If I'm understanding this right, attorney Jeff Anderson says a minor girl and her parents came to his firm after a July 2020 hush-money offer from Anton Lazzaro's attorney.
Anderson says firm helped contact authorities, who launched investigation leading to indictment.
Anderson confirms that his firm "facilitated" the report to law enforcement, which was believed to be the first awareness of the alleged Anton Lazzaro sex trafficking.
The criminal case against Lazzaro, currently set for an October trial, will likely be dealt with prior to the civil matter advancing in any significant way.
Anderson says his firm is still doing its own investigation but for now represents only one reported victim.
Anton Lazzaro's attorney in the criminal case, Zachary Newland, has issued this response to the new civil lawsuit.
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In a brief phone call Monday, @KendallQuallsMN said he's honored by the "good-natured talk" about a #mngov run. He declined to lay out a decision timetable.
"I haven’t even gotten to the point where I even know if there is a door to close because I’m not trying to frame one.”
I asked Qualls if he knew anybody involved or anything about it: "I haven't. To be honest with you I haven't seen anything. I don't know if there's anything to ask about."
NEW: A Ramsey County judge has suspended Minnesota’s new law that changed the standard for peace officers when defending use of deadly force. The old law is reinstated until the lawsuit can be fully resolved.
Judge Leonardo Castro says the police groups who sued have both standing and reason to sue now.
“Plaintiffs need not wait for one of its members to be charged with a homicide crime before the question of the constitutionality of the provision plaintiffs challenged is answered.”
The judge says he will fast track further proceedings in the case and hold a hearing within two months.
He says after that he will reach a determination on if the law is unconstitutional and if so what to do about it to have some standard in place.
Paul Gazelka makes 7 on the GOP side of #mngov race
Quick takeaways:
-Gazelka leaned hard into spirituality
-He framed himself as a "conservative candidate with a track record" and a "collaborator"
-He says he'll abide by GOP endorsement
-He signaled support for new Texas abortion law
-He says D Sen Bakk may run as R, back him
Multiple Democratic group statements out of the gate targeting Gazelka on the pandemic (a Nov. party where a #mnleg colleague contracted a fatal COVID case) as well as his policy stances on health care, voting rights, guns and gay rights.
Police chief says the officer who fired mistakenly drew a gun instead of a Taser.
Brooklyn Center @Mayor_Elliott says he supports termination of the police officer who shot #DaunteWright. City manager says the officer's firing is subject to due process.
"When you lose the game, you blame the refs. It happens all the time," Assistant Attorney General Nathan Hartshorn tells the court in arguing that @MNSecofState should be removed as a defendant in the case.
Susan Shogren Smith, an attorney for the Republican voters challenging 4 DFL congressional race wins, said @MNSecofState's consent decrees around voting fed mistrust.
"He opened himself up to involvement. He created many of the issues," she said.
Shogren Smith told court that it isn't necessarily a challenge to the specific candidate wins.
Judge Leonardo Castro jumps in, saying that's all he's able to decide.
"What are we doing here if it's not about who won?" Castro says.
Now @AGEllison has taken the two restaurants (Alibi in Lakeville and Neighbors on the Rum in Princeton) to court, seeking fines, restitution and other actions.