The Department of Justice offered a startling confession to a court on Tuesday, acknowledging that it repeatedly made a 'material mistaken statement of fact' while defending Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrests of noncitizens at immigration court.
Wagstaffe said he decided not to retry the remaining charges due to the high cost to San Mateo County taxpayers. He did not have an estimate as to how much a second trial would cost. Galatolo is facing 10 years in prison for the eight counts he was convicted of, which Wagstaffe says is a reasonable sentence, with or without the additional convictions.
Victims' Commissioner Claire Waxman expressed her delight at the government's decision, stating that the change is long overdue and acknowledges the years of campaigning led by bereaved families like Tracey Hanson, who sought justice following the tragic death of her son Josh.
The government writes, in accordance with the court's instructions at the pretrial conference on Jan. 30, 2026, to inform the court that the Department of Justice will not seek interlocutory review of the court's order entered that same day dismissing counts three and four of the indictment.
"What's most problematic is that the extraordinary has become ordinary. It's just a matter of course now that when you issue an opinion that some people don't like, you're going to get threats, you're going to get death threats, and that is obviously problematic on many levels."
On Friday a federal judge dropped two of the four charges against Luigi Mangione the man accused of fatally shooting UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson making his case no longer eligible for the death penalty. Mangione is accused of killing Thompson on Dec. 4, 2024 on a street in midtown Manhattan as he was walking to his hotel for UnitedHealth Group's annual investor conference.
During an investigation into fraudulent unemployment assistance, federal law enforcement asked Tran about a false letter he gave to unemployment agency officials in an attempt to have his benefits reinstated after they were temporarily suspended, said prosecutors.
Bishop was found guilty on 24 counts of committing lewd acts on three minor victims, all described in court documents as victims under the age of 14. The span of these offenses covers multiple years. Evidence admitted at trial showed that Bishop possessed more than 600 images of child sexual abuse material depicting two of the minor victims.