Month: January 2023

The Memphis Police Department said a seventh police officer has been relieved of duty regarding the Jan. 7 death of Tyre Nichols. In a statement, the seventh officer was not identified, and it was not indicated whether that person would face departmental or criminal charges.

The department had previously confirmed that a sixth officer, Preston Hemphill, had been relieved of duty, saying: “Officer Preston Hemphill and other officers’ actions and inactions have been and continue to be part of an investigation since its inception” on Jan. 8, the day after Nichols’ traffic stop and the day all seven officers were relieved of duty. The statement added that “numerous” impending charges are developing: “We expect the next phase of personnel actions in the coming days … Hemphill’s actions and involvement has been under investigation as he participated in the initial traffic stop and the use of a TASER.”

In addition, three members of the Memphis Fire Department were fired after an investigation concluded they violated department policies when they responded to the scene. The department announced on Monday that EMTs Robert Long and JaMichael Sandridge, as well as Lt. Michelle Whitaker, were fired following an internal investigation. Fire Chief Gina Sweat said in a statement that the department received a call from police to respond to a report of a person who had been pepper-sprayed, and that the workers arrived while Nichols was handcuffed and leaning up against a squad car. Long and Sandridge, based on the nature of the call and information they were told by police, “failed to conduct an adequate patient assessment of Mr. Nichols.” An investigation determined that all three violated “numerous” policies and protocols.

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On Monday, a federal appellate court rejected a bankruptcy filing from Johnson & Johnson, in an attempt to protect itself from thousands of lawsuits claiming its talcum-based powder causes cancer. The Third Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the pharmaceutical giant erred when it put its subsidiary LTL Management into Chapter 11 bankruptcy. J&J created the subsidiary in 2021 to specifically handle the thousands of lawsuits against its baby powder. The court ruled “only a putative debtor in financial distress” is able to file for bankruptcy protection. Monday’s ruling means the subsidiary is ineligible to file for bankruptcy protection from some 38,000 lawsuits. Had it ruled differently, the majority of lawsuits against the company would have been protected from financial penalty.

The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal by Johnson & Johnson in June 2021, letting a lower court verdict stand and awarding nearly $2.1 billion to a group of 22 women in a class action lawsuit. The women contended the talcum powder contained asbestos and was the cause of their ovarian cancer. Overall, the company faces costs of about $3.5 billion related to verdicts and settlements.

The Jersey-based company originally said in 2020 that it was discontinuing the talc-based baby powder product, amid the thousands of claims filed by customers in North America alleging it causes ovarian cancer and other illnesses. J&J then said last August it would end sales of the product at some point this year.  Johnson & Johnson said in a statement Monday: “As we have said from the beginning of this process, resolving this matter as quickly and efficiently as possible is in the best interests of claimants and all stakeholders. We continue to stand behind the safety of Johnson’s Baby Powder, which is safe, does not contain asbestos and does not cause cancer.”

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Authorities in southwestern Oregon are warning that a Nevada man accused of attempted murder and torturing a woman in Oregon is on the run and using dating apps to evade capture or find potential new victims. Law enforcement officials are warning to be on the lookout for Benjamin Obadiah Foster, a 36-year-old man who has been on the run in Oregon since Thursday. The Grants Pass Police Department said in a statement: “The investigation has revealed that the suspect is actively using online dating applications to contact unsuspecting individuals who may be lured into assisting with the suspect’s escape or potentially as additional victims.”  The Grants Pass Police Department in Oregon said Foster is extremely dangerous in a post on Facebook, adding that “it is possible that Benjamin Foster may attempt to change his appearance by shaving his beard and hair or by changing his hair color.”

The search for Foster began Tuesday after officers found a woman who had been bound and severely beaten into unconsciousness. The man fled the scene before officers arrived, but investigators identified Foster as the suspect and asked members of the public to call 911 immediately if they see him, warning he “should be considered extremely dangerous.” The victim was taken to a hospital in critical condition and is being guarded while the suspect remains at large. Police said Foster “likely received assistance in fleeing the area,” and added that Tina Marie Jones, a 68-year-old from Wolf Creek, Ore., was arrested for hindering prosecution in connection to the search.

A $2,500 reward has been offered for information leading to Foster’s capture. Police said he is wanted on suspicion of kidnapping, attempted murder and assault. The Grants Pass police have opened a hotline for tips at 541-237-5607 for information that leads to Foster’s arrest.

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According to the New York State Police (NYSP), 6 people are dead and another three seriously injured after an express bus and a box truck collided early Saturday morning in Louisville, New York.  NYSP said in a press release that officers responded to a fatal motor vehicle accident on State Highway 37 involving a 2021 Freightliner box truck and a 2013 express bus at 6:02 a.m. local time. The Lawrence County Medical Examiner’s Officer also responded to the scene.

According to the statement, authorities confirmed the deaths and injuries, noting that one victim is in critical condition, and two are “seriously injured.” All nine victims were passengers on the express bus; the injured were taken to hospitals nearby.   The investigation into what caused the accident is ongoing, according to police.

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Jurors have reached a guilty verdict in the federal death penalty case of a 34-year-old man who killed eight people on a Manhattan bike path five years ago. Sayfullo Saipov, an Uzbek national living in New Jersey at the time of the 2017 Halloween attack, was convicted Thursday by a federal court jury of murder and attempted murder in order to gain entry to ISIS, making him eligible for the death penalty. He was also convicted of providing material support to ISIS. Jurors will decide next month whether Saipov should face the death penalty.

Saipov drove a Home Depot rental pickup truck at least 10 blocks down the Hudson River Greenway bike path, hitting nearly a dozen pedestrians and bicyclists before crashing into a school bus. In addition to the eight people killed, nearly a dozen others were hurt, some seriously. Authorities described the incident as a “cowardly act of terrorism,” and witnesses said at the time that school bus crash appeared deliberate. Prosecutors said in closing arguments that Saipov allegedly showed no remorse. saying he was proud of what he did and asking to hang the flag of the Islamic State group in his Manhattan hospital room.

Saipov had pleaded not guilty to multiple charges, including murder in the aid of racketeering and providing and attempting to provide material support or resources to a foreign terrorist organization. The truck attack was the deadliest terror attack in New York since Sept. 11, 2001.

Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy announced Thursday that the five former Memphis police officers who were fired for their actions during the arrest earlier this month of Tyre Nichols – a 29-year-old Black man – were indicted on charges including murder and kidnapping.

The former officers, Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Justin Smith, Emmitt Martin, and Desmond Mills Jr., have each been charged with second-degree murder, aggravated assault, two charges of aggravated kidnapping, two charges of official misconduct and one charge of official oppression, Mulroy said, adding, ‘while each of the five individuals played a different role in the incident in question, the actions of all of them resulted in the death of Tyre Nichols, and they are all responsible.’ All five officers are in custody, Mulroy added. They were booked into the Shelby County Jail, and bond was set at $350,000 for Haley, 30, and Martin, 30, and $250,000 for Bean, 24, Mills, 32, and Smith, 28, according to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.

The criminal charges come about three weeks after Nichols was hospitalized after a traffic stop and “confrontation” with Memphis police that family attorneys have called a savage beating. Nichols died from his injuries on January 10, three days after the arrest.

President Joe Biden said in a statement that Nichols’ family “deserves a swift, full, and transparent investigation” into his death and and that the killing is a “painful reminder that we must do more to ensure that our criminal justice system lives up to the promise of fair and impartial justice, equal treatment, and dignity for all.”