Trials Archives - usa news

Curtis Reeves, a retired Florida police officer, has been cleared of murdering Chad Olson in the theater

February 26, 2022 mohmad free

A jury late Friday acquitted the retired Florida police captain who shot a man inside a movie theater in 2014. Curtis Reeves, 79, has been charged with second-degree murder after he shot 43-year-old Chad Olson during a theater performance of “Lone Survivor” in a Pasco County suburb. Defense attorneys and prosecutors agreed that Reeves asked Olson to stop texting during movie previews — which set off an argument that ended with the former Tampa police captain opening fire. Reeves pleaded not guilty to a self-defense claim. His lawyers succeeded in…

Rachel Nice testifies at Scott Peterson hearing

February 25, 2022 mohmad free

A juror who served in the infamous 2004 trial of her murderer husband Scott Peterson attempted on Friday to dismiss allegations that she falsified a jury questionnaire during a court hearing that could lead to a possible retrial of the case. Rachel Nice – who was given the nickname “Strawberry Short Cake” for her bright red hair she wore 18 years ago – was questioned in a San Mateo, California courtroom over allegations that she had failed to disclose that she was once a victim of domestic violence and was…

Trial begins for ex-officer Brett Hankson accused in Briona Taylor raid

February 23, 2022 mohmad free

LOUISEVILLE, Kentucky – Nearly two years after Briona Taylor was shot and killed by police, the only Kentucky officer facing criminal charges in the botched raid Wednesday will stand trial for shooting his neighbor Taylor’s apartment. Brett Hankson, now a former officer, fired 10 shots near a side door during the raid, but none of them hit Taylor. Prosecutors say the bullets endangered Taylor’s neighbors – a couple and their baby boy. Hankson’s jury has been chosen from among a larger-than-usual pool due to the nationalist propaganda that has attracted…

Florida man accused of movie theater murder felt threatened

February 17, 2022 mohmad free

A retired Florida police captain, who was prosecuted this week for the murder of a man inside a movie theater, said he believed he was about to be attacked before he opened fire. Curtis Reeves, 79, told investigators in a taped interview conducted in court on Wednesday that he asked 43-year-old Chad Olson to leave his cell phone behind during upcoming performances at a performance by Mark Wahlberg, “the lone survivor” in a theater outside Tampa and The Tampa Bay Times reported. But Olson responded by yelling at the retired…

The jury talks about possible prison times

November 16, 2021 mohmad free

Jurors are set to begin deliberations in the trial of the murder of gunman Kenosha Kyle Rittenhouse Tuesday — to determine whether the teen was walking or potentially receiving a mandatory life sentence. The 12-member jury will decide on five felony counts with sentences ranging from 12-1/2 years behind bars to life, two also punishable by up to 60 years in prison. During closing arguments on Monday, prosecutors called Rittenhouse – who was only 17 years old – the “wannabe soldier” who marched like a “hero in the West” after…

Strange moments from the closing arguments of the Rittenhouse trial

November 16, 2021 mohmad free

Kyle Rittenhouse’s dramatic murder trial wrapped up Monday as attorneys’ lengthy closing statements included some grotesque moments. A verdict is expected tomorrow, following jury deliberations. Assistant Attorney General Thomas Binger took the lead in the prosecution, delivering closing arguments, which lasted for more than two hours. Rittenhouse is represented by defense attorney Mark Richards. Rittenhouse, 18, is on trial for the fatal shootings of Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, and later Anthony Hopper, 26, as well as the wounding of Gigi Groskreutz, 27, in Kenosha on August 25, 2020 during protests and…

Prosecutors face uphill battle in Rittenhouse trial, indictment ‘possible’: experts

November 15, 2021 mohmad free

Ambiguity in Wisconsin law works in Kyle Rittenhouse’s favour, but jurors can still be affected by the guilty verdict if they buy the argument of the allegation that the teen brought “a gun into a fist fight,” legal experts say. Both the prosecution and defense attorneys presented their closing arguments on Monday. Before the jurors met in the courtroom, the judge dismissed one count of a dangerous weapon by a person under 18, a misdemeanor. Julius Kim, a criminal defense attorney and former Milwaukee attorney general, said the charges were…

Kenosha prepares to end Kyle Rittenhouse trial

November 15, 2021 mohmad free

Kyle Rittenhouse’s trial will go to jury after closing arguments Monday – leaving the young gunman’s mother “scared” and “exhausted” and the city of Kenosha, Wisconsin, bracing for a backlash. Kenosha County Judge Bruce Schroeder set aside two and a half hours each for the prosecution and Rittenhouse’s defense on Monday before the jury began deliberating on the triple shooting of the 17-year-old in the riots last summer. “I’m afraid. I’m overwhelmed,” the accused’s mother, Wendy Rittenhouse, He told NBC In an interview broadcast on Monday. Of the dozens of…

Wisconsin National Guard forces activated before sentencing of Kyle Rittenhouse

November 13, 2021 mohmad free

Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers announced Friday that hundreds of Wisconsin National Guard soldiers have been activated ahead of an expected verdict in Kyle Rittenhouse’s murder trial next week. Evers said about 500 soldiers would be on standby outside Kenosha and would respond “if requested by local law enforcement” in the event of civil unrest following the jury’s decision. The governor’s office said the guards would operate “in cooperation with hundreds of officers from the volunteer law enforcement agencies.” “We remain in close contact with our partners at the local level…

Kyle Rittenhouse calls an obvious self-defense case: Devin

November 11, 2021 mohmad free

It was hard to watch Kyle Rittenhouse collapse during nearly five hours in the witness box Wednesday. Time and time again, he was forced to relive the harrowing evening on August 24, 2020, when a deadly mob chased him from Antifa and ended up shooting two of his attackers and wounding a third in riot-ridden Kenosha. He was 17 years old at the time. Life bears a heavy burden for any ordinary person, and the child-faced teenager is overwhelmed with emotion as he recounts the moment he finds himself trapped,…