A former boyfriend of a woman who says she was paid to give sexual favors to Jeffrey Epstein, starting at age 14, corroborated parts of her account Wednesday at the sex trafficking trial of the millionaire's longtime companion, Ghislaine Maxwell.The man, identified only as Shawn to protect the identity of his ex-girlfriend, said on multiple occasions in the early 2000s he drove three girls he knew to Epstein’s estate in Palm Beach, Florida.He would wait in the car for an hour until the teenagers would emerge with $100 bills.The girls included a woman who testified on Tuesday only as Carolyn to protect her privacy. She had told the jury she made hundreds of dollars giving sexualized massages to Epstein, and that Maxwell had fondled her and told her she “had a great body."Shawn said he and Carolyn used some of the cash to support their drug habit.The testimony came as the government neared the end of its case against Maxwell, who has denied charges she instructed teenagers to give Epstein sexual messages at the millionaire’s residences in Florida, New York and elsewhere.Maxwell's lawyers have said she's being made a scapegoat for sex crimes committed by Epstein, who briefly went to jail in a child prostitution case in 2008, and then killed himself after he was hit with new charges in 2019.The last of four key accusers was expected to testify Thursday before the government rests its case. The defense is set to start its case next week.In his testimony Wednesday, Shawn said he drove the girls to Epstein's posh property from the much less affluent neighborhoods of West Palm Beach, where the teenagers lived, whenever he received a call from one of three women who worked for Epstein.One of them, he said, had a “proper English" accent. Maxwell was raised in England.Shawn testified that he never met Maxwell but he once met Epstein in his driveway when Epstein arrived late for a massage. He said Epstein “introduced himself and showed off his car.”He said the teenagers would exchange their $100 bills at a Palm Beach gas station for smaller bills because no businesses in West Palm Beach would accept the large bills.

Jurors in the trial of three white men charged in Ahmaud Arbery’s killing saw graphic photos of the shotgun wounds that killed him.They heard a defendant’s description of having the 25-year-old Black man “trapped like a rat” during the five-minute chase that ended in his death. And they heard the men’s explanation for thinking Arbery was suspicious and possibly armed.The trial of father and son Greg and Travis McMichael and their neighbor William “Roddie” Bryan wrapped up its first full week of testimony Friday. Each is charged with murder and other crimes in the death of Arbery, who was fatally shot last year after he was spotted running in the defendants' coastal Georgia neighborhood.Bryan's cellphone video of the shooting dramatically raised the killing's profile, making it part of a larger national outcry over racial injustice.The trial is expected to continue through at least next week. Here are some key moments so far.___ GRUESOME IMAGESSeveral jurors squirmed when a Glynn County police investigator walked them through dozens of crime scene photos of Arbery's body as it lay in the street where he fell dead after being shot three times on a Sunday afternoon in February 2020. They included close-up images of shotgun wounds to his wrist and grievous injuries to his chest and underneath one of his arms.Arbery's mother remained in the courtroom throughout the presentation, while his father stepped outside before it began.___SHIFTING SUSPICIONThe jury heard from two police officers about Greg McMichael changing his story on the day of the shooting, when asked why he initiated the deadly chase.Officer Jeff Brandeberry said McMichael told him at the scene that Arbery had been recorded by security cameras “breaking in all these houses out here.” Later that day, McMichael told Detective Parker Marcy that Arbery had been recorded inside a single home — one that was still under construction, with no doors or windows. He noted there had been other break-ins in the neighborhood, and “logic tells you this guy may be the one that’s doing it."Prosecutors say there's no evidence Arbery took anything from the unfinished home.___‘INACTIVE’ INVESTIGATIONProsecutors have called to the witness stand eight officers who took part in the initial investigation by Glynn County police — which ended up making no arrests in the case. Arbery had been dead for more than two months when the McMichaels and Bryan were charged with murder. That happened only after the video of the shooting leaked online and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation took over.Stephan Lowrey, the lead county investigator in Arbery's killing, testified that he hadn't closed the case before it got handed to the bureau. “It was still open but not getting much traction,” Lowrey testified. He added: “I think ‘inactive’ was a fair summary.”___‘TRAPPED LIKE A RAT’Glynn County investigators testified that on the day of the shooting, both Greg McMichael and Bryan described using pickup trucks to prevent Arbery from fleeing the Satilla Shores neighborhood, named for the Little Satilla River that flows past its homes on Brunswick’s edge.McMichael said he wanted the running man detained until police could arrive and question him. “He was trapped like a rat,” McMichael told police Sgt. Roderic Nohilly.Bryan said he joined the pursuit without knowing Arbery, the McMichaels or why they were chasing him. Lowrey testified that Bryan several times mentioned maneuvering his truck to edge Arbery off the road, though the investigator said none of the actions Bryan described struck him as a serious crime.“I didn’t hit him,” Bryan said. “Wish I would have. Might have took him out and not get him shot.”___A WITNESS, NOT A SUSPECTLowrey also told Bryan's attorney, Kevin Gough, from the witness stand that he considered Bryan to be a witness to the shooting. Asked by Gough if he thought Bryan committed aggravated assault or any other felonies with his truck during the chase, the investigator replied: “No, that wasn’t the way I interpreted it at the time.”Meanwhile, Glynn County police Officer Robert Rash noted that 12 days before Arbery was shot, Travis McMichael reported seeing him trespassing in the neighborhood. McMichael told police Arbery reached toward his pocket as if reaching for a gun. Rash's body camera video showed him searching that night for Arbery with a flashlight and his gun drawn.“So it’s standard procedure when you’re going into a possibly armed situation to be sure you have your gun ready, for your protection?” Robert Rubin, one of Travis McMichael's attorneys, asked the officer. Rubin added: “Travis McMichael has a right to carry a gun. He has a right to protect himself.”___OBJECTION OVER SHARPTONThe Rev. Al Sharpton visited the Glynn County courthouse to pray with Arbery's parents outside and then joined them in the courtroom to hear some of the trial testimony.The civil rights activist's visit upset Bryan's attorney, Gough, who told the judge he believed Sharpton was trying to influence the jury.“Obviously there’s only so many pastors they can have,” Gough said. “And if their pastor’s Al Sharpton right now that’s fine, but then that’s it. We don’t want any more Black pastors coming in here."Sharpton shot back that Gough's comments showed "arrogant insensitivity” to Arbery's family.There was no ruling from the judge, as Gough made no formal motion to exclude pastors from court.

A man who suffered a severe arm injury when he was shot by Kyle Rittenhouse during a night of protests against racial injustice is expected to testify this week as prosecutors near the end of their case in Rittenhouse's murder trial.Gaige Grosskreutz, 27, who had a gun in his hand as he stepped toward Rittenhouse, was shot in the arm moments after Rittenhouse fatally shot two others in the streets of Kenosha, Wisconsin. Testimony during the first week of Rittenhouse's trial showed bystanders came to Grosskreutz's aid and placed a tourniquet on his arm before loading him into a vehicle that rushed him to a hospital.Rittenhouse, 18, is charged with shooting Grosskreutz and fatally shooting Joseph Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber on Aug. 25, 2020. The one-time police youth cadet from Antioch, Illinois, was 17 when he went to Kenosha with an AR-style rifle and a medical kit in what he said was an effort to safeguard property from the demonstrations that broke out over the shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black man, by a white Kenosha police officer.Rittenhouse is white, as are the three men he shot, but the case has raised polarizing questions about racial justice, policing, firearms and white privilege.In the first week of Rittenhouse's trial, prosecutors played numerous videos that showed the events of that night from different angles. Jurors heard testimony from people who were with Rittenhouse, as well as from police officers and loved ones of the men who died. Jason Lackowski, a former Marine who was on the streets of Kenosha carrying his own rifle, testified Friday about Rosenbaum, the first man Rittenhouse shot. Lackowski said Rosenbaum was acting "belligerently" but did not appear to pose a serious threat. Lackowski said he considered Rosenbaum a "babbling idiot," and turned his back and ignored him. He acknowledged that he didn't see everything that went on between Rittenhouse and Rosenbaum, including their final clash.Other witnesses testified last week that a "hyperaggressive" Rosenbaum angrily threatened to kill Rittenhouse that night and that Rosenbaum was gunned down after he chased Rittenhouse and lunged for his rifle.Prosecutors have portrayed Rittenhouse as the instigator of the bloodshed as well as an inexperienced teen who misrepresented his age and medical training to others that night. Rittenhouse's lawyer has argued that he acted in self-defense, suggesting among other things that Rittenhouse feared his weapon would be taken and used against him. The prosecution suffered a potential blow when Rosenbaum's fiancée, Kariann Swart, disclosed that he was on medication for bipolar disorder and depression but hadn't filled his prescriptions because the local pharmacy was boarded up due to the unrest — information Rittenhouse's lawyers could use in their bid to portray Rosenbaum as the aggressor.On the day he was killed, Rosenbaum, 36, had been released from a Milwaukee hospital. The jury was told that much, but not why he had been admitted — after a suicide attempt.Rosenbaum's killing has emerged as one of the most crucial moments that night because it set in motion the bloodshed that followed moments later.Rittenhouse shot and killed Huber, a 26-year-old protester seen on bystander video hitting Rittenhouse with a skateboard. Rittenhouse then wounded Grosskreutz.Rittenhouse could get life in prison if convicted. The case has stirred furious debate over self-defense, vigilantism, the right to bear arms and the racial unrest that erupted around the U.S. after the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis and similar cases.Two jurors were also dismissed last week. One man was dismissed for potential bias after he told a joke about the Blake shooting to a court security officer, and a woman who is pregnant was dismissed after she said she was experiencing some discomfort. Eighteen jurors remain, and 12 will ultimately be picked to deliberate.

Video above: Chauvin trial ends 1st week of testimonyThe trial of a former Minneapolis police officer in George Floyd's death is expected to turn toward the officer's training on Monday after a first week that was dominated by emotional testimony from eyewitnesses and devastating video of Floyd's arrest.Derek Chauvin, 45, is charged with murder and manslaughter in the May 25 death of Floyd. Chauvin, who is white, is accused of pinning his knee on the 46-year-old Black man's neck for 9 minutes, 29 seconds as Floyd lay face-down in handcuffs outside of a corner market.Prosecutors say Chauvin's knee killed Floyd. The defense argues that Chauvin did what he was trained to do and that Floyd's use of drugs and underlying health conditions caused his death.Floyd's treatment by police was captured on widely seen bystander video that soon sparked protests that rocked Minneapolis and quickly spread to other U.S. cities and beyond. The video, plus officers' body-camera video and previously unseen bystander footage, was a heavy component of the first week of the trial, reawakening traumatic memories for viewers of the livestreamed trial. Police Chief Medaria Arradondo is expected to testify during the trial's second week, perhaps as early as Monday. Arradondo, the city's first Black chief, fired Chauvin and three other officers the day after Floyd's death, and in June called it “murder.”“Mr. George Floyd's tragic death was not due to a lack of training — the training was there,” Arradondo said then. “Chauvin knew what he was doing.”The city moved soon after Floyd's death to ban police chokeholds and neck restraints. Arradondo and Mayor Jacob Frey have also made several policy changes, including expanding requirements for reporting use-of-force incidents and documenting their attempts to de-escalate situations even when force isn't used.Prosecutors have already called supervisory officers to build the case that Chauvin improperly restrained Floyd. A duty sergeant and a lieutenant who leads the homicide division both questioned Chauvin's actions in pinning Floyd after officers responded to a report that Floyd had passed a counterfeit $20 bill.“Totally unnecessary,” Lt. Richard Zimmerman, the longest-tenured officer on the force, testified Friday. He said once Floyd was handcuffed, he saw “no reason for why the officers felt they were in danger, if that’s what they felt, and that’s what they would have to feel to be able to use that kind of force."Zimmerman, who joined the department in 1985, said he has never been trained to kneel on someone's neck if their hands are cuffed behind their back and they are in the prone position. Officers are supposed to get a person out of the position as soon as possible because it restricts their breathing, he said.Instead, officers continued to restrain Floyd until an ambulance arrived — even after he became unresponsive. Chauvin attorney Eric Nelson peppered Zimmerman with questions about the threat a handcuffed suspect might still pose, as well as whether handcuffs might fail. Nelson has also suggested that bystanders shouting at police might have distracted them from Floyd and made them feel threatened.Jurors heard several days of testimony from those bystanders, several choking up as they recalled feeling powerless to help Floyd and guilt over his death.Genevieve Hansen, an off-duty firefighter who came on the scene as she was out for a walk, said she immediately recognized Floyd was in trouble and tried to offer help. Instead, Officer Tou Thao ordered her to stay on the sidewalk. Hansen, who was mostly stoic while testifying, was overcome as she recalled her frustration.“There was a man being killed,” she said. “I would have been able to provide medical attention to the best of my abilities. And this human was denied that right.”