Reports: Pro MMA fighter arrested for allegedly stabbing, killing doctor after COVID-19 vaccine argument

#1:Reports: Pro MMA fighter arrested for allegedly stabbing, killing doctor after COVID-19 vaccine argument

 

 Akmal Khozhiev, a 3-1 pro fighter, was arrested Nov. 7 by the Guam Police Department after allegedly stabbing and killing a doctor during a COVID-19 dispute in Tamuning, according to multiple reports from local news outlets including Pacific Daily News, KUAM News, Pacific News Center, and The Guam Daily Post.
At the time of publication, the Guam Police Department did not respond to MMA Junkie’s inquiries for comment.
Khozhiev, 27, faces charges of first-degree felony aggravated murder with a deadly weapon and second-degree aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Bail for Khozhiev was set at $1 million.

According to a witness, Khozhiev and Dr. Miran Ribati, a radiologist at Guam Memorial Hospital, engaged in an altercation at an apartment complex after a heated debate over the COVID-19 vaccine. The witness said the altercation got physical when Khozhiev choked Ribati unconscious and stabbed him in the throat with an animal bone from a meal the two had shared. Khozhiev allegedly then grabbed a knife and stabbed the doctor again.
Police responded to the scene where they reportedly found Ribati face down in a pool of his own blood. “Sir, it’s me, it’s me, I killed him,” Khozhiev reportedly told police
J.J. Ambrose, a veteran MMA fighter who competed for Bellator among other promotions, used to employ Khozhiev at Steel Athletics in Tamuning and said he was not surprised to hear about the violent altercation. Ribati, like Khozhiev trained for years at the gym.
“He was such a great person up until he wasn’t,” Ambrose told KUAM. “We did everything we possibly could to warn people that AK wasn’t AK anymore. … It’s very hard ’cause I know when you’re friends with two people and those two people are on the outs, you don’t want to take sides. You want to ride in the middle. But in this case, AK seriously needed help, and that was the problem – that people were not trying to take sides, and he seriously needed help this whole time.”
In a statement to Pacific Daily News, Guam Memorial Hospital praised Ribati for his dedication and skills as a physician.
“It is with a heavy, shocked and saddened heart that the Guam Memorial Hospital Authority shares the passing of one of its esteemed physicians, Dr. Miran Ribati. Dr. Ribati was an Interventional Radiologist at GMHA, serving the community for over three years. His talents were undeniable and impeccable; his passion unparalleled; his accolades from patients in droves. He will be sorely missed among colleagues, staff and the entire Guam healthcare community.”

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White House announcer appears to skip Harris at infrastructure signing after disastrous CNN report

#1:White House announcer appears to skip Harris at infrastructure signing after disastrous CNN report

 

 The White House’s announcer at President Biden’s signing ceremony of the bipartisan infrastructure bill appeared to skip Vice President Harris’ turn to speak following a disastrous CNN report on her.
Harris appeared to be passed over at the White House signing ceremony, with the event announcer introducing union political activist Heather Kurtenbach as the vice president stood at the podium.
"In a moment," Harris quipped after the apparent snub.
PSAKI PANNED FOR STATEMENT DEFENDING ‘VITAL PARTNER’ KAMALA HARRIS: ‘THIS IS HOW YOU KNOW IT’S BAD’
The snub is very likely a flub, but it nevertheless served as a metaphor for Harris' current travails, coming just a day after a CNN report that her office is facing internalized dysfunction and an absence of focus and that President Biden's aides were fed up with hers.
Conservatives on Twitter were quick to take jabs at Harris over it, with many continuing the comparison of the vice president to fictional Vice President Selena Meyer from the hit HBO show "Veep."
The Tea Party blasted the Harris version of the sitcom as "painful to watch," while House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy's communications aide Michelle Exner predicted, "We will get another late night tweet from Jen Psaki trying to quell rumors that ‘there is no dysfunction’ between POTUS/VP offices."
Journalist Jerry Dunleavy wrote that he was "excited to watch the version of this with the Veep credits/music," while Steve Guest with Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, joked that "Kamala Harris wants Kamala Harris to be recognized."
Other conservatives online weighed in, too, with Republican communicator Matt Whitlock writing that the vice president "can't catch a break."
The incident came the day after CNN’s revealing report on the vice president’s office operations.
Biden signed the bipartisan infrastructure package into law on Monday after months of negotiations.
A spokesperson for Harris pointed Fox News to tweets from vice presidential staff as well as White House press secretary Jen Psaki's tweet defending the vice president's "vital role" in the administration.

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Prosecutor pleads guilty and resigns as jury deliberates

#1:Prosecutor pleads guilty and resigns as jury deliberates

 

 As a jury was deliberating over his fate, a Georgia district attorney on Monday pleaded guilty to several charges stemming from improper acts while in office and agreed to resign.
Mark Jones had already been suspended as Chattahoochee Judicial Circuit district attorney after the state attorney general’s office obtained the indictment on Sept. 7. It accused him of trying to influence a police officer’s testimony, offering bribes to prosecutors in his office and trying to influence and prevent the testimony of a crime victim.
Jones took office in January, overseeing the Chattahoochee Judicial Circuit, which serves Muscogee, Harris, Chattahoochee, Marion, Talbot and Taylor counties in west Georgia.
After deliberating briefly Thursday and then all day Friday, jurors had indicated Friday afternoon that they were unanimous on three of the nine charges, and the judge instructed them to keep working on the others, according to local news outlets. After about an hour of deliberations Monday, jurors said they had reached a consensus of guilty on five charges, but Jones had decided to agree to a plea deal, the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer reported.
He pleaded guilty to four counts in the indictment in exchange for a sentence of five years — one year to be served in prison and the remainder on probation — and a $1,000 fine, Attorney General Chris Carr said in a news release. Jones also agreed to resign, submitting a resignation letter to Gov. Brian Kemp.
“By abusing his power and abdicating his responsibility as district attorney, Mark Jones did a disservice to those he was elected to protect and put our very justice system at risk," Carr said in the release. "This outcome is a victory for integrity in prosecutions and the rule of law.”
Superior Court Judge Katherine Lumsden had Jones taken into custody immediately, denying his request to turn himself in on Friday.
The governor can now appoint a district attorney to serve until one can be elected. Until he does, Acting District Attorney Sheneka Terry, who took over when Jones was suspended, will continue to hold the role.
The judge noted that the corruption case against Jones was different from some others.
 “You didn’t line your own pockets. You didn’t do some of the things that normally are involved when we think of public corruption,” she said. “But I think you got so caught up in being the DA that you forgot about the people you ran to represent.”
Jones pleaded guilty to one count of influencing witnesses for telling a police officer to testify a certain way. He also pleaded guilty to two counts of attempted violation of oath by a public officer for offering two prosecutors in his office $1,000 each in exchange for following instructions he gave them. And he pleaded guilty to one count of violation of oath by a public officer for not helping a crime victim's nephew understand the court system and his rights.
Juror Iesha James told reporters after the plea that jurors had reached guilty verdicts on five counts, the Ledger-Enquirer reported. That included two of the ones involved in the plea agreement.
Jurors heard three days of testimony from prosecution witnesses last week. Jones’ defense attorney, Katonga Wright, didn’t call any witnesses. Jones didn’t testify.

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