Courts, Rulings & Lawsuits | |
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California Supreme Court affirms death penalty convictions in 2 cases
The state Supreme Court affirmed two death penalty convictions and sentences on Monday over the objections of two liberal justices who accused the majority of ignoring the California Racial Justice Act and denying motions for a stay and limited remand under the law to determine if racial bias played a role in the case outcomes.
Daily Journal
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Immunity blocks suit over detention of innocent woman
The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeal held yesterday that the City of Los Angeles is immune from liability for the arrest and 12-day jailing of an innocent woman who was apprehended based on a no-bail warrant because officers acted reasonably, unaware that a grand jury in the State of Texas had indicted the woman by mistake. The plaintiff’s name is Bethany Kaley Farber and the person who actually committed vandalism is Bethany Gill Farber.
Metropolitan News-Enterprise
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LAPD union sues police commander over allegations of fraud and unlawful computer data access
A day after submitting a lawsuit against an LAPD commander on claims of fraud and unlawful computer data access, the union representing the agency's lieutenants and ranks below urged Thursday that she "cease and desist" until the matter is resolved in court. During a news conference Thursday afternoon at the Los Angeles Police Protective League's headquarters, officials alleged that in just the last 24 hours Cmdr. Lillian Carranza attempted at least 18 times to access confidential emails and logging into a section of the union's website only for members.
ABC7
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S.C. reverses high-term sentence based on several unproven aggravating factors
The California Supreme Court held yesterday that an amendment to a sentencing statute - prohibiting the imposition of a maximum sentence unless aggravating factors other than prior convictions are proven beyond a reasonable doubt - requires the reversal of upper-term sentences unless a jury would have found true each of the aggravated factors or those facts were otherwise proven in compliance with the current law.
Metropolitan News-Enterprise
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California artist fined for criticizing park ranger wins free-speech appeal
It’s against the law in San Diego to make a “loud noise” in public, or to use “noisy, boisterous, vulgar, or indecent language” in a street or in a park, store or other public place. A local artist was found guilty last year of violating the ordinance by criticizing a park ranger while filming him as the ranger issued a citation to another person.
San Francisco Chronicle
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Judge orders 2 defendants in LA restaurant hate crime assault to pay $1.6 million in damages
A judge ordered two pro-Palestinian protestors to pay more than $1.6 million in damages to a hate crime victim following a 2021 attack outside of a Los Angeles sushi restaurant. The incident occurred in May 2021, following Israeli airstrikes against Palestinian targets in the Gaza Strip. The protestors approached the Beverly Grove restaurant with pro-Palestinian flags, shouting slurs at Jewish diners. A brawl then ensued with a victim being assaulted.
The Wrap
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Civil trial over Southern California surf gang ‘localism’ kicks off
The civil trial over one of America's most notorious surf gangs, the Lunada Bay Boys, and the wealthy city that is accused of looking the other way while the Bay Boys jealously guarded their turf, began on Monday morning. Lunada Bay is a rocky, crescent-shaped beach surrounded by cliffs tucked away in Palos Verdes Estates, a tiny seaside city in the southwest corner of Los Angeles County.
Courthouse News Service
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LA County probation officers with disabilities sue over work mandate
Multiple members of the Los Angeles County Probation Department with various disabilities are suing their employer, alleging they have been reclassified to do work that jeopardizes their well- being and those of the juvenile detainees. Adrian Butler, Allen Davis and Anabel Juarez are among the deputy probation officer II's in the Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit that alleges harassment, retaliation, disability discrimination and failure to accommodate and engage in the interactive process.
City News Service
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US government sues TikTok for allegedly violating children’s privacy law
TikTok has failed to stop children from joining the app and has unlawfully collected their personal data, the US Justice Department alleged in a lawsuit filed Friday. The lawsuit accuses TikTok and its parent company, ByteDance, of violating the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) by allowing children to create accounts without their parents’ knowledge or consent.
CNN
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Appeals court affirms $4 million judgment against convicted ex-politico Albert Robles
The Court of Appeal for this district has upheld a judgment for more than $4 million obtained by the City of South Gate against Albert T. Robles who served at various points as its mayor, City Council member, treasurer, and deputy city manager, had pocketed city funds, and wound up sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for corruption, bribery, and money laundering.
Metropolitan News-Enterprise
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Two LAPD officers allege then-chief sought Black cops for mayoral detail
Two Los Angeles police officers are suing the city, alleging they were removed from elite federal task force assignments as a backlash for complaining that then-Police Chief Michel Moore sought Black officers to be part of newly elected Mayor Karen Bass’s protection detail in 2022. Officers Derrick Boykins and Jonathan Pacheco are the plaintiffs in the Los Angeles Superior Court whistleblower lawsuit in which they seek unspecified damages. Boykins, like Bass, is Black.
MyNewsLA
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Google has an illegal monopoly on search, judge rules. Here's what's next
Google has violated US antitrust law with its search business, a federal judge ruled Monday, handing the tech giant a staggering court defeat with the potential to reshape how millions of Americans get information online and to upend decades of dominance. “After having carefully considered and weighed the witness testimony and evidence, the court reaches the following conclusion: Google is a monopolist, and it has acted as one to maintain its monopoly,” US District Judge Amit Mehta wrote in Monday’s opinion.
CNN
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Appeals court upholds Donald Trump’s gag order as he again presses judge to exit hush money case
Two months after his felony conviction, Donald Trump still isn’t allowed to say everything he wants about his historic hush money criminal case. After a New York appeals court upheld his gag order Thursday, he won’t be for a while. The state’s mid-level appellate court denied the Republican former president and current nominee’s latest bid to lift the restrictions, swatting away a last-minute argument that he’s unfairly muzzled while Vice President Kamala Harris, his likely Democratic opponent, pits herself as an ex-prosecutor taking on a “convicted felon.”
CNN
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Dozens arrested in raids targeting gang linked to LAPD officer's killing
FBI agents and Los Angeles County deputies fanned out across the city early Tuesday, raiding 30 homes linked to the South L.A. gang Florencia 13, which was responsible for the 2022 killing of a Los Angeles police officer. Hours after the arrests of about two dozen Los Angeles gang members, prosecutors unsealed indictments charging 37 people associated with Florencia 13, alleging a series of crimes, including fentanyl trafficking, extortion and three slayings - including that of a man beaten to death outside a bar in the gang’s “territory.”
Los Angeles Times
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State to 'speed up prosecutions' after Alameda County DA delay
State officials say CalGuard prosecutors will take on some Alameda County cases following a sluggish response by DA Pamela Price to an offer of state help. The new agreement was reached "quickly," the governor's office said, in contrast to the "nearly five-month attempt to formalize a similar agreement" with DA Price. Last month, Gov. Gavin Newsom loudly and publicly rescinded an offer to assign state prosecutors to help in Alameda County, citing a lack of interest from DA Price.
The Berkeley Scanner
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'NCIS' actor Gabriel Olds charged with 7 felony sexual assault counts amid LAPD investigation
Actor Gabriel Olds has been arrested on seven felony sexual assault charges. Olds, 52, was booked on Wednesday, August 7, on charges relating to alleged crimes against at least three victims. According to the Los Angeles Police Department, Olds allegedly would use his status as an alumni of Yale University - and his time in Hollywood - to attract women on dating apps.
Us Magazine
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Former L.A. County school worker charged in sex assault of 2 young boys; DA says more victims possible
A 27-year-old South Gate man who worked at dozens of schools and child care settings in Los Angeles County has been charged with the alleged yearslong sexual abuse of two boys, and officials believe there may be more possible victims. Andrew Louie Sandoval is accused of sexually assaulting the two minors, who were between the ages of 4 and 9 years old, on different occasions from November 2015 until this year, the District Attorney’s Office announced Tuesday.
KTLA
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South L.A. man arrested on federal grand jury indictment alleging series of armed carjackings in L.A. County last year
A South Los Angeles man was arrested today on a nine-count indictment alleging he and three other men carried out a series of armed carjackings in Los Angeles County during a three-week crime spree late last year that resulted in the theft of five vehicles and two large-screen televisions. Sergio Macias, 22, a.k.a. “Checho,” of South Los Angeles, surrendered to federal law enforcement this morning. His arraignment is scheduled for this afternoon in United States District Court in downtown Los Angeles.
U.S. Attorney’s Office Press Release
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California National Guard prosecutors will focus on county following 'surge operations,' bringing concern from PDs
Prosecutors with the California National Guard’s Counterdrug Task Force will help prosecute state cases originating in Alameda County, California, according to an announcement Friday by Gov. Gavin Newsom. The decision follows an increase in shifts for California Highway Patrol officers in Oakland, California, as part of “surge operations,” according to an Aug. 2 press release. The prosecutors will be working with the California Department of Justice.
ABA Journal
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Ex-L.A. sheriff's corruption squad targeted Kuehl. Now state has dropped the case
Two years after Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies showed up with guns and battering rams for an early morning raid on Sheila Kuehl’s home in Santa Monica, the investigation is officially over - and there will be no criminal charges. Instead, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge William Ryan approved an agreement Wednesday in which the California Department of Justice said there was a “lack of evidence of wrongdoing.”
Los Angeles Times
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California woman brought sword, whip and other weapons into Capitol during Jan. 6 riot
A California woman is charged with taking a cache of weapons, including a sword, a steel whip and a knife into the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6, 2021, attack by a mob of Donald Trump supporters, according to court records unsealed Wednesday. Kennedy Lindsey had a short sword, a steel tactical whip, a collapsible baton, pepper spray, a butterfly knife and a flashlight taser in her possession when a U.S. Secret Service officer searched her backpack, according to an FBI affidavit.
AP
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Defense secretary abruptly revokes plea deal with alleged 9/11 mastermind KSM, co-conspirators
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin abruptly revoked a plea deal for the alleged mastermind of the September 11, 2001, terror attacks and his co-conspirators, and he relieved the overseer in charge after years of effort to reach an agreement to bring the cases to a close. In a surprise memo quietly released Friday night, Austin said the responsibility for such a significant decision “should rest with me.”
CNN
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Pakistani national with ties to Iran charged in connection to a foiled assassination plot potentially targeting Trump
The Justice Department has charged a Pakistani man who has alleged ties to the Iranian government with seeking to carry out political assassinations, a case that prompted the US government to increase security for former President Donald Trump and other officials, according to court documents unsealed Tuesday.
CNN
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This judge claims he accidentally killed his wife. Prosecutors say it was murder: What did their son see?
As families go, the Fergusons of Anaheim Hills, Calif., seemed closer than most. Jeffrey Ferguson, an Orange County superior court judge, and his wife, Sheryl, a homemaker, doted on their adult son Phillip, a university student in Dallas, where his parents bought him a home and planned to retire so that they could spend more time with him in the future. Family friend Early Hawkins ran into the trio at a bar association social event last summer.
People
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SF police formerly led by LA District Attorney George Gascon endorse challenger
San Francisco police - formerly led by Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascon - formally endorsed his challenger, Nathan Hochman, through their association, citing the damage to San Francisco when Gascon was the city’s police chief and later, district attorney “We lived through Gascon’s tenure as District Attorney in San Francisco, where he left us with skyrocketing crime and the nation’s largest open air drug market,” said Tracy McCray, president of the San Francisco Police Officers Association.
Black Chronicle News Service
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Public filings show donations to Hochman outdistance those to Gascón by nine times
Campaign contributions going to District Attorney George Gascón are dwarfed by those given to his challenger, former Assistant U.S. Attorney General Nathan Hochman, a press release issued yesterday by Hochman’s campaign says. It reports that Hochman raised $1.56 million between Feb. 18 and June 30, and that his campaign committee had more than $1.1 million cash on hand as of June 30, according to public filings, while Gascón raised $166,000 during the same period and had $46,000 in the bank.
Metropolitan News-Enterprise
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Parole denied for gang member who shot LA County deputy in 2005
A gang member who was convicted of shooting a Los Angeles County deputy in 2005 was denied parole. The DA’s office said on July 30, 2024, the California Board of Parole Hearings found that 38-year-old Erik De Santiago continues to pose a current and unreasonable risk to public safety. The DA’s office said on September 23, 2005, a Los Angeles County deputy and his partner were questioning a suspect.
Bakersfield Now
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Newsom to counties: Clear homeless encampments or lose funding
Governor Newsom issued a strong warning to cities and counties across the state Thursday, urging them to start clearing out homeless camps so they can avoid losing state funding. Newsom, who issued an executive order to remove encampments on state property last month, said homelessness is the biggest scar in the reputation of the state.
NBC4
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Federal appeals court reverses Arizona proof of citizenship ruling
A federal appeals court reversed its own ruling that upheld parts of an Arizona law that would stop some people from voting if they have not provided proof of citizenship. In July, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected a request by Republican legislative leaders to delay a ruling by a trial judge barring enforcement of such a ban.
KJZZ
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‘Pendulum has swung’: Supervisors signal shift on Men’s Central Jail closure plan
In the summer of 2019, justice reformers celebrated because the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors scrapped a controversial $1.7-billion plan to replace the county’s oldest lockup - the dungeon-like Men’s Central Jail on Bauchet Street - with a jail-like mental health facility. Buoyed by a rising tide of prison reforms across the country, county leaders decided to focus instead on decreasing the jail population by creating more alternatives to incarceration.
Los Angeles Times
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LA28 Olympics silent on $350K salary for Casey Wasserman's alleged mistress
LA28, the nonprofit organizing body behind Los Angeles’ 2028 Olympics and Paralympics, has fallen silent following a Daily Mail exposé on its chairperson Casey Wasserman and a string of alleged sexual affairs he courted with female staffers. Among the alleged mistresses is Wasserman’s former secretary and chief of staff Patricia Feau, who worked for his office for seven-and-a-half years beginning in 2011.
The Wrap
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Los Angeles to implement cameras on buses to enforce parking violations in bus lanes
The city of Los Angeles is advancing with plans to introduce an automated ticketing system aimed at enforcing parking violations in bus lanes and at bus stops, including the West Hollywood Gateway on La Brea Boulevard. LADOT detailed that Metro buses will be equipped with cameras to monitor for “bus lane obstructions.” These cameras will identify vehicles illegally parked in dedicated bus lanes or blocking bus stops.
WEHO Times
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Update: Effort advances to streamline hiring officers for LAPD
A Los Angeles City Council committee unanimously approved a motion on Tuesday, Aug. 6, seeking to streamline the hiring process of sworn officers and bolster the LAPD’s ranks as recruitment efforts remain a challenge. The three-member Personnel, Audits and Hiring Committee moved forward the motion introduced by City Council members Tim McOsker and John Lee, and seconded by Bob Blumenfield.
City News Service
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This bus just got hijacked.’ Fight to make L.A. transit safer embroiled in infighting, lawsuit says
When a homeless man with an airsoft gun hijacked a Metro bus, careened into several cars and crashed into the Ritz Carlton last March, Metro's top security officer at the time, Gina Osborn, called Metro Chief Executive Stephanie Wiggins. It was around midnight and there was no answer. She texted her and then called Wiggins' top aide, Nicole Englund.
Los Angeles Times
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Langer’s Deli: How a 12-seat diner became an LA landmark
To say that Langer’s Deli is a Los Angeles landmark would be an understatement. Founded by Al and Jean Langer as a 12-seat lunch counter in 1947, it proved to be so popular that over the years it’s expanded more than tenfold in size, becoming one of LA’s most renowned and venerable restaurants along the way, being named a James Beard American Classic as well as a Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand honoree.
Goldbelly.com
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Police release images of suspects in killing of 'General Hospital' actor Johnny Wactor
Police have released video stills that show three people alleged to be suspects in the killing of "General Hospital" actor Johnny Wactor. Wactor, 37, who played Brando Corbin on the long-running daytime soap opera, was fatally shot in May after he interrupted a catalytic converter theft from his car in downtown Los Angeles. In one of the stills, three people can be seen near a black Infiniti Q50 sedan that police said was used to flee the scene.
NBC News
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Police arrested hundreds of pro-Palestinian students in L.A. The fallout continues
Since police arrested her twice this spring at UCLA - accusing her of failing to obey orders to leave pro-Palestinian encampments - Asil Yassine has spent the summer navigating court dates and uncertainties. No criminal charges have been filed in one case, although it has not been dropped. In the other, an arraignment is coming up in late August. The consequences of her arrests are piling up.
Los Angeles Times
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UCLA spends over $12 million on spring protests, leading UC system in costs
The University of California of Los Angeles (UCLA) spent a total of over $12 million on the campus protests that took place this spring, as reported by The Daily Bruin. The UC system spent $29.1 million in total, so UCLA’s $12.3 million, the largest total of all the schools in the California state system, is roughly 41% of the UC total. In comparison, the school with the next highest total, UC Berkeley, spent $8 million.
Century City/Westwood News
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Kern County supervisor resigns amid criminal probe and allegations of sexual assault
A Kern County supervisor, under investigation for allegedly sexually assaulting one of his children, has resigned. The Thursday night announcement by Supervisor Zack Scrivner came while the California attorney general’s office is reviewing a criminal case against Scrivner, who has avoided public appearances since the allegations were raised in April.
Los Angeles Times
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Sean Grayson’s fatal shooting of Sonya Massey highlights risky practice of hiring ‘wandering officers’
The Illinois sheriff’s deputy who gunned down Sonya Massey in her home last month is now listed as suspended on a statewide registry of officers who have been fired, forced to resign or had their law enforcement licenses revoked due to misconduct. The suspension of former Sangamon County Sheriff’s Deputy Sean Grayson’s law enforcement certificate came only after he was fired and charged with murder.
CNN
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Bodycam video shows moments police encounter Trump's would-be assassin, officer saying he warned Secret Service
New body camera video released p by Butler Township from the day a man attempted to assassinate former President Donald Trump shows the moment police encountered the shooter before he opened fire on the Pennsylvania crowd and includes a police officer saying he warned the Secret Service about the building vulnerability. In one of the videos, a Butler Township officer is being hoisted onto the roof of a building near the July 13 rally, minutes before Trump was set to speak.
NBC News
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A Yale researchers ‘hot mic’ gaff reveals the academy’s woke bias
Is it possible that snarky, elite academics, who support extreme criminal justice reforms, privately mock and disdain the actual experiences of minorities and other vulnerable New Yorkers? Last week, Ryan McNeil, Director of Harm Reduction Research at Yale’s School of Medicine, inadvertently answered that question.
New York Post
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Convictions/Pleas/Sentences | |
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California man sentenced for interfering with flight crew, forcing plane to be diverted to KCI
A California man was sentenced in federal court today after he was subdued by several passengers and flight attendants when he tried to open the exit door on an American Airlines flight en route to Washington, D.C., forcing the plane to land at Kansas City International Airport in Kansas City, Missouri. Juan Remberto Rivas, 52, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Roseann A. Ketchmark to 19 months in federal prison without parole.
TSA Press Release
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As DA, Harris released illegal immigrant charged with unlicensed driving shortly before he killed young man
As district attorney of San Francisco, Kamala Harris dropped an unlicensed driving charge against an illegal immigrant who months later mowed down a young law student with his car. In June 2010, Harris’s office dropped charges against Roberto Galo, an illegal immigrant who was arrested for driving without a license while going the wrong way down a one-way street.
Washington Free Beacon
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Thomas Girardi’s legal drama approaches its Hollywood ending
The Oscar-winning legal thriller ‘Erin Brockovich’ catapulted the already successful Los Angeles attorney Thomas V. Girardi into the national limelight. In the years after that 2000 film highlighted his role in securing a $333 million settlement against Pacific Gas & Electric for poisoning a California town’s drinking water, Girardi was inducted into the Trial Lawyer Hall of Fame and was hailed as a pioneer of “toxic tort” litigation.
Bloomberg Law
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The Ninth Circuit reminds employers of obligations when addressing social media posts affecting workplace
A recent Ninth Circuit decision clarifies employers’ obligations to address hostile work environment complaints arising out of employees' off-premises social media activity. In Okonowsky v. Garland (No. 23-55404; Jul. 25, 2024), the Ninth Circuit reversed summary judgment against a Title VII sexually hostile environment action, finding that the court had erred by considering only some of the evidence and by applying incorrect legal standards.
JD Supra
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Federal appeals court rules that fair use may be narrowed to serve Hollywood profits
Section 1201 of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act is a ban on reading any copyrighted work that is encumbered by access restrictions. It makes it illegal for you to read and understand the code that determines how your phone or car works and whether those devices are safe. It makes it illegal to create fair use videos for expressive purposes, reporting, or teaching.
Electronic Frontier Foundation
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Justice Dept. says it’s committed to sharing info about foreign election threats with tech companies
The Justice Department remains committed to sharing with social media companies information that it picks up about efforts by foreign governments to influence this year’s elections, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco told a lawyers’ conference on Friday. Speaking at the American Bar Association’s annual meeting, Monaco, the department’s No. 2 official, said that though it’s ultimately up to technology companies to decide what if any action to take, “We will provide companies with actionable intelligence so they can make decisions regarding abuse on their platforms by adversaries conducting foreign malign influence operations, including targeting our elections.”
AP
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Teacher’s aide accuses San Gabriel school district of punishing her for ‘Trump-themed’ backpack
A San Gabriel Unified School District teacher’s aide claims she was suspended without pay after bringing a “Trump-themed” backpack and water bottle onto campus. In a lawsuit filed last week in federal court, Alyssa Esquivel alleged that district officials violated her constitutional rights to free speech and state labor protections in disciplining her for carrying personal items that referenced the former president.
Los Angeles Times
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