A horrifying attack on the Appalachian Trail near the North Carolina state line that left one person dead and another person seriously injured was a major national news story this week. As the hiking website The Trek reports, Ronald Sanchez was stabbed to death early on Saturday morning as he and another hiker walked away from an area where they had broken camp in order to distance themselves from a man who was threatening them and acting unstable. That man, James Jordan, now is in custody and has been charged with murder and other crimes. Reports say that Jordan recently became known to law enforcement after several incidents where he menaced other hikers. Keep reading for more news.
Christopher Tyner
News Roundup
Just a week after the tragic school shooting in Charlotte at UNCC, a Colorado student was shot dead and eight others were injured in an attack at STEM School Highland Ranch, a high school near Denver. Two STEM students, Alec McKinney and Devon Erickson, are accused of using handguns to attack their schoolmates in an English class on Tuesday afternoon. An 18-year-old student, Kendrick Castillo, was killed when he tackled one of the shooters to protect his classmates. Keep reading for more news.
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Tragedy struck North Carolina this week when a 22-year-old man killed two UNC Charlotte students and injured four others in a campus shooting on the last day of classes. The Charlotte Observer reports that on Tuesday evening a former UNCC student, Trystan Andrew Terrell, used a handgun to attack students in a science and technology course that he had attended at one time. Riley Howell of Waynesville and Ellis Parlier of Midland lost their lives in the attack; our thoughts are with their families and friends, along with everyone else affected by the shooting. Keep reading for more news.
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Late last week U.S. Attorney General William Barr publicly released a redacted copy of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report of his investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. The full report is more than 400 pages long and is divided into two volumes. Keep reading for further discussion of the report and for more news.
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This week federal prosecutors announced that they have charged 60 people, including 31 doctors, pharmacists, and medical professionals, with various offenses arising from an investigation into illegal opioid distribution and health care fraud. Last year the Justice Department formed the Appalachian Regional Prescription Opioid Strike Force and dispatched experienced health care fraud attorneys to several federal districts across the country to build cases against “medical professionals [who] behave like drug dealers.” The charges were brought in Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, and West Virginia. Additional arrests are expected to arise from the investigation.
The News Roundup comes a day early this week as the School is closed tomorrow for a holiday, we’ll be back to blogging on Monday. Keep reading for more news.
News Roundup
On Wednesday, a ruptured gas line in Durham caused a massive explosion that killed one person and injured 25 others while also completely destroying a building and damaging property nearby. The Durham Herald Sun reports that nine firefighters were among those injured in the blast as the department was in the process of evacuating people from the area surrounding the ruptured line. At the time of writing, the precise cause of the rupture and explosion was still being investigated. Keep reading for more news.
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This week federal prosecutors announced that they have charged the chairman of the North Carolina Republican Party, Robin Hayes, and a political donor who owns an insurance company, Greg Lindberg, with attempting to bribe State Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey. Reports say that Lindberg, along with two associates who also have been charged, met with Causey repeatedly to discuss exchanging campaign donations for favorable treatment with respect to a financial examination that was being conducted on one of Lindberg’s businesses. Hayes allegedly also attempted to persuade Causey on behalf of Lindberg. Causey reported the scheme and worked with federal authorities during the investigation; he said this week that the case was complex and that more indictments could be forthcoming. Keep reading for more news.
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Late last week Special Counsel Robert Mueller submitted his report on the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election. Attorney General William Barr wrote a summary of the report to members of Congress on Sunday, saying that the report has two parts, one focusing on whether the Trump campaign coordinated with the Russian government and the other focusing on whether President Trump obstructed justice. Barr quotes the report as stating that “the investigation did not establish that members of the Trump campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities.” Barr’s summary says that the Special Counsel did not “make a traditional prosecutorial judgment” on the question of obstruction, and quotes the report as stating that “while this report does not conclude that the President committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him.” Along with Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, Barr said that he had concluded that the evidence in the report is “not sufficient to establish that the President committed an obstruction-of-justice offense.” Keep reading for more news.
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A stunning and tragic mass shooting in New Zealand late last week is one of the biggest international criminal law news stories in recent memory. Last Friday, an Australian man motivated by racism killed 50 people at two mosques in Christchurch. In a disturbing use of modern technology, the attack was streamed live to Facebook from a camera the gunman wore on a helmet. News reports say that the man was active on right-wing white nationalist internet forums, and that he posted a lengthy manifesto to one such forum just before the attack. In that document, he reportedly said that in addition to stoking racial discord, one of his goals was to further divide Americans on the controversial issue of gun laws. Keep reading for more news.
News Roundup
On Tuesday the Justice Department charged 50 people, including celebrities and business leaders, with participating in nationwide bribery and fraud schemes that allowed their children to be admitted into top universities despite lacking the necessary qualifications. As the New York Times reports, parents, college preparatory businesses, university officials, and coaches paid and accepted bribes in order to secure spots at various competitive universities. The schemes were fractured and complex – sometimes a test proctor was bribed to adjust a student’s standardized test score, other times a coach was bribed to falsely label a student as an athletic recruit. The common denominator in the sprawling schemes was the exchange of significant amounts of money. The Times story describes situations where parents paid hundreds of thousands of dollars, and in at least one case more than $1 million, in order to fraudulently secure a spot for their child at a desirable school. Keep reading for more news.