PROVO — Tyler Robinson, the southern Utah man accused of shooting and killing Charlie Kirk, made his first public appearance in court on Thursday.

Robinson, who is charged with aggravated murder, a capital offense — and faces a potential death sentence if convicted — appeared in 4th District Judge Tony Graf’s courtroom. But the hearing had less to do with the actual crime Robinson is accused of and focused more on public access to all his future court proceedings.

Robinson, 22, of Washington, Washington County, is accused of shooting and killing Charlie Kirk on Sept. 10 while Kirk was at Utah Valley University. Kirk, 31 — a conservative activist and co-founder of Turning Point USA — was sitting under a tent of an outdoor amphitheater-courtyard area at UVU, speaking in front of approximately 3,000 people, when he was shot in the neck by a gunman on the roof of the nearby Losee Center building.

On Thursday, Robinson entered the courtroom wearing a light blue dress shirt, slacks and a tie, and his hands and feet were shackled. He sat at a table next to his defense attorneys and appeared to be taking notes in a notebook during the hearing. Robinson’s father, mother and brother also attended the hearing and sat in the front row of the audience area.

Although no representatives from Kirk’s family were in attendance, Graf did agree to a request by the state on Thursday designating Kirk’s widow, Erika Kirk, as the official victim representative for all future hearings.

Security for the hearing was tight, with nine Utah County sheriff’s deputies inside the courtroom, including five wearing camo with “SWAT” written on their backs, and additional deputies and at least one police K-9 outside the courtroom. Utah County sheriff’s deputies blocked off streets surrounding the 4th District Courthouse, limiting access to vehicles.

Three issues were discussed during Thursday’s hearing:

1. Whether audio and transcripts of a closed-door hearing on Oct. 24 should be released to the public.
2. A motion to amend the publicity, or “gag order,” issued for the case.
3. Motions by attorneys representing the media to be recognized as limited party status interveners so they will automatically be notified of proposals to close court hearings from the public classify any documents as private.

The first issue took the longest to debate and was done in a closed setting so alleged sensitive information, such as court security, could be discussed. For two hours, members of the public, including the media, waited outside the courtroom while attorneys discussed the motion to release the audio and transcript of the October closed door hearing.

David Reymann, an attorney representing KSL and other media organizations, speaks during a hearing for Tyler Robinson in Provo’s 4th District Court on Thursday. Robinson is accused of fatally shooting Charlie Kirk. (Photo: Rick Egan)

David Reymann, an attorney representing one group of media interveners — including KSL — debated with prosecutors and defense attorneys about which parts of the sealed information should be released to the public and what should remain redacted. Graf says he will announce his ruling on that issue on Dec. 29.

As for the issue of granting the media interveners limited party status, Reymann argued in court that attorneys for the media are there only to advocate for openness of the legal proceedings as they have argued in several previous criminal cases.

“If they file a motion that wants to classify something as nonpublic … we have the right to be heard on these issues,” he said Thursday.

For example, the defense noted Thursday that they anticipate filing a motion soon requesting that no cameras be allowed in the courtroom — something Reymann says he will oppose.

Staci Visser, an attorney with Robinson’s defense team, countered Reymann’s arguments by saying the defense is worried about leaks to the media and that if the interveners are given limited party status, the judge should make it “very crystal clear” what they are allowed and not allowed to do.

Tyler Robinson, accused in the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk, appears during a hearing in 4th District Court in Provo, Thursday. (Photo: Rick Egan)

“This isn’t about semantics; it’s about substance,” she said. “We don’t want the chaos that is out in the media in this courtroom.”

The judge said he would also issue his ruling on the media intervenors on Dec. 29.

Graf allowed Thursday’s hearing to be livestreamed by the media but under tight restrictions, one of which was that Robinson’s shackles could not be photographed or shown on video and that he could only be filmed or photographed while he was sitting. But early during Thursday’s hearing, the livestream video inadvertently showed Robinson’s handcuffs from a wide angle shot. Robinson’s defense team asked Graf to suspend all video recording for the day. Graf issued a stern warning but allowed the livestreaming of the hearing to continue after the camera was moved to the opposite side of the courtroom

Robinson’s defense team contends that the high publicity surrounding the case could potentially prejudice potential jurors and has argued for restrictions on media coverage. The media are also prohibited from recording or photographing Robinson’s family inside the courtroom.

In their motion opposing any efforts to close or restrict Robinson’s hearings, attorneys for a team of media organizations argue: “This is not the first high-profile criminal trial in Utah, nor will it be the last. Time and again, our courts have managed the delicate constitutional balance between the defendant’s right to a fair trial and the public’s right to observe the proceedings of the judicial process without sacrificing either. This case is no different.”

Andrew Adams, KSL-TV

The media expects this defense team to seek to close future court proceedings and associated records, “based solely on generalized assertions that pretrial publicity will make it impossible for the defendant to receive a fair trial. These kinds of blanket claims are not new. They arise in nearly every high-profile criminal prosecution, often at alarmingly early stages of the case, seeking to support broad prophylactic sealing orders with speculative predictions about what the jury pool might see in the news and how that might make it impossible to do, months or years from now, what courts do every day—seat a fair and impartial jury.”

First Amendment attorneys have argued that there has been no case in Utah where it was found that a defendant did not receive a fair trial because of pretrial publicity, even though there have been many high-profile criminal cases in Utah.

As for the third motion, Graf modified his original pretrial publicity order on Thursday that attorneys for both the state and defense, as well as their investigators and anyone who has a high likelihood of being called to the witness stand to testify, cannot intentionally or knowingly make statements publicly that could theoretically prejudice a potential jury, and it’s the duty of attorneys to notify those witnesses of the court order.

Defense attorney Richard Novak, top, speaks with Utah County attorney’s Office general counsel Christopher Ballard, right, during a hearing for Tyler Robinson in Provo’s 4th District Court on Thursday. Robinson is accused of fatally shooting Charlie Kirk. (Photo: Rick Egan)

The next hearing to discuss additional motions is set for Jan. 16. During that hearing, the judge will consider a motion filed Wednesday under seal by Robinson’s defense team to have the Utah County attorney‘s Office disqualified from prosecuting the case. A second hearing was set for Feb. 3. During that hearing, the defense’s yet-to-be-filed motion to keep cameras out of the courtroom is expected to be debated.

Also on Thursday, prosecutors updated the court on evidence that has been collected and shared with the defense. Nearly 14,000 files from law enforcement have now been collected by the state with nearly 8,000 files shared so far with the defense.

Prosecutors also on Thursday asked the judge to set dates for a preliminary hearing. Despite objections from Robinson’s attorneys who argued that not only should other motions be settled first — including their motion to have prosecutors disqualified — and because they don’t believe they will have enough time to sort through the mountain of evidence that’s expected, Graf agreed to set a three-day preliminary hearing for May 18, 19 and 21.

The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.

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The post Attorneys argue public access to murder suspect Tyler Robinson’s court hearings appeared first on Attorney Legal Counsel.

PROVO — Tyler Robinson, the southern Utah man accused of shooting and killing Charlie Kirk, made his first public appearance in court on Thursday.

Robinson, who is charged with aggravated murder, a capital offense — and faces a potential death sentence if convicted — appeared in 4th District Judge Tony Graf’s courtroom. But the hearing had less to do with the actual crime Robinson is accused of and focused more on public access to all his future court proceedings.

Robinson, 22, of Washington, Washington County, is accused of shooting and killing Charlie Kirk on Sept. 10 while Kirk was at Utah Valley University. Kirk, 31 — a conservative activist and co-founder of Turning Point USA — was sitting under a tent of an outdoor amphitheater-courtyard area at UVU, speaking in front of approximately 3,000 people, when he was shot in the neck by a gunman on the roof of the nearby Losee Center building.

On Thursday, Robinson entered the courtroom wearing a light blue dress shirt, slacks and a tie, and his hands and feet were shackled. He sat at a table next to his defense attorneys and appeared to be taking notes in a notebook during the hearing. Robinson’s father, mother and brother also attended the hearing and sat in the front row of the audience area.

Although no representatives from Kirk’s family were in attendance, Graf did agree to a request by the state on Thursday designating Kirk’s widow, Erika Kirk, as the official victim representative for all future hearings.

Security for the hearing was tight, with nine Utah County sheriff’s deputies inside the courtroom, including five wearing camo with “SWAT” written on their backs, and additional deputies and at least one police K-9 outside the courtroom. Utah County sheriff’s deputies blocked off streets surrounding the 4th District Courthouse, limiting access to vehicles.

Three issues were discussed during Thursday’s hearing:

1. Whether audio and transcripts of a closed-door hearing on Oct. 24 should be released to the public.
2. A motion to amend the publicity, or “gag order,” issued for the case.
3. Motions by attorneys representing the media to be recognized as limited party status interveners so they will automatically be notified of proposals to close court hearings from the public classify any documents as private.

The first issue took the longest to debate and was done in a closed setting so alleged sensitive information, such as court security, could be discussed. For two hours, members of the public, including the media, waited outside the courtroom while attorneys discussed the motion to release the audio and transcript of the October closed door hearing.

David Reymann, an attorney representing KSL and other media organizations, speaks during a hearing for Tyler Robinson in Provo’s 4th District Court on Thursday. Robinson is accused of fatally shooting Charlie Kirk. (Photo: Rick Egan)

David Reymann, an attorney representing one group of media interveners — including KSL — debated with prosecutors and defense attorneys about which parts of the sealed information should be released to the public and what should remain redacted. Graf says he will announce his ruling on that issue on Dec. 29.

As for the issue of granting the media interveners limited party status, Reymann argued in court that attorneys for the media are there only to advocate for openness of the legal proceedings as they have argued in several previous criminal cases.

“If they file a motion that wants to classify something as nonpublic … we have the right to be heard on these issues,” he said Thursday.

For example, the defense noted Thursday that they anticipate filing a motion soon requesting that no cameras be allowed in the courtroom — something Reymann says he will oppose.

Staci Visser, an attorney with Robinson’s defense team, countered Reymann’s arguments by saying the defense is worried about leaks to the media and that if the interveners are given limited party status, the judge should make it “very crystal clear” what they are allowed and not allowed to do.

Tyler Robinson, accused in the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk, appears during a hearing in 4th District Court in Provo, Thursday. (Photo: Rick Egan)

“This isn’t about semantics; it’s about substance,” she said. “We don’t want the chaos that is out in the media in this courtroom.”

The judge said he would also issue his ruling on the media intervenors on Dec. 29.

Graf allowed Thursday’s hearing to be livestreamed by the media but under tight restrictions, one of which was that Robinson’s shackles could not be photographed or shown on video and that he could only be filmed or photographed while he was sitting. But early during Thursday’s hearing, the livestream video inadvertently showed Robinson’s handcuffs from a wide angle shot. Robinson’s defense team asked Graf to suspend all video recording for the day. Graf issued a stern warning but allowed the livestreaming of the hearing to continue after the camera was moved to the opposite side of the courtroom

Robinson’s defense team contends that the high publicity surrounding the case could potentially prejudice potential jurors and has argued for restrictions on media coverage. The media are also prohibited from recording or photographing Robinson’s family inside the courtroom.

In their motion opposing any efforts to close or restrict Robinson’s hearings, attorneys for a team of media organizations argue: “This is not the first high-profile criminal trial in Utah, nor will it be the last. Time and again, our courts have managed the delicate constitutional balance between the defendant’s right to a fair trial and the public’s right to observe the proceedings of the judicial process without sacrificing either. This case is no different.”

Andrew Adams, KSL-TV

The media expects this defense team to seek to close future court proceedings and associated records, “based solely on generalized assertions that pretrial publicity will make it impossible for the defendant to receive a fair trial. These kinds of blanket claims are not new. They arise in nearly every high-profile criminal prosecution, often at alarmingly early stages of the case, seeking to support broad prophylactic sealing orders with speculative predictions about what the jury pool might see in the news and how that might make it impossible to do, months or years from now, what courts do every day—seat a fair and impartial jury.”

First Amendment attorneys have argued that there has been no case in Utah where it was found that a defendant did not receive a fair trial because of pretrial publicity, even though there have been many high-profile criminal cases in Utah.

As for the third motion, Graf modified his original pretrial publicity order on Thursday that attorneys for both the state and defense, as well as their investigators and anyone who has a high likelihood of being called to the witness stand to testify, cannot intentionally or knowingly make statements publicly that could theoretically prejudice a potential jury, and it’s the duty of attorneys to notify those witnesses of the court order.

Defense attorney Richard Novak, top, speaks with Utah County attorney’s Office general counsel Christopher Ballard, right, during a hearing for Tyler Robinson in Provo’s 4th District Court on Thursday. Robinson is accused of fatally shooting Charlie Kirk. (Photo: Rick Egan)

The next hearing to discuss additional motions is set for Jan. 16. During that hearing, the judge will consider a motion filed Wednesday under seal by Robinson’s defense team to have the Utah County attorney‘s Office disqualified from prosecuting the case. A second hearing was set for Feb. 3. During that hearing, the defense’s yet-to-be-filed motion to keep cameras out of the courtroom is expected to be debated.

Also on Thursday, prosecutors updated the court on evidence that has been collected and shared with the defense. Nearly 14,000 files from law enforcement have now been collected by the state with nearly 8,000 files shared so far with the defense.

Prosecutors also on Thursday asked the judge to set dates for a preliminary hearing. Despite objections from Robinson’s attorneys who argued that not only should other motions be settled first — including their motion to have prosecutors disqualified — and because they don’t believe they will have enough time to sort through the mountain of evidence that’s expected, Graf agreed to set a three-day preliminary hearing for May 18, 19 and 21.

The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.

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The post Attorneys argue public access to murder suspect Tyler Robinson’s court hearings appeared first on Attorney Legal Counsel.

CALIFORNIA – The State Bar of California’s Office of Chief Trial Counsel announced a significant development in the legal community, revealing that eight attorneys were disbarred during the third quarter of 2025.

This announcement, made on Thursday, also included the news that 21 other attorneys faced suspension or probation for their actions.

The following attorneys have been disbarred:

Alan Man of La Jolla was disbarred on September 28, 2025. He harassed his former employer and court personnel with more than 3,000 messages over a year, leading to restraining orders, which he violated. Man also falsely accused a judge of bias and did not participate in disciplinary proceedings.

Edward Barry Reitkopp of Orange was disbarred on September 6, 2025, after pleading guilty to felony animal abuse. Authorities found one deceased dog and 135 malnourished dogs in his care, highlighting a severe neglect of basic societal norms.

Drexel Andrew Bradshaw of San Francisco was disbarred on August 2, 2025, for defrauding an elderly client. As both attorney and trustee, he breached his duties for personal gain, leading the California Supreme Court to disbar him.

Jacqueline Elizabeth Devlin of Oroville was disbarred on August 29, 2025, following her felony vandalism conviction. She keyed a relative’s car and ignored disciplinary notices, resulting in a default judgment.

Nicholas Tepper of Laguna Beach was disbarred on September 28, 2025, for failing to comply with a prior suspension’s requirements. His previous misconduct involved multiple client matters, and his failure to participate in proceedings led to his disbarment.

Duane R. Folke of Los Angeles was disbarred on August 29 for misconduct in a wrongful termination case. He failed to prepare for trial, misused client funds, and did not return unearned fees. Folke had previous suspensions in 2002 and 2008.

The State Bar of California offers a comprehensive view of attorney discipline data through its interactive webpage.

The State Bar Court oversees attorney discipline, and the California Supreme Court imposes recommended actions. The State Bar’s OCTC investigates and prosecutes these matters to protect the public.

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The post State Bar of California announces disbarment of eight attorneys in California during third quarter of 2025 | News appeared first on Attorney Legal Counsel.

Karen Friedman Agnifilo, the defense attorney for Luigi Mangione, has an interesting task ahead. The case behind the fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson has captured the public’s attention like few others, from the frustration it’s revealed against the US healthcare system to the cinematic nature of its narrative. There’s only one other criminal case in the popular sphere that’s currently generating as much discussion: the arrest of Sean “Diddy” Combs on federal sex trafficking and racketeering charges. Fascinatingly, Combs’s defense attorney is Marc Agnifilo, Karen’s husband. It must be a wild time in the Agnifilo household, but it’s not the first time the couple have concurrently been in the courtroom with boldfaced names.

Luigi Mangione, who remains in a Pennsylvania jail, retained Karen for the charges he’ll presumably face following an expected extradition to New York, CNN reports. Before her switch to the defense side, Karen served in the Manhattan District attorney’s Office for seven years, making her a solid candidate for Mangione’s complicated case. “She’s got as much experience as any human being, especially in the state court,” one New York prosecutor told CNN. “She knows every corridor, every judge, every clerk in the courthouse.”

During those years, she often bumped up against cases involving her husband, Marc, including the high-profile arrest of former head of the International Monetary Fund Dominique Strauss-Kahn for his alleged sexual assault of a maid at a New York hotel in 2011. Strauss-Kahn retained Marc as his defense attorney, while Karen—then Manhattan’s chief of the trial division under Cyrus Vance Jr.—“was forced to tuck herself away,” as the New York Times put it, noting that “during the preceding 18 months, the Agnifilos had found themselves in similarly entangled situations two dozen times.” (The criminal case against Strauss-Kahn famously fell apart, while the one-time French presidential contender settled the civil case brought against him by his accuser for an undisclosed sum.)

In the years since, Marc’s name has come up in many a famous trial, including the case against NXIVM sex cult leader Keith Raniere. Marc sprang back into the spotlight when Combs was arrested in September, regularly speaking to the press as the criminal case against Combs winds its way through Manhattan federal court. Most recently, CBS and others report that Marc filed a motion on Friday to dismiss Combs’s appeal for bail, which means Combs will remain at Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center until his May 2025 trial.

Meanwhile, Karen, who left the DA’s office for private practice in 2021, has made a name for herself as a CNN commentator, podcaster, and—per ABC7—is the legal advisor for Law & Order, though she was not involved in the show’s 2002 episode which seemed to predict Mangione’s fateful December 4 act. Karen, who has not responded to Vanity Fair’s request for comment, has yet to publicly confirm that she’s taken the job defending one of the most-watched suspects in recent memory.

Mangione is expected to waive extradition at a hearing tentatively scheduled on Tuesday, Manhattan District attorney Alvin Bragg said at a Friday press conference, which means Karen’s gig might start as soon as next week. At present, Mangione faces second-degree murder charges in New York, though prosecutors say that they’re still gathering evidence that might allow them to upgrade the charges to first-degree.

According to Thomas Dickey, who is representing Mangione in the accsuations leveled against him in Pennsylvania, his client is expected to plead not guilty to all the charges. “If you’re an American, you believe in the American criminal justice system, you have to presume him to be innocent,” Dickey told CNN. “And none of us would want anything other than that if that was us in their shoes. I’m glad that he has some support.”

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The post Luigi Mangione and Sean “Diddy” Combs Have One Thing In Common: Their Defense Attorneys Are Married To Each Other. appeared first on Attorney Legal Counsel.

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The post President-elect Donald Trump’s attorneys ask New York judge to set aside verdict and dismiss felony hush money case appeared first on Attorney Legal Counsel.

A Dane County judge currently under investigation for alleged disrespectful conduct toward defendants has seen twice as many requests from defendants as her peers to move cases out of her courtroom.

Part of the reason Circuit Judge Ellen Berz has seen 427 so-called substitution requests since 2020 is that she’s been assigned solely to criminal cases since before then, and in Wisconsin, defendants under state law are entitled to one judicial substitution per case without having to provide a reason for asking.

Berz

AMBER ARNOLD, STATE JOURNAL ARCHIVES

Still, the two other judges who have been solely assigned to criminal cases since 2020, John Hyland and Nicholas McNamara, have seen far fewer such substitution requests — five and 185, respectfully — and state law also allows both defendants and plaintiffs in civil cases the same one-time, no-questions-asked substitution, meaning the potential for such requests is double that in criminal cases.

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Berz did not respond to requests for comment for this story.

It’s difficult to know why defendants in Berz’s courtroom are asking to have her taken off their cases at a disproportionate rate, largely because criminal defense attorneys are wary of criticizing a judge who could decide their clients’ cases.

One of the attorneys who asked for a substitution in Berz’s courtroom, and who asked not to be identified, said the request was less about Berz than it was about the chance to get a different prosecutor if the case was moved to a different courtroom.

Nine other attorneys who have recently asked to have Berz removed did not respond to requests for comment, nor did the State Public Defender’s office.

UW-Madison clinical associate law professor John P. Gross, a former criminal defense attorney, said that typically when a criminal court judge sees a lot of requests from defense attorneys to move cases out of a courtroom, it’s because the judge has developed a reputation for being “particularly harsh when it comes to sentencing.”

Other reasons could include that an attorney has disagreed with some of the judge’s past rulings, that a client has said something seen as inflammatory that upsets the judge, or that the judge has a poor judicial temperament, he said.

“If you’ve got 17 options for a judge and you’re seeing one particular judge with an outlier rate at substitution requests … that means that that judge has got a reputation as somebody who is an outlier in terms of sentencing or conducts trials in a way that might be hostile toward the defense or is reluctant to grant suppression motions or any of the above,” he said.

Dane County’s chief judge, Julie Genovese, said she didn’t “have any personal knowledge of why people are substituting on certain judges,” and that one would have to ask the attorneys making the requests to find out.

She said she hadn’t been aware of Berz’s unusually high number of substitution requests before the Wisconsin State Journal requested the data. Asked if she would bring the matter up with Berz, she said “maybe,” but she declined to comment on specific judges.

As elected officials, judges aren’t subject to any kind of formal employee review process by the chief judge or any other official or body, although complaints can be filed against judges with the Wisconsin Judicial Commission. The commission reviews complaints and decides if there is probable cause to send it to the Wisconsin Supreme Court, which oversees all state judges, and the high court can decide to appoint a panel to recommend any discipline of the judge that it thinks the high court should impose.

‘You’re not playing that game’

According to the commission’s complaint against Berz, the judge likely violated four rules requiring judges to be unbiased and have “high standards of conduct,” and to treat people they come into contact with as part of their duties “with patience, dignity and courtesy.”

It points to two incidents in particular:

At a May 31, 2019, hearing in a child sexual assault and bail jumping case, Berz warned that “this court will not forget” defendant Richard H. Harrison’s request for another delay in his trial if Harrison were ultimately found guilty, which he was by a jury on all counts on Nov. 22 of that year.

“You’re not playing that game anymore after this,” Berz told Harrison, according to transcripts. “Go to the prison and talk to them about all the games you can play. We’re done here. Clear? Mr. Harrison, clear?”

The two then got into a brief back-and-forth in which Harrison told Berz “your sarcasm is extremely clear” and Berz retorted, “Good. I thought it would be. That’s why I’m saying it to you that way, because I thought you would relate with that.”

In the second incident, on Dec. 13, 2021, Berz ordered a bailiff to leave her courtroom to go arrest defendant Noah A. Hodges, who was facing drug-related and bail-jumping charges and who didn’t show up that day for his trial because, his attorney told Berz, he was in the hospital.

When the bailiff said he could not leave the courthouse to make the arrest, Berz said she would do it herself and set out with Hodges’ attorney in her own car in the direction of the hospital.

“Judge Berz also stated that, if something happened to her when she went to pick up the defendant, they would hear about it on the news,” the complaint alleges.

The complaint says “Hodges’ attorney told the judge that this trip was a bad idea, as the judge is to be the neutral decision maker in the case.”

Berz reportedly told Hodges’ attorney that “if she truly thought they should turn around, they would turn around.” The attorney said they should turn around and Berz then took them back to the courthouse, the complaint says.

Hodges in April 2023 pleaded guilty in the case to one count of fifth- or sixth-offense driving while under the influence of a controlled substance. Four other charges were dismissed as part of a deal with prosecutors.

Berz in a court filing has admitted to the allegations against her, and she and the commission have also agreed that a seven-day suspension would be appropriate punishment, but the review panel created for her case has asked both parties to submit briefs on past judicial misconduct decisions to help it better make a decision.

It wasn’t clear when that panel would complete its work and the high court impose any discipline, but the commission had until Tuesday to file its brief and Berz has until 25 days after that brief is filed to file her response.

Photos: Israelis protest proposed judicial changes

Israelis protest against plans by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s new government to overhaul the judicial system outside the Knesset, Israel’s parliament in Jerusalem, Monday, Feb. 20, 2023. Israel’s government is pressing ahead with its contentious plan to overhaul the country’s legal system. A vote in parliament on Monday is due despite an unprecedented uproar that has included mass demonstrations, warnings from military and business leaders and calls for restraint from the U.S. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

Ohad Zwigenberg

Israelis protest against plans by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s new government to overhaul the judicial system outside the Knesset, Israel’s parliament in Jerusalem, Monday, Feb. 20, 2023. Israel’s government is pressing ahead with its contentious plan to overhaul the country’s legal system. A vote in parliament on Monday is due despite an unprecedented uproar that has included mass demonstrations, warnings from military and business leaders and calls for restraint from the U.S. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

Ohad Zwigenberg

Israelis protest against plans by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s new government to overhaul the judicial system outside the Knesset, Israel’s parliament in Jerusalem, Monday, Feb. 20, 2023. Israel’s government is pressing ahead with its contentious plan to overhaul the country’s legal system. A vote in parliament on Monday is due despite an unprecedented uproar that has included mass demonstrations, warnings from military and business leaders and calls for restraint from the U.S. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

Ohad Zwigenberg

Israelis protest against plans by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s new government to overhaul the judicial system outside the Knesset, Israel’s parliament in Jerusalem, Monday, Feb. 20, 2023. Israel’s government is pressing ahead with its contentious plan to overhaul the country’s legal system. A vote in parliament on Monday is due despite an unprecedented uproar that has included mass demonstrations, warnings from military and business leaders and calls for restraint from the U.S. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

Ohad Zwigenberg

An Israeli protests against plans by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s new government to overhaul the judicial system outside the Knesset, Israel’s parliament in Jerusalem, Monday, Feb. 20, 2023. Israel’s government is pressing ahead with its contentious plan to overhaul the country’s legal system. A vote in parliament on Monday is due despite an unprecedented uproar that has included mass demonstrations, warnings from military and business leaders and calls for restraint from the U.S. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

Ohad Zwigenberg

Protesters supporting women’s rights dressed as characters from The Handmaid’s Tale TV series attend a protest against plans by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s new government to overhaul the judicial system in Tel Aviv, Monday, Feb. 20, 2023. Israel’s government on Monday was pressing ahead with a contentious plan to overhaul the country’s legal system, despite an unprecedented uproar that has included mass protests, warnings from military and business leaders and calls for restraint by the United States. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

Oded Balilty

Protesters supporting women’s rights dressed as characters from The Handmaid’s Tale TV series attend a protest against plans by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s new government to overhaul the judicial system in Tel Aviv, Israel, Monday, Feb. 20, 2023. Israel’s government on Monday was pressing ahead with a contentious plan to overhaul the country’s legal system, despite an unprecedented uproar that has included mass protests, warnings from military and business leaders and calls for restraint by the United States. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

Oded Balilty

Israelis protest against plans by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s new government to overhaul the judicial system in Haifa, Israel, Monday, Feb. 20, 2023. Israel’s government on Monday was pressing ahead with a contentious plan to overhaul the country’s legal system, despite an unprecedented uproar that has included mass protests, warnings from military and business leaders and calls for restraint by the United States. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

Ariel Schalit

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The post Defendants want out of Dane County Judge Berz’s courtroom appeared first on Attorney Legal Counsel.

Twelve days after a jury convicted him, Joseph Bongiovanni on Tuesday asked for new lawyers to represent him, citing an irreparable breakdown in his relationship with his current legal team.

“I’m stunned by this,” U.S. District Court Judge Lawrence Vilardo said of the retired Drug Enforcement Administration agent’s request.

“I thought the lawyering in this case was superb on both sides, and I don’t say that lightly,” Vilardo said during a court proceeding Tuesday.

Vilardo said he received an affidavit from Bongiovanni concerning the request. The affidavit was not publicly available. 

Former DEA agent Joseph Bongiovanni, middle, arrives for a hearing on June 21, 2023, at the Robert H. Jackson U.S. Courthouse with his lawyers, Parker MacKay, left, and Robert Singer. Bongiovanni has asked a federal judge for new lawyers following his conviction this month on seven of 11 counts.

Derek Gee, Buffalo News

Bongiovanni wants to replace defense attorneys Robert Singer and Parker MacKay, who were appointed by the court on May 17, 2023, to represent him and compensated by the government after he was financially unable to retain counsel when his initial retained lawyers left the case. 

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Singer and MacKay represented Bongiovanni in his trial earlier this year, when a jury deadlocked on most of the counts, but convicted him of two charges, and in the two-month retrial that concluded earlier this month with guilty verdicts on seven of the 11 counts he faced in U.S. District Court.

When asked to explain his request, Bongiovanni asked to meet with Vilardo separately to disclose his reasons and help the judge “understand this better.”

“It’s too late to save the relationship, at this point,” Singer said.

Singer said interference from John J. Gilsenan, a Rochester lawyer who had helped the legal defense team during the two trials, fractured the relationship between Bongiovanni and his two defense lawyers.

Former DEA agent Joseph Bongiovanni, 60, faces 11 charges as his retrial gets underway, many related to his dealings with Peter Gerace Jr., th…

“We unknowingly allowed a fox in the hen house,” Singer told the judge.

Gilsenan assisted Singer and MacKay during the trial, but did not cross-examine government witnesses or make any legal arguments before the judge. 

Singer said Gilsenan was terminated from the case shortly after the Oct. 10 verdict.

The suggestion another lawyer undermined the relationship between a client and his lawyers “is very, very distressing to me,” Vilardo said.

Gilsenan did not attend the court proceeding.

The special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Buffalo confirmed an investigation remains ongoing. 

When asked for comment by The Buffalo News, Gilsenan said, “I’ll do my speaking in the courtroom and through my filings.”

“My primary focus is on protecting Mr. Bongiovanni’s interests,” Gilsenan said.

The legal work that remains in Bongiovanni’s case includes motions to the district judge to set aside his felony convictions, and if those fail, to review and comment on a presentence report prepared by probation officials, to prepare a sentencing recommendation to the judge, and to appeal the guilty verdicts to an appellate court.

Bongiovanni has a lawyer in mind to represent him, although he did not name him in open court, and he also wants Gilsenan appointed as co-counsel.

“It’s not how this works,” Vilardo told Bongiovanni.

A replacement would come from the Criminal Justice Act – or CJA – panel of private attorneys who accept appointed cases.

“If you want to take your chances with another lawyer, you can do that,” Vilardo said. “But you don’t get to pick one.”

Assistant U.S. attorney Joseph Tripi asked Vilardo to reject the request. 

Tripi said Bongiovanni’s legal representation improved after the appointment of Singer and MacKay, who he said are “clearly in the upper tier” of the skilled defense lawyers he has faced off against as a federal prosecutor.

Tripi said the two defense lawyers distinguished themselves by the legal issues they raised, their focus on the issues and their tenacity.

The heist might have been just a chucklesome story in the annals of Western New York crime – if not for whose house John McDonald burglarized and whose ring was inside the safe.

“Perhaps Mr. Bongiovanni doesn’t like the result of the trial,” Tripi said.

Vilardo agreed to a meeting with Bongiovanni, Singer and MacKay later this week, but declined to meet with Bongiovanni alone. 

Jurors in Bongiovanni’s retrial convicted him on four counts related to the Ronald Serio and Michael Masecchia marijuana trafficking organization: conspiracy to defraud the U.S; conspiracy to distribute controlled substances; and two counts of obstruction of justice. Bongiovanni’s three other convictions were related to Pharaoh’s Gentlemen’s Club owner Peter Gerace Jr. – two counts of obstruction of justice and one count of false statement to a U.S. agency – for internal DEA memos he wrote and for what he told investigators about his past contact with the Cheektowaga strip club owner.

The jury in Bongiovanni’s first trial found him guilty on one count of obstruction of justice and one count of lying to federal agents over a case file kept in his home after his retirement.

Bongiovanni was also acquitted on several charges. Jurors at his retrial found Bongiovanni not guilty of accepting a bribe from the Serio-Masecchia drug-trafficking organization. They also acquitted Bongiovanni of two corruption charges and a drug count related to accusations that he protected Gerace and his Cheektowaga strip club from narcotics investigations. Jurors at his first trial acquitted Bongiovanni, 60, of obstruction of justice for deleting data on his DEA-issued cellphone when he retired. And before the start of his retrial, U.S. District Judge Lawrence Vilardo acquitted him on the charge he was paid an undetermined amount by Gerace to help him and his Pharaoh’s Gentlemen’s Club avoid federal narcotics investigations.

Patrick Lakamp can be reached at plakamp@buffnews.com

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The post Convicted ex-DEA agent Bongiovanni wants attorneys replaced appeared first on Attorney Legal Counsel.

In new court filings, attorneys for Sean “Diddy” Combs demanded the Feds identify all of the alleged victims filing sexual assault claims against the rapper.

Shanola Hampton on What’s Next for Gabi on Season 2 of ‘Found’

The motion filed Oct. 15 requests the court direct the government to identify its alleged victims so Combs can prepare for trial. The letter said the case was “unique” because of the amount of people making claims against he rapper “due to his celebrity status, wealth and publicity of his previously settled lawsuit.”

“This has had a pervasive ripple effect, resulting in a torrent of allegations by unidentified complainants, spanning from the false to outright absurd,” the attorneys wrote.

The motion comes on the heels of Houston attorney Tony Buzbee filing the first batch of lawsuits from the pool of 120 complainants he’s representing — all of whom accuse Combs of rape, sexual assault and violence. Combs’ attorneys called the announcement of the pending lawsuits a publicity stunt, and said the swirling allegations created a “hysterical media circus.”

The attorneys said without the identity of the accusers, there’s no clarity from the government as to which allegations they are relying on for the purposes of the indictment. They also said the identity of the accusers are necessary to prepare Combs’ defense as well as preserving his right to a fair trial.

The Indictment

On Monday, Sept. 16, the 54-year-old artist/mogul was arrested in Manhattan by federal authorities. His indictment was unsealed the following morning, revealing charges of racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking and engaging in interstate transportation for prostitution. The allegations against Combs include sexual abuse, physical abuse, bribery and various drug offenses.

The most notable claims stem from his so-called “freak off” sex parties, where prosecutors allege women and men were drugged and forced to perform sexual acts at Combs’ pleasure. He was also accused of using video footage to blackmail the victims into compliance.

Combs’ arrest was roughly six months after federal authorities raided his two homes in Los Angeles and Miami in March 2024, and four months after damning video footage leaked of him brutally assaulting ex-girlfriend and Bad Boy Records signee Cassandra “Cassie” Ventura at a hotel in 2016.

In November 2023, Combs was sued by Ventura in a civil suit that accused him of sex trafficking, human trafficking, sexual battery, sexual assault, and other allegations. Combs quickly settled the suit within 24 hours, but lawsuits from other associates have quickly followed in the months since.

While many of the suits since 2023 have been civil, this federal case has Combs facing criminal charges. He has pleaded not guilty, and was denied bail. He’s set to go to trial in May of 2025.

As we wait for more developments check out our previous coverage on Combs’ case:

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The post Sean “Diddy” Combs’ Lawyers Demand Names of Anonymous Accusers appeared first on Attorney Legal Counsel.

The mother of Irvo Otieno on Monday renewed her call for justice for her son, who died while in custody at Central State Hospital in March 2023.

A Dinwiddie County jury this month acquitted former hospital employee Wavie Jones, one of three defendants in the trial. In footage from the hospital, Jones is seen restraining Otieno, who was in shackles and handcuffs, while leaning over his upper body. Jones was charged with second-degree murder, but had those downgraded to involuntary manslaughter in May.

Caroline Ouko, Mark Krudys, and Monica Hutchinson pose with a banner outside the federal courthouse in Richmond on Monday. Ouko is the mother of Irvo Otieno, who died while in custody at Central State Hospital in March 2023.

Luca Powell

On Monday, Otieno’s mother Caroline Ouko held a press conference outside Richmond’s federal courthouse and called the prosecution in Jones case weak. She said she was retraumatized as defense attorneys painted a “racist narrative” about her son.

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“The defense was permitted to portray my son as a dangerous, aggressive Black man who needed to be restrained. He was paraded by the defense like an animal in a cage,” Ouko said. “That feels then and now like a racist narrative.”

Lawyer Mark Krudys, who is representing Ouko, listed what the family says are failures on the part of Dinwiddie County Commonwealth’s attorney Amanda Mann.

Chief among those was Mann’s failure to develop Otieno’s character, but also a sense of unpreparedness and a lack of “vigor,” he said. Krudys said that was apparent when Mann allowed her junior attorneys to handle closing arguments and important cross-examinations.

Otieno

Ben Crump Law

“She should have been the face of this thing,” Krudys said.

He also said Mann missed a window to object to the racial composition of the jury, and critiqued the ease with which Jones’ defense attorneys struck jurors who had sympathy for mental illness or who had tangential connections to the group “Black Lives Matter.”

‘The time for the DOJ to get involved was 18 months ago’

Otieno, 28, lived for 10 years with severe mental illness, Ouko said. She said he was previously able to manage his episodes, with long years of remission in between, she said. 

The critiques came with another call for the U.S. Department of Justice to try Otieno’s case under federal civil rights law, which has been done in other prominent law enforcement death cases, including the 2020 murder of George Floyd in Minnesota.

Mann

The family sent a third letter to the office of U.S. attorney Jessica Aber, who has previously resisted commenting beyond saying that her office was monitoring the case. Ouko and Krudys also sent letters when the former Dinwiddie County Commonwealth’s attorney announced she was leaving the office and when charges were dropped against five other defendants seen on video restraining Otieno.

Aber’s office did not return a request for comment on Monday morning. The Dinwiddie County Commonwealth’s attorney‘s Office also did not return calls seeking comment.

The gun was equipped a weapon-mounted laser, extended magazine and a machine gun conversion device that made it capable of automatic gunfire, authorities said. 

“The time for the DOJ to get involved was 18 months ago,” said Krudys, a former federal prosecutor. “In the past, there’s been a recognition that local district attorneys just don’t have the know-how to get these cases done.”

Ten Henrico County sheriff’s deputies and hospital workers were initially charged in the case. Video surveillance from inside the hospital shows Otieno being pressed to the floor for about 11 minutes by employees and law enforcement.

Defense lawyers for those charged have said they were trying to restrain him. 

Jury deliberated for 20 minutes

Last month’s trial lasted four days, concluding with jurors taking just 20 minutes to deliberate. They ultimately acquitted Jones.

Much of the trial centered around testimony of Dr. Jennifer Bowers, the Richmond medical examiner who first announced Otieno’s cause of death to be asphyxia. Asphyxia is an umbrella term for a lack of oxygen.

Defense attorneys accused Bowers of “reverse-engineering” her cause of death finding. They then proceeded to put on their own experts, including a cardiologist, a pulmonologist and their own forensic pathologist.

In closing arguments, defense attorney Doug Ramseur stated that Otieno’s heart was a “ticking time bomb.”

“And that bomb went off at Central State Hospital,” Ramseur said.

Krudys called that argument “an absurd notion” that might have been rebutted had prosecutors called their own cardiologist at Jones’ trial.

Monica Hutchinson, president of the Henrico County Branch of the NAACP, called the defense strategy a distraction from the circumstances of Otieno’s death at Central State.

Hutchinson said anyone with high blood pressure should be “very afraid” at the license it gives law enforcement to mistreat Black men.

“That just sounds like an excuse to give an out to law enforcement should they kill another Black man,” Hutchinson said. “None of us should accept that. If any of you has those underlying health conditions, you should be afraid, you should be very afraid, because what the defense is saying is that having those underlying health conditions means that if (law enforcement) kill you, they’re gonna blame that.”

A judge in September approved an $8.5 million out-of-court wrongful death settlement reached between Otieno’s family, the state, Henrico County and the county sheriff. 

Irvo Otieno died March 6 at Central State Hospital. Seven Henrico County deputies and three hospital workers have been charged with second-deg…

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The post Renewed call for justice in Irvo Otieno’s death appeared first on Attorney Legal Counsel.

The Davenport woman accused of taking part in a Jan. 15 double murder has two new attorneys.

Adriana Blake, 27, is now represented by Des Moines-based attorney Christopher Kragnes of Kragnes & Associates. Austin J. Luse will serve as Blake’s second attorney as she faces a pair of first-degree murder charges in the killings of Brian L. Goodwin and Amy M. Smith.

Kragnes and Luse replace attorneys Alex Gilmore and F.M. Brown, who were appointed on March 15.

Blake and her co-defendant, Devon Braet, were slated to face a jury trial starting on Jan. 4, 2025.

Braet, 34, also faces two first-degree murder charges. Blake and Braet were staying with Goodwin in the home he rented at 5210 N. Division St. at the time of the murders.

Blake’s change of attorneys is the latest chapter in the increasingly complicated story of Blake’s requests for changes in the nature of her defense.

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A new request

On Sept. 30 Blake sent a one-line letter to the Scott County Clerk of the Court that read:

“To whom it may concern: My name is Adriana Blake and I am writing pro se seeking a motion disqualifying my counsel.”

Days later, Gilmore filed a motion to withdraw as Blake’s counsel. In that motion Gilmore said Blake ” … wants to revoke waiver of speedy trial, withdraw motion to sever, presumably refuse counsel’s intent to file a motion for a change of venue, and various other complaints.”

Gilmore added in the motion that Blake ” … wants a trial sooner than that set for January 4, 2025 and wants it jointly with the co-defendant” against Gilmore’s recommendations.

Along with the appointment of new attorneys, Blake also made a number of requests that, if granted, will change the course of the defense Gilmore outlined in a late July motion.

That motion asked for Blake and Braet to be severed as co-defendants.

‘Acted under duress’

Blake and Braet were arrested together in Davenport on Jan. 18 and were charged with the killings of Goodwin and Smith on Feb. 5. They were arraigned together, but were represented by different attorneys.

Gilmore laid out Blake’s defense against the charges of first-degree murder in the late July motion to sever. He said Blake planned to claim she “acted under duress” during the Jan. 15 murders of Smith and Goodwin.

“The ‘core’ defense of defendant Blake is that she did not fire a weapon, kill anyone, and was effectively coerced, threatened with bodily harm and acted under duress, and Braet’s acts involving the killings were not foreseeable nor agreed to or participated in by defendant Blake.”

During their arraignment for the murders, Davenport police investigator Brandon Askew testified that Blake and Braet drove to a Galesburg hotel sometime after the fire on the morning of Jan. 16. Investigators found cell phones and photos with the two posing with guns and body armor at the hotel.

Askew told the court in one of the videos Blake said, “I shot both of them.”

Gilmore’s motion addresses Askew’s testimony and other statements investigators allege Blake made after being arrested, writing that Blake ” … may specifically claim that she was supplied drugs by Braet, drug-addled” and that statements investigators allege she made were a result of Braet’s “coercion.”

Gilmore also wrote Blake would seek to introduce otherwise inadmissible evidence against Braet, including his criminal history and Blake’s knowledge of Braet’s “history of violence.”

Braet recently was charged with a plot to attack and kill another inmate at the Scott County Jail. Those charges came after he wrote a letter asking to rescind his waiver of speedy trial.

A search for an attorney

The path to Blake’s current legal representation was not an easy one and points to the difficulties courts can face when defendants with extensive witness lists and prior criminal histories need court-appointed attorneys.

After Gilmore and Brown were allowed to withdraw, the court appointed Jeffery Powell to serve as Blake’s attorney. But Powell works for Keegan Tindal & Jaeger, a private firm that represents indigent clients and another attorney had to withdraw from representing Braet months ago.

Powell cited the possible conflict and F.M. Brown was “inadvertently re-appointed” to represent Blake. Brown withdrew and Kragnes was appointed.

Blake was initially represented by the Scott County Public defender’s office and attorney Troy Smith. Gilmore and Brown replaced Smith.

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The post Davenport woman gets new attorneys in double murder case appeared first on Attorney Legal Counsel.