Elizabeth Holmes, who was convicted in 2022 for defrauding investors and is now serving time in federal prison, claimed this week that a key piece of evidence against her was a “false claim,” per this story from the N&O. Holmes founded the blood-testing startup Theranos in 2003. At trial, evidence showed that Holmes, without authorization, affixed drug companies’ logos to internal Theranos reports in a bid to deceive investors. On Tuesday, a post on Holmes’ X account said, “False Claim of Fraud: Theranos faked Pfizer endorsement to defraud investors by adding logo.” Read on for more criminal law news.
Eye in the Sky. Police in Miami, Florida, arrested a suspect last month in a domestic dispute after tracking him with a drone, as reported by CBS. LeCurry Anthony Williams, Jr., 24, allegedly shoved his girlfriend and vandalized a window. The Miami Police Department Drone First Responder unit dispatched a drone, which arrived at the scene before other patrol units “due to its aerial response capabilities.” Using the drone’s live video feed, officers spotted Williams leaving the scene and watched while he tried to change clothes. The police department reported that officers approached and apprehended the suspect without further incident.
Prosecutor Burned for A.I.-Generated Mistakes. Lawyers for a man in Nevada County, California, have asked the state supreme court to investigate a potential pattern of A.I.-generated errors in prosecutors’ legal briefs, as reported by the NYT. At a bail hearing in April, Kyle Kjoller, 57, argued that the charges of illegal gun possession against him did not warrant the denial of pretrial release under California law. Prosecutors disagreed, offering an 11-page brief in support of their position. Kjoller’s lawyers now claim the State’s brief was full of errors characteristic of generative artificial intelligence. The lawyers also discovered State’s briefs in three additional cases all marked with similar errors. District Attorney Jesse Wilson has acknowledged that the briefs contain multiple errors but said A.I. was used to draft only one, and not the one in Kjoller’s case.
Birthplace of Jury Trials to Curtail Trial by Jury. The principle of trial by jury in Britian dates from Magna Charta, a charter of rights foisted upon King John in 1215. In the United States, the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution guarantees the right to a speedy and public trial by an impartial jury. The British government announced Tuesday that it plans to restrict the right to trial by jury for some defendants in England and Wales, per this story from the BBC and NYT. Faced with an increasing backlog of criminal cases, the justice secretary David Lammy announced that trial by jury will not be available for crimes that carry a sentence of less than three years.
Driverless Taxi Buzzes Police Takedown. A Waymo robotaxi drove slowly through the scene of an active traffic stop in downtown Los Angeles early Sunday, according to this story from NBC. Police officers had their guns drawn and were in the process of arresting a suspect at the intersection of Broadway and First Street when the driverless vehicle made a left turn passing a white truck and the police cruisers behind it. Officers yelled at the vehicle to get away to no avail and the man on the ground looked up to see what was happening. The suspect was arrested without further incident.
Police Await Recovery of Swallowed Jewelry. A New Zealand man is accused of trying to smuggle a Fabergé pendant out of a jewelry story by eating it, as reported by the AP. The 32-year-old man, who has not been publicly identified, is alleged to have swallowed a 33,000 New Zealand dollar ($19,000) octopus pendant at Partridge Jewelers in Auckland on Nov. 28. The pendant is a limited-edition, Fabergé egg pendant inspired by the 1983 James Bond film, Octopussy. On Wednesday, police said evidence of the theft has yet to emerge, but an officer is assigned to monitor the man.
Party Animal Passes Out in Liquor Store. An intruder broke into a liquor store in Ashland, Virginia, on Saturday and went on a bender, smashing scotch and whiskey bottles, according to this story from the AP. An employee found the intruder passed out on the bathroom floor in the morning. Called to the scene, Officer Samantha Martin took the intruder into custody and deposited him at a shelter, where he slept off the effects of the booze before being released back into the wild.