal on the New Mexico film set in October 2021 when it went off, killing her and wounding the film’s director, Joel Souza.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Gutierrez-Reed’s attorneys had argued in their motion that the prosecution was “tainted by improper political motives” and that Santa Fe District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies and the initial special prosecutor she appointed, Andrea Reeb, “both used the tragic film set accident that resulted in the death of Halyna Hutchins as an opportunity to advance their personal interests.”</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The defense lawyers contend that the permanent damage done to the gun by FBI testing before the defense could examine it amounted to destruction of evidence and a violation of the court’s rules of discovery. They also argued that the “selective prosecution” of Gutierrez-Reed was a violation of the equal protection clause of the U.S. Constitution’s 14th Amendment.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">New special prosecutors who were appointed after Reeb stepped down disputed those claims in their response, saying “nothing about this prosecution has or will be selective.”</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The prosecutors also acknowledged the unanswered question of where the live rounds found on set came from, saying they were trying to find out and that the investigation was ongoing. They also suggested there was evidence to support the theory that Gutierrez-Reed herself may responsible and if so, more charges may follow.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">They offered no specifics in the filing as to what that evidence might be.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Find your latest news here at the <a href="https://hsjchronicle.com/">Hemet &amp; San Jacinto Chronicle </a></p>
<p>The post <a href="https://hsjchronicle.com/prosecutors-accuse-weapons-expert-in-baldwin-case-of-drinking-smoking/">Prosecutors accuse weapons expert in Baldwin case of drinking, smoking</a> appeared first on <a href="https://hsjchronicle.com">The Hemet &amp; San Jacinto Chronicle</a>.</p>
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">56876</post-id>	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Prosecutors weigh options in fatal shooting by Alec Baldwin</title>
		<link>https://hsjchronicle.com/prosecutors-weigh-options-in-fatal-shooting-by-alec-baldwin/</link>
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		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Associated Press]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 20 Jan 2023 02:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Entertainment]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Alec Baldwin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[fatal shooting]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Prosecutors]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://hsjchronicle.com/?p=53634</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>A Santa Fe district attorney will announce Thursday whether charges will be brought in the fatal 2021 film-set shooting of a cinematographer by actor Alec Baldwin during a rehearsal of the Western “Rust.”</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://hsjchronicle.com/prosecutors-weigh-options-in-fatal-shooting-by-alec-baldwin/">Prosecutors weigh options in fatal shooting by Alec Baldwin</a> appeared first on <a href="https://hsjchronicle.com">The Hemet &amp; San Jacinto Chronicle</a>.</p>
]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">By MORGAN LEE</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — A Santa Fe district attorney will announce Thursday whether charges will be brought in the fatal 2021 film-set shooting of a cinematographer by actor Alec Baldwin during a rehearsal of the Western “Rust.”</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Santa Fe District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies said a decision will be announced Thursday morning in a statement and on social media, without public appearances by prosecutors.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">“The announcement will be a solemn occasion, made in a manner keeping with the office’s commitment to upholding the integrity of the judicial process and respecting the victim’s family,” said Heather Brewer, a spokeswoman for the district attorney’s office.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Cinematographer Halyna Hutchins died shortly after being wounded by a gunshot during setup for a scene at the ranch on the outskirts of Santa Fe on Oct. 21, 2021. Baldwin was pointing a pistol at Hutchins when the gun went off, killing her and wounding the director, Joel Souza.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza, who led the initial investigation into Hutchins’ death, described “a degree of neglect” on the film set. But he left decisions about potential criminal charges to prosecutors after delivering the results of a yearlong investigation in October. That report did not specify how live ammunition wound up on the film set.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Taking control of the investigation, Carmack-Altwies was granted an emergency $300,000 request for the state to pay for a special prosecutor, special investigator and other experts and personnel.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Baldwin — known for his roles in “30 Rock” and “The Hunt for Red October” and his impression of former President Donald Trump on “Saturday Night Live” — has described the killing of Hutchins as a “tragic accident.”</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">He has&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/alec-baldwin-entertainment-new-mexico-movies-ee3ddbbcb8403e261ea81730da0eebe2">sought to clear his name by suing people involved in handling and supplying the loaded gun</a>&nbsp;that was handed to him on set. Baldwin, also a co-producer on “Rust,” said he was told the gun was safe.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">In his lawsuit, Baldwin said that while working on camera angles with Hutchins during rehearsal for a scene, he pointed the gun in her direction and pulled back and released the hammer of the gun, which discharged.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">New Mexico’s Office of the Medical Investigator determined the shooting was an accident following the completion of an autopsy and a review of law enforcement reports.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">New Mexico’s Occupational Health and Safety Bureau has levied the maximum fine against Rust Movie Productions, based on a scathing narrative of safety failures, including testimony that production managers took limited or no action to address two misfires of blank ammunition on set prior to the fatal shooting.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Rust Movie Productions continues to challenge the basis of a $137,000 fine by regulators who say production managers on the set failed to follow standard industry protocols for firearms safety.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The armorer who oversaw firearms on the set, Hannah Gutierrez Reed, has been the subject of much of the scrutiny in the case, along with an independent ammunition supplier. An attorney for Gutierrez Reed has said the armorer did not put a live round in the gun that killed Hutchins, and believes she was the victim of sabotage. Authorities said they’ve found no evidence of that.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Investigators initially found 500 rounds of ammunition at the movie set on the outskirts of Santa Fe — a mix of blanks, dummy rounds and what appeared to be live rounds. Industry experts have said live rounds should never be on set.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">In April 2022, the Santa Fe Sheriff’s Department released a trove of files including lapel camera video of the mortally wounded Hutchins slipping in and out of consciousness as an evacuation helicopter arrived. Witness interrogations, email threads, text conversations, inventories of ammunition and hundreds of photographs rounded out that collection of evidence.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">State workplace safety regulators said that immediate gun-safety concerns were addressed when “Rust” ceased filming, and that a return to filming in New Mexico would be accompanied by new safety inspections.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The family of Hutchins — widower Matthew Hutchins and son Andros — settled a lawsuit against producers under an agreement that aims to restart filming with Matthew’s involvement as executive producer.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">“Rust” was beset by disputes from the start in early October 2021. Seven crew members walked off the set just hours before the fatal shooting amid discord over working conditions.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Hutchins’ death has influenced <a href="https://apnews.com/article/alec-baldwin-entertainment-business-los-angeles-hollywood-adc1ee3921c8759fe68b5c51e9d5ea14">negotiations over safety provisions in film crew union contracts</a> with Hollywood producers and spurred other filmmakers <a href="https://apnews.com/article/entertainment-business-movies-gun-politics-prop-gun-shooting-16b511c9dd479b06d9f63fe763445698">to choose computer-generated imagery of gunfire rather than real weapons with blank ammunition</a> to minimize risks.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Find your latest news here at the <a href="https://hsjchronicle.com/">Hemet &amp; San Jacinto Chronicle </a></p>
<p>The post <a href="https://hsjchronicle.com/prosecutors-weigh-options-in-fatal-shooting-by-alec-baldwin/">Prosecutors weigh options in fatal shooting by Alec Baldwin</a> appeared first on <a href="https://hsjchronicle.com">The Hemet &amp; San Jacinto Chronicle</a>.</p>
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">53634</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>Prosecutors to retry actor Danny Masterson on rape counts</title>
		<link>https://hsjchronicle.com/prosecutors-to-retry-actor-danny-masterson-on-rape-counts/</link>
					<comments>https://hsjchronicle.com/prosecutors-to-retry-actor-danny-masterson-on-rape-counts/#respond</comments>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Associated Press]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 13 Jan 2023 02:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Entertainment]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Danny Masterson]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Prosecutors]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[rape counts]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://hsjchronicle.com/?p=53465</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>Los Angeles prosecutors will retry “That ’70s Show” actor Danny Masterson on three rape counts after a hopelessly deadlocked jury led to a mistrial in his first trial in November.</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://hsjchronicle.com/prosecutors-to-retry-actor-danny-masterson-on-rape-counts/">Prosecutors to retry actor Danny Masterson on rape counts</a> appeared first on <a href="https://hsjchronicle.com">The Hemet &amp; San Jacinto Chronicle</a>.</p>
]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">By ANDREW DALTON</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">LOS ANGELES (AP) — Los Angeles prosecutors will retry “That ’70s Show” actor&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/danny-masterson">Danny Masterson</a>&nbsp;on three rape counts after a hopelessly deadlocked jury led to a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/danny-masterson-mistrial-rape-trial-162a670d6068f05462825a96e4193fd8">mistrial in his first trial</a>&nbsp;in November.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The LA County District Attorney’s Office declared prosecutors’ plans in court filings and at a Tuesday hearing, where Superior Court Judge Charlaine F. Olmedo rejected a defense motion to dismiss the charges.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The move comes despite prosecutors failing to get even half of the previous jury to vote to convict on any of the counts against Masterson, who is charged with the rape of three women, including a former girlfriend, at his home between 2001 and 2003.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">“We are pleased that Danny Masterson will not be permitted to simply escape criminal accountability,” two of the three women and the husband of one said in a joint statement released through their attorneys. “Despite suffering years of intimidation and harassment, we are completely committed to participating in the next criminal trial.”</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The Associated Press does not typically name people who say they have been sexually abused.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The judge tentatively set the retrial to begin in late March.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The 46-year-old Masterson had no comment to reporters outside court after Tuesday’s hearing, and his attorney did not respond to an email requesting comment.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">He has pleaded not guilty, and his lawyer has said the acts were all consensual.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The Church of Scientology played a major role during the monthlong trial, with Masterson a member and all three women former members. Prosecutors said the church dissuaded them from going public for years, which the church has denied.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The charges date to a period when Masterson was at the height of his fame, starring from 1998 until 2006 as Steven Hyde on Fox’s “That ’70s Show.” The show made stars of Ashton Kutcher, Mila Kunis and Topher Grace and is getting an upcoming Netflix reboot with “That ’90s Show.”</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">___</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Follow AP Entertainment Writer Andrew Dalton on Twitter: <a href="https://twitter.com/andyjamesdalton" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">https://twitter.com/andyjamesdalton</a></p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Find your latest news here at the <a href="https://hsjchronicle.com/">Hemet &amp; San Jacinto Chronicle </a></p>
<p>The post <a href="https://hsjchronicle.com/prosecutors-to-retry-actor-danny-masterson-on-rape-counts/">Prosecutors to retry actor Danny Masterson on rape counts</a> appeared first on <a href="https://hsjchronicle.com">The Hemet &amp; San Jacinto Chronicle</a>.</p>
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">53465</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>Prosecutors push 15-year sentence for Theranos’ CEO Holmes</title>
		<link>https://hsjchronicle.com/prosecutors-push-15-year-sentence-for-theranos-ceo-holmes/</link>
					<comments>https://hsjchronicle.com/prosecutors-push-15-year-sentence-for-theranos-ceo-holmes/#respond</comments>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Associated Press]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sun, 20 Nov 2022 05:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[CEO Holmes]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Prosecutors]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://hsjchronicle.com/?p=52273</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>Federal prosecutors have asked a judge to sentence disgraced Theranos CE0 Elizabeth Holmes to 15 years in prison, arguing she deserves a lengthy prison term because her massive scheme duped investors out of hundreds of millions of dollars by falsely convincing them her company had developed a revolutionary blood testing device.</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://hsjchronicle.com/prosecutors-push-15-year-sentence-for-theranos-ceo-holmes/">Prosecutors push 15-year sentence for Theranos’ CEO Holmes</a> appeared first on <a href="https://hsjchronicle.com">The Hemet &amp; San Jacinto Chronicle</a>.</p>
]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">AP Briefs</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Federal prosecutors have asked a judge to sentence disgraced Theranos CE0 Elizabeth Holmes to 15 years in prison, arguing she deserves a lengthy prison term because her massive scheme duped investors out of hundreds of millions of dollars by falsely convincing them her company had developed a revolutionary blood testing device.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Calling the case “one of the most substantial white collar offenses Silicon Valley or any other District has seen,” prosecutors vehemently rejected defense attorneys’ characterization that Holmes had been unfairly victimized, in part by media coverage.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Holmes is set to appear for sentencing on Nov. 18 in federal court in San Jose, California, nearly a year after she was convicted of three felony counts of wire fraud and one felony count of conspiracy to commit fraud. She faces up to 20 years in prison for each count.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">“She repeatedly chose lies, hype and the prospect of billions of dollars over patient safety and fair dealing with investors,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert S. Leach wrote in a 46-page brief filed Friday. “Elizabeth Holmes’ crimes were not failing, they were lying — lying in the most serious context, where everyone needed her to tell the truth.”</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Holmes’ attorneys filed an 82-page document late Thursday calling for a lenient sentence of no more than 18 months, saying her reputation was permanently destroyed, turning her into a “caricature to be mocked and vilified.”</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Besides asking that Holmes receive a lengthy prison sentence, prosecutors called for the 38-year-old pay $803,840,309 in restitution for her role in the yearslong scheme that turned her into one of the most widely respected and immensely wealthy entrepreneurs in the Silicon Valley and the United States.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">“She preyed on hopes of her investors that a young, dynamic entrepreneur had changed healthcare. She leveraged the credibility of her illustrious board,” Leach wrote. “And, through her deceit, she attained spectacular fame, adoration, and billions of dollars of wealth.”</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Leach also pointed to how, after Wall Street Journal reporter John Carreyrou exposed the scheme, Holmes “attacked him, along with his sources” and desperately tried to pin the blame on others.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">“At trial, she blamed her COO (and longtime boyfriend), her board, her scientists, her business partners, her investors, her marketing firm, her attorneys, the media — everyone, that is, but herself,” Leach wrote.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The company’s former chief operating officer, 57-year-old Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani, was convicted on 12 felony counts of investor and patient fraud in July during separate trial. He is scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 7.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">And Leach wrote that the health of actual patients was put into jeopardy by what Holmes had done.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">“As money was drying up, she went to market with an unproven and unreliable medical device,” he wrote. “When her lead assay developer quit as Theranos launched, she chillingly told the scientist: ‘she has a promise to deliver to the customer, she doesn’t have much of a choice but to go ahead with the launch.’”</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Holmes’ attorneys have argued that if U.S. District Judge Edward Davila does decide to send her to prison, she deserves a lenient sentence because she poses no danger to the public and has no prior criminal history.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Find your latest news here at the<a href="https://hsjchronicle.com/"> Hemet &amp; San Jacinto Chronicle </a></p>
<p>The post <a href="https://hsjchronicle.com/prosecutors-push-15-year-sentence-for-theranos-ceo-holmes/">Prosecutors push 15-year sentence for Theranos’ CEO Holmes</a> appeared first on <a href="https://hsjchronicle.com">The Hemet &amp; San Jacinto Chronicle</a>.</p>
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">52273</post-id>	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Prosecutors seek prison for rioter’s attack on AP journalist</title>
		<link>https://hsjchronicle.com/prosecutors-seek-prison-for-rioters-attack-on-ap-journalist/</link>
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		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Associated Press]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 11 Oct 2022 04:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[prison for rioter’s]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Prosecutors]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://hsjchronicle.com/?p=51254</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>Federal prosecutors on Sunday recommended a prison sentence of approximately four years for a Pennsylvania man who pleaded guilty to assaulting an Associated Press photographer and using a stun gun against police officers during a mob’s attack on the U.S. Capitol.</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://hsjchronicle.com/prosecutors-seek-prison-for-rioters-attack-on-ap-journalist/">Prosecutors seek prison for rioter’s attack on AP journalist</a> appeared first on <a href="https://hsjchronicle.com">The Hemet &amp; San Jacinto Chronicle</a>.</p>
]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Federal prosecutors on Sunday recommended a prison sentence of approximately four years for a Pennsylvania man who pleaded guilty to assaulting an Associated Press photographer and using a stun gun against police officers during a mob’s&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/capitol-siege">attack on the U.S. Capitol</a>.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">U.S. District Judge Randolph Moss is scheduled to sentence&nbsp;<a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.234720/gov.uscourts.dcd.234720.1.1.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Alan Byerly</a>&nbsp;on Oct. 21 for his attack on AP photographer John Minchillo and police during the Jan. 6, 2021, riot in Washington.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Sentencing guidelines recommend a prison term ranging from 37 to 46 months. Prosecutors are&nbsp;<a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.234720/gov.uscourts.dcd.234720.47.0_1.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">seeking a sentence</a>&nbsp;of at least 46 months of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release. Byerly’s attorney has until Friday to submit a sentencing recommendation.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The judge isn’t bound by any of the sentencing recommendations.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Byerly was arrested in July 2021 and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/capitol-siege-biden-police-riots-government-and-politics-85c92e7152fd5cf0528604d30885c242">pleaded guilty a year later</a>&nbsp;to assault charges.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Byerly purchased a stun gun before he traveled from his home in Fleetwood, Pennsylvania, to Washington for the “Stop the Steal” rally on Jan. 6. Leaving the rally before then-President Donald Trump finished speaking, Byerly went to the Capitol and joined other rioters in using a large metal Trump sign as a battering ram against barricades and police officers, prosecutors said.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">After that, he went to the Capitol’s Lower West Terrace, where he and other rioters attacked Minchillo, who was wearing a lanyard with AP lettering. Byerly is one of at least three people charged with assaulting Minchillo, whose assault was captured on video by a colleague.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Byerly then approached police officers behind bike racks and deployed his stun gun.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">“After officers successfully removed the stun gun from Byerly’s hands, Byerly continued to charge toward the officers, struck and pushed them, and grabbed an officer’s baton,” prosecutors wrote.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Byerly later told FBI agents that he did just “one stupid thing down there and that’s all it was,” according to prosecutors.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">“This was a reference to how he handled the reporter and nothing more,” they wrote.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Byerly treated Jan. 6 “as a normal, crime-free day, akin to the movie, ‘The Purge,’ when he could do whatever he wanted without judgment or legal consequence,” prosecutors said.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">“He was mistaken,” they added.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">More than 100 police officers were injured during the Capitol siege.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Approximately 900 people have been charged with federal crimes for their conduct on Jan. 6. More than 400 of them have pleaded guilty, mostly to misdemeanor offenses. Over 280 riot defendants have been sentenced, with roughly half sentenced to terms of imprisonment ranging from one week to 10 years.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Find your latest news here at the <a href="https://hsjchronicle.com/">Hemet &amp; San Jacinto Chronicle </a></p>
<p>The post <a href="https://hsjchronicle.com/prosecutors-seek-prison-for-rioters-attack-on-ap-journalist/">Prosecutors seek prison for rioter’s attack on AP journalist</a> appeared first on <a href="https://hsjchronicle.com">The Hemet &amp; San Jacinto Chronicle</a>.</p>
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">51254</post-id>	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Prosecutors step up charges for those dealing in fentanyl</title>
		<link>https://hsjchronicle.com/prosecutors-step-up-charges-for-those-dealing-in-fentanyl/</link>
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		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Contributed]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sat, 13 Nov 2021 17:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Crime & Incidents]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[fentanyl]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Prosecutors]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[the Orange County]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://hsjchronicle.com/?p=41668</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>Some Southern California prosecutors are stepping up charges against those who sell deadly, fentanyl-laced illegal drugs.</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://hsjchronicle.com/prosecutors-step-up-charges-for-those-dealing-in-fentanyl/">Prosecutors step up charges for those dealing in fentanyl</a> appeared first on <a href="https://hsjchronicle.com">The Hemet &amp; San Jacinto Chronicle</a>.</p>
]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Some Southern California prosecutors are stepping up charges against those who sell deadly, fentanyl-laced illegal drugs.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The Orange County Register reports that District Attorney Todd Spitzer plans to issue an admonishment in plea deals warning that a dealer found to be involved in another fentanyl sale that results in death could be charged with murder. </p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Nearby Riverside and San Bernardino counties have charged alleged dealers with murder, and so have San Luis Obispo and Contra Costa counties, the San Gabriel Valley Tribune reported. </p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">“It is a ruse, people are buying Oxycontin and it turns out to be fentanyl,” Spitzer told the newspaper. “It’s like they’re handing you a loaded gun and you don’t know it’s loaded.” </p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Spitzer has called a press conference for Tuesday to discuss the plan for the county of 3 million people. </p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The move comes as drug-related deaths are expected to hit a record of 100,000 this year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. </p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Federal prosecutors have charged suspected fentanyl dealers with murder but it’s not as easy to do under state law. Some California lawmakers have proposed bills to treat fentanyl as a more threatening drug and to warn those convicted of dealing that they could face murder charges for similar such actions that result in death, but those proposals didn’t become law. </p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">In Orange County, Public Defender Martin Schwarz said issuing an advisement lacks legal standing unlike a state-mandated process that exists in cases for driving under the influence. </p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">In Los Angeles County, which is home to a quarter of California’s 40 million people, no plans to stiffen charges against suspected dealers have been announced. </p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">In the Riverside County city of Temecula, Matt CapeIouto, whose 20-year-old daughter Alexandra died after taking what she thought was oxycodone, wants to see change. He said he and his wife found their daughter dead in her bedroom after she went online to look for something to ease depression. </p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">“It was ruled an accidental, noncriminal overdose — but that’s outdated,” CapeIouto said. “That’s not correct. My daughter was poisoned.” </p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Amy Neville, whose 14-year-old son Alexander died after taking what he thought was Oxycontin, said she doesn’t think the admonishment is enough, but it’s a start. </p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">“Fentanyl will still be here, drug dealers will still be selling,” she said. “When one is arrested, there’s always another one to take their place. But in the end, with the admonishment, at least that dealer is on the hook for future drug dealing.”</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">AP | Contributed</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Find your latest news here at <a href="https://hsjchronicle.com/">the Hemet &amp; San Jacinto Chronicle </a></p>
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		<title>Prosecutors say deadly California stabbing was seen on Zoom</title>
		<link>https://hsjchronicle.com/prosecutors-say-deadly-california-stabbing-was-seen-on-zoom/</link>
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		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Associated Press]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 30 Mar 2021 04:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Crime & Incidents]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[California]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Prosecutors]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Robert Anderson]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[zoom]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://hsjchronicle.com/?p=35659</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>ALTADENA, Calif. (AP) — A California man has been charged with stabbing his mother and uncle to death in an attack that the woman’s co-workers witnessed on a Zoom call, prosecutors said Monday.</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://hsjchronicle.com/prosecutors-say-deadly-california-stabbing-was-seen-on-zoom/">Prosecutors say deadly California stabbing was seen on Zoom</a> appeared first on <a href="https://hsjchronicle.com">The Hemet &amp; San Jacinto Chronicle</a>.</p>
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										<content:encoded><![CDATA[
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">By Associated Press</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">ALTADENA, Calif. (AP) — A California man has been charged with stabbing his mother and uncle to death in an attack that the woman’s co-workers witnessed on a Zoom call, prosecutors said Monday.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Deputies responding to reports of a stabbing on March 22 discovered the man dead in the driveway of a home in the Los Angeles suburb of Altadena, according to <a href="https://lacounty.gov/">Los Angeles County </a>sheriff’s officials. The woman was found dead inside the house.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The victims were identified as Kenneth Preston, 69, and Carol Brown, 67.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">“This is a horrific case in which the mother’s work colleagues witnessed part of the attack while on a Zoom call and called the authorities,” county District Attorney George Gascón said in a statement.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Authorities didn&#8217;t release additional details about the attack or what motivated it.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Deputies arrested Robert Anderson Cotton at the scene. The 32-year-old has been charged with two counts of murder with an allegation of using a knife as a deadly and dangerous weapon, prosecutors said.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">It wasn’t immediately known if he has an attorney who could speak on his behalf.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Investigators said the three all lived at the house in the suburban neighborhood about 15 miles (24 kilometers) north of downtown Los Angeles.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Find your latest news here at <a href="https://hsjchronicle.com/">the Hemet &amp; San Jacinto Chronicle </a></p>
<p>The post <a href="https://hsjchronicle.com/prosecutors-say-deadly-california-stabbing-was-seen-on-zoom/">Prosecutors say deadly California stabbing was seen on Zoom</a> appeared first on <a href="https://hsjchronicle.com">The Hemet &amp; San Jacinto Chronicle</a>.</p>
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