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TACOMA, Wash. (AP) — Former NBA star Shawn Kemp pleaded not guilty Thursday to an assault charge after prosecutors accused him of shooting at a man while attempting to retrieve a stolen cell phone.

Kemp was released without bail following the arraignment in Pierce County Superior Court in Washington state.

He was arrested after the shooting in a parking lot outside the Tacoma Mall on March 8 & released the following day pending further investigation. No one was injured & Kemp’s lawyers insisted he returned fire in self defense after tracking & trying to retrieve a cellphone that had been stolen from him earlier that day.

However, a probable cause statement by Tacoma police, filed along with 1st-degree assault charges last month, did not indicate Kemp was shot at. It said some of his statements were not corroborated by surveillance video & that just 13 minutes before he arrived at the mall, he sent a text message saying, “I’m about to shoot this (expletive).”

The document said Kemp told police that after being shot at he went back to his own vehicle, parked several spots away, to get his own gun. But the video showed that he was armed with the weapon when he approached the parked Toyota 4Runner where he had tracked his phone.

The statement said he fired 3 times into the Toyota & then threw his gun into some bushes. The driver of the 4Runner appeared to duck 1 of the shots & eventually drove off. Only about 5 minutes elapsed from the time Kemp arrived until the time the 4Runner left.

Kemp was a 6-time NBA all-star & played for the Seattle SuperSonics, Cleveland, Portland & Orlando.

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NEW YORK (AP) — Former President Donald Trump pleaded not guilty Tuesday to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records arising from a hush money payment to a porn actor during his 2016 campaign.

The plea came during a history-making arraignment in a lower Manhattan courtroom, with Trump becoming the first former president in U.S. history to face criminal prosecution.

The arraignment, though procedural in nature, amounts to a remarkable reckoning for Trump after years of investigations into his personal, business & political dealings. The case is unfolding against the backdrop not only of his third campaign for the White House but also against other investigations in Washington & Atlanta that might yet produce even more charges.

A silent & stone-faced Trump, his lips pursed in apparent anger, entered the courtroom shortly before 2:30 p.m. He left court about an hour later, also without commenting.

Before the arraignment, he narrated his feelings in real time, describing the experience as “SURREAL” as he traveled from Trump Tower to lower Manhattan to face a judge.

It represents the new split-screen reality for Trump as he submits to the dour demands of the American criminal justice system while projecting an aura of defiance & victimhood at celebratory campaign events.

“Heading to Lower Manhattan, the Courthouse,” the voluble ex-president posted on his Truth Social platform. “Seems so SURREAL — WOW, they are going to ARREST ME. Can’t believe this is happening in America. MAGA!”

Trump, who was impeached twice by the U.S. House but was never convicted in the U.S. Senate, is the first former president to face criminal charges. 

#donaldtrump #donaldtrumpfelonycharges #donaldtrump34felonycharges #donaldtrumparraigned #donaldtrumppleasnotguilty #45 #presidenttrump #maga #alvinbragg #newyorkcity #stormeydaniels #districtattorney #perpwalk #innocentuntilprovenguilty #michaelcohen #lawyer #attorney #melaniatrump #donaldtrumpjr #ivankatrump #trumporganization #erictrump #trump34felonycharges

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Former Louisville Metro Police Detective Kelly Hanna Goodlett pleaded guilty Tuesday to 1 count of conspiring to violate the civil rights of Breonna Taylor for helping falsify an affidavit for the search of her apartment that ended in her death in March 2020.

Goodlett is expected to against 2 of her ex-colleagues, Joshua Jaynes and Kyle Meany, when they are tried on civil rights charges in connection with Taylor’s death. A third ex-detective, Brett Hankison, is also charged in a separate federal indictment.

Goodlett, 35, admitted the charge before U.S. District Judge Rebecca Grady Jennings with Taylor's mother, Tamika Palmer, among those present in the courtroom.

She faces a sentence of no more than 6 years in prison, plus up to a $250,000 fine & 3 years of supervised release. 

Goodlett admitted she falsely claimed a postal inspector had verified Taylor was receiving packages for her ex-boyfriend, convicted drug dealer Jamarcus Glover, at her apartment before the raid. In fact, postal inspectors said there was no evidence Taylor was receiving packages at her apartment.

The indictment of Jaynes alleges Goodlett met with Jaynes in his garage so they could “get on the same page” after a postal inspector said the claim that Taylor was receiving Glover's packages was bogus.

Jaynes, 40, & Meany, 35, also face civil rights charges for the search that ended in Taylor's death, while Hankison, 46, is charged with violating the civil rights of Taylor; her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker & 3 of Taylor’s neighbors; by blindly firing shots into her apartment.

Taylor was 26 when she died.

#breonnataylor #breonnataylorwasmurdered #justiceforbreonnataylor #ripbreonnataylor #restinpeacebreonnataylor #KellyGoodlett #KellyGoodlettlousivillecop #KellyGoodlettprison #KellyGoodlettliar #bretthankinson #mylescosgrove #johnmattingly #JoshuaJaynes #KyleMeany #cops #police #killercops #policethepolice #noknockwarrant #kennethwalker #tamikapalmer #louisvillekentucky #guiltyascharged #lockher #lockthemup #guns #gunviolence #murder #homicide #thebiglie

Source: Courier Journal

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Lawrence Taylor is fighting back in his sex offender case ... the NFL legend has pled not guilty to two felony charges, TMZ Sports has learned.

Court records show Taylor, through his attorney, submitted the pleas on Monday afternoon.

"Lawrence has pled not guilty and we will be working with the prosecutors on the case for a full dismissal," one of Taylor's lawyers, Arthur Aidala, tells us.

"There was some confusion as to Lawrence’s home address that has since been rectified."

As we previously reported, LT -- arguably the greatest New York Giant ever -- was arrested on Dec. 16 in Florida ... and ultimately charged with two felony counts of failure to register as a sexual offender.

Further details surrounding the case and the arrest have yet to be revealed, but Aidala said the day after Taylor was booked that it was all a big misunderstanding.

"Mr. Taylor was constantly a resident of the marital home where he was registered, but on advice of local law enforcement he was sleeping outside the home," Aidala said.

"We are confident that this will be dismissed at the first court hearing."

Taylor's first date in court has yet to be set, records show.

#lawrencetaylor #lawrencetaylornfl #lawrencetaylorhalloffame #lawrencetaylorgiants #lawrencetaylorsexoffender #lawrencetaylornotguiltyplea #lt #lawrencetaylor #sexoffender #statutoryrape #halloffame #nflhalloffame #hallofamer #registeredsexoffender #newyorkgiants #nfl #football #footballplayer #billparcells #linebacker #bestever #thegoat #goatstatus #florida #newyorkcity #nflplayer #notguiltyplea #notguilty

Source: TMZ

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ELDORET, Kenya, Nov 16 (Reuters) - Ibrahim Rotich, the husband of slain Kenyan Olympic runner Agnes Tirop, was charged with her murder & pleaded not guilty in a Kenyan court on Tuesday.

Rotich, 41, had been ordered last week to undergo a mental health test before entering a plea. Tirop was found stabbed to death at her home in the Rift Valley town of Iten on Oct. 13, in a case that has shone a spotlight on violence against women in the east African country.

Rotich appeared in court in handcuffs, wearing a black jacket & a cap. He looked down at the floor for most of the proceedings.

Rotich's lawyer, Joseline Mitei, declined to discuss the details or results of his mental health evaluation.

"I intend to put formal application in court for my client to be released on bail," Mitei said.

The bail hearing is set for Dec. 1.

Police arrested Rotich in the coastal city of Mombasa the day after Tirop's body was discovered. They said he had been trying to flee the country.

In September, Tirop broke the women-only 10km world record in Germany. She won bronze medals at the 2017 & 2019 World Championships in the 10,000 meters.

#agnestirop #agnestiropkenya #agnestiroptrackandfield #agnestiropolympian #agnestiropdeadat25 #agnestiropmurdered #kenya #eastafrica #trackandfield #longdistancerunner #crosscountryrunner #olympian #olympics #bronzemedalist #worldchampionships #murder #homicide #violenceagainstwomen #domesticabuse #domesticviolence #agnestirophusbandcharged #husbandandwife #ibrahimrotich #ibrahimrotichkiller #divorce #controlling #jealousy #mombasa #kenyan #stabbed

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ATLANTA (AP) — A man already sentenced to life in prison after pleading guilty to fatally shooting four people at a massage business outside Atlanta pleaded not guilty to shooting 4 others on the same day at 2 spas inside the city.

Robert Aaron Long, 22, appeared briefly Tuesday in Fulton County Superior Court, where he entered a not guilty plea on charges including murder, aggravated assault & domestic terrorism. District Attorney Fani Willis is seeking the death penalty.

In July, Long pleaded guilty in Cherokee County to charges including 4 counts of murder. He received 4 sentences of life without parole plus an additional 35 years.

Those killed in Cherokee County were: Paul Michels, 54; Xiaojie “Emily” Tan, 49; Daoyou Feng, 44; and Delaina Yaun, 33. The Atlanta victims were: Suncha Kim, 69; Soon Chung Park, 74; Hyun Jung Grant, 51; & Yong Ae Yue, 63.

Tuesday was the second time Long appeared before Fulton County Superior Court Judge Ural Glanville. The hearing lasted a few minutes. Glanville asked the defense if they wanted to waive indictment & plead not guilty, & defense attorney Jerilyn Bell said yes. Long did not address the judge. Glanville set the next hearing in the case for Nov. 23.

When the killings happened in March, Asian Americans were already experiencing an uptick in hostility related to the coronavirus pandemic. The fact that a majority of the slain victims were women of Asian descent exacerbated existing feelings of fear & anger. Many have been upset by Long’s assertions that he was motivated by the shame he felt from sexual urges, rather than by racial bias.

Cherokee County District Attorney Shannon Wallace said during the hearing in July that investigators found no evidence of racial bias motivating the killings. She said that had that case gone to trial, she was prepared to seek the death penalty & would have argued Long was motivated by gender bias.

Willis, the Fulton County district attorney, said last month that she believes race & gender played a role in Long’s motivation. Georgia’s hate crimes law does not provide for a stand-alone hate crime. After a person is convicted of an underlying crime, a jury must determine whether it was motivated by bias, which carries an additional penalty.

After shooting 5 people at Youngs Asian Massage in Cherokee County, Long drove about 30 miles south to Atlanta, where he shot 3 women at Gold Spa & 1 woman across the street at Aromatherapy Spa.

He then headed south on the interstate, and authorities have said he intended to carry out similar attacks in Florida.

But his parents had called police after recognizing their son in images from security video posted online by authorities in Cherokee County. His parents were already tracking his movements through an application on his phone, which allowed authorities to find him & take him into custody on a south Georgia interstate.

#robertlong #robertaaronlong #robertlongspashooter #robertlongmassmurderer #spas #massageparlors #asianamericans #massshooting #massmurder #homicides #rebertlongpleadsnotguilty #deathpenalty #hatecrime #guiltyascharged #atlantaspashootings #youngsasianmassage #goldspa #aromatherapyspa #cherokeecountyga #paulmichels #emilytan #daoyoufeng #delainayaun #sunchakim #soonchungpark #hyunjunggrant #yongaeyue #fultoncountyga #lifewithoutparole

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CHICAGO (Reuters) - Grammy-winning R&B star R. Kelly pleaded not guilty on Monday to charges that he sexually assaulted three teenage girls and a woman in alleged incidents dating back to 1998, weeks after a television documentary leveled new accusations against him.

The 52-year-old performer, whose real name is Robert Kelly, is charged under a 10-count indictment with sexually assaulting three teenagers, with each count carrying a maximum of 10 years in prison.

Dressed in an orange jail jumpsuit, Kelly appeared in a Chicago courtroom before Cook County Associate Judge Lawrence Flood and spoke only to confirm his name. His lawyer, Steven Greenberg, entered a not guilty plea on Kelly’s behalf.

Prosecutors say the victims include a teenager Kelly met when she sought an autograph during his previous trial on child pornography charges, another he met at her 16th-birthday party and his hairdresser, who was then 24. The singer was acquitted of the pornography charges.

A fourth charge is based on a videotape that purportedly shows Kelly and a 14-year-old girl engaged in sexual acts, according to prosecutors.

Kelly faced the child pornography charges more than a decade ago, at a trial where the victim did not testify. The new charges emerge in a different environment, after the #MeToo movement made victims more willing to come forward and law enforcement more likely to believe them.

Michael Avenatti, a lawyer representing two accusers, told reporters after Monday’s hearing that he had turned over a second videotape to prosecutors earlier in the day.

The video was about 55 minutes long, dated from around 2000 and also showed a 14-year-old girl, though he did not make clear whether it was the same girl as in the first video.

Kelly lawyer Greenberg told reporters that his client hopes to post the required $100,000 cash bail Monday evening to be released from a prison hospital unit where he was placed to keep him apart from the general inmate population.

“Mr. Kelly has done absolutely nothing wrong,” Greenberg said. “No one has showed us any evidence that he has done anything wrong.”

The charges against the performer came just weeks after the Lifetime television network aired the six-hour documentary series entitled “Surviving R. Kelly” in which multiple women accused him of sexual misconduct and abuse.

Reporting by Karen Pierog, additional reporting by Jackie Botts and Jonathan Allen in New York; editing by Cynthia Osterman, Bill Berkrot and Jonathan Oatis

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(ESPN) UFC star Conor McGregor pleaded guilty to a single violation of disorderly conduct in Brooklyn criminal court on Thursday, for his involvement in an incident on April 5 at Barclays Center.

McGregor, who turned 30 this month, entered the plea as part of a deal worked out with the Brooklyn District Attorney's Office. The agreement involves no jail time and will not affect McGregor's travel visa. He will not have a criminal record.

Additional conditions of the deal include full restitution to the bus company for any damages suffered, which McGregor has already fulfilled, five days of community service and an anger management program lasting 1-3 days.

Prior to the deal, McGregor, of Dublin, had faced a possible 12 criminal charges related to the incident, including two felony criminal mischief charges. Those charges carried a maximum sentence of seven years in prison.

In April, McGregor was caught on video throwing a metal dolly into the window of a bus stationed inside the Barclays Center loading dock. The bus was carrying a group of UFC athletes and employees.

Two UFC fighters, lightweight Michael Chiesa and flyweight Ray Borg, reported suffering minor injuries to authorities and were ultimately pulled from their respective bouts on a scheduled pay-per-view event on April 7.

One of McGregor's teammates from SBG Ireland, professional MMA fighter Cian Cowley, was also arrested in April for his involvement in the attack. Cowley also pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct on Thursday.

The resolution of McGregor's criminal case may clear the way for a return to the Octagon later this year.

A potential lightweight title fight between McGregor (21-3) and current champion Khabib Nurmagomedov (26-0) could arguably be the biggest fight in UFC history. Nurmagomedov was on the bus that McGregor attacked, and was the target of the Irish star's actions.

McGregor has not fought in the UFC since November 2016. He made his professional boxing debut in August 2017, suffering a TKO loss to Floyd Mayweather in a highly lucrative crossover event.

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