The lead criminal law story this week relates to the Illinois deputy charged in connection with the fatal shooting of Sonya Massey in her Springfield, Illinois home on July 6. After the 36-year-old woman called 911 to report a suspicious person nearby, local deputies responded. Once deputies were inside the home, Massey reportedly acted strangely and seemed confused. At one point, she moved a pot of boiling water from the stove to the sink, prompting the officers to back away from her. Massey asked the officers where they were going, and one stated that they were moving away from the water. Massey replied with a religious rebuke. Deputy Grayson responded to this by drawing his pistol, pointing it at her, and threatening to shoot her. The woman apologized, put her hands up, and ducked, but Grayson quickly fired his weapon multiple times, hitting Massey in the head and killing her. When another deputy suggested getting a medical kit to help, Grayson advised that medical assistance was futile. The full incident was captured on body camera. Grayson has been charged with first-degree murder (and other charges) and was fired from the department. Another story reports that Grayson worked for six different law enforcement agencies over the last four years. Read on for more criminal law news.
DEA Debauchery. AP News has a disturbing report accusing a group Drug Enforcement Administration (“DEA”) agents of corruption. The agents were assigned to undercover money laundering operations and allegedly spent government funds on personal travel, meals, and sex workers to the tune of $1.9 million over a five-year period. These operations—known within the agency as Attorney General Exempt Operations (“AGEOS”)—generate income in the name of disrupting international criminal networks. The DEA agents purportedly spent that income recklessly without any apparent oversight. The report claims the agents participated in a WhatsApp group chat where they bragged about their exploits, with such comments as “Tough life, this war on drugs.” The chats also included exchanging lewd photos of women from their encounters, making jokes about sexual assault, and arranging sexual encounters. One agent of the group was later charged with sexual assault in Spain, although the charges were later dropped. Fake meetings with informants and investigations were allegedly set up all over the world as a pretense for the agents’ travel and spending until the operation was shut down in 2017. The agent thought to be the ringleader of the group was arrested in 2020 for money laundering on behalf of Colombian cartels and is serving 12 years. While more than a dozen of the other agents involved have been disciplined or fired, none have faced criminal charges. The DEA came under fire back in 2015 for somewhat different allegations of misconduct by field agents and supervisors. The article notes that at least 16 DEA agents have been charged with various crimes within the last decade.
Judge Removed from Young Thug Trial. From a case that just keeps on giving in the criminal law news department, ABC News reports that the judge formerly presiding over the lengthy and still-ongoing RICO trial of the rapper known as Young Thug was recently removed from the case. Judge Ural Clanville was accused by defense counsel of having an improper ex parte meeting with a witness and prosecutor in the case. When confronted by defense lawyer Brian Steel about the allegedly improper meeting, the judge demanded Steel to reveal how he came to know about the meeting. When Steel refused to divulge his source, the judge found him in contempt and sentenced him to 20 days in jail. The contempt ruling has been stayed on appeal, and the defense sought to recuse the judge from continuing to preside over the case. That motion was heard by a different judge, who granted it. She found that the meeting was not improper, but that recusal was warranted to ensure public confidence in the proceedings. A defense motion for a mistrial in the case remains pending. According to the story, the trial—now at the 18-month mark—is the longest running criminal trial in Georgia history.
Baldwin Dismissal. To follow up on another story that has made regular appearances in the News Roundup, the involuntary manslaughter case against the actor Alec Baldwin for an accidental shooting on the set of the movie “Rust” was suddenly dismissed over a discovery violation earlier this month. During the investigation, a man (the stepfather of the armorer on set) brought ammunition to law enforcement he believed might be relevant to the case. Law enforcement made no record of having received the evidence and the defense only became aware of it during trial. As a sanction for the discovery violation, the trial judge dismissed the case with prejudice, bringing the criminal case against Baldwin to a close. The armorer responsible for safely maintaining weapons on the film’s set was convicted of the same charge earlier this year and sentenced to 18 months in prison. While this seemingly wraps up the criminal prosecutions from the Rust shooting, civil lawsuits relating to the incident remain.
Lottery Ticket Theft. This story reports of a Tennessee store clerk charged with theft exceeding $250,000 after he tried to con a customer out of a $1 million winning lottery ticket. The customer purchased the ticket and asked the clerk to check whether it was a winner. When the clerk scanned the ticket and realized it was, he told the customer the ticket was worthless and threw it in the trash. Once the customer left, the clerk recovered the ticket from the trash (apparently celebrating in the process). When the clerk went to cash in, lottery officials became skeptical of his story of finding the ticket in the trash and asked local police to check the store’s surveillance cameras. They did, leading to the instant charges. The customer only learned of his win once the police investigated and returned the ticket. As the story notes, winning lottery tickets are often targeted for theft.
Army Officer Sentenced. The N&O reports that Chief Warrant Officer Christopher Hammond was sentenced to three years in prison this week for stealing military equipment, wire fraud, and other offenses. The soldier used his Army position to divert military grade weapons scopes, night-vision goggles, guns, and other hardware from Fort Liberty in Fayetteville, which he then sold to unnamed buyers for at least $1.8 million. The story notes an earlier investigation by AP News found that around 1,900 military guns went missing during the 2010s.
Federal Prison Reform Bill Passed. President Biden signed the Federal Prison Oversight Act into law yesterday. The law creates an ombudsperson’s office responsible for handling complaints against the Federal Bureau of Prisons (“BOP”) and its employees. It also requires the Department of Justice to inspect and assess each of the 122 federal prison buildings across the nation and to report the findings to Congress. That said, the Director of the BOP told Congress this week that the prison system will need tens of millions of dollars in additional funding to fully implement the bill’s directives. According to an earlier investigation by the AP, the federal prison system has long had serious and systemic problems, including sexual abuse of inmates by prison employees, chronic understaffing, escapes, and unsanitary conditions. That report also claims that more than 100 BOP employees have been charged with criminal misconduct, and even more have evaded punishment by BOP officials ignoring evidence of misconduct.
Cocaine Sharks. If the story-turned-film Cocaine Bear wasn’t enough for you, NPR reports that biologists discovered that sharks off the coast of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil are testing positive for cocaine. Out of 13 sharks examined, all had high levels of the stimulant in their systems, indicating ongoing exposure to the substance. While some of the cocaine in the local waters may be the result of drug traffickers abandoning their drugs during police pursuits, scientists suspect the contamination is the result of high levels of trace amounts in wastewater runoff from drug use by local residents. It is not clear whether the animals are becoming impaired from the substance, but the story notes that negative health impacts can occur. And yes, there’s a film about cocaine sharks, too (if less dramatic than its bear relative).
Gator Aide. A Florida man made news earlier this month when an online video surfaced showing him using the teeth of a live alligator swimming by to open a can of beer. Florida law regulates human interactions with alligators, and it is a felony to unlawfully injure, possess, or capture an alligator (among other acts). The man in the video has apparently not been identified, so he may escape the long arm of the law, but he is under potential consideration for a Darwin award.
I hope everyone has a safe and relaxing weekend. I can always be reached at dixon@sog.unc.edu for any questions or feedback.