Los Angeles Judge Dismisses All Riot Charges Against 3 Members Of Reputed White Nationalist Group

Robert Paul Rundo, of Huntington Beach, holds down and punches a counter-protester at a political rally at Bolsa Chica State Beach on March 25, 2017, federal authorities say, as fellow alleged RAM members watch. (Photo via Department of Justice)

BY CITY NEWS SERVICE

LOS ANGELES (ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER) — A Los Angeles federal judge Monday dismissed all charges against three reputed members of a Southern California white nationalist group suspected of having incited brawls at political rallies.

U.S. District Judge Carmac J. Carney granted a defense motion dismissing charges against Robert Rundo, Robert Boman and Aaron Eason on grounds that the federal riots act — under which they were charged — “is unconstitutionally overbroad in violation of the First Amendment.”

A fourth defendant, Tyler Laube, pleaded guilty in November in Los Angeles to a single count of conspiracy to violate the federal Anti-Riot Act of 1968. The status of his case is not immediately clear.

“We are disappointed in the court’s ruling and we are reviewing possible grounds for appeal,” said Ciaran McEvoy, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles.

Carney wrote in his ruling that the act goes well beyond criminalizing the behavior of those acting in the midst of a riot.

“It also criminalizes acts taken long before any crowd gathers,” or acts that have only a slight connection to violence, according to Carney.

“No violence even need to occur,” the judge wrote. “A defendant could be convicted for renting a car with a credit card, posting about a political rally on Facebook, or texting friends about when to meet up.”

As part of their case against Eason, for example, prosecutors alleged that the defendant used a credit card to rent a van to drive to an April 2017 “Patriots Day” free-speech rally in Berkeley that turned violent. Videos posted online show Eason and other RAM members next to a “Defend America” sign with hands taped for fighting and faces partially covered by skeleton masks, federal authorities further alleged.

Carney also determined that the defendants’ actions fell under protected speech.

“It is easy to champion free speech when it advocates a viewpoint with which we agree,” the judge wrote. “It is much harder when the speech promotes ideas that we find abhorrent.”

The four suspected members of the so-called Rise Above Movement were indicted by a Los Angeles grand jury in November for allegedly inciting violence against counter-protesters, journalists and others at rallies throughout the state, including 2017 events in Huntington Beach, Berkeley and San Bernardino.

Eason, 39, of Anza in Riverside County; Laube, 22, of Redondo Beach; Rundo, 29, of Huntington Beach; and Boman, 25, of Torrance were charged with one count each of conspiracy to commit rioting and travel with intent to riot. Each of the two counts carry sentences of up to five years in federal prison, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

In October, federal authorities arrested four other suspected RAM members, including alleged RAM founder Ben Daley, 26, of Redondo Beach. He and three others pleaded guilty in federal court in Virginia to the conspiracy count in connection with their suspected roles in the deadly 2017 far-right rally in Charlottesville, Va.

Lawyers March In Zimbabwe Capital Alleging Denial Of Justice

Zimbabwe lawyers take part in a protest over rule of law concerns in Harare, Tuesday Jan. 29, 2018. The lawyers handed over a petition to the country's Chief Justice in a bid to stop human rights abuses in the country. Zimbabwe's president Monday said he was "appalled" by a televised report showing abuses by security forces in a continuing crackdown after angry protests against the government's drastic fuel price hikes. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)

BY FARAI MUTSAKA

HARARE, ZIMBABWE (AP) — Lawyers in Zimbabwe marched on the constitutional court on Tuesday to protest the alleged denial of justice for hundreds of people arrested in a violent crackdown on protests that shut down the country.

Police said more than 1,000 people have been arrested over the protests against a sharp rise in fuel prices that began two weeks ago. Lawyers say many are languishing in jail after being denied bail while others have been forced into unfair hearings across the country.

Human rights lawyer Beatrice Mtetwa described the judiciary’s actions as “well-coordinated” to punish suspects.

Dozens of gown-wearing lawyers marched in the capital, Harare, as riot police watched. “Liberate the courts from the army,” one of the lawyers’ signs read. “No to command justice,” read another.

Some lawyers gagged their mouths with pieces of paper inscribed with the word “injustice.”

The lawyers petitioned Zimbabwe’s chief justice, Luke Malaba, saying that “it has become commonplace to hear of denial of basic fundamental rights and freedoms of those arrested and suspected of having participated in the protests.”

The lawyers asserted that abuses by the military and police include abductions of suspects or close relatives, the assault and torture of suspects to induce confessions, the denial of treatment for tortured suspects.

Reports of alleged abuses by security forces continued, with the military heavily deployed in poor and working-class suburbs.

Main opposition leader Nelson Chamisa asserted to reporters that the arrests are meant to “cripple” his party, which has unsuccessfully sought dialogue with President Emmerson Mnangagwa after narrowly losing a disputed election last year.

Chamisa said his party had reported the issue to the southern African regional bloc, with no response.

“I don’t know how many bodies are supposed to be killed, I don’t know how much blood is supposed to flow in Harare,” he told reporters.

Police spokeswoman Charity Charamba rejected Chamisa’s allegation, pointing out that some ruling party activists had been arrested and convicted for burning a bus amid the unrest.

After reports of women being raped by security forces in the crackdown, Charamba said police were investigating one case of alleged sexual abuse. She urged victims of rape to report it to police.

Many victims of sexual violence are reluctant to approach the police or government hospitals for fear of reprisals.

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AP source: Whitaker Told Graham That Mueller Probe To Go On

Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker speaks at the Dept. of Justice's Annual Veterans Appreciation Day Ceremony, Thursday, Nov. 15, 2018, at the Justice Department in Washington. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
BY MARY CLARE JALONICK & MIKE BALSAMO

WASHINGTON (AP) — Acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker told Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham in a meeting on Thursday that special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation will proceed, according to a person familiar with the meeting.

The meeting with Graham and Whitaker comes as a bipartisan group of senators is pushing legislation to protect Mueller’s job. The senators are concerned about Whitaker’s past criticism of the Mueller probe, which is looking at Russian interference in the 2016 election and ties to President Donald Trump’s campaign. Those concerns were only amplified after Trump appointed Whitaker as acting attorney general last week.

Whitaker told Graham the investigation would be allowed to proceed, the person said. The person wasn’t authorized to speak publicly about the meeting and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer and other Democrats have called for Whitaker to recuse himself from overseeing the Mueller investigation.

A Justice Department spokeswoman said earlier this week that Whitaker will follow Justice Department protocols and consult with senior ethics officials “on his oversight responsibilities and matters that may warrant recusal.”

Democrats have also called for the special counsel bill to be added to a year-end spending bill that must pass in December to avoid a partial government shutdown. The bipartisan legislation, which was introduced more than a year ago, would give any special counsel a 10-day window to seek expedited judicial review of a firing and put into law existing Justice Department regulations that a special counsel can only be fired for good cause.

On Wednesday, Republican Sen. Jeff Flake said he would not vote to confirm judicial nominees unless GOP leaders hold a vote on the Mueller protection legislation.

Whitaker is now overseeing the Mueller probe, which had previously been overseen by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. Rosenstein told Congress that he saw no reason to fire Mueller.

Recently ousted Attorney General Jeff Sessions had recused himself from overseeing Mueller because he had worked on Trump’s Republican campaign — a decision that infuriated Trump and led to Sessions resigning at the president’s request.

Trump has repeatedly criticized Mueller and called the investigation a hoax.

He tweeted Thursday that the probe is “A TOTAL WITCH HUNT LIKE NO OTHER IN AMERICAN HISTORY!”

Report Gives Mostly High Marks For Attorney General Nominee

Attorney General nominee Loretta Lynch arrives for a meeting with fellow New Yorker, Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., on Capitol Hill in Washington. A team of Justice Department evaluators has given mostly high ratings to the management style of Loretta Lynch, the nominee for attorney general. Lynch, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, is scheduled for two days of confirmation hearings next week before the Senate Judiciary Committee

WASHINGTON (AP) — Justice Department evaluators gave mostly high ratings to the management skills of Loretta Lynch, President Barack Obama's nominee for attorney general, in a report made public five days before she faces a Senate confirmation hearing.

The evaluation depicts Lynch, currently the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, as a hands-on manager who personally reviews all indictments, meets regularly with top staff and helps make decisions on major cases. The report found no significant morale problems within the office and called her "exceptionally well-qualified" for the position she holds.

"She is bright, articulate and charismatic and is truly an exemplar of efficient stewardship and managerial excellence," states the evaluation, which was conducted in 2012 and made public Friday. It was written by the Executive Office for United States Attorneys, an arm of the Justice Department whose responsibilities include peer reviews of prosecutors' offices.

But the review also identified areas for improvement, including the office's responsiveness to public records requests made under the federal Freedom of Information Act. The Senate Judiciary Committee released a copy of the report Friday after its chairman, Republican Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa, requested a copy.

Obama nominated Lynch in November to succeed outgoing Attorney General Eric Holder. Her confirmation hearings are set for Wednesday and Thursday before Grassley's panel, and the full Senate also must approve her appointment.

Lynch is not expected to face major hurdles during the confirmation process, though in the new Republican-majority Senate, some lawmakers already have signaled that they plan to question her aggressively on whether she'll support Obama's executive action on illegal immigration.

They'll also likely be looking for assurances of a greater rapport with Lynch than they've had with Holder, who often clashed with Republicans during trips to Capitol Hill and was even held in contempt by the House over a document dispute arising from a gun-trafficking operation known as Fast and Furious.

Lynch since 2010 has been the top prosecutor for a district that includes Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island and Long Island, having also held that role from 1999 to 2001. As a prosecutor, she was best known for her work in the case of Abner Louima — a Haitian immigrant who was beaten and sodomized by New York City police officers while in custody.

The evaluation said Lynch's office met most Justice Department standards, including caseload for prosecutors, professional responsibility and budget management. But the report also found that Lynch's office did not effectively supervise its FOIA program, did not respond to requests for records in a timely way and did not conduct regular training on the topic for its staff. The office also had a "substantial backlog of requests," and the designated FOIA contact had not attended recommended training, the report said.

In a letter to Grassley that accompanied a copy of the report, Peter Kadzik, the assistant attorney general for legislative affairs, said the evaluation showed that the office had flourished under Lynch's "outstanding leadership," and that corrective steps had been taken in the few areas that were designated for improvement.

Follow Eric Tucker on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/etuckerAP

Judge: Sharper To Remain In California Jail

Former NFL safety Darren Sharper leaves a courthouse in Los Angeles.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Former NFL All-Pro safety Darren Sharper must remain in a Los Angeles jail without bail after he was indicted in Arizona on charges of drugging and sexually assaulting two women, a California judge ruled Thursday.

While making her decision, Superior Court Judge Renee Korn rejected a motion by Sharper's lawyers to release him on house arrest and said Arizona authorities want to extradite the Super Bowl champion to face trial in that state after he is tried on similar charges in California.

In Los Angeles, the 38-year-old Sharper has pleaded not guilty to charges involving the rape and drugging of two women he met in a West Hollywood bar. He was previously released on $1 million bail in the California case but turned himself in on Feb. 27 after an arrest warrant was issued in New Orleans. He has not been charged in that state.

Sharper is also under investigation in Florida and Nevada. Sharper was indicted on Tuesday in Tempe, Ariz., on charges of drugging and raping two women in November. Sharper's attorneys want a hearing to set bail in Arizona, but their client would have to be present.

"We know that Darren will vigorously deny the allegations," Sharper's Arizona attorney Skip Donau said Wednesday. "We are hopeful of vindication." In a bail motion filed last month, a Los Angeles County investigator described a pattern in which the former football star met women at clubs or parties and lured them to a hotel room, where they were allegedly drugged and raped.

The New Orleans warrant says police learned from witnesses that Sharper and an associate had acknowledged having nonconsensual sex with two women. Sharper's attorneys say he never made such statements.

The warrant does not elaborate on how the information was obtained or disclose the names of the witnesses. Korn set another court appearance for Sharper for March 24. Sharper was selected All-Pro six times and chosen for the Pro Bowl five times. He played in two Super Bowls, one with the Green Bay Packers as a rookie and was part of a successful championship run while with the New Orleans Saints.

He retired after the 2010 season and was working as an analyst for the NFL Network before being fired recently.

'Nigeria's' Electoral Mess, Yaradua Retains Seat.

Without a doubt, the contradictions, election flaws and massive irregularities in last year's general elections in Nigeria has now reached alarming proportions. Never before in the country has there been such a confusion in the outcome of an election which has involved and implicated the electoral process and its body, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) headed by Professor Maurice Iwu.

In an expected ruling today, the Presidential Election Petition Appeal Court threw out petitions filed by Muhammadu Buhari of the All Nigeria Peoples Party and Atiku Abubakar of Action Congress on the ground the petitioners lacked proof to show Umaru Yar'Adua did not win the presidential election of April 12, 2007. The decision was reached while President Yar'Adua is in China on an official visit to strenghten bilateral relations with China.

In another ruling, the court of appeal sitting in Jos upheld the nullification of Murtala Nyako as Adamawa State governor and ordered the sacked governor to vacate office immediately with fresh elections to be held within 90 days.

The judiaciary is beginning to make sense. It is, however, not surprising that an independent judiciary is beginning to make headway in the nation's democratic dispensation. Many Nigerians place their hope on independent judiciary and a change of the country's leadership starting from every aspect of government -- the executive, the legislator, the judiciary, which has begun to prevail in respecting and upholding the rule of law; and of course, the local government and or municipalities.

Hopefully, every election that has a question mark to it should be well scrutinized and if necessary probe its flaws which has been the major problem in the country's electoral process. The time is now and the judiciary must act fast in eradicating the mess that has destroyed the nation's electoral process over the years, especially in the Fourth Republic.