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- Supreme Court Denies Appeal from Texas Death Row Inmate Even Though the Prosecut...
AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File The Supreme Court of the United States denied an appeal from a death row inmate in Texas on Monday, despite motions in support filed by both his defense attorneys and the prosecutors who handled his case. Victor Saldaño was convicted and sentenced to death in Collin County, Texas in 1996 for a robbery and murder. According to The Texas Tribune, “Saldaño and an accomplice forced [the victim] into their car at gunpoint in Plano and drove him to a secluded area, where they robbed him and shot him several times.” In 2024, Saldaño petitioned the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals to be able to present evidence that he was intellectually disabled and therefore it would be unconstitutional under the Eighth Amendment’s prohibitions against cruel and unusual punishment to execute him, pursuant to a 2002 Supreme Court case, Atkins v. Virginia. The evidence he wanted to use included “three IQ tests — including one from the state — that found Saldaño within the range for intellectual disability, as well as interviews with 13 people who knew him before and during his incarceration,” reported the Tribune. The TCCA denied Saldaño’s petition and he appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court for a writ of certiorari. In a very unusual move, the Collin County prosecutors filed a brief supporting Saldaño’s petition and agreeing with his attorneys’ argument that he had “made a prima facie showing that he is intellectually disabled under Atkins…both Saldaño’s experts and the State’s expert agree that he meets the criteria for [intellectual disability] under Atkins.” But the Supreme Court disagreed, in a 6-3 decision. Saldaño’s petition for a writ of certiorari was denied without a written opinion, and Justice Sonia Sotomayor, joined by Justices Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson, wrote a 6-page dissent. “Here, every expert to have evaluated petitioner Victor Saldaño has concluded that he is intellectually disabled,” wrote Sotomayor. “As a result, both Saldaño and the State of Texas asked the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals (TCCA) to remand for a trial court to review the relevant evidence and decide whether Saldaño can be executed consistent with the Eighth Amendment. Yet the TCCA refused that modest step.” Sotomayor noted that the evidence gathered from Saldaño’s childhood included having to repeat sixth grade, having “difficulty bathing, feeding, and clothing himself,” an incident in which he “‘spent two days without food, a bathroom, or anything… [TheTopNews] Read More.13 hours ago - Tech giant Oracle sheds 21,000 jobs in a year as AI replaces some roles
The cuts are part of a wider trend among tech firms as they spend hundreds of billions of dollars on AI infrastructure. [TheTopNews] Read More.14 hours ago - The Retail Daily podcast
Produced in cooperation with editors from CSP Daily News, the Retail Daily features the day’s top headlines from the grocery and c-store industries [TheTopNews] Read More.14 hours ago - Carlos Mencia Pleads Not Guilty to Tax Evasion as His Attorneys Slam ‘Absurd S...
Screenshot via KTLA 5 Comedian Carlos Mencia pleaded not guilty to tax evasion as his attorneys claim California law enforcement agents used an “absurd show of force” in his June 18 arrest. Following the arrest, Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman announced at a news conference that the comedian failed to report $8.7 million in earnings and owes more than $300,000 in CA state taxes from 2019 to 2024. Hochman also branded Mencia “one of California’s biggest tax scofflaws.” Overall, Mencia faces six felony counts for failure to file a corporate income tax return with the intent to evade tax and another six felony counts for failure to file a personal income tax return with the intent to evade tax, according to Rolling Stone. Mencia, who is perhaps best known for creating and hosting Comedy Central’s Mind of Mencia sketch series, pleaded not guilty to all 12 counts of tax evasion during Monday’s arraignment. If convicted of all charges, he could face up to 11 years and four months in state prison. Although his bail was originally set to $250,000, it was reduced to $50,000 Monday afternoon at the behest of his attorneys, after which Mencia made bail, with The New York Post reporting he stuck out his tongue and laughed as he left the Los Angeles Superior Court. His release comes after his attorneys filed an emergency motion in the Van Nuys courthouse. The California Post reportedly obtained a copy of the motion. “No one argues against the obligation to pay taxes,” the motion purportedly reads. “But the raid at his home with multiple law enforcement agents, screaming ‘search warrant’ with a bullhorn, and drawing guns was an absurd show of force for the alleged offenses that do not involve weapons, drugs or violence.” The emergency motion also reportedly claims Mencia’s “disputed income predates the tax case,” according to The New York Post, and argues his incarceration cost him up to $40,000 in lost income from four nights of missed comedy performances. “The defendant has now already paid a steep price by damaging his national reputation, incarcerating him for several days without the opportunity to post bail and missing out on four nights of a booked venue where he could have earned up to $40,000 that he would have willingly paid to the Franchise Tax Board to start to pay back any taxes owed,” the filing reportedly states. In the filing,… [TheTopNews] Read More.14 hours ago - U.S. Senate passes bipartisan housing bill
The U.S. Senate on Monday passed a bipartisan bill aimed at lowering housing costs, sending it to the House of Representatives for a final vote. [TheTopNews] Read More.14 hours ago - Trump says Colombia’s ‘El Tigre’ will be a ‘great presid...
President Donald Trump congratulated conservative attorney and businessman Abelardo de la Espriella on becoming president of Colombia Monday at the White House. Yet while he holds a slim lead and is the favorite to win over left-wing Senator Ivan Cepeda, authorities have yet to officially certify the result.With 99.9% of votes counted, de la Espriella led with 49.7% to Cepeda's 48.7%. De la Espriella, known to his supporters as "El Tigre," dominated in the country's mountainous interior and the vote-rich state of Antioquia, while Cepeda won in the capital Bogotá and performed well in coastal regions, following trends of recent presidential elections.Cepeda has challenged the results, citing irregularities at thousands of polling stations. Nonetheless, overturning the election would be unprecedented in Colombian history.If de la Espriella does hold out, it will mirror a continent-wide rightward shift seen in recent electoral results in Chile, Ecuador, Bolivia, and Peru, where conservative Keiko Fujimori appears poised to win the presidency.ANTI-CARTEL HARDLINER CHANNELS TRUMP IN BID TO END COLOMBIA'S LEFTIST ERA IN PIVOTAL ELECTIONDonald Trump congratulated de la Espriella during a signing at the White House on Monday. Trump told reporters that, "He called me last night, and he thanked me for the endorsement. He won. He won the election." In response to a question on relations between the U.S. and Colombia, Trump asserted that things would be "Much better. It'll be better. He's going to be a great president."The election featured two candidates representing polar opposites of the Colombian political spectrum. De la Espriella, known as ‘El Tigre’ by his supporters, has enjoyed the enthusiastic backing of Donald Trump, promised a return to the law-and-order approach of former President Alvaro Uribe, and pledged an aggressive military campaign against guerrilla groups and criminal organizations, while Cepeda vowed to continue the negotiation-based strategy of Petro, a longtime political ally.Ivan Cepeda is a longtime figure on the Colombian left, and served as senator for 12 years, following a four-year stint in the Chamber of Representatives. His father, Manuel Cepeda, was a prominent figure in the Colombian Communist Party, and was assassinated in 1994 during a particularly bloody era in Colombia's internal conflict.TRUMP DOUBLES DOWN ON COLOMBIA CRACKDOWN, CALLS PETRO ‘LUNATIC,’ VOWS TO END ALL US PAYMENTS OVER DRUGSThe first round of the election, held on May 31, saw de la Espriella win 43.7% of the vote, to Cepeda's 40.9%, with right-wing Senator Paloma Valencia placing a… [TheTopNews] Read More.15 hours ago
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