Courts, Rulings & Lawsuits | |
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LA County’s courts are struggling to recover after a cyberattack. What to do if you have a court date
L.A. County’s courts reopened Tuesday, but some court functions remain limited. People are being warned to expect delays and appear in person for some departments, including for family, probate, and traffic cases. Alphonse Provinziano, a senior trial attorney at Provinziano & Associates in Beverly Hills that focuses exclusively on family law, told LAist the issues have been pretty extreme and it’s been a “very challenging” week so far.
LAist
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Ninth Circuit again reinstates rioting charges against two white supremacists
For the second time, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday reinstated an indictment against a pair of Southern California white supremacists, overruling a federal judge who said the men were singled out for selective prosecution. The appellate panel rejected the conclusion of Senior U.S. District Judge Cormac Carney, a George W. Bush appointee, who said federal prosecutors went after the two members of the white-supremacist Rise Above Movement while ignoring similar violence by members of far-left groups.
Courthouse News Service
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Judge makes 'shocking' statement on Supreme Court rulings
A federal judge shared a "shocking" statement on how he perceives the San Francisco-based 9th Circuit Court of Appeals views rulings from the U.S. Supreme Court. Earlier this year, a panel of three judges on the court handed a victory to gun rights advocates in reversing the conviction of Steven Duarte, a California man previously found guilty of violating a law preventing him from possessing a firearm due to having several nonviolent felony convictions.
Newsweek
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Four appointed to Los Angeles Superior Court
Among 11 appointments to superior courts across the state are four in Los Angeles County. Appointed by Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday were Assistant U.S. Attorney Damaris Diaz of the Central District of California, sole practitioner Janet Hong, Cindy Pánuco of Perez & Perez, and Los Angeles Superior Court Commissioner Tiffany Tai. Diaz, whose law degree is from Harvard, replaces Judge Stephen A. Marcus, who retired.
Metropolitan News-Enterprise
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A California court just granted an ag giant a win. It could jeopardize new farm union law
A California judge has halted a union effort at one of the state’s most powerful agricultural businesses, throwing into question the future of a 2023 law that made it easier for farmworkers to unionize. The challenge was brought by the Wonderful Company, known for their pistachios, POM pomegranate juices and Halos tangerines. This spring, the state had certified a union at one of its nurseries that the company contested, setting off a flurry of legal filings.
CalMatters
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Proceedings properly stayed until defendant in civil case sentenced on criminal charge
The Court of Appeal for this district issued an opinion yesterday in which it declared, in dictum, that a judge did not abuse her discretion in staying proceedings in a wrongful death case until the defendant, whose deposition was sought, had been sentenced on a vehicular manslaughter charge but held, in issuing a writ of mandate, that the judge lacked any reason for keeping the stay in place now that sentence has been imposed.
Metropolitan News-Enterprise
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Social media platforms that mine user data aren’t shielded by federal communications law, California court says
Meta and Snap, insofar as they are in the business of mining and monetizing users' data, can't hide behind the Stored Communications Act to avoid turning over posts and communications to the defendant in a murder case. A San Diego-based appellate court rejected the arguments by the two social media companies on Tuesday and found their business models distinguish them from electronic communications services and remote computing services as defined under the 1986 federal law protecting the privacy of people's emails and the like.
Courthouse News Service
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Deputy in Los Angeles charged with alleged inmate assault, falsifying records
A Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputy is facing nearly four years in prison after being accused of assaulting an inmate at a downtown Los Angeles courthouse more than two years ago, officials announced late last week. The incident, according to a news release from the L.A. County District Attorney’s Office, occurred on Jan. 20, 2022, at the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center.
KTLA
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2 men charged with murder of Long Beach street vendor
Two men have been charged with murder in the March killing of a street vendor in Long Beach. On Thursday, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office announced murder charges were filed against Rahman Snook Abdallah, 19, of Long Beach and Raylon Deshawn Akers, 23, of Los Angeles. Akers also faces an additional charge for being a felon in possession of a firearm. All three men are suspected gang members, police announced when they were arrested last week.
KTLA
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Rosen’s lawless war against the death penalty, part II
Three months ago, District Attorney Jeff Rosen unveiled his controversial scheme to have the death sentences of 14 South Bay murderers reduced to prison terms. Although his plan faltered out of the gate because he failed to coordinate scheduling with the courts, the misstep bought him valuable time that he could have used to correct course. He blew the chance.
Op-Ed/Silicon Valley Voice
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4 men accused of series of armed robberies in Los Angeles, posting stolen cash to Instagram
Four Los Angeles County men are facing federal charges in a series of armed robberies in which federal prosecutors allege they threatened people with a gun and posted photos of the stolen cash to Instagram. The robberies targeted several businesses, most of them 7-Eleven stores in the South LA region, from Nov. 4 to Dec. 24 of last year, according to federal prosecutors.
CBS News
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DOJ begins dropping Capitol riot obstruction charges following SCOTUS decision
Federal prosecutors have begun dropping obstruction charges from the cases of certain Capitol riot defendants in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision limiting the Justice Department’s former staple charge in the January 6, 2021, prosecutions. In a 6-3 decision in June, the Supreme Court held that the federal government had wrongfully levied a felony charge of obstruction of an official proceeding against Jan. 6 defendants, finding that the statute only applies to conduct like document destruction.
Courthouse News Service
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Newsom tried to send a prosecutor to help Alameda County DA. Here's why it collapsed
Gov. Gavin Newsom is taking back state resources from local jurisdictions that don’t act on his priorities. Twelve days ago, Newsom rescinded an offer to send a state attorney to the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office to assist with drug prosecutions, saying the offer had not been “enthusiastically embraced” by District Attorney Pamela Price. Then, last week, he revoked a $10 million grant for San Diego County to build tiny homes for people experiencing homelessness because, according to reporting by Politico, officials didn’t act fast enough to build the homes.
KQED
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He’s not George Gascón. But is that enough to make Nathan Hochman L.A.’s next D.A.?
While she waited for the man she hopes will defeat Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. George Gascón in November, Mary Klein slathered her face with a fresh coat of sunscreen. Klein - the survivor of a random attack along the Venice canals - sat with other crime victims, chasing slivers of shade in a muggy downtown L.A. courtyard, chatting about one of California’s most hotly contested races.
Los Angeles Times
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Advisor to L.A. County district attorney pleads not guilty to 11 felonies over use of sheriff's records
A top advisor to Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. George Gascón pleaded not guilty on Thursday after state prosecutors said she illegally used confidential personnel records three years ago when she flagged several sheriff's deputies’ names for possible inclusion on a list of problem officers. The lawyer representing Diana Teran argued in court that the charges against her didn’t constitute a crime because maintaining a list of deputies accused of misconduct was part of her job overseeing the district attorney’s ethics and integrity operations.
Los Angeles Times
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Gascon aide Diana Teran: Who’s paying who and for what?
Questions are swirling around the current status of alleged felon and top Los Angeles County District George Gascon aide Diana Teran, including whether or not her legal defense is being paid for by the taxpayer. In the past month, the Globe, former DA (and currently strong backer of Gascon’s challenger Nathan Hochman) Steve Cooley, and pro bono victims rights’ attorney Kathleen Cady have all submitted public records requests regarding Teran status - all were met with ‘extension” notifications.
California Globe
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Gascón’s juvenile policy blasted as ‘reformed’ teen faces new murder charge
In a development that has stirred debate over juvenile justice reform in Los Angeles County, a young man previously convicted of murder as a juvenile and later released under District Attorney George Gascón’s policies has been arrested and charged in connection with another homicide. The case of Denmonne Lee has become a flashpoint in the ongoing controversy surrounding Gascón’s approach to juvenile offenders, particularly as he seeks reelection in November, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Resist the Mainstream
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LA County leaders conflicted by Newsom’s call to remove homeless encampments
On Thursday morning, Gov. Gavin Newsom urged local authorities to use a recent Supreme Court decision to aggressively clear encampments, but several Los Angeles County leaders said they don’t plan on changing their approach to homelessness in response to the ruling. Earlier this month, the Supreme Court’s decision in Grants Pass v. Johnson gave municipalities the right to enforce anti-camping laws and ticket people for sleeping in public.
Southern California News Group
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Times reporter was leaked list of problem deputies. The Sheriff’s Department investigated her
For at least three years, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department secretly investigated - and ultimately urged the state attorney general to prosecute - a Los Angeles Times reporter who wrote about a leaked list of problem deputies, according to internal department records. The inquiry began in 2017 when investigators under then-Sheriff Jim McDonnell tried to figure out who slipped the list of roughly 300 names to reporter Maya Lau. The case soon fizzled out.
Los Angeles Times
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Frustrated Californians may be ready for a tougher approach to crime
Californians of all political stripes have become fed up with the problems plaguing supermarkets and retail stores, not to mention car break-ins and open-air drug use. Some top Democrats, including San Francisco Mayor London Breed, have joined conservatives in denouncing a cascade of smaller crimes that have contributed to a sense of lawlessness in major cities. Now, the state’s lawmakers and voters are weighing what to do.
Los Angeles Times
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California cities rethink homelessness tactics after Supreme Court ruling
Weeks after the Supreme Court decision that stands to reshape how US cities confront homelessness, officials in Stockton, California, were getting ready to change their tactics. This inland city of about 330,000 east of San Francisco has been struggling with homelessness for years. Residents of north Stockton have been complaining about large encampments like those in the woods and marshes of the White Slough Nature Area, as well as parks and near railroad tracks.
Bloomberg
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US judge will not block Biden administration ban on worker 'noncompete' agreements
A federal judge on Tuesday rejected a bid by a tree-trimming company to block a U.S. Federal Trade Commission rule from taking effect that would ban agreements commonly signed by workers not to join their employers' rivals or launch competing businesses. U.S. District Judge Kelley Hodge in Philadelphia said in a written decision that the FTC, which enforces federal antitrust laws, has the power to ban practices that it deems anticompetitive, including the use of so-called noncompete agreements that curb competition for labor.
Reuters
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Goldwater asks California Supreme Court to strike down Gov. Newsom’s blank check for power
One of the most important principles of constitutional law is the separation of powers, which forbids, say, presidents or governors writing laws. The executive branch is supposed to execute the laws, not write them. That’s crucial because if the same person makes the law and enforces it, the idea of constitutional democracy will collapse into something indistinguishable from monarchy. And that’s why most state constitutions include separation-of-powers clauses that bar governors from writing laws.
Goldwater Institute
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Crime is rising at L.A. Metro. Is a new police force the answer?
Late one recent morning at Union Station in downtown Los Angeles, Metro riders waited patiently to catch their trains. They shared the platform with a slew of “ambassadors” wearing bright yellow jackets - uniformed Metro Transit Security Officers and homeless outreach providers. One provider, Debora Latimer, spends her days walking the grounds of Union Station and engaging with homeless people. “We meet and greet and see if we can supply them with what they may need at that moment,” she said.
CalMatters
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LAPD officers allowed to carry guns at Paris Olympics after France makes exception
Eager to ramp up security preparations for the 2028 Summer Olympics, the Los Angeles Police Department is sending a small cadre of officers to Paris for this year’s Games. And - in a bit of a geopolitical flex - the LAPD had a hand in convincing the French government to temporarily suspend its law against overseas police officers being armed in the country.
Los Angeles Times
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LA County supervisors back a ballot measure to add 4 seats, elect a county CEO
Despite mounting opposition, a ballot measure that would increase the number of Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors from five to nine members, create an elected, not appointed, county executive officer and establish an ethics commission received its first vote of approval on Tuesday, July 23. The supervisors voted 3-2 on the ballot measure drawn up by the L.A. County Counsel’s Office.
Los Angeles Daily News
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In a win for street vendors, L.A. agrees to lift restrictions and cancel fines
The city of Los Angeles has settled a lawsuit brought on behalf of street vendors by agreeing to repeal bans on vending near schools and farmers markets and canceling citations issued to vendors for selling in restricted areas, attorneys representing vendors announced Friday. The lawsuit, which was filed in late 2022, alleged city ordinances that established no-vending zones and banned street vendors from working within 500 feet of schools, farmers markets, swap meets and temporary events violated state laws.
Los Angeles Times
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Man paralyzed after LA County deputy shooting in Whittier poised to receive $7 million settlement
A man who was paralyzed when a Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy shot him during a violent 2020 encounter in a parking garage at the Whittier courthouse is poised to receive a $7 million settlement to resolve a federal lawsuit. The Los Angeles County Claims Board agreed this week to recommend that the Board of Supervisors issue the payout to Samuel Nelson, who is now a paraplegic. When the supervisors will vote on the recommendation was not immediately clear.
Orange County Register
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Retail crime ‘queen pin' faces five years in prison, millions in restitution
The ringleader of a nationwide organized retail crime operation that targeted Ulta Beauty and other major retailers is facing more than five years in a California state prison. Michelle Mack, of Bonsall, California, received a delayed sentence of five years and four months, which will be officially set in January. It was handed down by a San Diego County Superior Court judge on Thursday. Her husband, Kenneth, received the same sentence and is already incarcerated.
CNBC
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LAPD bodycam video shows suspect armed with machine gun firing at 2 officers during traffic stop
The Los Angeles Police Department released bodycam video Friday of the moments a suspect armed with a machine gun fired at two officers during a traffic stop in the Willowbrook area the night of July 3. The video shows LAPD officers Stefan Carutasu and Joshua Rodney attempting to pull over the suspect at Broadway and Rosecrans Avenue. The suspect speeds up and comes to a stop on Broadway just north of Rosecrans.
ABC7
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LAPD warns residents after spike in burglaries using Wi-Fi jammers that disable security cameras, smart doorbells
The Los Angeles Police Department has warned residents to be wary of thieves using technology to break into homes undetected. High-tech burglars have apparently knocked out their victims' wireless cameras and alarms in the Los Angeles Wilshire-area neighborhoods before getting away with swag bags full of valuables. An LAPD social media post highlights the Wi-Fi jammer-supported burglaries and provides a helpful checklist of precautions residents can take.
Tom’s Hardware
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2 teens shot, robbed of their jewelry at street takeover in Los Angeles
The Los Angeles Police Department is investigating a shooting and robbery that left two teens injured at a street takeover. According to an LAPD spokesperson, officers responded to the scene of a multi-victim shooting near 54th Street and Western Avenue in the Vermont Square neighborhood around 12:30 a.m. Saturday. Simultaneously, other officers were dispatched to a local hospital on reports of gunshot wound victims, the spokesperson stated.
KTLA
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Convictions/Pleas/Sentences | |
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Man who broke into Karen Bass' home pleads no contest
A man who broke into Mayor Karen Bass' official residence in Windsor Square while she was inside with family members pleaded no contest Wednesday to a felony vandalism charge and was immediately sentenced to two years probation. Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Armenui Amy Ashvanian also ordered Ephraim Matthew Hunter, 29, to spend at least three months in a drug treatment/mental health program and six to nine months in a halfway house and to pay more than $15,000 in restitution.
City News Service
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LAPD officer pleads no contest to filing false reports
A Los Angeles Police Department officer who had been awaiting trial pleaded no contest Thursday to six felony counts of filing a false report. Deputy District Attorney Dan Akemon told Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Eleanor J. Hunter that the prosecution is reserving the right to object to any defense motion to reduce the charges against Braxton Shaw to misdemeanors at the defendant’s sentencing Sept. 25 in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom.
MyNewsLA
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South L.A. gang members get decades-long sentences for killing off-duty LAPD officer
Fernando Arroyos and his girlfriend were looking at homes in Florence-Firestone when they crossed paths with a group of men. Ernesto Cisneros, Jesse Contreras and Luis De La Rosa Rios were looking for someone to rob. They spotted the chain around the neck of Arroyos, an off-duty Los Angeles Police Department officer. Rios pulled his truck to a stop. He and Cisneros got out with guns. As they relieved the couple of their jewelry and money, a struggle broke out. Cisneros and Rios started shooting.
Los Angeles Times
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Santa Paula doctor pleads guilty to health care fraud for role in hospice scam that bilked Medicare out of $3.2 million
A Ventura County physician who worked for two Pasadena hospices pleaded guilty today to defrauding Medicare out of more than $3 million by billing the public health insurance program for medically unnecessary hospice services. Dr. Victor Contreras, 68, of Santa Paula, pleaded guilty to one count of health care fraud.
U.S. Attorney’s Office Press Release
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Narco in Southern California gets life for 4 gruesome cartel-related executions
A 33-year-old man from Phoenix, Arizona responsible for one of the more gruesome cartel-related murder scenes to ever unfold in Southern California was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole Wednesday, prosecutors announced. On Nov. 9, 2015, officers with the Orange Police Department responded to reports of a burning SUV in a residential neighborhood on Oakmont Street just after 2 p.m., where bystanders were attempting to douse the flames with a garden hose.
KTLA
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Pleads guilty: Montrose man defrauded investors out of $1M
A Montrose man pleaded guilty July 22 to defrauding investors out of more than $1 million by making false promises that they would receive an ownership interest in several adult entertainment webcam websites. He then used their money on personal expenses, including luxury items. Patrick Khalafian, 54, pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud. According to his plea agreement, from November 2009 to October 2016, Khalafian solicited investments for businesses that purportedly developed and operated adult entertainment websites.
Pasadena Weekly
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US operation to capture Sinaloa cartel leaders had the help of one of the captured men: a son of ‘El Chapo,’ official says
An alleged Mexican drug kingpin suspected of flooding the United States with deadly fentanyl and who evaded authorities for decades is in US custody after he was apparently lured across the border by federal agents with another alleged leader of his cartel who was helping with his capture, according to a US law enforcement official briefed on the investigation.
CNN
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On appeal, Chinese developer argues Las Vegas trips for LA councilman were goodwill gifts - not bribes
A billionaire Chinese real-estate developer acknowledged he provided a Los Angeles city councilman with multiple free trips to Las Vegas, including complimentary gambling and prostitutes. But these were just "classic goodwill gifts" and not bribes, an attorney for the developer told the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals this week.
Courthouse News Service
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The largest sting operation you’ve never heard of
In June 1970 the CIA did something audacious. In partnership with the BND, Germany’s spy agency, it secretly bought Crypto ag, a Swiss firm that was then the world’s leading purveyor of cipher machines. The devices were used by over 120 countries to encrypt sensitive diplomatic and military communications. For almost 50 years America, having subtly rigged the machines, could read many of those messages. “It was the intelligence coup of the century,” boasted a CIA report.
The Economist
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‘Thread that needle’: Kamala Harris’ criminal justice policies in California angered progressives and police
As the new Democratic standard bearer, Vice President Kamala Harris has described her contest with former President Donald Trump in blunt terms - tough prosecutor versus civil and criminal defendant. “I took on perpetrators of all kinds, predators who abused women, fraudsters who ripped off consumers, cheaters who broke the rules for their own game,” Harris said at a rally in Wisconsin on Tuesday. “So hear me when I say I know Donald Trump’s type.”
NBC News
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All my X's: Former Twitter to face trademark suit from X Social Media
X Corp., the former Twitter, has lost most of its motion to dismiss a trademark lawsuit from a social media company that was first called X. X Social Media sued X Corp. last year in Florida federal court after new owner Elon Musk changed Twitter's name to X. Though the defendant categorized the case as a "shakedown" of a large company, Judge John Antoon ruled July 15 that three of the four claims made by XSM can move forward.
Legal Newsline
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Notorious L.A. gang leader killed in prison by other inmates, CDCR says
The former leader of a Los Angeles street gang who made national headlines for ordering the murders of members of his own gang was killed in prison over the weekend. According to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, 47-year-old Ezequiel Romo was stabbed multiple times by three fellow inmates at Centinela State Prison in Imperial County Sunday evening.
KTLA
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California took vacation time from a prison doctor. Now it has to pay him $1.8 million
A jury last week awarded nearly $2 million to a former California prison psychiatrist who claimed the state retaliated against him when officials began raising questions about how he earned high incomes from two government agencies. A decade ago, Anthony Coppola held a senior position at a former state prison in Tracy and a part-time assignment as a psychiatrist at Alameda County’s Santa Rita Jail.
CalMatters
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