Heir says Sackler family won’t settle unless freed from opioid suits
Members of the family that owns OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma won’t contribute billions of dollars to a legal settlement unless they get off the hook for all current and future lawsuits over the company’s activities, one of them said Tuesday.
David Sackler, grandson of one of the brothers who nearly 70 years ago bought the company that became Purdue, testified in federal bankruptcy court in White Plains, New York, that unless the settlement is approved with those protections included, as they currently are, “I believe we would litigate the claims to their final outcomes.”
The U.S. Bankruptcy Trustee, nine states and the District of Columbia are objecting to the company’s settlement plan largely because it would grant legal protection to members of the Sackler family — whose collective wealth is estimated at nearly $11 billion — even though none of them are declaring bankruptcy themselves.
Suits against the company and the Sacklers, including from several states, have been paused since Purdue filed for bankruptcy. If the reorganization is approved as it is, it would freeze those forever. Sackler family members also seek protections from future lawsuits over opioids and any actions involving Purdue, even those that had nothing to do with the drugs. The company is blamed for its role in the opioid crisis, which has been linked to more than 500,000 deaths in the U.S. since 2000.
Fueled by winds, largest wildfire moves near California city
Firefighters faced dangerously windy weather as they struggled to keep the nation’s largest wildfire from moving toward a Northern California city and other small communities.
Forecasters issued red flag warnings of critical fire weather conditions including gusts up to 40 mph Tuesday after the Dixie Fire grew explosively from winds spawned by a new weather system that arrived Monday.
The fire was about 8 miles from Susanville, population about 18,000, early Tuesday. The Dixie Fire is the largest of nearly 100 major wildfires burning across more than a dozen Western states.
In Montana, authorities ordered evacuations for several remote communities as strong winds propelled a large wildfire toward inhabited areas.
Family of man killed during Kenosha riots files suit against city
The family of Anthony Huber, who was fatally shot by Kyle Rittenhouse during riots in Kenosha last summer, filed suit in Milwaukee, alleging the city of Kenosha and its police and county sheriff’s departments openly conspired with white militia members and gave them “license ... to wreak havoc and inflict injury.”
In the first major federal lawsuit against the city, police and county resulting from riots in August last year, attorneys say Rittenhouse and other gunmen were given preferential treatment because of race. Rittenhouse, who awaits trial in November, is charged with first-degree intentional homicide and first-degree reckless homicide in the killing of Huber and Joseph Rosenbaum on Aug. 25, 2020, during a street protest over the police shooting of Jacob Blake.
He’s also charged with attempted first-degree homicide and other charges. Rittenhouse, then 17, shot Huber following a chase that ended when Huber attempted to disarm him. Rittenhouse, who is white, has said he acted in self-defense.
Judge won’t close hearings in Florida school shooting case
A Florida judge refused to close pretrial hearings to the media and public in the case of the man accused of killing 17 people in a 2018 high school mass shooting.
Broward County Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer rejected a motion by defendant Nikolas Cruz’s lawyers claiming that intense media coverage jeopardizes his right to a fair trial. Scherer did not elaborate on her reasons, saying she would detail them in a written order later.
Cruz, 22, faces the death penalty if convicted in the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland. Seventeen people were slain and 17 others wounded. Cruz’s lawyers have said he would plead guilty in exchange for a life prison sentence, but prosecutors insist that his fate be decided by a jury trial.
Serbian president challenges Twitter: ‘Delete my account!”
Serbia’s autocratic leader Aleksandar Vucic challenged Twitter on Tuesday to close his account like it did with Donald Trump’s, after several media outlets under his control were labeled state-affiliated by the social media site. “I can’t wait for them (Twitter) to close my account so I become another Trump in the world,” Vucic said.
Twitter has defined state-affiliated media as “outlets where the state exercises control over editorial content through financial resources, direct or indirect political pressures, and/or control over production and distribution.”
Vucic, a former ultranationalist, has kept a tight grip on Serbia’s mass media since he came to power 10 years ago.
Trial blocked by police data loss as murder suspect is released
A murder suspect was released from jail after his trial was postponed when Dallas police revealed they had lost a massive amount of criminal data.
Jonathan Pitts, charged in the 2019 shooting of Shun Handy, was released as authorities race to determine how many cases may have had evidence vanish in an eight-terabyte data loss. Prosecutors told state District Judge Ernie White they needed more time to work with police to audit the materials in Pitts’ case to determine if anything was lost.
White granted Pitts’ release without paying bail because state law requires a person be freed if prosecutors aren’t ready at the time of the trial.
