NEWS OF THE DAY
From Across the Nation
_ 1 Floyd case: A Minnesota judge has dismissed a thirddegree murder charge filed against the former Minneapolis police officer who pressed his knee against George Floyd’s neck, but the more serious seconddegree murder charge remains. Hennepin County District Court Judge Peter Cahill’s ruling was made public Thursday. Derek Chauvin faces two counts: seconddegree murder and manslaughter. Cahill also denied defense requests to dismiss the aiding and abetting counts against three other former officers, Thomas Lane, J. Jueng and Tou Thao. Chauvin’s attorney said his client had no intent to kill Floyd.
_ 2 Church leader: Citing insufficient evidence, a judge threw out extortion charges Wednesday against the leader of a Mexican megachurch in Los Angeles County but left in place accusations of child rape and human trafficking. The California attorney general’s office failed to show that Naason Joaquin Garcia, selfproclaimed apostle of La Luz del Mundo, extorted sex acts from alleged victims by threatening to disgrace them, Superior Court Judge Stephen Marcus ruled, according to the Los Angeles Times.
_ 3 Funding lawsuit: New York City will join Seattle and Portland, Ore., in filing a lawsuit over President Trump’s threatened withdrawal of federal funds from cities that permit “anarchy,” city officials said Thursday. New York City Corporation Counsel Jim Johnson said as much as $ 12 billion in federal funds affecting health, transportation and law enforcement programs could be at stake. The Justice Department said the three cities were designated as “anarchist” jurisdictions because they met criteria including “whether a jurisdiction forbids the police force from intervening to restore order amid widespread or sustained violence or destruction” and whether the city “disempowers or defunds police departments.”
4 Police shooting: A Black man fatally shot by a suburban Chicago police officer who also shot and wounded a Black woman after her vehicle rolled toward the officer following a traffic stop was identified Thursday by authorities as 19yearold Marcellis Stinnette. Preliminary autopsy results indicate that he died “from injuries due to a gunshot,” Lake County Coroner Dr. Howard Cooper said. Stinnette and a woman whom relatives have identified as his girlfriend and the mother of his child were in a vehicle that fled a traffic stop late Tuesday, according to police. That vehicle was spotted a little later by another officer on patrol. While that officer was approaching the vehicle, it began moving in reverse, police said, and the officer opened fire.
5 _ Ballot deadline: President Trump’s campaign and North Carolina’s Republican legislative leaders asked the U. S. Supreme Court on Thursday to return the state to a shorter deadline for accepting latearriving absentee ballots postmarked by Election Day. The GOP leaders argue in their appeal that the longer deadline — until Nov. 12 as long as ballots were mailed by Nov. 3 — will result in unequal treatment of voters and dilute the value of ballots cast before the rule was changed. The high court is giving other parties until Saturday to file responses.