/usr/web/www.marshallindependent.com/wp-content/themes/coreV2/single.php
×

National Briefs

Ex cardinal charged with sexual assault

BOSTON (AP) — Former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, who was defrocked after a Vatican investigation confirmed he had sexually molested adults as well as children, has been charged with sexually assaulting a teenage boy during a wedding reception in Massachusetts in 1974, court records show. McCarrick is the first cardinal in the U.S. to ever be criminally charged with a sexual crime against a minor, according to Mitchell Garabedian, a well-known lawyer for church sexual abuse victims who is representing the man alleging the abuse by McCarrick. “It takes an enormous amount of courage for a sexual abuse victim to report having been sexually abused to investigators and proceed through the criminal process,” Garabedian said in an email. “Let the facts be presented, the law applied, and a fair verdict rendered.” McCarrick faces three counts of indecent assault and battery on a person over 14, according to documents filed in the Dedham District Court on Wednesday.

Ex-police chief pleads guilty to assault

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A former suburban Kansas City police chief who helped rescue a baby from an icy pond and later assaulted the man accused of trying to kill the infant has pleaded guilty in the case. Greg Hallgrimson, 51, pleaded guilty in federal court Wednesday, the Kansas City Star reported. He was indicted in 2019 on a single count of violating the civil rights of Jonathon Zicarelli. Prosecutors have said Hallgrimson threw a handcuffed Zicarelli to the ground, punched him in the face and told Zicarelli, “You deserve to die,” after returning from the rescue mission to the Greenwood, Missouri, police station. Zicarelli had walked into the police station in December 2018 and said he had tried to drown his 6-month-old daughter in a nearby pond, police said.

Nikola founder Milton freed on $100M bail

NEW YORK (AP) — The founder and one-time executive chair of Nikola Corp. was freed on $100 million bail Thursday after pleading not guilty to charges alleging he lied about the electric and hydrogen-powered truck startup, duping novice investors including some financially struggling people looking for income during the pandemic. Trevor Milton, 39, of Oakley, Utah, resigned from Nikola in September amid allegations of fraud. At the time, Milton said he would defend himself against accusations that the company made false claims about its vehicles, allegations Nikola rejects. In an unsealed indictment Manhattan federal court, Milton was charged with securities and wire fraud. At an arraignment, Milton pleaded not guilty.

Newsletter

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *
   

Starting at $4.38/week.

Subscribe Today