Star Tribune
Special counsel moves to dismiss election interference case against President-elect Donald Trump
WASHINGTON — Special counsel Jack Smith asked a federal judge on Monday to dismiss the case accusing President-elect Donald Trump of plotting to overturn the 2020 election, citing longstanding Justice Department policy shielding presidents from prosecution while in office.
The move announced in court papers marks the end of the Justice Department’s landmark effort to hold Trump accountable for what prosecutors called a criminal conspiracy to cling to power in the run-up to his supporters’ attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
In court papers. prosecutors said the Justice Department’s position “is that the Constitution requires that this case be dismissed before the defendant is inaugurated.”
The decision was expected after Smith’s team began assessing how to wind down both the 2020 election interference case and the separate classified documents case in the wake of Trump’s victory over Vice President Kamala Harris. The Justice Department believes Trump can no longer be tried in accordance with longstanding policy that says sitting presidents cannot be prosecuted.
Star Tribune
Woman spared prison for after the fact role in fatal shooting at Twin Cities gas station
A woman was spared prison Monday and sentenced to probation for aiding a man accused in a fatal shooting 3½ years ago at a Minneapolis gas station.
Yalayna R. Butcher-Griffin, 25, of Oakdale, was sentenced in Hennepin County District Court to three years’ probation and given credit for the nearly six months she spent in jail after pleading guilty to aiding an offender after the fact in connection with the shooting of 19-year-old George F. Zeon, of Plymouth, on May 6, 2021, at the Amstar gas station on West Broadway between James and Knox avenues.
If she abides by the terms of probation, Butcher-Griffin’s conviction can be reduced from a felony to a misdemeanor.
Butcher-Griffin’s sentence also includes an agreement by her to cooperate with the prosecution and testify truthfully against the accused shooter, 21-year-old Albert J. Lucas, of St. Paul, who was 17 years old at the time of the shooting and has been charged in adult court with second-degree murder. He remains jailed in lieu of $1 million bail ahead of a Dec. 9 court date.
According to criminal complaint from the 2021 killing:
Surveillance video showed a vehicle pull up to Zeon as he pumped gas. Two males left the vehicle, entered the store, came out and confronted Zeon, whose girlfriend was with him.
She told police the suspects were asking Zeon about being in a gang, which confused her.
Star Tribune
Former youth leader for Duluth Vineyard church, Jackson Gatlin, sentenced to prison for sexual assault
Since Gatlin’s plea earlier this month, nine victims have filed civil charges against him — in addition to his parents, Duluth Vineyard and Vineyard USA, its governing body.
In the civil complaints filed November 6, Gatlin is accused of extended hugs, touching teenaged girls over and under their clothes, making them touch him, tackling them in the guise of playing games, and raping them. He is accused of tying a girl to his bedpost. In one case, Brenda Gatlin reportedly walked into her bedroom and found her son sexually assaulting a girl. Nothing came of it, according to the complaint.
Gatlin told several girls that he was going to teach them and show them the love of god, according to court documents. A parent found sexual text messages from Jackson Gatlin to their daughter and notified at least one of his parents.
The Gatlins, Duluth Vineyard and Vineyard USA are accused of continuing to give Jackson Gatlin access to minors, even though leadership had been told of his action, not providing proper training, covering up information and not going to the local police department, among other accusations.
Jackson Gatlin was fired from his position within the church in mid-February 2023 and was not allowed back on the church campus. Michael Gatlin resigned as senior pastor at Duluth Vineyard and from various positions and board tied to the church in February 2023. He had been with the church for 2 years. Brenda Gatlin, who was a super regional leader for Vineyard USA, followed suit.
Officials on Monday released the identity of a man who was killed late last week in St. Paul in a drive-by shooting.
Andre Lorenzo Mitchell, 26, of Minneapolis, was shot shortly after 1:30 p.m. Friday in the 600 block of Aurora Avenue, steps away from the Rondo Community Library and St. Albans Church of God. police said.
No arrests have been announced.
Mitchell was in a parked vehicle with another male and two small children when a second car drove by, shots were fired, and the car’s driver fled. No one else was injured in the shooting, and Mitchell died while being transported by ambulance.
Police are asking that anyone with information about the shooting to contact police at 651-266-5650.
There have been 10 homicides over the past two months in St. Paul, eight of them committed from gunfire, according to police reports.
So far this year, the homicide tally in St. Paul stands at 29, according to a Minnesota Star Tribune database. That’s the same number at this point last year in the city.
