Vue lecture

Jury deliberations begin in Lindsay Clancy murder trial after her attorney blames medical system

The state concludes: ‘This wasn’t a woman suffering from a lack of care’ or ‘a lack of resources’

The jury in the Lindsay Clancy murder trial has moved into deliberations as jurors decide whether the 36-year-old former labor and delivery nurse is criminally responsible for fatally strangling her three children in January 2023.

Over the past five weeks, the trial, which has been called “America’s saddest murder trial” , has renewed nationwide attention on postpartum mental healthcare. Clancy’s defense maintains that she was suffering from postpartum psychosis – a condition estimated to affect around two women per 1,000 births – and therefore should not be held criminally responsible for her actions.

Continue reading...

© Photograph: Greg Derr/The Patriot Ledger/Pool The Patriot Ledger/AP

© Photograph: Greg Derr/The Patriot Ledger/Pool The Patriot Ledger/AP

© Photograph: Greg Derr/The Patriot Ledger/Pool The Patriot Ledger/AP

  •  

Judge orders mental health evaluation for man found with gun at Trump golf course in LA

Judge ruled Jeanine John Taele, discovered with firearm days before Trump visit, was unfit to face felony charge

A judge in California has suspended criminal proceedings against a man found with a loaded gun near Donald Trump’s golf course in Los Angeles, and instead ordered him to undergo a mental health evaluation.

Jeanine John Taele, 38, of Downey, California, was arrested for weapons violations days before the president spoke at a 5 August Republican fundraiser at the Trump National Golf Club in Rancho Palos Verdes.

Continue reading...

© Photograph: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

© Photograph: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

© Photograph: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

  •  

Judge blocks Minnesota bid to extradite Texas ICE agent accused of shooting man

Christian Castro charged with assault after allegedly shooting Venezuelan man and remains in custody in Texas

A US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent accused of firing his gun and wounding a Venezuelan man in the leg is caught in an interstate extradition dispute between Texas and Minnesota – and could walk out of a Texas jail as soon as Wednesday after a federal judge refused to intervene.

Christian Castro is charged in Minnesota with assault and falsely reporting a crime by another, in relation to the incident in which he was involved in the wounding of 24-year-old Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis in January.

Continue reading...

© Photograph: Yuki Iwamura/AP

© Photograph: Yuki Iwamura/AP

© Photograph: Yuki Iwamura/AP

  •  

FBI raided Spanish vacation rental of wealthy leftwing funder James ‘Fergie’ Chambers after his arrest

Lawyer Baltasar Garzón, representing Chambers, said case against his client is ‘very strange’ as US requests extradition

FBI agents raided the Ibiza, Spain, vacation rental of 41-year-old James “Fergie” Chambers, a US citizen and wealthy donor to leftwing and humanitarian projects worldwide, in the days following his arrest last month, the Guardian has learned.

Baltasar Garzón, a human rights lawyer representing Chambers, revealed the details in an exclusive interview. Chambers is wanted for extradition by the Trump administration for alleged financial support of Hamas, as well as other charges.

Continue reading...

© Photograph: Chedly Ben Ibrahim/NurPhoto via Getty Images

© Photograph: Chedly Ben Ibrahim/NurPhoto via Getty Images

© Photograph: Chedly Ben Ibrahim/NurPhoto via Getty Images

  •  

Judge rejects Ghislaine Maxwell’s sex-trafficking appeal, calling claims ‘demonstrably meritless’

Maxwell sought to vacate Epstein-related conviction, alleging hidden trial evidence and juror’s abuse history

A federal judge has rejected Ghislaine Maxwell’s legal effort to throw out her 2021 conviction on sex-trafficking charges and 20-year prison sentence, calling her claims “demonstrably meritless, and generally based on speculation, distortions, and/or outright falsehoods”.

In a 67-page decision filed on Tuesday, the US district judge Paul Engelmayer for New York’s southern district denied the former British socialite’s petition for relief, finding that Maxwell had failed to make a substantial showing that her constitutional rights were denied when she was convicted for her role in crimes linked to the late sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.

Continue reading...

© Photograph: John Minchillo/AP

© Photograph: John Minchillo/AP

© Photograph: John Minchillo/AP

  •  

Iryna Zarutska’s family sues North Carolina city over her murder

Relatives of woman fatally stabbed on public transit allege death was preventable and Charlotte knew of violent crime issue

The family of Iryna Zarutska is suing Charlotte and a security company one year after the Ukrainian refugee was fatally stabbed onboard a light rail train in the North Carolina city.

A lawsuit filed on Friday in Charlotte’s Mecklenburg county superior court alleges Zarutska’s death was preventable. It also claims the city and the company that provides security for the Charlotte Area Transit System failed to put adequate protections in place despite knowing about violent crime on and around the municipal light rail line.

Continue reading...

© Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images

© Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images

© Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images

  •  

Free speech group calls foul play at prosecutors using Comey novel in case against him

PEN America condemns lawyers using passage from thriller to bolster claim ex-FBI director intended to harm Trump

A leading US free-expression group has hit out at federal prosecutors’ use of a novel written by former FBI director James Comey in their case accusing him of threatening to kill Donald Trump.

“Citing a novel to save an indictment that is constitutionally dubious is a desperate Hail Mary and should be rejected,” said a statement posted on Friday by Mara Gassmann, legal director of PEN America, using a term for a last-second heave in American football.

Continue reading...

© Photograph: Jonathan Ernst/Reuters

© Photograph: Jonathan Ernst/Reuters

© Photograph: Jonathan Ernst/Reuters

  •  

Lindsay Clancy killed her children. Why do many women support her? – Stateside with Kai and Carter

The trial of Lindsay Clancy, a former nurse accused of murdering her three children, is wrapping up its fifth week. On Friday morning, the defense rested, and the public attention to the case is at a fever-pitch — especially on social media. Clancy, 36, does not deny that she strangled her children, but has pleaded not guilty due to lack of criminal responsibility, also known as an insanity defense. She argues that she was in the throes of postpartum psychosis, a rare and devastating condition that can go unrecognized and untreated. Host Carter Sherman speaks with Jenna Amatulli, deputy head of news for Guardian US, about how the case has renewed attention on the fundamental shortcomings in the US's maternal healthcare system, and about why Clancy's story has captivated – and polarized – so many people

Continue reading...

© Photograph: Grid

© Photograph: Grid

© Photograph: Grid

  •  

Trump’s spying on leftwing groups recalls J Edgar Hoover’s Cointelpro | Ken Roth

The FBI from the 1950s to the 1970s tried to infiltrate and discredit leftist organizations. Trump seems to be repeating that sordid practice

It is bad enough that the Trump administration blocked a federal criminal investigation when an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent killed Renee Good as she was turning her car away from him in Minneapolis the past January. Just before the shooting, Good and her partner had been observing and protesting against ICE officers.

Instead, it turns out the administration has been investigating progressive and even mainstream groups that have been involved in protests against Donald Trump’s sweeping deportations, according to newly released government documents.

Continue reading...

© Photograph: Alex Brandon/AP

© Photograph: Alex Brandon/AP

© Photograph: Alex Brandon/AP

  •  
❌