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National
Sears Reportedly Staves Off Liquidation For Now
Trial Of Nia Wilson’s Accused Killer On Hold As He Undergoes Mental Evaluation
On Thursday, Nia Wil- son’s alleged killer was spared from facing a trial for now, after a judge ordered that he undergo a mental evaluation to determine if he is fit to stand trial after the fatal stabbing of the 18-year- old woman and serious injur- ing of her sister at an Oakland BART station last summer, The San Francisco Chronicle reports.
John Lee Cowell, 28, was charged with Wil- son’s murder but his defense attorney argued that he was experiencing mental health issues that rendered him un- able to defend himself.
“It appears the delusions and paranoia have been in- creasing in frequency,” de- fense attorney Christina Moore told Judge James Cramer in an Oakland courtroom Thursday.
Moore contends that
NIA WILSON
while she risks divulging too much private information about her client’s mental state, she outlined his past mental troubles to offer in- sight into his mental condi- tion.
Cowell was reportedly hospitalized 22 times be-
JOHN COWELL
tween 2012 and 2018, Moore said. He was often held on an involuntary hold known as a 5150 because of the risk of harm to himself. He has been homeless and spent a number of years back and forth in and out of lockup, she reported.
SEARS
Sears chairman Eddie Lampert reportedly submit- ted a $4.6 billion bid to buy the company and potentially save it from liquidation on Fri- day, hours before the dead- line, according to CNBC and Reuters.
The big picture: Lampert, who has received at least part of the blame for the depart- ment store chain’s demise, heads the hedge fund that is the retailer’s biggest creditor and owns equity in the com-
pany. Investors have until Jan. 4 to determine whether his hedge fund, ESL Investments, is a qualified buyer. After that, the bid will be weighed against liquidation offers to determine whether the chain will be kept alive or closed down perma- nently.
The retail giant filed for bankruptcy in October and an- nounced Friday it would close an additional 80 stores in March — bringing the total number of closures to 260.
Study Shows Gun Violence Cuts African Americans Life Expectancy By Four Years Or More
Gun violence has seeped into the American culture sinking its claws into everyday life. With 53,492 shooting oc- curring in 2018, the result was more than 13,700 gun-related deaths, reported by the Gun Violence Archive. A new study led by a professor at Boston University has found that the life expectancy of African- Americans has lowered by more than 4-years due to gun violence.
Based on federal data col- lected between 2000 and 2016, the research concluded black Americans died more frequently due to homicide among younger ages, although white American gun deaths are linked more so toward sui- cide amid older folks.
Published Dec. 4 in the BMJ Evidence-Based Medi- cine journal.
"Our study using cumula- tive data from 2000 to 2016 demonstrates a total firearm life expectancy loss of 905.2 days, which is nine times greater than observed in 2000, indicating increasing life expectancy loss by year," wrote Bindu Kalesan, the lead author of the investiga- tion.
Furthering the discussion surrounding firearm injury,
Gun violence affects the African American community and cuts life expectancy down drastically.
Kalesan inferred that gun-re- lated injury causes American's to "lose substantial years." A common misconception sur- rounding shooting victims, only 30% of people struck by bullets die. However, the trauma endured is now linked to the shortened life ex- pectancy.
One of the studies calcu- lated in the 2000s, "concluded that shootings reduced the av- erage American lifespan by about 100 days, with a signifi- cant gap between black and white men: Black men lost 361.5 days, while white men lost 150.7 days," wrote Nick Wing, a journalist at Huffing- ton Post.
Mumia Abu-Jamal Granted Partial Appeals Request Because Of Bias
Mumia Abu-Jamal,
who was convicted in the killing of a police officer more than three decades ago, will have his day in court — again and was granted a partial ap- peals request, the Philadel- phia Inquirer reports.
Philadelphia Common Pleas Court judge Leon Tucker ruled that Abu- Jamal can re-argue his ap- peal case due to a former judge’s alleged refusal to re- cuse himself from the case because of his earlier role as a district attorney during Abu-Jamal’s appeal.
Then-Chief Justice Ronald D. Castille report- edly was the District Attorney during the time Abu-Jamal was seeking an appeal. Abu- Jamal’s team argued that he
Mumia Abu-Jamal in 1995.
held a bias toward him. How- ever, Judge Tucker denied Abu-Jamal’s claim that Castille had “personal sig- nificant involvement” in his case while Castille was in the District Attorney’s Office. He denied it for lack of evi- dence.
Dustin
Slaughter,
spokesperson for District At- torney Larry Krasner, said in a statement that “we are aware of Judge Tucker’s opinion and are currently re- viewing it. As such, we have no further comment at this time.”
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