A North Carolina man, Floyd Ray Roseberry, caused the evacuation of buildings near the United States Capitol yesterday after parking his truck on the sidewalk outside the Library of Congress and claiming that it was rigged with explosives capable of destroying two city blocks. While livestreaming to Facebook, Roseberry reportedly said that he would surrender peacefully if President Joe Biden stepped down from office. The incident prompted a massive law enforcement and emergency personnel response, and Roseberry eventually surrendered without incident. The story was developing at the time of writing. Keep reading for more news.
Covid Toolkit. In recent weeks the Delta variant of the coronavirus has been driving significant increases in COVID cases in North Carolina and across the country. As the News Roundup noted last week, the Mecklenburg County Courthouse was closed because of an outbreak among employees and other jurisdictions in the state have experienced similar problems. Regular readers know that the SOG’s Public Defense Education group has created a COVID-19 Toolkit that contains numerous resources discussing the virus’s impact on criminal proceedings. As a reminder, the Tool Kit is available for free at this link.
Green Plea. WLOS reports that former Catawba County Superior Court Judge Daniel Ray Green pleaded guilty last week to taking indecent liberties with a child in 2019. Green was sentenced to nearly two years in prison followed by supervised probation. He also must register as a sex offender and was permanently disbarred. The Buncombe County District Attorney’s Office issued a press release about the case which is available here.
Lewis Sentence. WRAL reports that former state representative David Lewis was sentenced in federal court this week after pleading guilty last year to financial crimes related to using campaign funds for personal expenses associated with his family farm. Lewis was sentenced to two years of supervised release and received a $1,000 fine. Prosecutors had recommended that Lewis not receive a custodial sentence, in part because he repaid all of the funds he had diverted to his own use.
Kenosha Lawsuit. The Associated Press reports that the family of Anthony Huber has filed a federal civil lawsuit against the city of Kenosha, Wisconsin, as well as current and former members of the city’s law enforcement agencies alleging constitutional violations arising from cooperation between the agencies and armed vigilante groups during protests following the police shooting of Jacob Blake last year. Huber was shot dead during the protests and an Illinois teenager, Kyle Rittenhouse, currently is awaiting trial on first-degree intentional homicide and other charges.