PHOENIX – The trial of a polygamous cult leader charged with kidnapping and tampering with evidence in his community on the Utah-Arizona border has been postponed until 2024.
Samuel Bateman was previously set to face trial next month, but a judge said Friday after prosecutors said they expected more charges to be filed in the case within the next three months. Admit the postponement.
Bateman’s trial has been postponed to March 5, 2024.
He faces federal and state charges in Arizona, including child abuse, obstruction of a federal investigation, and aiding in the abduction of a girl who was placed in the state’s Department of Child Welfare after his arrest earlier this year. claims innocence.
Federal officials have also accused Bateman of having more than 20 wives, including underage girls, but he has not faced any charges directly related to the accusations.
Bateman and his followers practice polygamy, a legacy of the early teachings of the mainstream Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The faith popularly known as the Mormon Church abandoned the practice in 1890 and now strictly prohibits it.
Bateman, who remained incarcerated pending trial, lived in the city of Colorado, Arizona.
Retired Judge Chosen to Review Arizona Enforcement Process
PHOENIX – A former federal magistrate has been appointed to review the execution process in Arizona. Arizona’s history of mismanagement of executions as part of an investigation into lethal injection drug procurement and other capital punishment procedures ordered by Governor Katie Hobbs.
The Democratic governor announced Friday the appointment of former Justice of the Peace David Duncan.
Duncan previously presided over a lawsuit challenging the quality of medical care for prisoners in Arizona, criticized prison officials, and sued the state for $1.4 million in court for failing to keep promises to improve prisoner care. He was known for issuing contempt fines.
Hobbes did not declare a moratorium on the death penalty, but Democratic Attorney General Chris Mays said he would not seek a court order to execute the prisoners while the review was ongoing.
The review will examine the state’s procurement process for lethal injections and lethal gas, execution procedures, media access to executions, and training of staff for executions.
Arizona, which currently holds 110 inmates on death row, suspended three executions last year after an almost eight-year hiatus due to criticism that the 2014 execution failed and the difficulty in obtaining execution drugs. executions were carried out.
Since resuming executions, the state has said it took too long to insert an IV into a convicted prisoner’s body in early May, and that a newspaper in the Republic of Arizona witnessed three previous executions. It has been criticized for refusing to do what I asked it to do.
Hobbes No. 2 No. 2 Nominated, Arizona Child Welfare Director Resigns
Phoenix-Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs has nominated the second candidate in a dropout of her administration.
The Democratic governor announced Thursday that Matthew Stewart, whom she chose to head the state’s Department of Child Services, is leaving the position “in the best interest of all parties involved.”
She did not provide further details in a statement.
Stewart was at the helm for just six weeks. He was also the agency’s first black director.
Republican state lawmakers on Wednesday said Stewart had been asked to resign. State Senator Jake Hoffman said in his statement that Stewart made “questionable moves regarding consulting contracts” and was disciplined while working for his agency in 2020.
Republicans accused Hobbes of not thoroughly vetting candidates.
This all follows the governor’s withdrawal earlier this month of Dr. Teresa Cullen’s nomination to head the state’s Department of Health Services.
Detroit woman sentenced to four and a half years in prison for tax evasion
DETROIT – A federal judge has sentenced a Detroit woman to more than four years in prison for involvement in a plot to defraud the Internal Revenue Service and six states out of nearly $28 million in tax returns.
U.S. Attorney Dawn Ison’s office said on Friday that U.S. District Judge Linda Parker sentenced 42-year-old Samira Murrell, 4.5 years old, to four-and-a-half years and three years in prison. Regarding the supervised release they announced they had handed down.
Ison’s office said Marrell pleaded guilty to mail fraud, wire fraud and violation of the Bond Act on January 23.
Court records show that Murrell and his accomplices filed false claims for income tax refunds with the IRS and the Treasury Departments of Minnesota, Georgia, Maryland, Arizona, Connecticut, and Colorado between 2014 and 2022. The we. The allegation claimed approximately $13.7 million and approximately $14.7 million to the IRS. million out of the state.
Together, the IRS and the state paid approximately $8.5 million in preclaims before the charges were found to be fraudulent. Ison’s office said Marrell continued to make false allegations after his arrest.
The Republican-led state Senate committee considering Karen’s nomination has expressed concern over the pandemic-induced business closures and curfews in Pima County, where Karen serves as public health director. I chose not to.
She remains the Pima County Public Health Commissioner.
Mr. Hobbes said he suspects politics is at play among Senate Republicans.
