Lawyers in N.R.A. Trial Deliver Closing Arguments, Sending Case to Jury
The case, brought by the New York attorney general, Letitia James, accused leaders of the National Rifle Association of corruption and misspending.
Over the last six weeks, lawyers for New York’s attorney general, Letitia James, have outlined a case that paints the N.R.A. as a mismanaged organization with little fealty to its mission of defending the Second Amendment or to the gun owners who prize that right. Monica Connell, representing the attorney general’s office, began her closing arguments on Thursday by comparing the defendants to children who grabbed cookies from a jar and were “caught with crumbs on their face and on their shirt.”
Central to the case has been the state’s depiction of the group’s former longtime leader, Wayne LaPierre, as a lavish spender who used N.R.A. funds to pay for private jets, luxury vacations, and the occasional spin on a superyacht.
“This case is about corruption: Misuse of funds spent on jets, black cars, five-star hotels, hundreds of thousands of dollars of suits, million-dollar deals to insiders, payments to loyal board members and pervasive violations of internal controls,” Ms. Connell said to the nearly full courtroom in Manhattan.
The jury is expected to begin deliberations on Friday.
Mr. LaPierre, 74, stepped down just before the New York trial commenced, ending more than three decades as the head of the organization. He had nonetheless testified in the case, conceding to pricey trips and other perks. He also spent many days in the front row the courtroom, as government lawyers — and even his own — described his sometimes troubled leadership of the group.
Along with Mr. LaPierre, the defendants included John Frazer, the N.R.A.’s general counsel; Woody Phillips, a former finance chief; and the N.R.A. itself.
Ms. James is seeking tens of millions of dollars in damages and to bar the individual defendants from working in nonprofit organizations in New York. Ms. James has special jurisdiction over the N.R.A. because it was chartered as a nonprofit in New York 148 years ago.
“If everyone fought for their own convictions there would be no war.” ― Leo Tolstoy, War and Peace
So, after all the mealy-mouthed end of the trial plays out and the extended appeal process runs its course, it'll be like 2124 before an actual end to the case will happen.
"Mickey Mouse and I grew up together." - Ruthie Tompson, Disney animation checker and scene planner and one of the first women to become a member of the International Photographers Union in 1952.
RTH10260 wrote: ↑Fri Feb 23, 2024 9:42 pm
"restitution" - does that mean the $$$ flow back to the N.R.A.?
What about the dissolution of the N.R.A., is that a separate proceeding?
Yeah, he has to pay back the NRA.
The jury also said that the NRA failed to adopt a whistleblower policy that complied with state law and failed to act on whistleblower complaints and filed state-required reports with false and misleading information.
"Mickey Mouse and I grew up together." - Ruthie Tompson, Disney animation checker and scene planner and one of the first women to become a member of the International Photographers Union in 1952.
The judge ruled against dissolution a good while ago.
And remember, dissolution under the Attorney General's supervisory authority over non-profits would not have meant forfeiture. The court would have had an obligation to ensure that the dissolved corporation's assets were transferred to another entity that would, to the extent practicable, carry out the same purposes for which the NRA was formed.
I’m against dissolution. There are worthwhile things a properly managed NRA could do, including educational programs on gun safety and hunter safety.
"Hey! We left this England place because it was bogus, and if we don't get some cool rules ourselves, pronto, we'll just be bogus too!" -- Thomas Jefferson
Slim Cognito wrote: ↑Sat Feb 24, 2024 12:04 pm
It’s hard to believe that once upon a time, the NRA was a respectable organization.
I remember it. I used to read the magazines in the bathroom at a cousin's house. I'm not a hunter, but it was interesting to read about the culture. At the time, there was a fear hunting was a dying interest, like many other traditions. So now they encourage hunting people given the weapons promoted.
Wayne LaPierre, the former head of the National Rifle Association, told a judge that appointing a financial monitor would be "equivalent to putting a knife straight through the heart of the organization and twisting it."
According to The Associated Press, LaPierre made the remarks Monday on the final day of arguments in a case brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James.
The attorney general is seeking an independent monitor for the NRA after LaPierre and another deputy were found guilty of misspending millions of dollars of the organization's funds.
Want more breaking political news? Click for the latest headlines at Raw Story.
The AP said that LaPierre told the judge in Monday's hearing that a monitor would be an "existential threat to the group because it would send a message to prospective members and donors that the NRA was 'being surveilled by this attorney general in New York.'"
Wayne LaPierre, the former head of the National Rifle Association, told a judge that appointing a financial monitor would be "equivalent to putting a knife straight through the heart of the organization and twisting it."
Yeah, I see no downside to such.....
"He sewed his eyes shut because he is afraid to see, He tries to tell me what I put inside of me
He's got the answers to ease my curiosity, He dreamed a god up and called it Christianity"
Wayne LaPierre, the former head of the National Rifle Association, told a judge that appointing a financial monitor would be "equivalent to putting a knife straight through the heart of the organization and twisting it."
Yeah, I see no downside to such.....
You'll notice how he doesn't reach for the equivalent gun analogy, because LaPierre is evil but not stupid.
But the sunshine aye shall light the sky,
As round and round we run;
And the truth shall ever come uppermost,
And justice shall be done.
- Charles Mackay, "Eternal Justice"
Attorney General James Secures 10-Year Ban On Wayne LaPierre From NRA After Years of Violations and Jury Verdict that the NRA Broke the Law, Court Determines Changes Needed to NRA Governance
July 29, 2024
NEW YORK – New York Attorney General Letitia James today secured a 10-year ban on former Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre from the National Rifle Association (NRA), and a court direction that the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) and the NRA propose reforms to be enacted at the NRA following years of mismanagement. Potential reforms that New York State Supreme Court Judge Joel Cohen outlined as priorities include retaining a compliance consultant to work with NRA staff to ensure needed changes are enacted, as well as changing the internal Audit Committee, reducing the size of the Board, and easing access for candidates to stand for Board positions.
Today’s court decision follows a jury verdict in February that found that the NRA broke the law, retaliated against whistleblowers, and lied on its annual regulatory filings. The jury verdict also concluded that Wayne LaPierre caused the NRA $5.4 million in damages and ordered him to pay $4.3 million.
NRA chief involved in gruesome cat killing as college fraternity member Doug Hamlin pleaded no contest to animal cruelty over 1979 incident in which fraternity cat was tortured and killed
Stephanie Kirchgaessner in Washington
Mon 14 Oct 2024 12.00 CEST
Douglas Hamlin, who was appointed to lead the NRA this summer in the wake of a long-running corruption scandal at the gun rights group, was involved decades ago in the sadistic killing of a fraternity house cat named BK, according to several local media reports at the time.
Hamlin pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge of animal cruelty brought against him and four of his fraternity brothers in 1980, when he was an undergraduate student at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. The charge was brought against Hamlin under a local Ann Arbor ordinance. All five members of Alpha Delta Phi were later expelled from the fraternity.
The details of the case, described in local media reports at the time, are gruesome. The house cat was captured, its paws were cut off, and was then strung up and set on fire. The killing, which occurred in December 1979, was allegedly prompted by anger that the cat was not using its litterbox.
The case caused such a furore locally that some students and animal rights activists wore buttons and armbands in memory of BK.
Hamlin served as the fraternity president at the time, according to the media reports. While Hamlin’s exact role in the killing is unclear, a report in the Ann Arbor News published in March 1980 – at the time of the court case – said that district court judge SJ Elden singled Hamlin out for criticism, saying he could have prevented it from happening as the leader of the fraternity.
The judge called the cat killing an “unconscionable and heinous” act and suggested the fraternity had tried to engage in a coverup to protect its members after the crime was exposed.
The judge ruled against dissolution a good while ago. 
x5
