'We Build The Wall' trial ends in mistrial; jury deadlocked
The trial of a Colorado businessman on charges that he ripped off thousands of donors who contributed to a campaign to build a wall along the southern United States border has ended in a mistrial after jurors deadlocked
ByLarry Neumeister Associated Press
June 08, 2022, 3:13 AM
Timothy Shea exits Manhattan federal court during his trial on Friday, June 3, 2022, in New York. (AP Photo/Eduardo Munoz Alvarez)
The Associated Press
NEW YORK -- The trial of a Colorado businessman on charges that he ripped off thousands of donors who contributed $25 million to a campaign to build a wall along the southern U.S. border ended Tuesday in a mistrial after jurors could not reach a unanimous verdict in a prosecution that once featured onetime presidential adviser Steve Bannon.
The mistrial in the prosecution of Timothy Shea was granted by U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres after the jury reported for a third time that it could not reach a verdict on any count, saying the deadlock was “abundantly clear.” They said extended deliberations had left them “further entrenched in our opposing views.”
Turmoil during jury deliberations was revealed last week when 11 jurors sent a note to the judge to say one juror who complained about a “government witch hunt” had exhibited “political bias,” labeled the rest of them as liberals and complained that the trial should have occurred in a southern state.
U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement that the mistrial “in no way lessens our resolve or believe in the powerful and compelling evidence that we strongly believe proves his guilt.”
He added: “We look forward to retrying this case as soon as possible." A retrial, though, was unlikely to occur before the fall.
Man accused of killing Wisconsin judge dies in hospital
A man accused of killing a retired Wisconsin judge and who had a list in his vehicle that included prominent national political figures has died
ByTodd Richmond Associated Press
June 08, 2022, 12:06 AM
This March 17, 2020, photo provided by the Wisconsin Department of Corrections shows Douglas K. Uhde, who is suspected in the shooting death of retired Juneau, Wis., County Judge John Roemer. (Wisconsin Department of Corrections via AP)
The Associated Press
MADISON, Wis. -- A man accused of fatally shooting a retired Wisconsin judge and who had a list that included prominent national political figures died in a hospital, a state official said Tuesday.
Douglas Uhde, 56, shot former Juneau County Circuit Judge John Roemer in Roemer’s home in New Lisbon on Friday before shooting himself, authorities said. He was taken to a hospital where he had been on life support.
Wisconsin Department of Justice spokeswoman Gillian Drummond confirmed Uhde's death. The agency said that Uhde was declared brain-dead on Saturday morning and his body remained on life support until Tuesday morning to allow for organ donation.
Uhde had an extensive criminal and prison record dating back at least two decades, including a case when he was sentenced by Roemer to six years in prison on weapons charges. He was released from his last prison stint in April 2020.
Police found the 68-year-old Roemer zip-tied to a chair, an official told The Associated Press. The official could not discuss details of the investigation publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Uhde had a list of potential targets in his vehicle that included Roemer, Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers, U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Whitmer’s office and the law enforcement source said.
It's unclear how Uhde obtained a gun. Drummond said the Wiscconsin Justice Department is still investigating that aspect of the case.
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Associated Press reporter Mike Balsamo contributed to this report from Washington, D.C.
Texas suspends inmate transports after escape left 5 dead
The Texas prison system says it's temporarily stopped transporting inmates as it investigates how a convicted murderer escaped from a transport bus last month, later killing a man and his four grandsons
ByJuan A. Lozano Associated Press
June 08, 2022, 4:39 AM
This undated photo provided by the family via Houston Northwest Church shows Mark Collins. Collins was one of the people authorities believe was killed by Gonzalo Lopez, 46, a convicted murderer who escaped from prison. (Family Photo...
The Associated Press
HOUSTON -- Texas' prison system has temporarily stopped transporting inmates as it investigates how a convicted murderer escaped from a bus last month and later killed a man and his four grandsons.
“The agency is conducting an internal Serious Incident Review and also intends to bring in an outside firm to conduct an independent review to identify factors that may have led to the escape of (Gonzalo) Lopez,” the Texas Department of Criminal Justice said in a statement Monday. No timeline was given for how long the internal review would take to complete.
The agency said if it must transport an inmate for an emergency medical appointment or for release, it will have more security.
Such additional security measures were in place when a van that was transporting an inmate from a hospital to a prison in East Texas collided with another vehicle early Tuesday on a freeway north of Houston, according to the prison agency. Three guards were injured but were expected to survive. The inmate was in stable condition.
On any given day, authorities move about 2,000 inmates for various reasons, said Jason Clark, a Texas Department of Criminal Justice spokesman. According to the agency's Fiscal Year 2020 Statistical Report, the most recently available such report, there were about 121,000 individuals in prisons, state jails and other facilities run by the Department of Criminal Justice.
“We are reviewing our processes and determining how to reduce the need to move inmates," Clark said in an email.
Lopez, who had killed on behalf of Mexican drug cartels, fled a prison bus on May 12 after breaking free from his restraints and from a caged area of the vehicle. Lopez stabbed and injured the bus driver before escaping into a wooded area near Centerville, which is between Dallas and Houston.
Authorities believe that on Thursday, Lopez killed 66-year-old Mark Collins, and his four grandsons, Waylon Collins, 18; Carson Collins, 16; Hudson Collins, 11; and Bryson Collins, 11. Waylon, Carson and Hudson were brothers and Bryson was their cousin. Investigators say Lopez stole an AR-15-style rifle and a pistol from the family’s ranch near Centerville, as well as a truck that he drove about 220 miles (350 kilometers) to Atascosa County, south of San Antonio, where officers fatally shot him late Thursday.
Texas state Sen. John Whitmire, who had called for a temporary halt in inmate transports, praised the prison agency’s change in policy.
“While the investigation continues into exactly what happened with the recent escape and tragic murder of 5 members of the Collins family, we must act swiftly to ensure no other Texan is in danger of losing their life or being harmed by an escaped inmate being transported on Texas roads,” Whitmire, a Democrat who chairs the Senate Criminal Justice Committee, said in a written statement.
The committee will likely have a hearing sometime this summer to review what happened and prison system polices related to transporting inmates, said Lara Wendler, a spokeswoman for Whitmire.
The state senator has suggested the Department of Criminal Justice should keep violent offenders in prison units closer to medical facilities or should have medical teams visit the units.
Whitmire also called for additional security during inmate transports, including having another vehicle with armed officers follow close behind.
Funeral services for Mark Collins and his grandsons, who were from the Houston suburb of Tomball, were set for Saturday.
During a service Sunday at the family’s church in Houston, Glen Collins, Mark Collins’ brother, said his faith was helping him get through this difficult time.
7 fired Starbucks workers celebrate union vote in Memphis
Seven employees of a Tennessee Starbucks who were fired after starting unionization efforts have claimed victory after their Memphis store voted to join a wave of U.S. locations of the coffee chain that have decided to organize
ByAdrian Sainz Associated Press
June 08, 2022, 12:38 AM
A group of fired Starbucks employees celebrate the result of a vote to unionize one of the coffee company's locations on Tuesday, June 7, 2022, in Memphis, Tenn. The so-called "Memphis Seven" jumped for joy, hugged each other and wept after...
The Associated Press
MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Seven employees of a Tennessee Starbucks who were fired after starting unionization efforts claimed victory Tuesday when their Memphis store voted to join a wave of U.S. locations of the coffee chain that have decided to organize.
The so-called Memphis Seven jumped for joy, hugged one another and wept after a count held by the National Labor Relations Board showed an 11-3 vote in favor of unionization of a Starbucks store near the University of Memphis.
The group pushed for a union for months, even after their firing in February on allegations by Starbucks that they violated store security rules. The baristas are pushing for reinstatement and want to help other Memphis stores unionize.
“The reason that I am filled with tears is because Memphis Seven has fought so hard,” said Nikki Taylor, one of the fired workers. “To know that that work didn't go in vain, that fight didn't go in vain, that losing sleep didn't go in vain, it's amazing to me.”
After the vote Tuesday, Starbucks said it respects the process and will bargain in good faith.
Former longtime Illinois US Rep. John E. Porter dies at 87
Former Illinois U.S. Rep. John E
ByThe Associated Press
June 08, 2022, 1:32 AM
FILE - In this Nov. 1, 1978, file photo, Illinois U.S. Rep. John Porter speaks in Evanston, Ill. Porter, who represented Chicago's northern suburbs for two decades in Congress and helped increase funding for biomedical research died Friday, Ju...
The Associated Press
John E. Porter, who represented Chicago's northern suburbs for two decades in Congress and helped increase funding for biomedical research has died, his family announced. He was 87.
In a statement, the Porter family said the former congressman died Friday after a recent hospitalization. The statement did not specify a cause of death.
Porter, a Republican, represented Illinois’ 10th District in Congress from 1980 to 2001. A staunch fiscal conservative, Porter also held moderate social views, backing abortion rights and gun control — positions that are almost unheard of in today’s Republican Party. Among other things, he helped lead the successful effort that created the 1994 assault weapons ban, which has since expired. He also was a supporter of international human rights and helped increase funding for scientific and biomedical research.
“The whole rough-and-tumble of classless politics was anathema to his character,” Mark Kirk, who succeeded Porter in the U.S. House before being elected U.S. senator in 2010, told the (Arlington Heights) Daily Herald. “The district wanted an independent leader, and he was that independent leader.”
Kirk, who started as an intern in Porter's office becoming its chief of staff, said Porter's main legacy was "in doubling funding for the National Institutes of Health and funding the unlocking of the human genome.”
When he retired, Port said he was most proud of that work and helping to create the Congressional Human Rights Caucus, a voluntary group that worked to identify, track and end human rights violations all over the world.
“We have probably offended every single government on earth,” he said, according to the Daily Herald. “But they deserved to be offended.”
Eight years ago, the National Institutes of Health dedicated the John Edward Porter Neuroscience Research Center in Bethesda, Maryland.
Porter is survived by his spouse, Amy, children and stepchildren, John, David, Annie, Robyn, Donna, McKay and Michelle, and 14 grandchildren.
In its statement, Porter's family said services will be held this month in Virginia and that another service will be held in Illinois over the summer.
