CBS News
Georgia prosecutor asks appeals court to reinstate 6 tossed charges in Trump case
Six dismissed charges accusing former President Donald Trump and five others of illegally soliciting Georgia officials to violate their oaths of office should be reinstated, Georgia prosecutors told an appeals court.
In a brief for the state’s Court of Appeals, lawyers for Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis said a judge “erred” when he dismissed the charges in March.
The charges, which were among a total of 41 filed against Trump and 18 others in 2023, accuse six of the defendants of trying to coerce state officials into helping overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. Trump himself faced 13 counts in the indictment and pleaded not guilty.
Judge Scott McAfee said in March that the charges of solicitation must be dismissed, writing that Willis’ office failed to provide the defendants with enough information about the charges to defend themselves.
“The lack of detail concerning an essential legal element is, in the undersigned’s opinion, fatal,” McAfee wrote.
Willis’ office shot back in their brief, which was filed Tuesday, saying the indictment “included an abundance of context and factual allegations about the solicitations at issue, including when the requests were made, to whom the requests were made and the manner in which the requests were made.”
Steve Sadow, Trump’s lead counsel in the case, said in a statement the brief “is simply incorrect on the law.”
“The trial court’s dismissal order properly decided that the State failed to sufficiently plead the allegations in the dismissed counts under Georgia law,” Sadow said.
The dismissed counts accuse Trump, former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and attorneys Rudy Giuliani, John Eastman, Ray Smith and Bob Cheeley of illegally trying to influence various state officials after the 2020 election.
McAfee also dismissed another three counts regarding filing false documents in September, including two against Trump. Prosecutors are expected to appeal that decision as well.
The case is one of three against Trump that have stalled this year. The Fulton County case has been on hold since June, when the Court of Appeals agreed to consider whether Willis should be removed from the case for a romantic relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade that has been criticized by defense attorneys and McAfee.
A federal case accusing Trump of illegally removing confidential national security material from the White House was dismissed in July. Special counsel Jack Smith is appealing that decision.
Proceedings in the other federal case brought by Smith’s office, revolving around Trump’s alleged efforts to overthrow the 2020 election results, were delayed for months as the Supreme Court considered issues related to presidential immunity.
In May, Trump was convicted of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. The New York State case stemmed from an effort before the 2016 presidential election to suppress an adult film star’s story of an extramarital sexual encounter.
Trump has denied wrongdoing and pleaded not guilty in all four of his criminal cases.
CBS News
Wisconsin school shooter was in contact with California man plotting his own attack, court documents say
The shooter who killed a student and teacher at a religious school in Wisconsin brought two guns to the school and was in contact with a man in California whom authorities say was planning to attack a government building, according to authorities and court documents that became public Wednesday.
Police were still investigating why the 15-year-old student at Abundant Life Christian School in Madison shot and killed a fellow student and teacher on Monday before shooting herself, Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes told the Associated Press Wednesday. Two other students who were shot remained in critical condition on Wednesday.
A Southern California judge issued a restraining order Tuesday under California’s gun red flag law against a 20-year-old Carlsbad man. The order requires the man to turn his guns and ammunition into police within 48 hours unless an officer asks for them sooner because he poses an immediate danger to himself and others.
Carlsbad is located just north of San Diego.
According to the order, the man told FBI agents that he had been messaging Natalie Rupnow, the Wisconsin shooter, about attacking a government building with a gun and explosives. The order doesn’t say what building he had targeted or when he planned to launch his attack. It also doesn’t detail his interactions with Rupnow except to state that the man was plotting a mass shooting with her.
CBS’ San Diego affiliate KFMB-TV reported that law enforcement searched the man’s home Tuesday night after the order was signed by the judge.
Police, with the assistance of the FBI, were scouring online records and other resources and speaking with the shooter’s parents and classmates in an attempt to determine a motive for the shooting, Barnes told the AP.
Police don’t know if anyone was targeted in the attack or if the attack had been planned in advance, the chief said. Police said the shooting occurred in a classroom where a study hall was taking place involving students from several grades.
“I do not know if if she planned it that day or if she planned it a week prior,” Barnes said. “To me, bringing a gun to school to hurt people is planning. And so we don’t know what the premeditation is.”
On a Madison city website providing details about the shooting, police disclosed Wednesday that two guns were found at the school, but only one was used in the shooting. A law enforcement source previously told CBS News the weapon used appears to have been a 9 mm pistol.
Barnes told the AP that he did not know how the suspected shooter obtained the guns and he declined to say who purchased them, citing the ongoing investigation.
No decisions have been made about whether Rupnow’s parents might be charged in relation to the shooting, but they have been cooperating, Barnes told the AP.
Abundant Life is a nondenominational Christian school that offers prekindergarten classes through high school. About 420 students attend the institution.
The Dan County Medical Examiner’s Office identified the two people killed Wednesday as 42-year-old Erin West and 14-year-old Rubi Vergara.
An online obituary on a local funeral site stated Vergara was a freshman who leaves behind her parents, one brother, and a large extended family. It described her as “an avid reader” who “loved art, singing and playing keyboard in the family worship band.”
West’s exact position with the school was unclear.
Watch CBS News
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.
A teacher and student killed in a shooting earlier this week at a school in Madison, Wisconsin, were identified Wednesday by authorities.
The Dane County Medical Examiner’s Office said in a news release provided to CBS News that 42-year-old Erin West and 14-year-old Rubi Vergara were fatally shot Monday morning at Abundant Life Christian School.
Preliminary examinations determined the two died of “homicidal firearm related trauma.” Both were pronounced dead at the scene, the medical examiner said.
An online obituary on a local funeral site stated Vergara was a freshman who leaves behind her parents, one brother, and a large extended family. It described her as “an avid reader” who “loved art, singing and playing keyboard in the family worship band.”
West’s exact position with the school was unclear.
The medical examiner also confirmed that a preliminary autopsy found that the suspected shooter, 15-year-old Natalie Rupnow — a student at the same school — was pronounced dead at a local hospital Monday of “firearm related trauma.” Madison Chief of Police Shon F. Barnes had previously told reporters that Rupnow was pronounced dead while being transported to a hospital.
Police had also previously stated that she was believed to have died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
The shooting at the private Christian K-12 school was reported just before 11 a.m. Monday. In addition to the two people killed and the shooter, six others were wounded.
Police said the shooting occurred in a classroom where a study hall was taking place involving students from several grades.
A handgun was recovered after the shooting, Barnes said, but it was unclear where the gun came from or how many shots were fired. A law enforcement source said the weapon used in the shooting appears to have been a 9 mm pistol.
and
contributed to this report.
Wisconsin school shooter was in contact with California man plotting his own attack, court documents say
Red Lake Anishinaabe family’s story of courage and heritage
Three Minnesota men federally indicted for illegally buying, selling opioids
Wisconsin school shooter was in contact with California man plotting his own attack, court documents say
Red Lake Anishinaabe family’s story of courage and heritage