Foreman defends acquittal of officer for black teen’s death
PITTSBURGH (AP) — The foreman of a jury that acquitted a white Pennsylvania police officer of homicide said Michael Rosfeld did not know the black teen he shot was unarmed and that his decision to run after his vehicle was pulled over factored into the verdict.
Juror Jesse Rawls Sr. told WHTM-TV that Antwon Rose II and another occupant who ran from the stop “brought it on themselves” and that the then-East Pittsburgh officer knew there had just been a drive-by shooting and was scared.
“It’s a felony stop,” Rawls said. “Once it’s a felony stop, you have to take precautions.” He said Rosfeld could not let the occupants get away, and “he didn’t know what the kid had.”
Rawls, 72, who is black, is a retired schoolteacher and wrestling coach from Harrisburg, where jurors were picked for last week’s trial in Pittsburgh.
He said jurors “did what was right” in acquitting Rosfeld of all charges Friday. The verdict has prompted protests over four days, including hundreds of high school and college students marching Monday in downtown Pittsburgh.
Rawls was among three African-Americans on the 12-person jury.
Rosfeld was responding to a report of a drive-by shooting in nearby North Braddock in June when he saw a vehicle that matched the description — an unlicensed taxi in which Rose was a passenger.
As Rosfeld was dealing with the driver, Rose and the other passenger got out and ran. Video captured Rosfeld shooting Rose three times, including in the back.
“If the kids wouldn’t have jumped out and ran, they would have never been in the situation,” Rawls told the station. “So put the onus on the young men in the car, why did they jump and run?”
He noted there was a senior center near where Rose was shot. Rawls said Rosfeld might have been concerned that Rose was armed and could have gone into the center and begun shooting.
The other taxi passenger, Zaijuan Hester, 18, pleaded guilty earlier this month to aggravated assault and firearms violations, saying he — and not — Rose did the shooting during the drive-by incident.
Rose was in fact unarmed when he was killed, although he did have a gun clip in his pocket. Two handguns were recovered from the taxi.
Rosfeld’s lawyer, Patrick Thomassey, said after the verdict that his client probably cannot work again as a police officer. East Pittsburgh disbanded its force late last year, and Rosfeld and the borough face civil litigation over the shooting filed by Rose’s family.
Rawls said that if he had not witnessed the trial, he might have feelings similar to those expressed by the protesters regarding the shooting’s racial elements. Marchers have repeatedly chanted their opposition to racist police and portrayed Rose as victim of injustice and deserving of sympathy.
“I think that they have to accept the fact that the 12 people in the jury room did what was right,” Rawls said. “Now, if you wanted me to do what was wrong and convict him of something that was wrong to please the neighborhood, then that’s not fair.”
He also told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that the jury was not unanimous at the start of deliberations.
“Some people had to change their minds,” he told the paper. “It was a discussion, like, ‘Tell me why he is not guilty.’ And then we went over it on the screen and we came up with the answer, and the person said, ‘OK, I read this the wrong way.'”

Avenatti charged with trying to extort millions from Nike
By BRIAN MELLEY and LARRY NEUMEISTER Associated Press
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Michael Avenatti, the attorney best known for representing porn actress Stormy Daniels in lawsuits against President Donald Trump, was arrested Monday on charges he tried to extort millions of dollars from Nike and embezzled a client’s money to pay his own expenses.
Avenatti, 48, was charged with extortion and bank and wire fraud in separate cases in New York and California. He was arrested in New York.
The U.S. attorney in New York, Geoffrey S. Berman, said Avenatti engaged in “a shakedown.”
“When lawyers use their law licenses as weapons, as a guise to extort payments for themselves, they are no longer acting as attorneys. They are acting as criminals,” Berman said.
The allegations “paint an ugly picture of lawless conduct and greed,” said Nick Hanna, the U.S. attorney in Los Angeles. Avenatti describes himself on Twitter as an attorney and advocate, but the accusations describe “a corrupt lawyer who instead fights for his own selfish interests.”
Prosecutors in New York said their investigation began only last week and was complete in days.
The New York case accuses Avenatti of threatening to use his ability to get publicity to harm Nike. In the California case, he allegedly misused a client’s money to pay his debts and those of his coffee business and law firm. Federal prosecutors said he also defrauded a bank by using phony tax returns to obtain millions of dollars in loans.
Avenatti allegedly threatened to hold a news conference last week on the eve of Nike’s quarterly earnings call and the start of the NCAA tournament to announce allegations of misconduct by Nike employees. The attorney and a co-conspirator demanded to be paid $15 million to $25 million and an additional $1.5 million for an Avenatti client to remain silent, the complaint said.
Shortly before the charges came to light, Avenatti tweeted that he planned to hold another news conference regarding Nike on Tuesday morning. Less than 45 minutes later, prosecutors announced the extortion case.
Nike officials told investigators that Avenatti claimed to know of rules violations by an amateur basketball team sponsored by Nike. Executives immediately reported the threats to federal authorities.
The company “firmly believes in ethical and fair play, both in business and sports, and will continue to assist the prosecutors,” Nike said in a statement.
The co-conspirator, who was not identified, is also an attorney licensed to practice in California who represents celebrities and public figures, court papers said. The Avenatti client is a coach of an amateur athletic union men’s basketball program in California, according to the papers.
The AAU program coached by the client was sponsored by Nike for $72,000 annually, the complaint said.
Avenatti was in custody and did not respond to an email requesting comment or phone calls and text messages from The Associated Press.
He rose to national prominence by representing Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, in a lawsuit to break a confidentiality agreement to speak about her alleged affair with Trump. He also made headlines in recent weeks for representing two women who accused R&B star R. Kelly of sexual abuse, and he briefly explored the idea of a presidential bid last year.
Daniels said she was “saddened but not shocked” by the arrest. She issued a statement Monday on Twitter saying she fired Avenatti a month ago after “discovering that he had dealt with me extremely dishonestly.” She said she would not elaborate.

Former Vice President Joe Biden remains the front-runner among the 2020 Democratic presidential hopefuls – despite not officially entering the race – and he performs the best of those potential nominees in a hypothetical matchup with President Donald Trump. That is according to a new poll out today released by Fox News. Biden performed the best of the potential Democratic nominees in a theoretical head-to-head matchup with Trump. If the election were held today, 47 percent of voters say they would vote for Biden, and 40 percent say they would vote for Trump. The poll found Bernie Sanders also winning a contest with Trump, although by a narrower 44 to 41 percent. The other two potential matchups against Trump that pollsters looked at were Senators Elizabeth Warren and Kamala Harris. Harris trailed Trump 39-41, and Warren was behind 40-42. We should note that this poll was conducted BEFORE the results of the Mueller probe were publicly announced.

President Donald Trump is accusing those responsible for launching the special counsel investigation of “treason” and says they “will certainly be looked at.” Trump did not specify who he’s referring to. He told reporters Monday that “There are a lot of people out there that have done some very, very evil things, very bad things. I would say treasonous things against our country.”

Police say the father of one of the 20 children killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Connecticut has been found dead of an apparent suicide. Newtown police say the body of 49-year-old Jeremy Richman was found Monday inside Edmond Town Hall. Richman was the father of Avielle Richman, one of the first-graders killed. His death comes as officials in Parkland, Florida, are publicizing counseling services after two survivors of a high school massacre there killed themselves.

High school and college students are planning to stage walk-outs and a protest following the acquittal of a white police officer charged in the 2018 fatal shooting of an unarmed black teenager outside Pittsburgh. The protest is planned for noon Monday at the Pittsburgh City-County Building. Former East Pittsburgh Police Officer Michael Rosfeld was charged with homicide for shooting 17-year-old Antwon Rose II last June. Rosfeld walked out of the courtroom a free man Friday.

Governor Wolf’s 2019 budget proposal includes a plan to help grow and develop agriculture in Pennsylvania. Don Rooney has more…

AN AMBRIDGE MAN IS CHARGED AFTER DRUGS AND CASH ARE FOUND INSIDE HIS HOME. BEAVER COUNTY RADIO NEWS CORRESPONDENT SANDY GIORDANO HAS DETAILS. Click on ‘play’ to hear Sandy’s report…

(Beaver County Radio file photo)