Derek Chauvin asks courts to vacate George Floyd murder conviction, expunge records

MINNEAPOLIS — For the third time, Derek Chauvin has asked Minnesota courts to vacate his conviction for the murder of George Floyd.

Chauvin’s attorney Gregory Joseph filed the petition for postconviction relief on Aug. 18 in Hennepin County. State officials violated Chauvin’s right to due process, Joseph wrote in the petition, adding that the complaint leading to Chauvin’s conviction was “unlawful, unfounded, and illegitimate.”

The move revived criticism of the landmark trial and stirred conversations from citizens and business leaders like Elon Musk.

In the petition, Joseph argued that Gov. Tim Walz broke the law in reassigning authority of the case to Attorney General Keith Ellison’s office, making Ellison’s involvement illegitimate. The petition also claimed “there was no medical evidence to support the bogus theory of ‘asphyxia’ advanced by the state,” and that the Hennepin County District Court should have convened a grand jury before charging Chauvin.

—Star Tribune

Based on religious liberty doctrine, court rules in favor of Gateway Church in defamation case

DALLAS — A Texas court has ruled in favor of Gateway Church in a defamation case brought against the church and its former pastor Robert Morris by Cindy Clemishire, the woman who accused Morris of sexually abusing her as a child in the 1980s.

Morris eventually pleaded guilty to multiple child sex abuse charges. The court ruling is a significant setback for Clemishire, who accused Gateway, its leadership and Morris of conspiring to cover up her abuse and defaming her in statements after the abuse became public.

Based on the ecclesiastical abstention doctrine, the Fifth Court of Appeals in Dallas ruled Wednesday that a lower court should dismiss the case against Gateway and three of its elders within 30 days. In a separate opinion, the court also dismissed all claims, except for one, against Morris.

“Because we find that real parties’ claims are inextricably intertwined with the church’s investigation of Morris’ misconduct, the doctrine deprives the trial court of jurisdiction,” the opinion said.

—The Dallas Morning News

Mice may drive Lyme disease more than deer

For more than three decades, researchers have been tracking ticks, mice, oak trees and other wildlife in a New York forest to better understand what makes Lyme disease more likely to spread.

Their latest findings challenge some long-held assumptions — including the idea that deer are a major driver of Lyme disease risk.

Researchers at the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, a nonprofit environmental research group, found that white-footed mice, not white-tailed deer, are closely linked to the number of young blacklegged ticks, the life stage most likely to infect people with Lyme disease.

A year with a large mouse population was followed by about a 40% increase in nymphal ticks the following year. But more mice don’t necessarily mean a higher percentage of ticks carrying Lyme bacteria. Researchers initially expected the two to rise together because white-footed mice are especially good at transmitting the bacteria to ticks.

—Stateline.org

Climate change could nearly triple Europe's wildfire area, study says

POTSDAM, Germany — Climate change could expand the area affected by wildfires across Europe by as much as 192% by the end of the century, according to a study published in the scientific journal Global Change Biology on Thursday.

The international research team, led by Maik Billing of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), said the scale of the increase would depend on the extent of global warming.

Wildfires are natural and important for biodiversity and ecosystem dynamics, the researchers wrote. However, the activity of such fires is currently increasing. "Climate change is driving up fire activity across Europe as hot, dry and windy conditions become more severe," Billing said.

The team's simulations showed that even in a scenario with comparatively low global warming of around 1.8 degrees Celsius, around 39% more land area would burn in Europe per year by the end of the century compared to today's average. In a scenario with warming of around 3.6 degrees, the team projected an increase of 192%.

—dpa