3 charged in 2018 killing of gangster Whitey Bulger

Three men, including a Mafia hitman, have been charged in the 2018 killing of notorious Boston crime boss James “Whitey” Bulger, the Justice Department said Thursday. The charges against Fotios “Freddy” Geas, Paul J. DeCologero and Sean McKinnon come nearly four years after Bulger’s killing, which raised questions about why the known “snitch” was placed in the West Virginia prison’s general population instead of more protective housing. The men were charged with conspiracy to commit first-degree murder.

Authorities have not revealed a possible motive for Bulger’s killing in October 2018, which came hours after he was transferred to USP Hazelton in West Virginia from a prison in Florida.

Head of troubled public defense system is fired

The head of Oregon’s public defenders’ office was fired in a clash over how to solve a dire shortage of attorneys to represent people too poor to afford a lawyer. Critics for years have said Oregon’s unique public defense system is in crisis, with far too few attorneys to represent defendants.

A report by the American Bar Association released in January found that Oregon has only 31% of the public defenders it needs. The executive director of the Office of Public Defense Services, Stephen Singer, was fired by an oversight panel. Critics cited an abrasive, combative style Singer brought to his job.

DeSantis’ election police unit announces voter fraud cases

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced criminal charges against 20 people for illegally voting in 2020, the first major public move from the Republican’s controversial new election police unit. The charges mark the opening salvo from the Office of Election Crimes and Security, which from its conception drew widespread criticism from Democrats and voting rights groups who feared the unit would serve as a political tool for the governor.

DeSantis said the people charged were convicted of murder or a felony sexual offense and therefore exempt from a constitutional amendment that restores voting rights to some felons. He released few details. The 20 people were among more than 11 million Florida voters who cast ballots in the 2020 election.

Judge blocks Florida’s ‘woke’ law

A Florida judge declared a Florida law championed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis that restricts race-based conversation and analysis in business and education unconstitutional. Tallahassee U.S. District Judge Mark Walker said in a 44-page ruling that the “Stop WOKE” act violates the First Amendment and is impermissibly vague. Walker also refused to issue a stay that would keep the law in effect during any appeal by the state.

Prosecutors rest their case

Prosecutors rested their case against two men charged with conspiring to kidnap Michigan’s governor, Gretchen Whitmer. No kidnapping occurred but Adam Fox, Barry Croft Jr. and four others have been accused of being domestic terrorists. Fox and Croft are on trial for a second time on conspiracy charges. A jury in April couldn’t reach a unanimous verdict but acquitted two other men.

— The Associated Press