The body of a Mississippi man will remain in state hands as police investigate his death, judge says

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — The body of a Mississippi man who was found dead after vanishing under mysterious circumstances will not be released to family members until law enforcement agencies finish investigating the case, a state judge said Tuesday.

At a hearing in Jackson, Mississippi, Hinds County Chancery Judge Dewayne Thomas did not make an official ruling from the bench. He instead told attorneys the body of Dau Mabil would be preserved at the state crime lab while investigators try to shed light on what happened to the man. Mabil, who lived in Jackson with his wife, Karissa Bowley, went missing in broad daylight on March 25 after going for a walk.

Mabil escaped a bloody civil war in Sudan as a child and built a new life in America. His disappearance prompted an outcry from civil rights organizations and is alleged to have sparked discord between local law enforcement agencies. Democratic U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, whose district includes Jackson, sent a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland requesting a Justice Department investigation.

Tuesday's hearing had been set to settle a legal dispute between Bowley and Dau Mabil's brother, Bul Mabil, regarding the standards for a future independent autopsy. But Thomas also allowed attorneys to ask questions about Bowley's marriage to Dau Mabil.

Bowley took the witness stand and was peppered with questions by Bul Mabil's attorney, Lisa Ross. In a tense exchange, Ross asked Bowley to read text messages detailing arguments between the couple over several issues, including Dau Mabil’s alcohol consumption and Bowley’s penchant for “feminist podcasts.”

Bowley's attorney, Paloma Wu, said the hearing had become a “forum for freewheeling defamation” of Bowley, but Thomas overruled her objections.

Police have never said Bowley is a suspect in Dau Mabil's disappearance. The legal conflict between her and Bul Mabil began after fishermen spotted a body April 13 in the Pearl River in Lawrence County, about 60 miles (97 kilometers) south of Jackson. Days later, officials confirmed the remains were those of Dau Mabil.

A sheriff said an initial state autopsy did not uncover signs of foul play, but Bul Mabil has disputed those findings. Bul Mabil filed an emergency request that an independent medical examiner examine Dau Mabil’s body before releasing the remains to Bowley and her family.

In a subsequent filing, Bowley’s attorney said her client did not oppose additional autopsy by a qualified examiner. But she asked the court to ensure the second autopsy takes place only after law enforcement finishes investigating to preserve the integrity of the evidence on her late husband’s body.

On Tuesday, Thomas said he agreed that police should finish their investigation before releasing Dau Mabil's body and that a second, independent autopsy would likely be permitted.

“I do not draw conclusions about anybody or what’s happened to this man other than that it’s unfortunate. I hope ... there was nothing nefarious done to him,” Thomas said. “But I want to find out. And I want the state to find out. I think they’re going to do that.”

Medical examiners do not typically store a body for the entirety of a police investigation, however long it takes. But, authorities would make an exception due to the “extraordinary nature of this case,” said Eric Brown, an attorney for the state medical examiner's office.

Thomas said he would issue a formal order later in the week to deal with the specific requests made by Bul Mabil and Bowley over setting the rules for a future autopsy conducted by an independent medical examiner.

—-

Michael Goldberg is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow him at @mikergoldberg.

Karissa Bowley, widow of Dau Mabil, a 33-year-old Jackson, Miss., resident who went missing on March 25 and whose body was found in April floating in the Pearl River in Lawrence County, is hugged by her father James E. Bowley, following a hearing on whether a judge should dissolve or modify his injunction preventing the release of Mabil's remains until an independent autopsy could be conducted, Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in Jackson, Miss. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

Lisa Ross, attorney for Bul Mabil, brother of Dau Mabil, a 33-year-old Jackson, Miss., resident who went missing on March 25 and whose body was found in April floating in the Pearl River in Lawrence County, left, gives Paloma Wu, attorney for Karissa Bowley, wife of the deceased, a set of her client's texts during a hearing on whether a judge should dissolve or modify his injunction preventing the release of Mabil's remains until an independent autopsy could be conducted, Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in Jackson, Miss. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

Lisa Ross, left, attorney for Bul Mabil, brother of Dau Mabil, a 33-year-old Jackson, Miss., resident who went missing on March 25 and whose body was found in April floating in the Pearl River in Lawrence County, questions Karissa Bowley, wife of the deceased, during a hearing, on whether a judge should dissolve or modify his injunction preventing the release of Mabil's remains until an independent autopsy could be conducted, Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in Jackson, Miss. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

Hinds County Chancery Judge Dewayne Thomas, right, cautions Karissa Bowley, wife of the late Dau Mabil, a 33-year-old Jackson, Miss., resident who went missing on March 25 and whose body was found in April floating in the Pearl River in Lawrence County, to not interrupt attorneys' questioning during a hearing, Tuesday, April 30, 2024 in Jackson, Miss. The hearing is on whether a judge should dissolve or modify his injunction preventing the release of Mabil's remains until an independent autopsy could be conducted. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

A tearful Karissa Bowley, widow of the late Dau Mabil, a 33-year-old Jackson, Miss., resident who went missing on March 25 and whose body was found in April floating in the Pearl River in Lawrence County, is comforted by family members following a hearing, Tuesday, April 30, 2024 in Jackson, Miss. The hearing is on whether a judge should dissolve or modify his injunction preventing the release of Mabil's remains until an independent autopsy could be conducted. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

Bul Mabil, brother of Dau Mabil, a 33-year-old Jackson, Miss., resident who went missing on March 25 and whose body was found in April floating in the Pearl River in Lawrence County, stares at his brother's widow, Karissa Bowley, during a recess at a hearing, Tuesday, April 30, 2024 in Jackson, Miss. The hearing is on whether a judge should dissolve or modify his injunction preventing the release of Mabil's remains until an independent autopsy could be conducted. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

Lisa Ross, right, attorney for Bul Mabil, brother of Dau Mabil, a 33-year-old Jackson, Miss., resident who went missing on March 25 and whose body was found in April floating in the Pearl River in Lawrence County, confer during a hearing, Tuesday, April 30, 2024 in Jackson, Miss. The hearing is on whether a judge should dissolve or modify his injunction preventing the release of Mabil's remains until an independent autopsy could be conducted. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

Bul Mabil, brother of Dau Mabil, a 33-year-old Jackson, Miss., resident who went missing on March 25 and whose body was found in April floating in the Pearl River in Lawrence County, waits for questioning to resume during a hearing, Tuesday, April 30, 2024 in Jackson, Miss. The hearing is on whether a judge should dissolve or modify his injunction preventing the release of Mabil's remains until an independent autopsy could be conducted. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

Karissa Bowley, wife of the late Dau Mabil, a 33-year-old Jackson, Miss., resident who went missing on March 25 and whose body was found in April floating in the Pearl River in Lawrence County, waits for questioning to resume during a hearing, Tuesday, April 30, 2024 in Jackson, Miss. The hearing is on whether a judge should dissolve or modify his injunction preventing the release of Mabil's remains until an independent autopsy could be conducted. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

Lisa Ross, right, attorney for Bul Mabil, seated center, brother of Dau Mabil, a 33-year-old Jackson, Miss., resident who went missing on March 25 and whose body was found in April floating in the Pearl River in Lawrence County, listens to his question, while Karissa Bowley, wife of the deceased, awaits a renewed spate of questions during a hearing, on whether a judge should dissolve or modify his injunction preventing the release of Mabil's remains until an independent autopsy could be conducted, Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in Jackson, Miss. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump’s lawyers rested their defense Monday in the former president’s New York hush money trial, bringing the case one step closer to final arguments.

The prosecution will get a chance to call rebuttal witnesses now that the defense witnesses have had their turn on the stand. The judge has said he expects closing arguments to happen on May 28, the Tuesday after Memorial Day.

After more than four weeks of testimony, jurors could begin deliberating as soon as next week to decide whether Trump is guilty of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.

Prosecutors have accused Trump of a scheme to bury negative stories to fend off damage to his 2016 presidential campaign and then falsifying internal business records to cover it up.

Trump, the first former American president to be tried criminally, has pleaded not guilty and denied any wrongdoing in the case, which he has slammed as politically motivated.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.

NEW YORK (AP) — A defense witness in Donald Trump's hush money case whom the judge threatened to remove from the trial over his behavior returned to the stand Tuesday as the trial nears its end.

Trump's lawyers hope Robert Costello's testimony will help undermine the credibility of a key prosecution witness, Trump fixer-turned-foe Michael Cohen.

Costello turned to Judge Juan M. Merchan before the jurors arrived to the court, speaking quietly. The judge acknowledged him and nodded, a much more cordial scene than the drama that unfolded during Monday's proceedings, when Costello made comments under his breath during testimony, rolled his eyes and called the whole exercise “ridiculous." The antics angered Merchan, and the judge briefly kicked reporters out of the courtroom to admonish him.

The judge told Costello, a former federal prosecutor, he was being “contemptuous," adding, “If you try to stare me down one more time, I will remove you from the stand," according to a court transcript.

The defense was expected to rest its case later Tuesday, clearing the way for the trial to move on to decisions about how to instruct the jury on deliberations. Prosecutors on Monday rested their case accusing Trump of falsifying business records as part of a scheme to bury stories that he feared could hurt his 2016 campaign. The criminal trial, the first of a former U.S. president, is in the final stretch, with closing arguments expected the Tuesday after Memorial Day.

The charges stem from internal Trump Organization records in which payments to Cohen were marked as legal expenses. Prosecutors say they were really reimbursements for a $130,000 hush money payment to porn actor Stormy Daniels to keep her from going public before the 2016 election with claims of a sexual encounter with Trump. Trump says nothing sexual happened between them.

Trump, a Republican, has said he did nothing illegal and has slammed the case as an effort to hinder his 2024 bid to reclaim the White House.

“They have no case,” Trump said outside the courtroom Tuesday. “There’s no crime.”

After jurors left for the day Monday, defense attorneys pressed the judge to throw out the charges before jurors even begin deliberating, arguing prosecutors have failed to prove their case. The defense has suggested that Trump was trying to protect his family, not his campaign, by squelching what he says were false, scurrilous claims.

Defense attorney Todd Blanche argued that there was nothing illegal about soliciting a tabloid's help to run positive stories about Trump, run negative stories about his opponents and identify potentially damaging stories before they were published. No one involved “had any criminal intent,” Blanche said.

"How is keeping a false story from the voters criminal?” Blanche asked.

Prosecutor Matthew Colangelo shot back that “the trial evidence overwhelmingly supports each element” of the alleged offenses and said the case should proceed to the jury.

The judge didn't immediately rule on the defense's request. Such long-shot requests are often made in criminal cases but are rarely granted.

The defense called Costello because of his role as an antagonist to Cohen since their professional relationship splintered in spectacular fashion. Costello had offered to represent Cohen soon after the lawyer’s hotel room, office and home were raided and as Cohen faced a decision about whether to remain defiant in the face of a criminal investigation or to cooperate with authorities in hopes of securing more lenient treatment.

Costello in the years since has repeatedly maligned Cohen’s credibility and was even a witness before last year’s grand jury that indicted Trump, offering testimony designed to undermine Cohen's account. In a Fox News Channel interview last week, Costello accused Cohen of lying to the jury and using the case to “monetize” himself.

Costello contradicted Cohen's testimony describing Trump as intimately involved in all aspects of the hush money scheme. Costello told jurors Monday that Cohen told him Trump “knew nothing” about the hush money payment to Daniels.

“Michael Cohen said numerous times that President Trump knew nothing about those payments, that he did this on his own, and he repeated that numerous times,” Costello testified.

Cohen, however, testified earlier Monday that he has “no doubt” that Trump gave him a final sign-off to make the payments to Daniels. In total, he said he spoke with Trump more than 20 times about the matter in October 2016.

Trump lawyer Emil Bove told the judge that the defense does not plan to call any other witnesses after Costello, though it may still call campaign-finance expert Bradley A. Smith for limited testimony. It has not said definitively that Trump won’t testify, but that’s the clearest indication yet that he will waive his right to take the stand in his own defense.

Long reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Jill Colvin and Michelle Price in New York; Meg Kinnard in Columbia, S.C.; and Eric Tucker and Alanna Durkin Richer in Washington contributed to this report.

Former president Donald Trump waves while leaving Trump Tower on his way to Manhattan criminal court, Tuesday, May 21, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)

Members of the press and public stand outside the courtroom after being asked to leave by Judge Juan Merchan during former President Donald Trump's hush money trial at Manhattan Criminal Court, Monday, May 20, 2024 in New York. Judge Juan Merchan briefly kicked reporters out of the courtroom after admonishing defense witness Robert Costello for his behavior on the stand. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

Judge Juan Merchan, left, castigates witness Robert Costello about his "decorum" in the courtroom in Manhattan criminal court, Monday, May 20, 2024, in New York. (Elizabeth Williams via AP)

Former President Donald Trump sits in Manhattan Criminal Court during his ongoing hush money trial, Monday, May 20, 2024, in New York. (Mark Peterson/Pool Photo via AP)

Donald Trump, far left, watches as defense attorney Emil Bove questions Robert Costello, right, with Judge Juan Merchan presiding in Manhattan criminal court, Monday, May 20, 2024, in New York. (Elizabeth Williams via AP)