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NEW YORK (AP) — Bob Menendez asked a judge Wednesday to set aside guilty verdicts that forced his resignation from the U.S. Senate and grant a new bribery trial. Lawyers for the New Jersey Democrat said in papers filed in Manhattan federal court that a recent revelation by prosecutors that improper evidence was put on a computer used by jurors during deliberations means that a new trial is “unavoidable.” The 70-year-old Menendez was convicted in July of 16 charges , including bribery, in part based on an allegation that he accepted bribes in exchange for approving military aid to Egypt. He awaits a Jan. 29 sentencing. Menendez resigned from the Senate in August. At trial, prosecutors said Menendez accepted gold and cash from three New Jersey businessmen in return for favors. Earlier this month, prosecutors revealed in a letter to Judge Sidney H. Stein that they had discovered that some factual information that the judge had ruled should be excluded from several trial exhibits was instead inadvertently loaded onto a computer used by jurors to reach their verdict. In their letter, prosecutors said incorrect versions of nine government exhibits were missing some redactions ordered by Stein to ensure that the exhibits did not violate the Constitution’s Speech or Debate Clause, which protects speech relating to information shared by legislators. Prosecutors argued in their letter that no action was necessary in light of the error for several reasons, including that defense lawyers did not object after they inspected documents on that laptop before it was given to jurors. They also said there was a “reasonable likelihood” that no jurors saw the erroneously redacted versions of the exhibits and that the documents could not have prejudiced the defendants anyway because they were of “secondary relevance and cumulative with abundant properly admitted evidence.” Lawyers for Menendez, though, said in their submission Wednesday that the exhibits contained the “only evidence in the record” tying Menendez to military aid to Egypt, “an otherwise-missing fact at the very center of the central charge against him.” “In light of this serious breach, a new trial is unavoidable, despite all the hard work and resources that went into the first one,” they wrote. The lawyers criticized the government's attempt to shift blame for the error onto them by saying they viewed the laptop's contents and approved it. “That is both factually and legally outrageous,” they wrote. “The defense had only a few hours to review a laptop that contained nearly 3,000 exhibits; it had the right to expect that the government had not mislabeled non-introduced and constitutionally barred exhibits as admitted ones. If this were treated as a waiver, that would give parties the incentive to intentionally try to pull a fast one.” Larry Neumeister, The Associated Press
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DENVER (AP) — Amid renewed interest in the killing of JonBenet Ramsey triggered in part by a new Netflix documentary, police in Boulder, Colorado, refuted assertions this week that there is viable evidence and leads about the 1996 killing of the 6-year-old girl that they are not pursuing. JonBenet Ramsey, who competed in beauty pageants, was found dead in the basement of her family’s home in the college town of Boulder the day after Christmas in 1996. Her body was found several hours after her mother called 911 to say her daughter was missing and a ransom note had been left behind. The details of the crime and video footage of JonBenet competing in pageants propelled the case into one of the highest-profile mysteries in the United States. The police comments came as part of their annual update on the investigation, a month before the 28th anniversary of JonBenet’s killing. Police said they released it a little earlier due to the increased attention on the case, apparently referring to the three-part Netflix series “Cold Case: Who Killed JonBenet Ramsey.” In a video statement, Boulder Police Chief Steve Redfearn said the department welcomes news coverage and documentaries about the killing of JonBenet, who would have been 34 this year, as a way to generate possible new leads. He said the department is committed to solving the case but needs to be careful about what it shares about the investigation to protect a possible future prosecution. “What I can tell you though, is we have thoroughly investigated multiple people as suspects throughout the years and we continue to be open-minded about what occurred as we investigate the tips that come into detectives," he said. The Netflix documentary focuses on the mistakes made by police and the “media circus” surrounding the case. JonBenet was bludgeoned and strangled. Her death was ruled a homicide, but nobody was ever prosecuted. Police were widely criticized for mishandling the early investigation into her death amid speculation that her family was responsible. However, a prosecutor cleared her parents, John and Patsy Ramsey, and brother Burke in 2008 based on new DNA evidence from JonBenet's clothing that pointed to the involvement of an “unexplained third party” in her slaying. The announcement by former district attorney Mary Lacy came two years after Patsy Ramsey died of cancer. Lacy called the Ramseys “victims of this crime.” John Ramsey has continued to speak out for the case to be solved. In 2022, he supported an online petition asking Colorado’s governor to intervene in the investigation by putting an outside agency in charge of DNA testing in the case. In the Netflix documentary, he said he has been advocating for several items that have not been prepared for DNA testing to be tested and for other items to be retested. He said the results should be put through a genealogy database. In recent years, investigators have identified suspects in unsolved cases by comparing DNA profiles from crime scenes and to DNA testing results shared online by people researching their family trees. In 2021, police said in their annual update that DNA hadn’t been ruled out to help solve the case, and in 2022 noted that some evidence could be “consumed” if DNA testing is done on it. Last year, police said they convened a panel of outside experts to review the investigation to give recommendations and determine if updated technologies or forensic testing might produce new leads. In the latest update, Redfearn said that review had ended but that police continue to work through and evaluate a “lengthy list of recommendations” from the panel. ____ Amy Beth Hanson contributed to this report from Helena, Montana. Colleen Slevin, The Associated PressThe NFC East-leading Philadelphia Eagles extended their winning streak to nine games Sunday, picking up a 22-16 win in a back-and-forth contest against the visiting Carolina Panthers . The Eagles’ rode NFL rushing leader Saquon Barkley heavily to the tune of 124 yards on a record-setting day. In the fourth quarter, he surpassed LeSean McCoy for the franchise record for most rushing yards in a single season. The moment history was made. The Eagles single-season rushing yards record belongs to Saquon Barkley. @saquon | #FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/3DDRTLlB2x — Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) December 8, 2024 But despite Barkley’s strong play and Jalen Hurts’ three-touchdown day, the improved-looking Panthers never slipped out of contention. After Bryce Young threw a first-quarter touchdown and orchestrated long touchdown drives in the second and third quarters, he had one last chance in the final minutes of the fourth to drive Carolina down the field for the win. Advertisement Starting from the Carolina 3-yard-line, Young moved the Panthers into scoring position and nearly connected with Xavier Legette on a long go-ahead touchdown in the final minute. But after that pass was dropped, the Panthers went on to turn the ball over on downs, preserving the Eagles win as they improved to 11-2. Barkley sets Eagles records Barkley broke McCoy’s single-season rushing record of 1,607 yards set in 2013. He also broke Wilbert Montgomery’s record for most 100-yard games in a single season. Barkley now has nine. The MVP candidate is continuing an all-time campaign. The Eagles don’t win this game without him. Trailing 16-14 in the fourth quarter, Barkley rushed for 28 yards on three attempts. Hurts salvaged a third-and-10 situation by scrambling for 35 yards to the Carolina 9. Hurts then hit Calcaterra for the go-ahead, 4-yard touchdown pass. — Brooks Kubena, Eagles beat writer Grant Calcaterra’s first career TD gives Philly the lead #FlyEaglesFly 📺: #CARvsPHI on FOX 📱: https://t.co/waVpO909ge pic.twitter.com/bN5EO8Ki18 — NFL (@NFL) December 8, 2024 Philadelphia defense gets stop late This is a game the Eagles nearly lost. Up 22-16 with 3:05 left in the game, Nick Sirianni passed on a 55-yard field goal attempt, took a delay of game and chose to punt. The punt was downed at the Carolina 3. Jake Elliott ’s career-long was 61. But he missed a 52-yard attempt wide right during the third quarter. He’s 0-for-5 on attempts of 50-plus yards in 2024. Sirianni has been reluctant to say he’s lost any confidence in Elliott. But at the very least, Sirianni trusted his defense more in that scenario. They nearly forced the Panthers off the field swiftly. But Young completed a third-and-11 pass to Legette for 31 yards, which reached the Carolina 33. — Kubena Last-minute drive falls short for Panthers The Panthers have to be getting tired of the close-but-not-enough bit. For the third consecutive week, Young led a valiant, last-minute drive only for the Panthers to fall short. Young threw a perfect ball to Legette in the final minute that should have been a 32-yard touchdown. But the first-round pick couldn’t hold on to the ball as he hit the ground, and the Panthers’ comeback hopes stalled after two more incompletions. Advertisement Carolina has now lost three in a row by 12 points to Kansas City , Tampa Bay and Philadelphia, all of whom could be in the playoffs. — Joe Person, Panthers beat writer Eagles secondary makes plays in key moments This is the most trouble an opposing offense has given the Eagles secondary in some time. The box score doesn’t quite show that. But Adam Thielen caught nine passes for 102 yards, often in critical scenarios. Thielen caught a fourth-and-7 pass for 13 yards to continue the final drive. David Moore also caught a third-and-1 pass while in man coverage against Darius Slay on an eventual touchdown drive earlier in the game. C.J. Gardner-Johnson delivered the difference-making play with an interception just before halftime. Slay ended the game with a fourth-down deflection against Thielen. — Kubena Panthers lose Brooks to knee injury It was a tough day for Panthers’ running backs. Rookie Jonathon Brooks left with a right knee injury after going down for a 3-yard loss in the first quarter on a non-contact play. The second-round pick from Texas made his NFL last month after recovering from ACL surgery on the same knee after tearing it late during his final season at Texas. Brooks’ injury — along with the chest injury sustained by third-teamer Raheem Blackshear — left Chuba Hubbard as the only healthy running back for the final three quarters. — Person Required reading (Photo: Mitchell Leff / Getty Images)Authorities in Pakistan launch operation to clear Khan supporters from capitalThe leaders of the state Legislature have a message for voters: We know you’re frustrated with how expensive California is — and we’re going to fix it. After a painful election that sparked recriminations and soul-searching among Democrats across the country, state Senate President Pro Tem Mike McGuire and Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas are returning to Sacramento recommitted to addressing the affordability issues that appear to have pushed more voters toward the Republican Party in November. As a new two-year legislative session kicks off today at the state Capitol, McGuire and Rivas told CalMatters in separate interviews that the priority will be advancing policies that lower the cost of living for working Californians, including by building more housing, making energy cheaper and improving public infrastructure. “Our only way forward is to acknowledge that we have to do better,” Rivas , a Salinas Democrat, said. “It’s clear — we haven’t done enough.” Just don’t expect any dramatic changes under the dome. Despite losing a handful of seats, both leaders are adamant that returning Democratic supermajorities signal that voters are still on board with their values, if not always the outcomes of their governance. Instead, the most significant difference in Sacramento next year is likely to be the shadow of a new president, Republican Donald Trump, who made California a punching bag on the campaign trail and has repeatedly threatened the state . With many in state government resuming the resistance posture that defined California’s relationship to Trump during his first term from 2017 to 2021 — a concurrent special session called by Gov. Gavin Newsom to provide as much as $25 million for expected litigation also convenes today — it’s unclear how the Legislature will balance those competing interests and whether responding to Trump will ultimately distract from the work that the leaders say needs to happen on affordability. “I firmly believe that we have to fight the damaging and destructive policies that Donald Trump is going to advance,” McGuire , a Santa Rosa Democrat, said. “We’re going to need to fight the Trump administration, but we can’t take our eye off all the challenges we need to fix.” The November election was undoubtedly a disappointment, though not a disaster, for legislative Democrats in California. The Assembly caucus defended all of its incumbents but picked up none of the Republican districts it targeted and lost two open seats that had previously been held by Democrats. The Senate caucus also failed to flip its target districts, and members are fuming after a union ally helped the GOP take out one of their own , the first sitting Senate Democrat to lose in a presidential election in more than four decades. It was the best showing in a decade for legislative Republicans — all the more remarkable because Trump, who California Democrats have successfully used as a foil for years, was on the ballot. The party has celebrated it as proof that voters are fed up with how the Democrats in charge have handled affordability, homelessness and crime. “As Californians grow increasingly frustrated with the failures of Democrat leadership, they are shifting toward Republican solutions,” Senate Republican Leader Brian Jones of San Diego said in a statement last week. Democrats nevertheless maintain total control in Sacramento, including 60 out of 80 seats in the Assembly and 30 out of 40 seats in the Senate. McGuire and Rivas insist those results refute the notion that they have fallen out of step with what Californians want. Rivas called it a “clear mandate” for Democrats — to focus on the issues that matter to voters, prove they are serious about governing and follow through with better outcomes. “No, I don’t think we are out of touch,” he said. “It’s not about changing who we are, but it’s about changing our approach to addressing these many challenges.” McGuire was even more resolute that legislative Democrats had won in a landslide. “Do we need to reflect? Absolutely. But the numbers don’t lie,” he said. “The Senate Republican Caucus still fits into a minivan.” The leaders have few details yet about how exactly they will address the cost of living in the coming session, as members continue to develop their legislative agendas. McGuire said his caucus would advance an affordability plan “that makes the lives of working Californians and seniors better” and “go to the mat to fix our homelessness crisis.” Rivas said he expected housing to be at the top of the list for his caucus, as well as reviving a package of bills to lower energy prices that fell short last session. One issue that does not appear to be a priority is crime, a source of increasing anxiety and frustration for many Californians , even after voters overwhelmingly passed Proposition 36 , which strengthens penalties for some drug and theft offenses. Legislative Democrats largely backed Newsom earlier this year as he unsuccessfully tried to negotiate the measure off the November ballot. It ultimately won approval from more than 68% of voters, reversing a decade-long trend of the electorate loosening California’s criminal justice laws. McGuire and Rivas defended their approach, which included passing a dozen bills cracking down on retail theft this summer as negotiations over the ballot measure fizzled — a legislative package that McGuire argues will do far more to solve the problem than Proposition 36. Though he said lawmakers “need to listen” to the fact that voters wanted to go even further, McGuire did not commit to any additional action. Rivas said he is serious about holding people who break the law accountable, but added that it is important to ensure more services, such as drug rehabilitation, are available to prevent a return to an earlier era where California’s prisons were deemed unconstitutionally overcrowded . “This is more than just sending people to jail. This is about alternatives to incarceration,” Rivas said. “There is a pendulum. It swings hard left, hard right. We want to do an adequate job where that pendulum does not swing at all.” The Democratic leaders’ plans could be upended by what Trump decides to do when he takes office on Jan. 20. Fighting back against the president became an inescapable focus of California officials during Trump’s first term. While the Legislature passed laws to protect the environment, prevent cooperation with immigration enforcement and even try to pry loose Trump’s tax returns , the state sued his administration more than 120 times over policy disputes. Just two days after Trump won the presidency again last month, Newsom called a special session seeking additional funding for the state Department of Justice and other state agencies as officials prepare another barrage of litigation . Battles are expected this time over access to abortion medication , California’s commitment to phasing out gas-powered cars and protections for immigrants brought to the country illegally as children. McGuire said the special session is important so that California can move with speed to “build a legal firewall” as it did before. “The United States of America is in the calm before the storm. The hurricane is about to hit,” he said. “And shame on us if we’re not battening down the hatches.” While he’s “all in” on any genuine opportunity to work with Trump to benefit California, McGuire said “there’s also a dark red line” that he won’t accept the president crossing. “I take Donald Trump at his word. He’s coming for those who don’t agree, and California is in the bullseye,” McGuire said. “If the president-elect tries to undermine our state, undermine our democracy, he’ll quickly see how determined the people of California truly are.” But they may not be as determined as they were eight years ago. Trump’s second victory, including in the popular vote this time around, has been met by many Democrats more with resignation than defiance. Even Rivas seems disinclined to leap back into the fray. He said California would defend its values, but with much of that work already done, lawmakers could focus instead on better serving working people and Latino communities who have felt left behind. “This is not 2016,” he said. “Find an area in the last eight years where California hasn’t Trump-proofed already. Now is the time to roll up our sleeves.”
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