Court ruling keeps Iowan in Senate race
DES MOINES, Iowa -- The Iowa Supreme Court on Friday ruled that Democratic Senate candidate Abby Finkenauer qualifies for the primary ballot, rejecting a lower-court decision and allowing her to continue her campaign for the nomination and the chance to face longtime Republican Sen. Charles Grassley.
The court's decision leaves Finkenauer in a race with two lesser-known candidates ahead of Iowa's June 7 primary.
Justices rejected a lower court's ruling that Finkenauer failed to meet a state law that requires candidates to submit at least 100 signatures from each of at least 19 counties. A majority of justices agreed that a Polk County judge was wrong when he ruled that three signatures from two counties were invalid, leaving Finkenauer without enough.
The court said the Legislature last year passed new sections of the law that identified specific circumstances when objections to petitions should be sustained.
The Supreme Court ruling affirmed a decision by an election panel that Finkenauer had qualified for the ballot. Two Republican activists had brought the initial challenge and appealed the panel's decision to the district court.
Finkenauer had called the lower court's ruling a "meritless partisan attack."
Finkenauer, of Cedar Rapids, served one term in Congress. She was one of the first women elected to the House from Iowa and the second-youngest female House member in U.S. history, winning election in 2018 at the age of 29.
Infowars host recoups $75,000 in fines
WATERBURY, Conn. -- Infowars host Alex Jones will be getting back the $75,000 in fines he paid to a Connecticut court for failing to appear at a deposition last month in a lawsuit over his assertions that the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting was a hoax, a judge has ruled.
Relatives of some of the 20 children and six educators killed in the 2012 Newtown, Conn., massacre sued Jones for defamation, saying they have been subjected to harassment and death threats from his followers. A judge found Jones liable for damages, and a trial on how much he should pay the families is set for August.
Judge Barbara Bellis in Waterbury ordered the return of the money Thursday because Jones eventually did show at a rescheduled deposition last week.
Jones said he missed the March deposition in Austin, Texas -- home to Jones and Infowars -- because of a medical problem that included vertigo. He said his doctors first thought it was a serious heart issue, but it turned out to be a sinus infection.
Jones was also found liable for damages in similar defamation lawsuits by victims' relatives in Texas, where a trial is set to start later this month. He has since said he believes the shooting did occur.
Officer convicted for acts in '19 arrest
MIAMI -- A jury took just over an hour to convict a Miami-Dade officer of felony battery and official misconduct in the rough arrest of a Black woman who had called police for help.
Alejandro Giraldo was suspended after cellphone video circulated on social media in March 2019 showing him tackling Dyma Loving, who had called police to report that a neighbor had pointed a shotgun at her. Police body cameras also recorded the encounter.
"Police officers can put their hands on people to effectuate a lawful arrest. If the arrest is unlawful, they have no more rights than the rest of us. And he sure as heck can't tackle her to the ground," said prosecutor Tim VanderGiesen.
Giraldo argued that he acted lawfully in subduing an unruly woman who was interfering with an investigation.
"What you see there isn't a crime. What you see there is a police officer working the streets, dealing with a situation, and maybe his bedside manner was off," his attorney, Andre Rouviere, told jurors. "When he arrested Dyma Loving, it was after warning after warning that she was being disruptive."
Giraldo, who is Hispanic, faces up to five years in prison.
The jury consisted of two Black women, one Hispanic woman and three Hispanic men.
Death at border wall under investigation
PHOENIX -- Authorities are investigating the cause of death this week of a Mexican woman whose leg was entrapped while she was using a climbing harness and who ended up hanging upside down off the border wall in eastern Arizona.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials offered few details, but the local sheriff's office said the woman was a 32-year-old who was attempting to cross the wall Monday night near Douglas, Ariz. Her name was not released.
The Cochise County sheriff's office said she hung upside down for "a significant amount of time."
The sheriff's office said it was in contact with the local Mexican Consulate and continues to investigate what happened.
Customs and Border Protection said its Office of Professional Responsibility is working with the sheriff's office and would release more information as it becomes available.