The Massachusetts college students accused of hatching a plot to frame a man and label him a predator — which resulted in his assault — say the criminal charges against them should be dropped.

As Law&Crime previously reported, the Assumption University students allegedly lured a 22-year-old man to the campus, falsely accused him of seeking sex with an underage girl, and then chased him down and beat him while recording the attack as part of a so-called “To Catch a Predator” trend on TikTok. The students, all teens, are facing felony kidnapping and conspiracy charges.

Now, the students — Isabella Trudeau, 18, Kevin Carroll, 18, Joaquin Smith, 18, Easton Randall, 19, and Kelsy Brainard, 18 — have asked the judge overseeing the case to drop at least some of the charges against them, the Worcester Telegram & Gazette reported.

Leonardo Angiulo, a lawyer for one of the students, reportedly described the incident as “a bunch of kids making bad decisions” — but not something that warranted serious charges.

Defense lawyers also said the video that was taken by students to share on social media not only misrepresents what happened, it shows that the man’s movement was not restricted as he ran away. Attorneys also attacked the statement of facts written by police, saying that it relied on the students’ accounts even as officers openly questioned the truth of what they were saying.

At one point, Angiulo argued that the students were simply being students.

“They decided they wanted to confront a person they disagreed with,” he said, according to the Telegram & Gazette. “Isn’t that what college is all about?”

Florida prosecutors dropped a felony charge against a woman who allegedly threatened her health insurance company after being denied a claim and invoked the now-infamous phrase “Delay, Deny, Depose.”

Records show that prosecutors dropped the threats to conduct a mass shooting or an act of terrorism earlier this month against 42-year-old Briana Boston. Prosecutors did not say why they dropped the case but it likely was tied at least in part to Boston’s lack of criminal history and her that she had no desire to actually carry out the alleged threat.

More from Law&Crime: Man accused of threatening Elon Musk on X had rifle, ammunition and bulletproof vest stashed inside home: Cops

“My client is 42, married mother of three,” her attorney Jim Headley said during her first appearance, according to NewsNation. “Never had any criminal charges or convictions.”

Boston had been out on bond since mid-December and was allowed to go to her children’s medical appointments and school, per an order filed with the court.

As Law&Crime previously reported, Boston’s comments came on the heels of the murder of the UnitedHealthcare CEO.

The FBI notified the Lakeland Police Department on Dec. 10 about a local woman who threatened an employee of BlueCross BlueShield during a recorded phone call. A probable cause arrest affidavit said Boston had called about a recent medical insurance claim that was denied. At the end of the call, Boston allegedly said “Deny, Delay, Depose. You people are next.”

Investigators reportedly found the words “deny,” “defend” and “depose” handwritten on the shell casings from the bullets that killed UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in New York City. Luigi Mangione, the alleged shooter who was arrested after a massive manhunt, wrote a manifesto railing against health care companies.

Lakeland cops went to Boston’s home to interview her. She reportedly admitted to threatening the person on the other line. Boston said she was sorry, doesn’t have any firearms and is not a danger to anyone.

“Boston further stated the healthcare companies played games and deserved karma from the world because they are evil,” cops wrote.

Following Thompson’s killing insurance companies have taken safety measures such as taking down online biographies about executives and hiring personal security.

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3. Judge apologizes to slain jogger Ahmaud Arbery’s…

Criminal Justice

Judge apologizes to slain jogger Ahmaud Arbery’s family after tossing charges against district attorney

By Debra Cassens Weiss

February 10, 2025, 9:21 am CST

A Georgia judge has tossed the charges against a prosecutor accused of favoring a former white investigator in her office before he was charged in the 2020 death of Black jogger Ahmaud Arbery.

Former Brunswick, Georgia, District Attorney Jackie Johnson had been charged with violating her oath of office and obstructing a police officer in the investigation that followed Arbery’s death. Her trial began in January, according to PBS News.

Judge John R. Turner of Glynn County, Georgia, granted a directed verdict on the obstruction charge Feb. 3 after concluding that prosecutors failed to present sufficient evidence that Johnson obstructed the death investigation. Turner tossed the oath-violation charge two days later after defense lawyers argued that the indictment didn’t accuse Johnson of crimes in connection with the charge and listed the wrong oath of office.

Publications covering the tossed charges are Courthouse News Service, Law360 and the Associated Press.

Arbery, 25, was shot and killed after two white men pursued him in a pickup truck because they thought that he was a suspect in several break-ins in the area. A white neighbor who joined the pursuit in his truck recorded the incident on video. No arrests were made for more than two months.

The leaked video later showed that the shooter was Travis McMichael. His father, Gregory McMichael, a former police office who once worked for Johnson, had joined the chase. The man who shot the video was William “Roddie” Bryan. All three were convicted in November 2021, when jurors rejected arguments that they were making a citizen’s arrest and that Arbery was shot in self-defense when Arbery tried to grab a gun. They were also convicted of federal hate crimes in August 2022.

Several witnesses had testified that Johnson never directed anyone to refrain from arresting the McMichaels, according to Courthouse News Service. Johnson testified that she immediately recused herself from the case when she found out that her former employee was involved. When she saw the video, Johnson said, she thought that the slaying “looked like murder,” and she informed the Georgia Bureau of Investigation about calls that she had received from Gregory McMichael.

Turner apologized to Arbery’s family members after tossing the final charge, according to Courthouse News Service.

“This is not a decision I wanted to make, but feel like I must,” he said.

Turner also said he feels “sadness for the death of this young man and what his family has gone through.”

Johnson was represented by lawyer Brian Steel, who also represented rapper Young Thug in a high-profile criminal trial. Steel said Johnson should not have been charged.

“It’s a sad day. Ahmaud Arbery was slaughtered for no reason, and then-Attorney General Chris Carr piggybacked one of the greatest tragedies in our state and nation and indicted an innocent woman,” Steel told Courthouse News Service.

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3. Should defendants without court-appointed…

Criminal Justice

Should defendants without court-appointed lawyers be released? Should charges be dropped? Judge weighs remedies

By Debra Cassens Weiss

January 27, 2025, 3:06 pm CST

A Maine judge is considering how to remedy the state’s failure to provide lawyers to indigent defendants on a timely basis.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Maine is urging Judge Michaela Murphy of Kennebec County, Maine, to order the Maine Commission on Public Defender Services to provide counsel from the time that a defendant is charged. Murphy should give the organization 30 days to come up with an implementation plan, the ACLU said.

Defendants without a court-appointed lawyer after seven days should be released from jail, and those without a lawyer after 45 days should have their charges dismissed until a defense lawyer is available, the ACLU argued.

The Portland Press Herald (in stories here, here and here) and Maine Public Radio have coverage.

Murphy ruled Jan. 3 that Maine is violating the Sixth Amendment rights of criminal defendants who remain unrepresented after arraignment or first appearances. The judge had a three-day hearing focusing on remedies that ended Friday.

The state is arguing that remedies for the late appointment of a lawyer could be handled on an individual basis.

When Maine adopted a full-time public defender system in 2022, it was the last state to do so. But the state still has a hybrid system in which it relies on private attorneys to handle much of the work, the Portland Press Herald explains. The state also has a “lawyer of the day” program in which temporary lawyers represent defendants for their first court appearance when a permanent lawyer can’t be found.

In testimony on remedies, Walter McKee, an experienced criminal defense lawyer, said it was important to have permanent legal representation early in the case, according to Portland Press Herald.

“These are processes that are important to be dealt with, right from Day 1,” McKee said. “Law enforcement has had a significant amount of time to investigate and follow up. They’re way ahead of the defendant. Those delays are significant, right from the start.”

The ACLU case is State of Maine v. Robbins.

See also:

Defenseless: Lack of public defenders creates a crisis for indigent clients and increased caseloads for lawyers

Federal judge orders release of county’s unrepresented defendants, says problem is ‘complete tragedy’

Citing ‘Sixth Amendment nightmare,’ 9th Circuit allows pretrial release of defendants without lawyers

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3. SCOTUSblog founder Tom Goldstein faces tax…

Tax Law

SCOTUSblog founder Tom Goldstein faces tax evasion charges

By Amanda Robert and Lee Rawles

January 16, 2025, 3:58 pm CST

Updated: SCOTUSblog publisher and co-founder Tom Goldstein was indicted on federal tax evasion charges Thursday.

Between 2016 and 2022, Goldstein allegedly schemed to “evade the assessment of taxes, file false tax returns and fail to pay his tax obligations when they were due,” according to the indictment, which was filed in the District of Maryland. The 22-count indictment lists four counts of tax evasion; 10 counts of aiding and assisting the preparation of false and fraudulent tax returns; five counts of willful failure to pay taxes; and three counts relating to false statements on mortgage loan applications.

Law360 has coverage.

Goldstein was described as an “ultrahigh-stakes poker player” and allegedly took millions of dollars from his boutique law firm, Goldstein & Russell, to pay personal debts, including gambling debts, the indictment said. He also underreported his gambling winnings by millions of dollars.

Goldstein announced his retirement from his U.S. Supreme Court practice and his firm, which was in Bethesda, Maryland, in 2023. At the time, he cited the increasingly conservative balance of the court as one of the reasons.

He said he would continue to publish the blog that he co-founded, SCOTUSblog, which features reporting by his wife, Amy Howe, who’s also a co-founder.

Past ABA Journal coverage also noted that Goldstein is a “formidable” poker player who once won $100,000 in an 18-hour game at the Bellagio. In 2009, the Journal included Goldstein in its inaugural class of Legal Rebels.

According to the indictment, Goldstein also allegedly was involved in intimate relationships with a least a dozen women from 2016 to 2022, and he created “sham employment arrangements” for several of those women.

The indictment said he transferred hundreds of thousands of dollars to them for travel and other expenses, and to supplement those payments, he “hired” them as employees at his firm.

They received salaries and health insurance despite performing little to no work for the firm, the indictment said.

Among the other details alleged in the indictment:

• In 2014, Goldstein approached a former client, a California-based billionaire, for a $10 million loan to support his gambling activities. The businessman “agreed to do so but required Goldstein to sign a promissory note memorializing the loan and Goldstein’s obligation to repay” and “by the end of 2022, Goldstein still owed more than $8.89 million.”

• In a series of poker games in Beverly Hills in 2016, Goldstein won $26,435,000. The same year, he also lost millions and sent $1,171,600 via wire transfers from the Goldstein & Russell bank accounts to satisfy “four gambling debt payments and two promissory note payments.” The firm manager was not told that these were personal debts, “resulting in those transfers being falsely classified as ‘Legal Fee[]’ expenses” of the firm.

• In 2017, Goldstein had a $250,000 legal fee owed by an unnamed law firm to Goldstein & Russell “in connection with G&R’s Supreme Court briefing in a securities class action case” deposited to a personal bank account he used for gambling. According to the indictment, Goldstein did not have his firm manager prepare an invoice for the $250,000, and “he did not tell anyone at G&R or the accounting firm that he had diverted the G&R fee to his gambling account, or that he had used it to satisfy a personal poker debt.”

• Also in 2017, a second unnamed law firm and a named partner at that law firm agreed to “invest” $500,000 in return for a share of Goldstein’s winnings from a series of poker matches against a California businessman. However, “the overall result of the matches during that period was that Goldstein lost more than $16 million,” and the law firm demanded its $500,000 be returned. Payments were transferred to the law firm from the Goldstein & Russell accounts, but the Goldstein & Russell firm manager was not told they were personal gambling-related debts.

• After a 2018 trip to Macau, China, Goldstein landed at Dulles International Airport with a duffel bag holding $968,000 in cash. He told a U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer that these were gambling winnings, but failed to report it as such on his 2018 taxes.

• In 2019, Goldstein represented a foreign gambler whom he had previously played poker against, “in connection with certain court proceedings in Macau.” He was paid $235,000 for that legal work, but when the money was deposited into his firm’s bank account, it “was not reported as legal fee income,” and Goldstein allegedly asked his accounts to make sure the money was “classified as a reduction to shareholder distributions.”

• During 2020 and 2021, Goldstein allegedly conducted some 280 cryptocurrency transactions worth more than $9.5 million. Despite this, on both years’ tax forms, he answered “no” when asked whether he had made any virtual currency transactions.

• In 2021, when applying for a mortgage for a $2.65 million home in Washington, D.C, Goldstein “falsely omitted more than $15,500,000 that he owed in personal debts and federal taxes.”

CNBC reports that Goldstein has hired attorneys John Lauro of Lauro & Singer and Christopher Kise of Continental Attorneys-at-Law to represent him. Lauro and Kise have appeared in previous media coverage in connection with their representation of President-elect Donald Trump.

In a statement to CNBC, Kise and Lauro said: “Mr. Goldstein is a prominent attorney with an impeccable reputation. We are deeply disappointed that the government brought these charges in a rush to judgment without understanding all of the important facts. Our client intends to vigorously contest these charges, and we expect he will be exonerated at trial.”

An email sent by the ABA Journal to Goldstein’s SCOTUSblog address was returned as undeliverable.

Last updated on Jan. 17 to correct a reference to John Lauro’s law firm.

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A YouTube star from Texas is facing aggravated kidnapping charges for abducting two women and taking them on a wild, high-speed car ride on Interstate 10 — during which he threatened the victims with a gun and began praying with them — before dumping the pair off on the shoulder and telling them, “This is your only opportunity.”

Corey Pritchett Jr., 26, of Houston, is accused of fleeing to Qatar after the alleged kidnapping incident, which unfolded on Nov. 24, according to his criminal complaint, which was filed in Harris County and viewed by Law&Crime Monday. The victims were found by deputies with the Waller County Sheriff’s Office near a weigh station off I-10 in the Brookshire area after a local resident saw the women on the side of the road and called 911.

Pritchett, who has over 5 million subscribers across his two YouTube channels — one for his personal videos, @CoreySSG31, and another for family posts with his wife and two children, @Pritchettfamily — allegedly dumped the pair there after meeting them at a Houston-area gym earlier in the day to work out. They also went on an ATV outing together with some friends of his and spent time at a local bowling alley, according to the complaint, before things eventually took a dark turn.

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3. Judge gave ‘reasonable impression’ she was…

Judiciary

Judge gave ‘reasonable impression’ she was letting immigrant evade ICE, ethics charges say

By Debra Cassens Weiss

December 5, 2024, 12:52 pm CST

A Massachusetts judge who allegedly gave a “reasonable impression” that she was allowing an immigrant to evade federal custody was “less than fully candid” when asked about the incident, according to an ethics complaint filed Monday.

The judge, Judge Shelley M. Richmond Joseph of Massachusetts, is accused of willful misconduct in the ethics complaint.

Boston.com, Reuters, the Daily Mail and Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly have coverage.

Joseph maintains, however, that she was not aware of a plan to let Jose Medina-Perez escape custody, and she was cooperative and truthful in the investigation by supervisors and disciplinary authorities. She “committed no misconduct and certainly no willful judicial misconduct,” her lawyers said in the written response to the charges.

“Judge Joseph looks forward to a hearing where all the circumstances finally become public,” said Thomas Hoopes, her lawyer, in a statement published by Reuters.

Joseph had once faced federal charges of conspiracy to obstruct justice over the April 2018 incident in the Newton, Massachusetts, courthouse.

Prosecutors had alleged that Joseph allowed Medina-Perez to go downstairs to the lockup, supposedly to retrieve property. The immigrant was then allowed to leave through a back door by a court officer. The charges were dropped in September 2022 after Joseph agreed to report herself to the Massachusetts Commission on Judicial Conduct.

The ethics complaint recounted the alleged sequence of events.

Medina-Perez was in court on a Pennsylvania warrant and two controlled-substance violations. A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent was in the courtroom, and Joseph asked him to wait outside in accord with district court policy. At some point before a reconvened hearing, the defense attorney “formulated a plan with the court officer” to avoid ICE agents in which Medina-Perez would be returned to the lockup and let out of a door by the court officer.

The prosecutor later advised Joseph and the defense attorney that she no longer thought that Medina-Perez was the subject of the Pennsylvania warrant, and she would not seek bail on the misdemeanor charges. During a recorded sidebar conference, the defense lawyer said, “ICE is going to pick him up if he walks out the front door. But I think the best thing for us to do is to clear the fugitive issue, release him on a personal, … and hope that we can avoid ICE.”

Joseph allegedy replied, “The other alternative is if you need more time to figure this out—hold until tomorrow.” The defense lawyer responded that ICE would pick up Medina-Perez if he was bailed out. Joseph allegedly responded, “ICE is gonna get him?” and, “What if we detain him?”

The defense lawyer then asked whether the sidebar conference was on the record. Joseph directed the court clerk to turn off the recording equipment. The unrecorded remarks lasted 52 seconds.

Joseph’s recorded statements “would give a reasonable observer the impression that she sought to assist defense counsel in identifying a means for the defendant to avoid ICE,” the ethics complaint says. “Judge Joseph’s willingness to conduct an unrecorded sidebar conversation with counsel, in violation of [a district court rule], added to the basis for that impression.”

The defense lawyer allegedly asked Joseph in the unrecorded conference to allow him to accompany Medina-Perez to return to the lockup area after he was released from state custody. The defense lawyer also allegedly said Medina-Perez could be released through a rear door, according to the ethics complaint. Joseph allegedly agreed to the request with the knowledge that ICE agents were waiting in a different area of the courthouse.

When the recorder was turned back on, the defense lawyer said he thought that the defendant had property downstairs, and he would like to speak with him with an interpreter. “That’s fine. Of course,” Joseph said. After their arrival downstairs, the court officer released the defendant from the rear door, unbeknownst to the ICE agent.

Joseph failed to disclose the unrecorded session to the first justice of the Newton District Court, and when asked about it by a regional administrative judge, she said her unfamiliarity with courtroom equipment may have caused a portion of the hearing not to be recorded, the ethics complaint said.

She mentioned an experience in another courtroom in which she disconnected the recording system after learning that it was amplifying a sidebar conversation. In a conversation with the chief justice of the district court, she denied having anything to do with the defendant’s release.

In her response, Joseph denied that the defense lawyer told her of a plan to release the defendant through the rear door. In addition, she had no knowledge where the ICE agents were waiting outside the courtroom, the response said.

In her response, Joseph said she suggested detaining Medina-Perez to give the defense lawyer time to investigate his belief that ICE had issued a detainer for the wrong person. Because prosecutors were not seeking bail, she thought that the defendant would be released to ICE after his lawyer spoke with him, she said.

As for the unrecorded sidebar, her experiences as a practicing lawyer “led her to believe that this was an occurrence with no sinister meaning,” her response said.

Joseph was suspended in April 2019 as a result of the federal indictment but was reinstated after the federal charges were dropped in 2022, according to Boston.com. She is currently a judge for the Boston Municipal Court.

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3. ‘Ultimatedadbod’ lawyer arrested on child…

Criminal Justice

‘Ultimatedadbod’ lawyer arrested on child exploitation charges after chats with undercover agents reveal identity

By Debra Cassens Weiss

November 20, 2024, 8:56 am CST

Updated: A Tennessee lawyer was arrested last week on federal charges that include child exploitation and animal crushing after he allegedly shared a digital photo of himself with an undercover agent that included a certificate on the wall with his name.

Patrick Bryant Hawley, 42, of Lookout Mountain, Tennessee, was arrested after he unwittingly spoke with undercover agents in online chats, according to allegations in an affidavit filed Nov. 14 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee.

A Nov. 15 press release announced the arrest, while the Chattanooga Times Free Press and Fox Chattanooga have coverage.

“I’m really mainly into pedomoms,” Hawley allegedly told one undercover agent.

After Hawley provided the digital image with the certificate showing his name, a database search led to the Chattanooga law office where he practiced law with his father, the affidavit says. Investigators also said they traced an IP address to his home.

Hawley was arrested after he appeared for a meeting with an undercover FBI agent whom he thought was a fellow pedophile, the arrest affidavit says.

Hawley is accused of distributing online videos depicting child sexual abuse and animal abuse and of exchanging sexual videos with a 14-year-old girl. In one photo sent to the girl, details in the background made it possible to identify the residential location, the affidavit says.

The details included a dresser with small drawers, a lamp with a green shade, figurines and a chain hanging on the wall with handcuffs.

In the conversations with the undercover agents, Hawley allegedly used the usernames “Ultimatedadbod” and “hejumpsaround” and expressed a desire for sex with their daughters.

The charges listed in the complaint are animal crushing; sexual exploitation of children; receipt, possession and distribution of material involving sexual exploitation of minors; and coercion and enticement.

A magistrate judge ordered Hawley’s detention. The defendant was represented by Lee Davis and Logan Davis in an initial court appearance. Lee Davis told the ABA Journal that they are waiting to see whether an indictment will be returned Wednesday on the charges in the criminal complaint. An arraignment on the indictment is scheduled for Friday.

Updated Nov. 20 at 9:28 a.m. to include the comment from Lee Davis.

Attorneys for former President Donald Trump on Thursday moved to dismiss the Jan. 6 case on the basis that special counsel Jack Smith was unlawfully appointed and has unlawfully spent tens of millions of dollars “on his unjust and unwarranted prosecutions.”

The 30-page proposed motion to dismiss and for injunctive relief is premised on arguments that previously held the day in the Southern District of Florida. Namely, Trump’s attorneys argue the prosecutor in charge of the case was given his authority in violation of the U.S. Constitution’s appointments and appropriations clauses.

While those arguments did prove successful in one courtroom, in the Mar-a-Lago documents case, U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan has, so far, appeared disdainful of the idea that U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon’s summer decision might be cited as controlling precedent.

That’s no problem for the 45th president — his latest motion largely relies on U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.

A supporter of former President Donald Trump from Montana, who bragged that not only would he be cleared of charges for entering the U.S. Capitol building during the Jan. 6 riots but would be paid “a huge premium” for it, will spend two years in prison.

Henry Phillip “Hank” Muntzer, 55, learned his fate on Thursday after he was found guilty in February of obstruction of an official proceeding, civil disorder, trespassing, disorderly conduct and picketing in the Capitol and was ordered to pay $2,000 restitution. The charge of obstructing an official proceeding was dismissed before sentencing because a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in June made it more difficult to prosecute that charge, The Associated Press reported.