Crime and Court USA

Two Australian brothers and their American friend were murdered while on a surfing trip in Baja California, Mexico. The reason: thieves wanted to steal the tires on their pickup truck. Also: Support the Show.

Violence is erupting at college campuses across America as police are breaking up encampments set up by pro-Palestinian protesters. Students and officers have suffered injuries, and classes continue to get canceled as safety becomes an issue. Also: Support the Show.

Opening statements and witness testimony in the first criminal trial against former President Donald Trump finally got underway in New York. Prosecutors say Trump and his allies conspired to cover up negative stories about him during the 2016 presidential campaign, including affairs he may have had with two women. The transaction at the heart of the charges is a $130,000 payment to porn star Stormy Daniels that was allegedly covered up in business records. Support the Show.

Father Martin was traveling across America and Canada and visiting Catholic churches along the way. Except Father Martin was no priest at all, but instead was a New Yorker named Malin Rostas who was buying trust and stealing from the parishes he visited. Malin was finally arrested in California on April 11. Also: Malin Rostas article: https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2024-04-12/alleged-fake-priest-stole-from-catholic-churches Support the Show.

Prison guards asked the courts to spare Brian Dorsey's life, but the 52-year-old Missouri man was still put to death after the U.S. Supreme Court decline to grant him clemency. Dorsey was on death row for murdering his cousin and her husband with a shotgun in 2006, leaving their young daughter orphaned. Also: Support the Show.

Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, the armorer on the movie "Rust," was found guilty of manslaughter in the shooting death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins in October 2021. Hutchins was shot after a gun that star and producer Alec Baldwin was holding fired a live round. Baldwin is also charged with manslaughter but has maintained that he did not pull the trigger. Also: Support the Show.

Producer Rodney "Lil Rod" Jones has filed a sexual assault lawsuit against Sean "Diddy" Combs, adding to a slew of sexual assault lawsuits the hip-hop mogul has faced recently. Also: The trial for the armorer accused of manslaughter in the death of a cinematographer on the set of an Alec Baldwin film is underway in Santa Fe. Support the Show.

Six men were gunned down in the California desert in January in what authorities believe was a dispute tied to an illegal marijuana-growing operation. Despite the fact that marijuana is legal for recreational use in California, violence like this continues to take place. Also: Resources: Marijuana killings: https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2024-01-29/arrests-announced-after-6-bodies-found-in-san-bernardino-county-desert https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2024-02-03/illegal-marijuana-california-crime-federal-law https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-11-09/california-cannabis-deaths-father-and-son-mexico-murders-mendocino-county https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-10-28/aguanga-riverside-marijuana-grow-murders-laotian Donald Trump: https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2024/02/06/trump-jan-6-immunity-appeal-denied/ Jennifer Crumbley: https://abcnews.go.com/US/jury-reaches-verdict-jennifer-crumbley-manslaughter-trial/story?id=106924349 Support the Show.

Vince McMahon left the WWE after a former employee accused him of sexual assault and sex trafficking in a new federal lawsuit. The details of some sexual encounters between her, McMahon and other WWE employees are very disturbing, and have allegedly left the victim with trauma so bad that she can't leave her house for weeks at a time. McMahon has denied all the allegations. Also: The state of Alabama used a controversial method to execute an inmate that has never been used before, leaving some to believe that it was cruel human experimentation; and A jury finds that Donald Trump must pay E. Jean Carroll over $83 million as part of a defamation lawsuit she filed against him. Resources: Vince McMahon: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/wwe-founder-vince-mcmahon-resigns-ex-employee-accuses-lawsuit-sexual-a-rcna135981 https://www.washingtonpost.com/style/2024/01/27/vince-mcmahon-wwe-resigns/ Alabama execution: https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2024/01/25/alabama-execution-nitrogen-gas-kenneth-smith/ https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/25/us/nitrogen-gas-execution/index.html Support the Show.

On Christmas Eve 2002, 27-year-old Laci Peterson, who was eight months pregnant, vanished into thin air. Her body was found months later in the San Francisco Bay. Laci's husband, Scott Peterson, was convicted on murder charges for killing Laci and their unborn son and was sentenced to life in prison. Now, the Los Angeles Innocence Project says new evidence may back Scott's claim that he didn't kill Laci. Also: Resources: Scott Peterson case: https://abcnews.go.com/US/innocence-project-takes-case-notorious-killer-scott-peterson/story?id=106487571 https://abc7chicago.com/scott-peterson-case-new-evidence-innocence-project/14352815/ https://www.newsnationnow.com/crime/scott-peterson-innocence-project-evidence/ Alec Baldwin: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/19/arts/alec-baldwin-charged-involuntary-manslaughter.html https://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/local_news/santa-fe-grand-jury-indicts-alec-baldwin-on-new-manslaughter-charge/article_05b5bc9a-b700-11ee-b312-77b2f98dec41.html Romeo Nance: https://abc7chicago.com/romeo-nance-2200-west-acres-road-joliet-il-killer/14352185/ Jennifer Crumbley trial: https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2024/01/22/jennifer-crumbley-trial-preview/ Uvalde report: https://apnews.com/article/uvalde-school-shooting-police-crime-charges-aff5ec50f5819913da41f412dadb5a74 Donald Trump case: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/01/18/trump-supreme-court-colorado-ballot-brief/ Support the Show.

The Supreme Court has said that it will take on a case that will determine whether cities in the U.S. can ban sleeping in public, even when there are no other options for people experiencing homelessness. And; Former U.S. President Donald Trump was admonished by two different judges this last week after Trump acted inappropriately in court. Support the Show.

Former U.S. President Donald Trump, who is also the GOP frontrunner in this year's presidential election, didn't have a lot go his way recently in several court cases against him -- but the Supreme Court may bail him out. Also: Support the Show.

Three former New Mexico State Basketball players -- Kim Aiken Jr., Doctor Bradley and DeShawndre Washington -- were charged with criminal sexual penetration, criminal sexual contact and false imprisonment for allegedly holding down other players and student staff members and violating them. This is the latest in a string of unfortunate events for the program in the last year, which included another former player shooting a University of New Mexico student during an altercation and lawsuits against the school for the alleged sexual crimes. Also: Support the Show.

Authorities in Nevada have charged 60 year old Duane Davis with the 1996 murder of influential rapper Tupac Shakur, who was only 25 at the time of his death. Davis had tied himself to the fatal shooting in his 2019 memoir, a move that no doubt piqued investigators' curiosity. Also: Support the Show.

One man was shot and taken to a hospital during a protest around the re-introduction of a statue depicting controversial Spanish conquistador Juan de Onate in Espanola, New Mexico, on Thursday. The alleged shooter, Ryan Martinez, was taken into custody a short time after. The victim is Jacob Johns, a Native American man from Spokane, Washington. Onate and statues depicting him have been a controversial topic for several years now. There was a shooting at a similar protest in Albuquerque a few years ago, which calls into question why government officials in Espanola wanted to re-introduce the statue this week. Resources: https://www.abqjournal.com/news/man-shot-during-juan-de-o-ate-statue-rally-in-espa-ola/article_946dcd3c-5e2d-11ee-9363-97e4e793df8a.html#tncms-source=home-featured-7-block https://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/local_news/sheriffs-official-ids-suspected-shooter-in-violence-at-planned-site-of-o-ate-statue/article_631b4766-5d63-11ee-a392-db0eabb068dc.html Support the Show.

NFL legend Deion Sanders has turned the University of Colorado Boulder's football team, which went 1-11 last season, into the talk of college football with a hot 3-0 start. Coach Prime changed the culture with controversial methods -- like unloading players into the transfer portal and turning the swag factor to 11 -- but the results seem to speak for themselves. Also: A federal judge has struck down New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham's ban on firearms in public places in Albuquerque -- a measure she put in place after two children were killed in separate shootings in less than a month in the state's biggest city. Support the Show.

Last week, 11-year-old Froylan Villegas was killed outside a AAA baseball stadium in Albuquerque when an unknown gunman opened fire on the car he and his family were riding in. In response, New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham issued a 30-day gun ban in public spaces in Albuquerque. The measure has drawn backlash from both Democrats and Republicans, and lawsuits over the order's constitutionality are already being filed. Support the Show.

Enrique Tarrio, the leader of the far-right activist group the Proud Boys, was sentenced to 22 years in prison for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol. Also: Support the Show.

For U.S. President Donald Trump now faces additional charges for allegedly directing staff members to delete security video footage at his Mar-a-Lago residence. Trump is already facing charges for mishandling classified U.S. documents and keeping them at Mar-a-Lago after he left the White House. Also: Resources: Donald Trump charges: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/27/us/politics/trump-documents-carlos-de-oliveira-charged.html https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/07/27/trump-carlos-deoliveira-classified-indictment/ Aliens: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/are-5-memorable-moments-congress-ufo-hearing-rcna96476 Support the Show.

The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department has confirmed that it has served a search warrant in relation to the murder investigation of rapper Tupac Shakur. The artist, widely known as one of the greatest rappers of all time, was gunned down while sitting at a red light in Las Vegas, Nevada, in September 1996. His killing was never solved. Also: *** Resources: Tupac: https://apnews.com/article/tupac-murder-investigation-las-vegas-search-warrant-b7a38a0803afd1b9ee5d9d9ca1d01295?taid=64b6f20fa756b90001e35d9a&utm_campaign=TrueAnthem&utm_medium=AP&utm_source=Twitter Extreme heat: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/16/us/phoenix-arizona-heat-firefighters.html https://www.nbcnews.com/news/weather/live-blog/heat-wave-warnings-across-us-live-updates-rcna94490 https://www.abqjournal.com/news/albuquerque-emergency-rooms-see-surge-of-patients-as-heatwave-continues/article_70a1e978-24f9-11ee-99a2-5346c7a8e0ab.html https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2023/07/17/europe-heatwave-italy-spain-record-clima te/ Donald Trump: https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/07/18/trump-jan6-target-letter/ Support the Show.