Posts Tagged ‘crimes and trials’
The jury in the John Edwards mistress and money trial ended its third day of deliberations today after apparently making little progress, asking to review evidence that suggests they are still focused one just one or two of the six counts with which the former presidential candidate is charged.
The panel of eight men and four women has six felony charges to consider, each of which carries a maximum penalty of five years and a $250,000 fine. Edwards is accused of soliciting money from wealthy donors to conceal his mistress and love child during his 2008 bid for the White House.
For three days, observers have noted that jurors have requested evidence relating only to the second count, and perhaps the third, that deal specifically with money obtained from 101-year-old heiress and Edwards supporter, Rachel “Bunny” Mellon.
This evening after nearly 16 hours of deliberations, jurors asked for two more exhibits related to Mellon. One exhibit was a letter from her lawyer Alex Forger to Edwards’ aide Andrew Young. The second was a letter from Mellon to Forger.
Forger first learned that Mellon was writing checks to Young in 2007 and became suspicious about for whom the money was really intended.
Edwards was spotted waiting out the jury’s decision in a second floor room of the courthouse. Reporters have spotted him pacing the room, looking out the window.
The government alleges in count two of the indictment that Edwards and Young illegally solicited the money from Mellon as part of the effort to hide his pregnant mistress, Rielle Hunter, during the 2008 Democratic presidential primary campaign.
Jurors were charged by federal Judge Catherine Eagles last Friday to first consider counts two through six of the indictment and consider the first count, dealing with conspiracy, last.
The counts the jury will consider in order are as follows:
Count 2: Illegal Campaign Contributions
During 2007 John Edwards, while a candidate for federal office, knowingly and willfully accepted and received contributions from Mellon in excess of the $4,600 limits of the Election Act. (Mellon’s checks in 2007 totaled $525,000)
Count 3: Illegal Campaign Contributions
Same charge and wording as count two but for calendar year 2008 (Mellon wrote one check in 2008 for $200,000.)
Count 4: Illegal Campaign Contributions
Same charge and wording as count 2 but related to excess contributions from backer Fred Baron in 2007 ($61,942 in flights and hotel bills for mistress Rielle Hunter, Andrew Young and his family)
Count 5: Illegal Campaign Contributions
Same charge and wording as count two but related to contributions from Baron in 2008 ($131,143 in flights, hotel bills, home rental for the Youngs and Hunter. The total also includes $10,000 in cash)
Count 6: False Statements
Edwards concealed from the John Edwards for President Committee hundreds of thousands of dollars from Mellon and Baron causing the committee to file FEC reports which failed to disclose those contributions
Count 1: Conspiracy
Edwards conspired with others to accept and receive excess contributions from Mellon and Baron. Edwards also concealed material facts from the John Edwards for President Committee causing the committee to file false and misleading campaign finance reports
The jury the spent two days looking just at the first charge, count 2, requesting from the judge a letter Mellon wrote in April 2007 that is sometimes referred to as the “haircut” letter. Mellon wrote the letter to Young, shortly after the press had seized on the news that Edwards had charged a $400 haircut to his campaign.
“I was sitting alone in a grim mood – furious that the press had attacked Sen. Edwards on the price of a haircut,” Mellon’s handwritten note reads. “From now on, all haircuts, etc., that are a necessary and important part of his campaign, please send the bills to me. It is a way to help our friend without government restrictions.”
Within six weeks of that letter Mellon began writing a series of personal checks that would eventually add up to $725,000 over seven months. The jury also requested copies of the first two of those two checks, which were funneled to Andrew Young through an intermediary and eventually deposited in an account in the maiden name of Young’s wife, Cheri.
The jury will soon likely turn from contributions donated by Mellon to those given by Baron, before ultimately considering the conspiracy charge.
At the end of the day on Monday, the jurors informed the judge that they’d prefer to keep to a set schedule for deliberations, starting each day at 9:30 a.m. and calling it quits by about 4 p.m. The Middle District of North Carolina covers 24 counties and several of the jurors have long commutes to court each day.
Article source: http://news.yahoo.com/john-edwards-jurors-little-progress-three-days-deliberations-142737191--abc-news-topstories.html
The jury in the John Edwards mistress and money trial ended its third day of deliberations today after apparently making little progress, asking to review evidence that suggests they are still focused one just one or two of the six counts with which the former presidential candidate is charged.
The panel of eight men and four women has six felony charges to consider, each of which carries a maximum penalty of five years and a $250,000 fine. Edwards is accused of soliciting money from wealthy donors to conceal his mistress and love child during his 2008 bid for the White House.
For three days, observers have noted that jurors have requested evidence relating only to the second count, and perhaps the third, that deal specifically with money obtained from 101-year-old heiress and Edwards supporter, Rachel “Bunny” Mellon.
This evening after nearly 16 hours of deliberations, jurors asked for two more exhibits related to Mellon. One exhibit was a letter from her lawyer Alex Forger to Edwards’ aide Andrew Young. The second was a letter from Mellon to Forger.
Forger first learned that Mellon was writing checks to Young in 2007 and became suspicious about for whom the money was really intended.
Edwards was spotted waiting out the jury’s decision in a second floor room of the courthouse. Reporters have spotted him pacing the room, looking out the window.
The government alleges in count two of the indictment that Edwards and Young illegally solicited the money from Mellon as part of the effort to hide his pregnant mistress, Rielle Hunter, during the 2008 Democratic presidential primary campaign.
Jurors were charged by federal Judge Catherine Eagles last Friday to first consider counts two through six of the indictment and consider the first count, dealing with conspiracy, last.
The counts the jury will consider in order are as follows:
Count 2: Illegal Campaign Contributions
During 2007 John Edwards, while a candidate for federal office, knowingly and willfully accepted and received contributions from Mellon in excess of the $4,600 limits of the Election Act. (Mellon’s checks in 2007 totaled $525,000)
Count 3: Illegal Campaign Contributions
Same charge and wording as count two but for calendar year 2008 (Mellon wrote one check in 2008 for $200,000.)
Count 4: Illegal Campaign Contributions
Same charge and wording as count 2 but related to excess contributions from backer Fred Baron in 2007 ($61,942 in flights and hotel bills for mistress Rielle Hunter, Andrew Young and his family)
Count 5: Illegal Campaign Contributions
Same charge and wording as count two but related to contributions from Baron in 2008 ($131,143 in flights, hotel bills, home rental for the Youngs and Hunter. The total also includes $10,000 in cash)
Count 6: False Statements
Edwards concealed from the John Edwards for President Committee hundreds of thousands of dollars from Mellon and Baron causing the committee to file FEC reports which failed to disclose those contributions
Count 1: Conspiracy
Edwards conspired with others to accept and receive excess contributions from Mellon and Baron. Edwards also concealed material facts from the John Edwards for President Committee causing the committee to file false and misleading campaign finance reports
The jury the spent two days looking just at the first charge, count 2, requesting from the judge a letter Mellon wrote in April 2007 that is sometimes referred to as the “haircut” letter. Mellon wrote the letter to Young, shortly after the press had seized on the news that Edwards had charged a $400 haircut to his campaign.
“I was sitting alone in a grim mood – furious that the press had attacked Sen. Edwards on the price of a haircut,” Mellon’s handwritten note reads. “From now on, all haircuts, etc., that are a necessary and important part of his campaign, please send the bills to me. It is a way to help our friend without government restrictions.”
Within six weeks of that letter Mellon began writing a series of personal checks that would eventually add up to $725,000 over seven months. The jury also requested copies of the first two of those two checks, which were funneled to Andrew Young through an intermediary and eventually deposited in an account in the maiden name of Young’s wife, Cheri.
The jury will soon likely turn from contributions donated by Mellon to those given by Baron, before ultimately considering the conspiracy charge.
At the end of the day on Monday, the jurors informed the judge that they’d prefer to keep to a set schedule for deliberations, starting each day at 9:30 a.m. and calling it quits by about 4 p.m. The Middle District of North Carolina covers 24 counties and several of the jurors have long commutes to court each day.
Article source: http://news.yahoo.com/john-edwards-jurors-little-progress-three-days-deliberations-142737191--abc-news-topstories.html
CANNES, France (Reuters) – “Don’t give up the day job” was the critics’ blunt message to British rocker Pete Doherty, whose debut film role in 19th century love story “Confession of a Child of the Century” has had its premiere at the Cannes festival.
Based on an autobiographical novel by Alfred de Musset about his affair with writer George Sand, Doherty’s casting in the lead role makes plenty of sense.
The character he plays is a Parisian libertine living the wild life, mirroring the Babyshambles and Libertines frontman’s own history of alcohol and drug abuse.
In Britain he was a frequent fixture on the tabloid front pages due to his run-ins with the law and on-off relationship with supermodel Kate Moss.
French director Sylvie Verheyde had those similarities in mind when she cast Doherty in the English-language period drama, in which he stars alongside French actress Charlotte Gainsbourg.
“He (Doherty) was the figure of the poet now, like Musset was a figure of a romantic poet at this time,” she told Reuters in an interview. “Just like Musset, he has this share of innocence and debauchery.”
Doherty, whose character Octave is a disaffected, world-weary dandy wearing top hat, tails and a cane, said he had no hesitation in accepting the role.
“I couldn’t not do it, really,” he told Reuters in Cannes.
“Things come along in your life, where it’s a certain melody, or a certain person and you can’t not be involved because you regret it and you’ll be sorry and you’d be really jealous if someone else does it.”
Most critics in Cannes, where the film screened in the “Un Certain Regard” section for up-and-coming directors, did not spare the 33-year-old’s feelings.
“Based on his debut performance … the Libertines and Babyshambles singer shouldn’t even think of giving up his day job,” wrote Megan Lehmann in the Hollywood Reporter trade magazine, apportioning some of the blame to the director.
Baz Bamigboye, writing in the Daily Mail newspaper, opined: “Pete Doherty was collared for possessing … cocaine … now he has been done at the Cannes Film Festival for not being in possession of any acting talent.”
Boyd van Hoeij from Hollywood publication Variety, was particularly scathing about scenes shared by Doherty and Gainsbourg.
“Charlotte Gainsbourg … and … Peter Doherty, making an inauspicious acting debut, have all the chemistry of two frozen fish filets, with line readings to match.”
But Geoffrey Macnab of the Independent newspaper did not agree in his three-out-of-five star review.
“In essence, then, Doherty … is playing a 19th century version of himself — and he does it very well. He is understated, sardonic but has a vulnerability that stops him from seeming (too) obnoxious.
“The problems with an uneven film are not of his making.”
(Reporting by Mike Collett-White, editing by Paul Casciato)
Article source: http://news.yahoo.com/singer-pete-dohertys-film-debut-dubbed-crime-155104375.html
CANNES, France (Reuters) – “Don’t give up the day job” was the critics’ blunt message to British rocker Pete Doherty, whose debut film role in 19th century love story “Confession of a Child of the Century” has had its premiere at the Cannes festival.
Based on an autobiographical novel by Alfred de Musset about his affair with writer George Sand, Doherty’s casting in the lead role makes plenty of sense.
The character he plays is a Parisian libertine living the wild life, mirroring the Babyshambles and Libertines frontman’s own history of alcohol and drug abuse.
In Britain he was a frequent fixture on the tabloid front pages due to his run-ins with the law and on-off relationship with supermodel Kate Moss.
French director Sylvie Verheyde had those similarities in mind when she cast Doherty in the English-language period drama, in which he stars alongside French actress Charlotte Gainsbourg.
“He (Doherty) was the figure of the poet now, like Musset was a figure of a romantic poet at this time,” she told Reuters in an interview. “Just like Musset, he has this share of innocence and debauchery.”
Doherty, whose character Octave is a disaffected, world-weary dandy wearing top hat, tails and a cane, said he had no hesitation in accepting the role.
“I couldn’t not do it, really,” he told Reuters in Cannes.
“Things come along in your life, where it’s a certain melody, or a certain person and you can’t not be involved because you regret it and you’ll be sorry and you’d be really jealous if someone else does it.”
Most critics in Cannes, where the film screened in the “Un Certain Regard” section for up-and-coming directors, did not spare the 33-year-old’s feelings.
“Based on his debut performance … the Libertines and Babyshambles singer shouldn’t even think of giving up his day job,” wrote Megan Lehmann in the Hollywood Reporter trade magazine, apportioning some of the blame to the director.
Baz Bamigboye, writing in the Daily Mail newspaper, opined: “Pete Doherty was collared for possessing … cocaine … now he has been done at the Cannes Film Festival for not being in possession of any acting talent.”
Boyd van Hoeij from Hollywood publication Variety, was particularly scathing about scenes shared by Doherty and Gainsbourg.
“Charlotte Gainsbourg … and … Peter Doherty, making an inauspicious acting debut, have all the chemistry of two frozen fish filets, with line readings to match.”
But Geoffrey Macnab of the Independent newspaper did not agree in his three-out-of-five star review.
“In essence, then, Doherty … is playing a 19th century version of himself — and he does it very well. He is understated, sardonic but has a vulnerability that stops him from seeming (too) obnoxious.
“The problems with an uneven film are not of his making.”
(Reporting by Mike Collett-White, editing by Paul Casciato)
Article source: http://news.yahoo.com/singer-pete-dohertys-film-debut-dubbed-crime-155104375.html
PIERRE, S.D. (AP) — Authorities have arrested a man for climbing Mount Rushmore National Memorial in western South Dakota.
Mount Rushmore spokeswoman Maureen McGee-Ballinger says the climber was arrested about 2:15 p.m. Monday on federal charges that include trespassing and climbing the memorial. She did not identify the man, who has yet to appear in court.
McGee-Ballinger says the man was spotted on the loose rock directly below the carvings of four presidents, and park rangers escorted him safely down the mountain.
She says visitors and the sculpture were never in any danger. She says similar incidents happen several times a year when people for unknown reasons decide to try to climb the mountain.
Mount Rushmore upgraded its security after members of Greenpeace climbed the mountain in 2009.
___
Information from: Rapid City Journal, http://www.rapidcityjournal.com
Article source: http://news.yahoo.com/man-arrested-climbing-mount-rushmore-161440789.html
PIERRE, S.D. (AP) — Authorities have arrested a man for climbing Mount Rushmore National Memorial in western South Dakota.
Mount Rushmore spokeswoman Maureen McGee-Ballinger says the climber was arrested about 2:15 p.m. Monday on federal charges that include trespassing and climbing the memorial. She did not identify the man, who has yet to appear in court.
McGee-Ballinger says the man was spotted on the loose rock directly below the carvings of four presidents, and park rangers escorted him safely down the mountain.
She says visitors and the sculpture were never in any danger. She says similar incidents happen several times a year when people for unknown reasons decide to try to climb the mountain.
Mount Rushmore upgraded its security after members of Greenpeace climbed the mountain in 2009.
___
Information from: Rapid City Journal, http://www.rapidcityjournal.com
Article source: http://news.yahoo.com/man-arrested-climbing-mount-rushmore-161440789.html
A South African court convicted a black farmworker Tuesday of murdering white supremacist leader Eugene Terre‘Blanche, but found the motive was financial rather than racial.
Judge John Horn rejected Chris Mahlangu‘s claims to have acted in self-defence and accepted the prosecution’s argument that the killing had been triggered by a fight over wages.
Mahlangu‘s co-defendant Patrick Ndlovu, 18, who was a minor at the time of the killing, was found guilty of house-breaking but not guilty on charges of murder and robbery.
“I am not convinced that accused number two (Ndlovu) took any real or active part in the assault on the deceased,” Horn said in the High Court sitting in the northwest town of Ventersdorp.
Horn last month ruled most evidence against the teenager inadmissible because police failed to follow South Africa‘s child protection laws in handling the case.
The 69-year-old co-founder of the farright Afrikaner Resistance Movement (AWB) was bludgeoned to death at his farmhouse outside Ventersdorp, a small farming town, on April 3, 2010.
The pair turned themselves in after the incident.
“He was revered by some, but despised by others,” said the judge, rejecting assertions that Terre’Blanche had been killed over his political views.
“According to what was put to some of the witnesses on behalf of the accused, the dispute with the deceased was about money, not about his political beliefs or aversion for black people,” Horn said.
The conviction of Mahlangu, 29, was no surprise given the array of evidence against him.
The court found no proof that Terre’Blanche had sodomised Mahlangu, a claim he raised when the trial started.
“Sodomy is such a personal intrusion, I can’t believe (Mahlangu) would not have raised it immediately,” Horn said.
Furthermore, there was no indication that police had removed semen from Terre’Blanche’s genitals after the crime.
“There was no earthly reason for them to lay their careers on the line to act in such manner. They had nothing to gain. It simply does not make sense,” he said.
Outside the court a small group of AWB members displaying the movement’s red flags with a swastika-like emblem were gathered.
Posters with Terre’Blanche’s face hung on trees, with slogans like “We Want Justice” and “Stop Farm Murders”.
Supporters of the accused pair sang the song “Shoot the white farmer” — an apartheid-era rallying cry that was banned last year — outside the court, with some carrying placards reading “Down with the AWB“.
Heavily armed police guarded the court, with a large group of local and foreign journalists moving in the area cordoned off outside the building.
“We are pleased with the judgement, it was extremely comprehensive,” said Norman Arendse, Ndlovu’s lawyer.
“It has been a rollercoster ride. There was a time when we thought he was going to be convicted” of murder by association, he said.
A visibly angry Terre’Blanche family spokesman said they were not happy that the teenager escaped the murder conviction.
“From the family, we are totally unhappy that the boy has not been found guilty,” said Andre Niebaner.
The killing confronted South Africa with memories of its dark apartheid past, but during the long proceedings the trial has largely faded from public debate.
The trial instead cast yet another light on South Africa’s staggering incidence of violent crime, which farmers say is especially severe on their land. Commercial farms are still mostly in white hands 18 years after the end of apartheid.
Sentencing is expected on June 18.
Article source: http://news.yahoo.com/african-court-deliver-terreblanche-murder-verdict-030824738.html
A South African court convicted a black farmworker Tuesday of murdering white supremacist leader Eugene Terre‘Blanche, but found the motive was financial rather than racial.
Judge John Horn rejected Chris Mahlangu‘s claims to have acted in self-defence and accepted the prosecution’s argument that the killing had been triggered by a fight over wages.
Mahlangu‘s co-defendant Patrick Ndlovu, 18, who was a minor at the time of the killing, was found guilty of house-breaking but not guilty on charges of murder and robbery.
“I am not convinced that accused number two (Ndlovu) took any real or active part in the assault on the deceased,” Horn said in the High Court sitting in the northwest town of Ventersdorp.
Horn last month ruled most evidence against the teenager inadmissible because police failed to follow South Africa‘s child protection laws in handling the case.
The 69-year-old co-founder of the farright Afrikaner Resistance Movement (AWB) was bludgeoned to death at his farmhouse outside Ventersdorp, a small farming town, on April 3, 2010.
The pair turned themselves in after the incident.
“He was revered by some, but despised by others,” said the judge, rejecting assertions that Terre’Blanche had been killed over his political views.
“According to what was put to some of the witnesses on behalf of the accused, the dispute with the deceased was about money, not about his political beliefs or aversion for black people,” Horn said.
The conviction of Mahlangu, 29, was no surprise given the array of evidence against him.
The court found no proof that Terre’Blanche had sodomised Mahlangu, a claim he raised when the trial started.
“Sodomy is such a personal intrusion, I can’t believe (Mahlangu) would not have raised it immediately,” Horn said.
Furthermore, there was no indication that police had removed semen from Terre’Blanche’s genitals after the crime.
“There was no earthly reason for them to lay their careers on the line to act in such manner. They had nothing to gain. It simply does not make sense,” he said.
Outside the court a small group of AWB members displaying the movement’s red flags with a swastika-like emblem were gathered.
Posters with Terre’Blanche’s face hung on trees, with slogans like “We Want Justice” and “Stop Farm Murders”.
Supporters of the accused pair sang the song “Shoot the white farmer” — an apartheid-era rallying cry that was banned last year — outside the court, with some carrying placards reading “Down with the AWB“.
Heavily armed police guarded the court, with a large group of local and foreign journalists moving in the area cordoned off outside the building.
“We are pleased with the judgement, it was extremely comprehensive,” said Norman Arendse, Ndlovu’s lawyer.
“It has been a rollercoster ride. There was a time when we thought he was going to be convicted” of murder by association, he said.
A visibly angry Terre’Blanche family spokesman said they were not happy that the teenager escaped the murder conviction.
“From the family, we are totally unhappy that the boy has not been found guilty,” said Andre Niebaner.
The killing confronted South Africa with memories of its dark apartheid past, but during the long proceedings the trial has largely faded from public debate.
The trial instead cast yet another light on South Africa’s staggering incidence of violent crime, which farmers say is especially severe on their land. Commercial farms are still mostly in white hands 18 years after the end of apartheid.
Sentencing is expected on June 18.
Article source: http://news.yahoo.com/african-court-deliver-terreblanche-murder-verdict-030824738.html
A US Airways flight from Paris continued its journey to Charlotte, N.C., today after it was diverted to Bangor, Maine, because of “suspicious behavior” by a female passenger.
Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, told ABC News today that the passenger, an unidentified woman born in Cameroon and traveling alone for a 10-day trip to the U.S., had passed a note to the flight crew saying that she had a surgically implanted device in her.
King said that when doctors examined the woman, they found no signs of recent scars. He said she had no checked baggage.
Another congressional official who spoke on the condition of anonymity said the note had been written in French and did not mention a bomb.
The Transportation Security Administration said the passenger was being interviewed by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers.
Alexa Moore, a 20-year-old student at Campbellsville University in Kentucky, told ABC News today that she was on her way back from a mission in Africa and had been seated about five rows in front of the woman.
“I was sleeping in and out, but we did see her keep going to the bathroom,” Moore said. “She was holding, like, her stomach and apparently she had like a note that said she had an explosive planted inside of her.”
Moore said the flight crew had asked several times over the intercom whether a doctor was onboard. She said the pilot then said the plane would have to land in Maine because it was low on fuel.
Andrew Christie of US Airways confirmed to ABC News that Flight 787, which took off from Paris’ Charles de Gaulle Airport with 179 passengers and nine crew members onboard, had been diverted around noon to Bangor International Airport because of a “security issue.”
According to the TSA, the flight was redirected “out of an abundance of caution.”
John Cornello, the spokesman for the North American Aerospace Defense Command, told ABC News that it had launched two f-15s from Barnes Air National Guard Base in Massachusetts to intercept the US Airways aircraft.
A Bangor airport official said the passengers were fine and would continue their flight to Charlotte on the same plane.
Moore told ABC News that once the plane had landed shortly after noon, passengers were surprised to see the police board and remove the woman.
“We didn’t know what was going on,” she said. “I thought she probably had like some drugs on the plane but it was just like crazy. I was pretty shocked.”
Moore said after police and the passenger left, the pilot apologized over the intercom for misleading the passengers about the fuel shortage. She said everyone was shocked.
“They didn’t scream or anything, ’cause I think she was already off the plane, but they, you know, jaws dropped,” she said.
ABC News’ Lisa Stark contributed to this story.
Article source: http://news.yahoo.com/paris-charlotte-flight-diverted-due-security-issue-172354139--abc-news-topstories.html
A US Airways flight from Paris continued its journey to Charlotte, N.C., today after it was diverted to Bangor, Maine, because of “suspicious behavior” by a female passenger.
Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, told ABC News today that the passenger, an unidentified woman born in Cameroon and traveling alone for a 10-day trip to the U.S., had passed a note to the flight crew saying that she had a surgically implanted device in her.
King said that when doctors examined the woman, they found no signs of recent scars. He said she had no checked baggage.
Another congressional official who spoke on the condition of anonymity said the note had been written in French and did not mention a bomb.
The Transportation Security Administration said the passenger was being interviewed by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers.
Alexa Moore, a 20-year-old student at Campbellsville University in Kentucky, told ABC News today that she was on her way back from a mission in Africa and had been seated about five rows in front of the woman.
“I was sleeping in and out, but we did see her keep going to the bathroom,” Moore said. “She was holding, like, her stomach and apparently she had like a note that said she had an explosive planted inside of her.”
Moore said the flight crew had asked several times over the intercom whether a doctor was onboard. She said the pilot then said the plane would have to land in Maine because it was low on fuel.
Andrew Christie of US Airways confirmed to ABC News that Flight 787, which took off from Paris’ Charles de Gaulle Airport with 179 passengers and nine crew members onboard, had been diverted around noon to Bangor International Airport because of a “security issue.”
According to the TSA, the flight was redirected “out of an abundance of caution.”
John Cornello, the spokesman for the North American Aerospace Defense Command, told ABC News that it had launched two f-15s from Barnes Air National Guard Base in Massachusetts to intercept the US Airways aircraft.
A Bangor airport official said the passengers were fine and would continue their flight to Charlotte on the same plane.
Moore told ABC News that once the plane had landed shortly after noon, passengers were surprised to see the police board and remove the woman.
“We didn’t know what was going on,” she said. “I thought she probably had like some drugs on the plane but it was just like crazy. I was pretty shocked.”
Moore said after police and the passenger left, the pilot apologized over the intercom for misleading the passengers about the fuel shortage. She said everyone was shocked.
“They didn’t scream or anything, ’cause I think she was already off the plane, but they, you know, jaws dropped,” she said.
ABC News’ Lisa Stark contributed to this story.
Article source: http://news.yahoo.com/paris-charlotte-flight-diverted-due-security-issue-172354139--abc-news-topstories.html