Law
April 16, 2019 — Paul Mirengoff
Prosecutors in Montgomery County, Maryland — the bastion of leftism and Trump hatred I call home — have dismissed charges against the woman who assaulted Kellyanne Conway in a restaurant where Conway was celebrating her birthday. The woman, Mary Elizabeth Inabinett, age 63, grabbed Conway from behind and shook her. That’s clearly a misdemeanor assault. So why have charges against the assailant been dropped? Prosecutors say that even if they
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April 13, 2019 — Scott Johnson
The prosecution in the murder trial of former Minneapolis police officer Mohamed Noor continued yesterday with the cross-examination of officer Jesse Lopez as well as the testimony of officer Joseph Grout, Lieutenant Dan May, and Sergeant Robert Lewis, all of the Minneapolis police department. Performing the task of spinning yesterday’s testimony into a narrative are Chao Xiong and Libor Jany in their Star Tribune story as well as Jon Collins
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April 12, 2019 — Scott Johnson
I happily took the reserved Power Line seat for the first time yesterday at the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Mohamed Noor. If Wednesday’s testimony featured the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, as it mostly did, yesterday’s featured the Minneapolis Police Department. The prosecution introduced bodycam and squad car video of MPD officers who arrived at the scene. For good narrative accounts of yesterday’s testimony and other evidence, please
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April 11, 2019 — Scott Johnson
Prosecutors in the case of former Minneapolis police officer Mohamed Noor set about methodically introducing the evidence in support of their case yesterday. The best narrative of the events in court is the Chao Xiong/Libor Jany Star Tribune article. See also the Jon Collins/Riham Feshir MPR report. I want briefly to summarize what went down and note the highlight of the testimony and other evidence in summary fashion. I continue
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April 10, 2019 — Scott Johnson
I attended the trial of Mohamed Noor yesterday. The parties made their opening statements and the prosecutors called their first witness — Don Damond, the fiancee of Justine Rusczyk (who called herself Damond in anticipation of her marriage to Don). Following up on my report from the lunch break in part 5 of this series, I want to note a few highlights and observations. For a coherent narrative account, plase
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April 9, 2019 — Scott Johnson
Before the opening statements of the parties this morning Judge Quaintance announced her decision on the First Amendment issue raised by the motion of the Media Coalition challenging her pretrial order from the bench on March 29. I have discussed this order at length in previous installments of this series in which I described it as lawless. Judge Quaintance announced that on further review she was reversing her order. She
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April 9, 2019 — Scott Johnson
I’m on my way to the courthouse this morning for opening statements in the trial of Minneapolis police officer Mohamed Noor. In the opening statements the parties are to summarize the evidence they anticipate introducing at trial. They are not to argue their cases. The beginning of the trial is highly anticipated. It comes nearly two years after Noor’s killing of Justine Ruszcyk (or Justine Damond, as she called herself).
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April 8, 2019 — Scott Johnson
The lawyers have completed voir dire and jury selection in the trial of Mohamed Noor. Judge Kathryn Quaintance is seating a panel of 16 jurors (four are alternates). She excused the parties and jurors following the completion of jury selection this morning. The trial resumes with opening statements tomorrow morning. Minnesota’s foremost organ of liberal opinion — I’m talking about the Star Tribune, of course — wants you to know
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April 7, 2019 — Paul Mirengoff
Congressional Democrats keep demanding that the entire Mueller report be made available. They aren’t doing this in the interest of transparency and the public’s right to know. Democrats are still complaining that the investigation of Hillary Clinton’s email scandal yielded more than a statement of no prosecution. If Dems had gotten their way, we would know nothing more about what the Justice Department discovered or believed. The Democrats want full
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April 7, 2019 — Scott Johnson
The trial of former Minneapolis police officer Mohamed Noor continues this week with the completion of jury selection and the attorneys’ opening statements tomorrow. Noor is charged with second and third degree murder and second degree manslaughter in the killing of Justine Ruszczyk (known as Justine Damond) in July 2017. Ms. Ruszczyk had called 911 to seek police intervention in what she feared might be a rape occurring in the
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April 6, 2019 — Scott Johnson
I spent Thursday and Friday at the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Mohamed Noor for the 2017 murder of Justine Rusczczyk. Both days were devoted mostly to jury selection. Yesterday afternoon, however, Judge Kathryn Quaintance (“KQ,” as her colleagues on the bench refer to her) held a hearing on the Media Coalition’s objection to her order suppressing part of the bodycam footage that will be admitted into evidence early
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April 4, 2019 — Scott Johnson
Ivy Bernhardson is the Chief Judge of the Hennepin County District Court. She has co-signed the trial conduct orders in the Mohamed Noor murder case with trial judge Kathryn Quaintance. Here, for example, is the court’s second amended order on conduct at trial (governing press access and other issues). Yesterday morning I published my published my message to Judge Bernhardson briefly summarizing my issues seeking one of the assigned seats
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April 3, 2019 — Scott Johnson
On Sunday morning I briefly previewed “The trial of Mohammed Noor.” Jury selection is now underway in Hennepin County District Court. The criminal case has been assigned to Hennepin County District Judge Kathryn Quaintance. Judge Quaintance and Chief Judge Ivy Bernhardson have issued a highly restrictive set of media guidelines for press coverage of the trial. The order has now been amended twice. The court’s second amended order is posted
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March 31, 2019 — Paul Mirengoff
President Trump is asked from time to time about Secretary of Labor Alex Acosta. The questions arise because Acosta gave a sweetheart deal to pedophile Jeffrey Epstein and, according to a federal judge, violated victims’ rights law in the process. Thus, it’s fair to wonder why Acosta still has his Cabinet-level job. In answering this question, Trump likes to say that Acosta is “doing a great job.” But I’ve never
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March 31, 2019 — Scott Johnson
The long-awaited trial of former Minneapolis police office Mohammed Noor for murder begins tomorrow in Hennepin County District Court before Judge Kathryn Quaintance. In an egregious example of police incompetence, Noor killed Justine Damond on July 15, 2017. Noor should not have been on the force. His killing of Damond represents an utterly needless tragedy that exposed Minneapolis’s kakistocracy for the world to see and now, in the words of
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March 19, 2019 — Paul Mirengoff
Scott has encouraged me to weigh in on the lawsuit Rep. Devin Nunes filed against Twitter and Liz Mair. Before doing so, I should say that I’m not an expert in defamation law. I did defend a few cases that alleged defamation, but this was in the pre-social media age, and the defenses we raised don’t intersect with most of the defenses applicable in Nunes’ case. Turning now to that
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March 19, 2019 — Scott Johnson
Devin Nunes has sued Twitter and Twitter users including Liz Mair, Mair’s company, and two others who are alleged to have engaged in a coordinated campaign of defamation against him, while Twitter is alleged to have silenced Nunes himself. The complaint asserts causes of action for defamation per se (I think that should be libel per se), but also negligence, insulting words and common law conspiracy. The complaint indicates that
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