Latest news with #legalBattle
CBC
14-07-2025
- Business
- CBC
Crown relinquishes bid to keep $435K found in Kurt Churchill's home during murder probe
The Crown has abandoned its efforts to keep more than $435,000 seized by police from Kurt Churchill's home in the wake of a 2020 homicide in St. John's. Churchill was charged with murder in relation to the death of James Cody on Craigmillar Avenue in St. John's five years ago. Last September, those charges against Churchill were stayed, after his lawyers filed a successful Jordan application over unfair trial delays. The Crown is appealing that decision. After Cody's death, Royal Newfoundland Constabulary investigators executed a search warrant at Churchill's home, where they discovered hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash. The Mounties then launched a money laundering investigation. It did not result in any charges. That set up a legal battle between the Crown, which filed an application to keep the money, and Churchill, who wanted to have it returned. The matter went before a judge earlier this year, with several more hearing dates scheduled for this month. But at provincial court in St. John's on Wednesday, federal Crown attorney Elaine Reid said prosecutors and police discussed the case between those appearances. "We noted that Mr. Churchill was not charged with any offence in relation to this particular money," Reid told the court. "And particular things that were mentioned, there were no drug trafficking charges, no evidence to support any offence that was put before the court." Reid said the appropriate legal test is for the Crown to show beyond a reasonable doubt that the money they are seeking to have forfeited is "tainted by criminality." Expert witness testimony about Churchill's finances in January raised "suspicion" and "concern" about the money, Reid said, but the Crown doesn't believe it can prove its claim beyond a reasonable doubt. At the previous hearing, Churchill's lawyer Robby Ash referenced a number of bank accounts the forensic accountant did not include in her analysis, and flagged his client's investment in cryptocurrency. Reid noted both of those submissions in advising the court that the Crown was seeking to withdraw its application. The Crown also consented to Churchill's application to have the money returned, which Judge James Walsh granted. Reid told the court that police have control of the money, and the order will be "actioned" after a period of 30 days has expired, noting that there may be "other lawful claims" to the cash. According to an RCMP affidavit filed at court in 2021, most of the money seized was $20 bills — more than 14,000 of them. There were also nearly 2,000 $50 notes and almost 500 bills in the $100 denomination.
CBS News
07-07-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
Immigration advocates call for Kilmar Abrego Garcia to be brought back to Maryland
Supporters of Kilmar Abrego Garcia rallied Monday as a judge in Maryland heard arguments over whether the Salvadoran native should be returned to the state ahead of his trial on federal human smuggling charges in Tennessee. The hearing comes amid a months-long legal battle that began after Abrego Garcia was mistakenly deported from Maryland to El Salvador in March, despite a court ruling that barred him from being sent to his home country. ICE could deport Abrego Garcia again Abrego Garcia's lawyers are asking for him to remain in custody over concerns that he may be deported again if he is released. Upon Abrego Garcia's return to the U.S., the Justice Department filed a motion requesting that he remain in custody ahead of trial. A Tennessee judge, U.S. Magistrate Judge Barbara Holmes, denied the motion and ordered Abrego Garcia's release. But in a hearing on June 26, Justice Department attorney Jonathan Guynn said that once Abrego Garcia is released from detention, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) intends to begin removal proceedings to send him to a "third country," rather than El Salvador. Abrego Garcia's attorneys have since requested that he be protected from another deportation and returned to Maryland. In an effort to secure Abrego Garcia's release without deportation, his attorneys asked Holmes to delay his release from federal custody. Federal prosecutors did not oppose the request. U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis of Maryland, who is overseeing the immigration aspects of Abrego Garcia's case, is reviewing arguments on that matter Monday, as well as the U.S. government's motion to dismiss Abrego Garcia's civil lawsuit over his mistaken deportation in March. Advocates call for Abrego Garcia's release Activists with CASA – a Maryland-based immigration advocacy and assistance organization – along with faith leaders and other immigration advocates, called for Abrego Garcia to be returned Monday morning. A crowd of supporters of Kilmar Abrego Garcia gathered outside the Greenbelt, Maryland, federal courthouse, where a judge will hear arguments to dismiss his Maryland case. "Fight back harder and demand justice for Kilmar, and all the Kilmars out there," one protester said. A crowd of supporters of Kilmar Abrego Garcia has gathered outside the Greenbelt, Maryland federal courthouse this morning where a judge will hear arguments to dismiss his Maryland case. His lawyers say he needs to be brought back to Maryland first. The Trump Administration… — Mike Hellgren (@HellgrenWJZ) July 7, 2025 Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran national, was among more than 250 Venezuelan and Salvadoran men deported from the U.S. to El Salvador and held in the Central American country's CECOT prison.
Fox News
03-07-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
Court approves settlement after North Carolina student suspended for 'illegal aliens' comment
A high school student's free speech battle against a North Carolina school board took an important step towards closure after a court hearing Tuesday. Christian McGhee, 17, was suspended last year after school officials deemed he made a "racially insensitive" comment about "illegal aliens" in class. The suspension led to a year-long legal battle with the Davidson County Board of Education. Last month, a proposed settlement was reportedly reached between McGhee's parents and the school board. On Tuesday, Judge Thomas David Schroeder of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina ruled that the proposed settlement was "fair, reasonable and in the best interest of [Christian]," according to a press release released Wednesday by the student's legal representatives at the Liberty Justice Center. The school has reportedly agreed to remove the racial bias incident from McGhee's record, issue a public apology, and acknowledge that a former board member responded inappropriately to the incident. Additional terms of the agreement are sealed, but the New York Post reported that the family is also slated to receive a $20,000 payment. Because the student is a minor, a court hearing was required to finalize the settlement, according to the legal group. The teen received a 3-day suspension in the spring of 2024 after asking his teacher if a conversation in class was centered around "spaceship aliens" or "illegal aliens who need green cards" after he returned to the classroom from the restroom. A Latino student present in the class reportedly "joked" that he was going to "kick Christian's a--," leading the teacher to escalate the situation to the assistant principal. McGhee's mother, Leah, who was behind the legal push against the district, told "Fox & Friends" last year that their family tried "for weeks" to resolve the matter privately but were forced to file a lawsuit after getting no response from the school board. The lawsuit accused the school board of violating McGhee's constitutionally-protected rights to free speech and due process. "The court's approval represents a critical step towards finally vindicating Christian's constitutional rights and clearing his record of false allegations," Liberty Justice Center Senior Counsel Dean McGee said of this week's ruling. McGhee's parents said they were grateful and celebrating the legal win. "We are grateful for the Liberty Justice Center's tireless efforts to bring justice to our son, and to the members of the current school board who chose to work with us to help resolve the case," Leah and Chad McGhee said. "Together with the help of our community, we have proved that constitutional rights do not end at schoolhouse doors. We are celebrating this victory and hope it encourages other families to stand firm in the face of adversity." The Davidson County School Board did not immediately return a request for comment.
Bloomberg
27-06-2025
- Politics
- Bloomberg
Fearing Deportation, Abrego Garcia Asks to Stay in Jail for Now
Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Maryland man mistakenly deported to El Salvador and then brought back to the US on criminal charges, asked a judge to delay his release from jail for fear of being deported again before trial. The request comes after a lawyer for the Trump administration told a separate federal court on Thursday that the government intended to deport Abrego Garcia to his native El Salvador again, or to a third country, when he was released from custody and before he could be tried on human smuggling charges. Hours later, the Justice Department told the Associated Press it intends to prosecute him on the charges before deporting him, Abrego Garcia's lawyers said.
Telegraph
27-06-2025
- Telegraph
Like his good friend Donald Trump, Conor McGregor rides out any scandal
When Conor McGregor was convicted of sucker-punching a man in a Dublin pub in 2019, he bought the pub and 'barred' his victim. Fast-forward to last week and he reportedly did not even need to lift a finger for the latest recipient of one of his left hooks to be thrown out of Ibiza's Pacha nightclub. It seems that whatever the crime or controversy, sooner or later the world's most infamous mixed martial arts fighter ends up coming out of it on top. Next week he could take major step in that direction when it comes to the most serious alleged offence committed by a man who has become the living embodiment of his nickname, 'The Notorious'. The Republic of Ireland's Court of Appeal is set to consider an application for new evidence to be introduced in his battle against a civil ruling that he raped Nikita Hand at a Dublin hotel in December 2018. That ruling, delivered by a jury at the Irish capital's High Court in November, meant McGregor was ordered to pay the mother of one more than €248,000 (£206,000) in damages. McGregor, who faced no criminal charges over the alleged rape after prosecutors deemed there was 'no reasonable prospect of conviction', immediately announced his intention to appeal. That appeal was lodged in February, and it emerged in April that he was attempting to introduce new evidence alleging Hand had been assaulted by her then partner on the night McGregor was found to have raped her. The evidence has been provided by two former neighbours of Hand, one of whom has signed a sworn affidavit claiming to have seen her being punched after she returned home that evening. Hand, who told November's civil trial that McGregor had 'brutally raped and battered' her, signed an affidavit calling her neighbours' allegations 'lies'. Even if the Court of Appeal rules the new evidence inadmissible or refuses to quash last year's verdict, McGregor already appears to have found a way of emerging from it all remarkably unscathed. It all comes amid a burgeoning 'bromance' with the man who arguably laid out the blueprint for him to do so. McGregor was still awaiting his trial last year when Donald Trump became the first former US president to be convicted of a felony after being found guilty of 34 charges linked to hush-money payments made to ex-adult star Stormy Daniels. The verdict did not prevent Trump running for re-election and, weeks later, he survived a would-be assassin's bullet on the campaign trail. McGregor, who had caused a political earthquake at the end of 2023 by signalling his intention to run for the presidency of his own country, posted to his 10 million followers on X: 'A 78 year old multiple billionaire he should be on a yacht on the med touring golf courses. But he is not. He is in Pennsylvania spitting out bullets! Running for the love of his country! God speed Donald! God bless the United States.' Whether Trump saw the message or not, less than two months after McGregor's own court defeat, the Irishman was among the guests at the US president's second inauguration and also posed for a photograph with Nigel Farage at a pre-event rally. By the time Ireland's prime minister Micheal Martin visited the White House in the week leading up to St Patrick's Day, Trump was publicly singling out McGregor as his favourite Irishman. If that was embarrassing for the taoiseach, it became even more so on St Patrick's Day when McGregor was invited for an audience with Trump and seized a platform to spout anti-immigration rhetoric he had begun to voice in the preceding months and years. That had included in the build-up to a riot in Dublin in November 2023, which was triggered by the stabbing of three young children outside a primary school. McGregor posted on X: 'Innocent children ruthlessly stabbed by a mentally deranged non-national in Dublin, Ireland today. There is grave danger among us in Ireland that should never be here in the first place, and there has been zero action done to support the public in any way, shape or form with this frightening fact. NOT GOOD ENOUGH.' Following the riot, and facing accusations of incitement, McGregor said he did not condone the violence. His White House visit was followed by an announcement that he would run for the presidency of Ireland later this year. But despite previously being publicly endorsed by Elon Musk and claiming to have the support of Trump himself, McGregor faces what would appear insurmountable hurdles to becoming his own country's head of state. Under the current rules, candidates must garner the support of 20 Oireachtas (parliament) members, or the backing of four of Ireland's local authorities in order to stand. A recent Irish Times survey of 949 local councillors found not one of the 187 who responded said they would nominate him for the role. Stiofán Conaty, a Sinn Fein councillor from Cavan County Council, told the publication: 'No such pressure would ever influence me to even consider voting for that horrid man.' McGregor's presidential ambitions could hardly be further removed from his stance on politics a decade ago after he was criticised for wearing a Remembrance Day poppy. 'F--- politics and f--- religion,' he wrote on Twitter in October 2015. 'I just want to swing a few lefts and a few rights for a couple of hundred mill in peace.' Back then, McGregor was at the peak of his powers in the Ultimate Fighting Championship with a five-year, 15-bout winning streak that included becoming the first man to hold championships in two weight classes simultaneously. Arguably the world's most recognisable MMA fighter, he was even named the following year as RTE Sports Person of the Year – Ireland's equivalent of the BBC's Sports Personality of the Year award. By then, McGregor had announced his retirement from UFC amid speculation about who would win in a fight between him and the world's best boxer, Floyd Mayweather Jnr. That planted the seed for a crossover boxing match between the pair on August 26, 2017, which became the second-highest-selling pay-per-view event in history. McGregor was beaten but, in reality, there were no losers from a fight in which he later said he earned 'around' $100 million. He went on to be ranked by Forbes as the world's fourth-highest-paid athlete on $99 million. The Mayweather fight also brought unprecedented public scrutiny on McGregor, who was accused of racism after telling his black opponent to, 'Dance for me, boy', during a promotional event. Mayweather later claimed McGregor had 'called black people monkeys' and had spoken 'disrespectfully to my mother and my daughter'. Responding on Instagram, McGregor wrote: 'Floyd Mayweather, don't ever bring race into my success again. I am an Irishman. My people have been oppressed our entire existence. And still very much are. I understand the feeling of prejudice. It is a feeling that is deep in my blood. In my family's long history of warfare there was a time where just having the name 'McGregor' was punishable by death. Do not ever put me in a bracket like this again …' Following the bout, McGregor looked likely to return to UFC before the end of the year. But plans were scrapped when he pushed a referee and slapped another official at a rival MMA event in Dublin, in which he was not even competing. The next day, the head of the commission for the event issued a statement accusing McGregor of having 'assaulted' the pair. McGregor apologised and UFC president Dana White later blamed his behaviour partly on his rapid rise to fame, branding his entourage 'cling-ons'. 'He's a young, rich kid who is a god in Ireland,' White said. 'That's not the healthiest environment either. When you make that kind of money, you're that famous and you're a professional athlete, you're gonna have an overload of cling-ons.' McGregor's MMA return was still on hold when, in April 2018, he was filmed in New York throwing a metal equipment dolly at the window of a bus carrying his UFC nemesis and heir apparent, Khabib Nurmagomedov. The window shattered, injuring two other fighters. White called the incident 'the most disgusting thing' in the history of the organisation. McGregor turned himself in to police and was charged with assault, criminal mischief and other crimes. He pleaded no contest to a count of disorderly conduct and was ordered to carry out five days of community service and attend anger-management classes. One of his victims, Michael Chiesa, later sued McGregor over his injuries. The case was settled out of court more than four years later. White's condemnation did not prevent him signing a six-fight deal for McGregor to return to the UFC, starting with a bout against new lightweight champion Nurmagomedov in October that year. McGregor was defeated and a brawl broke out afterwards that led to both men receiving lengthy bans and heavy fines. After defeating Conor McGregor, Khabib Nurmagomedov jumped out of the octagon and a brawl ensued 🎥 @AndreasHale d — SB Nation (@SBNation) October 7, 2018 It was during his six-month suspension that McGregor allegedly raped Hand and was arrested over accusations he stamped on a fan's phone in another incident caught on camera. The alleged victim in that case stopped cooperating with police and charges were later dropped. On March 26, McGregor announced his second retirement from MMA, hours before news broke that he was being investigated over his alleged rape of Hand. On April 6 came the Dublin pub attack in which McGregor punched Desmond Keogh for refusing an offer to sample the fighter's 'Proper No. Twelve' brand of whiskey. McGregor pleaded guilty to the assault in November that year and was fined €1,000. He also issued a public apology. However, when it was reported in April 2021 that McGregor had bought the Marble Arch pub where the incident had taken place, he reposted a link to the article saying: 'Ye and your mans barred.' Keogh told the Irish Mirror: 'I wouldn't want to be spending money in his pub to be honest.' That same month, McGregor and his business partners sold Proper No. Twelve for $600 million. The rape investigation and a further – denied – sexual assault allegation failed to prevent McGregor making what was a winning UFC comeback in January 2020. He retired again and, later that year, was arrested on the French island of Corsica on suspicion of attempted sexual assault and indecent exposure. He was released without charge and a police investigation into the denied claims was eventually dropped. Hand filed her civil lawsuit against McGregor in January 2021, days before what proved to be the fighter's final UFC comeback. He lost that bout, to Dustin Poirier, and a rematch in July. By then, Forbes had ranked him as the world's highest-paid athlete on $180 million following the sale of his whiskey brand. In October that year, McGregor was publicly accused by Italian DJ Francesco Facchinetti of breaking his nose in a nightclub in Rome. Facchinetti filed a criminal complaint but, as of today, no known action has been taken over an alleged incident McGregor has yet to comment on. The following July, McGregor held a birthday party on his yacht in Ibiza, after which a woman filed a complaint that he had physically assaulted her and that she had broken her arm jumping off the boat to escape him. McGregor denied the allegation and the woman later withdrew a lawsuit she had lodged against him. After making the allegations, her car was torched outside her home and a brick thrown through her window. During last year's civil rape proceedings against McGregor, it emerged that a gang of masked men had broken into Hand's home, smashed the windows and stabbed her boyfriend in the months leading up to the court case. There is no suggestion McGregor had any involvement in or prior knowledge of these incidents but, with him having 47 million followers on Instagram in addition to 10 million on X, they could indicate his supporters are prepared to go to extreme lengths to silence his accusers. McGregor is now facing another sexual assault lawsuit, filed in Florida in January this year over allegations – which he denies – of attempted rape during the NBA Finals in June 2023. Following a police investigation into the claims, prosecutors confirmed in October that McGregor would face no criminal charges. His alleged victim's lawsuit claims McGregor 'attempted to forcefully place his unprotected penis' into her mouth and anus without her consent. The claim was filed days before Trump's inauguration, but, like the verdict in November's civil case against him, did not prevent him attending or being invited to the White House in March. It has certainly not stopped his relentless campaigning for the presidency of Ireland. So, when footage emerged last week of him punching someone to the floor of Pacha during his latest trip to Ibiza, it hardly came as a surprise that his victim was apparently ejected and he was allowed to carry on as if nothing had happened.
