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Man convicted of murder based on testimony of blind witness wins freedom as prosecutors opt against new trial

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 00:00:48 GMT

Two weeks after a Cook County judge overturned his murder conviction, Darien Harris is expected to be a free man again after prosecutors said Tuesday they will not retry him in a fatal shooting at a South Side gas station.Harris was an 18-year-old high school senior with a clean criminal record when prosecutors charged him in an ambush-style attack that left one man dead and another seriously injured in June 2011. His conviction was based in part on the testimony of an eyewitness who turned out to be legally blind.Now 30, Harris has spent the last 12 years behind bars fighting for a new trial. He has long maintained his innocence, saying he was at home watching LeBron James play in the NBA finals between the Miami Heat and the Dallas Mavericks.Outside of court Tuesday, his mother said she can’t wait for her son to meet his 5-year-old sister and celebrate the holidays with his family. She also thanked supporters, including the Rev. Corey Brooks and community activist Ja’M...

Red Sox notebook: Yankees get new Jeter, now have 2/3 players from Betts trade

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 00:00:48 GMT

The theme of the New York Yankees’ Tuesday was the number two:With a waiver pickup, they officially have an infielder named Jeter (Downs) for the second time. He can’t wear No. 2, though, as the Yankees retired it for his namesake.And since they acquired Alex Verdugo from the Red Sox earlier this month, they now have two of the three players sent to Boston in the 2020 Mookie Betts trade. Only Connor Wong remains.The four-year anniversary of that trade – arguably the most significant since the sale of Babe Ruth – is almost exactly two months away. Since that fateful day, Downs has gone from the top prospect in the transaction to a twice-designated-for-assignment infielder. The Red Sox cut him loose last offseason, and the Washington Nationals did the same last week, enabling the Yankees to claim him.Downs has only played 20 career games in the Majors – 14 with the ’22 Red Sox, six with the ’23 Nats – but his new organization got more of a look at him than almo...

Tio Leo's Mexican restaurant in Grantville to close after 44 years

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 00:00:48 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- After 44 years of operation, one of Tio Leo's locations will be closing.The Mexican restaurant made the announcement on its Facebook last week that it will be shutting down its Grantville location at 6333 Mission Gorge Rd. on Dec. 31.Annamarie Sciuto, who currently runs the Grantville location, told FOX5SanDiego.com that the reasoning for the closure is due to retirement. She says she's been with the family business since the age of 19.Her father Leo Sciuto and brother Joe Sciuto, who was 16 years old at the time, first opened Tio Leo's in Grantville in 1979.The restaurant on Mission Gorge Road was a special place for Joe, who worked his way up from washing dishes to learning recipes and creating his own. Watch: Orcas spotted off the coast of San Diego "Not only did the restaurant bring success to the family, but it also connected the lives of Joe Sciuto and his wife Kathleen," the restaurant's website said. "The two met in 1981 when Kathleen joined the Tio Leo’s fami...

Man wanted on Canada-wide warrant back behind bars after being arrested in Hamilton

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 00:00:48 GMT

One of the more conspicuous fugitives in recent memory is back behind bars.Michael Stamatakos, who gained a measure of viral notoriety for his distinctive facial tattoos, has been arrested by Hamilton Police after being on the run since February 23, 2023, the Repeat Offender Parole Enforcement (R.O.P.E.) Squad confirmed on Tuesday.The 31-year-old had been the subject of a Canada-wide warrant.He was serving a two-year sentence for several offences, including arson, flight from police and uttering death threats, when he allegedly breached his statutory release and went into hiding.Despite already sticking out like a sore thumb, Stamatakos appeared to draw even more attention to himself in a series of social media posts that were later deleted.TikTok account “Toronto’s Joker” uploaded several since-deleted videos, including one where he brazenly posed for a tongue-out selfie in front of a Toronto police cruiser.The TikTok account was later deleted or suspended.Police would not confirm ...

North Korea and Russia clash with US, South Korea and allies over Pyongyang’s latest missile launch

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 00:00:48 GMT

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — North Korea and Russia clashed with the United States, South Korea and their allies at an emergency U.N. Security Council meeting Tuesday on Pyongyang’s latest intercontinental ballistic missile launch, which it called “a warning counter-measure” to threats from the U.S. and other hostile forces.North Korean Ambassador Kim Song said this is “the most dangerous year” in the military-security landscape on the Korean Peninsula, pointing to stepped up U.S.-South Korean military exercises and the U.S. deployment of nuclear-powered submarines and other nuclear assets to the area that have raised a “nuclear war danger.”The U.S. and nine allies pointed to five North Korean ICBM launches, over 25 ballistic missiles launches and three satellite launches using ballistic missile technology this year, violating multiple Security Council resolutions and threatening “the peace and stability of its neighbors and the international community.”In a statement read just before the ...

US technology sales to Russia lead to a Kansas businessman’s conspiracy plea

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 00:00:48 GMT

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas businessman pleaded guilty Tuesday to federal criminal charges stemming from what prosecutors described as a conspiracy to illegally export aviation-related technology to Russia, the U.S. Justice Department said.Cyril Gregory Buyanovsky pleaded guilty to a single count of conspiring to commit crimes against the U.S. and a single count of conspiring to illegally launder money internationally, court records show. His sentencing is set for March 21 and he could face up to 25 years in prison.Prosecutors said Buyanovsky also agreed to allow the U.S. government to seize $450,000 in equipment and $50,000 in personal assets. The equipment was a pallet of aviation-related devices blocked from export the day before Buyanovsky was arrested in March along with business partner Douglas Edward Robertson. Their arrests came as the U.S. ramped up sanctions and financial penalties on Russia since its invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022. Along with thousands of san...

Mother of a child punished by a court for urinating in public refuses to sign probation terms

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 00:00:48 GMT

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — The mother of a 10-year-old child who was sentenced by a Mississippi judge to three months of probation and a book report for urinating in public has refused to sign his probation agreement and has asked for the charge against her son to be dismissed, the family’s attorney announced Tuesday. The child’s mother had initially planned on signing the agreement to avoid the risk of prosecutors upgrading her son’s charge, as they threatened, but she changed her mind after reading the full agreement Tuesday, attorney Carlos Moore said. “We cannot in good conscience accept a probation agreement that treats a 10-year-old child as a criminal,” Moore said. “The terms proposed are not in the best interest of our client, and we will take all necessary steps to challenge them.”The terms for the 10-year-old’s probation were similar to those prosecutors would demand of an adult, including sections that prohibited the use of weapons and demanded he submi...

Tommy's Gift helps bring thousands of toys to kids stuck in the hospital during Christmas

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 00:00:48 GMT

CHICAGO — Tommy Sanchez was 23 years old when he died, six years after he began his battle with cancer. Sanchez's dying wish was to bring smiles to kids in the hospital who couldn't spend Christmas with their families. Tuesday, his family did just that. "We dedicate this day to Tommy every year," said Tom Sanchez, Tommy's father. "We've been doing Tommy's gifts 11 years now."According to the Sanchez family, a festive visitor dressed all in red, with the aid of a small army of little helpers, brought bags and boxes packed with toys to kids at Saint Anthony's Hospital who can't come home for Christmas.The elaborate, warm-hearted display was the brainchild of Tommy Sanchez while he was in the hospital battling Leukemia, before he died in 2013. Friends and family members brought Sanchez gifts while he was at the hospital during the holiday season, and as his final wish, he thought it would be cool to do the same for others after he was gone."A few weeks before he died, he said, 'Mom, I ...

Documents naming Jeffrey Epstein's associates ordered unsealed

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 00:00:48 GMT

(NewsNation) — A federal judge has ordered the unsealing of a trove of documents that would make public the names of dozens of Jeffrey Epstein's associates.The order issued Monday by District Judge Loretta Preska is part of a settled civil lawsuit against Ghislaine Maxwell, who was sentenced last year to 20 years in prison on sex trafficking charges. Prosecutors at her criminal trial alleged she helped Epstein sexually abuse teenage girls for decades.In ordering the release of some of the names, Preska notes that many of the people have already given media interviews or have already had their names listed in other public court documents pertaining to the case. In other instances, Preska writes that individuals did not object to the unsealing or the currently sealed material "is not salacious."Other names were ordered to remain redacted because they would identify minors who were victims of sex crimes. Concerns rise after boy dies while staying at Pilsen migrant shelter Preska has ...

Officer reunited with longtime K-9 partner after fighting Ohio city for ownership

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 00:00:48 GMT

SHAKER HEIGHTS, Ohio (WJW) – An Ohio police officer who recently switched departments can keep his longtime K-9 partner after city officials granted him ownership of the beloved canine.Igor, a German Shepherd, had worked alongside his handler Chad Hagan at the Shaker Police Department since 2018. In November, Hagan was ordered to surrender Igor to a kennel after accepting a job with another department.“The day Chad and I had to take him to the kennel was literally the worst day of our lives,” Hagan’s wife, Danielle, told Nexstar’s WJW. “I was crying. He was crying. Igor knew something was wrong.”When handlers leave the department, their K-9 partners can often retire and live with them. However, since Igor is just over 6 years old, the department deemed him fit to serve for three to four more years. These 10 states have the most spoiled dogs, according to survey Shaker Heights Police Chief Wayne Hudson tried to negotiate terms for officer Hagan to stay on for two more yea...