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When news broke last month that top aides to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton had accused him of bribery and abuse of office, many in the Texas political scene were shocked but not surprised.

In a mutiny without precedent, eight of Paxtons most senior aides told law enforcement they believed Paxton broke the law by using the agency to serve the interests of a political donor, Nate Paul. Media reports and documents have now shown four times when Paxton used his office in a way that appeared to benefit the struggling Austin real estate magnate.

Paxtons reaction was anything but cowed: He shot back at the rogue employees, called their allegations false and, just over a month later, has fired four of the whistleblowers. While the nature of the attorney generals relationship with Paul remains unclear, Paul revealed last week in a deposition that he had employed a woman at Paxtons recommendation. Paul said it was not a favor to Paxton. But the woman had been involved in an extramarital affair with Paxton, according to two sources who said they learned of it directly from the attorney general in 2018.

This is not the first time the states top lawyer, who is a co-chair of the Lawyers for Trump coalition, has found himself facing criminal accusations.

Paxton has spent much of his time in public life deflecting accusations of illegal and unethical behavior, causing quiet discomfort among some Republican colleagues and casting a shadow over an office top state officials once held and still revere. This time he has implicated not just himself, but cast into question the work of the sprawling agency, too.

The second-term Republican was indicted for felony securities fraud less than a year after he was sworn in as Texas attorney general, charges that did not keep him from winning reelection in 2018. Beyond those charges which he has dismissed as politically motivated and for which he has yet to stand trial there have been other ethical red flags: a curious reversal of the states official position in a lawsuit involving conservatives in his home county; a bizarre intervention on behalf of a donor in another state; an ethically dubious bill to augment his power, filed by his wife, a state senator; six-figure contributions to his legal defense fund that he insists do not violate Texas anti-bribery laws.

A conservative culture warrior, Paxton has held on politically through it all, with fellow Republicans staying quiet or reserving judgment as he awaits a trial his team has helped delay. In 2018, he avoided a Republican primary challenger, arguably the greatest threat to an incumbent in Texas.

But this time, legal experts and political consultants say, may be different. His usual defenders are staying quiet; even his wife, state Sen. Angela Paxton, has not commented on the new allegations. The crimes he is accused of are serious and so are his accusers, who among them have years of service at the agency and conservative bona fides to rival Paxtons own. And the allegations are tied not just to Ken Paxton the individual, but to his work at an agency that has for years been one of the states most effective policy battering rams.

Ive been troubled from the beginning, from his first indictment that hasnt been resolved in five years. I think that is a bad thing for the office, and I wish he wouldve gotten that resolved one way or another earlier, U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, a former Texas attorney general, said last month in an interview with Austin TV station KXAN. Cornyn said he would reserve judgment but added, It is pretty dramatic when his senior staff walk out and basically file a complaint against him. Thats really unprecedented.

The attorney generals office was Gov. Greg Abbotts springboard to a national profile and the governors mansion. Cornyn held the office, and U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz worked there as solicitor general under Abbott. Its been the states best vehicle for challenging federal policies on immigration and the environment. This week, it was the Texas attorney generals office that asked the U.S. Supreme Court to strike down the Affordable Care Act, a policy feat Republicans in Congress could not achieve.

Now, the leader of that agency is facing fresh allegations, and the states law firm is hemorrhaging senior staff. But Paxton has bounced back before.

Hes got dark clouds over him, theres no question about it, said Bill Miller, a longtime lobbyist and a friend of Paxton but never, ever count him out.

If you look at his career path, and his arc, hes been down and come back up with a vengeance. So dont count him out.

An Air Force brat, Baylor class president and attorney, Paxton was elected to the Texas House in 2002 and has held public office ever since. He ran and lost as the conservative candidate for Texas House speaker, then ascended to the Texas Senate before running for attorney general.

His resume, compared with recent attorneys general, was heavier on politics than law. A graduate of the University of Virginia Law School, Paxton worked in private practice and as in-house counsel for J.C. Penney Co., but he was also focused on private business dealings. Abbott and Cornyn, his predecessors, had both served on the Texas Supreme Court.

But Paxton did have the political support of the Republican partys right flank, and the backing of Tea Party groups in his hometown.

In 2014, as Paxton fought a bitter Republican primary for his first term as attorney general, news began to trickle out that he had violated state securities law. In April 2014, Paxton signed a disciplinary order and paid a $1,000 fine for soliciting investment clients without being registered, as required by law. A spokesperson called it an administrative oversight.

Amid the heated primary campaign, the McKinney Police Association law enforcement in his hometown withdrew its endorsement, saying it is necessary to protect the integrity of the AG Office. His opponent, Dan Branch, made ethics the centerpiece of his campaign, running advertisements that featured investors who said Paxton had misled them.

Amid the allegations, Paxton ran a quiet campaign, leaning on his support from the partys conservative wing. He won in the primary and was elected that fall.

He was already in office in July 2015 when he was indicted on felony securities fraud charges. He is accused of persuading investors to buy stock in a company without revealing that he was making a commission, and of failing to register with the State Securities Board. Conservative groups and a state lawmaker came to support him at his first courtroom appearance, telling media they supported him with prayers as he entered a not guilty plea.

The case has dragged on since, with battles over prosecutor pay and venue that traveled all the way up to the states highest court for criminal matters, sat there for months, and ended up back at the trial court. More than five years after the indictments, Paxton has yet to go to trial.

Although Democrats continue to make major hay of the charges, Paxton maintained enough support from conservatives to stay in office. Supporters compared his case to that of former Gov. Rick Perry, whose team spun the former governors indictment for abuse of power as a political hit job, and whose case was eventually dismissed.

With the securities fraud accusations, conservatives didnt necessarily think Paxton was blameless but he looked sloppy more than anything else, conservative political consultant Luke Macias said.

The past accusations were more like Democrats trying to impeach Trump, Macias said. This time is different, he said: The allegations are more serious, and theyre coming from attorneys respected on the right for their legal abilities and their conservative credentials.

A federal court dismissed a similar securities fraud charge against Paxton in March 2017, boosting Paxtons argument that the state case was more political than criminal. And Paxton has expertly played on tactics that worked for President Donald Trump, calling the case a witch hunt and dismissing his detractors as political adversaries. (Liberals abused our courts to attack Ken Paxton, one ad declared.) He remained a strong fundraiser.

Paxton, a competitor for the title of Texas top culture warrior, has positioned himself close to Trump, becoming the first state attorney general to support his executive order banning travel from several Muslim-majority nations. Their litigation agendas have often aligned on major cases like Texas effort to overturn the Affordable Care Act. And in public appearances, Paxton likes to tell stories about the president, like the time Trump called while Paxton was in the shower.

The securities fraud charges were at the center of Democrat Justin Nelsons 2018 bid to unseat Paxton, but the controversy wasnt enough to overcome Republican dominance in Texas. Armed with Trumps endorsement and with hundreds of thousands of dollars from Abbotts campaign Paxton narrowly won a second term, and cheered on his wife as she was elected to the state Senate from a seat anchored in Collin County.

In February 2019, as one of the first bills the freshman senator filed, Angela Paxton proposed a new law that would have greatly expanded the power of her husbands agency, including giving him power to exempt individuals from state securities law, which he is accused of violating. She characterized the bill, which did not pass and was never heard in committee, as a consumer protection measure.

The pending criminal charges have not been the only cloud over his head during his time leading the states law firm.

Ethics watchdogs have long been skeptical of Ken Paxtons legal defense fund, through which he has accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars from family friends. State law bars elected officials from taking gifts from anyone subject to their authority, but Paxton has said the gifts are an exception.

In 2013, he plucked another attorneys $1,000 Montblanc pen from a bin at a Collin County courthouse, returning it when the other attorney realized it was lost. The incident, which a Paxton spokesperson at the time called a simple mistake, made a prominent appearance in ad campaigns against him.

And his political and personal beliefs have more than once guided the states official legal position, more, critics say, than the law itself as when the agency declined to defend a state law about end-of-life care, and refused to represent a state agency that was challenged for reprimanding a judge who refused to perform wedding ceremonies for same-sex couples.

The Texas State Bar was ordered to investigate when Paxton told county clerks two days after the U.S. Supreme Court made same-sex marriage legal nationwide that they could opt out of issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples. He was never publicly sanctioned.

In 2018, after conservative activists in Paxtons home county personally urged him to reverse the agencys position in a lawsuit, the attorney generals offices brief was pulled from the case without explanation.

This spring, Paxton appeared to wield the power of his office on behalf of a political donor who was advised not to go to his Colorado vacation home while it was under local coronavirus restrictions, the Associated Press reported.

In late October of 2018, as Paxton fought that rough reelection battle, he received a $25,000 donation from Nate Paul, a prominent real estate investor who has made headlines in recent years for a spate of bankruptcies and lawsuits from creditors and who is now at the center of the allegations against Paxton.

Paul and Paxton are friends, but the full scope of their relationship has remained murky.

Paul revealed in a deposition last week that he employed a woman at Paxtons recommendation, though Paul said hiring her was not a favor to Paxton. The woman had an extramarital affair with Paxton, according to two people who said Paxton told them about the affair in 2018. Paul said in the deposition he did not know the nature of their relationship.

Now, legal documents and media reports have shown four instances when Paxton used the power of his role as attorney general to step into legal matters involving Paul.

One was an unusual intervention into a case involving a charity, the Roy F. and Joann Cole Mitte Foundation, at odds with Paul in a legal dispute over some jointly owned investments.

At least three other instances of Paxton serving Paul also raised concerns for top agency brass. Paxton became personally interested in an open records dispute over what documents could be released to an attorney who worked for the same law firm as Pauls lawyer, The Dallas Morning News first reported. And a legal opinion from Paxtons office which he rushed subordinates to issue helped Paul avoid foreclosures on properties in Austin, Plano and San Antonio, the Austin American-Statesman first reported.

But it wasnt until another intervention, in September, that aides went to federal authorities. Paxton personally tapped Brandon Cammack, a 34-year-old Houston defense attorney, to vet a claim made by Paul that there had been wrongdoing by federal and state authorities when they raided his home and office in 2019.

An investigation by the agency, according to an internal email from the senior aides, had already shown Pauls complaint lacked any good-faith factual basis. But Paxton personally called Cammack who legal experts say was unqualified for the bizarre and challenging role and signed off on a $300 hourly rate for him to investigate Pauls claims.

Mark Penley, deputy attorney general for criminal justice, ultimately stepped in to quash the subpoenas Cammack obtained for targets of Pauls complaint. He was one of the whistleblowers who signed on to a letter alleging wrongdoing by Paxton.

Seven of the aides made the report to law enforcement on a Wednesday, Sept. 30. On Thursday they notified the agencys human resources department and texted Paxton himself. That Friday, Jeff Mateer Paxtons top aide for years abruptly resigned, and Paxton put Penley on leave. The news came via a text from the agencys human resources director, who made it clear the instruction had come from the top.

Ive been directed by General Paxton to let you know that he is placing you on paid investigative leave effective immediately, Greg Simpson, the human resources director, wrote.

When the story broke in a local newspaper that weekend, Paxtons office pointed the finger back at the whistleblowers. He dismissed several of his most senior deputies as rogue employees and their allegations as false. And the agencys press team went so far as to suggest that the whistleblowers themselves would be investigated.

Making false claims is a very serious matter, a statement from the office warned.

Top Texas Republicans including Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick have called the allegations concerning. U.S. Rep. Chip Roy, a Republican who won reelection in a tight race this fall and Paxtons former top aide, has already called on his former boss to resign.

The Attorney General deserves his days in court, but the people of Texas deserve a fully functioning AGs office, Roy said.

Federal authorities have declined to say whether they are investigating Paxton, and the Texas Rangers said they referred complaints against Paxton to the FBI. But legal experts say its all but certain federal authorities are vetting the accusations against Paxton.

It would be highly unusual for federal authorities not to investigate, given the seriousness of the allegations and the presumed credibility of the accusers, said Edward Loya, a Dallas attorney and former prosecutor for the U.S. Department of Justice who handled public corruption investigations.

That is a serious claim made by law enforcement professionals who, we expect, understand the gravity of such an accusation, Loya said. He added that its unlikely any major developments would become public about the investigation for several months.

Meanwhile, the last of the eight whistleblowers, Ryan Bangert, resigned last month. Two others had already resigned, and Paxton had put one on leave and fired four others actions that are presumed to be retaliation under the Texas Whistleblower Act, and could open up the state to massive damages in lawsuits, employment attorneys say.

Ian Prior, a political spokesperson for Paxton, said the personnel decisions were not retaliation but were instead reactions to unspecified policy violations, and, in one case, insubordination.

Now, Paxton sits at the head of an agency that is hemorrhaging senior staff even as its workload a slew of election-related lawsuits, thousands of child support cases, an argument at the U.S. Supreme Court remains heavy and urgent.

In addition to the eight whistleblowers, Paxton has lost Ben Williams, who had worked with the attorney general since his days in the Legislature and ran Paxtons campaign for House speaker and state Senate. Williams resigned just days after the allegations were made public. Katherine Cary, the agencys chief of staff, was already set to retire this fall. Marc Rylander, a longtime Paxton ally and the agencys former communications director, left in September. And Simpson, who headed the agencys human resources department during the debacle, retired at the end of October.

At a senior staff meeting last month, before the whistleblowers had left or been fired, Darren McCarty, a former senior aide, asked Paxton whether the agency would stop bashing them in statements to the media. There was no response.

In an Oct. 16 letter to the Legislature, Paxton insisted that the agency was forging ahead full bore a characterization some current and former agency staff members consider far rosier than the truth.

Some attorneys in litigation-heavy divisions of the agency fear his reputation will hurt their credibility in court.

Any action taken by the AGs office under General Paxton is suspect, said Shane Phelps, who was a senior deputy at the agency under former attorneys general Cornyn and Dan Morales. The agency has to keep litigating its thousands of cases, on everything from child support to the death penalty, but now judges will be on the lookout for any indication that its being handled irregularly, in any way that is coming from the top and for all the wrong reasons.

It has damaged the credibility and the ability of the AGs office to further the interest of the state of Texas in court, Phelps said, and given all sorts of ammunition for anybody opposing the AGs office in court to start talking about these things.

Something needs to happen, Phelps said. It sounds like hes getting pretty brazen.

And politically, Paxton is beginning to look like a man without a country. George P. Bush, Texas land commissioner, is exploring a run for the attorney general job, an aide said last month. The political allies who stuck by Paxton through the securities fraud allegations have largely gone quiet.

Of course, its possible Paxton will have left office by the time that race takes place. But a spokesperson said the attorney general is absolutely planning on running again.

Paxton, Prior said, is looking forward to winning a third term and is never going to stop fighting for the people of Texas.

Miller said Paxton is under pressure, but hes not afraid.

If you count this guy out, youve made a mistake, he said.

Shannon Najmabadi contributed reporting.

Disclosure: Bill Miller has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism. Find a complete list of them here.

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Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is back in hot water. Hes escaped before. - The Texas Tribune

Im bored.

Those are the two words every parent has heard their child mutter. While the world today offers smartphones, Xboxes, and iPads to engage and occupy a childs time and attention, many parents still subscribe to the philosophy that being bored as a child can be a good thing.

Many recognize that a childs most creative and fulfilling experiences are manifested when they find themselves having to pass the time using their ingenuitybuilding a fort, having an imaginary tea party, writing a story, or drawing a piece of art. These activities help a child develop and enhance skills that cannot be substituted by a Play Station or other external distractions. The act of being resourceful, using ones mind and surroundings are the very things that transform children into productive and creative adults (no surprise there).

Craig Wilson, Stream Realty Partners

Fast forward to todays pandemic and its projected impact on the future workplace. Companies are debating workplace policies and employee requirements while assessing health and safety factors and remote working effectiveness. While the call for 100 percent virtual workforces seems to be waning, there is a growing consensus that hybrid work models providing employees with some flexibility to work remotely part of the time may be the right solution.

The office then becomes a destination where employees can come to check-in, interact, collaborate, meet, and generally take their environments pulse before returning home.

However, what doesnt fit into these models is unstructured office time with room for impromptu brainstorming and collaboration. The office will no longer be a place to come and be bored, which may actually be a problem.

According to Dr. Sandi Mann, a senior psychology lecturer at the University of Central Lancashire in the U.K and the author of The Upside of Downtime: Why Boredom is Good, Boredom at work has always been seen as something to be eliminated, but perhaps we should be embracing it to enhance our creativity.

For many people, their best work may result from being forced to work on something in the absence of other options. Remote working is often full of options. Champions of remote work argue that employees get their work done away from the office and then have the ability to determine how to use their time once their work is complete. Finished writing that spreadsheet? Time for a bike ride. Wrapped up that key report? Lets shift gears to managing our household chores.

And while the concept of giving employees more agency of their time and physical work location certainly has its merits and has earned a place in corporate culture, it is important not to lose sight of what is often accomplished at the office simply because you are required to be there. Instead of darting out for that bike ride after completing your required work task, being at the office may enable you to start tackling new ideas or assignments. Or, even better, foster spontaneous and unstructured collaboration opportunities with your colleagues.

Virtual and remote work philosophies are based on efficiencies, not necessarily productivity and creativity. Yes, employees can often complete much of their work in remote environments and often more efficiently than if they were in the office. But as companies contemplate how best to implement hybrid work models, they would be remiss in overlooking employees value just being at the office without specific a specific agenda or reason.

When building a successful company at the enterprise level and cultivating a fulfilling career at the individual level, there is more to it than just getting our work done. There are moments of ingenuity and progress that occur simply by being in an environment dedicated to an overall goal and limited external distractions.

Ill see you at the office!

Craig Wilson is an executive vice president at Stream Realty Partners in Dallas.

Continue reading here:
The Value of "Putting in the Time" at The Office - D Magazine

The Hill may be compensated and/or receive an affiliate commission if you buy through our links.

This eight-course 40-hour online training walks you through easily and effectively launching your online Amazon shop and understanding what success looks like in 2020. From there, it will teach you how to manage your shop through courses on product sourcing, SEO, arbitrage, drop-shipping, partnering with the right vendors, marketing, and more.

Go at your own pace through the lectures to discover how to know which products are selling well, best practices for reselling items online, and more than 33 sourcing methods that lead to success. Through the 249 lessons, you'll learn how to develop product ideas and turn them into something marketable and competitive. If you're looking for a new lease on your financial life, this masterclass is a no-brainer.

This program is easy to follow, and you can't beat the great price, said one reviewer. I have been looking for a starter course like this.

The courses, valued at $1292, are taught by experienced pros who have found success in the Amazon marketplace, so you know you're in good hands. And you'll have access forever, including all updates, so you'll be able to get a refresher and stay on top of things in the future.

Join the over 1100 entrepreneurs who've already enrolled in The Ultimate Amazon FBA & Dropship Master Class Bundle for just $39.99, a savings of 96%.

Excerpt from:
This $40 expert-led training will help you successfully launch an Amazon shop. | TheHill - The Hill

Arinaitwe Rugyendo

KAMPALA Yesterday, Nile Breweries Limited launched a nationwide five-week campaign worth UGX100M aimed at giving a boost to aspiring young entrepreneurs in the digital space.

The offer comes on the heels a new initiative by eeeboworld.com, a Ugandan video-on demand streaming company launching a content creator portal on its website and social media spaces to enable anyone who can create exciting stuff to earn a buck from it.

Following the devastating effects suffered by most youth in the wake of the Corona Virus pandemic, the Nile Breweries Legal and Corporate Affairs Director, Onapito Ekomoloit, said yesterday at the NBLs headquarters in Luzira, a Kampala suburb that the offer is up for grabs by young people who can innovate techprenuership products.

Mr. Onapito says, to participate in the campaign, aspiring youth entrepreneurs across the country will be required to draft a brief plan on how they would use UGX1M to start their businesses and send the outlines to a designated email address (Nile.Breweries@ug.ab-inbev.com). Every week 20 successful entrants will be announced on various partner radio stations across the country and they will take home UGX1 million each.This offer got caught my eye because I am someone who is very much engrossed in finding digital solutions to unemployment in Uganda. And given the Coronavirus pandemic and its implications for the future of work, this offer got me thinking about new ways in which you can create your own job using that computer on your desk or that smartphone in your pocket, in the event that you either win or lose in the Nile Breweries contest.

For example, if you have a passion for teaching, training, making movies or music, you will not only be able to win with Nile Breweries but also make money on a new content creator platform at eeboworl.com by teaching, training, coaching other people online. You can make extra revenue for yourself by creating digital content such as Tutoring Videos, audio lectures poems or podcasts etc

How?

Go to eeboworld.com/creatorsSign up as a creatorSelect your creator category

Create your unique creator url

Upload a profile picture and banner(Your profile will be verified within 24 hours)

Start uploading your content and get ready to publish, add a category to be easier found in the eebo world discovery (search), add tags to optimize your SEO as well as Video/Audio descriptions.

Get paid for youroriginaldigital content!

Sell individual video or audio files

Create playlists and sell multiple videos/audios at a bundle price

Simply sell to fans in other countries!

This exciting platform, the first of its kind in the country, is integrated with Mobile Money in Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Ghana, Zambia and is interoperable with Mastercard, Visa, Paypal and can ensure Automatic currency conversions.

Your unique creator URL is basically your own website that everyone can access without login, you can connect your page with your social media and this is why we think our highway is a good opportunity as well for those who wish to participate inMy guide to young Techprenuers:

While this Nile Breweries contest is very a generous gesture from a corporate entity amidst business shutdown due to COVID-19 Pandemic, and while Shs. 1M seems like very small capital, there are several business ideas you might need to consider that require low investment.

According to a shopify blog post article (https://www.shopify.com/blog/low-investment-business-ideas) one of those ideas is Create digital products or coursesIf youve got a talent/job/hustle that can be turned into a digital product, think about packaging it into a new stream of income as you look forward to winning the Nile Breweries contest.

I could sight for you several examples of what trade you can turn into a digital product:

You will be surprised how many people do not know how to boil an egg without having burst in the water or how to make a quick cup of cereal porridge. If you are a chef or a talented cook, you can make such videos and people will be willing to pay and learn from them. Making this kind of video only requires a basic phone camera (which you already have) and good light.

If you are a Pastor, you probably already know how people struggle with techniques of bible study, prayer and meditation. Making small sermons in form of courses can be so helpful to so many followers.

Should I even bother you with an example of teachers? The pandemic closed all schools and parents have struggled with keeping the kids in learning mode. Many parents are now buying question and answer pamphlets. Imagine if they had these Pamphlets in Video? AND this new normal wont change even after COVID19, it just began.

Online business helps you to optimize your time at your current job without disrupting it. It helps you create an extra income from what you love to do and are probably already doing.

At the risk of being branded a brewery publicist, I honestly think the Nile breweries campaign is a rich opportunity if you consider to start your own online business.

There are several platforms that can help your online business. You can choose from Youtube to social media pages like facebook or IG or even a TV show. The challenge however is how you do make money from these platforms?The new platform eebo that is easier to use with direct-to-market tools is launching very soon. It gives you selling tools like mobile money and VISA integration which can help you sell and your fans to buy. It also has tools like a newsletter which help with customer engagement and outreach.

Unlike Youtube where there are millions of creators jostling for visibility, eebo has simple and effective discovery.

All you will need is to constantly inform you social media followers about your new projects on eebo and ask them to go buy. Eebo is like a digital shopping mall for digital products.

It is important that you prepare very well before you make your application to Nile breweries. I recommend that you learn more about how eebo works.

Visit the blog.eeboworld.com or contact them at office@eeboworld.com.I wish you the best.

Read more here:
ARINAITWE RUGYENDO: Attention to Ugandan Young Digital Citizens: Here's an Opportunity to Create a Digital Job and earn big During COVID-19 -...

Sean Ellis was 21 years old when he was convicted for the 1993 murder of Boston Police Det. John Mulligan.

Two mistrials and a third that cemented his lifetime sentence spelled out Elliss fate until 2015, when a court ruling reversed his convictions on first-degree murder and armed robbery charges. In 2018, after calls for another trial, charges against Ellis were withdrawn.

Now, Ellis, who spent over 22 years behind bars and whose attorneys had long sought that fourth trial, is telling his story in a new Netflix documentary that hit the streaming service Wednesday, Trial 4.

The eight-part series begins with Ellis out on bail.

He has maintained that he is innocent in the grisly crime that unfurled early one morning outside a Walgreens drugstore in Roslindale. The subsequent investigation was helmed by corrupt detectives that some have said may have worked to cover up their own wrongdoings in making a speedy arrest.

But whether Ellis is in prison or not, prosecutors have said hes their man.

Heres five things to know about the case and the details surrounding it:

Mulligan, a 27-year member of the police department, was shot as he worked a private security detail at a Walgreens drugstore on American Legion Highway in Roslindale early on Sept. 26, 1993.

The 52-year-old detective was over halfway through a midnight-to-6 a.m. shift when first responders received a 911 call for an officer needing assistance around 3:54 a.m. Mulligan was shot four or five times in the front of his head, according to a report inThe Boston Globe the following morning.

Investigators said Mulligans department-issued 9mm Glock semiautomatic pistol was missing, although he was shot with a different gun: a .25-caliber weapon.

This was a cold-blooded, premeditated murder of a Boston police officer, then-Police Commissioner William J. Bratton told reporters. There were some elements that would lead one to describe it as execution-style an assassination.

Ellis, then a 19-year-old from Dorchester, has said he went to the store to buy diapers. He was with Terry L. Patterson, also 19, of Hyde Park, who was convicted of murder in the case but later had his conviction overturned on appeal, according to theGlobe.

Witnesses told authorities they saw Pattersons Volkswagen Rabbit at the store, and one witness, Rosa Sanchez, told police she saw a man she later identified as Ellis crouched next to Mulligans Ford Explorer before shots were fired, the newspaper reported. A forensic examiner initially reported finding Pattersons fingerprints on the vehicle.

Later, Elliss then-girlfriend recalled him retrieving two guns from his home, which he left at her apartment, according to the Globe.She and a friend ultimately left the weapons Mulligans pistol and the firearm he was shot with in a field where police discovered them.

Over a week after Elliss arrest on Oct. 6, 1993, his mother, Mary Jackie Ellis, struggled to comprehend how her son was charged in such a horrific crime.

I wanted my children to follow my example, she told aGlobe reporter. I wanted them to become involved in their community, in cleaning up their buildings and taking pride in their neighborhood.

The senior Ellis admitted she had called the police before on her own son. In September 1992, authorities were called after her son allegedly left their house with the child of her then-boyfriend following an argument. Ellis was later charged with assault and battery, family abuse, and threatening to commit a crime and was placed on probation, the Globe reported.

When he was arrested for Mulligans murder, his only outstanding charges unrelated to the slaying were for kidnapping and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon both brought on by a family dispute, according to the newspaper.

Still, she explained, the murder didnt square right with what she knew about her son.

I cant visualize it, even in his deepest anger, that my son would take somebodys life, she said.

Elliss first two trials in January and March 1995 both resulted in juries voting 9-3 to convict. He was ultimately convicted that September and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

His conviction sat on the theory of felony murder, according to the Globe. In other words, because Ellis participated in the robbery of Mulligan, he should be held responsible for his murder.

At the time of his third trial who exactly pulled the trigger and took Mulligans life had never been officially established, the Globe reported.

Mulligan, of West Roxbury, joined the Boston Police Department in 1966 and apparently loved his job.

Not long after joining the force, Mulligan began working practically around the clock, often picking up overtime shifts and raking in six-figure yearly salaries. After his death, he was remembered for racking up hundreds of arrests.

OneGlobereport called Mulligan an old-fashioned, bare-knuckles sort of cop headstrong and street-savvy and blunt.

Most people take the family first and their job second, Michael Carroll, then-vice president of the detectives union, told the Globe the day of Mulligans murder. John really enjoyed the job, to the extreme. He was relentless.

But his reputation in the department faltered in the years before his death.

In 1989, Mulligan was suspended after an internal investigation found he double-billed the force for some of his overtime shifts, according to the Globe.

In 1992, he was branded as a problem officer by the department, whose internal audit found he ranked fifth out of its 1,950 officers for having the most complaints filed against him. Mulligan was the subject of 24 misconduct investigations in his 27-year career.

And in 1986, Mulligan was mentioned in a federal corruption probe of the force, in which a drug dealer testified the detective was among many officers who protected his operations in exchange for payoffs, the Globewrote following Mulligans death.

Mulligan invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination when he went before a grand jury; he was not charged with a crime.

In 2015, when Suffolk Superior Court Judge Carol Ball ordered a new trial for Ellis, she wrote how Elliss defense attorney, Rosemary Scapicchio, discovered new evidence that suggests there was corruption within the investigation of Mulligans homicide itself.

Balls ruling indicated police received tips that Mulligan was involved in crimes with the detectives who investigated his death, including the armed robbery of a suspected drug dealer only 17 days before his death, according to theGlobe.

Ball also wrote that authorities received tips from three different people that implicated a city police officer and his son in Mulligans murder, the newspaper reported. The tips said the pair believed the detective had harassed a teenage female relative all information Elliss defense did not receive, Ball said.

Richard Mulligan, the detectives brother, said his brother was never charged with a crime.

Sean Ellis is guilty, he said. The evidence is compelling. I dont think hes fully paid for what he did.

Prosecutors at the time also fired back, saying that Balls findings did not present one single piece of evidence that contradicts the strong evidence that proved Ellis guilt at trial.

In our judgment, this was a conviction based on direct, reliable, corroborated evidence, Jake Wark, a spokesman for then-Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel Conley, told the Globe. We fully intend to present that evidence to a new jury if necessary.

Still, in 2016, the state Supreme Judicial Court ruled in favor of a new trial for Ellis based on the new evidence of corruption inherent in the case, including that the FBI had heard there was a contract out for Mulligans murder and that he and other detectives robbed a marijuana dealer of over $26,000 weeks before his death, according to theGlobe.

Elliss cousins, Celine Kirk, 17, and Tracy Brown, 23, two sisters, were shot and killed on Sept. 29, 1993 three days after Mulligans death in a Mattapan apartment.

Craig Hood, 18, of Brockton, confessed to the killings carried out in front of Browns two young children and told police the incident stemmed from an argument he had with Kirk over a gold chain, according to theGlobe.

Hood was convicted in 1995 of second-degree murder and sentenced to two consecutive life terms with eligibility for parole starting in 2033.

Following the murders, relatives of Kirk and Brown said Kirk was at the Walgreens the night Mulligan was murdered with Ellis, buying diapers for their niece, according to the Globe. The family members, who asked not to be identified, also had said Hood and Patterson knew one another, the newspaper reported.

One relative told theGlobe that Ellis was questioned by police about his and Kirks presence at the Walgreens the night of the murder only after the two sisters were killed.

Investigators, at the time, said only three employees were in the store at the time of Mulligans murder.

Ellis was arrested hours after the burials of Kirk and Brown.

Boston Police Dets. Walter Robinson, Kenneth Acerra, and John Brazil played pivotal roles in the investigation against Ellis.

The trio helped secure witnesses and physical evidence from Mulligans murder, Ball, the Suffolk Superior Court judge, wrote in 2015. All three had also been the detectives later accused of joining Mulligan in robbing the suspected drug dealer just a little more than two weeks before his death.

Ball wrote that the prosecution was in a rush to judgement with Elliss arrest and subsequent conviction.

From the beginning of the investigation, the apparent criminal misconduct of Detectives Acerra, Robinson, Brazil, and Mulligan gave the surviving partners a motive to cover up any evidence of their own crimes and to contribute to a quick arrest and conclusion to the investigation so that it did not turn in their direction, Ball wrote, according to the Globe. Defense counsel should have had the opportunity to make that argument to the jury.

In 1998, Robinson and Acerra pleaded guilty to federal charges stemming from a 27-count indictment, including that they stole over $200,000 and took bribes in exchange for offering lenient sentence recommendations, according to the Associated Press.

Brazil was granted immunity from prosecution in exchange for his testimony.

In 2016, the state Supreme Judicial Court ordered another trial for Ellis based on the new evidence that Mulligan was a corrupt officer and on his association with the trio of detectives who investigated his death.

These detectives would likely fear that a prolonged and comprehensive investigation of the victims murder would uncover leads that might reveal their own corruption, the late Chief Justice Ralph Gants wrote in the courts decision.

Additionally, Sanchez the key eye witness who identified both Ellis and Patterson as the two men she saw around Mulligans car and Acerra knew one another, GBH reported.

Acerra and Sanchezs aunt had been romantically involved at one point. Sanchez, and her husband, had initially identified another man not Ellis as the one she saw at the scene, according to the Globe.

Prosecutors have long said that even with the compelling corruption evidence introduced in recent years, there remain elements of the case that support the case against Ellis.

The information surrounding Mulligans own past does not delineate from the facts that Ellis possessed the murder weapon and his then-girlfriends fingerprint was found on Mulligans pistol.

Although prosecutors intended to bring Ellis back to court after his release in 2015, charges against him were withdrawn in December 2018.

The trial evidence and testimony in 1995 proved Mr. Ellis guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Jurors at the time called the case against him overwhelming, then-acting Suffolk County District Attorney John Pappas said. But the passage of more than two and a half decades has seriously compromised our ability to prove it again. For this reason, my office will file paperwork today ending the prosecution of Mr. Ellis for first-degree murder and armed robbery.

Pappas noted however that Elliss two convictions for possessing the murder weapon and Mulligans pistol remained undisturbed.

He also acknowledged that the decision to drop the more serious charges had to do with three corrupt police detectives. Pappas said prosecutors did not believe Mulligan was involved in the corruption, but it is now inextricably intertwined with the investigation and critical witnesses in the case.

Furthermore, the decision to withdraw charges was not made based on the notion that Ellis was wrongfully convicted, according to Pappas.

Let me be clear: that is not the case here, he said. If at any point we had any reason to believe that Mr. Ellis was wrongfully charged or convicted, we would have acted on it immediately.

Patterson, whose murder conviction was overturned on an appeal, eventually received a reduced charge of manslaughter in 2006, according to the Globe. He was ordered to serve 22 years but was soon released based on good behavior and time already served.

In the 25 years since Det. Mulligan was murdered in cold blood, not one piece of evidence developed by prosecutors, defense counsel, or anyone else has pointed to anyone but Sean Ellis and Terry Patterson, Pappas said. Of all the people in all the world who might have killed John Mulligan, only they were present at the time and place he was killed by their own admissions, supported by eyewitnesses and physical evidence.

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