TV News LIES

The New York appeals court said in a written opinion Thursday that the judge in Weinstein's 2020 case, James Burke, admitted testimony from women with allegations that were not a part of the case − known as Molineux witnesses − but rather "irrelevant, prejudicial, and untested allegations of prior bad acts."

This "error" was exacerbated when the judge ruled that the former Hollywood producer could be cross-examined regarding these allegations and others, which depicted Weinstein in a "prejudicial light."

"Under our system of justice, the accused has a right to be held to account only for the crime charged and, thus, allegations of prior bad acts may not be admitted against them for the sole purpose of establishing" a tendency for criminal acts, the court's majority opinion states.

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Donald Trump will not get a new trial in his case against E. Jean Carroll, after federal Judge Lewis Kaplan on Thursday denied the former president's request.

Trump was ordered to pay Carroll, an advice columnist, $83.3 million, after a New York jury ruled in January that he had defamed her in 2019 by denying her allegations of sexual assault.

The ruling and heavy sum was on top of $5 million Trump already owed Carroll from an earlier case last year, in which a civil jury found he had sexually assaulted and defamed her again in 2022.

Judge Kaplan rejected Trump's latest attempt to avoid paying over $80 million, finding in his ruling Thursday the former president's motion for a new trial or judgment "without merit" and the amount in damages appropriate.o

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Lawmakers in the Arizona house have voted to repeal a controversial 1864 law banning nearly all abortions, amid mounting pressure on the state’s Republicans.

Three Republicans joined with all 29 Democrats on Wednesday to support the repeal of the law, which predates Arizona’s statehood and provides no exceptions for rape or incest.

The move follows weeks of effort by Democrats in the state legislature to undo the law, while the issue increasingly put Republicans on the defensive in a key battleground state.

The measure will now head to the state senate, where it is expected to pass, and then to the governor’s desk.

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Police in Texas have arrested a journalist who was covering the protest at the University of Texas at Austin. A Fox 7 photographer was reportedly arrested after getting caught between protesters and law enforcement.

Officers have clashed with students after dozens of local police and state troopers formed a line to stop protesters from marching through campus. They have detained multiple people. Greg Abbott, the Texas governor, said arrests would continue until “the crowd disperses”.

“These protesters belong in jail,” he said.

A 92-year-old retired Catholic priest charged with strangling a teenager and raping him in a New Orleans church in 1975 has short-term memory loss that prevents him from assisting in his defense, according to a team of forensic psychiatrists whose findings could influence whether one of Louisiana’s most prominent cases of clergy abuse is ever tried.

In a report which has not been publicly released but was reviewed Tuesday by WWL Louisiana and the Guardian, the psychiatrists said the priest – Lawrence Hecker – should not be tried for now on rape, kidnapping, crimes against nature and theft charges until he is re-evaluated later.

However, the report found Hecker’s mental health is good enough that he could recover his competence to stand trial after a relatively short time. It called for him to be re-evaluated in a matter of months, after he is given a chance to recover from various physical ailments and to be given treatment by the state’s mental health hospital.

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Protesters chanted “Blood on your hands” at Tennessee House Republicans on Tuesday after they passed a bill that would allow some teachers and staff to carry concealed handguns on public school grounds, and bar parents and other teachers from knowing who was armed. Read more...