SAN JOSE – The trial of Cain Velasquez – the previous mixed martial arts champion accused of attempting to kill a person accused of abusing his child and as an alternative after an extended chase in South Bay shot the person's stepfather – is scheduled to start on September ninth The judge ruled on Wednesday.

The scheduled start of the trial in Santa Clara County Superior Court would take nearly two years after a unique judge determined there was enough evidence to convict Velasquez, who had fought professionally out of San Jose, on attempted murder and nine charges could stand trial for assault. It would even have been greater than two and a half years after the shooting, which occurred in late February 2022.

Judge Elizabeth Peterson on Wednesday also scheduled a preliminary hearing for June 26 to find out whether the prosecution and defense might be able to go to trial in September.

Velasquez has been out of custody since being granted $1 million bail and monitoring his release following the November 2022 preliminary examination that brought his case to trial.

He has since been allowed to compete in wrestling and mixed martial arts events in California and Arizona under his release conditions, which permit court-approved travel for work. He also trained on the American Kickboxing Academy, the San Jose school he represented during his rise to grow to be UFC heavyweight titleholder last decade.

Velasquez was not required to seem in court for Wednesday's hearing after receiving a court exemption and has had his attorney Renee Hessling appear on his behalf for a full yr as she and the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office appear within the hearings on procedural matters processed.

Velasquez's attorney said after Wednesday's hearing that she didn't know whether she was prepared for a trial in early September. She subpoenaed medical records and other information, however the materials were incomplete, she said, declining to explain the records and knowledge.

Velasquez, 41, is accused of shooting Harry Goularte Jr. no less than twice while he was traveling along with his mother, Patricia Goularte, and stepfather, Paul Bender, who reportedly drove him from Morgan Hill to San Jose on February 28, 2022, to get him fitted for an ankle monitor at a county office. Three days earlier, Goularte Jr. was charged with a lewd and lascivious act with a toddler based on allegations that he abused Velasquez's son at a day care center in San Martin run by his mother. Goularte Jr. was granted supervised release over prosecutors' objections.

Goularte Jr., 45, has since been delivered to trial, however the case remains to be within the trial phase from which Velasquez has just emerged.

Velasquez faces life in prison if convicted of those charges. His lawyers have noted in previous court filings that Velasquez suffered impulse control problems and brain injuries consequently of his mixed martial arts profession.

They have also hinted that they could represent the sexual harassment lawsuit against Goularte Jr., arguing that Velasquez acted in response to the criminal justice system failing his family. Velasquez is suing Goularte Jr. and his parents for alleged sexual abuse; The trial was suspended until the criminal proceedings were accomplished.

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Senator Elizabeth Warren has one other challenger. Ian Cain, Quincy City Council President, officially launched his campaign to unseat the favored progressive party Wednesday. Cain, who’s running as a Republican, will first must face John Deaton in a potentially close primary race before potentially taking up Warren.

Who is Cain and the way would he serve within the US Senate? All signs point to him running as a moderate pragmatist, promising to place the very best interests of the Bay State above partisan squabbles.

“I’m going to be an independent voice for Massachusetts that gets shit done and, most importantly, fights for us,” he said in an interview Video pronounces his election campaign.

This blunt language appears to be a central a part of his campaign, which is a “GSD Agenda (Get S*** Done)..”

At 41, Cain is Quincy's first black and openly gay city council president, but he draw back of “identity politics” and the progressive left. He was briefly a registered Democrat, but in January assumed his current role as leader of the Quincy City Council as an unregistered voter. Cain registered as a Republican in late February .

Cain's story

Cain grew up in Quincy, in line with a bipartisan, biracial, middle-class household Profile from last yr. His kickoff video incorporates a picture of him wearing a George HW Bush sticker on his jacket as a toddler.

Cain's father worked as a headhunter and human resources skilled before becoming the primary Black person to run for citywide office in Quincy. He inspired his son, who remembered dreaming of running for president as a seven-year-old, to achieve this.

After attending Boston College High School, Cain earned a bachelor's degree in political science from Boston College and eventually received an MBA from Duke University. He built a profession in enterprise capital and business real estate before founding a startup incubator called ” QUBIC Labs in 2020.

According to a statement, Cain used QUBIC to try to grow Massachusetts' blockchain ecosystem by emulating Miami leaders and their efforts to woo cryptocurrency companies profile from 2022.

He has been a member of the Quincy City Council since 2016.

Cain's problems

In 2016, Cain placed for a photo with Warren after meeting her at an event for young elected officials. He praised them, writing in a Facebook post that everyone there shared “optimism and commitment” to implementing meaningful change.

Eight years later, Cain comes out of the gates swinging.

“No one has disappointed Massachusetts more than Elizabeth Warren. Instead of working for Massachusetts, she works for herself. What’s worse is that she is unable to deliver real results because she is so mired in the extreme partisanship that is grinding Washington and our government to a halt,” Cain said in his opening video.

When asked about Cain's campaign, a Warren spokeswoman pointed to the senator's accomplishments without mentioning her potential opponent.

“Senator Warren has taken on tough battles and won — from reducing the cost of student debt and hearing aids to taxing billionaire corporations to fund climate investments to helping deliver more than….” $50 billion in federal funding to Massachusetts – and she will continue to work hard for Massachusetts families,” the spokesperson said in a statement.

Cain criticized Warren on social media ahead of his official campaign announcement. Earlier this month, Warren made headlines when she told voters at a mosque that she believed international officials would determine that Israel's actions in Gaza legally constituted genocide. Cain said that Warren was “appeasing the far-left anti-Israel base” of the Democratic Party.

The “problemsCain's website page makes no mention of the Middle East. On foreign policy, he is targeted on countering China's growing influence with “even greater American strength, power and innovation.”

Cain has been vocal in regards to the need to enhance security at U.S. borders and reduce illegal immigration. On his website, he emphasizes the necessity to prioritize financial support for American residents over migrants. Cain grabbed it News that a Brazilian citizen who entered the United States illegally was released from custody in Massachusetts after being charged with multiple counts of kid rape.

“[Warren] has shown that it is unwilling to do anything to secure our border or solve this problem. Now these problems are in our backyard. “We are threatening our communities and families,” Cain said wrote on X

Donald Trump, who urged Republican lawmakers to achieve this kill a bipartisan bill that might have strengthened border security, resisted illegal immigration and dehumanizing rhetoric about migrants is a central theme of his presidential campaign. Cain presents himself as a Republican more within the spirit of former Mass. Gov. Charlie Baker. When asked about Trump's influence on the GOP last yr, Cain said he attended the party due to its pro-business stance, pointing to moderates like Baker and former Gov. Paul Cellucci.

Cain told Politically that he wouldn’t vote for Trump or President Biden this fall. He described himself as a “pro-choice.”

Warren is one in every of the harshest critics of cryptocurrencies in Washington, while Deaton makes a speciality of cryptocurrency-related advocacy and litigation. On his website, Cain says that the majority senators have no idea the fundamentals of the “digital economy,” cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology. He guarantees to “enact responsible regulations that do not limit the opportunities that companies are trying to create in this sector.”

Still, Cain told Politico this week that cryptocurrencies and related issues is not going to be top of mind for many Massachusetts voters.

“I saw Elizabeth Warren come out as an anti-crypto critic… And I saw John Deaton come out as a crypto advocate. What this really tells me is that they are both completely out of touch with and out of sync with Massachusetts voters,” Cain said Politically.

Cain is as an alternative focused on holding politicians accountable, cutting taxes, lowering child care costs and investing in infrastructure.

Race outlook

Warren stays the clear favorite to retain her Senate seat, especially after Cain and Deaton dueled within the GOP primary. A Suffolk University Opinion poll February showed that Warren had a popularity and job approval rating of 54%. When asked a few hypothetical matchup by which Jonathan Kraft ran as a Republican, Warren received the support of 56% of respondents.

Warren, a prolific fundraiser, ramped up these efforts in the primary quarter of 2024. Her campaign account is now $4.4 million, in line with the organization .

Deaton borrowed His campaign raised $1 million and had raised greater than $360,000 from individual donors as of early April. He also has the support of rich heavyweights within the cryptocurrency space Politically.

Cain's campaign has already collected the ten,000 signatures he must get on the ballot before the May deadline, in line with the newspaper. He is working with Targeted Victory, a Virginia-based consulting firm, to ramp up fundraising efforts. He described his campaign as a “high-growth startup.”