News Roundup

Published for NC Criminal Law on February 18, 2022.

The Associated press reports that the families of nine victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting have settled a lawsuit against Remington Arms for $73 million.  The suit alleged that Remington marketed the AR-15 style assault rifle used in the shooting in a dangerous manner by promoting its destructive capability and associating it with violence.  Twenty-six people were killed at Sandy Hook in 2012 by a lone gunman; twenty of the victims were young children. Hate Crime Trial.  Three men who were convicted of murdering Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia late last year now are being tried on federal hate crime charges.  This week attorneys in the case argued over the admissibility of evidence that two of the defendants, Travis McMichael and William “Roddie” Bryan, used racist language in social messages to friends.  Investigators apparently have been unable to access the text messages of the third defendant, Greg McMichael, because of encryption on his phone. Espionage Plea.  As the New York Times reports, a U.S. Navy Nuclear engineer charged with espionage pleaded guilty this week as part of an agreement that is expected to result in a 12-year prison sentence.  Jonathan Toebbe and his wife Diana were accused of attempting to sell U.S. nuclear submarine secrets to a foreign country after passing classified information to undercover FBI agents in a series of orchestrated dead drops.  Charges against Diana Toebbe still are pending. Officer Sentenced.  The Hickory Daily Record reports that former Hickory police officer Robert George was sentenced to three years [...]