South Carolina Supreme Court rejects claim inmate didn't kill clerk and refuses to stop execution

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — The South Carolina Supreme Court has again refused to stop the execution of inmate Freddie Owens who is set to die Friday by lethal injection. The justices ruled Thursday that a sworn statement from a friend whose testimony helped convict Owens and who now...

Justice Department opens civil rights probe of sheriff's office after torture of 2 Black men

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — The Justice Department has opened a civil rights investigation into a Mississippi sheriff's department whose officers tortured two Black men in a racist attack that included beatings, repeated use of stun guns and assaults with a sex toy before one of the victims was shot in...

A lawsuit challenging a South Dakota abortion rights measure will play out after the election

An anti-abortion group's lawsuit to invalidate an abortion rights measure appearing on South Dakota's statewide ballot won't be resolved until after the November election. Media reports of an apparent disconnect between attorneys and the Second Judicial Circuit over scheduling of the...

Murder charge reinstated against ex-trooper in chase that killed girl, 11

NEW YORK (AP) — An appeals court reinstated a murder charge on Thursday against a former New York state trooper in the death of an 11-year-old girl during a high-speed chase. In a 4-1 ruling, a mid-level state appeals court said that trooper Christopher Baldner instigated...

First rioters to breach a police perimeter during Capitol siege are sentenced to prison terms

WASHINGTON (AP) — Four men who were among the first rioters to assault police officers and the first to breach a security perimeter during the attack on the U.S. Capitol were sentenced on Thursday to prison terms ranging from one year of intermittent confinement over weekends to eight years...

Burlington pays $215K to settle a lawsuit accusing an officer of excessive force

Vermont's largest city of Burlington has paid $215,000 to settle a lawsuit accusing a police officer of using excessive force by grabbing a man and slamming him to the ground, knocking him unconscious in September of 2018. According to the federal lawsuit filed in 2019, Mabior Jok...

Jurors watch video of EMTs failing to treat Tyre Nichols after he was beaten

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Two emergency medical technicians stood around for minutes, providing no medical aid to a seriously injured Tyre Nichols who was slumped on the ground after being kicked and punched by five Memphis police officers, according to video shown Thursday at the trial of three of...

White officer who fatally shot Black man shouldn't have been in his backyard, judge rules in suit

A federal judge has partially sided with the family of a Black man who was fatally shot by a now-imprisoned white Kansas City, Missouri, police detective, ruling that the officer should not have entered the man's backyard. U.S. District Judge Beth Phillips ruled Wednesday that Eric...

Families of Oxford shooting victims lose appeal over school's liability for tragedy

DETROIT (AP) — The Michigan Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the Oxford school district on Thursday in a lawsuit that seeks to hold employees partly responsible for a shooting that killed four students and wounded others in 2021. The court, in a 3-0 opinion, said lawyers for the...

Justice Department opens civil rights investigation into Mississippi sheriff's office after torture of 2 Black men