Cleared of killings, Pennsylvanian freed
PHILADELPHIA — A man who served nearly three decades in prison for a triple killing in Philadelphia in what prosecutors called a “perfect storm” of injustice was freed after a judge threw out his conviction.
“Theophalis Wilson, you are free to go,” Judge Tracy Brandeis-Roman said Tuesday as extended family and friends who packed the courtroom cried and hugged each other, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported.
“This is a great day,” said Wilson, 48, who spent 28 years in prison. “Now we’ve got to go back and get the other guys. There’s a lot of innocent people in jail.”
“It’s a beautiful day,” said his mother, Kim Wilson. “I just thank God it finally happened.”
Wilson was exonerated a month after his co-defendant, Christopher Williams, was cleared of the three 1989 killings. Wilson was a teenager when he was accused of participating in the slayings of Otis Reynolds and brothers Kevin and Gavin Anderson in north Philadelphia.
The Philadelphia district attorney’s office called the case a “perfect storm” of injustice, writing in a court filing that the case was marred by serious misconduct by the prosecution, an ineffective defense and a witness who supplied false testimony.
Gabbard sues Clinton over Russia remark
NEW YORK — Democratic presidential candidate Rep. Tulsi Gabbard filed a defamation lawsuit against Hillary Clinton on Wednesday over an interview in which Clinton appeared to call Gabbard “the favorite of the Russians.”
Gabbard of Hawaii said in her lawsuit filed in federal court in Manhattan that Clinton’s comments in a podcast last year in which she suggested that Gab-bard was being groomed by Russia to be a third-party candidate were based on either her own imagination or “extremely dubious conspiracy theories” that any reasonable person would know to be “inherently and objectively unreliable.”
During the Oct. 15 Democratic presidential debate, Gabbard criticized a TV commentator she said had called her “an asset of Russia.”
Without naming Gabbard, Clinton appeared to agree with the characterization during a podcast appearance days later on Campaign HQ with David Plouffe. Plouffe was campaign manager for President Barack Obama in 2008 and served as served as a senior adviser to the president.
“She’s the favorite of the Russians,” Clinton told Plouffe, referring to a person she had earlier identified as a woman “who’s currently in the Democratic primary. … They have a bunch of sites and bots and other ways of supporting her so far.”
The lawsuit claims that Clinton “reserves a special hatred and animosity for Tulsi” because Gabbard endorsed Sen. Bernie Sanders over Clinton in the 2016 Democratic primary campaign and never endorsed Clinton.
1 dead, 7 injured in Seattle shooting
SEATTLE — Multiple people opened fire outside a Mc-Donald’s in the busiest part of downtown Seattle during the evening commute Wednesday, killing one person and wounding seven others, police said.
Seattle Fire Chief Harold Scoggins said authorities began receiving calls about multiple gunshot victims about 5 p.m. One person was found dead, and five others were taken to Harborview Medical Center, he said.
Hospital spokeswoman Susan Gregg and fire officials said later Wednesday that seven people were being treated for gunshot wounds. A woman about 55 years old was in critical condition, a 9-year-old child was in serious condition and five men were in satisfactory condition, officials said.
Police Chief Carmen Best said that based on video from the scene, several people fired weapons after a dispute outside a McDonald’s. Police, including homicide and gang units, were investigating, she said. No arrests had been made.
It was the third downtown Seattle shooting in two days. Police found a man with a gunshot wound in a mall stairwell Tuesday, and he later died at a hospital. Police shot a person in another area of downtown earlier Wednesday.
Virginia Senate OKs ‘red flag’ gun bill
RICHMOND, Va. — The Virginia Senate approved legislation Wednesday that would allow authorities to take guns away from people deemed dangerous to themselves or others, as the state moves closer to joining a growing number of states enacting “red flag” gun laws.
The Democratic-led Senate voted for the bill despite fierce resistance from Republican lawmakers. GOP Sen. Amanda Chase called supporters of the legislation “traitors” and said the proposed law would embolden criminals and hurt law-abiding residents.
Democrats said the bill could help prevent mass shootings and that similar laws have worked well in 17 other states. Democrats said the bill had been carefully crafted to preserve due process and protect individual rights.
The bill now moves to the House. It is one of several gun-control measures the new Democratic majority at the General Assembly is set to pass this year.
