Month: June 2022

On Wednesday, a federal judge in Washington, D.C., ordered that John Hinckley Jr. — the attempted assassin of former President Ronald Reagan in 1981 — will be released from psychiatric supervision later this month. Hinckley completed a nine-month observation period ordered in September, and at that time U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman said the 67-year-old Hinckley would be free of all remaining restrictions if he maintains mental stability.

Hinckley spent more than three decades in a mental hospital as part of his insanity defense for shooting Reagan and three others outside the Washington, D.C., Hilton Hotel on March 30, 1981. Hinckley had acute psychosis at the time of the shooting and said he carried out the attack to impress actor Jodie Foster.

A judge granted his release in 2016 with a number of restrictions, including living with his mother in Virginia, to ensure Hinckley wouldn’t veer into violence again.  Hinckley’s defense team, prosecutors and mental health experts all agreed that they had no concerns about his mental state. Judge Friedman said:  “John Hinckley tried to kill the president of the United States. He came very close to doing so. Without losing sight of what he did 40 years ago, he has been the most scrutinized person … living under a microscope as none of us have. I am confident Mr. Hinckley will do well in the years remaining to him.”

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On Wednesday, a Fairfax County, Va., jury reached its verdict in the ‘Johnny Depp v. Amber Heard’ defamation trial, ruling unanimously in favor of Depp.  After six weeks of testimony and deliberating for nearly 13 hours, the jury found that Heard intentionally and maliciously defamed Depp when she wrote her 2018 op-ed in the Washington Post about her experiences as a domestic abuse survivor. Heard filed her own $100 million countersuit, claiming Depp and his legal team defamed her by calling her allegations a hoax.

The jury unanimously found “clear and convincing evidence” that Heard defamed Depp when she wrote the op-ed, and acted with actual malice, and awarded $10 million in damages to Depp in terms of compensatory damages, relating to jobs and opportunities lost, and $5 million in punitive damages. There were three statements at issue in Heard’s counterclaim, and the jury found one statement defamatory, awarding Heard $2 million in damages.

Depp was not present in the courtroom to hear the verdict saying ‘previously scheduled work commitments had him watching from the United Kingdom.”   Depp released the following statement after the verdict, saying in part: “Six years ago, my life, the life of my children, the lives of those closest to me, and also, the lives of the people who for many, many years have supported and believed in me were forever changed….And six years later, the jury gave me my life back. I am truly humbled.”

Heard released a statement as well, saying in part: “The disappointment I feel today is beyond words. I’m heartbroken that the mountain of evidence still was not enough to stand up to the disproportionate power, influence, and sway of my ex-husband. I’m even more disappointed with what this verdict means for other women. It is a setback. It sets back the clock to a time when a woman who spoke up and spoke out could be publicly shamed and humiliated.”

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According to the New Orleans Police Department (“NOPD”), one person was killed and another two were injured outside of Xavier University’s convocation center Tuesday, following a New Orleans high school graduation ceremony.  Shots were fired shortly before noon, when the parking lot was full graduating students from Morris Jeff Community School, and their families. The victim of the shooting died at a hospital, and was a grandmother of one of the graduates.

NOPD deputy superintendent Christopher Goodly said during a press conference that the two injured, both men, were taken to the hospital by New Orleans EMS with non life-threatening injuries. A fight between two women broke out in the parking lot shortly after the ceremony ended, but police did not say whether either of the women involved in the altercation was the shooter. Three people were taken in for questioning, but no arrests have been made, Goodly said. Investigators also confiscated more than one weapon.

Xavier University’s convocation center hosts multiple high school graduation ceremonies each spring. This is not the first graduation ceremony to turn violent this season. A large fight broke out inside Xavier University’s convocation center on May 20 shortly after students from G.W. Carver High School graduated.  Governor John Bel Edwards addressed both high school graduation shootings in a statement Tuesday:  “We must do more to ensure that those who pose an unacceptable risk of harm to others aren’t able to acquire or keep firearms.” Edwards said, adding in light of recent gun violence in Buffalo, New York and Uvalde, Texas, “gun safety discussions and action involving expanded background checks and red flag laws are very much in order.”

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According to a release from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, a three-week operation in west Texas dubbed “Operation Lost Souls” has led to the recovery of 70 missing children as well as sex trafficking victims. The investigation was conducted by the Homeland Security Investigation (HSI) and ran from the end of April through mid-May in El Paso, Midland, and Ector.

The missing children, many of them who were identified as runaways, ranged in age from 10 to 17 years old. Some of the children found were also victims of sex trafficking and physical and sexual abuse, according to ICE. Most of the children were recovered from west Texas, but others were found in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, as well as Colorado and Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.

DPS Maj. Matthew Mull said: “At the Department of Public Safety, teamwork is one of our core values. We are grateful for all of our law enforcement partners who participated in this operation and who work around the clock every day to protect our communities, including our youth.” The agencies also provided victim services and counseling to the children rescued and their families.

El Paso Deputy Special Agent in Charge Taekuk Cho said in a statement: “Operation Lost Souls exemplifies Homeland Security Investigations’ commitment to protecting the public from crimes of victimization. HSI is committed to continue working with our law enforcement partners to locate, recover and help missing children heal, while ensuring that perpetrators are held responsible for these heinous crimes and brought to justice.”

No arrests have been announced, but authorities said HSI is investigating “additional information and leads.” If you have information about a human trafficking victim or information about this type of criminal activity, please contact the National Human Trafficking Hotline at (888) 373-7888.

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